((Sorry it took me forever to post this one. Finals suck...))
He wasn't allowed to move much. He hated that.
Sirius had broken his right leg in two places, and his wrist in three. He had a severe concussion and basically everything else just hurt. He looked battered and bruised, and wasn't awake for very long periods at a time, but they stayed with him.
James and Remus were there almost twenty-four seven. Lily went home to rest a bit and take care of Harry… and the new cat.
Three days later, Sirius came around as Remus and James were playing cards.
"You are the worst poker player I think I've ever seen!" Remus joked.
"Then I guess you have never seen Peter play! Full house! Beat that!"
"Dealer takes all…" He heard Remus say.
James cursed, obviously, he had lost. "Go fish…." He said.
"Wrong game, idiot…." Sirius muttered.
Remus laughed, but James said nothing. He had been childishly refusing to talk to Sirius. It wasn't that he was that angry anymore. It was more that he made a deal with Sirius. If he told them what happened, James would speak to him. Sirius didn't believe he'd really do it, so now James was trying to prove him wrong.
"Hey, Siri…." Remus said, "How are we today?"
"Just lovely, thanks. I think I'll go deer hunting later today…."
James pursed his lips, but still said nothing about Sirius's lame joke.
"Ah, come on that was funny!" Sirius said indignantly.
"It was stupid…." Remus muttered.
"Is he honestly going to keep this up?" Sirius ignored his last comment.
"I don't know, but it sure is fun to watch him try." Remus said, clearing up the cards.
"Remus," James said, "You can tell your friend that all he has to do is tell me what happened, and I'll stop."
"Sirius, you heard him." Remus said, rolling his eyes.
"Ok…." Sirius started.
James finally looked at Sirius, hopeful that he was going to spill. He didn't care if it meant being an immature arse; James was going to do his best to get it out of Sirius. He would probably get angry, and he was ready to yell if he needed to.
"Alright, fine." Sirius pushed himself upright, wincing, so he was sitting up, facing James.
James's face was cold. Sirius could tell that he was angry, and he knew he'd only get angrier when he told him what really happened, and where he had been for the past few weeks.
"So… I went to this bar-."
"I knew it!" James stood up quickly, raising his voice, "I knew it! I knew it! I knew that you were driving drunk! You idiot!"
"Will you please let me finish?" Sirius interrupted. "Like I was saying, I walked into this bar and I saw this chicken…." He paused. And in that short pause, James and Sirius simply looked at each other. James looked about ready to strangle him. Sirius raised an eyebrow and suddenly both of them were laughing hysterically
"A chicken? A chicken? What the Hell, Sirius! Are you high?" James fell back into his chair, laughing.
"Actually… a little bit…." He indicated the bed side table with several vials and flasks that the nurses had been using on Sirius for the pain. "These are supposed to help dim the pain…. But they also make you feel awesome…. I'm seriously thinking about asking to get some of this stuff to go!"
James just rolled his eyes. He knew he couldn't stay made at Sirius… but he still wanted to know what had happened. James had known Sirius since their first year at Hogwarts. Just two eleven year old boys who thought they were awesome but didn't have a clue about anything that was ahead of them. Now they were two men… still completely clueless.
But in the time that James had known Sirius, he knew that he wasn't as stupid as some may have thought. He wouldn't do this without reason. He would drink, James knew, and do some stupid stuff. But James knew with just as much certainty that Sirius would not, under any circumstances, drink and drive. He wasn't that thick.
"Sirius…" James said, not angrily, but almost pleading, "Come on, man. You have to tell us."
"No, no I don't." Sirius said, trying to sound nonchalant, but it was obvious that there was more to this than he was willing to let on.
"Yes, you kind of do." Remus chimed in, nodding solemnly.
"You can't just pull a stunt like this and expect to be let off scot-free!"
"Who says? I think I could have pulled it off if I hadn't crashed…." Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come on, be serious!"
"I am. Unfortunately, I am. My parents were cruel people. They couldn't have gone with something cool like Jack, or Mike, or Hercules…. No, they chose 'Sirius'."
"You know what I meant…."
Sirius just sat there for a minute, looking over Remus's head, out the window. It had started to rain. Sirius wanted anything but to talk about this. He concentrated on one single drop as it slithered and snaked down the window, making a light pathway in its place. He didn't want to mention it; Sirius knew it was stupid, what he did. But this was James. If the table was turned, James would tell him.
Sirius sighed and kept staring out the window as he plucked up the courage to tell them.
"I was a bit mad at you two… so I took the bike and I just kept going, I didn't know where I was going. I was driving to be driving, you know? Just letting off some steam. I ended up at my cousin's. You know Andy and her husband Ted?" Sirius asked them both. They nodded, anxious for him to continue.
"Well, I don't know why I went there, but before I knew it, I was in front of their door. Andy was pretty happy to see me; we always got on well. You'll never believe this, James, they've got a kid. She's cute, too. I think seven, now, or there about…. Dora, I think they called her..."
He paused before continuing. It was obvious that he wasn't sure how to word what he had to say next.
"Anyway… Andromeda told me that she was sorry for me, 'even if I wasn't close to them', she said. I had no idea what she was talking about, so I asked her and she looked surprised that I didn't know." He now faced James and Remus and said simply, "They're gone... pretty much... I'm all that's left. I mean, at the rate I was going… I thought for sure I'd be the first to go, but no. Orion went same year as Reggie. Walburga, the hag, she's still going, but she's not well. They said she's not exactly right in the head right now…. I told I'd known that for a long time…." Sirius was referring to his parents, but he refused to use the words 'Mum' or 'Dad'.
He almost laughed. Sirius grinned and shook his head.
"Well, Andy told me that she wouldn't know who I was. She can't remember much, see? And she could hardly recognize Bella and Lucius the last time they visited her. So… I don't know what made me want to do it, but I told her thanks for telling me and I left. I went straight to the old house. It felt weird, you know? It didn't feel like I was welcome, not that I ever was, really. But it felt like some stranger's house; not the place I had the displeasure to grow up in."
James nodded. He wasn't about to judge for what he knew was coming next.
"Um… so I went in. I have no idea why; it's so stupid. I can't believe I even went near that hell hole. Anyway, I walked in without knocking. I was wearing that leather jacket she just loves so much. I could imagine her face when she saw me. And I don't know you guys, but I wanted to see it. I wanted to see her face contorted with rage. I wanted to see her scream at me to get out. I want her to so I could leave gladly, knowing I had no reason to ever come back. But… when I saw her, she was in her bed. Kretcher was tending to her like a stupid little lovesick puppy. I told him to scram and he did. She looked at me, but it didn't really register with her who I was. Then… she must have thought I was Regulus, because she got really happy and started to cry. I couldn't stand it. I knew she didn't want me there, and I honestly didn't want to be there. So, I walked out of her room and walked down the stairs…. When I passed that room… James, you know the one with all the stupid pictures- the family tree?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I went in there, just to check it out. And I saw it straight away. She burned me off." Sirius started to laugh, "For a second I thought to myself, 'My god! Am I really that ugly?' but I thought that couldn't be possible, and I realized it was her doing."
There was a much longer pause this time; only it was as though Sirius was trying to remember what he did, not how to say it.
"I got that same feeling after I first left the house; like I needed to do something to make her mad. I needed to do something she wouldn't approve of. So, I went a little crazy. I was just having fun, you know? Like what you and I did on 'my first night of freedom'. I drove around a bit and just kept hitting bars. It was cool; I was just trying to get in one last leap of freedom, one last chance to be really stupid. And you guys had me pissed off so I just went off."
James rolled his eyes, but did not interrupt at this point.
"Okay, James, yes; I was drunk. I was really drunk, to be honest. I don't even remember crashing. I think it had something to do with trying to do a wheelie, though…."
"You are so stupid." James said once Sirius had finally finished. He didn't sound angry anymore, just annoyed, "You think that just because we're not kids anymore means we're never going to do anything stupid? You're living proof…, thankfully, of that."
"I'm sorry, I was just goofing off…."
"Well, next time don't try and get yourself killed."
"Oh, come on, Remus, it's not that bad-!"
"Sirius! Look at yourself. You're in the hospital, you can hardly move, and you're obviously in pain- don't lie!" Remus was the one to raise his voice this time.
"Sirius…. I never thought I'd tell you this, but you need to start acting a bit more responsible." James shook his head as though he really couldn't believe it.
"Well, I have to be honest… I never thought I'd hear you say that."
James and Remus exchanged looks and Remus sighed. "James, go ahead, I know what you want to say."
James looked relieved. "Oh my god, dude, I cannot believe I said that…. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay… just don't let it happen again." Sirius said, smirking.
Remus stood and rolled his eyes, heading for the door. "You guys are children." He muttered.
"I'm cool with that… James?"
"Yeah, I pretty sure that's good with me."
