Plastic

Chapter 10: Soup


Dinner was deathly silent.

Everyone spent more time busying their mouths with their spoons and cups; the only conversation shared at the table was between Mrs Weasley and Ginny, which topic was if Mr Weasley's Muggle-Repelling charm worked well in the garden. Ginny answered with an enthusiastic 'yes', hoping it was enough to charge the room, but she fell silent once again with lack of other words.

Hermione bit hard on her bread and chewed longer than necessary.

She was placed beside Sirius, as normal, but he did not excitedly speak to her about the old Marauders, his experiences with Bowtruckles, or even his hate towards his dead mother—which usually came up in any discussion. Instead, he frowned at his soup, stirring and stirring in circles with his bent spoon, not taking a single taste.

Mr Weasley spoke up and asked his wife if all was ready for Harry's arrival. She answered with a heavy sighed 'yes' and let the room fall back into stillness.

Mrs Weasley took a moment and looked fiercely across the table at Fred and George, who were obviously suffering a miserable fate due to their actions the previous night relating to Butter Beer and a love potion. Both boys lowered their eyes closer to their meals. Ron, who was beside them, glanced with a shrug and straightened his mouth even more.

Ginny piped up down the table at Hermione, telling her she found a rather fat dust bunny sleeping in an old sock in their room this morning. Hermione replied with 'I see', a slow nod and a tiny smile. Her voice died down as the clinking of utensils and glasses continued.

Hermione tried to catch Sirius' eye, but he barely blinked, let alone showed any awareness of his surroundings.

"Well, thank you for dinner Molly." Mr Weasley said, rather loudly. "I'm off now." He stood up and kissed his wife on the cheek.

"I'll help you clean up, mum." Ginny sprang out of her chair at the hint of ending such an awkward meal. The rest of the Weasley's immediately followed, the scraping of chairs filling up the room loudly.

Hermione turned once again to Sirius, this time going as far as to open her mouth to say something. But his sustained frown made her waver and give up dejectedly. Dishes were whisked away as fast as the room emptied, leaving Sirius, Hermione, and Crookshanks to enjoy the unrelenting silence.

Then, as if conveniently bored, the cat left too.

Hermione was clenching her fists, eyes already watered, with very tightened lips. She knew the reasons for his actions, and she would be damned if something like that was to ruin their significant friendship. At long last, Sirius moved his eyes slowly to take in her presence. However it was her turn to stare at the table with resentment.

"I'm sorry, Hermione." His words were very hushed, but powerful.

Hermione flicked her eyes up to his. She had to press her mouth closed even tighter to prevent her lips from trembling. The man was pained; he was watching her face very carefully. There were no other words to be said. Looking away, Hermione shook her head forcefully and dashed out of the room.

Immediately she dived nose first into as many books as possible, angrily flipping the pages and scribbling hard with her quill. She would not let her mind stray for even a moment to him, what happened, what may happen. It was not until later in the night that young Ginny came bolting into their room. Panting nervously, she grabbed Hermione's hand tightly.

"Sirius... He's, he's—"

"He's what?" Hermione asked, eyes wide. Ginny was guiding her to her feet, away from her bed and parchment, and pulling her impatiently across the room and out into the hall. "He's what, Ginny?" There was a lot of commotion from the main floor. Both girls threw their heads over the stair's railing, and peered downstairs.

"We must send an owl to your father immediately—" Mrs Weasley was shaking the twins with both arms full of panic. "I must go—oh dear, perhaps I should send you. Ron! Ron! Are you writing to your father yet? Oh I hope it gets to him on time, perhaps I should just use floo powder..."

"What's going on?" Hermione's curiosity and worry called out from above. Mrs Weasley's head shot up and produced a very unconvincing smile.

"Nothing dear, you two just go back to bed."

"Where's Sirius?" Hermione did not have to ask, as her brain was already clinking into gear and running by all appropriate situations. Sirius was not to be found, and he was always to be found. Mrs Weasley did not answer, only a wash of concern flooded her wrinkled features. Hermione turned to Ginny with shock. Ginny was wearing the same expression as her mother. "Where's Sirius?"

"We... we don't know. Mum saw him walk out the front door, and when she called after him... he was gone."


A/N: Dundundun. It's getting pretty soap-cliched in here-Haaaah. Hey, at least the awkward dinnertime was pretty amusing, hm? Is anyone else thinking about how much shit Sirius is going to be in if they find him? Kek. (also, sorry for the slow and small update, I shall reward you all with another chapter tomorrow!)