Her boys didn't understand. Fleamont, James, Peter, Remus, they didn't understand at all. But Euphemia understood perfectly.

"He still loves her, James," Euphemia told him after breakfast one morning. Sirius had gone back upstairs already. She picked up Sirius' plate, still mostly full though they'd tried to make sure he ate something. The poor boy wasn't eating enough and sleeping too much. Nothing like the son she knew from all their Christmas' together.

"But she's such a-a…" He searched for the proper word he could use in front of his mother.

"She's his mum. No amount of cruelty or callousness will ever stop her from being the person who birthed him. She changed his diapers, taught him to walk, and rocked him to sleep. Loving your mother is inborn, it's not something you can just turn off," she explained storing Sirius' leftovers in case she managed to convince him to eat them later. She'd give him an hour to himself before reheating it and bringing it up to him. He was already beginning to lose weight in just the week he'd lived with them.

"I mean, I guess. But if it stops them from pressuring Regulus into being a Death Eater I thought he'd go for it." James magicked the dishes clean behind her back. He thought she hadn't noticed, but she had. It wasn't the first time she'd pretended not to see him using underage magic and it wouldn't be the last.

"Look at it the way he does, Love. You're asking him to sacrifice one member of his family for the other."

"They are not his family."

"That's not how family works, James. You don't understand and I'm glad. Your father and I love you far too much for you to be expected to understand. But Sirius will always love his mother, and as much as I wish I could, I will never be able to completely replace her in his heart."

"She can't get away with this, Mum. She can't!"

"Doing anything about it will go against Sirius' direct wishes," she turned to look at him directly. "I'm not saying that's a bad thing, maybe it's the right thing to do. Anyone who can lay a wand on a child, much less their child, has no right to remain free. But Sirius will not help you lock his mother away."

"If he doesn't press charges what can we even do?"

"I don't know. That's a conversation to have with your father."

James groaned running a hand through his messy hair. Sirius' hair had been messy too when he came down for breakfast. Messier than James' even, though that may just be because he had more of it. It's something he'd have never stood for before now, but then again she was fairly sure he'd also worn the same trousers for at least three days. So his hair was less of a concern than general hygiene, the poor thing.

"Don't bug him about it. You may be able to change his mind, but not by nagging."

"Sirius doesn't change his mind about anything," James grumbled. "Not until it's blown up in his face."

"Then we'll have to either accept his decision or accept that we're going against his wishes. That's all we can do."

"Why is this so hard?" James lay his head down on the table, arms curled up around him to hide his face, his glasses off to the side. "I thought when we finally got Sirius out of that house everything would be better, but now he's even more miserable and I still can't help him."

"Healing takes time, Love." Euphemia sat down beside him, running her hand through his hair. "You are helping, more than you can possibly imagine. Just knowing that there's still someone out there who loves him is enough, I'm sure, but you've gone far beyond that. You've given him a home, that's not nothing, dear."

He whined from his position on the table and Euphemia sat with him for a bit longer, wishing for all the world that the young man upstairs had actually been her flesh and blood son.

Walburga didn't deserve one teaspoon of his loyalty, yet he still had so much of it left. He'd gone on for hours about how much he hated her, but when it came down to it his love was too strong for his own good. It would be a miracle if Fleamont managed to put her away if Sirius didn't press charges. And admittedly there was a part of her that wanted to go up there and slap some sense into that boy.

How dare he let her lay a hand on him? How dare he let her get by with it? How dare he still love her after what she's done.

But she knew all that would accomplish is to push him further away. The last thing Sirius needed right now is for his surrogate mum to be angry with him too.

No, Fleamont and James could focus on avenging Sirius, it was her job to make sure her baby survived this, both in body and mind.

She had to kick James out of Sirius' bedroom when she brought up the food. He'd all but started sleeping there, though Sirius seemed to want him gone more often than not. Another sign of how badly he was affected. James and Sirius had always been inseparable, but now Sirius just wanted to spend all his time alone in bed.

It hurt her heart so see him so changed. She hoped it was just a part of the healing process, but was afraid that it was so much more.

"I already ate," he tried, though he hadn't.

"I know, dear, but you didn't eat much, and I'm worried about how much weight you've lost already." She placed the warm plate in front of him, breakfast in bed might make the toast and bacon more appealing. "Scooch forward some."

He looked confused but did as she asked, ignoring the food. Her next plan was to appeal to his sense of guilt, but she'd rather not have to use it. Instead, she sat behind him and pulled out a hairbrush. He realized what she was up to and started to pull away. There wasn't much effort in the attempt though.

"You don't have to-"

"Not at all, dear. You have lovely hair." She ran the brush through his hair and he shivered at her touch. He wasn't used to adults being this close.

He didn't argue again and let her brush his hair. She regrettably confirmed that it had been several days since he'd last showered due to its condition. No doubt he'd never gone so long in his life. She quietly cast a cleaning spell on him, it wasn't as good as a shower, but it would do until he got back on his feet.

It made her want to cry, but she held strong for his sake. She'd cry when she was alone.

She cheered up a little when he ate some of the toast without her prompting further.

"I'm sorry…" he said suddenly after a few minutes of what she'd thought was a comfortable silence. She doubted he agreed.

"Whatever for?"

"I can't even take care of myself." His whisper would have gone unheard if she hadn't been so close to him already breaking her heart even further.

"Oh tosh, you've been taking care of yourself for far too long. It's my turn now."

He fiddled with the sleeves of James' shirt and she wondered if he was embarrassed or just feeling awkward. No doubt he'd never had anyone brush his hair for him, least not since he was old enough to hold a comb, but being a boy didn't mean he didn't need to be shown affection sometimes. If he chose to wear his hair long then she was happy to help.

"I have about fifteen years to make up for, after all."

Now he was definitely embarrassed, but sometimes that's what Mums were for. And besides, there was a reason she'd kicked James out.

She put it up in a bun after she was finished brushing it. It would stay neat for longer that way and Sirius could pull off a messy bun as intentional when it eventually started to come loose. She didn't want to encourage him to let himself go, but at the same time the less the poor thing had to worry about the better.

"How's that? Feel better."

To her great delight, he graced her with a smile. It was smaller than the ones she was used to, but it was the most beautiful smile she'd seen since James was a toddler. And just to top off her joy, she realized he'd finished his breakfast while she'd been busy.

"Yeah, actually. Thanks."

She hugged him.

"Anytime, Love."