Disclaimer: This story is going to contain mentions and references of abuse throughout. I'll provide content warnings for everything else, but abuse is a pretty central part of the storyline so I just wanted to preface. Hope you enjoy, and thanks so much for reading!
Sirius sighed. He could feel the handle of his tote bag cutting into his shoulder. He hadn't slept in 28 hours, and he was starting to feel it, the waves of fatigue crashing through his body, but he had never been able to fall asleep inside vehicles.
His trunk had been magicked to the Potters a day ago, but he figured he'd better take the Knight Bus- there were all kinds of enchantments put in place on the House of Black to prevent Euphemia Potter from showing up on his doorstep for Side-Along-Apparition.
"We're nearing Godric's Hollow now, you there," barked the bus driver, who had what Sirius considered to be an astounding lack of sympathy for an exhausted 16 year old boy. I mean, come on, didn't he deserve a little attention?
Then again, the bus driver didn't look like he'd slept recently either.
"Okay, thank you," Sirius muttered and stood up. His legs swayed slightly as he clutched a nearby bedpost for support. He was still having trouble walking- the effects of his final encounter with Walburga Black were not likely to fade away in a couple of days. He only hoped he could hide it from James.
The bus lurched to a sudden stop that sent Sirius flying to the door, which swung open just in time for him to crash into the street pavement instead of the glass. Great. At least this could excuse his injuries.
Sirius had never been to Godric's Hollow before, which was odd, because it was a respectable Wizarding community even in his parent's eyes. Too many blood traitors living there, he supposed, rolling his eyes. James had told him, rather cheekily, to look for the biggest house, so he tried not to get too overwhelmed by the beautiful cottages surrounding him, the curious faces peering out of gently lit windows as he stumbled down the street. He found the Potters' house fairly quickly. It was, indeed, staggeringly large- probably bigger than the Black mansion- and every single light was on, despite it being around 1 am.
Euphemia Potter ran outside the minute she spotted Sirius, not seeming to care that she was dressed in a floral nightgown and fluffy slippers. She enveloped him into a hug before he could even register that she was there.
"Sirius! I'm so glad you're here, dear- but your face is bleeding, what happened, tell me it wasn't Walburga-"
"Nothing like that," he said quickly. "I, er, fell out of the Knight Bus."
Euphemia laughed with relief and quickly waved her wand. Sirius could feel the scrapes on his cheek heal over, the blood surrounding his nose and mouth siphoned away. "There you go, then, love- come on in, James has been worried sick, of course, we all have."
Overwhelmed, Sirius could only nod, trying his best not to clench the railing too hard as he made it up the steps to the door.
"Sirius!" James ran at him and gave him a hug tight enough to rival Euphemia's. "Glad you're here, mate, come on upstairs, we've got everything all set up- unless you want anything to eat or anything?"
"I'm okay-"
"Nonsense," said Fleamont Potter, stepping into the hallway. "Hello, there, Sirius. I've been up this late working on my famous butternut squash soup, and frankly, it would offend me deeply if you didn't have a bowl." The twinkle in Fleamont's eye told Sirius that the older man knew quite clearly that Sirius hadn't eaten in days, and was not going to tolerate politeness at the expense of his health.
"Well, if you insist," Sirius joked back, taking the offered seat at the Potter's kitchen table.
Fleamont waved his wand, and instantly, a large bowl of soup appeared at Sirius's place, coupled with a mug of chamomile tea and what must've been half of a baguette.
"Can I have some too, Dad?" James said, sitting casually on the table.
"Get off the table, we have company," Euphemia said with a smile.
"Sirius doesn't count," James said instantly. "He's family, now, not company."
Euphemia looked horrified at her slip up, but recovered quickly. "That doesn't excuse poor manners, Jimmy."
"Jimmy?" Sirius said, wheeling around to face James.
"Mom!" James said. "I- they don't know about that nickname at school-" He was apparently too flustered to get another word out.
"Sorry, dear," Euphemia sang, clearly not sorry, but she did bring James his soup in reconciliation.
"Jimmy, man, I can't wait to tell Remus and Pete about this!" Sirius said gleefully, taking a sip of the hot meal. "Mm, this is really good, Mr. Potter."
"Please, son, call me Fleamont."
"I'll try my best," said Sirius softly, knowing how extensively respectful titles had been drilled into his head.
When he and James finished their soup, James was insistent that Sirius come see his room. "We can take you out to the shops tomorrow, on the weekend, whenever you wanna go," he explained, "but we got a couple things already, just 'cause I didn't want you to be in some uncomfortable room full of boxes and everything."
"Thank you," said Sirius, "seriously- Siriusly," he added with a snicker, "it means a lot."
"Yeah, yeah, let me show you." James went running up the stairs and Sirius followed with effort, taking care not to wince at the shooting pains coursing through his limbs. James flung open the door to his immediate right at the top of the stairs first, wanting to show off his own bedroom, which looked like a tornado of magical items and prank ideas had hit it. The walls were papered with post it notes and journal pages, doodles and original spells- James was constantly buried in work, just, a large amount of it wasn't schoolwork specifically. He had hung plants from his ceiling and covered his floor in about ten different carpet patterns- Sirius felt something move in his chest as he thought about what a safe place for personal expression James had had available to him his whole life.
"Yours is kinda, well, sparse compared to this," James said apologetically, "although honestly almost anything would be. But you've got total privacy, we got you this lock you can put on the door with a spell that prevents Alohomora, and uh, you can decorate everything exactly how you want, it's yours now." He opened the door to the left of his own bedroom, and Sirius gasped softly.
The room was smaller than James's, of course, but only just. There was a queen-sized bed in the corner, heaped in blankets and pillows, one of which was knitted with dark red yarn and a golden Gryffindor lion. The walls were painted a cream color and mostly blank, except for a photo that James had taped up of the Marauders, arms around each other, laughing happily in the Hogwarts snow. There were three windows- Sirius had only one back at his parents' house- and the only light in the room was coming from a softly glowing lamp. There was a dresser, a desk, a closet, a bookshelf and a bathroom, and his trunk sat untouched at the foot of his bed. He felt a couple of warm, embarrassing tears swim in his eyes.
"Er," James said, sort of awkwardly. "Do you like it?"
"James, of course I like it, this is bloody brilliant- I just feel bad, I don't want to be an extra mouth to feed-"
"Oh, shut up," said James, "my parents are just as rich as yours and they don't have any reason to hoard money! It's not a burden at all, they were honestly glad to do so. You gotta stop thinking like that- or, I mean, I know it can't be that easy, but Pads, please try," he finished.
"Yeah, I will," Sirius said earnestly, appreciating that James had tried to put himself in Sirius's shoes. "Thank you, it's just a lot, you know?"
"For sure," said James. "D'you want me to stay here and we can talk, or, I was thinking you were probably exhausted so I was kinda planning to just let you get the full eight hours for once."
Sirius sat down on the bed, catching his groan of pain in his throat before it left his lips. "As much as I love you," he teased James, "I really should get some sleep." He smiled genuinely for the first time all summer, feeling the freedom coursing through his veins. "We've got all the time in the world to talk."