Chapter 21: Kicked Out
It was a stormy night in London as Sirius made his way through the streets, dragging behind him the trunk with all the things he could pack up before his father threw him out the door. Sirius was furious still, but now it was starting to sink in exactly what this would mean for him. He was homeless now, he had no money to his name, and if he didn't find some kind of shelter soon, he was probably going to catch a cold.
Sirius tried to think of where he could go. Peter's? No, probably shouldn't. From what little he'd heard of Peter's homelife, his father was a drunk and was apparently less than happy about his son actually managing to get friends. Remus? No, Remus's parents were fiercely protective of their son's 'secret', even though Sirius knew it already. They would be pissed if they found out anyone at Hogwarts knew about it. Lily? Also not a good idea. While her parents were every happy about having a witch in the family, her sister was…less than impressed, to put it lightly. Severus? Not even worth considering.
Sirius sighed, knowing there was really only one person he could go to in this situation. Sirius just hoped he wasn't still mad about the incident at the end of the school year that nearly got Severus killed. They'd hardly spoken since that day, mostly just enough to keep up appearances and to work on the map. Sirius reached into his pocket, hoping to find some spare change, but knew very well there was none there. Guess the Knight Bus is out of the question. Sirius sighed again, and tried to remember the way to the Potter house.
James was just finishing up some of his holiday homework when he heard the knock on the door. He ignored it, since his parents often had guests over, though not normally this late at night, especially not in weather like this. James heard the door opening, and suddenly his mother yelled out. "Oh, you poor dear. What's happened to you?" This was followed by the sound of something being dragged inside and the door closing, and his father yelling out to him. "James, come down. Your friend Sirius is here."
Sirius? James was very surprised by this. He hadn't really spoken much to him since their fight under the Shrieking Shack a month and a half ago. If he was here, at this hour, and in this weather, something must be wrong.
James went down the stairs, and saw his mother furiously drying Sirius's hair with a towel. Once she removed it, he could clearly see Sirius's face, swollen on the left side as though he was in a fight, with some purple bruises scattered around to confirm as much. A small trail of red was coming out of Sirius's crooked looking nose, and James could see the towel his mother had been using was stained the same colour.
James went into the kitchen to the others. "What the hell happened?" he asked.
"My father, that's what happened," said Sirius, somewhat upbeat despite what he looked like. "Apparently he took objection to me being friends with a muggleborn. Though he may not have used that word to describe her."
"You poor, poor dear," said Euphemia, coming back up to him with her wand. "Now, hold still Sirius, this will probably hurt a lot." She cleared her throat and pointed her wand at his nose. "Brackium Emendo." There was a loud snap, and suddenly Sirius's crooked nose was back in place.
"Where'd you learn that?" asked Sirius.
"When you try for a child for as long as me and Fleamont and finally get one, you make sure you learn every helpful healing spell you can find an incantation for, just in case you need it," said Euphemia.
"Did not need to hear that part about you and dad…" started James, but Euphemia was busy trying to make some tea.
"James, why don't you get the spare bed set up?" asked Fleamont. "I'm guessing Sirius will probably want some sleep after tonight's ordeal."
"Thank you," said Sirius, as James went back up to his room and pulled out a small camp bed they used whenever one of James's friends were over. James was just throwing some sheets over the bed when Sirius came in.
"Thank you so much for this, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," said Sirius.
"Please Sirius, it's fine," said Fleamont. "And call us Fleamont and Euphemia. You're no stranger here."
"Thank you," said Sirius, with a yawn. "I better get some sleep."
"Alright, see you in the morning," said Euphemia, closing the door behind Sirius.
Sirius walked in and sat down on the camp bed. "So," said Sirius, for once not in his standard joking light-hearted attitude. "Should we talk?"
"I suppose," said James. "I mean, it sounds like you're gonna be living here a while."
"Look, James," said Sirius. "There is a ton of stuff that's my fault, and I'm never gonna stop being sorry for it. I told Remus everything the second he came down from the Shack, and Snape's been nice enough to not say anything, but…"
"That's not everything," said James. "There's also…you know…"
"Is this about Lily?" asked Sirius. There was an extended silence that Sirius took to mean yes. "James, I can promise you, nothing is happening between me and Lily. That was a one-time thing, and it's not happening again. Lily was very clear about that."
"How do I know though?" asked James. "How do I know she won't ask you out again?"
"Because…" started Sirius, and stopped. He couldn't decide whether to tell James the good news about Lily or not. On the one hand, he'd probably forgive everything if he told him this. On the other hand, it wasn't his secret to tell. He'd already (unwillingly) told one person about her feelings towards James. Surely this was something for Lily to talk to him about?
"Because why?" asked James, looking at him very expectantly.
"Because…" started Sirius, desperately trying to come up with something, before sighing. "Screw it, might as well go with the truth. Lily likes you."
James stared at him for a moment, then let out a short laugh. "Yeah, right," said James, clearly amused by what Sirius had said, before noticing that Sirius wasn't laughing. "Wait, you're serious?"
"Yes," said Sirius. "Also, I'm telling the truth about Lily."
James stared at him for a moment, then put his head in his hands and groaned loudly. "Even after everything that happened to you, you couldn't resist making that pun?" he asked.
"Hey, this is me we're talking about," said Sirius. "But seriously James, Lily is into you. She just…she isn't a fan of us being mean to Severus."
"Well, I mean, he does the same to us…" stated James.
"James, I'm concerned about Severus," said Sirius. "I've seen some of the people he associates with. Their families are You-Know-Who's followers. I don't think Severus is yet, but we have to stop attacking him before he joins them out of spite."
James thought about this for a moment. "I guess you would know about that sort of thing more than I would," he admitted. "Okay, I'll tone down the Snape torture. As long as he does the same. But this is more for Lily than for Snape."
"Good to see your intentions are so noble," muttered Sirius. "Well, good night James."
"Good night Sirius," said James, turning off the light.