Hey! So, I just updated Feel Again (I'm highly motivated today for some reason) so go check it out if you keep up with that too!
THIS IS IT.
WE'RE FINALLY HERE.
Need I say more?
Read and Review!
Love, Essie
Brother, let me be your shelter
Never leave you all alone
I can be the one you call
When you're low
Brother, let me be your fortress
When the night winds are driving on
Be the one to light the way
Bring you home
~Brother, NEEDTOBREATHE
"Lily, we all know that you've got it bad for James, so please just admit it so I don't have to spend the two and a half years listening to you moan and groan about 'that toerag Potter'." Dany laughed at her best friend. The girls were lying in the grass, swimsuit clad, behind Dany's house, trying to finally get some sun after being cooped up in Hogwarts almost all year.
So there they were, under the brutal spring-almost-summer sun, sprawled out on towels with their sunglasses on, talking about the boys they liked, girls they hated, and the teachers that they dearly wished would quit. There were only two off-limits topics: schoolwork and the war. Lily waved her hand dismissively.
"As if I could ever like James. Honestly I don't know how his broom gets off the ground with that big head of his." She said with a certain level of dislike.
"Lils, you need to start getting more inventive with your insults; you've used that one already. On multiple occasions." Dany replied, still chuckling.
"Yeah, yeah I know, but honestly I'm just running out of different ways to call him a right arse…is that an owl?" Lily said, her statement quickly turning to a question. Dany looked up.
"Where?" She asked her friend and Lily pointed. Dany squinted her eyes slightly and saw what her friend's keen eyes had caught long before hers had. There was a dot, growing closer and bigger by the second, flying right towards them. The wings came into focus and finally Dany could see the color of the bird. It was a giant owl, a deep brown color. It was James' owl. Lily threw her hands up.
"The bloody moron can't even leave me alone during Holiday!" But the bird didn't fly towards Lily. It landed next to Dany and stuck its leg out, hooting in a more-frantic-than-usual way that Dany found unsettling. Dany untied the letter around his leg and instead of flying off again to return to James, the owl flew into the Masters home, presumably to join their family owl. Dany looked at Lily strangely, neither of the girls sure what exactly was happening. Dany opened the letter and felt her stomach twist painfully as she read the frantically written words.
Sirius in Mungo's. Come when you can.
"Well, what is it? What does he want?" Dany looked at her slowly.
"Sirius is in St. Mungo's…James said to come when I can. I think now would be a really good time, this is the handwriting of a frantic man." Dany said slowly and handed the note to Lily. She read it and she looked concerned. Both girls stood up and pulled on their shorts and tank tops. They walked inside and Dany yelled for her brother.
"Hey, Rae?" There was a noise what sounded faintly like 'what?' so she continued, "Sirius is in the hospital; we're going to head over. Tell Mom and Dad when they come home, if we're not back yet." There were quick footsteps and Rhaegar appeared moments later.
"Why is he in the hospital?" Rhaegar looked worried, despite not approving of his sister having a raging crush on one of the Blacks. He didn't particularly care for his sister's feelings towards Sirius Black, but he certainly didn't want the boy to be hurt and in the hospital.
"Not sure, James didn't say. Just said he was in the hospital and to come when I can. Just tell them when they get home, alright?" Rae still looked worried but nodded. He kissed his sister on the forehead.
"Be safe, girls." They both nodded and walked out the front door. They kept walking down the driveway until they passed through the gates and left the wards. Dany grabbed Lily's hand and they disapperated. They were new at it, and Dany was better than Lily at the task, less likely to splinch anyone. They appeared in the lobby of the magical hospital and Dany quickly moved towards the receptionist.
"Can I help you?" The receptionist asked without looking up.
"Yeah, I'm looking for a friend. I just found out he was here…Sirius Black?" Dany said quickly, trying to move the process along. The woman still didn't look up but flipped through some papers.
"No one but family is allowed in." Dany glanced back at Lily who raised her eyebrows as if to say 'is she serious?' Dany turned back to the lady.
"Look, I know that's the policy but really, he's like a son to my Godparents and my parents would be devastated to know that anything happened to cause Dorea and Charlie so much pain. Are you sure you can't make one tiny exception to the rule? Just this once?" Dany tried to persuade her gently.
"Look lady I don't know who you think you are but if you keep trying to get in, I'm calling security." The woman said dismissively. Dany's eyes narrowed at the top of the woman's head, because she was still looking down.
"Excuse me?" Dany heard her own voice change and she knew where it came from. She had heard her brother and father use it on countless occasions; it was the Masters temper finally revealing itself. The receptionist finally looked up and her eyes visibly moved to Dany's hair and then widened.
"Miss Danilynn, I am so sorry. I had no idea it was you." Dany sweetly smiled.
"It's no worry, just tell me what room my friend is in and we can pretend this never happened." She said cheerily. The woman bit her lip.
"I'm really not supposed to…" She muttered and looked warily around like one of her superiors was watching.
"Well, in that case, what's your name? I'm sure the director of St. Mungo's will be thrilled to hear that you denied the family of the Minister access to your facilities." The receptionist seemed genuinely frightened.
"Floor 4. Room F." Dany smiled. She hated pulling the 'Minister's daughter' card, but she didn't seem to have a way around it.
"Thank you very much, you've been a great help. Lils, let's go." She said happily. Lily smiled hesitantly at the receptionist who looked mildly terrified.
"Sorry, she just…really loves her friends." The redhead muttered to the receptionist as she walked by the desk. Dany rolled her eyes; it was just like Lily to
try and pacify everyone under the Sun. Lily looked up at her best friend, "What? People can like you, you know. It's not a sin." Dany rolled her eyes again.
"Please, Lils I know that not everyone is going to like me, and you know what else? I'm okay with that." Dany retorted and she swore she heard Lily mutter something that ended in "…match made in Hell". Dany turned back around as she walked to quirk an eyebrow at her best friend, "What was that, Sweetheart?" Lily shrugged with a sly grin.
"Nothing, nothing. You said room F, right?" Dany watched her friend closely as she said this, but chose to ignore the topic change.
"Yeah…this is D…E…here we go, this is F." Dany said and the two girls looked at each other tensely. Without further ado, Dany pushed the door open to reveal James and his parents. The three looked up and all of them looked rather relieved that it was friends at the door and not healers. Dorea and Charlie both hugged their Goddaughter but then quickly left the room, to give them some time with James, Dany thought. Her Godbrother hugged her tightly.
"Dan. Thank God. Sorry I didn't say much in the note but I…I could barely string a sentence together when I sent it, to be honest," He said all of this with a strange look in his eye and Dany didn't miss the fact that his hands had been shaking when he had hugged her. She smiled a little at him and he seemed grateful, "I guess we can tell you now that you're here…Lily? What are you—?"
"I was at Dany's when she got your message. Believe it or not, as infuriating as I find you, I'd rather not see either of you dead." Lily said softly before he could finish asking what she was doing there. Even though she could barely stand James, Lily had always had a soft spot for Sirius. James looked at her sadly and nodded.
"James…what happened?" Dany asked him gently. James closed his eyes and rubbed his temples as if he had suddenly come down with a migraine.
"It was about 6 at night and we were eating dinner, right? But then someone knocks on the door and our House Elf goes to answer it. She opens the door and Sirius is passed out on our front porch next to his trunk. I would've thought that he Apparated but to say he doesn't have that particular skill down yet would be a spectacular understatement. So there's no one there, no broom, no way to Floo, no way he could have gotten there with out splinching himself. And despite the fact he was beat to Hell, all body parts were intact. We just assumed that someone dropped him off and left for some reason. We brought him here once Mom and Dad realized that he needed more than first aid. That was two days ago. Sorry my owl took so long." He said all of this with a defeated tone of voice and Dany had a keen suspicion that he hadn't slept since Sirius had unexplainably appeared on their porch. Dany hugged him again.
"James, I live in Scotland. It's not your fault that your owl can only fly so fast. He did a great job, by the way; he's resting up back at my place…how bad is he?" Dany said gently, not knowing if she wanted to know the answer. She distantly realized that Lily had been quite silent the entire time.
"See for yourself…he's in the far bed. This bloke got into a little accident on the Quidditch Pitch." James said as he gestured to the man that Sirius was apparently sharing a room with. Dany nodded and walked past him and to the other occupied bed. There was a screen up, to create some sense of privacy between the two people sharing the room. Dany could actually feel her heart break for the agony that James must be in. She couldn't imagine seeing her brother like this.
Sirius Black was not awake; he was barely breathing and there wasn't much of him that was undamaged. It rather looked like he had fallen down a couple flights of stairs that conveniently happened to be on fire, and then out a third floor window onto a set of kitchen knives. Looking at him now, Dany thought it was a damn miracle that he was even still alive. James came to stand next to her.
"They're keeping him sedated until his bones finish re-growing and some of the major organ damage has been repaired. A couple of his arteries got hit too. Dan…his parents did this to him, I'm sure of it. Damn, what I'd do to get a chance to wrap my hands around his mother's neck…" James muttered and his threats soon died off. Dany didn't look at James when she responded; they both just kept staring at Sirius. The most broken version of Sirius either of them had ever seen.
"If you really think it was his parents, and you have something to back it up other than your gut, I can write Alastor, see if he'll look into the Blacks as a favor." James smiled at her words and kissed her on the forehead.
"You wonderful, wonderful girl. We'll have to talk to him when he gets up, but I think those two need to go away for a very long time." Lily finally walked around the curtain and she placed a hand over her mouth.
"No one deserves this. His life has been hard enough, if anyone deserves a break…" Lily said softly to no one in particular. James nodded in agreement.
"Couldn't agree with you more, Lily, I really couldn't…I know you don't really care for me, but it means a lot that you came with Dan, so thank you, from me and from my family." James said earnestly. Lily looked at him, shocked. This was the soft, serious side of James that hardly anyone ever saw.
"Oh, well as much as you two drive me insane sometimes, I certainly don't want anything bad to happen to either of you…especially this, this is awful." Lily said in response, "Dan, I think I'm going to go home—to my parents. I'll swing by your place tomorrow if you're home, alright?" Dany nodded.
"Even if I'm not home tomorrow, go on over and get your stuff, you'll need it for school when we get back." She said and Lily nodded once before hugging her, whispering in her ear "hang in there", and vanishing out the door. James looked at Dany and pulled up two chairs. They sat down next to each other, backs to the door, facing Sirius' bed.
"It's going to be a long night." James said. Dany agreed and they continued to sit in silence until it was late at night and they fell asleep; James' head flopped to the side and Dany leaning forward, her head on the edge of Sirius' hospital bed.
Dany woke up because her head fell off the side of Sirius' bed. Before her chin hit her chest, she snapped her head up to look around instinctively. James was still asleep next to her, his head still over to one side. Dorea and Charlie were still nowhere to be found and the man in the other bed was silent. Nothing had changed since when she had fallen asleep.
She looked down at Sirius. Underneath all of the injuries, she could still see the basic features of his face; underneath the swelling around the eyes, there were still long eyelashes; the burn on his neck and jaw couldn't quite disguise his jaw line or chin. His hair was still the same color, even though there was likely still blood in it. His nose was slightly off kilter from normal but not so much that it wasn't unrecognizable. It was still him, and somehow that made it exponentially worse; objectively, he was attractive and classically handsome—beautiful even—and his face even now, under all of the damage done, was still there if you looked hard enough. What was missing was the smile, the funny comments, the eyes; he barely looked alive except for when occasionally he would twitch as his bones regrew. Dany felt another pang in her chest.
He moved a little in his sleep and Dany stood and left the room to try to find something to drink. She walked out to the hallway and immediately ran into two hospital administrators, a nurse, Michelle, Dorea and Charlie, and her brother and parents. Dany rubbed her eyes and realized she probably had a big red mark on her forehead from how she had been sleeping.
"Sweetheart, I'm sorry." Her dad said softly to Dany. She hugged him.
"Daddy, it's so horrible, I'm scared for him." Dany whispered in her father's ear. He hugged her back and put his chin on her head.
"I know you are, Dan. I talked to Michelle, she said she would take him in her ward; she's head of intensive care, right?" Her dad said softly. Dany nodded a little.
"Dany, we're going to take care of him, alright? Look at me sweetie, I know you're scared, we are too, but you have to be strong. The road to recovery won't be easy for him." Rhea said softly. Dany looked at her mom and then her eyes moved to the healer; it was Michelle Carson. Dany smiled at her half-heartedly, her crappy night's sleep setting in.
"Hi, Michelle."
"Hello, Danilynn. Mr. Black will be moved to my ward, in a private room that can accommodate everyone that wants to stay, so I'm going to look him over quickly then we're going to move him, alright?" Michelle said gently.
"Alright…but is there a reason you're telling me this?" Dany asked cautiously. Dorea smiled at her gently.
"Because you were the only person James wrote to. And we'd all rather enjoy it if you didn't try to impale us with pointy objects. Which is exactly what would have happened if we moved him without telling you." Dany was taken aback for a minute. She had wondered why Remus, Frank, and even Peter hadn't come bursting in the door yet. James hadn't told them. And she would have taken a scalpel to someone moving him if she hadn't known what was happening.
"Why don't we head back in there?" Michelle said softly and everyone nodded in agreement. They walked back in the room and James jolted awake. He turned around to see Dany, his parents, Daniel and Rhea, a healer and nurse, and two women who appeared to specialize in long, tedious paperwork.
"They're just going to move him to a different room, James. Come on." Charlie said softly to his son, who nodded silently. Michelle and the nurse carefully looked at him, trying to move quickly under the gaze of so many people. James and Dany watched from near the door, Rhaegar standing next to his sister and his arm wrapped around her. Michelle nodded to Dorea and Charlie and they started to move the bed out of the room. They all slowly walked down to the third floor and Dany felt rather like she was in a funeral processional. She tried to shake the morbid feeling and leaned on her brother heavily.
They finally reached the third floor and Michelle opened a door to a substantially nicer room than where Sirius had previously been. James raised an eyebrow at her. They situated his bed and James and Dany moved over to the side.
"Damn, my parents are Aurors and I've never seen these rooms." He said, looking around at the room. Dany shrugged at him.
"I mean, they're expensive as all get out, so unless the person is going to be here for a long time, most people don't bother." She said, idly watching Michelle examine Sirius closer. She checked the time, it was nearly 4 in the morning, "God, it's almost morning. How much longer do you think they're going to keep him out?" James thought for a moment, except he was immediately interrupted.
"Well, his bones are all back and healthy and most of the damage done to his organs is as repaired as we can manage with him sleeping. We're going to cut the potion that's keeping him sedated. He should be up in four to six hours." Michelle told the room, apparently hearing Dany's question. Dorea and Charlie nodded, but still looked nervous.
"He's going to be okay, right?" Dorea asked. Michelle considered the question.
"We're not out of the woods yet and he's going to have a rough week or so, but provided nothing goes too wrong, he should be just fine. And when he wakes up, you can tell him that nothing on his face is going to scar. People usually appreciate that news; don't get me wrong, he'll wear the marks from this for the rest of his life but his face is going to be intact once the bruises heal, we set his nose, and the burn on his neck and jaw heals." She said decidedly and Sirius and James' parents visibly relaxed. James slumped into Dany's shoulder with an audible sigh of relief. Dany felt rather like crying and Rhaegar glanced at her and gave her a small smile.
"That's great news; he's a vain bastard. He'd never shut up about it. The whining would be unbearable." James said and Dany laughed in agreement. Michelle and Rae looked over and while Michelle tried to suppress a smile for the sake of professionalism, Rae laughed outright. The two administrators took Dany's parents aside and the four of them walked out the door. Before leaving, Daniel paused.
"Rae, go on home for now. There's nothing more we can do. We'll be along soon. Dan I assume you'll be staying?" He told his son. Dany looked at the Potters.
"If they'll have me, I'd be glad to stay." She said and James immediately answered.
"If you don't stay I think I might hurl myself off the top of this building. There's a reason I wrote, you know." He said quickly. Dany smiled and nodded.
"I'll stay, James. For as long as you want me to. If there's anything I can do to make it easier, please tell me." Dany said softly, gently squeezing James' shoulder. Dorea and Charlie smiled at her and her parents left the room with approving glances. Rae kissed her on the forehead for the second time that night and then left.
James and Dany sat down on the couch against a wall and Dorea and Charlie sat in chairs near Sirius. Dany curled up into a ball and put her head on James' shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and rested his face against the top of her head. Neither of them fell asleep and neither moved for the rest of the night. Dorea and Charlie, on the other hand, couldn't keep still, one or both of them was constantly out of the room, doing one thing or another. Dany and James were alone when all of a sudden there was movement from the bed. Dany looked closer, just to make sure she wasn't just willing her imagination into Sirius waking up.
"James. Did you see him move?" James looked up from his stare-down with the floor.
"Dan, I think you're just imagin—no, he definitely just moved." Both of them stood up and rushed towards the bed. As soon as they reached the bedside, Sirius' eyes fluttered open, trying to adjust to the morning sunlight coming in from the open window.
"Wha—James? Dany? Where the hell am I?" He tried to sit up but James pushed him back into bed gently.
"Hey take it easy, Brother. You're in St. Mungo's; you're safe. You remember what happened right?" James asked but Sirius looked rather confused.
"Last thing I remember is being at my parents' house…I think I blacked out. How did you find me?" He asked and Dany exchanged a look with James, "What? What aren't you two telling me?" James shrugged at Dany and she understood she was going to be doing to talking.
"Sirius…you just, well, appeared on James' porch. Someone brought you there, knocked on the door, and left…any idea who?" Sirius looked confused momentarily then, as if lightning struck, he remembered.
"Regulus. It was Regulus. I—I remember being in a lot of pain…my parents left me to die, I think; Reg came into the room and pulled me off the ground. He had my trunk, I'm pretty sure…and he Apparated with me…beats me who taught him to Apparate though." Because of the war, apparition was now being taught to Fifth Years, lowing the age a year. However, Regulus Black was still a Fourth Year and wouldn't learn for another year. Dany and James exchanged a look that was essentially 'out of all the people, Regulus was not on the list'.
"I'm going to go get Michelle." James slowly said, casting Dany a meaningful look before leaving. Dany sat down in a chair next to Sirius' head.
"Gotta tell you, Dan, I'm kind of surprised that Mommy and Daddy let you out of the house alone in times like this." He said softly. Dany raised an eyebrow at him.
"I mean I could always leave…you know, me and my parents, who are very concerned, by the way." She said casually, her simultaneously concerned and laughing eyes giving her away, her threat falling flat. Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"Hey, I didn't say I didn't want you here, I just said I wasn't expecting it. It's nice to have a face around that's not James' overly-concerned mug." He said quietly.
"Lily was here yesterday too and Sirius…James has every right to be concerned. You haven't seen yourself. You had to be moved to intensive care. Fortunately for you, my parents are good friends with the Head of the Department. Oh, she said to tell you that nothing on your face would scar, so you know."
"Lily was here? And seriously it wasn't that bad…all things considered I feel pretty good. Actually, I feel too good. I know for a fact I had a broken leg and arm." He said, gently moving his arm. Dany felt her heart give an uncomfortable squeeze. Sirius tried to move to look at his body, but Dany gently pushed him back into bed.
"You don't want to, believe me. Wait until Michelle checks you out."
"Alright…how long have I been here?"
"Today makes three. I just got here yesterday afternoon, James wrote me in a quasi-understandable way and I came as fast as I could. Before you ask, no one knows outside of my family, the Potters, Lily, and me. The only reason Lily found out at all is because she was at my house when I got James' letter." He looked shocked.
"Three days? I've been out for three days?" Dany nodded at his shock.
"Yeah, I'd get comfy too. You've got a long way to go before you're well enough go anywhere…James asked me to talk to you about how this happened. I get if you don't want to, but he's pretty insistent. Just make up some bullshit lie if you want. I won't judge." Dany said as gently as she could.
"Oh…well, you can guess who it was…Dan, you really don't have to escalate this, it's not worth it, it really isn't." She raised an eyebrow at his protests.
"It isn't? What if this happened to me? Or to James? You'd try and kill who ever did it with your bloody bare hands. You need to say who it was. Nothing can happen until you do, and you know it." He looked rather touched at this.
"…My parents. It was my parents." Sirius said softly, looking like he would rather be talking about a number of other things. Dany nodded and smiled sadly at him. Moments later, James, Michelle, Dorea, and Charlie all came in.
"You have some very good friends, who care very much for you. I remember what you look like from when Daniel was injured, so let's get this pretty face back and healthy, okay?" Michelle said kindly. James looked at Dany questioningly and she nodded.
"I'm off to the Ministry. I'll be back soon with the cavalry." She whispered before leaving the room for the Floo.
Once Dany reached the Atrium, her speedy trip slowed exponentially. People stopped her, shook her hand, thanked her for her family's bravery in these hard times. It took her nearly fifteen minutes to walk a hundred yards. Once she reached the lift, she pressed the button labeled "Two" and waited for the doors to open again. She reached Level 2 undisturbed and entered the Auror Office. People greeted her here more familiarly than the people in the Atrium; the Aurors knew her, they knew Rhaegar, because Moody was a dear family friend and the children had spent many a day playing in here while their parents were at work.
"Hey, Dan you know where your old man is?" Someone asked her. She shook her head.
"Can't say I do…you know where Alastor is? I need to talk to him in a bad way." Dany responded.
"I happen to be right here, girl." She turned around to be face-to-face with her brother's Godfather, "What can I do for you, Danilynn?" Dany looked at him apprehensively.
"We need to talk. Alone." She said and he nodded, gesturing towards his office. Once they were alone, she thought about the best way to approach this.
"Sirius is in the hospital." She said abruptly. It sounded harsh and loud in the silent room. Alastor looked at her keenly.
"I'm very sorry to hear that; Sirius Black is probably the only decent thing that family has ever managed to produce." He said kindly, yet still suspiciously. He knew she wouldn't have come here unless she needed something.
"He was beaten to within an inch of his life. He says it was his parents." She said, now unafraid. Moody looked at her, surprised.
"Does he know about this?" Moody asked cautiously and she nodded. "And you want me to arrest them?" He asked her one last time, to make sure she knew what she was doing. She nodded again. "I'm not going to lie to you, I've been waiting for years to toss those bloody lunatics into Azkaban, and so has Florence; she might actually fulfill her life goal of putting them away permanently." Dany smiled a little. "I want to get the ball rolling on this. Strike while the iron's hot and such." He said briskly. Dany nodded and she grabbed his arm and they Apparated directly into the lobby of St. Mungo's. They arrived outside of Sirius' room and Dany opened it to see Sirius sitting up and listening to something James was saying to him and Dorea and Charlie were talking to Michelle; everyone glanced up and when they saw that Dany hadn't come back alone, they all fell quiet. Dany cleared her throat.
"Last time I saw you in here Sirius Black, you weren't the one in that bed." Moody said gruffly. "Dorea, Charlus, good to see you both, as always." Both of the Potters nodded their greetings and Michelle looked rather befuddled as to why there was an Auror in her ward that wasn't on death's door, "As long as it's okay with your Healer, I want everyone out." He glanced at Michelle and she nodded.
"It's fine. If anything happens, press that button and someone will come." She left the room and the Potters and Dany began to follow her.
"Wait," Everyone looked at Sirius at the sound of his surprisingly strong voice, "She stays. She stays or I don't talk." Dany's eyes widened and she looked at James like she was considering qualifying Sirius as insane. James shrugged and clapped her on the back.
"Fine. Masters stays. Everyone else, out." Moody said sternly. Dany sat down in a chair a couple feet away from Sirius' bed. Moody sat down next to him.
"When you're ready, tell me what happened. Be as brutal or as vague as you want. Preferably more brutal. I need to make the court feel something and nothing does that like the gruesome details."
"Alastor." Dany said warningly. He shrugged.
"You brought me here, Danilynn." He said dismissively.
"Yes, well—"
"It's fine, Dany. Really." Sirius said tiredly. Dany looked apprehensive but said nothing, something that didn't go by unnoticed by Moody. He had never seen the girl bite her tongue to such an extent before in his life. She obviously disagreed and thought that it most definitely wasn't fine but for once she didn't argue.
"Now that we've got Masters to shut her trap, we can get on with it." Alastor said briskly.
"Right…I don't really remember very much of it, honestly. I was arguing with my father over…I'm sorry I don't remem—James. We were arguing over Dany and James." He said, starting to remember. Dany jerked her head up.
"What about them?" Moody asked, obviously trying to be mindful that this was hard to talk about and the object of the argument was in the room.
"Well, it was less of an argument and more of an interrogation. I told them that there was no way I was sharing anything and they didn't take it very well." He said, absently staring at the wall across from his bed. "Mom was always a fan of the Cruciatus but Dad liked something that…left a lasting impression; he never cared for her mind games. I hardly remember anything else. I know someone found me after they just kind of left me in the dining room. I'm pretty sure it was my brother. That's all I have right now." Dany smiled a little at Sirius from where she was sitting.
"I'll head back to the Ministry to grab a few Aurors and go take your parents into custody. They'll remain in Azkaban until Daniel sets a trial date." Moody said as he stood up. "I'll leave you two alone." He Apparated without another word and Dany and Sirius stared at each other.
"How often?" Dany asked softly. He knew what she was talking about.
"How often are you and James involved in, well in this?" He said and he gestured to himself. Dany nodded silently. "James, hardly ever. Only when they bother to remember him, which is once every six months or so. You're kind of hard to forget though…every time you breathe too loud it's in the newspaper." He said. She didn't have to see her own face to know that she looked horrified.
"How come you never told me?" She whispered.
"It was never worth it. Either way it was going to keep happening so I let you live oblivious to it." He said with what was akin to a shrug in his injured state.
"Sirius Black if you weren't severely injured, I'd slap you into next week for that. You go home every break only to be abused over the fact you know me, and you don't bother to tell me? At least let me feel appropriately guilty."
"Dany—" He tried to stop her. She ignored this, starting to pace.
"If I had known—"
"What? What would you have done? There's nothing you could have done. I didn't want to have to tell you."
"You were being hurt and beaten bloody by your own parents just because you were unfortunate enough to make my acquaintance when we were eleven. I…I don't know what I would have done differently but I would have done something." She said, not thinking out the end of her tirade.
"Danilynn! Shut it for a second. There was nothing that you could have done that would have made a difference so please stop holding yourself accountable." He was losing his patience with this conversation and she saw it, but chose to ignore it.
"What your saying is that I shouldn't feel guilty that my very existence brought this on you? That's kind of hard to—" Sirius' patience was up.
"They didn't care that I knew you!" He finally shouted back. "They cared because I'm in love with you." Dany's mouth flopped open.
"What?"
"You heard me." Dany continued to stare silently. "Will you say something? I can't run away right now." There was suddenly insecurity all over, now that the irritation had faded.
"How—how long?" Was the only thing she managed to get out.
"A while. Third Year, maybe?" He said as he shifted awkwardly in his bed. Dany made her decision impulsively.
"The end of Second Year." She said abruptly.
"What?" He said blankly and it occurred to her that he had no idea that she had been harboring a crush for years. She stared at him and he finally understood. "Second Year? Really? I'm flattered." He said and she felt her face turn red.
"Yeah, yeah don't rub it in. This is awkward enough as it is." She muttered and he laughed for the first time since he had woken up.
"Yeah, it really is…does this make us a thing?"
"I guess…it seems kind of stupid to sit around and both have feelings and do nothing about it." She replied. He grinned and shook his head.
"Out of everything I expected to come out of being beaten senseless by my parents, this wasn't on the list." He said. She had to agree with him. Before she could stop herself, she kissed him only for him to kiss back. She heard someone open the door and start clapping behind her slowly. She turned around quickly only to be face-to-face with James.
"It's about time. Do you know how horrible it was to hear you two obliviously whine about each other? I couldn't do anything about it, either. Except for little stuff like, you know, bringing her here and not bothering to tell anyone else." He grinned.
"You knew?!" Dany and Sirius both yelled at him.
"Hey, you both swore me to secrecy and if James Potter is anything, he's a man of his word." James said smugly. "Are you two officially dating? Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" James batted his eyelashes at this with a girlish, partially mocking, way. Dany rolled her eyes and threw one of her shoes at him, which hit him in the chest. Sirius flipped him off but laughed.
"Sure, if she's okay with that." Dany heard Sirius say from behind her. She also felt her cheeks heat up again.
"I think the fact she just kissed you when your face looks like that says her opinion pretty loud and clear, Pads. Seeing that you look like the bottom of my shoe right now, I don't think she was going for the cute hookup route." James said, answering for Dany.
"James, play nice." Dany said, still smiling.
"See? You two are already ganging up on me. Ah, what's the line my dear Lily uses? 'More like a match made in Hell'?" James responded in a singsong voice. Dany threw her other shoe at him, this one he caught, leaving her barefoot. James grinned and took both of her shoes, running out the door. Dany considered following him but decided not to. She sat down near Sirius' head, where Moody had sat earlier.
"You don't really look that bad, you know." She said softly, inspecting his face. She was lying. He was hardly recognizable.
"No, I really do look that bad. I don't need to look in a mirror to know that." He responded and Dany felt quite bad for him. She smiled slightly.
"Nah, it's still you under there. Not even a near-death experience can make you unrecognizable." She responded and he took her hand, which surprised her but she made no effort to move away. "You're just…more purple and crooked right now." She said softly. He laughed then winced at the movement.
"More purple and crooked. That's a good way to describe it…so you spend a lot of time looking at my face?" He said suddenly with a grin. Dany rolled her eyes.
"Very funny. You asked what was the same and I told you. Like you don't stare at my face? My face deserves to be stared at." She said with a smile and false arrogance. He smiled again, this time softer. Just then, the Potters walked into the room, rescuing her from answering that statement. James grinned at how close their faces had been.
"Hey Mom, Dad. Guess what." James said, catching sight of their linked hands. Both of James' parents looked unimpressed. James was pretty transparent and his parents had pretty good luck at 'guessing what' most of the time.
"What, James?" His mother said, bored.
"Dany and Sirius are dating." He said with another grin.
"James!" Dany and Sirius both yelled at him. Charlie grinned a smile identical to his son's and Dorea gasped.
"Really?" She said and Dany and Sirius exchanged a look. Sirius smiled at her and she felt herself smile back.
"Yeah, really." Dany replied to her Godmother. Dorea hugged her and looked for a relatively unharmed part of Sirius to hug. She couldn't find one so she just kissed the top of his head.
"Sirius Orion, I want to make something abundantly clear. She is the best you will ever do, so don't fuck it up, Son." Charlie said, putting on his Dad voice.
"Yeah, I kind of figured as much. Can't really see how I'd do better, to be honest." He said to his adopted father and Dany felt her face go crimson as Dorea continued to coo over the new relationship.
"Did this just happen? Just now?" Dorea gushed. Dany nodded.
"Yeah, just now." She said.
"It's just so perfect. In the hospital and with heartfelt confessions, I could just die it's so cute." Dorea continued on.
"Well it looks like I just lost my best friend to another girlfriend." James sighed. His mother hit him over the head and Charlie laughed. James caught her eye and smiled.
"Aw, don't worry James you can have him on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other weekend." Dany laughed and Sirius protested.
"Oi! Do I get a say in this or am I just going to be passed around like a quaffle?" He said and James and Dany both shook their heads.
"Quaffle." They said simultaneously.
"Man, wait until I tell Lily." James added.
"Okay, I get to tell Lily." Dany said and her Godbrother laughed.
"We're all invested in your relationship so please don't screw it up." He said.
"You've got to be joking. That's why they were all always pushing so hard about that…damn I'm blind." Dany said and James laughed.
"You have no idea how nagging they all were when Sirius started dating around." James said and Dorea rolled her eyes before pulling her husband and son out of the room as Michelle walked back in.
"Sorry to break up whatever is happening in here but he needs to take a few potions and I need to set his nose." She said and Dany got up to go stand near the wall, out of the way. He downed the potions but still made a face. "Oh what are you, twelve? Besides, it doesn't burn nearly as much as firewhiskey does on the way down and you know it." Michelle said and Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"True enough…aren't Healers supposed to be nice and nurturing or something?" He said and before she said anything else, Michelle waved her wand and his nose corrected itself with a crack. He yelped and rubbed it carefully.
"We are when our patients are compliant. I will hold you down and force-feed you these potions if I have to." She said and smiled at Dany before she left the room. "Oh and Danilynn, your boyfriend's face should be back in working order in a day; until then, keep your hands off each other." She said with a wink before leaving.
"James has such a big mouth." She said and sat back down. Sirius laughed.
"He really does…why do all of your family friends have attitudes? It's really kind of disconcerting."
"My family has a hard time finding people that will be honest…we get a lot of people who want to suck up to get a boost in the Ministry. We like people who tell it like it is." She said absently. "At least you'll always know if they like you or not. No one's going to bother to lie." She said and he grinned. "Your nose looks better." She observed and he grinned.
"Are you ever going to let me see my own face?" He asked.
"No way. I already had this conversation with James. We decided that you're too vain and seeing your face like this would demolish your ego."
"I'm not that vain." He argued and she shook her head.
"Oh yes you are. You are so that vain." She laughed and he rolled his eyes.
"Alright, it's not my fault that other people tell me that I'm hot. It's not like I go around saying it." He countered and she had to admit to that.
"I'll give you that one…just so you know, my dad's probably going to threaten you in some way that involves some form of death that would be legal and executed through a series of loopholes that no one knows exists except for him." She said casually. Sirius' eyes widened. He had forgotten the classic right-of-passage of dating: talking to your girlfriend's father.
"And I thought he liked me." He said and she laughed.
"He does. But as it so happens, that can change quickly if you do something that he doesn't approve of. My feelings are very important to him, or so I'm told." She said and he looked horrified, to say the least.
"I would say that 'very important to him' is an understatement. You're his baby girl; something I'm sure he'll bother to mention at some point in that conversation. Ugh, I'm going to have to like, re-meet your parents. Like it wasn't terrifying enough meeting your dad, the bloody Minister of Magic, the first time. At least I didn't have to worry about him chucking me into Azkaban last time." He said and Dany laughed again.
"My father is a lovely person. No one's getting chucked into Azkaban, not unless I want him to be." He looked simultaneously amused and mildly scared.
"That's reassuring, thank you. So does this mean that I can publically hate all guys that hit on you now and not just to James in private?" He asked and she laughed at this.
"I guess…I don't know—I've never had the experience of having a boyfriend that gets concerned." She said with a laugh.
"You dated Brady, Dan." He said and she nodded in agreement.
"I did, but he wasn't particularly…worried about that. He never bothered to stop guys from looking; I doubt he even ever noticed if it happened. I mean they hardly ever did anyways so it wasn't a huge deal." She said with a shrug and he looked amused.
"Well that's about to change. I'm going to actively start disliking guys that try to hit on you." He said and she laughed at that.
"Alright, if that's what you want…just don't send anyone to the hospital. Anyone else." She corrected herself. She had momentarily forgotten that it had been Sirius and James to ship Brady off to the same facility she was sitting in right now. Sirius' eyes widened exponentially. "My dad's right behind me, isn't he?" Sirius nodded silently.
"Who was sent to the hospital?" Her father said as Dany turned around. Daniel was smiling and looked interested.
"Dad." Dany said, looking surprised. It was the middle of the workday.
"Dany. Now, first of all what's this James said about dating?" He asked his daughter. Dany didn't know how to answer that.
"James has a big mouth." She said and Daniel laughed.
"That much is definitely true, I'll give you that…but I'd like to hear this myself." He said and Dany didn't answer. Her father obviously wasn't talking to her. "So Sirius, are you dating my daughter?" He asked and Sirius looked uncomfortable, probably because her father was staring at him intently and completely impassively.
"Uh, yes I am…please don't kill me." He added on quickly and then suddenly Daniel laughed and Dany relaxed.
"Ah, it's about time you two. Now Sirius, you have to understand that I'm going to have to threaten you with some form of harm if you hurt my daughter." Sirius looked terrified. There was no smile or laughing look in his eyes, he was dead serious. "Even in your injured state, I must say that Dany is my only girl and she's the baby of the family; so if you ever hurt her emotionally or physically, if you even breathe on her in a way I don't like, I will have Dementors chase you down until the end of your days, and that's if her brother doesn't get to you first. Are we clear?"
"Yes, sir." He said quickly, still looking mildly terrified.
"Daddy, I think we can let him off the hook; he's in a hospital bed." Dany said with an eye roll. Her father kissed the top of her head and shrugged.
"I'm just making sure he understands, sweetheart." He said gently to his daughter. "Sirius understands, right Sirius?" He barked suddenly.
"I understand. Loud and clear." Sirius said. Even though he had been beat to hell and back it was still all over his face that Sirius was not enjoying this encounter with her father. Dany could tell that her dad was intentionally prolonging this conversation, just to torment him a little.
"Dad, stop. You didn't do this with Brady." Her father didn't look swayed.
"I'm doing this because of Brady; we don't need a repeat. Now, I need to be heading back to work. Goodbye, you two." He said before leaving. He paused on his way out. "And Sirius? You should know that your parents are in the custody of the Auror Department. They'll be in Azkaban until I set a trail date and their verdict can be determined…that trial date will be a very, very long way away from now. I'm a busy man, you know. I have more pressing matters to handle." He said with a small smile and a wink before leaving.
The painkillers were clearly wearing off a few hours after Daniel left because Sirius was really starting to feel his aches and pains. He was really trying to ignore them because he'd rather stay awake and coherent, but that wasn't going to be feasible for much longer. He was in a lot of pain. Dany noticed after a bit. He wasn't surprised she noticed.
"I'm going to go get a nurse or Michelle; you need something for the pain." She said and stood up.
"Dan, I'm fine. Really, I wasn't expecting to feel on top of the world." He protested and she shook her head.
"Hush. If you can now openly hate guys that hit on me, I can now openly worry. I'll be right back." She said and smiled before she walked out of the door. Damn, this was one hell of a stint in the hospital. He hadn't meant to yell at her at all, let alone that he was in love with her. Dany walked back in with a nurse, who smiled kindly at him.
"Hello, dear. I hear that you're feeling a little pain?" She asked and Sirius glanced at Dany, who seemed like she wasn't in the mood for his 'I'm not in pain, honestly' crap. He nodded.
"Yeah, nothing feels very good at the moment." He said and the nurse nodded before starting to mess with the IV he hadn't noticed in his arm until just now.
"Well, let's give you some of the good stuff, huh?" She said and carefully pumped something out of a syringe and into the tube. Dany sat back down next to him and the nurse smiled a little, noticing him looking at her. "She isn't going anywhere, hon." She added on and Dany nodded. Sirius suddenly felt very weird and then he didn't remember anything else until the middle of that night.
It was Michelle that had woken him.
"I'm just here to give you a couple of potions and to start getting the burn on your jaw healed up." She said and handed him a few potions that he downed and let her put something on his jaw and neck. "It's going to burn for a little bit but then it's going to get a lot better. The stinging should go away after about half an hour." She whispered, pausing as Dany made a sound in her sleep. Sirius nodded and Michelle carefully pulled back the covers of his hospital bed and started to examine various body parts. She apparently found nothing worrisome and let him crawl back under the covers. Sure enough, his jaw was starting to burn. He had to fight the urge to rub the stuff of his face. "I know it sucks, but it's the fastest way to get you out of here. I like you, but I don't want to keep you." Dany's eyes fluttered open.
"Michelle?" She asked groggily. "What are you doing here?"
"Making sure that all of his body parts are in working order. Sirius, once your jaw's healed up, we can get rid of the bruising on your face." She added on and he nodded. Dany looked around, obviously mostly asleep.
"I hate the fucking hospital." She muttered before she fell back asleep. Michelle suppressed a smile and Sirius shook his head a little.
"That's all for now. Try to get some more sleep." She said and Sirius nodded.
The next morning, Dany was already up and it appeared that someone had brought her a change of clothes because she was no longer dressed like she had come straight from a swim in a pool. She was in a giant shirt and leggings and was curled up with a book in the same chair. He woke up and she looked up.
"Good morning." She said softly and he yawned.
"Morning. What time is it?" He asked and she checked the time.
"About nine. Your jaw looks better." She observed and he nodded.
"It definitely feels better, I can tell you that." He said and she smiled a little.
"That's good." She said as Michelle walked in.
"Dan, I'd like you to leave the room. I'm going to have a look at his back and legs." She said and Dany nodded before standing and leaving. Michelle inspected him. She pulled the covers back off of him. "Alright, let's see if you can stand on your own." She said and poked his legs with her wand. Nothing happened. "Well up you go." She said and she carefully helped him out of bed. It was the first time he had actually stood up since he had walked into the dining room of Grimmauld Place. "So, I hate to be the one to tell you, but you're going to have to strip." She said and he raised an eyebrow.
"At least buy me dinner first, Michelle." He said and she laughed.
"I think I'll save that bit for your newfound girlfriend…alas, I'd just like to see if everything's healing the way it should." She said and forced him out of the hospital gown. And now he was naked and this was super uncomfortable. She didn't say anything for a while which just made it ever more uncomfortable.
"Well that's it for your back. Everything is radically improved since you were admitted so that's good. You can also get dressed again." She added on and he gratefully put the pseudo-clothes back on and got back into bed. She walked out of the door for a second and poked her head back in. "Ah, it appears that your friends have returned. Do you want me to let them in?" She asked and he nodded and she vanished. Dany, James, and Lily all walked in. Sirius was surprised to see Lily, but he had no problem with her presence. She was a distraction for James to have that wasn't him. Judging by the way she wasn't absolutely ready to die with excitement, Dany hadn't told her that they were dating. That sounded weird even in his head. Dany and James stayed back and Lily came over to greet him.
"You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you." She said and he smiled at her.
"Hi, Lily. It's good to see you." He said and she smiled and looked like she would have hugged him if he hadn't been injured. She touched his shoulder lightly; much like her best friend, she had a very gentle touch and a very unassuming demeanor when she needed to. No wonder the girls got on so well.
"You too. It's really good to see you." She said and James asked her a question, distracting her for a second. 'Does she know?' he mouthed to Dany. She shook her head a little with a small smile that she immediately hid as Lily turned around from talking to James. She sat down in the seat that everyone had been trading around and he saw Dany exchange a look with James, where they were standing in the back of the room.
"Hey Lily believe it or not, Sirius managed to wrangle up girlfriend eleven in here." James said and Lily looked at him disbelievingly.
"Are you joking? In the hospital? Are you going for nurses now? You could at least stick with school age girls." She asked with a snort. He shook his head.
"Cute, but no. The nurses here aren't very cute, not like I'm one to talk right now." He said and Lily looked at Dany and James like she wanted them to help her. They both shrugged and Dany was trying very hard not to laugh.
"Can I have a hint?" She asked, apparently completely not expecting the relationship she'd been plotting for years to actually happen.
"You know her, if that helps." Lily's eyes widened. She turned towards Dany.
"Really?" She asked. Dany nodded.
"Really." She replied and Lily immediately started squealing and hugged her friend, who seemed taken off-guard by the level of enthusiasm.
"Oh my God, this is so amazing and it's just so cute and give me another hug, Danilynn." She said and Dany hugged her warily as Lily simultaneously kept talking and squeezed her friend. It was to the point that Sirius was rather worried that Lily was going to suffocate her. He exchanged a look with James.
"I told you that we're all very invested." He said and Sirius rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Lily relinquished her friend and turned towards him.
"Now, Sirius Black I want to make something incredibly clear right now. I'm sure Daniel's already beat me to it, but it's still my duty to say it. If you hurt her in any way, shape, or form I will turn your life into a living hell." Sirius didn't doubt it.
"She's very…impassioned about this. Obviously." James commented.
"I see that. It's kind of terrifying, not going to lie. Are they all that enthusiastic? Please say no." James laughed.
"No, no me and Lily were the most invested because we're your respective best friends. The others are interested and have been conspiring with us, but once they figure it out they'll move on pretty quickly. There's going to be a lot more squealing girls though." He added on and Sirius nodded, unsurprised by the last bit. Michelle walked back in and everyone looked up. Lily seemed confused.
"Oh, Lily this is Michelle Carson. She's Sirius' Healer. She was also my dad's healer, right before Fourth Year." She said delicately and Lily nodded. "Michelle, this is Lily Evans. She's the best friend." She said simply and Michelle smiled at her.
"It's nice to meet you, Lily." She said kindly and Lily smiled back at her. "So, if everyone wouldn't mind clearing off to the corners, I need to look at his face again. And his arms…because you literally don't have a part of you that isn't injured." She murmured the last part to him and Sirius knew it was true. She sat down next to him and poked his jaw, which Sirius expected to hurt quite a bit. It didn't hurt at all. "Well, I think we can finally fix up your face all of the way." She said and he nodded. "All that's left is the bruising." She said.
He noticed for the first time that this was a mix of Muggle and magical. Michelle was pushing the speed of his recovery in everyway she knew how. Sirius was rather thankful. Lily said something to Dany and Dany responded with a nod. James was staring at him intently. Michelle checked her watch after a few minutes of them all standing there, silent for the most part.
"Damn, Michelle." Dany said after a few minutes. "That's incredible."
"Thank you, dear. It's my job, you know." She said and Dany nodded. "Alright, let me see your arms." She said and Sirius handed her his left arm. "Everything looks fixed up in your shoulder and most of the muscles are mended." She examined his right arm. "Same over here. So I think I can discharge you into the care of Dorea and Charlie early tomorrow morning." He raised an eyebrow at James. He shrugged.
"What?" James asked him and Dany smiled a little and motioned out of the room to Lily. Michelle slowly backed out of the room and murmured, "I'll get your parents" to James. James sat down next to him. "Honestly mate, did you really think that we were going to kick you out into the street?"
"I haven't thought about it, honestly. Between the fact I almost died and then the whole deal with Dany, it hasn't really crossed my mind." He said and Dorea and Charlie walked in.
"Well, we have and you're staying with us and I don't want to hear shit about it, son." Charlie said and Sirius closed his mouth.
"We should've taken you in a long time ago. You're already family and you're living with us and now we'll finally be a proper family." Dorea said.
"So do I say thank you or is that not allowed either?" James snorted.
"Please, no one is that gracious in this family. It's what's right and we want to. Besides, if you hate living with us, I'm sure that Dany and hers would take you in. Either way, you're not going back and you're not going to be on your own." James said and Sirius nodded. Someone knocked on the door softly. It was Dany.
"Dorea? Charlie? Mom's here. She wanted to know if you needed anything from home or anything at all." She said softly and Dorea left with her.
"We're okay, dear." Charlie said and Dany nodded before leaving. "You are going to have so many women making all over you for the next four or five days." Charlie said and Sirius raised an eyebrow at him.
"Last I checked Dorea is the only woman that lives with you." He said and James shook his head.
"Nah, Dan and Rhea are going to stay with us until school resumes. So Mom, your girlfriend, and her mother are all going to be fussing over you. Not to mention the house elf. Sally is a real sweetheart." James said and Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"That just seems excessive." He said and James shrugged.
"They offered to stay. I mean I could always tell them that there's no need, but I somehow doubt that you're going to turn down an extended stay with your girlfriend." James said and Sirius shrugged. "So how weird is it? Dating her, I mean." He asked and Sirius shrugged again.
"It doesn't seem weird at all, which is the weird part. It should feel weird, but it doesn't." He said and James grinned.
"This entire time and you had no idea she liked you." He mused and Sirius rolled his eyes. "You should have heard her talk about you. It was the same way you talked about her." He said and Charlie was suppressing a smile. A nurse walked in and Sirius knew why. They wanted to put him on more painkillers. She walked over and pumped more of the drugs into his system and he passed out pretty quickly.
Sirius was, true to Michelle's word, discharged into Charlie's care the next morning. Rhea walked in as Charlie helped him up.
"Charlus Potter, have you lost your ever-loving mind? Has Michelle cleared him to walk out of here on his own?" She asked and Sirius saw very quickly saw what James was talking about in terms of fussing women. Rhea Masters was a strong woman, who had her own stubborn ideas on a lot of things, but she was still a mother. It apparently wasn't Daniel that made soup for his sick kids and obsessed over their health. Charlie rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Rhea. She cleared him. The boy has to walk eventually." He said and Rhea nodded before allowing him to stand up.
"I know for a fact that Michelle hasn't cleared him for Apparation or Floo so we're driving up to Godric's Hollow." She said and Charlie nodded before putting him in a car that obviously was here at Daniel and Rhea's request, judging by the fact that the person driving was a Ministry worker.
"Hey Hank, we're ready when you are." Rhea said and the man nodded.
"Sure thing, Lady Rhea." He said and started to pull out of the hospital.
"It's about three hours by car." Charlie said to him and Sirius nodded. "Try and get some more sleep, okay?" He said and Sirius nodded again. Before closing his eyes. The last thing he saw was Dany's mother pulling out a book and Charlie quite obviously watching the city go by. He was going home and for once, he wasn't dreading it.
"Sirius. Sirius, you need to get up." Someone said and he looked around. It was Charlie and they were in Godric's Hollow. He sat up and nodded, just as they pulled into the Potter's driveway. The car came to a stop and Rhea thanked the driver before helping Sirius out of the car with Charlie. James came out of the house.
"Mom put him in the room one down from mine. Sally'll show you up there." He said and Sally the house elf appeared next to James, who walked back in the house.
"Welcome home, Master Charlie, Master Sirius. Lady Rhea, it's so good to see you." She said sweetly. This elf was so bloody nice.
"It's lovely as always, Sally. How are you?" Rhea asked her kindly and she smiled back.
"I'm wonderful, Lady Rhea. It's good to have Master Sirius home." She said and Sirius wondered how widely the 'Sirius lives here' memo had been distributed. "How are you, ma'am?"
"I'm wonderful as well, thank you for asking. James said you'd show us upstairs?" She asked and the elf nodded before walking back inside the house. Even though she didn't technically wear clothes, the Potters took good care of her and had found a way around it, making different things into "clothes". They would have given her clothes if she had allowed them to. She led them up the stairs and Charlie and Rhea were carefully watching him, in case he fell. They made it up the stairs and Sally directed them to a room, where Dany was sitting on the foot of the bed.
"Miss Dany." Sally said and Dany smiled at her.
"Thank you, Sally. Could you go make sure that Dorea doesn't need any help? I think she's on the verge of having a panic attack from all of the hyper vigilant Mom instincts." She asked and the elf vanished with a smile and a pop. Dany stood up. "I've got him." She said quietly to her mother and Charlie, who both nodded before kissing her cheek and leaving. "Now, I'm going to take a guess and say that you'd like real clothes." She said and he nodded.
"I would kill for a real shirt. Not to mention that if Michelle never sees me naked again, it'll be too soon." He said and she laughed before handing him clothes.
"Well that's charming. You can add her to the list of women who've seen all of your bits and pieces." She said teasingly and he laughed. "Go change. I'll be right here if you need anything." She added on. Sirius walked into the bathroom. He changed and brushed his teeth, which he didn't realize how much he missed until he hadn't in four days, before walking back out into the room. Dany was still there. "You look better. Alright now get in bed. Healer's orders." She said and he rolled his eyes before getting in bed. "How do you feel? Any pain?" She asked and sat on the edge of the bed next to him. He shook his head. "You sure? Michelle sent home mild pain relievers, just in case." She said and he nodded. It was obvious that Dany's tendencies towards the injured and ailing came from her mother.
"I'm sure. This is so much more comfortable than a hospital bed." He said and she nodded.
"The beds in this house are incredible; they always have been. Now, Dorea has been going crazy and I think she's made at least three kinds of soup for you by now, so I think I'll let her know that you're settled in. Not to mention all of the bloody casserole." She said and left, pausing to kiss his forehead. Sally appeared moments later, completely unprompted.
"I'm going to be under constant observation, aren't I?" He asked her and she nodded.
"We all want to be sure that you're okay. Everyone's very worried, Master Sirius. Mistress Dorea has been in a right state for days." Sally said and sat in the desk chair.
"Thanks, Sally. But you don't have to stay." He said and she shook her head.
"I want to." She said and Sirius rolled his eyes but said nothing more on the topic. Women. Dorea walked in alone moments later, telling Dany to hurry up.
"Excuse me but this is heavy and I'm short. If you wanted speed then you should have asked James or Charlie to carry this up and not me." He heard her respond from the hallway.
"Dear, if I asked them to carry something that could spill, there would be nothing left by the time it got here." She said and Dany laughed, finally coming into view. She had a tray in her arms that seemed like it was far too big for her body. She handed it to Dorea and Sally smiled at her Mistress before vanishing again. Dany sat in the seat Sally had just emptied. "Sirius Black, you need to have this soup and so help me if you don't finish it." Dorea said and sat down next to him, on the edge of the bed.
She didn't have nearly as gentle of a touch as the Masters women did; she was much more intent on health than comfort. Dany and Rhea had asked about pain and wanted to make sure he wasn't hurting, but Dorea seemed very set on making him drink unpleasant potions and force-feeding him soup to help him get better. Where Dany and her mother had wanted to keep him off his feet and keep him comfortable, Dorea was clearly much more goal-oriented. Sirius quietly ate the soup, which was quite good, under the watchful eye of Dorea Potter. Once he had finished it she took the bowl and nodded approvingly before leaving. Dany looked amused.
"Come here, Dan." He said and she walked over and sat next to him in bed. She was a comforting presence; she always had been. He put an arm around her and she moved closer to him, as close as she could get without sitting on top of him. It was very different to be able to have her close and not have to worry about crossing the invisible line between friend and boyfriend. She took one of his hands, examining his fingers and palms, tracing the lines on his palm.
"You have a long life line." She murmured absently.
"Since when do you pay attention to divination?" He asked and she shrugged.
"I don't. That just stuck with me. How are you?" She asked and he shrugged.
"I've been better, but I've definitely been worse. I've been so much worse. It still kind of amazes me that everyone is so nice." He said and she shrugged.
"This is what family is supposed to be like, Sirius…you've been cheated your entire life and you never even knew it." She said.
"I never really thought about it, but I guess I have been…so I have to say that I didn't know that so many people had money out on us." He said and she laughed.
"I didn't either. I would have placed my own bet, if I had known. Alas, it was a lost opportunity." She said and they sat in silence for a little while. It was a very comfortable silence, which always took Sirius by surprise; he usually hated silence, usually filling it with rambling small talk, but he made no such efforts now. Dorea walked in and immediately smiled.
"So cute." She whispered and Sirius wondered why she was whispering. He glanced down at Dany; she had apparently fallen asleep with his arm around her and she was breathing deeply and obviously was content. "You need to take these." She handed him potions. He took them and handed her the vials back, trying not to cough, in case he woke Dany up. "Try and sleep, dear." She said quietly and he nodded. Dorea gently shook Dany awake; she looked up at her Godmother. "Dan, he needs to lay all the way down so please give him his arm back." She said quietly and Dany nodded before leaning forward to give him the ability to move his right arm. He actually lay down completely and Dorea nodded before leaving, saying that she'd wake him for dinner tonight.
Dany got up from the bed and paused for a moment at the edge of it and kissed him gently. That was actually the first time that she had kissed him and it hadn't been completely abrupt and so shocking that he didn't really kiss her back or even process it. He wasn't shocked that she was pretty clumsy between the facts that she was still partially asleep, they didn't know each others bodies at all, and she had only been with Brady (who was mediocre himself and a downright shitty teacher from what girls had said).
"Go to sleep. Someone will be here when you wake up." She said quietly before sitting in the desk chair. He nodded and almost immediately fell asleep.