The potions were coming along perfectly.
Until Sirius very nearly died.
Rose had just finished her own mixing when she had heard him clear his throat. She could tell something was wrong just by the tone of it.
"Rose?" His voice was nervous, something that he almost never portrayed before.
Oh, no. She'd thought. Here we go.
"What happened?" She asked, rushing over.
"I-erm, well, I got sidetracked-" His potion had gone from the deep black to an ugly yellow and was paling by the second. His face was turning greener too, his skin clammy, the way he moved making it apparent that he was very lightheaded.
The others who had been stirring turned to see what all the fuss was about.
"Focus, you lot," she barked at the others.
They snapped back to attention. She turned back to Sirius who was fluffing his hair in anxiety. "And?!"
"I stirred it the wrong way," he confessed, voice shaking with nerves. Unless he was getting worse, and the jitters were from the potion. He collapsed into a nearby chair.
"Don't panic, I can fix it," she assured, running over to a stack of books on the end of the desk and opening one up, while she tied up her hair with the other hand. She rolled up her sleeves and rushed back over.
"How many did you do the wrong way?" she asked insistently, still flipping through the book.
"All of them. All thirty," he replied, skin starting to turn paler, and dark circles forming under his eyes, where the typical deep grey was shadowing and clouding over with cataracts forming.
"Alright, hand me that," She grabbed the vial that James picked up for her with shaking hands and started to work.
It took hours.
Xx
They had all stayed and watched, even though they didn't have to, for a long time after the panic began, until she sent them away.
She had gotten rid of her school robes which had begun to get bleached by the steam coming out of the cauldron, leaving them ruined and in a heap on the floor. Her hair was a mess, falling out of the hasty ponytail. Her blazer was torn where it had caught on the side of the handle of the cauldron. Her wrist ached, and the mandrake leaf that was still sitting in her mouth was more irritating than it had ever been before. Sweat was dripping down her face and she wiped it off to make sure it didn't end up back in the cauldron. The potion had gone from yellow, to green, to olive and almost brown, and was now close to being back to its original black. She was stirring feverishly, just starting to slow down from many hours worth of work.
There were half-empty and barely used vials of potion ingredients, (some that Remus and Ellie had had to retrieve that very evening from the apothecary and potion master's stores) all over the desk, spilling out their contents as she took pinches from various places and put them in carefully. Sirius was also doing better, sitting off to the side to give her more space.
"Sirius?" She asked.
"What do you need?" He asked, rising, still just a little bit shaky.
"In my pocket, on the right side, there's a couple of tea leaves. Can you get them for me?"
He walked over, and because of the impossible position that she was in, leaning over the cauldron, he had to get incredibly close to her to get the ingredients she needed. He reached over and she could feel his warmth.
Focus, she told herself, muttering the dozens of things that she still needed to do under her breath.
"Here."
He put the small, green leaves on the counter.
"Thanks," she smiled, a little nervously.
She worked for what felt like another eternity, until the full black color was restored to the potion, perhaps even sleeker than it had been before.
Practically collapsing when she was finally done, she left the simmering cauldron to turn around and fall into Sirius' waiting arms.
"Whoa there. You okay?" He asked. She smiled up at him weakly.
"Peachy. Just do me a favor," she requested.
"Anything," he promised earnestly.
She closed her eyes.
"Never do that again." She leaned in and he held her close to his chest. She could feel his soft laugh, and his strength that she had brought back. His heart beating clearly.
She had done it.
She had saved him.
Xxxxxx
SO, I am totally into Sirius being all gentlemanly and adorable because of his gentlemen upbringing, but don't worry, there's some less gentleman Sirius coming along. Also, so many different opinions on Peter. I'd like to know what you guys think of the little rat. Let me know! Thanks for reading/reviewing, and don't let the muggles get you down!
post edit: i need to add some more sassy sirius in here somewhere. Hopefully soon. Spoiler a little here, but im thanking everything that i found a legit way to get rid of Peter. But anyway. Thanks for hanging on and reading my horrible writing!