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There was no sign of Ray at breakfast that morning. The reason for his lack of presence was obvious; Sirius knew as much. So instead of joining everyone immediately, he marched down the hall to Ray’s room, knocking twice.
“Ray. Are you in there?”
He was only met with silence. Frowning, Sirius tried again.
“Ray!” He paused for a moment to listen for any sign of life from the other side. When there was no answer the second time, he spared the formalities and pushed the door open. “If you’ve decided to not get out of bed again this morning—”
He paused at the sight inside, realizing Ray was not awake, as he had believed. The young king was still asleep, sprawled out across his bed. He had not bothered to change out his day clothes or move under the covers. Instead, one arm dangled off the side of the bed; the other held the cover of a book open on his chest. It rose and fell with his breathing, indicating he had, once again, stayed up late into the night reading. Sirius watched for a moment, letting his shoulders sink with another weary sigh.
“I really should stop lending you books.” As he spoke, he stepped into the room, frowning at the usual state of disarray on every surface. “Especially when you leave books on the floor like this. Some of these are even mine.” He collected a few on his way to the bed, examining one as he came up alongside Ray’s bed.
Then, after deciding it would serve him well for its intended purpose – he swung it down with a thwack! against Ray’s pillow, just shy of his head. He jolted awake a moment later, sitting up with wide eyes. Sirius busied himself with putting books back as Ray scanned the room, finding the source of the attack immediately.
“Did you have to wake me up like that again, old man?” Ray snapped at him as he rubbed at his eyes. “I told you, just shake me awake or something.”
“If a book is what made you fall asleep, then it only makes sense to have one wake you up.” He smiled down at Ray. “That was also for leaving one of my books on the floor.”
“Whatever. It’s just where it ended up.” He returned Sirius’s smile with a sleepy glare, hauling himself out of bed. “Not everyone’s tidy like you.”
“It would do you well to take care of books, at the very least.” He slid the last novel onto the shelf before stepping back to let Ray past. “You need to attend to your duties. After breakfast, there’s a weapons inspection that needs your final approval, then a meeting with a couple of Central officials.”
“Mmm.” Ray acknowledged the schedule as he found a less wrinkled shirt and retrieved the other parts of his uniform from where he had slung them over a chair. “Got it.”
“And, Ray…” Sirius extended his hand. “My book.”
Ray stared at the outstretched limb, confused. “Why? I was going to read it—”
“At breakfast? Absolutely not. You’re going read it until you’re done and let it interfere with your other duties.”
Ray frowned at him, but handed it over despite his displeasure. Sirius scanned the page a moment, smirking as he tucked a makeshift bookmark inside and snapped the book shut.
“I see you’re at that part. I wonder, how you will handle the cliffhanger until this evening —”
“Shut up, old man. Get moving.”