Chapter Text
At this specifically dark night, the wind was blowing mercilessly. A tall figure was slowly and limpingly making his way down the street of working class London, until he reached his destination - a small house, not any different from any other around. He hesistantly lifted his hand and knocked softly, hoping someone would hear it at this time of night. Silence...
Sirius's heart was pounding heavily. The prospect of spending the night on the streets was not too appealing, considering the problems the police might give him. Having a messed-up family was never fun. And on the first few hours of his gained freedom, he's gonna freeze outside?! That's not in any teenager's dreams, I suppose. Just before he was about to go away, a light goes on in the hall. He knocks again. Finally, somebody comes to the door but hesitates to open.
The door swings open, a clearly surprised girl greeting him.
"Sirius! Oh Merlin... you look like hell! What happened?! Come in, come in, you poor thing..."
Sirius did not enjoy being fussed around by his best friend's sister, but he had to play along, he had no choice, had he?
"Yeah yeah, tone it down, Kitten."
"I'm not a kitten to you! I would appreciate being called by my name", - the girl corrects him grumpily, "which is, in case you forgot, Hazel".
"Whatever, you little menace", - Sirius relents. "Is Remus awake? And are your parents, uhh, home?"
"Parents left for a business trip yesterday. I can wake Remus if you want..."
"Well no, no need then. Wouldn't wanna ruin our dear furry's beauty sleep. Do you know any healing spells, Kitt- I mean, Hazel..?"
"Do I look like an idiot to you?! Of course I do. What's the matter? Are you hurt? Why? Why are you even here in the middle of the night?!" Hazel asks, curious yet worried.
Sirius cringes, realising it's gonna be a long story and she will not back down until she knows. He never really spoke to her seriously. After all, she was just a sister of his friend, she's little, what to make of her? He didn't want to share his demons with an excessive amount of people. Even his girlfriends (who he changed like gloves) never knew about any of his family drama. The most ancient and noble house of Black had a lot of skeletons in the closet, even toddlers knew that in the wizarding world. But nobody really had to know he's been abused and even tortured by his own parents...
"Hazey, you don't wanna know that, trust me", - he says, a little softer, "I just have a few mild magical injuries. A standard healing curse would help a lot, fine? Here, aim for the chest..."
He unbuttons his shirt and sits down, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the pain the healing curse might bring him, especially cast unprofessionally. Hazel blushes slightly, not ready to see a handsome friend of her brother topless on her couch.
"Y-yeah... a second..."
She aims for his chest and casts the charm, soft glow igniting from the tip of her wand and sinking into Sirius's bare chest. Sirius flinches ever so slightly, his face twisting in pain.
"There... any better?" the girl asks, her expression worried and tender. That's a first, any would think. She was hell of a firecracker, always into trouble, a sarcastic and bossy little thing. Or, simply to say, a stark contrast to Remus.
"Yes, thank you, Kitten", Sirius smiles.
"No "Kitten", but I guess I can allow you calling me whatever you like... for now." A smirk appears on the corners of her lips.
"Well that's a small victory!" Sirius chuckles and ruffles her hair.
Hazel lets him touch her with no resistance.
"What, not gonna bite me? Not even gonna break my nose for even looking at you? That's new."
"So will you tell me what happened?", she pressed.
"Ouch, Kitten. But fine. You see... I'm disowned now."
"You're what...? Ohh... I'm so sorry..." She is stunned, her expression almost comically shocked as she slowly leans to hug him tightly. "I shouldn't have been so ignorant... I should've known... why have you never told me anything was wrong? What even got you disowned?"
Sirius sighs, bracing himself for the inevitable...
"Hazel, I had no right to burden you. You're... young and innocent, why would I ever tell you what hell of a life I have? That I'm put under Cruciatus curse nearly everyday. That I can't bear a second-long talk with any of my family. That -, he hesitated, - that I'm not a true Black and will always be the odd one out among them. The only way was just to... leave, Hazel. Which I did, tonight. Sorry for intruding and waking you up, I just had nowhere else to go. I'm gonna leave tomorrow for Potters, but that's a long way to Godrick's Hollow..."
Hazel's heart nearly broke when she heard the vulnerability in his voice. Charmer, player, reckless and funny Sirius is suddenly letting his heart out on his deepest pains. Her grip on him tightens, she's deeply shaken by his words, yet Sirius seems clam and stoic, which makes her even more scared for him.
"Sirius, you could've always told me -", she said, her voice is quiet and soft.
"I appreciate the concern, but I don't need anyone's pity", Sirius cut off harshly, a hint of bitterness in his eyes.
"Don't say that! I'm not pitying you. I'm merely offering support."
"Yeah? Where have you been before, ms. Supportive?" Sirius asks mockingly.
"Right here! It's not my fault you've never noticed..."
Sirius bites back another sharp comeback. She was right, after all..."Right. My bad."
Uncomfortable silence stretches as they both look away from each other. Hazel speaks up.
"We don't have much time left to sleep anyway... come upstairs with me?", Hazel offered. She wanted to lighten the mood a bit.
"And what will I do there, Kitten? Play with your dolls?", he fires back.
"I'm 15, not 5", she answers calmly.
"15? Since when?!", he asks, baffled.
"Since my birthday, moron."
Sirius scoffs, annoyed. He looks over at her. She was indeed 15, no more of those chubby cheeks she had years ago, no more childish innocence and sweetness. Instead, an almost grown woman only a year younger than him was sitting beside him with an unimpressed expression on her face. It was clear that he was slowly hurting her with his teasing and underestimating, and he started feeling sorry. Yet, he would never admit it. Hell, he would never even admit that she looked really good... in all the right places.
"Alright, let's go upstairs, I guess", he mutters.
Hazel gets up and leads him to her room. It was different from his last visit. No, it was probably the same, but the last time he walked into it while visiting Remus (which he did regularly) was probably years ago.
"Cozy space you've got here..." he attempts to lessen the tension.
"Yeah, worked on it", - she smiles softly, "Remus told me you have lots of records. Do any of mine interest you that you haven't listened to yet?"
Sirius looks through her records until he fishes one out.
"Didn't take you for a Doors fan. You've got all their albums! I only managed to get my hands on "The soft parade", which I mildly hate...", Sirius mentioned.
"You wanna give it a listen? Other albums are much better, honestly. Let's start with the first one, hmm?"
"Sure, why not", Sirius relaxed, realising she's not mad at him, or at least not THAT mad at him.
Hazel starts the record player, putting on the Doors' self-titled album. She plops down on her bed, inviting her with him. As they both settle on the bed, she looks at Sirius expectantly, waiting on his verdict about the music. Sirius is listening carefully, savoring every sound like any music enjoyer would.
"Now tell me," he smirks mischievously, "did you want to get all these Doors albums yourself, or did Remus encourage you?"
"Of course it was my initiative", - Hazel chuckles, "what, you think they're that lame?"
"Hmmm... no. They're definitely good. You know what else is good? A girl with such music taste," he grins wider, "you've impressed me, Kitten."
Hazel smiles at the compliment, leaning on him slightly in response. There is no need to deny that she's not at least somewhat fond of him, every girl is. Sirius himself, pulls her closer, having her almost in his lap. Having girls in his arms was a common occurence for him, after all. Hazel nuzzles his chest lightly, starting to fall aslleep, murmuring along to the lyrics of the song.
"Come on, baby, light my fire... come on, baby, light my fire... try to set the night on fire..."
Sirius smiles down at her softly, shaking his head in amusement and adoration.
"You lit my fire already, Kitten...", he whispers while pressing a soft kiss to her temple, watching as sleep completely consumes her.