Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

22 December, 1995 - Sleep (II)

By the time Lavinia got off shift that afternoon, she felt like she could have fallen asleep standing up. It was bad enough, actually, that even the beat up and rather suspicious old couch in the break room seemed like a tempting place for a nap, something Lavinia genuinely considered before remembering that Molly had offered to make her dinner and Sirius would probably worry if she didn't show up on time.

So, feeling like every step was a massive effort, Lavinia forced herself to leave the hospital and walk to the nearest disapparation point before apparating to the sidewalk in front of Grimmauld Place, which she proceeded to nearly fall off because she'd landed too close to the curb. Correcting herself, Lavinia made her way up the front walk, watching with a rather bleary gaze as the house pushed itself into existence between numbers 11 and 13.

Once inside, Lavinia paused to lean back against the front door, wondering if maybe she could just sleep here, standing up and everything. Stairs seemed like rather a big ask right now, and actually interacting with other people... Merlin. But if she stayed here then she'd be in the way and she didn't want to annoy anyone after what had been a long and stressful night for all of the current occupants of Headquarters.

So, rallying her strength as best she could, Lavinia huffed a breath and pushed herself off the wall, rubbing her eyes as though that would do anything to affect the tiredness that seemed to be a crushing weight on her shoulders.

Thankfully, she didn't have to go very far. Sirius found her before she'd even made it to the kitchen and gave her all of one look before, with a slightly worried frown, he stepped forward, took her bag from her shoulders and started guiding her towards the stairs.

"You need a nap," he informed her, keeping his voice quiet presumably to avoid waking up his mother's portrait.

"I haven't got a bed here," Lavinia pointed out blearily before remembering that couches existed and worked perfectly well for napping.

Sirius sniffed, though at what, Lavinia wasn't entirely sure. Maybe her lapse in memory. "You can take mine," he told her simply. "I'll wake you up for dinner."

Lavinia frowned and shook her head. "Before that?" she asked, glancing up at him and promptly tripping over the stairs she'd just taken her eyes off. Sirius caught her, a rather amused expression on his face at her clumsiness. Lavinia decided to ignore this because she didn't have the energy to tell him off for it right now.

"You still have to tell me what the hell happened last night," she reminded him.

Sirius shot her a look Lavinia couldn't quite decipher. Or rather, one she didn't have the energy or mental faculties to decipher at the moment. So she ignored that too. "Alright," he agreed. "But sleep first and we'll talk later. You're exhausted."

Lavinia hummed her agreement at that, pulling a slight face even as Sirius pushed the door to his bedroom open and gestured her inside. Lavinia muttered a thank you as she passed him and wasted no more time than it took to shed her shoes before she flopped down onto the bed and promptly fell into a doze, only vaguely conscious of Sirius shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he pulled a blanket over her and kissed her forehead before departing, leaving the room blissfully dark in his wake.

Lavinia woke to the sound of the bedroom door opening and light streaming in from the hallway. She groaned and blinked at the brightness, rolling over to squint at the new arrival as the door closed again and the room turned dark once more.

"You can sleep more if you want," Sirius's voice sounded from the entrance. "Dinner won't be for another hour at least."

Lavinia shook her head, though she honestly wasn't sure Sirius could see it. Nonetheless, she sat up properly, rubbing her eyes and yawning before leaning over to turn on the bedside lamp. By the time she'd done this Sirius was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her with that same strange expression he'd pinned her with earlier.