Treacherous | J. POTTER

7 | halloween in hogsmeade

"Why will she sit with him and not us?" Sirius inquired as he observed his sister at the Hufflepuff table. He turned forward with a huff, "I thought we were okay."

"I'm sure you are," Remus countered. "But you did spend any and all free time you had with her while she was on bed rest. She's probably just annoyed with you."

Sirius rolled his eyes as he stabbed his food rather aggressively, "We weren't speaking for a year. I was making up for lost time."

James rolled his eyes at this. He knew his best friend could be rather dramatic but this was taking it a tad too far if he was honest.

Then again, James knew the real reason she wasn't sitting with them. Well, part of the real reason. As they both had agreed, they stayed clear of each other whenever they could. And it was harder than he thought it would be.

Even though he had only really just started to talk to the girl for the past month, he had begun to enjoy her company. Despite the fact that she spent most of it telling him to leave her alone.

"But it's Halloween!" he exclaimed. "We always spend Halloween together!"

"Not last year," James countered.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at the boy, "That was cold, even for you Prongs."

"Hmm," he replied, placing his fork down. "Just spend the time in Hogsmeade with her," he suggested, "It's not as though you had any plans." Peter laughed at this but quickly covered his mouth. James turned to the boy in confusion and Sirius rolled his eyes. He looked between the two of them and raised an eyebrow, "Am I missing something?"

"You're missing nothing," Sirius replied simply, "I'll just invite her to hang with us in Hogsmeade then."

As soon as lunch was over, Sirius found Del and followed her to the infirmary. "Come with us to Hogsmeade," Sirius suggested as he sat down on one of the empty beds.

"Can't," she replied. "The wheelchair won't make it through the snow and I definitely won't be able to walk."

It was odd, the more she thought about it. She would start to feel better at the end of the week and then come Monday and it was like she was back to square one again.

"If I'm stuck in this wheelchair a second longer..." Del began and Sirius rolled his eyes. She hadn't realized how much she was missing out on when she wasn't able to walk. Not that there weren't things she could do in the chair. Harry had made sure she was still able to a lot of the things she did before but there was only so much he could do.

If she was ever able to walk again, she would never take it for granted ever again.

"It's your own fault you're too weak to use the crutches," he countered. It was true. Mostly.

Physically, she was fine. All signs said she was the picture of health. Except that she still couldn't walk. Pomfrey said it was a psychological thing but if you asked Del, that was bullshit. She wanted nothing more than out of the chair but she wasn't making progress.

She groaned, placing her head in her hands. "Have you thought about at least trying crutches again?" Sirius inquired. "Maybe you've built up enough strength rolling around in the wheelchair."

"He makes a good point," Pomfrey spoke up and Del jumped at her voice. "We can try again if you'd like."

"I don't-"

"Yes," Sirius interrupted.

Del glared at her brother but eventually nodded in agreement, "I guess it wouldn't hurt."