ADDICTED | j.p x oc

54

Days rolled by with the same schedule: wake up early, go on various missions, make no progress, sleep, repeat. Marlene had begun her healer training, so did not go on missions, she was just there afterwards to mend the damage. Remus was now off with a wolf pack somewhere in Europe, Sirius did not do well on his own, so was spending most nights on the sofa of El's and James' apartment. The executive decision had been made that El and James were terrible owners of a cat, so Ben had been given to Marlene and Dorcas, who seemed far better equipped to look after him.

El was on a mission late evening mid September, so Sirius and James were left alone, doing nothing other than wait for her return. There were still boxes of their stuff lying round the flat, yet to be unpacked, El had tasked them with sorting it out while she was gone, but not a single box had been moved an inch in hours.

James sighed and looked at the clock, "El will be back soon, we should move these boxes or she'll kill us."

"Not scared of your Mrs are you, Prongs?" Sirius teased.

"Terrified."

Sirius barked a laugh, picking up a box and moving it to the bedroom. James shuffled through one of the boxes, it was mainly filled with clothes and shoes.

"Prongs?" Sirius' voice echoed through the flat from the bedroom.

James walked to the source of the voice and leant against the doorway. Sirius was perched on the bed, a book in hand with it's telltale coffee mug stain on the cover.

The house of Burke; a history

"I didn't know El owned this," Sirius flicked through the pages and settling on one that seemed to partially grasp his interest.

"It was a birthday present from me," James shrugged nonchalantly.

"Have you read it?" Sirius asked, but his eyes did not move from the page.

"No, why?" James came and sat next to his best friend on the bed, glancing over his shoulder at the book.

It was open on page 405, where Sirius was pointing at the section near El's name.

"Alfred Leopold Burke," Sirius quoted, "his death date isn't listed. The book's charmed, Prongs, if El's dad is dead, why isn't it in the book?"

James thought it over, staring down at the page.

"Do you think El knows?"

James bristled. "If she does she didn't tell me." His finger landed back on the page, "what about that part?" He was pointing to a small square of paper, next to El and Luke's names, covering someone else's. "She has another sibling?"

"Half sibling," Sirius corrected. He tried to peel back the paper but it did not budge.

James fumbled to pull his wand from his pocket.

"Prongs," Sirius warned, "i don't think we should-"

James brushed him off, "finite incantartem." The paper slipped off and fell to the floor. In it's place was a small drawing of a girl with red hair, dark roots and green eyes.

Morgan Artemis Burke
1959 -

"Is that. . ?"