fatal love

chapter 174

21ST FEBRUARY 1981

Sirius tore through the dark streets, ducking to avoid another hex. More and more Death Eaters were appearing every second, and there wasn't anything Sirius could do to stop it. They had known they would be here, they had been tipped off, and now Sirius was being overrun. It was too much, they were outnumbered, they had to get out. He skidded as he ran, cast a stray stunning spell behind him, hoped it would land on any target, looked around for Lily and Benjy desperately.

"Evans!" he yelled, spotting a flash of red hair. "We gotta go!"

She caught his eye and nodded, fighting off multiple hooded figures and barely deflecting a curse in time.

Sirius carried on running, only to crash straight into a tall figure. He stumbled, grabbing whoever was in front of him, and breathed a sigh of relief when he looked up and saw that it was Benjy. Thank Merlin. He was still alive.

"Hey!" he gasped, grinning deliriously and weightless with gratitude, still clutching at Benjy's shoulders. "Ready to go?!"

"Fuck yes," Benjy said breathlessly.

"Confringo!"

Sirius didn't see who cast the curse. He was holding onto Benjy, smiling at him, when Benjy exploded in Sirius' hands, chunks flying everywhere and drenching Sirius in blood. Suddenly Sirius was only holding onto air and there was nothing but an empty space in front of him.

Sirius' mouth fell open, and he froze, gazing forwards helplessly. The whole world stopped, everything moving in slow motion, as fighting around him continued, but muffled, like Sirius was underwater.

"Sirius!" Lily bellowed. "Get out of here!"

Sirius barely heard her. A drop of blood dripped down from his eyebrow, into his eye, and he began to scream, his knees buckling.

"SIRIUS!" Lily dove for him, apparating them both away as soon as she was touching him. She apparated them lots of times, Sirius didn't really register any of it.

Benjy shrugged, and inhaled again, blowing out smoke. "So, no girlfriend at the moment? I seem to remember you going through them pretty fast last year."

Sirius shifted. Benjy was standing so close to him, he practically had to look straight up in order to meet his eyes. They were a deep brown, watching him intently.

"Not right now," he said quietly, heart pounding in his chest.

"Perfect," Benjy whispered, throwing the cigarette to the ground. Then he wrapped his hands around the back of Sirius' head and kissed him.

And oh Merlin, this was it. This was what Sirius had been looking for with all those other girls. There were butterflies, and fireworks, and every other cliché that had ever existed. Benjy seemed sure of himself, cradling Sirius' head, and Sirius held him by his hips instinctually, pulling him closer. He pushed for more, opening his mouth, and Benjy reciprocated eagerly, kissing him with more fervour.

Benjy was tall, and strong, and tasted faintly of the cigarette smoke. And Sirius wasn't bored, and this wasn't just nice. All he could think was more, more, more.

"Nevermind, what about you? How was your family?"

"Ugh," Sirius groaned, "bloody awful. But I managed not to piss Walburga off too much, so it could have gone worse, I guess."

"That's good, at least."

"Mhm."

"I missed you too, by the way."