harry potter character imagines!

[ nineteen ] lean on me - s.b.

modern non-magic au!

TW: alcoholism, violence while drunk

i sat on the couch with peter, remus, and james in our shared flat. it was almost 3 in the morning, and we were all waiting up on sirius. he went out drinking several hours ago for probably about the 10th straight night in a row. not to mention all the drinking he did during the day. he's been drinking way too much for several months, but the rate has increased to an astronomical level lately. we all decided to wait for him to come home so we could have a serious talk with him about it.

"i'm really worried about him," i muttered, biting my nail. i looked to remus, who was sitting beside me.

"me too," he whispered. i laid my head on his shoulder.

"why do you think he's doing this? i mean, there's always a reason, right?" i asked.

"i dunno. i mean, it could still be some lasting stuff with his family. but, maybe there's other things too. he's a pretty private person." james sighed.

"yeah, whenever i try to have a serious conversation with him he jokes around and laughs things off before changing the subject." peter spoke up.

i nodded, agreeing with their perspectives. "he has to get professional help, right? i mean we obviously have to be here for him, but we can't provide him everything he needs."

"yeah, i agree. i actually looked up some local meetings for aa that he could go to," remus spoke as he pulled a small slip of paper with neat writing on it out of his pocket. he set it on the table, and we heard the door open. we all stood up to see sirius stumble in with a half-drank handle of vodka.

he looked up to see us standing there. "well hello my merry little flat family! how are you on this fine evening?" he chuckled. none of the rest of us laughed. we were all giving him stern looks, or otherwise ones of pity. "oh no, are you guys going to do one of those sitcom-parent lectures about not staying out so late and drinking so much? well then, come on, lay it on me," he took a gulp of vodka before holding his arms out straight beside him and tilting his head back, as if physically opening himself up and accepting our onslaught. the rest of us shifted uncomfortably, looking at one another, not sure how to start. after a moment, i stepped forward.

"alright sirius, can i have that vodka please?" i asked as i approached him. he dropped his arms and looked down at me.

"no thanks love. i am quite enjoying it," he smirked as he took another swig.

"come on, sirius," i sighed, trying to reach for it. he quickly moved it out of my reach and furrowed his brows.

"i said no. it's mine."

"sirius, this isn't good for you. just please give it to me." i tried reaching around him to grab it, but he jerked back from me.

"stop it, y/n."

i was a little shocked by his harsh tone and how quickly he had moved from joking around to aggressively defending his bottle of alcohol.

"hey mate, just hand it over," james spoke up. i reached over again for the bottle that was in sirius' left hand, and he quickly brought his right hand to strike me backhanded across the face. i gasped and stumbled back into the wall, holding my face where he hit me. it stung, in more ways than one.