Heart Scars

Twenty Two

Severus and Adhara walked on eggshells around each other after that night. She knew he had questions, but he also knew that she was in no mood to answer them.

Sirius spent most of his time alone in the library, or shacked up in some girls dorm. Adhara had seen it, and she felt bad for him.

No, she wasn't happy about what he did, not at all, but this was her twin, and he was hurting. Adhara didn't get the courage to talk to him until the end of June, the day before they were set to go back home.

He was sitting on a couch in one of the dark corners of the library. He was writing furiously on a piece of paper, shaking out his hand every few minutes.

"Hello." Adhara says cautiously as she takes the seat next to him. Sirius practically beams and throws whatever he's working on to the side.

"Hi." He says excitedly, and Adhara would be lying if she said his eagerness didn't warm her heart.

"What are you working on?" She asks.

"Everything. I'm trying really hard, throwing myself into school and whatnot." He smiles, but she can see the pain in her twins eyes. He was hoping that his friends, more specifically Remus, would start talking to him again if he saw that Sirius had changed.

"That's good. I've been telling you for years that you were using your brain wrong." She laughs softly, and he shakes his head.

"Yeah well, now that I'm not playing pranks, I've actually began to focus on my future." He scoffs.

"And what do you want your future to be like?" Adhara asks. Sirius grins.

"I want to be an auror." He responds sheepishly. Adhara tenses.

Sirius was going to be a dark wizard hunter. He was going to be chasing after people like Adhara and Regulus. A shiver ran down her spine, and Sirius noticed.

"What's wrong?" He looks at her, his expression suddenly worried.

"I-it's nothing. I should go." She stands quickly, but Sirius seizes her sleeve and yanks it back.

Her left sleeve.

Sirius stops dead and releases her sleeve like he's been burned. He had stopped breathing, stopped moving, and Adhara clenched her eyes shut.

"Ara, w-what-why?" Tears begin to flood down his cheeks, and Adhara gulps as she looks at him, guilt pooling in her stomach. She's always hated when Sirius cried.

"I had to. I had to protect Regulus." She says quietly, and Sirius lets out a humorless laugh.

"Regulus? Reg has one too?" He asks, and Adhara hesitantly nods.

Sirius drops back onto the couch, his head falling into his hands. His head shakes every few moments, and his shoulders shake with sobs.

"I could've helped. Why didn't you let me help? I would've stormed into that house and brought you guys with me." His voice shakes.

"Regulus never would have-"

"I would have dragged him, kicking and screaming. It's what I should have done when I left." Sirius snaps, and Adhara falls quiet.

"It's not your fault, Siri. Reg and I dug our holes, and now we're lying in them." She sighs. Sirius scoffs.

"How are you so calm about this?" He asks. She shrugs.

"I've had a lot of time to come to terms with this. It's my life now." Adhara sighs.

"It doesn't have to be. It's not too late." Sirius says determinedly.