☽★𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝑰 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒐 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒆𝒔★☾

Untitled Part 15

"What about me?" Inés asked, her eyes welling up with tears. "What about me? You left me."

"I was kicked out."

"Papi says you left."

"He kicked me out. He got sick of me." Sirius paused, played with his ring. "I didn't leave you. I'm still here, hermana."

Inés stared at her brother. "What did you do to get kicked out?"

"That's a bit offensive", Sirius said. "To assume I did something."

"You always do shit."

Sirius fell silent for a few beats. "He noticed I'd stolen the keys to the wine cellar. That and me blasting my music and making Gabby and Dolores constantly cry. Although I'm pretty sure him yelling is more likely to make them cry." Sirius sounded so bitter, so grim that Inés studied her nails in silence. She remembered she had been meaning to demand Sirius would give her orange and black nail polishes back but the moment felt wrong. She scratched her blue polish idly. "Everything I did... All the times I got in trouble. He had enough."

Inés looked up as Cressida sat down next to Sirius. She kissed his cheek. "Buenos días."

"Hola, Cres." Sirius smiled and Inés realised something had changed with these two. He wouldn't take his eyes off her. "You're dating", Inés said. "Not officially. Yet." Sirius held Cressida's hand underneath the table. "She just agreed to go out with me." Inés raised an eyebrow. "Why?" she asked bluntly. "I like him", Cressida said. "Why?" Inés repeated. Sirius smirked sheepishly. "I don't know", Cressida admitted. "I just do."

"And I'm lucky you do", Sirius said. "You don't even know how lucky." Cressida didn't know what he meant by this but she smiled a little and thought to herself that she was the lucky one.

"She thinks me leaving was wrong." Sirius sank to sit on the stone step. "She's right. I should have fought to stay."

"No." James looked at him. "You needed to leave." Sirius played with his rings miserably. James dropped a mars bar in his lap. He gave him a glance. "You always give me a Mars bar when I'm feeling... not so good." This was James's code for wolfing out. Sirius smiled. "You don't have to be sorry for leaving a bad situation", James said carefully. "I do though", Sirius said. "I feel terrible." James hugged him quickly. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You don't usually initiate hugs."

"I try to sometimes." James wouldn't meet his eyes anymore. "How much awkwardness can one person carry inside them?"

"I mean, you're pretty tall." Sirius grinned. "Stop being homosexual and get over here. We're starting the film." Tilda had appeared behind them and slung her arms around their shoulders. "Not everything's gay, Tilda", James said, blushing faintly. "Everything's gay", Tilda said. "Ooh, fancy bracelet." She tried to grab James's bracelet but he ducked away. "Are you a magpie?"

"Yes", Tilda said. "Any other questions?"

Sirius grinned at James's baffled expression, got up and dragged him up as well. "Why did you do it in such a gay way?" Sienna stood by the door. "You're practically holding hands."

"In a brotherly way", Sirius said. "Sure, whatever you say." Sienna rolled her eyes. "You guys go ahead", Sirius told his friends. "I'll be in too soon."

Sirius sat back down and peeled the Mars bar open. He took a bite and heard a small mrrp by his feet. A stray cat was nuzzling against his legs. His fur was streaked with orange and grey and his eyes were a gleaming black. Sirius thought a piece of clothing was draped over his back but it turned out he had small, leathery wings. "You're no ordinary cat, are you?" Sirius asked. "Do you want my Mars bar?" The cat purred more. Sirius gave him the Mars bar. The creature munched on it contentedly. Sirius scratched him behind his ear. "You're a cutie, aren't you?"

"Who's a cutie?" He heard James's voice behind him. "Me?" He sounded a little wistful. Sirius turned to give him a grin. "Always but this time I was referring to my new friend here." The cat had stopped purring and stared at James. He was framed by the warm light spilling from the doorway. The cat arched his back and hissed. "Hey, Jamie is a friend", Sirius chided the cat. He kept hissing, the cat, not James. Sirius glanced back at James again. His eyes had widened and gleamed a little darker. "Jamie?" There was a small crease between Sirius's brows. He reached out like wanting to touch him but he knew he was too far. "He knows what I am." James's voice sounded strangled. "Don't be ridiculous." Sirius turned back to the cat. He lifted him up. His back was to the garden shed now. He couldn't see the shadow pooling over the wood with peeling paint. Another joined it. They did a little dance. The cat purred again, just a little bit louder. The first shadow seemed to beckon it to jump down. Something blue and golden glimmered in the air like floating lake water with sunlight dancing over it. James was watching. Webs, he thought. No. Wings. The shadow seemed much too solid to be one. A sharp pain visited James again. Fur replaced his hair. His ears grew pointy. His hands turned to paws. He fell. A deep growl left his throat. He pounced. A loud hiss pierced the air. The cat fell and ran off. James was on top of Sirius now. He heard his heart beating. The most dangerous aspect of the wolf was that the line between enemies and friends blurred in his brain. Sirius's eyes were widened in fear. "Hi." He tried not to show the fear. "I love you, okay?" His eyes softened despite the situation. "Wolf and all." James let out a miserable, little howl and stepped off. The shadows were gone and James was fully human again. "Are you hurt?" he asked frantically, helping Sirius back to his feet. "Don't worry, Jamie", he said. "I'm fine." The second most dangerous problem: amnesia. "What triggered the wolf?" Sirius wanted to know. James shook his head. He tried to speak but failed. Sirius fumbled for a small sketchpad and a pen. He handed them over to James. He scribbled the words "I want to go home." Sirius smiled. "Then we'll go home", he said. The film, James wrote. "We can skip it. I'll go tell the others", Sirius told him. James tapped his shoulder. That was his nonverbal way of saying 'thank you.'