𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍; 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫.

𝐱𝐥. 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝

𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐧, 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬' 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. James, having found her in a state of panic, Evan's letters strewn about her, read them quickly and calmly, before alerting his parents of the situation. Well, he'd alerted his mother. Fleamont was already asleep.

"Take this blanket, Tal, it's freezing out here," James was saying, but she barely heard.

She barely even registered when he wrapped it around her.

"Thanks," she muttered.

"Do you want me to wait out here with you? Mum's getting warm tea and prepping for the worst. D'you know what's going on?"

"Not really," she murmured, "but it can't be good at all."

James gently rubbed her back. "I'm going to check in with Mum real quick. Call if you need anything, I'll be right back."

As soon as he closed the front door, a resounding screech shrieked through the air. Amara nearly jumped out of her skin.

She squinted.

A shiny, triple-decker, offensively purple bus was stopped at the end of the extensive driveway. Two figures hobbled off, one of them nearly carrying the other. 

With a crack, the bus disappeared. 

"Evan?" Amara called anxiously, standing so abruptly she became dizzy. She dropped the blanket and ran down the drive to meet him.

It was him. She barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief when she took in the sight before her. 

Evan was supporting what looked like a person-sized mass of fresh meat. 

"I can't stay long," he said hoarsely. "I could barely get him out. Regulus did most of it. He needs help, now. Help me get him inside."

"Is that Sirius?" she breathed, taking his other arm and placing it on her shoulders. Together, they set up the drive. "What happened to him? Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me," Evan said, wincing. She couldn't tell at what. "He's alive, thank God, but I don't know how much longer for. Regulus will bring his things to school. He's covering for me, they don't know I'm gone—"

James opened the door, and his eyes widened at the sight. "Come in," he said, holding the door and stepping aside. "My mum's a Healer, she's setting up in the kitchen. It's just this way."

It all felt like a dream. Amara barely processed taking him through the living room, dining room, and finally to the kitchen.

Euphemia had set up a table, and was brewing several potions. She looked up and gasped, before setting fresh linens on the table. "Lay him down, face-up. Open his mouth. Was he Cursed at all? Or is it just physical?"

After setting Sirius down on the table, Evan collapsed in a chair. "I think both. He was hallucinating on the bus. Screaming, and coughing blood."

Amara was going to throw up.

Euphemia set to brewing her potions, taking one as soon as it was ready and pouring it down his throat. "That should put him in a deep sleep," she said, "slow everything down so we can work on him. Amara, I'm going to need you to keep the Blood-Replenishing Potions going, okay?"