𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍; 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫.

𝐥𝐢. 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭. 

"Not to impose," Lily said, the tip of her nose turning redder and redder, "but we brought some things for Sirius. And...we wanted to see how he was doing."

Amara opened the door and let them in. "Come on, then. Have you heard from Peter, or Remus?"

"No, not yet." Marlene stepped inside and took her coat, hanging it up on the rack and unwrapping her scarf. "Where is he?"

Amara and James looked at each other.

"He's camping out in a guest room," James said eventually. "He's...not doing so great."

"Well, obviously," Marlene said, brushing past them. "Mrs. Potter?"

"She's at work," James said. "He's upstairs."

"Let's go, then," she said. "Lead the way."

James and Amara exchanged glances again. 

"What?" Marlene demanded.

"He won't let us in," James said. "He's pretty messed up."

"I would be, too, if I got kicked out," Marlene said with a frown. 

"No, like..."

"He doesn't want us to see him," Amara cut in gently. "It's worse than anything he's come back with."

"It's a miracle he managed to get himself here, then," Lily said, shaking her head. She slipped her boots off and turned back to face them. 

"That's the thing," Amara said. "He didn't."

"Rosier got him here," James said. "And Regulus covered for them."

"Oh," Lily said quietly. "He...he brought Sirius here? How did he know to do that?"

"He wrote me," Amara said. She spared no other details, opting to instead turn and lead the group up the stairs.

She gently knocked on Sirius's door. "Sirius?"

Silence.

"Sirius, Marlene and Lily are here. They want to see you."

"Go away."

"Sirius," Lily said gently, "we brought you some stuff. Toothbrush, and clothes. Can we come in? We want to make sure you're okay."

A long pause.

"Okay."

Amara looked at James, eyebrows raised. She gently opened the door. 

Sirius was laying under a blanket, facing the wall. He turned over and watched them as they filed in. "Hi," he said.

One of his eyes was swollen and purple; lips, bruised; hair, messy. He looked awful. 

He looked dull and dead and done.

"Sirius," Lily whispered, rushing forward to sit on the bed next to him. She gently placed her arms around him, pulling him into a soft hug. "I'm so, so sorry."

Marlene patted his leg fondly. "How are you doing?"

He shook his head. "I should be glad I'm gone for good, but I feel awful."