Sirius & Eliza ▼ Sirius Black Love Story

THIRTY TWO

Golden horns, forked tail, blood shining the grass, fire, screams. I was faintly aware of the shrieks coming from somewhere as I tossed, trying to shake the images. I shot up in my bed, covered in cold sweats and panting.

"Eliza?! Honey? What's wrong?" My parents came rushing into the room and to my side.

"I'm okay. It was just a nightmare." I breathed as my mum rubbed my back.

"Okay, sweetheart, trying and get back to sleep." My father told me and they left my room. I was quiet for a minute, steadying my breathing and trying to bring my heart beat down. Internally, I felt exhausted, I hadn't properly slept in weeks and every time I closed my eyes, I couldn't stop the school year events from flashing by. I checked the clock that sat on my bedside table, it was three in the morning. Too early to start the day, but I bet that The Leaky Cauldron would still be open. My wand was safely stored under my pillow, so I reached for it, standing up before checking to see that no one could see from my window. I turned on the spot, concentrating on where I wanted to go, and felt the familiar tug in my stomach as I apparated to central London.

"What can I get you?" Tom, the barman asked as I took a seat on a stool at the bar top.

"A firewhisky, please." I said. He look looked at me for a moment, after realizing that I couldn't get here without magic, he flipped a cup upright and poured a bit of the amber liquid into the bottom. He slid it across to me and I grasped it before bringing it to my lips and taking a taste. It burned as it went down, like usual, but I made no face at the acquired taste. You grow up after having friends like James and Sirius.

"Thanks." I said as I slid a sickle over and finished before getting up and walking out. I normally went for a walk when I was up at these, and today was no different. I apparated back to just outside my house in Cokeworth. It was an unusually cold night for this summer, but it wasn't raining, so I was as content as I could be, walking around through the park at this hour.

The walk calmed me down along with the shot I had at the Leaky Cauldron, and I felt ready to go back. Recently I had been feeling like my bedroom was a prison cell at night time. I wasn't confined to it, but it was a requirement that I slept when the sky was dark. I couldn't very well walk around my house, making noise when the rest of my family was fast asleep. So I sat in it, reading my textbooks from last year, organizing my drawers and practically counting the hairs on my head.

When morning came, I was a zombie again, too tired to do anything interesting or time consuming, and by then I just wanted to be in my room again. I didn't eat much these days, but a tea cup was a usual thing occupying my hand.

"Eliza?" Someone had knocked on my door. I looked over and saw that it was Lily. She came in.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"Lizzy, you look awful. When was the last time you slept?" She asked me, concern written all over her face. I laughed quietly.

"June 23rd." I told her, truthfully. Even then, I don't think I had gotten a great amount of sleep because of the worry.

"Seriously? Why didn't you say something? We could get you some help. Maybe a potion." She tried to reason with me. I laughed again.

"I've tried pretty much everything and what do you think people would say if someone saw us with a cauldron and weird looking ingredients? It would be the witch burnings of the 1700s all over again." This time she laughed. When we were younger, for halloween, we dressed up as witches, the fictional kind that muggles had made up. We even had little cauldrons as our candy baskets. Now, fast forward a few years, we actually were pretty much fully qualified witches.