Dark Beauty /Sirius Black/ [2]

Dark Beauty - 43.

Chapter 43

The dull undertones of the Hopkin's household had managed to vanish in just a matter of days. Friends came and gone, with a surprise visit from Marlene which made Adria cry with joy at the sight of her friend she had grown to miss without much thought of it. Seeing the girl was a scarce occurrence, she spent most of her time with her family.

She had a large family filled with many, Adria had visited plenty of times with Lily too and sometimes Sirius would join - sometimes, though, the girls faced the pain of old memories alone and cried on the way home in Adria's car.

Apparating was too dangerous, now.

Alina had apologised, as did Adria - the girls sorted out as much as they could with the tension between them. Alina still thought that she was ready to fight, that she could handle it and Adria secretly agreed...but she couldn't handle the thought of mourning another death so close to her.

"She's going to burst at any minute!" James said, patting Regulus' arm in passing who only nodded and hurried through the hall. The boy spent most of his time in his room, none saw much of him.

Adria had asked Sirius if he was always like that, and with a sorrowful look that Adria only saw rarely - Sirius silently shook his head.

"I give it a month," said Milo, leaning on Finn's chest who had a tight arm around his boyfriend. Bags had formed under the blonde boy's eyes, drowning with a lack of sleep and biting back another yawn. He had so much work to do...to live, to survive such harsh conditions and times that he could hardly cope.

That's what Milo had told Adria one morning during a breakdown. He had arrived at her door with tired eyes already filled with tears, and she was the only one in with Jude at nursery and Sirius off on some motorbike ride - that ended terribly - with James.

"A month?!" Lily screeched as though it was the silliest thing she had ever heard, "I give it a week!"

"Isn't she at nine months?" Adria piped in, handing out mugs of tea with Sirius and Isaac following suit. She went through four giant boxes of tea bags a month with the many visits from her friends, she had to go out and get more mugs just for their many visits.

"I'd say maybe in the next week," Benji soon said, Arden wrapped in his arms and Mila sleeping in Arden's lap.

What was once a quick catch up with Finn and Milo turned into a full-on get together when Adria and Sirius' friends just so happened to pop in.

"You know, I'm right here!" Blair soon announced from behind a very large and very round stomach. Remus, beside her, seemed to be stressed out of his mind every time someone mentioned anything about her pregnancy that she announced months prior to November, and now she was ready to give birth at any moment.

"Well, what do you think then?" Sirius soon asked, carefully handing her the tea that Adria had made to her liking. Her pregnancy had given her some very...unusual cravings.

"Can we all...maybe shut up?" Lily soon said, rubbing her temples whilst James fixed the pillows around her. The girl had been complaining of having a sore...well, everything. They had been on a very hard mission just a few days ago, and whilst James had fully recovered - Lily was taking much longer to come around.

"Sorry, Lily!" Sirius grinned sheepishly, indicating for everyone else to be quiet so that the girl could have some peace. She didn't want to miss the fun of their friends all getting together considering she hadn't seen many of them for at least a few weeks but with her entire body aching, and even sickness - it was hard to get out of bed.

What was even more embarrassing were her sudden bursts of emotions at the oddest times that she couldn't seem to help. It wasn't as if she was over-emotional to begin with, but never once did she lose her composure on a mission until just a few days ago when the sight of the scene sent her into hysterical sobs that she couldn't seem to help.