Melancholy || Harry Potter's twin brother

2: chapter eleven

Two trains and a flight later, the group sat squished around a table seat on a crowded train, travelling from Liverpool Airport to London. They were playing a tense game of cheat and Sirius was winning, a feat that shocked them all.

"Two nines." Sirius told them as he put down his cards. He, Justin and Hannah were squished onto two seats, whilst the Swan siblings got a seat each. Jane narrowed her eyes at him.

"Cheat." She decalared, Sirius raised an eyebrow at her and turned over his cards. Sure enough there were two nines. Jane scowled at him and took the whole pile, which was a considerable amount as no one had dared to call chest in a while.

"You're sneakier than I ever gave you credit for." Hannah commended him, he shrugged.

"You learn a thing or two living with the Dursleys." Sirius replied with a grin.

"I bet you do." Justin laughed.

Ollie put down a card. "One king."

"Trust you to start with an awkward one." Jane glared at her brother. "Three aces."

"One two." Justin continued.

"Three threes." Hannah added, Sirius smirked.

"Cheat." He told her, she glared at him and took the pile of cards.

"Two sevens." Sirius said, putting down the last of his cards. They all stared at him.

"Sirius Charlus Potter, you sneaky little bugger." Hannah yelled, but then she grinned. "Way to go."

"Thanks Hannah." Sirius grinned as he shuffled the cards and dealt them for another round.

"How long do you think we have left?" Ollie asked, glancing out the window with a sigh, something was clearly bothering him and Sirius hadn't yet gotten to the bottom of it.

"About half an hour I reckon." Justin replied, taking the cards from Sirius and shuffling them 'properly'.

Sirius kicked Ollie in the shin to get his attention. "What's up with you?" He hissed.

Ollie just shook his head, looking downcast, his eyes filled up with tears. Alarmed, Sirius reached under the table and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. "I'll tell you later." He whispered.

Sirius sighed but said nothing. He did not let go of Ollie's hand though, he didn't like to see any of his friends upset and he wanted to make sure they were all alright. He could feel Ollie's thumb rubbing the back of his hand gently and smiled. Ollie smiled back at him.

"Alright, I'll start." Justin announced, bringing them out of their idle conversation and back into the game.

^^^
They reached London tired and hungry, aiming to meet Justin's mother at the Leaky Cauldron, where she had booked them a few rooms.

"Does anyone actually know where to find the Leaky Cauldron?" Sirius asked. "Cause I don't."

"I do." Ollie announced, which didn't really surprise them, he was two years older and had been there a considerably more amount of times.

They followed him through the busy streets, until at last they reached the small building that no one else seemed to see.

"Let's go and see if my mum's here." Justin said, leading them inside. Sure enough his mother was sat at a large table, she waved at them as they entered and got up to greet them.

"Justin my baby!" She threw her arms around her son, peppering him with kisses. "Did you have a good time?" She asked as she hugged Hannah and then Sirius.

"It was great thanks mum." Justin grinned.

"And this must be Ollie and Jane!" The woman hugged the two at the same time. "I imagine you are all tired, so I think it's dinner and then bed for you." She told them all as they sat down.

"Thanks mum." Justin grinned as they all ordered their preferred meal.

"Now I've got two twin rooms for you, so two of you boys are going to have to share." She told them.

"I'm not sharing with you again, you move in the night." Justin declared, poking Sirius in the cheek.

"That's alright, I'm sure me and Ollie will manage." Sirius grinned, Ollie shrugged.

"I guess so, as long as you don't kick me." Ollie smirked at him.

"I'll try not to." Sirius shrugged.

"He means he will." Hannah laughed.

^^^
It was last midnight, and Justin was fast asleep, but neither Sirius nor Ollie was. They were top and tailing the other bed, but it was as if some thing was preventing them from sleep.

"Sirius." Ollie hissed, "are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"I can't sleep."

"Me neither."

"Can we talk?" Ollie asked anxiously, Sirius sat up and moved to sit beside the blond boy.

"What's bothering you?" Sirius asked.

"I should have been honest with you. About your ability, and..." Ollie sighed. "The prophecy, it's about us."

"I know, Hannah told me it was." Sirius shrugged. "Apparently I'm not mature enough to know the rest."

"Do you want to know?" Ollie asked. Sirius sighed, chewing on his lip in thought.

"I don't know. I don't really understand prophecies. Do you have to follow it?" Sirius asked.

"A prophecy tells us how things will play out and how they have to happen. So yeah I guess so." Ollie nodded, Sirius frowned.

"Isn't that a bit restrictive? I mean what if following the prophecy means you'll be unhappy?" Sirius asked, he hated not knowing things, but he understood that sometimes there were things he was better off knowing.

"I'm sure our prophecy won't make you unhappy." Ollie told him, watching the boys eyelids suddenly droop. "Go on, go and get some sleep."

"Ollie?" Sirius mumbled as he moved back to his end of the bed.

"Yeah." Ollie sat up again, looking at the boy with hopeful eyes.

"I'm sorry for running away." Sirius mumbled, Ollie inwardly sighed, the darkness hiding his disappointment.

"Don't worry about it." He sighed sadly. "Get some sleep."

"Good night Ollie." Sirius murmured, half asleep already, it seemed the clutches of sleep had hit him like a bus.

"Sleep well Sirius." Ollie replied, listening to the soft sounds of the boys breathing before he too fell asleep.