[1] Exie Attia is one of the Boys ✓ | LILY EVANS

Chapter Thirty One

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[ CHAPTER THIRTY ONE ]
A Girl worth fighting for

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The first person to speak once James had made his swift exit was Sirius, his cry of wretchedness filling the otherwise silent room. All of a sudden, he buried his face into his hands and rushed to the mirror, staring his own reflection did in the eyes. His fingers grasped at his hair as his breath became panicked and shallow. Slowly, Exie approached, holding one hand out but he saw her coming, whipping around.

"Why didn't you say something?" His gaze extended to other two, "Why didn't any of you say something? You just let me yell at him like that and say all those awful things."

"Sirius - "

"That was the perfect chance for you to tell him, handed to you on a plate! You could have stopped this!" Sirius shouted at her as she cowered back involuntarily, his words stinging as if someone had just stabbed needles through her spine. Out of nowhere, Remus cut between them, shielding her from Sirius's verbal arrows.

"No, don't blame her, nobody told you to shout at James and that would have been a horrible time to tell him so don't you dare try and turn it around onto her."

For a moment, the two boys looked poised to fight before Sirius suddenly collapsed like a marionette who's strings had been cut. Remus's arms were there to catch him, the boys sinking to the ground as Sirius gripped his head tightly, "I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have let myself get out of control, I'm worse than my parents! He's going to hate me ... James is my brother, he's all I really had and now he HATES ME - "

"He doesn't hate you, he's just hurt," Remus said softly, "The stuff you said... I think he needed to hear but it was quite harsh - "

"Don't you think I know that?! I didn't mean to say it all but ... it just came out, like something snapped inside of me. I just hate seeing him be belittled and humiliated by her all the time especially when we need to lay low. He puts himself and everyone else at risk... I really said some awful things. How can he not hate me - ""

"Because you two are so close, it might take him a bit of time but he won't stay angry at you forever," Remus reassured him.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

This calmed Sirius down, his breathing slowly returning back to normal. Accepting Remus's hand up, he arose, smoothing down his jumper as he regained his elegance, stating firmly, "We have to find him."

"Yes," Exie agreed, still keeping her distance warily. It was taking all her effort to stop herself from collapsing, legs shaking like a leaf in the wind, "And I... I have to tell him everything."