𝐸𝒸𝒸𝑒𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓈𝒾𝒶𝓈𝓉 (Harry Potter X Reader) [2]

Breaking apart

"Well, the ministry is furious with you" smirked Sirius
"Why?" confused Harry as he seated beside Arleigh, who simply gave him a short shrug, signaling she didn't know as well
"You did magic in front of your muggle cousin," spoke his godfather in a "duh" tone, causing Leigh to furrow her eyebrows for she still hadn't learnt what the hell did Harry do, "you'll have to go to a disciplinary meeting tomorrow"
Potter nodded his head and quietly moved backwards his chair, standing up from his seat.
"I'm not really hungry, I think I'll go to bed" he told everyone and Black glanced at the girl beside the young adult, winking at her.
Arleigh knitted her brows together in confusion and rolled her cobalt blue eyes.
"You two surprise me, you know." Wiggled his brows Padfoot, "I figured the first thing you'd do is start asking about Voldemort"
The younger Granger licked her dry lips, folding her arms above her chest firmly.
"Like you would've told us" she spat
"And that is quite right, Arleigh!" Chimed in Mrs Weasley, resting her palms on the boy's shoulders, "You're much too youn-"
"They have the right to know, Molly" whined Sirius, gazing firmly at the ginger haired woman
"It's not your decision!"
The last Black wizard stood up as well and sighed, "I know what Dumbledore said, but they need to know something"
Harry glanced for a moment at the girl who spent that horrible night with him, an hint of worry crossing him as he noticed the bags under her eyes, though she tried to hide them with the muggle make up, he noticed how her beautiful cobalt blue orbs didn't shine as usual. He wondered if that night affected her as much as it affected him, probably even more for her and Cedric knew each other better. In that moment he knew that he would've done everything in his power to help her, make her feel better or simply support her no matter what.
"Y-yeah" he grinned, still gazing Arleigh, who eventually faced him as well and his cheeks flushed a bright pink.
"They're not children, Molly" pointed out the animagus, sitting back on his chair
"They're not adults either!" Shouted Molly and paused for a few moments before looking at the teenagers they were talking about and then eyeing Padfoot, "They're not James and Lily"
Leigh chewed on her bottom lip and understood only Sirius wanted them to acknowledge more than they were supposed to. It enraged her that their own headmaster didn't want them to know about Lord Voldemort's return, plus it was a bit awkward now that Mrs Weasley compared them to Harry's parents. The witch then nodded and took her cue to leave, trotting towards the bedroom they had given her.
The raven haired watched her leave, debating if it was better to follow her or let her be; his ocean blue eyes locked with Hermione's mocha brown ones and she shook her head, signaling he should've let Leigh cool off by herself.
"I'm fully aware of who they are, Molly" pointed out Sirius

Arleigh sighed as she popped on her bed, which cracked slightly under her weight. Her shaky hands found their way towards her pale face and covered her eyes and cheeks, she sniffed loudly as the imagines of Cedric's dead body appeared in her mind again. There wasn't a single moment where she didn't hope it was her, who Wormtail killed; there wasn't one moment where she didn't replay her friend's death, where she was fine again. All she was currently was broken and she hated it.
She hated having to pretend she was completely okay when she was actually breaking apart, she loathed how she would simply start crying out of nowhere just because she remembered something about the Hufflepuff. She also detested how close she had gotten to Harry, that meant one more person she might lose some day.
And everything only got worse when the Daily Prophet came around, with all of Fudge's lies and fear. Leigh thought it was normal to be frightened, that night she saw Voldemort, she couldn't see any type of emotion expect for hatred. However, Fudge was so scared he obliged himself to believe the Dark Lord wasn't back, that everything her and Potter said were lies.
A groan escaped her lips when she felt a tear staining her cheeks, she cursed herself for how sensitive she could be.
A knock at her door brought the witch back to reality, therefore she stood up and yanked open the wooden door. Her eyes widened for a moment before frowning at the sight of the so said mass-murderer.
"May I come in?" He gave her a toothless smile and she stepped aside in order to let him in.
"What can I do for you?" She questioned
"Thought you might have wanted to ask a few questions about Voldemort as well" explained Sirius as he sat on a chair opposite her bed, where she seated with her legs crossed
"What does he want?" Asked Arleigh, "I mean, it was bloody clear he wanted to kill Harry but...I don't think that was all or he would've done it immediately"
"No doubt you figured out it was Crouch Junior and not Moody!" Chuckled Black with a slight smirk, "You are correct, he wants something he didn't have the first time.."
"Like a weapon?"
"W-we don't know yet," sighed Padfoot, "but we will"
Leigh nodded her head, sighing as well eventually.
"If you ever need anything, Arleigh, don't hesitate to write me" grinned the dark haired
"Thank you"
And with that, Sirius Black left her bedroom, only to leave the door open for Hermione to enter without knocking, acknowledging that her cousin wouldn't let her in if she knew it was her who wanted to enter.
Arleigh wasn't truly paying attention and therefore didn't notice the bushy haired approaching her, while her cobalt eyes were fixed on the sky outside her window.
"I'm really sorry," began Herm, causing her cousin's head to shoot to her right in order to face her, "I know I should've stayed by your side, especially after Ced- what happened last year-"
"You can say it, you know," rolled her eyes Leigh, "after Cedric was murdered in cold blood and I was tortured three times in 24 hours. Very impressive, Hermione"
"I'm sorry! I didn't think you would've reacted this way.."
Arleigh got up from her bed and stood opposite her cousin, with her eyes glassy, for she wasn't able to wear her emotionless mask anymore.
"How could I have not?!" She almost yelled, "You chose them over me and I'm not willing to forgive you for that yet"
Tears streamed down Hermione's orbs as she realized how actually wrong she was, how hard she had hurt her cousin, her best friend. A sob escaped her lips and she sniffed.
"I'm-"
"Leave" snapped Leigh as her warm tears stained her pale cheeks
"Arleigh, please-"
"I said leave!"
Herm nodded and walked out the bedroom with an hand covering her shaky lips, while Leigh fell into her knees, sobbing as quietly as she could.
"Hermione, what happened?" Concerned Ronald, caressing the girl's back, while Harry furrowed his brows.
"I-I lo-lost her" she cried and glanced at the boy who lived, who gave her a sympathetic grin before storming out the room.
Potter immediately rushed to Leigh's room and pushed the door open, his heart shattered again at the sight of the broken girl, seated on the floor with her head resting on her legs and crying. The wizard approached her and sat beside her, sliding his arm over her shoulders and embracing them.
"It's alright, Leigh," he murmured, "I'm here"
The light brown haired sniffed again and rested her head on his shoulder as her arms wrapped around his lower chest, starting to relax quickly after he pressed a soft kiss on her head.