New People
In the living room not only had James woken up but Sirius had started to wake up. Stirring around on the sofa, his eyes soon began to flutter open. James was by his side in a flash trying not to startle him since they don’t know exactly what condition he is in at the moment.
“Hey. How are you feeling Pads?” James asks in a gentle and concerned voice.
“Like I have been thrown down from the astronomy tower 5 times over.” He answers, lifting his hand to his head trying to make the headache disappear. Looking over to James they give each other a small smile to lift the others spirit.
Effie and Monty take over after that. Checking over Sirius to make sure everything is alright and tend to what needs help and Monty gets him a potion to help with the various pains. About an hour passes when they are done and think Sirius is fine to go on with what he wants to do. In the meantime James sits on the other couch by Regulus switching between listening to Sirius and his parents talking and looking at Regulus wondering when he would wake up. Shouldn't it be soon? He thinks they should wake up around the same time. But their wounds last night were different from each other, maybe whatever he went through was something that would take longer to come back from.
Freya spent her time in the kitchen. Getting done with breakfast and then starting to clean up the dishes she had made. Sometimes looking into the living room in case someone would need some assistance with anything. It never looked like it and she trusted them to call for her if they needed help with something.
Everything felt weird. Just in the other room were two people she didn’t know. One hurt but conscious and one hurt and unconscious. One James friend, the other said friends little brother. She didn’t know what had happened but she knew it wasn't anything good. Freya felt helpless. She couldn’t do anything, couldn’t help. Sure James couldn’t technically do anything either, but he could at least be there for support and as a safe feeling of familiarity. So since she couldn’t do anything she was in the kitchen trying to distract herself and help with the hunger that was bound to come for everyone.
Her predictions were right. After the hour passed her parents walked into the kitchen. “Hey. Is he alright?” Freya asked her parents gently as soon as she saw them in the room with her.
“As well as he can be right now.” Her mother responds with a soft look in her eyes. Freya can feel some of the pressure lifting from her. The pressure of not knowing and being scared that something was more wrong than they thought.
“Good. That’s good. Do- do you know what happened?” She asks nervously. Nervous for the answer and if she even will get the answer, maybe he doesn't want anyone to know or at least not her. It wouldn’t be surprising, he doesn't know her.
“Partly.” Her mom pauses and gestures for the chairs to sit down to join her dad. “James told you that their family isn't the nicest to their own children right?” Effie asked after they sat down. Freya nodded in response to this, waiting for her mom to go on. “I can’t tell you everything, firstly because we don’t even know everything, but secondly because it’s their story to share if they want to.” Freya nodes once again understanding this. She just wants to know a little bit to fill in the blanks in her head. “Their parents hadn't agreed with some of the choices they had made in the school year and now during the summer. So they decided to,- to discipline them in the way they think is right. This had been lasting until night when they decided to leave and come here. Their parents had caught them when they were leaving and had been hit with hexes and curses until they somehow had made it through the floo system. Sirius couldn’t remember exactly how they had gotten away. Maybe he will remember or Regulus will remember when he wakes up. But even if they don't, the thing that matters is that they are here now and they are safe here.”
It’s a lot to take in, but it’s easier because of what James had told her the night before. “That’s awful. How could somebody do that to their own child?” Freya looks between her parents. Her parents had always been her safe space. She couldn’t imagine not being able to turn to them for stuff, even less being afraid of what they might do to her.
“Don’t know. Guess we will never know. But they won’t go through that again. They are living here now and they are safe.” Effie smiles at her, giving her arm a squeeze.
“Should we take the breakfast into the living room and eat there? I don’t know about you guys but I’m starving and I think the boys are as well.” Monty says standing up starting to take some of the food to bring to the other room. Freya and Effie follows getting the rest of the food.
“You boys hungry?” Monty asks when he walks in, putting down the plates.
“Yeah. We could eat.” James answers after sharing a look with Sirius. All the food gets put down on the table in the living room so they still can see Regulus in case something changes.
“Sirius, this is my little sister Freya. Freya, my best friend Sirius.” James introduces the two for the first time.
“Hi, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard lots about you.” Freya reached out her hand in a polite manner.
“Nice to meet you as well. James can’t shut up about his sister who ditched him for another school.” Sirius meets her hand.
“Is that so?” She gives her brother a mocking look.
“Hey! I don’t talk about it that much!” James poorly tries to defend himself.
“Whatever you say mate.” Sirius claps his hand to his back giving Freya a look to tell her that he definitely does. She gives a giggle as a response to this.
“Also no ganging up on me here.” James tried to order them to stop whatever they were doing. Freya just put her arms up in surrender and turned to the table to join their parents.
Breakfast past smoothly. Sirius was active in the conversations and got to know the family which it already felt like he was a part of. He fit right in. Regulus was still on the couch no different than before. They didn’t understand why he didn’t wake up when Sirius had woken up. They said they would give him until the next day before they would bring him to St Mungo's Hospital for a professional to look him over.
James and Sirius stayed in the living room with Regulus to make sure he wouldn't be alone when he woke up. While they were there resting since Sirius still was sore and tired, Effie and Monty, with some offered help from Freya, set up two rooms for the brothers. They would be next to each other, so they wouldn’t be separated too much, with James on the other side of the corridor and Freya at the end of said corridor while their parents are on the other side of the second floor.
Once they were done Effie and Monty went back down stairs to check on the others and Freya went to her room to write letters to her friends. They all tried to write as often as possible but they had all agreed on at least writing every other week since it took some time for the letters to arrive since she was so far away.
She wrote about her last week and what she had been up to. She told them about the family and what stupid stuff James had been up to as usual. Even if nothing out of the ordanair happened it was still fun to tell her friends what had happened and it was just as fun to get their letters back. Although something out of the ordinary had happened she didn’t write about that. It felt wrong to tell them and if she would tell them anything, which she probably will end up doing since she can’t keep anything from them, then she would tell them directly, not just in a letter. Plus stuff wasn’t completely settled so she wouldn’t know who to explain everything properly to anyone right now. Her own mind is still a mess from the last twenty four hours.
So after the letters when her mind still were everywhere and nowhere, she did what usually helps the best. Getting her guitar she then sits down in her window seat. Music always helps her to clear her mind and think straight. She usually can’t put her feelings and thoughts into words, but music and lyrics is something she knows in and out. Then the music plus that seat is magic to her. She can look out and see the nature around to help calm her. It feels like she's on the moon. All this is always better in the evening and night. She can see the night sky and it feels like this is the time that nature comes to life.
In the window seat she experiments with new melodies and lyrics that come to her while she sits and thinks for herself. She thinks about what happened the last day. Soon she thinks about her family as a whole. The differences between her family and the Black family. The thoughts of family lead to her friends and what she knows about James’ friends. Things could have been so different if she had made another choice when she was eleven. She wouldn’t have found the friends she has today and she would probably not be as close to Nina as she is now.
But I'm in the trees, I'm in the breeze
My footsteps on the ground
Life is weird and unnecessarily complicated.
You'll see my face in every place
But you can't catch me now
What if everything was simple like nature. Everything knows its place with no questions asked.
Through wading grass, the months will pass
You'll feel it all around
Sure some things may not have the prettiest fates but that’s life. Plus everything that is like that has the same fate. All humans don't have that same fate. Life is unfair.
I'm here, I'm there, I'm evеrywhere
But you can't catch me now
No, you can't catch mе now
You look at all the days one by one, nothing changes. But when you look back everything is different. Guess life is like nature in that way.