Welcome to Camp Half Blood
It took Sirius a while to calm down, his heart still wouldn’t stop aching, but his throat eventually opened back up and he no longer felt sick every time he closed his eyes and inevitably saw his little brother disappearing in golden dust.
“Come in,” a gruff voice called from the other side of the door that James had just knocked on.
He pushed open the oak door and dragged Sirius inside by the wrist - even though he really did not want to meet anyone else new.
He’d met Marlene properly, and Remus - who Sirius was determined to be friends with, no matter how grumpy he might be - already knew James, and apparently Lily would be arriving in a few days as well. Everything was duller than how it should’ve been…
Sirius had just found out he was a demigod, and that he had a home amongst his best friends and people like him, he should be excited right?
It just didn’t feel quite right without Regulus.
“Hey Mr. D,” James grinned at the shorter man that sat in a chair before them. He was wearing a purple button-down shirt, a pair of khaki shorts with purple Crocs, and what looked like tall socks with grapes on them.
“Ah,” he grumbled, “this is the new one then?”
Sirius watched as the man got up from the armchair he’d been sitting in and shuffled over to get a closer look at Sirius.
“I’m Sirius Black sir,” Sirius stuck his hand out, half out of politeness and half for the slight chance that perhaps the man in purple Crocs was some kind of godly being.
“Sir,” the man barked out laughing, “Yes, I think I like this one quite a bit.”
James smirked, nudging Sirius slightly in the arm.
“I assume you’ve been given the proper introduction to where you are then?” The man asked over his shoulder as he turned and began to rummage through a packed drawer of the desk behind him.
“I mean James told me this was a summer camp for kids of gods…” Sirius mumbled, he could almost hear his mother’s voice in his head scolding him for using such a tone. “But other than I don’t know a lot.”
The man grumbled something about an orientation film under his breath and James blushed sheepishly at the ground.
“Sorry Mr. D.”
“Go and find Minerva then,” Mr. D waved a hand at James, “she can get him caught up on all of the nitty gritty. I’ll do the basics.”
James smirked at Sirius in the same way he would when they used to pull pranks back at school. Sirius didn’t want James to leave him with the man with purple Crocs, but he trusted him enough to keep his mouth shut as James pranced from the room. He heard the porch door in the next room slam shut before Mr. D spoke again.
“Well, Simon-”
“Sirius.”
“Yes that's what I said,” the man grunted. “Welcome to camp half blood, you’ll be safe from most monsters and sometimes the wrath of the gods - unless you anger them a little too much, in which case you’re on your own. I can’t control my siblings' actions most of the time.”
“Siblings?” Sirius squeaked, was this man an actual god? They were all siblings, right? That’s what he remembered from the day at the museum.
“Yes, personally I think Apollo and Artemis are the only tolerable ones, though Apollo can be a pain in my-”
“You’re a god,” Sirius gaped, unable to wrap his head around the idea that he was talking to an immortal being.
“Yes,” Mr. D shrugged, and Sirius had to drag his eyes over the man again. Purple button-down, khaki shorts, purple Crocs, a scraggly beard with what looked like pop-tart crumbs stuck in it… This was a god? “Dionysus to be specific, dear old Dad got angry with me a while back and sent me down here to make sure that kids like you don’t get eaten by monsters. I’d like to think I’m mildly successful.”
“Mildly?”
“Well I do get most of you slimy children back to camp before you get killed,” he waved a hand dismissively. “Now, you’ll stay in the Hermes cabin until you’re claimed - if you’re claimed - which might take a while thanks to the whole bolt situation…”
“James was telling me about that,” Sirius cocked his head slightly, it must’ve been a big deal if the gods weren’t claiming their children - whatever that meant.
“Yes well, it wouldn’t concern you…” he nodded shortly, “Likely.”
“What happens if I don’t get claimed?” Sirius asked nervously.
“Well, I suppose you’ll get quite friendly with the rest of them,” Dionysus shrugged. “Only the kids of major gods get claimed really, and if one of my little relatives does claim their kiddos we really don’t have anywhere to put them.”
“That’s dumb,” Sirius remarked bluntly, he knew at it was like to not be accepted by your parents and he knew that no one deserved to feel the way he was forced to.
The man just shrugged, and in the other room the screen door swung open and Dionysus grinned. “Ah, Minerva.”
Sirius had to do a double take because walking into the room - right behind James - was his former French and Art teacher.
“Professor?”
She chuckled and smiled at him, “Hello Sirius. It’s nice to see you again.”
“You’re in on this too?” Sirius gaped, had everything that had happened at Durmstrang been a setup? Minnie being part of this did make sense he supposed because he’d given him the magic-pen-sword-thingy.
“If by ‘in on this’ you mean part of Camp Half-Blood then yes,” the woman chuckled. “Welcome home Sirius.”
Home. Was this his home? People seemed to be more like him here, and his mother wasn’t around… which obviously made it seem homier. James was there, and Sirius was convinced that they had some kind of special connection, and Lily was coming, which was amazing. But Regulus wasn’t there… and nothing could fully feel like home without Regulus.
“James why don’t you show Sirius around, Dionysus and I have something to discuss,” Minnie placed a hand on Sirius’ shoulder. “Lily will be along soon, I’ve just sent her off to introduce a few new campers to Fabian and Gideon.”
“Alright,” James beamed, slipping his hand into Sirius’.
“Wait wait wait,” Sirius shook his head, refocusing on what he’d been meaning to ask the entire time.
“Yes, Silas?”
“Sirius,” he and James echoed. And Dionysus just shrugged. “What about my little brother?”
“That’s what Mr. D and I will be discussing Sirius.”
“Okay…” he sighed, feeling slightly defeated but he didn’t have the energy to argue with an immortal being at the time.
James misled softly at him before leading him from the room and shutting the door behind him.
“We’ll find him y’know,” James offered as they walked through the screen door.
“Will we?” Sirius grumbled, picking at the skin around his thumb.
“He’s not dead,” James explained. “He just got taken by the kindly ones, he’s probably in the underworld.”
“My little brother is in the fucking underworld?” Sirius snipped, his heart racing.
“Hades isn’t some evil monster most of the time.” James shrugged. “He tends to keep to himself. Regulus will be okay, the gods will take care of it.”
Sirius found that hard to believe after what he’d just heard regarding the gods barely even caring enough to claim their children, or not having enough cabins to put those kids in.
“I promise,” James reassured him gently, squeezing his hand slightly. “Now let's get the tour out of the way, this place is like a maze for the first few weeks really.”
Sirius knew that his best friend was only trying to make him feel better, but it was really overwhelming, he’d run away from home the night before and he had no idea whether or not his little brother was alright. This place seemed nice enough, there was a pretty small group of kids that were out and about at the time, and Sirius noticed that most of them were dressed in a similar fashion to James and himself; orange tee shirt with CHB in black lettering, and most in jeans or shorts with some kind of tennis shoes.
“These are the cabins,” James led him into a circle of mismatched buildings, most looked as if they had some kind of life, some shoes scattered about on the front porch or a hammock hanging between two trees beside them. There were three however that looked as if no one had set foot inside them ever, two built-in pure white marble with massive arch doors and golden numbers shining about above them; 1 and 2.
“Those are Zeus and Hera’s cabins,” James explained, following Sirius’ gaze.
“What about that one?” Sirius pointed to a smaller cabin, with stone walls and cerulean blue shutters, vines were creeping up the side of the wall, and even though it had so much charm it looked as if it had never been lived in.
“That’s Posedian’s cabin,” James said carefully, eyeing Sirius warily.
“Why aren’t there any kids living there?” Sirius asked, his head unable to contain the millions of questions he was coming up with.
“The big three aren’t supposed to have children,” James explained. “Hades is included in that pact as well but he doesn’t have a cabin anyways.”
“Why not?” Sirius assumed he sounded like a little kid when they continued to ask why over and over for every statement made.
“He doesn’t….” James paused, glancing up at the sky and deciding on his next word choice. “Get along very well with his siblings, besides he doesn’t really like to be worshipped either.”
“Oh,” Sirius shrugged. That made pretty good sense.
“Anyways,” James shifted between his feet and turned away from the front of the circle of cabins. “That’s my cabin over there,” he pointed toward a small A-frame cabin with peeling pastel yellow paint and natural wood paneling, he could see inside where there were a few people moving about in a small kitchen.
“Er- Apollo right?” Sirius tried to recall the conversation from last night where James had thrown a bow at him and glowed like the sun.
“Yes,” James beamed. “There’s Lily’s cabin!” He grabbed his hand and ran over to a massive tree with a spiral staircase that led up into a treehouse nestled in the branches. “Want to go and see if she’s in?”
“Yes,” Sirius said instantly, a smile creeping onto his lips. He’d always wanted a treehouse, but living in a penthouse in the heart of New York City didn’t exactly leave much room for that…
The two boys leaped up the stairs and Sirius took in the sight from all the way up in the tree, he could see the Long Island Sound, and all around the camp.
There was a massive Rockwall in the distance and a forest past the cabins to his right, he saw the strawberry fields that surrounded the farmhouse he’d been at earlier, and a hill which seemed out of place with a rocky entrance and a cave. There were a few other buildings scattered about the property, and he even saw a barn in the distance - which he hoped had horses because he had really always loved them and never got the opportunity to be around any.
“Evansssss,” James sang, throwing the oak door to the cabin open, Sirius stepped in behind him. The inside was just as homey, with plants everywhere, a small kitchen, bunk beds lining the walls with trunks, and a few doors - which Sirius thought led to adjourning rooms.
“Hold on a second honey,” Lily stood up from where she was kneeling next to a small child - whose eyes were a bit red and puffy.
“Hiya Lily,” Sirius smirked as she turned to face them, “miss me?”
“I never miss you, Black,” she rolled her eyes, moving to wrap him in a tight hug nonetheless. “I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Me too,” Sirius hugged back, burying his face in her shoulder and allowing himself to be comforted by the only person who could do it better than James.
Lily smelled like strawberries, she was wearing an orange shirt - similar to his own - with the sleeves rolled up to her shoulders and painted jean shorts, with her favorite pink Converse with little embroidered flowers.
“Break it up lovebirds,” James erased, pulling Lily into a quick side hug as she slapped his shoulder playfully.
“Alright I love you two but I’ve got to finish up here alright? I’ll see you a bit later at the campfire for dinner?”
“Alright Evans,” James smiled and Sirius nodded along. “Have a good day kiddo,” James beamed at the little kid behind Lily, and that was enough to make her smile just a bit.
They turned to leave and Lily called out for him quickly, handing him a small daisy that seemed to just grow in her palm on command.
“Woah,” Sirius marveled, plucking the flower from her hand and smiling. She grinned back and turned back to the little kid behind her as James led him out of the treehouse.
“She’s a Demeter kid,” James explained as they tromped down the stairs. “She’s really good with plants and such it’s amazing. I’ve always said she’s the most powerful one of us here.”
“How long have you been here then?” Sirius questioned as they walked through the middle of the cabins, past a small alter with a flame burning brightly.
“Lily’s been here six years,” James started, “me for four, she’d had monster problems her entire life really. I didn’t start getting attacked until I was a bit older and started to learn about my magic.”
“So do you stay here all year?”
“I don’t, Lily does most of the time but she came and helped me with your extraction, you’re a powerful fucker, Sirius. The number of times I had to go and kill something in the middle of our French class was brutal.”
“Huh?” Sirius’ eyes widened.
“Oh yeah Lily and I took shifts,” James laughed, “you weren’t ready to fight them off yourself quite yet.”
“You were fighting monsters in school?” Sirius repeated his brain not quite comprehending what his best friend had just told him.
James nodded, “You know that loose ceiling tile in the bathroom by Minnie’s room?” Sirius nodded, “Well I had a bow and my quiver stored away up there and Lily had her daggers.”
“Lily has daggers?” Sirius’ mouth fell open. James nodded. “Fuck I was missing out on a lot.”
“Well, now you’re here!”
“Yes, I am,” Sirius smiled tightly, his mind tried to wander off to Regulus but he yanked it back into line before he would spiral. “What’s next then?”
The two boys spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the camp, Sirius stuck close to his side whenever there were other people around, and James allowed him to be as quiet as he needed giving the circumstances.
James explained that they would play capture the flag the next night, and all about how they learn to use their powers and prep for combat - if there was ever a need to know how to do it.
Sirius loved the forge, he thought it was mesmerizing seeing the molten liquid poured into the molds.
The sun was beginning to fall in the sky when a familiar face ran up to the duo panting.
“James,” Remus breathed, holding his back gently as he stood. “Minnie needs you, Andi almost cut her fucking finger off while sparing with Cissa.”
“Oh shit,” James’ eyes widened, “alright can you just show him to the Hermes cabin then? And get him settled in? Thanks mate you’re the best!”
Sirius opened his mouth to protest, because as much as he liked Remus so far he didn’t want to be away from James. But James was already jogging away in the direction of what Sirius remembered being the arena used for sparing, this left Remus and Sirius standing a few feet away from each other, awkwardly staring into the distance.
“Well he wasn’t waiting around for an answer,” Remus sighed, nodding his head to tell Sirius to follow him. They walked in silence for a few minutes as they climbed back over a hill and the cabins came into sight.
“Who’s kid are you then?” Sirius broke the silence. He didn’t know what the numbers on anyone's shirt meant quite yet and Remus didn’t even have one for him to guess off of.
Remus shrugged, kicking a rock across the gravel path, “I don’t know.” Sirius cocked his head slightly and Remus seemed to understand the question, “I’ve been here for six fuckin’ years and no one thinks I’m important enough to claim.”
“Oh,” Sirius gazed down at the ground, he never knew what to say in tense situations like these. He was always bad with his words. He liked Remus’ shoes… and had it been a more appropriate time he’d likely have said something to him about it; he had ratty old brown Converse with doodles all on the insides and beads which said ‘fuck off’ on the laces.
“It’s fine, you’ve joined the unclaimed club now too,” he chuckled tensely. “We stay in the Hermes cabin, Fab and Gid are amazing about it really too, their big sister used to have these little sessions for us when I was still small, she’d comfort us when we were sad about not being wanted or whatever. The twins have kind of picked up on that a little bit.”
“They seem nice,” Sirius smiled. “Why can’t their sister do it anymore?”
“Well,” Remus started, “she grew up, and now she’s got a family. I think Fabian said she lives in New Hampshire.”
“Does she have any kids?” Sirius could tell that Remus liked talking about this woman, and if at all possible he’d like to keep the conversation from getting awkward again.
“Yeah Molly’s got kids,” Remus laughed to himself. “She just had her second a few weeks ago, his name is Charlie.”
“That’s cute,” Sirius smiled, “So she’s safe out in the real world then? Like after you learn to control your powers and everything you can leave?”
“Sorta,” Remus pursed his lips. “If you’re not super powerful it’s easier to do that. But most powerful kids don’t make it that long…”
“What?” Sirius's throat tightened slightly, “You mean they die?”
Remus nodded grimly, “Monsters tend to get to us before we can get here. And even when we do get here there's always something…”
“So being a halfblood is like a death sentence?” Sirius asked quietly, the universe really did hate him then. He’d always figured it did, after the shitty mother and the number of times he’d been expelled, and when Orion entered the picture Sirius was sure that the universe was punishing him and Regulus. Knowing that his parentage had doomed him just confirmed his suspicions.
Remus shrugged, “It’s not so simple to say that.”
“Whatever,” Sirius crossed his arms, he shouldn’t be angry with Remus - it wasn’t his fault his mother had felt the need to have godly sex or something (how did that work exactly?)
“Anyways until someone gets around to claiming you this is where you’ll stay,” Remus pushed open the door of the cabin they were standing outside of. The building was larger than most of the other cabins, and it was quite out of place, the exterior was wood, and there were marble columns that held up the front porch room, an assortment of posters was posted on a bulletin board on the wall and there was a pile of weapons and shoes beside the door. A crooked bronze 11 hung above the door that Remus was holding open for Sirius.
“Thanks,” Sirius mumbled, as he shuffled inside. The inside was just as mismatched as the outside, there was a main living space with a few couches and a small kitchen with snacks strewn about the countertops. A bag of popcorn was open and somewhat spilled across the counter and a carton of peaches which were labeled; FIA’S PEACHES, were sitting next to it with a few eaten cores next to it.
“Unclaimed kid's beds are on the left, and the Hermes’ kids are on the right. There’s an empty bunk under mine if you want,” he crossed the room in a few short steps, stepped up the ladder of one of the bunk beds - which was built into the wall - and flopped down onto his mattress.
Sirius found his heart racing as he stood awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen. He admired the posters stuck up around Remus’ bunk, he recognized the Queen and Bowie posters, and there was a small rainbow flag on the back corner post.
He walked over to the bed and sat silently on the bottom mattress, it was thin, but there were fresh sheets and bedding. He didn’t have much to unpack, James must have gotten left his backpack in the van they'd crashed, and he wondered for a moment what he would do about that. But he didn’t dwell on it long because from the top bunk Remus’ soft honey-like voice spoke quietly. And Sirius cleared his thoughts to listen to him.
“Are you alright Sirius?”
Was he alright? He couldn't exactly process what had happened in the last 48 hours, and he didn’t know exactly what to say. “I don’t know.”
Remus was quiet for a minute and he shifted on his sheets, and a moment later his head appeared upside down over the railing.
“You’ll be okay,” he said quietly. “I promise.”
And somehow Sirius believed him.