We Were Forever

Sirius,

Are you alright, mate? I haven't heard from you in weeks. I'm starting to get a little worried. I guess your mum didn't take it well when you asked her to stay with me for the summer. Mum and Dad said they would come and get you if they needed to… try to get back to me, eh?

Sincerely,

James Fleamont Potter

—-------

Sirius,

Is everything alright? James is sort of freaking out that you haven't answered him. I think he might actually show up on your doorstep if you don't write to him soon. To tell the truth, I may even beat him to it. I hope you're alright and that these letters aren't getting you in trouble or anything…

Hope to hear from you,

Remus

—------

J,

Think your parents can bring you to Diagon Alley next Saturday?

S.

—-------

Sirius,

Yeah. Definitely, mate.

Sincerely,

James Fleamont Potter

—-------

Remus,

I've got a response from him. He asked me to meet him at Diagon Alley on Saturday but that's all he said. But hey, at least we know he's alive, right? I'll keep in touch. Don't stress yourself out so close to the moon. You've got enough on your plate without worrying about Sirius. Cheers.

Sincerely,

James Fleamont Potter

—-------

Sirius always hated going into Borgin and Burkes with his father. The shop gave him the creeps and Mister Borgin's beady black eyes made his skin crawl. He felt like the man could see straight into his mind or something. He and Regulus always stood unusually close to each other and tried not to move around much when their parents dragged them into the store for whatever unknown reason they had to be there.

"Merlin," Regulus breathed as he looked into one of the glass cases towards the front of the floor. "Sirius, look at this."

Sirius grimaced. "I'd rather not. Stay away from there, you never know what's cursed in this place, Reggie."

The younger brother rolled his eyes. "It's behind glass, Sirius. Honestly, I thought Gryffindors were meant to be brave."

"Yeah, brave, not gullible," Sirius muttered, letting his eyes wander. He hadn't been there since he was quite a bit younger, but the place was just as spine-tingling as it had been then. He was about to excuse himself to wait outside, regardless of the lecture his parents would undoubtedly give him later about being rude when a sign suddenly caught his eye. The dusty old thing read 'Apothecary'. He glanced over at the backs of his parents who were talking in hushed tones to Mister Borgin and casually strolled over to the small section of the store that held rare and potentially dangerous potion ingredients. His eyes went wide.

Jackpot.

A tight hand on his shoulder broke him from his excitement.

"Come along, Sirius," said his mother. She was giving him a suspicious look as if she knew he was plotting to assist a halfblood werewolf with the products he had suddenly become so interested in and lead him out of the store.

Once they were out in the narrow street of Knockturn Alley, Sirius cleared his throat.

"Er, Mother? I need some things from Diagon Alley for my homework… since we're here," he held his breath. Silently, he hoped with everything that his excuse was believable enough.

Regulus frowned and eyed him questioningly as his parents took a moment to consider.

"Alright, Sirius," Orion conceded, though slightly skeptical and Sirius had to force himself not to let out a sigh of relief desperately wanting to escape him.

As they crossed to Diagon Alley and the streets opened, Sirius walked a little faster and scanned the crowd.

Where are you, Potter…

"What is it you need, Sirius?" Walburga asked impatiently as her son seemed to jet past every shop in the alley.

"Er… the lens on my telescope cracked. I just need to–"

"Sirius!"

This time he couldn't control it and he felt his entire body slump for a second, the stress alleviating from him, as his best friend came bounding toward him, enveloping him in a big hug so tight he heard his joints crack.

"Alright there, mate?" James muttered quietly before letting him go, eyes scanning him briefly to check for any signs of something being terribly wrong.

"Yeah, fine," he could see James' parents heading towards them and he knew his own were watching the whole scene with absolute disapproval and disgust.

"Hello, Sirius, dear," Mrs. Potter smiled warmly at him. Her brightly colored robes were such a contrast to the dreary ones his own family wore. He had met James' parents a few times at Kings Cross and when they had come to a few of their son's Quidditch games. They were always very kind and welcoming to him. Never once had they given him the initially weary once-over that most other wizards gave him when they heard the name Black.

"Orion, Walburga," she said, meeting the stare of the other woman. "How nice to see you. We were so disappointed when we didn't get a response from Sirius about spending the Holiday with us." There was something in her tone that Sirius couldn't quite place, but it was fiercely challenging. He risked a look over his shoulder at his parents, both seemed offended at the mere sight of the Potters, even though they were one of the most highly respected pureblood families in Great Britain. Sirius felt an abrupt rush of embarrassment.

"Euphemia, Fleamont," said Walburga, curtly. "Funny, I don't recall receiving the invitation."

Sirius wished he was old enough to apparate so he could disappear from the very spot. He averted James' eyes.

"Oh," Euphemia kept a bubbly air of polite conversation, though Sirius could tell she was doing it to purposely irritate his mother. "Well, it must have been lost then. You know how flighty owl post can be."

"Yes," Walburga said, barely moving her lips. "Flighty."

Sirius was frozen in absolute terror, but his eyes locked on Regulus for just a second before the younger boy intentionally dropped his gaze.

"So then," Mister Potter said briskly, placing a hand on both James and Sirius' shoulders. "Since we happened to bump into you, what do you say? Think we could steal Sirius away for a few weeks?"

Bravely, Sirius risked another glance at his parents, both of whom stood rigid as statues with near-expressionless faces. Finally, Orion gave a short nod. "Yes, of course," he said at last, though when his piercing grey eyes landed on his son, Sirius felt as though his insides had turned to ice.

"Brilliant," Euphemia chirped with a flash of an overly cheerful smile. "We'll just send for his things then."

"Right then," Fleamont's hand on Sirius' shoulder squeezed gently. "Sirius, say goodbye to your parents and we'll be going."

Sirius bit back a groan of absolute dread and stepped forward. He kissed his mother's cheek, gave his father a brief nod, and muttered a thank you to both of them. He turned to Regulus, "Reggie, I-"

"See you at school, Sirius," Regulus muttered, eyes never leaving the ground, and he and their parents left. 

Sirius felt his heart lurch in his chest as the weight of Regulus' words sank in. Then James' arm was over his shoulder.

"Hey," he urged. "You okay?"

Sirius nodded then looked back at the Potters. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. His voice sounded small and foreign to him. "I did write them and ask. They knew about it, they just-"

Mrs. Potter shook her head. "No need to explain, love. Now, why don't you boys run and get some ice cream? You can meet us by The Leaky Cauldron in an hour alright?"

"Thanks, Mum," James answered.

James then took Sirius by the arm and led him away. Neither of them said anything as they walked through the crowd, but once they were far enough away from James' parents, Sirius stopped and pulled his friend aside.

"I'm sorry I didn't write. They've been watching my every bloody move," he ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair and pulled slightly. "I don't know what the hell they thought I'd be up to but the idea of me spending the break with you guys just drove them to think I was going to start a revolt against them or something. I don't-"

James grabbed him by both shoulders. "Sirius, it's fine. I figured it was something like that, you just had me worried. You are alright, aren't you? They didn't-"

"No!" Sirius insisted, almost too quickly. He sighed. "No, just some mild house arrest shit. May as well have shipped me off to Azkaban, though honestly, I think I'd have had a better chance of escaping there on my own."

James smirked, looking relieved that Sirius had found his sense of humor again.

"Anyway, when they started talking about needing to go to Knockturn Alley, I figured that was my best chance to meet up with you," Sirius explained.

James' smirk faded and he raised an eyebrow, "What would they need down in Knockturn?"

Sirius shrugged dismissively. "Fuck if I know. They're always in and out of Borgin-" His eyes went wide as he suddenly remembered. "Borgin and Burkes! James! I've found the ingredients we need!"

James looked confused and his head fell slightly to the side. "Wha-"

"What we need for the potion part of becoming animagi, you twat!" Sirius' excitement had completely replaced the awful feelings of anxiety that had been plaguing him since he first returned home for the summer. "Remember, it was a bunch of that stupid rare stuff we couldn't find in Slughorn's store? I bloody found it all at Borgin and Burke's!"

"Great," James forced out, giving him a strained look.

Sirius slumped. "Look, I don't want to go back there either, but I don't know when or where we'll find-"

"Whoa," James put his hands up defensively, "I never disagreed. Obviously, we have no choice, we need those ingredients. But fuck it if I'm going to go skipping down Knockturn Alley in a fit of girlish joy over it."

Sirius threw on a pout. "You won't skip with me, Jamie? I'm wounded, really."

James snickered and smacked him lightly on the head. "Git. Let's get this over with. Remus better appreciate what we're going through for him."

"Once he's done lecturing us on how irresponsible and insane we all are, I'm sure he'll be positively smitten. Let's go."

—-------

"Blimey, this place is spooky," James all but whispered as they entered the store.

"I know," Sirius said, once again suppressing the involuntary shiver that ran down his back each time he entered the place. They walked like they were glued together at the arm, carefully avoiding the ghastly objects that seemed to radiate pure darkness. It reminded Sirius of when he and Regulus were kids and both afraid, instead of this new Regulus who seemed more intrigued. He led James to the Apothecary.

"What was it we needed?" He asked quietly, gazing at the different jars and vials.

"Er," James thought for a moment, also looking over everything in front of them. He pointed, "There. Fermented Acromantula eyes."

Sirius grabbed an empty vial and measured out extra. Both boys made disgusted faces at the long stream of slime that didn't seem to want to break off.

"That's gross," James shuddered. "Bleh."

"We need to ingest this, mate," Sirius grimaced.

"...Ugh, Remus is doing my Ancient Runes homework for a bloody year after this."

"Same," Sirius agreed solemnly. "What's next?"

"Powdered dragon scales."

A dark shadow loomed over them and an oily voice interrupted. "Can I help you, gentlemen?"

They both slowly turned to face Mr. Borgin, whose face went from a suspicious scowl to a dark grin as his beady eyes landed on Sirius.

"Ah, young Master Black," the old man drawled. "How very… unexpected… to see you back…"

It took a second for Sirius to compose himself, but he swallowed and straightened his posture so that it was more suitable for someone being called 'young master'.

"Yes," Sirius cleared his throat. "I needed some ingredients."

The man's grin widened. "I see… and what exactly is it that you are brewing, Master Black?"

Sirius' face fell, but he kept his stance. "I hardly think that's anyone's business but my own, Mister Borgin."

Borgin actually seemed impressed for a moment as he considered the young men in front of him. "Of course, Sir," his eyes went to James, who did his best not to shrink down under the devilish gaze. "Right then, gentlemen. If you have any questions, just ask."

The old man left them and they both let out a long breath, sharing a relieved look between them before gathering the rest of what they needed. They paid for their stash with as little conversation with Borgin as possible. They then hightailed it out of that shop.