Chill (Sirius Black, Post-Hogwarts Marauder's Era, HP)

[LifeOfTheMarauders]

This started out as a drabble, but then it actually developed a plot, so I'm making it into it's own fic. Enjoy lovely readers! And let me know if you have any Marauder's Era requests! I'd be happy to attempt whatever

Context: takes place around September of 1981; the dreaded betrayal of October 31, 1981 is right around the corner, but Sirius doesn't know that just yet

 

 

Sirius sat down gruffly at the bar of the Leaky Cauldron. The summer weather that had inhabited England for the past few months had finally been overcome by the all-too-familiar freezing autumn rains, and he was frozen to the core. Still, despite being utterly exhausted from standing on watch in the night air for almost 4 hours (Order of the Phoenix business, of course), he was not quite ready to return home to his empty flat.

He waved over the bartender who had been having a conversation with an old, particularly haggard-looking fellow who Sirius saw almost every time he frequented the pub. 

“Tom,” Sirius greeted, attempting to rid himself of the scowl that seemed plastered to his face for the sake of the friendly barman. 

“What’ll it be tonight, my boy?” the man replied jovially. 

“Just an ale,” Sirius replied through teeth clenched in an effort to keep them from chattering. “Thanks.”

Tom nodded and set off to grab an ale glass. 

Sirius hoped that the drink would do something for the ice that seemed to have seeped into his bones. He felt as though he would never be warm again, despite his best efforts. Earlier in the night, he had put a warming spell on his thick leather jacket, but it seemed as though every single time a small draft of air reached his skin, he would shiver.

“Here we are, young Mr. Black.”

Tom set the full glass down in front of him as he zoned back in, having been staring blankly at the bar counter. He certainly was exhausted enough to sleep well, granted he was able to keep warm enough to drift off. After all, he would be sleeping alone for the fourth time that week. 

He took a gulp of the room temperature ale, and after a moment felt a splash of relief as he noted that he did feel a bit warmer with it in his system.

Yet, his chill returned wholeheartedly as the pub door swung open again, emitting a blast of the night air as it did.

Sirius lamented the loss of relief silently, clenching his stomach as another set of chills attempted to wrack his body.

His nose prickled in response to the cold air and he scrunched it before simply pinching his nostrils shut and dipping forward in a stifled sneeze.

“Hh’gnxt!!”

He scowled and sipped the ale again.

“Sirius?”

Surprised, Sirius swung his head around at the questioning voice, eyes finding the familiar, slightly nervous-looking face of Peter Pettigrew.

He attempted to muster up a small smile for his friend; he was happy to see him, of course, but he certainly wasn’t in the mood for a social hour at the moment. 

“Wormtail,” he said, in what he hoped was a cheerful enough tone, as the man in question walked toward his place at the bar, taking a seat at the stool beside him.

“Haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks,” he said, voice still a bit gruff from the strain of keeping his teeth from chattering. “How’ve you been, mate?” 

“Good, good,” Pete replied, looking a bit sheepish as he quickly added, “Well, good as you can be, y’know? With all this, uh, mad stuff going on lately.”

Of course, Sirius knew what he meant. With James, Lily, and baby Harry in hiding, and Remus... 

Sirius shivered suddenly, the chill in his spine suddenly uncontrollable.

“Yeah, ‘course,” Sirius murmured, taking his final gulp of ale as Peter gestured to Tom for another round. 

“So what’re you doing here so late, Wormy?” Sirius asked quickly, attempting to avoid doing much talking himself.

“I could ask you the same,” Peter replied, chuckling a bit nervously (but timidity had always been his nature, Sirius supposed). “I would have thought you’d be back at your flat by now. You and Moony usually are, after all. Or is he not home?”

Sirius shook his head brusquely as Tom brought the two mugs of ale over.

“Oh,” Peter said, sounding a bit concerned now. “Well...where’s he gone, then? Not out on another mysterious mission from Dumbledore, is he?”

Sirius bit the inside of his cheek, staring down with a blank expression into the fresh  glass of ale.

“Apparently.”

Peter gazed confusedly at Sirius’ phrasing, tilting his head in a way that made it obvious he was searching for further elaboration. 

But, Sirius did not elaborate further. Instead, he shivered violently for a moment as another chill ran its way down his spine, feeling as though he was once again standing alone in the freezing air of the autumn night instead of in a semi-warm pub surrounded by people.

“Merlin, it’s bloody freezing,” he muttered instead of answering Peter’s unspoken question.

“I suppose it is a bit nippy,” Pete murmured as they both lapsed into momentary silence.

Sirius felt a prickle in the back of his sinuses as the pub door opened and another gust of cold air blew in. He shook his head slightly in annoyance as he pinched his nose.

“‘nxght! ‘kxnt!”

He went back to staring blankly at his ale, waiting for Pete to eventually continue the conversation or call it a night and leave for wherever he was headed. 

Peter looked a bit uncomfortable, but cleared his throat to speak all the same. 

“Y’know you...you seem a bit out of sorts, mate. More so than usual, I mean.” He bit his lip a bit, not quite meeting Sirius’ eye. “Is everything alright?”

Sirius chuckled humorlessly. “Nothing right now is alright, Wormtail.”

He turned to meet his friend’s eye. “But we’ll make it through the night, aye?”

Peter grunted slightly in agreement as Sirius stood up. 

“Well, it was good to see you, Pete. Take care of yourself,” he laid a few sickles on the bar counter to cover both of their ales. “We’ll all be together again soon enough. Just have to push through ‘til the war’s end.”

“Yeah,” Wormtail murmured.

“Bye for now, then.”

“Yeah, bye.”

Sirius lugged himself reluctantly toward the door of the pub that opened into Diagon Alley, bracing himself for another chill as it swung open and he walked out into the cold one last time. 

“Hiih’nkxshh!! Hh’tshuhh!!”

The sneezes came on unexpectedly quickly this time, and he didn’t have time to stifle them as he usually would in public. 

He thought that it would be just his luck to be coming down with something, and resolved to head straight to bed after a scorching shower when he got home.

Straight to bed...alone.

But it was better alone than with someone who felt like a stranger. Perhaps he was wrong about Remus; perhaps the man was on their side after all. But Sirius knew that he couldn’t afford trust his lover if there was even a chance that he was right.

And with that thought, he shivered one last time and turned on the spot, disappearing into the night like a ghost.

Edited January 7, 2021 by MarauderFanGirl4Ever

[mystic-chibi]

ooooooo I cant wait to see what happens next! 

[RavenWatson]

My poor loves.