Melancholy || Harry Potter's twin brother

2: chapter twelve

Diagon Alley was busy, and as the group stood by a wall, hiding from the rush of the crowd, they tried to make sense of their book list. "Who's Gilderon Lockhart?" Sirius asked with a frown.

"Gilderoy." Hannah inputted, "You need your eyes testing."

"Oh, who's he?" Sirius asked.

"He's a famous writer." Ollie explained, "Why we need all of his books, I don't know."

"Well, we'd better get those first. Do any of you need to go to Gringotts?" Justin's mother, Jennifer, asked them, Sirius, Ollie and Jane did, so she sent the others to get icecream and the four headed towards the huge marble building at the other end of the street.

"Gringotts is weird." Sirius commented as they entered. Jane elbowed him.

"Don't say that in here." She told him, he laughed.

"Sorry."

They went as a group, not wanting to split up in the depths of the vaults underneath Gringotts. They travelled first to Sirius' vault, where the boy looked at the mark Potter on the door as though it was an unfamiliar language.

"What s wrong sweetheart?" Jennifer asked, putting an arm around the boy, who shook his head.

"It's like they're complete strangers, like the name means nothing to me." Sirius replied, his voice shaking.

"Oh Sirius." She sighed, "You don't have to go in, I can do it for you." She suggested, but once more he shook his head.

"No, I think... I think I have to do this." Sirius responded, his eyes fixed on the wall. "I guess I should stop leaving all the family stuff for Harry to deal with."

"Do you need any of us to go with you?" Jennifer asked gently, Sirius shook his head again.

"I- I'll go alone." He said quietly, she nodded and patted his shoulder as he allowed the Goblin that was helping them to open the door.

"Didn't realise you were so rich." Jane commented as she looked at the contents with widened eyes.

"Feast your eyes on the Potter fortune." Sirius said sarcastically as he stepped into the vault. He wondered how his parents had accumulated all this money, he knew they hadn't been out of Hogwarts long before they were killed and for over a year of that they were in hiding. Perhaps it had been his grandparents money, and now it was his and Harry's. He wished he knew what happened to them, instead of just shamelessly taking their money. Well, it was his money now he supposed.

^^^

Their last night before going back to Hogwarts was a subdued affair, they were gathered in Justin's room, no one really talking, all of them in a world of their own. Sirius was lying across the end of Justin's bed, Hannah's head resting on his stomach, he was humming softly.

"What arer you humming? I feel like I've heard it before?" Jane frowned, they all looked at Sirius, who frowned.

"There's no happy endings, not here and not now. this tale is all sorrows and woes. you might dream that justice and peace win the day, but that's not how the story goes." Sirius sang softly, it was quiet, but they could still hear the lightness of his voice, the way the words sounded so soft and comforting as he sang, the way he captured the tune just right, although the lack of confident in his own ability shone through also.

"Wasn't Lianna singing that?" Hannah asked, looking up and her friend, who nodded, Justin had joined the two and had allowed Sirius to place his head in his lap.

"Didn't know you could sing." He commented, Sirius shrugged.

"You never asked." Sirius replied, he was tired, they all were, either him or Justin having nightmares had kept them from their slumber. They were closer now, but at the same time, a divide had fallen upon them, the Swans and the Hufflepuffs, sometimes it was only Ollie who was left out of the mix.

"Where is that song from?" Ollie asked quietly.

"It's always been there, following us. Gideon used to sing it, sometimes it calms him." Sirius replied, Lianna and I spend a lot of time clearing up Aro's mess."

"You did, it was quite amazing working with her." Hannah mused. Sirius smiled, he held affection for the ancient ghost, who was so like him, yet so different.

"Can you sing more?" Justin asked, Sirius nodded.

"some people smile at the end of the day, some people laugh i suppose, but to me there's nothing but gloom and despair that's just how the story goes." Sirius continued gently, Hannah laughed and pulled a lock of his hair gently, it was long now, reaching past his ears, but he didn't want it cut.

"You missed a bit." She pointed out.

"that's Liannas bit." Sirius replied softly.

"You enjoyed it, no matter the pain, you felt like you belong there." Jane realised, Sirius shrugged, this wasn't something he particularly wanted to discuss. "You all did."

"We did, we had a great time." Hannah defended, she looked critically at Jane. "We had the best time."

"If we don't have a normal year at hogwarts this year, i'm not coming back." Sirius smoothly changed the subject, Justin laughed.

"Bold of you to asssume we'd let you do that." He told the boy, who rolled his eyes at him, the ease of their friendship was an amazing thing to see. They had a close bond that one couldn't have imagined forming so quickly and it was certain to say that the two and even the three would do anything for each other.

"And how exactly would you stop me?" He challenged lightly, his tone mocking, but he meant nothing by it.

"I'm sure we'd figure something out." Hannah replied instead, she was examining the small cuts across Sirius' knuckles, he had accidently punched a wall and she was curious to see how it was healing.

"I don't doubt that." Sirius laughed. It was almost like they had forgotten about the others, until Jane spoke again.

"Sirius would probably be able to fight you off if you came for him." She supplied and the divide shifted again.

"He would be able to, but I doubt he would." Hannah replied, poking Sirius in the cheek. "He loves us too much."

"What? Ew no I hate you!" The Potter boy joked, wincing as the girl slapped his arm.

"You wouldn't dare." Justin narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Oh I would." Sirius declared, but he was laughing, they all were.

Except Ollie.

Ollie had already resigned himself to the fact that he was the sensible one, the parent of the group. But he hasn't realised just how much he didn't understand the younger four. How much they understood each other, an unwritten bond that they had that he just couldn't understand. And he understood what Aro was trying to get across. He wasn't like them. And he would never be, for he was of a different mind, granite to their marble. He didn't think in the same way as them, even Justin and Hannah, to were not even chosen, were unofficially one of them, more than he would ever be.

And it hurt, it angered him, and it made him want to prove them wrong.