At breakfast, Harriet struggled to eat. It seemed that everywhere she went, the house was full of noise and chaos. Even now, Fred and George were taking turns to distract Gabriel while the other flicked a raisin into his bowl from either side of her.
She wondered where Severus was now, who he was with. Was he fine right now, without her? Or was he just as broken as she was? Harriet knew she'd messed up when she went to the Ministry, but they'd already talked about it. Why the sudden turnaround? Was it someone else? She needed to talk to someone before she went insane.
Giving up on the food in front of her, Harriet set down her cutlery and rose from her seat, hurrying to Sirius' room.
"Sirius, can I talk to you?"
He patted the spot on the bed beside him "What is it?"
Harriet's words seemed to get caught half way out of her chest. Instead of telling him why she was upset, she heard herself speaking as though from afar.
"I need to get out of this house, I can't be around everyone a minute longer. I need air."
He raised a hand to trace her cheek, but didn't ask her what was wrong. He knew Harriet well enough to know that she would tell him in her own time. "I know a place."
—————-
The sting of the air on her cheeks as they roared down the highway was exactly what Harriet had needed. As they rode, all she could hear was the rush of the wind and the roar of the engine. There was something freeing in knowing that if she spoke no one would be able to hear it.
He pulled up at the end of the road before taking her hand and leading her across an unpaved path through the grass. "I used to come here with James all the time."
Suddenly the trees around them cleared to reveal a placid lake, with a weeping willow a few paces from its edge. Its branches seemed to whisper in the breeze.
Sirius strode towards the willow, parting its branches to allow Harriet to walk beneath them.
Sirius flopped down on the grass beneath the weeping willow and Harriet took the spot beside him overlooking the lake.
The branches of the tree hung so low that they brushed the ground on all sides around them. To any onlooker, they would be invisible.
"Better?" He asked.
"It's perfect" Harriet murmured as she took in her surroundings.
Harriet turned on her side to face him.
For a moment she reached a tentative hand towards him, entangling her fingers in his long black hair. She closed her eyes and behind her closed lids she could see Severus' obsidian gaze upon hers, the edge of his mouth twisted in a cruel smirk. For a moment Harriet pictured dragging his mouth to hers like she'd done a thousand times before.
"Harriet" Sirius murmured, breaking Harriet's momentary reverie.
It wasn't him.
"I- I was seeing someone from Hogwarts and he-" Harriet's voice cracked.
Sirius pulled Harriet's head onto his chest. "Come here, princess."
He could feel Harriet's tears soaking through the front of his shirt. Sirius gave a pained sigh as he ran a hand through his long dark hair.
"It's just that I miss him so much" she sobbed.
"It sounds like you really loved him" he replied softly.
Harriet's quaking sobs seemed to echo through his own chest. He couldn't bear to see her so heartbroken.
He pressed a kiss to her hair, holding her against him and rocking her gently.
Harriet tilted her head upwards in his embrace, meeting his dark eyes. "You won't ever leave me, will you?"
"Not if I can help it" he replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He hesitated for a second before pressing a kiss to each of her eyelids.
He lifted a paw like hand to wipe the remaining tears from her lower lashes.
"Thank you, Sirius" she hicupped.
"It's my pleasure."