something tall and strong [[sirius]]

[JAMES CHARLUS POTTER]

[SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

Sirius wove around people on his way to The Leaky Cauldron, hurrying to get to the door. Today had been one of the more stressful days on the job in a long time, and it wasn't even really about what work he'd been doing. The problem had been the news that they'd all gotten, news that had clouded Sirius' thoughts from the moment he had heard. There had been an attack at Hogwarts, which was just unheard of. Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place there was, nearly untouchable, a haven...and yet today that hadn't been true.

From the moment Sirius had heard, he'd sent a hurried owl to Hestia at the school. It was times like these that made him wish she hadn't taken up the Herbology post. He hated imagining what had happened, his thoughts racing fast into territories that were simply terrifying. He'd barely been able to keep it together as he waited to get word from her, and when he did, it was such a relief. One of the only good things about her being there, anyway from him, was knowing that she was always on hand to defend their children. She also was on hand to be sure that they were all in once piece. Hearing that his whole family was safe and sound had made him nearly collapse into his chair with relief. Of course he was still worried, knowing that safety wasn't assured any longer, that things could change so fast, it was all the makings of a fitful night of sleep. But knowing that things were okay for the moment at least, well that was enough to keep him going for the rest of the day.

Now he was headed for a much needed drink with his long titled best friend, James Potter. They were in exactly the same boat, both worrying sick over their wives and children. Their whole families were locked up there, and knowing that there was absolutely nothing they could do right now was exceedingly frustrating. All they could really do was try to wait it out, to hope for the best, and drink away some of the tension. Once he got inside that bar, and settled down with his best mate, then, and only then, could he truly try to let go of the worry. At least for a little while.

The door banged open loudly as he barged in, and heads turned, taking in the site curiously. Sirius ignored them all and scanned the patchy amount of people inside until his eyes settled on the single individual that he'd been looking for. James was seated at the bar, drink already in hand. Just seeing him made Sirius eager to unwind, and so he hurried over. His work robes felt heavy and uncomfortable, and he half wished that he had stopped home to change first. But it was too late now, and he really couldn't find it in himself to care too much.

"Prongs," Sirius breathed, clapping a heavy hand on his back before taking a seat on the bar stool right by his side. "Couldn't even wait for me, could you? Can't say I blame ya." His eyes turned to the bartender and he nodded, toward his friend. "I'll get started with one of the same, thanks." He had a feeling they might be camped out here for a while.


word count: 575

[JAMES CHARLUS POTTER]

[/i] he greeted simply as he patted his friend on the back, and James merely raised his eyebrows, giving a short upward nod in response. Sirius perched himself on the stool next to James, questioning in amusement, "Couldn't even wait for me, could you? Can't say I blame ya." James chuckled silently, waiting until Sirius had ordered his own drink before retorting, “Maybe if you hadn’t taken so long to get your arse down here, Paddy.” He grinned toward his friend, though it didn’t hold up as long as it normally would have had this been just another after work get together between best mates. As it was, his grin faded into a sadder looking smile that veered more towards a grimace than anything else.

When Sirius had gotten his drink in his hand, James lifted his own, glancing and raising his eyebrows expectantly. Catching the brainwave, Sirius followed his lead and they clicked their drink bottles, James immediately raising his to his lips to take another giant swig from the bottle. The alcohol burned his throat pleasantly as it rushed down, settling in his stomach with a warm, bubbly feeling that was slowly starting to take over and soothe him. Again, he wasn’t an alcoholic, but sometimes he just needed this feeling. It helped all the other crappy things that had happened just go away.

“So how you holdin’ up?” he questioned his friend. He wasn’t sure if Sirius had gotten the chance to go home or not, or if he’d received news from his wife similar to the short, undescriptive letter James had received from Lily. He knew that even if Sirius had had gotten some sort of word, he still would be just as unsettled as James – the two were much alike in many ways, and this was just one of them. Neither of them really understood how they grew to be such family men, since looking back at how they were in school, probably the last thing either of them would have expected to become was a father, but now it was the most important role in each of their lives.

Of course, just because they weren’t exactly expecting it didn’t mean they were caught off guard and unprepared – they were just about the most kick ass fathers any kids could have, and they both knew it. Then again, that just made times like these even worse, knowing that their kids and their wives could possibly be in danger, and as of right now, there was nothing they could do about it. James didn’t understand how the greatest honor in the world could come with such awful lows filled with trauma and endless worry, but he supposed he would just have to get used to it. After all, worry really wasn’t anything new for him.


word count;; 497
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[SIRIUS ORION BLACK]

The bartender slid the drink across the bar top to him, and Sirius grabbed it eagerly. He flicked off the bottle top off and looked towards James. James had his bottle lifted up, eyebrows raised. Sirius smiled slightly in response, catching the drift of what James wanted him to do. He knocked his bottle lightly against James', and then pulled it up to his lips. He took a long swig, sending the warm liquid down his throat. It lit him up inside despite the unsettled thoughts that still drifted around in his head. His shoulders loosened up, and he let out a long sigh as he set the bottle back down.

"So how you holdin' up?" James asked him, and Sirius let out another sigh. He brought up his hand to his forehead and squeezed at the tension settled there. That question didn't have the easiest answer, he wasn't even sure if he knew the what that answer actually was. He could tell that James would understand, though. James always understood when it came to him. And right now, well, their situations were about as similar as they could get.

"Holding up....how am I holding up?" Sirius shook his head and downed another hard sip, the alcohol burning straight down to his stomach. His shoulders sagged and he turned his head to James, resting his elbow on the bar top and his head on his hand. He was so tired after today, so completely worn out. It made answering a question a lot more difficult than it should have been. He didn't even have the excuse of being too drunk to think either. He'd only had a couple sips. And hell no, he was not a light weight.

"To be honest...not all that great. Okay, considering." His finger came up and started to peel at the label on the bottle, lifting up the corner as his thoughts grew frustrated. "I just wish the Hestia would have given me something more than the basic, 'We're all fine.' What does fine even mean?" He really hoped fine meant damn good, but there as no real way of knowing yet. That was what was the most frustrating part of it all, the lack of information and contact. "How about you?" Sirius turned his eyes up to his best friend, questioning. He couldn't be doing any better than him, after all. They hadn't gotten a chance to talk about anything that had happened today, really. It had been all work, so Sirius didn't know if James had even heard from Lily. If he hadn't, well that just might give Sirius the needed push to simply go up to the school and check in. Sure, they weren't supposed to be doing that, but he doubted that anyone would blame them. Plus, two well trained aurors were probably exactly what they needed right now. Granted, they didn't need them to have just been drinking, but that was honestly not the point.

word count: 512