CHAPTER TWELVE! ༉‧₊˚✧
━━━━ ⋆𖤐₊˚.༄ ♡ ━━━━

TWELVE GRIMMAULD PLACE was miserable. There wasn't a single person that Sirius knew who enjoyed being in the house, including his elitist parents.

It was moments like these, right after raucous fights with Walburga and Orion Black, that their son Sirius lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and imagining that he was back at Hogwarts. Before, his imagination would run wild as he planned out pranks that he could pull with his friends or memories of them.

But now, his thoughts loved to include someone new into his dreamscape. He also thought of his time with the Talwar girl. The kind, compassionate Talwar girl who would do anything for her friends.

It was that trait, the compassion, that was the reason that they hadn't spoken.

Now, a few days into July, marked a month since the last time that Diya and Sirius had spoken. Sure, their final conversation had nearly ended in a screaming match, but he counted it nonetheless.

Let's just say that Diya had been less than pleased when she found Lily sobbing after a confrontation with Snivellus and even less pleased when she realized that the cause for her tears were people that she'd defended.

Diya quickly confronted the four boys that she had stood up for, yelling at them for their stupidity and selfishness. Sirius wasn't sure if she had mended things with the others (they had always been closer, after all), but it had been silent on his end.

The knock startled him out of his reverie. Had he dozed off, or was he just daydreaming? Either way, someone had come to his window, rapping against the surface.

"What the hell?"

How would anyone have gotten to his house, let alone his bedroom window?

The whole of Number Twelve was hidden from the outside world. Privacy was a necessity for parents who loved to torture their children.

Sirius grabbed his wand with a slightly shaking hand from his nightstand, sitting up in bed cautiously. After what had just happened downstairs with his parents, would they even protect him if this intruder had cruel intentions?

Sirius cursed as the lock on his window snapped open, beginning to slide ajar. As he stared at his window in shock, his eyes flickered to the several Gryffindor banners plastered around his room.

Suddenly feeling courageous, Sirius cast a disillusionment charm on himself, ready to face the intruder head-on. He held his wand out in front of him, prepared to do anything necessary to protect himself.

The window slid completely unlatched, two hands on the sill as they tried to pull themself through "stealthily." Instead, they fell rather harshly onto Sirius's floor, knocking into the skeleton mobile. As they cursed, saying something that Sirius couldn't quite understand, his eyes widened.

"Diya?" he inquired, wand still in hand.

"Sirius?" The intruder whispered back.

Sirius scoffed, undoing the disillusionment charm. "What are you doing here?"

"Am I in the wrong room?" Diya muttered under her breath, finally catching the room full of Gryffindor house pride.

"Wrong room?" Sirius whispered harshly, finally putting his wand down. "Whose room did you think this was? Regulus's?"

"No, I came to see Walburga," Diya deadpanned back at Sirius, sarcasm oozing from her voice. "Yes, I'm here for Regulus!"

The lights flickered on in the room, blinding Diya momentarily, as her eyes had just gotten adjusted to the dimness of Sirius's bedroom.

A tired voice came from the doorway. "Diya?"

"Hey, Reg." Diya smiled. "What was so urgent?"

"Oh," the boy scratched the back of his neck. "The situation is no longer urgent."

Diya groaned, "Reg, you couldn't have sent a second letter?"

"But then how would I have seen your lovely face?" Regulus smirked, eyes widening as Diya picked a trinket up from Sirius's floor and quickly launched it at Regulus, who caught it due to his seeker abilities.

Sirius interjected, "Sorry, you two know each other... how exactly?"

Regulus looked back to Diya, eyes wide, suddenly realizing the severity of the situation, "Uhhh... she's my tutor?"

"You got O's in all of your classes last term," Sirius countered.

"Right." Regulus sighed, opening the door fully and stepping inside, silently closing the door behind him. "We're friends, I guess?"

"You two — " Sirius looked between Diya and Regulus, " — are friends?"

"Do you have hearing issues, Black? That's what he just said." Diya crossed her arms, looking between the two brothers.

Regulus furrowed his brows, pointing at Diya and Sirius, "Woah, what happened to you two? Last I heard: you two were all buddy-buddy."

"Prank on Snivellus gone wrong," Sirius rolled his eyes in an attempt to get his message across without reliving the entire experience.

"What does that have to do with Diya?" Regulus asked, walking over to Sirius. He was the same height as his brother, despite being two years younger than him. Honestly, the two could've passed as fraternal twins, considering they looked the same age.

"It has to do with Lily," Diya explained, extending her hands for Regulus to throw the dog-shaped trinket back to her. He obliged, lightly throwing it back to her as if it were a ball.

"Careful with that!" Sirius snatched it out of her hands, studying it for any damage. "It's my Christmas present from Moony."

Regulus rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore his brother and focus his attention on the girl, "So, Diya, what's the plan?"

Diya quirked an eyebrow, crossing his arms, "What plan?"

Regulus sat down on Sirius's bed, ignoring his quiet protest, "You don't have a plan to get back home?"

"I wasn't exactly thinking of my return route when I got a letter from the Black Family Owl that said 'Come quick, Emergency'!" Diya whisper yelled, still cautious of the brother's parents hearing her.

"What was the emergency?" Sirius asked his brother, mimicking Diya, by crossing his arms.

Regulus's eyes carried a glimpse of panic as he looked at Diya, but he recovered quickly. Not quick enough, though, since Sirius saw the look, clear as day.

"Uh," He spoke, rubbing the back of his neck, "Practical joke?"

"Are you trying to convince us, or yourself?" Diya spoke up, smiling slightly at the boy. A pleasant feeling settled in Sirius's chest as he saw the girl in a content state. They hadn't got along since the incident after the O.W.L exams, so to see her looking light was a relief.

He threw Diya a look that Sirius couldn't quite comprehend, but frankly, he could care less.

"It's starting to get a bit crowded, so why don't you two get the fuck out of my room!"

Regulus ignored his brother's outburst, "It's after midnight."

"I didn't ask for the time, you — "

"That means it's unsafe for Diya to go home right now." Regulus threw a glare Sirius's way.

"I'm pretty sure I can defend myself, thank you very much." Diya scoffed.

"Not from Walburga Black, you can't." Sirius groaned internally, hating himself for agreeing with his brother.

Diya rolled her eyes, also clearly disliking the two agreeing, for once. "Fine, then what's the plan?"

༉‧₊˚✧

Note to Self: Sirius Black's bed is uncomfortable.

The entire night, Diya felt like she was sleeping on bricks. Was this some type of inhumane torture technique for children of the Sacred Twenty-Eight?

Thankfully, she didn't have to deal with his dreadful attitude as well. She made him sleep on the floor.

The light shining in through his window was somehow duller than the ones at Hogwarts, only putting Diya in a worse mood. Not only had she slept in uncomfortable clothes, in a horrid bed, in an unfamiliar setting, but now she had to face the Black family heirs and their drama.

She sat up in the bed, running her fingers quickly through her hair before finally taking in her surroundings.

Sirius's room was a mess. Random objects and books were scattered all through the entire room — but that didn't distract from the intense Gryffindor pride. Every wall had many banners and posters, including some muggle music posters (no doubt to anger Walburga).

Diya examined the intricate designs behind the poster, noting the wallpaper that screamed "expensive."

A knock made Diya jump, settling her hands in her lap, trying to seem composed.

"Come in," She replied softly, expecting Regulus to walk in.

She was wrong.

"Morning," Sirius walked in, his hands tucked behind his back.

Observing him in the light, Diya noticed several changes to the boy she had known at Hogwarts. Not only was his hair much shorter, but his facial shape had changed. It was almost as though he had tried to poorly apply a glamour charm to his face.

"I brought you an apple from breakfast." He whispered. "It was all that I could smuggle before anyone noticed."

Diya nodded, smiling emotionlessly. "Thanks."

Sirius nodded in response, eyes narrowing in discomfort. He tossed the apple to Diya, who caught it. Instead of eating it, she only examined it.

The apple was dented, with several scabs and bruises, only exaggerating the crimson color. It was almost disheartening to notice. The apple was just one of the two damaged things in the Black household.

"What happened?" Diya asked, looking up from the apple.

Sirius furrowed his brow, sitting on the opposite side of the bed.

"Your face." Diya pointed, apple still in hand.

Sirius's demeanor changed entirely. "What do you mean?"

Diya threw him a look. "Remove the glamour."

Sirius threw a look back, almost as a challenge. "What glamour?"

"I'm not stupid, Sirius!" Diya harshly whispered. "I know what goes on in this house. Remove the glamour."

Sirius sighed, reaching up to run a hand through his hair, but only frowning as he remembered the lack of length.

Wordlessly, he raised his wand and removed the charm over his face. Underneath, there was a litter of bruises and open wounds.

Diya gasped softly. Dropping the apple on his nightstand, she abruptly stood up from the bed and rushed to Sirius's side.

"They did this?" She hesitantly reached out, not touching any of the wounds, until Sirius nodded. "When?"

"Last night. Maybe a half-hour before you got here."

Diya nodded, wincing as she noticed the hue surrounding one of the nastier cuts. She also grabbed her wand, holding it up parallel to the injuries as she began to mutter under her breath.

Sirius finally noticed what she was doing and grabbed her wand wielding hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" He whispered in the same harsh tone that she had used minutes prior. "The Ministry will trace your magic here!"

Diya shushed him, throwing his hand to the side and continuing to mutter healing spells. She tried her hardest to ignore the painful winces coming from him.

"You can't just place a glamour on everything and hope for it to get better over time." Diya scolded. "That's not how life works."

"That's how my life works, Talwar," Sirius replied, standing up from his spot on the bed and walking to the window. "Listen, you have to get out of here before the Ministry tries to send an owl here."

Diya nodded, following him to the window. Her eyes flickered to a moving image that she hadn't spotted before. In a frame next to his collection of muggle records rested the photo booth pictures from their Hogsmeade trip. Diya missed when he wasn't a complete asshole.

Swiftly, she picked up the apple from the nightstand before approaching the window. Looking down, she noticed that the drop wasn't that far. With the right landing, she could still run home.

Diya propped a leg on the window sill, stepping out onto the roof. Crouching down so she could see Sirius through the window, she tossed the apple through.

"See you around, Black."

And with that, she leaped off of the roof.

༉‧₊˚✧

Diya frequented the Evans household.

The summer holiday meant that Zoya and Diya practically had the entire manor to themselves, but they only ever stayed in their rooms, knowing that their parents had no time for them.

Diya's head lay in Lily's lap as the redhead played with her friend's hair. The two were rewatching The Sound of Music for what seemed like the millionth time, although Diya's mind was elsewhere.

"Alright, what's going on?" Lily sat up straighter, tapping Diya twice to tell her to get up and face her. "You're glaring at that apple so hard, it's like it killed your familiar!"

Diya sighed, rolling the red apple in her hands.

"I ran into Sirius the other day," Diya admitted.

"Black?"

"No, the other Sirius." Diya deadpanned.

Lily winced, not expecting the cutting tone coming from her best friend.

Diya grimaced, "I'm sorry. I've got a lot on my mind."

Lily grabbed Diya's hand. "Nevermind that. What happened with Black?"

Diya groaned, flopping back onto the bed. "Ugh, he's so insufferable, Lil!"

Diya grabbed a pillow and stuffed her face into it, her emotions bubbling wildly inside her chest.

"Insufferable?" Lily nearly shouted. "You two are close, though!"

Diya picked her face up from the pillow, looking up at Lily. "That was before he hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Lily laughed incredulously. "Black could try, but he could never hurt me."

Lily pulled the pillow off of the girl's face. Diya was staring up at the smiling redhead with shock in her eyes.

"What are you talking about, Lily?" Diya lowered her voice to a whisper. "He's the reason why Snape called you that."

Lily's expression dropped as she placed the pillow in her lap, looking down and playing with her hands.

"No one is responsible for Snape's words except for himself, Di."

"But — "

"What happened when you ran into Sirius?" Lily changed the topic, a small — but genuine — smile on her face.

"Well, considering I yelled at him pretty harshly before we left for break, things were kind of tense."

"You what?" Lily sat up straight, shocked. "Why would you yell at him? Weren't you the one constantly telling us that he was less annoying than we thought?"

"You were crying, Lily!" Diya sat up straight, too, now. "For days, you were crying!"

"Diya, that wasn't necessarily his fault!" Lily grabbed her hand once again. "It's not Potter's fault, either, as much as I hate to admit it."

Diya groaned, placing her head on Lily's shoulder. "Am I going to have to apologize, now?"

"Sooner or later." Lily patted Diya's head comfortably, "That's what nice people do."

"I'll just be a mean person then." Diya sat up once again, staring at Lily, who was seconds away from bursting into laughter.

"You? A mean person?" Lily finally burst, falling back onto her bed in hysterical laughter.

"You know, I heard it as it left my mouth, and it just didn't sound right." Diya agreed, smiling at Lily's gleeful state.

Her merriment had been muted ever since Snivellus's betrayal, so to see her almost back to herself in such a short amount of time was refreshing.

"Good Godric," Lily wiped a tear from her eye. "I haven't laughed that hard in a while!"

Diya smiled sweetly at her friend, about to reply when she was cut off by a tapping noise.

"What is that?" Lily asked, looking around her room. Her eyes landed on the window behind Diya. "What the hell — "

She leaned forward and opened the window, letting the owl in. The regal bird flew into Diya's lap, dropping the letter, before flying over to Luka's cage to find a treat.

"That's the Black Family owl!" Diya breathed.

Lily, who had gotten up to feed the owl, gasped. "What are you waiting for?" She threw a treat at Diya's head, "Read it out to me!"

Diya gently pried the wax seal off of the letter, unfolding the paper delicately. Turning it over, she began to read.

"He says, 'Meet me tomorrow on the corner of Moon and Theberton Street. Need to talk. S.O.B'".

Lily furrowed her brow, walking over and grabbing the letter from Diya. Reading it over, she scoffed in amusement.

"Looks like that apology is coming sooner rather than later, Di."

༉‧₊˚✧
a/n

DOUBLE UPDATE ALERT BITCHES ‼️🚨
hope y'all enjoyed this and i know it might be a bit confusing especially since i know kinda like what happened and y'all might not bc i'm horrible at explaining things 🚶🏻‍♀️

anyway -
🍎 : literally just existing
diya: yo fuck this