trigger warning: depictions of injuries, allusion to abuse, and blood !! please read ahead with caution if these topics may disturb you.

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

SNEAKING ONTO DIYA'S balcony had become somewhat of a routine for Sirius Black. It was odd how quickly she had affected him, making him act like a lovesick fool half the time. They'd only made up a few weeks ago, and yet he somehow felt like he could take on the entire world for her.

Sirius felt selfish almost, wanting to spend every minute he could with her. He'd even been canceling plans with his friends for her, even though he knew he shouldn't, and yet, something about her presence was so addicting, full of smiles and adoration.

Diya usually left her balcony doors unlocked, especially after last week, when she had nearly injured Sirius slamming the glass doors open.

So, when Sirius scaled the stairs that he had found along the wall — something that Diya hadn't told him about before making him climb a tree to get to her — and he discovered the doors locked, he panicked.

He peeked into her room, noticing that the door was wide open, signaling that Diya wasn't inside. She hated being in rooms with doors open ("They make me uneasy!" She would yell).

Sirius could hear his own thunderous heartbeat pounding in his ears as he blanched. What if something had happened to her? She had mentioned in her latest letters that she and her parents were in a tiff.

He felt so helpless, knowing that Diya would kill him if he broke her doors.

He raked a hand through his slowly growing hair, which was still cut short. As he paced the length of Diya's balcony, he formulated a plan — albeit a marvelously stupid one.

Sirius turned abruptly on his heel, descending the stairs and sprinting to the hedge at the back of the garden. Swiftly, he jumped over.

༉‧₊˚✧

Padfoot replaced Sirius outside the front gates of Talwar Manor. The large black dog limped as he approached the front door of the estate.

Sirius's plan was simple.

Since he was already an animagus ("Four months strong, baby!"), he could easily take up his dog form. He'd overheard the girls talk about Chandrika Talwar's job as a healer, which would come to his advantage. From there, it was simple, fake an injury, get invited into the house as an innocent dog, and then search for Diya.

Could something go wrong? Sure!

Did Sirius care? Definitely not.

And there he was: limping his way toward the massive front doors of the estate, whining the whole journey there.

Luckily (or unluckily, you decide), Padfoot had an altercation with a rose bush on his way to the door. A thorn had now been embedded into his front left paw, only helping him sell his injured facade.

Once he finally reached the door, he pushed himself up onto his hind legs, scratching at the door and barking as innocently as she could.

The door wasn't budging at all. The paint wasn't scratching, and the noises were not nearly as loud as they should've been. Clearly, someone had gotten sick of company and muffled the door as best as possible.

Worry seeped into Sirius's chest: How was he gonna get anyone's attention and check to see if Diya was alright?

Maybe I'm overreacting.

I mean, certainly, nothing could've happened that had been too bad, right?

Apparently, he had been loud enough, though, because soon enough, someone was opening the door.

A house-elf stood at the door with a powerful-looking woman standing a few paces behind them.

This is her. Chandrika Talwar. Talwar matriarch.

Momentarily distracted by the power of the woman, the same power that had been very clearly passed on to her daughters, Padfoot suddenly shook his head, holding up his fake-injured paw.

Chandrika tutted, briskly traveling toward Padfoot, gently moving the house-elf out of the way. "Oh, you poor thing!"

Padfoot whined in response, really selling the injured animal bit.

Chandrika pet the dog soothingly as he stepped over the threshold of the house, dramatically collapsing in the middle of the grand foyer.

"What's happening?" A voice came from the stairs. For a moment, Sirius felt content, knowing that Diya was safe. But as the voice registered in his mind, he realized that it was Zoya who had spoken to her mother.

Where the hell is Diya?

"This poor dog stumbled onto our doorstep somehow." Chandrika's voice held adoration, even if Padfoot couldn't understand her. "Where's Diya?"

Finally! A question that Sirius could both relate to and understand.

Zoya sighed, rubbing her forehead as she approached the collapsed dog and her mother. "Still dressing her wounds. She got hit pretty bad this time."

"I told him to go easy on her!" Chandrika's voice was raised now, making Padfoot wince, both in fear for Diya and genuine pain with the thorn still embedded in his paw.

"He can't control sword-fighting practice!" Zoya defended her father, who had been much more sympathetic toward the two sisters after the whole engagement fiasco — a fight that was still being fought. "Diya's been completely knocked off balance lately, and you're still partly to blame for that."

Chandrika looked as though she was about to retort, angrily at that, when Padfoot let out a cry, gaining the attention of both women.

"Come help me with the dog." Chandrika sighed.

Zoya complied, falling to her knees next to the dog, scanning visibly for injuries. "Poor thing has a thorn in her paw."

Padfoot barked.

Zoya laughed, "His paw."

Padfoot was content after that, letting the two women work their magic as they removed the thorn, adding a solvent that instantly rid him of pain. He'd have to ask Fleamont about that later. Never knew when pranks could backfire.

"Done." Chandrika smiled as she examined his paw, smiling at the flawless surface. "Zoya, I think we should keep him overnight. Maybe surprise Diya and cheer her up?"

While Sirius couldn't understand a word of what Chandrika was saying, he had picked up on Diya's name and grinned (internally, of course).

"What are we surprising me with?" Diya's unusually frail voice picked up through the foyer, making Padfoot sit up abruptly. Not bothering to test out how his paw felt, he sprung up and ran over to Diya, nearly tackling her before taking in her appearance.

She was wearing something similar to what she had worn on his birthday when she had dreaded spending the day with Patil, except this was much more casual. Her blouse cut off somewhere in the middle of her rib cage, showing off the several fresh lacerations littering her abdomen. She had wrapped a cloth around them haphazardly before searching for her mother to help with the severe ones.

Chandrika gasped from somewhere behind Padfoot, making him realize that he had sprinted over to Diya and just stood there, confusing the girl.

"Since when did we have a dog?" Diya's head spun. Just then, Sirius could make out a purple and yellow bruise on Diya's right cheek.

"Gudiya, sit down." Chandrika winced at the sight of the gash running across the side of her abdomen.

Diya hummed, briskly walking to the marble staircase and sitting down. She removed the cloth, showing a much deeper wound than Sirius had imagined. The other lacerations around her abdomen were already close to gone, which meant that Diya had lost enough strength to not be able to heal the final one.

Chandrika picked her wand up from the floor, where it had been discarded after healing Padfoot, closing her eyes as she got to work. She faced her right palm toward Diya's injuries, her left hand holding up her wand. She muttered healing spells under her breath, choosing to ignore the small gasps of pain from her daughter.

Slowly but surely, the large wound seemed to absorb the blood surrounding it as it gently knit itself back together. Chandrika continued muttering, feeling a headache forming.

Shaking her head, she opened her eyes as she faced her daughter. "Done."

Diya nodded once as a thank you before standing up calmly.

Chandrika clearly had sensed the slight hostility in Diya's demeanor because she sighed as her eyes traveled back to the dog. "Do you wanna take the dog with you?"

Diya looked back to Padfoot as well, smiling. "Of course."

Padfoot didn't think twice. He swiftly ran over to Diya, who began leading him to her chambers.

His paw was fully healed, a necessary relief, now that he was even more concerned for Diya than he had been in the first place.

He made a mental note to always trust his gut from here on out.

The familiar atmosphere of Diya's bedroom approached after about three minutes of walking. Diya's house was massive, and it was a miracle that they hadn't gotten lost in the labyrinth of the golden hallways.

The second that the two of them reached her room, Sirius decided to transform into his usual human self. Clearly, he hadn't thought it through, though.

"So, how did you even get into our house, huh, pup?" Diya asked, not bothering to turn around as she addressed the dog.

"Well, it was certainly much different than the usual approach," Sirius spoke, his voice slightly hoarse from lack of use.

Diya whipped around abruptly, suddenly face to face with Sirius.

It must have been a combination of shock and blood loss because the next thing Sirius knew, Diya had fainted, and she lay in his arms.

༉‧₊˚✧

Diya had been unconscious for a few minutes, which is much longer than what is deemed healthy.

After she had swooned, Sirius carried her limp body to her bed, setting her down comfortably before pacing the length of her room several times.

So much was happening at once with very little time to process.

First, Diya had locked her balcony doors, leading Sirius to conclude that she was mortally wounded.

He had thought it was irrational! Not partially true!

Then, he transformed into Padfoot, limping his way into the Talwar residence and finding Diya, bleeding and bruised.

And now, Diya had fainted at the sight of him, although it may have been from her injuries, and Sirius was officially freaked the fuck out.

Diya hadn't even stirred in the minutes that she had been unconscious, and with Sirius's mind running wild with worry, the seconds ticked by like several eternities.

Finally, Sirius snapped into action.

He bolted toward Diya's balcony doors, frantically unlocking them before sprinting the fuck away from her bedroom.

Granted, this wasn't the best plan that Sirius had ever come up with, but it seemed alright for a brief moment.

Thankfully, the brief moment concluded, and Sirius took notice of the pond in the gardens.

"Water!"

He fell to his knees as he leaned forward, his hands scooping water into them as she quickly ran back up the marble stairs leading to Diya's balcony and bedroom. The droplets were steadily flying out of his cupped palms, much like his sanity, but he continued. He bolted through the open doors and back to Diya.

Sirius only had drops of water left, now, and he hoped it was enough. Carefully, he sprinkled the water onto Diya's face and neck, hoping the water was cold and annoying enough to wake the girl back up.

"Come on, Talwar. Now's not the time to play Sleeping Beauty." Sirius muttered under his breath.

"You think I'm a beauty?" Diya's airy voice floated into his ears like the sweetest sound he had ever heard.

Nearly shouting in relief, he scooped the girl into his arms, hugging her as though his life depended on it.

"You scared me!" Sirius pulled back, smiling softly as Diya's hands moved to cup his face.

Sirius brushed her off, placing his hands on her waist as he began to fret over her. "Are you okay? Your doors were locked, and now you have that bruise and—"

"Sirius," Diya rubbed her temple as she calmly intervened, trying to steady his breathing. She stood up from the bed, walking back toward the mirror toward her front door.

He followed her, "Plus, you looked so tired, and then you fainted —"

"Sirius!" Diya turned around, startling him out of his rant, her hands resting on his shoulders. She opened her mouth, lying as she explained that she had been clumsy. It wouldn't translate well for her to say that her mother had put her hands on her.

Sirius gazed into her eyes, not bothering to listen to her explanation, too caught up in the mark on her face. He brought his hand up to her right cheek, cupping it gently as he ran his thumb over the swelling cut.

Diya sighed, "So, honestly, I'm fine —"

Diya was cut off by his lips on hers. His hand traveled from her right cheek to the nape of her neck, pulling her towards him.

Even though both of their eyes were closed, the world suddenly seemed as though it was on fire. Overwhelmed with the incandescent glow of light that began in Diya Talwar's bedroom. The stars seemed to align perfectly, as though for this moment. It was actually quite humorous: A girl named for light and flame tethered to a boy named for the stars.

It was as if the two were enveloped in golden light, forming a beautiful halo around them in a moment that was clearly meant to be repeated for eternity.

His other hand came up to cup her left cheek as he intensified the kiss. Diya's hands traveled up gently, grabbing his face in her slender hands.

There it was again, Sirius thought, That lovesick feeling once more. The one that he wanted to feel for the rest of eternity. Until all of the stars died out and there was no more light left in the world.

Diya's hands traveled to the nape of Sirius's neck, gently tugging on the short hair that rests there. She needed to know that this moment was real. That this dream that she had buried so deep inside of her was coming true.

The familiar scents of jasmine and parchment that accompanied Diya intermingled beautifully with the bergamot, tobacco, and caramel that Sirius carried. It was an odd pairing, but not an unexpected one.

Sirius walked the two of them forward, slamming Diya's back into the wall as she let out a strangled sort of noise.

Sirius pulled away quickly, scanning Diya with worry laced through his features. "Did I hurt you?"

Diya whispered up at him, her eyes illuminated with wonder, "You could never do such a thing."

A genuine grin took over Sirius's lips as he leaned back in, finally able to finish what he had started all those nights ago in the garden.

And he had a feeling this would become just as regular of a routine as him sneaking in through her balcony doors.

༉‧₊˚✧

SHEFALI SHAH as CHANDRIKA TALWAR
ANIL KAPOOR as ABHIMANYU TALWAR

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a/n

i wasn't sure if i wanted to cast chandrika and abhimanyu at first, but honestly, this casting feels right. if you couldn't tell, i am a massive fan of dil dhadakne do LMFAOO

anywayyyy WE FINALLY DID IT YALL WE GOT DIRIUS TOGETHER

however, a lot of group fun content will be coming soon because i really miss writing remus and lily.

also, i posted an edit of diya and sirius on tiktok and instagram that kinda(?) coincides with this chapter and act 2 in general.

rly quickly i just wanna give a HUGE thank you to thirstymalfoy for constantly supporting me and in my life and being such a help in general.

lastly, there will be a ton of in my life content and updating schedules on @incandxscent on instagram soon !!