Post by Ethan Hunter Potter on Feb 1, 2018 22:25:38 GMT -5
Finally cleared to return to his team Ethan was putting in more hours of personal practice time than he had since he first started playing Quidditch. He had been out there for at least three hours already when he saw his uncle Sirius limping out across the field below him. Ethan knew his uncle had been hurt again recently, hardly anyone had seen him, so if he was showing up at the school it most likely wasn’t a good thing – and he was clearly out here looking for him. Why else would he come out here when there wasn’t a match going on? It was always the go-to place to find him and most everyone knew it. Ethan caught the quaffle one last time and instead of tossing it back into the air he dug his wand out of his pocket and ended the charm on it, then flew to the ground to find out what was going on.
It was like it didn’t really sink in at first, what his uncle was telling him. His father had a heart attack? No way – at least that was his first thought, but then he reconsidered. Not only would Sirius not lie about something like that, but he also knew his dad continually took on more than he could really handle – a lot of his family had that habit, it was bound to catch up to one of them in this way eventually. “How long will he be in the hospital then?” he had asked Sirius when he finally did respond, after lighting up a cigarette – thankful that Sirius didn’t have a problem with it, and surprised when the older Potter asked him for one before answering. The healers weren’t sure right now – he was in bad shape, and there was a chance he wouldn’t wake up.
Sirius had tried to stay and talk, but eventually Ethan told him he needed to get back to practice, he wasn’t sure how to deal with this, or what to think – it was the only way he knew to clear his head. Sirius told him that he had permission to floo from the school to the hospital to see his dad pretty much any time, to which he merely nodded, finishing his cigarette before mounting his broom and leaving his uncle standing on the ground alone for a few minutes before he noticed him finally leave – likely to tell his other siblings what was going on. Another couple of hours of nonstop practice and a run around the pitch and Ethan was sweating, panting, and beyond tired as he stood on the empty field still trying to let this afternoons news sink in.
That night, Ethan found himself drinking alone in the Room of Requirement – and not long after getting started he was far past drunk. Before he knew it, he had stumbled across an old stash of the drugs he had kicked when starting up Dumbledore’s Army. Maybe it was the poor judgement of a recovering addict, maybe the alcohol influenced his decision, maybe his concern and uncertainty of how to feel about the situation with his dad played its part – whatever the subconscious reason behind it Ethan broke his longest clean streak yet that night. The rest of the night was sort of a blur – but at least he knew no harm had come of it because no one joined him, and he never left his solitary oasis.
Over the next couple weeks his siblings had all gone to visit his dad, his mother had hardly left his side, his grandparents and a few aunts and uncles had visited – as far as he knew his Uncle Sirius had spent quite a lot of time there waiting for his little brother to wake up. Each day came the same news, no changes in his condition, he hadn’t woken up, things weren’t looking good. Ethan couldn’t bring himself to go and see his dad like that, he refused to think that the last time they had spoken would be the last time they ever did. He wasn’t going to visit until after his father woke up, when he could tell him to stop being an idiot thinking he could fix everything himself, and to stop worrying about him and his siblings at least – he could keep them safe and make sure they were all taken care of, he always had, right?
During these weeks Ethan kept to himself more than usual – he wasn’t good at dealing with his emotions, so he just didn’t. He skipped more classes than normal, spending most of his day in the Room of Requirement, drinking, smoking weed and occasionally getting into what was left of the last batch of pills he had scored before quitting. He had himself convinced that at least he was a lightweight now and a little went a long way – when he ran out he would simply quit again … Right now, numbing his mind in this way made life a feel a little easier – he didn’t have a thousand possibilities, outcomes and futures running through his mind. If his dad did die, that would change more than just his life – it would absolutely hurt for him and his siblings and the rest of his family, but what could the Nex manage to do while they were in transition waiting for a new Minister of Magic to be chosen? He hated that he had such an objective and often cynical outlook on things sometimes, but he couldn’t help it – except for when he was high on the pills, then nothing much mattered to him at all.
Finally, when he was out running one evening he saw Sirius walking up to the school from Hogsmeade – and so he ran over to him to find out what had happened. Either they had just lost is dad, or he had finally woken up – either way, the wait was over, and Ethan knew that’s why his uncle was here. He wasn’t surprised at all when Sirius told him that his dad had finally woken up, that he was still weak and would be staying at the hospital for a little while longer, but that he was going to make it. In fact, he had expected this – maybe it was stubbornness, maybe it was foresight – but either way things had worked out as he had thought they would in the end. Sirius went on his way to tell Ethan’s sisters and brother the good news and Ethan finished up his run before finding himself getting cleaned up in a hot shower.
Getting dressed Ethan sighed – was he ready to go and see his dad? Sirius had said he had woken up the night before, that the healers had monitored him throughout the day and said he was up for more visitors any time. He didn’t bother to look in a mirror before he left – he knew what he looked like, his sandy blond hair was a mess in his face to distract from the bloodshot and watery eyes that had dark circles underneath – a combination of the alcohol, drugs, and what little sleep he had been getting. For months now, he had finally started to look healthy and more himself, but in only a few short weeks he had managed to reverse a lot of that progress once again.
Ethan stuffed his wand in his pocket and used the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room to floo to St. Mungo’s; from there it didn’t take long for him to find the room they had his father in, with aurors standing guard on either end of the halls, and right outside the door as well. It was eerily quiet when he pushed open the door, he had half expected his mom or someone to be here – but they were alone for now. Hooked up to machines and still looking sort of sick and far frailer than Ethan had ever seen him was his father, currently appearing to be asleep again. Not sure of how to proceed here, Ethan went and stood by the window a little away from his dad’s bed, and simply looked outside, leaning on the windowsill, his arms folded across his chest, using his right hand to somewhat support his sore from too much practice left arm and shoulder.
