Sirius was standing close to your sister—closer than most people stood when they were just talking, but not close enough to make it obvious. His head was slightly inclined toward her, voice low, like the conversation didn’t belong to the room around them.

She wasn’t pulling away.

That was what the first thing you noticed.

There was nothing overt in it—no laughter, no touch, no clear boundary crossed. Just a stillness, a kind of quiet focus between them, like he’d forgotten for a second that the world still existed beyond the narrow space between them.

The second was the way Sirius was looking at her—not his usual reckless grin, not the easy arrogance he wore around everyone else. This was quieter. Focused. Like he was listening as much as he was speaking, like the rest of the room had blurred out around her.

You stopped in the doorway.

Didn’t say anything at first. Just watched.

Sirius caught it a second too late.