The hug was as unexpected and their entire interaction had been and Draco was talking a moment too long to react, awkwardly wrapping his arms around Sirius in an attempt to return the embrace. The hug also seemed to be the catalyst for Draco, no longer able to keep in the years that he had been fighting for most of the day, he cried into Sirius’ shoulder.<br/>Feeling awkward in receiving so much from someone who was still a virtual stranger, Draco started muttering thanks to Sirius, unsure how coherent it was, but wanting to be able to explain to Sirius just how much the entire thing meant to him.<br/>He hadn’t even told Sirius why he had showed up, why he so desperately needed the help of his estranged cousin, but the embrace was enough to tell Draco that Sirius knew and understood. It was the first time Draco had ever really felt like that and it was so jarring to him that it was hard to do anything but cry and just stay in the embrace.