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marauderingbad-blog · 8 years ago

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The Last of Us: November, 1980

November, 1980

Read the entire story on AO3 http://archiveofourown.org/works/12192549/chapters/27682542

Although this was her break time, it was hard to put her mind at ease even knowing her body was at rest. Her thoughts kept turning back to Fabian and Gideon, and what Sirius and Lily had said; someone must have known. It was difficult for Marlene to contemplate who may have betrayed them; she was friends with nearly everyone in the Order, and she really couldn’t fathom who may be a turncoat.

With a sigh, Marlene picked up a propaganda pamphlet that Lily had written which they needed to review. More Order work probably wasn’t the best thing to do on her break, but it gave Marlene something to focus on to take her mind off other problems that she really didn’t want to think about right now.

At that moment, the front door creaked open and Sirius could be heard swearing as he closed it against the wind. He strode into the room looking chilled and irritated, huddling his arms against his body for warmth. His hair was humorously sticking up in different directions from the wind and the pockets of his leather jacket rather conspicuously appeared to be filled with two large bottles.

Sirius grinned deviously when he lay eyes on Marlene.

“Come on, get up. I’ve got something for you,” he instructed, taking her wrist and beginning to drag her from the couch.

Marlene let out a groan as Sirius attempted to move her, but secretly, she was happy to see him. Marlene always liked to see Sirius; he was rather easy on the eyes after all...but after all this take him alive business, Marlene was happier than usual to set eyes on a healthy, not-abducted-by-Death-Eaters Sirius.

“I’m still sore from training with our fearless, Spartan leader, Mad-Eye, and now you want to move me?” she complained, but rose when he took her wrist and pulled anyway.

“That’s exactly why we’re leaving. If he comes back in and barks CONSTANT VIGILANCE at me one more time, I’ll start throwing furniture,” Sirius snorted. “Get your coat,” he added, informing that they were going outside.

Marlene shuddered, “Please don’t say it, you’re going to give me flashbacks.”

Sirius laughed in response before grabbing her arm and steering her towards the doorway.

Once outside, he led her through the small, deserted village by the sea, keeping his hands deep in his jean pockets against the cold. They chatted happily until they arrived at the shore. It was a fairly small beach and was completely vacant. Sirius and Marlene were the only visible forms of life aside from the seagulls occasionally diving through the air. Sirius took a seat on the cool sand close to Marlene and unzipped his jacket pockets, revealing two bottles of ale. He flashed Marlene a grin and held out one of the bottle for her.

“Do you know how hard it was to find alcohol in this sodding fishing town? I dunno how Kingsley survives here--I wouldn’t.”

Marlene grinned and eagerly took the bottle--this was exactly what she needed right now. She took a swing of it, then considered the desolate, yet strangely beautiful landscape. It wasn’t exactly her cup of tea either, but it was sort of pretty.

“Yeah, you’d think he like...doesn’t enjoy people or civilization and wanted to get the hell away from everyone.” Sometimes, Marlene couldn’t really blame Kingsley for that. The Death Eaters did feel awfully remote in a place like this, which was another reason it made a good safe house. Her mind began to wander to Lily and James, and as it often did, it was as though something blocked her from even thinking the name of the town or what it was like. That was always a strange feeling, but Marlene knew it was for the best.

“Well, I can definitely relate to that today. Getting us up at five in the morning to practice disarming all bloody day,” Sirius scoffed, rolling his eyes. He used his bottle opener, which was never far from his person to pop off the bottle cap. And took a long drink.

“The Death Eaters certainly didn’t seem all too interested in disarming us…” Sirius grumbled, his features hardening as he stared out at the sounding sea. He hadn't really talked about the moor attack to anyone, not even James. But Marlene and been right there with him.

“No, they don’t,” Marlene said with a sigh. “The problem is the worst we can do are blasting curses and things like that--the worst they can do is the killing curse. It’s...a huge advantage,” she admitted.

Marlene cast a furtive glance over at Sirius, then turned back to the seascape--even knowing she lived with this reality everyday, that night made her realize with great poignancy for the first time how easy it would be to lose him. It had evoked an indescribable sort of feeling that she wasn’t sure she fully understood herself.

“It was nice to see Lily and James and Harry, though,” said Marlene in an attempt to change the topic. “Even if it wasn’t under the best circumstances.”

Sirius turned and looked at Marlene, his face cracking into a sincere smile. “It was. That little bugger’s getting big, isn’t he? He looks just like James. He’ll end up on the Gryffindor Quidditch team just like the two of you. I'd put gold on that.” His eye lingered on her for a moment, noticing how well her pretty blue eyes matched the sea.

“I’m going to see them next week,” he began, using his attempt to push his wind-blown hair back out of his face as a moment to hesitate before continuing, “...I could take you with me,” he asked gingerly, forcing himself to look at her in the eye as his heartbeat picked up speed. Sirius tried to make it sound like a friendly invitation, but really he knew that their training at Kingsley’s safe house would end after tonight. And after that he wasn’t quite sure when he would see Marlene next.

Sirius had come to very much enjoy Marlene’s company. They had become nearly inseparable while they lived together during the two month Windermere mission and seemed particularly drawn together these past few weeks after the battle. And since his dueling-partner and best friend had to go into hiding, Sirius found himself far less lonely when she was near him.

Not to mention, his attraction to her was undeniable. Bordering on intolerable. He had always thought she was very pretty but now he constantly found himself thinking of her. And it was only getting worse.

Marlene observed Sirius curiously, though she kept her face trained to a neutral expression. It wasn’t anything in his voice that struck her, but rather, that beat of hesitation and the small amount of vulnerability it implied. Mary would have thought it utterly normal for Sirius to invite her to James and Lily’s, but that hesitation--Sirius didn’t hesitate, so she wondered what it meant.

Then again, maybe she was reading too much into it. Maybe he was just nervous about having people over the house when it wasn’t strictly necessary, and yet...Marlene didn’t quite buy either of those rationales.

Marlene smiled, “I’d really like that.”

Sirius smiled a bit in response and tilted his bottle back, finishing off the last bit of ale.

“I suppose we should be getting back to vigilantly disarming Pete and Mary,” he sneered.

“Try to give Pete half a chance, will you?” she teased.

Sirius flashed her a smirk in response, “I’ll do my best.”

He looked out at the sea once more before he stood up. Then he put his hand out for Marlene to help her up.

Marlene finished off her own bottle, then took Sirius’ hand and stood. She was surprised to feel a small...spark of something on her skin when they touched, which triggered a skip in her heat beat. Marlene attempted to ignore it, seeing as it was utterly ridiculous.

It may have just been static cling, after all.

~~*~~

After one of the Order’s safe houses in Leeds had been curiously raided by the Death Eaters, Dumbledore convinced Aberforth to shut down the Hog’s head Inn and tavern to temporarily keep the members within the safe borders of Hogwarts. Aberforth originally reacted with iron-willed defiance, thinking he would lose too much of a profit from the lack of business. He was quite wrong, however. The Order members proved to be excellent patrons. If anything, he made more gold.

Normally, Sirius would be thrilled to spend a night at an inn directly over his favorite tavern, but lately he had been more irascible and contentious than usual. A few days ago he had learned that Remus was one of the few who knew about the classified mission, and that he been working undercover with the werewolves while the mission was taking place.

Remus claimed that he had not been made privy to any knowledge of the attack, but Sirius couldn’t quite believe that. It had been months since Sirius had even heard from Remus. But even before he left for the werewolves, Sirius had become concerned with his behavior. He couldn’t quite describe it but Remus had felt like a stranger to him over the past year--which made him suspicious.

Sirius sat in a weathered armchair in a corner of the tavern completing a crossword puzzle with a pint of Hogs Head brew at the ready. It certainly wasn’t typical of him to isolate himself with many of his fellow Order members present, particularly Marlene, but he was in one of his moods. And since he and Remus had been assigned to share a room, he wasn’t interested in hiding out there.

Occasionally, he would break his concentration from the puzzle to scoff at Dedalus Diggle and Elphias Doge’s failing attempt at Wizards Chess.

“I….ah...erm… Knight to D...10?” Elphia’s shouted at the board with uncertainty and then stared at it, waiting. But nothing happened.

“Merlin’s beard! This sodding board’s gone all wonky! Has been acting up all game!” Dedalus burst, exasperated.

“You can’t send your knight to D10 because there is no bloody D10 square on the board,” Sirius kindly informed them without looking up from his three-day-old newspaper.

The two men counted the squares before beginning to laugh.

“Ah! The boy is right, Diggle!” Elphias chuckled.

“Indeed he is, Doge!” Dedalus chortled in return.

“Fucking hell,” Sirius grumbled, shaking his head in astonishment before guzzling down half his pint.

~~*~~

Remus laid in bed, flat on his back, in the room he shared with Sirius, staring up at the ceiling. He’d stayed like this, immoveable, for a good half hour or more--frankly, Remus had lost track of the time entirely.

He was, in a word, depressed. Remus was in no way willing to admit it, but on some level, he was aware that all the symptoms seemed to be leaning in that direction; he also had several good reasons to be depressed. Remus’ mother had passed away unexpectedly a few months ago of a sudden illness, an undiagnosed autoimmune disease that she’d apparently had for a long while, with no one being the wiser. Remus knew it was irrational, but he couldn’t help but feel like he’d jinxed her by telling everyone that she had cancer for so many years. He felt guilty, too, that he didn’t have much time to spend with his father, who surely felt just as lonely and despondent as Remus did. He was also afraid to spend too much time with his father, lest a Death Eater target him.

His mother’s death was probably the worst of it, but not all of it. Remus loathed his Order assignment of spying on the werewolves. He understood that it had its value, but it required an immense amount of sacrifice on Remus’ part; he had to face his worst nightmare, Fenrir Greyback, on a semi-regular basis. Remus had to pretend to respect him--and he wasn’t very good at it, which made this all quite dangerous and futile, since Remus wasn’t any better at blending in with the other werewolves, either. He was the only one among them to be Hogwarts educated, and not only did it make him stand out, but they all resented him for it. They also didn’t trust him, they only barely tolerated his presence in their pack, and they weren’t willing to share any truly valuable information with him. Remus was usually just about as surprised by their plans as anyone, even when he found himself in the midst of them. Which also meant he was failing Dumbledore, and that made him feel miserable as well.

Although the “pack” may have resented him for his education, it hadn’t actually gotten him any further in life, which was the third thing that had been weighing on him. Being a registered werewolf barred him from virtually all professions that relied on Ministry records to conduct background checks; so, basically, that was just about every job. Even Peter had a better job than Remus, and unlike James and Sirius, Remus couldn’t afford to be a full-time Order member and not work; his parents had been thoroughly middle-class, they’d never really had a lot of money, and his mother’s medical bills had put a considerable strain on his father’s finances, especially now that he was retired and lived off a Ministry pension. So Remus had a shitty job at the Leaky Cauldron that he’d probably be fired from by the end of the month due to his excessive absenteeism for both Order-related and full moon-related business.

There was also the whole matter of Harry being targeted by Voldemort, and the fact that Remus had been blatantly excluded from the plans to protect them. James sounded nearly desperate in his letters to convince Remus that he had nothing but the utmost faith in him, and Remus always made a point of writing back and sounding more cheerful than he felt for James’ sake, who didn’t need another thing to worry about. But Sirius...Remus knew that Sirius was suspicious of him, and it hurt. Remus was a spy for the Order, and he wasn’t even a very good one, so he couldn’t fathom what reason Sirius had for suspecting him. Then again, maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t very good and that the pack didn’t trust him with anything valuable enough to put a stop to them that was the problem. He appeared compliant rather than incompetent. Still, Remus would have thought Sirius knew him better.

These thoughts and worries looped through Remus’ brain like a broken record as he lay there and stewed. It was all more than enough to consume him, and sometimes, Remus felt like just letting it, because that seemed easier than trying so hard and getting so little out of it.

After a while, though, Remus didn’t didn’t think he could stand being in this room any longer, so he got up and descended to the tavern below. He scanned the room until his eyes fell on Sirius. Remus considered ignoring him; considered going back upstairs or for a walk, because he just didn’t think he could take anymore. He felt badly enough about himself without Sirius’ help, and yet--Remus was lonely, most of all, and this was his friend...at least he thought so.

Summoning all his courage, Remus crossed over to where Sirius sat.

“Hey,” he greeted.

Sirius’ eyes flicked up from the puzzle and met Remus with a stony stare.

“Don’t poke the tiger, Remus, my boy,” Dedalus warned. “This one’s about to pounce!”

Sirius ignored him, continuing to stare at Remus. “Remus,” he replied curtly in response before returning to his puzzle.

“Did you need something?” he asked coarsely without looking up.

Did he need something? Well. He needed his mother back, a job, to no longer be a werewolf or have to see Greyback again, and his friends. Other than that…

“No, I just--” Remus began, but hesitated. He’d never had to justify himself for wanting to spend time with Sirius. Their relationship had always felt so natural in the past, the acceptance immediate--now, it felt strained, forced, and losing that easy acceptance hurt the most.

He bit his lip.

“I just thought we could...spend time together,” Remus mumbled.

Sirius put down his quill and newspaper and looked up at Remus with a dark look flashing in his eye.

“Sure,” he said simply. “Would you rather skip down Hogsmeade, reliving our happy childhood memories, or would you like to share with me for the eight hundred time how not a single werewolf in your entire pack mentioned heading to that moor?” His unfriendly look had very quickly become a hateful glare.

If possible, Remus appeared even more miserable. “And I told you, they don’t--they don’t tell me anything,” he began. “They only even let me hang around because Grey--” Remus stumbled, cleared his throat, and continued, “Because Greyback makes them, and he only does it, because he thinks it’s funny, seeing as how he...how he…” Remus swallowed again.

“Anyway. I’m a shitty spy, and I regret it, but they don’t exactly--” a strained, unhinged sort of laugh escaped him. “I can’t exactly go to Moody for training for this! I have to figure it out all by myself, and I don’t understand these people any better than any of you!” he explained. “But I am not a traitor,” Remus hissed through gritted teeth. “Why would I betray the Order?” Remus asked, his voice low now and gaze intense. “They think werewolves are even lower than muggleborns, what do I stand to gain? And do you really think I’m dumb enough to believe their bullshit about rewarding us? Please. They’ll drop the werewolves in a second, even Greyback knows that, he just likes causing chaos.”

Sirius jumped up out of his seat to meet Remus. He looked at him with utter contempt, the way he would look at Severus Snape while at Hogwarts, the way he would look at a Death Eater now.

“Well, you’re either a traitor or a fucking failure then! I don’t want to hear your bullshit excuses anymore. You knew about the mission and you were right there with the werewolves when they attacked us. Gideon and Fabian are dead because you failed us!”

All of the Order members who were relaxing in the tavern had stopped whatever they were doing to watch Sirius and Remus. Sturgis Podmore was actually gaping in shock.

“I don’t want to spend time with you. I don’t want you anywhere fucking near me!” Sirius spat bitingly almost with disgust.

Remus was frozen, hurt, gaping at Sirius as well.

“Sirius!” Sturgis spoke up finally, striding over to them. “It wasn’t the werewolves that killed Gideon and Fabian, it was the Death Eaters!” he insisted. “And not all those werewolves are Death Eaters, that’s just Greyback. Some of them are muggleborns, too, they’d never make the cut. You were in the wilderness--werewolves go to the wilderness to transform, for all anyone knows, including Remus, it was a coincidence,” he said.

“We need to stay united, boys, it won’t do to have unfounded infighting,” he said, then gave Sirius a pointed look. “And if the Prewetts’ deaths should have taught you anything, it’s that you never know when your day will come--or your friend’s day, so you should be careful how you treat people.”

Dorcas nodded in agreement, watching the display from a nearby armchair. She glowered at Sirius, utterly fearless, “James would hate this, and he’d tell you to shut your fucking mouth if he was here, so let me do it for him; shut the fuck up, Sirius.”

But not everyone seemed so convinced of Remus’ innocence, nor did they jump to his defense.

Sirius looked from Sturgis to Dorcas stormily, but didn’t retaliate. This was about Remus. He wasn’t interested in turning on his entire Order.

“Alright then, I’ll shut the fuck up. But the moor attack and the raiding of our safe houses and whatever else is going on that we don’t know about yet is all happening for a reason.”

He turned back to Remus, eyeing him with loathing once more.

“They may not all see it yet, but they will.”

With that, Sirius strode across the tavern towards the staircase to the inn. On his way, he passed a quivering Peter who cowered into his chair as Sirius went by. Everyone either didn’t notice him or just assumed he was upset over seeing his two friends fighting. When Sirius passed without even acknowledging him, Peter let out a silent sigh of relief.

Dorcas glared at Sirius until he was gone; her expression softened when it landed on Remus, who was still just standing there, stunned and shaken.

She crossed over to Remus and hugged him tightly. Dorcas heard a barely audible whimper.

“Don't listen to him. He's paranoid and angry and it's making him crazy, but it's no excuse for all that shit he said,” said Dorcas. “But he's not your only friend. Come to me. Come to Peter. Forget him until he gets his head on straight and apologizes to you.”

Remus nodded against her shoulder, then Dorcas let him go.

“Let’s get out of here, go for a walk,” she said.

“Oi, Peter!” Dorcas called as they passed him. “You're sleeping with that thing tonight, Remus needs a break,” she said and flashed him a look that plainly said you should have said something. Peter groaned in protest.

Once they were outside, Dorcas and Remus walked for a while until Remus finally asked.

“Does everyone think this about me?”

“Not unless me and Sturgis and James and Lily and Dumbledore aren't included in everyone.”

Remus nodded, “What about Marlene?” he asked.

Dorcas sighed, “I don't know. I think Sirius has been corrupting her. They've been spending a lot of time together lately,” she explained, then paused. “What about Peter?”

Remus cracked a shadow of a smile, “Nah, he listens to whatever James says.”

“See? It's not everyone. It's just that when Sirius runs his mouth, he sounds like he's about ten people instead of just one.”

Remus gave a hollow little laugh, but it was a laugh at least.

“I didn't do that shit he said.”

“I know,” said Dorcas. “You know. James and Lily know. Just let it go, he has to see reason for himself, there's nothing you can do.”

~~*~~

After spending some time in solitude and taking a shower, Sirius had regulated his anger back to his baseline level--which was still higher than most, but still his normal, nonetheless.

Other than thinking about Marlene without clothing on, showering gave him time to reflect on his incident with Remus; which brought him to the conclusion that he still suspected Remus and regretted nothing, but that he possibly may have overdone it a bit. Mad-Eye did warn him to keep his treason theories to himself until they had proof. Now he understood why. In retrospect, he could see how his fervent broadcasting may have made him appear slightly mad.

Sirius left the bathroom and strolled down the inn corridor back towards his room as if we were in his own flat--wearing only black boxers. His floppy, still-drying hair dripped a few beads of water down his back. His eyes lingered on the door to Marlene and Mary’s room as he passed it. Knowing how close her room was to his had been maddening. Like a cruel tease on repeat. Sirius paused there for a moment, tempted. He could just knock.

But instead he continued on. He made it to the door of his own room and sighed with disappointment as he turned the knob. It's true, he could’ve just knocked on her door. But what would he say, really? 'I want you' only goes over well if the other person feels the same. He thought he was rather good at picking up on this sort of thing with women, but Marlene muddied everything for Sirius. For all he knew he was just another friend/Order member to Marlene--though Sirius didn't really quite believe that.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the class bully,” Marlene remarked as she spotted Sirius in the hall. “Merlin’s tits are we all missing James these days, more than usual. Is there anyone else you listen to?” she asked him, but there was a teasing smile on her lips.

Sirius’ heart lunged when he heard her, his face breaking into a smile. He stopped turning the knob, and instead leaned against the door to his room with his arms crossed against his bare chest; peering at her with his eyes flashing dangerously. Just looking at her raised his body temperature.

“Dunno,” he said, his lip curling into a smirk as he mock-shrugged. “Perhaps you should tell me to do something. We’ll see what happens.”

Bit of a daring flirt, but he knew she could handle it.

Marlene arched an eyebrow--what an opportunity. Should she be bold, or should she play it safe?

“Alright,” said Marlene, after only a moment of consideration. “How about you kiss me?” she suggested.

Sirius’ eyes grew wide, suddenly choking on his own saliva.

He didn’t quite expect her to handle it like that.

“Wh-what?...” he stammered, at a loss for words possibly for the first time in his life.

“Huh,” Marlene remarked, tossing her head to the side. “I thought you would have been a lot smoother than that.”

Sirius stared at her in bewilderment for several moments with his heart pounding. Surely, she must be joking? She didn’t really look like she was, though…Something in the way the candlelight lit her pretty face--something about being alone with her so late at night in this inn made Sirius no longer care whether she was kidding or not.

And with her standing before him now, looking at him like that--well, he couldn’t remember ever wanting anything so badly. And hell, how many times had he thought about this?

His shock gave way to desire.

Suddenly, he stepped in closer to her than he had ever been before, and pulled her in towards him so that their lips were now dangerously close. He gripped her blonde hair and stared into her eyes fearlessly--his chest rising and falling heavily.

“You mean something like this?”

“That’s more like it,” Marlene agreed; then she closed the space between them and kissed Sirius full-on.

Sirius kissed her back, hard and deeply. There was a pure relief in it. Like he’d been starving until now. He pulled away and stared at her for a moment, her eyes met his searchingly. Then they grabbed each other and he slammed them back into the wall next to the door of his room. Holding her tightly against his chest, he ran his hands freely and unafraid from her hair then down her back--Breaking his lips from hers only momentarily to kiss her neck.

Marlene returned the intensity, not missing a beat; she continued to snog him as she ran her fingers through his soft, immaculate hair--Merlin, how long had she wanted to touch his hair for? She ran her fingers straight through his hair, then down his neck, eventually resting her hands on his waist as she pulled him closer. All the while, Marlene barely came up for air.

She couldn’t honestly say how long they continued like this before a voice suddenly pulled her out of it.

“Oh!” squeaked Peter. “Oh...Dorcas told me I had to sleep here tonight,” he explained. “Sorry, I’ll just--I’ll go somewhere else.”

Marlene rolled her eyes, still entangled with Sirius. “You could have done that without announcing yourself,” she pointed out.

“Oh, errrmm...I guess you’re right,” Peter admitted.

Sirius needed a moment to even realize what had stopped them. Then he turned and saw Peter. He shot him the most deadly scathing glower that he could possibly muster.

“Get.The.Bloody.Fuck.Out.”

Peter squeaked, and promptly ran away.

Marlene smirked.

“Am I your new roommate?” she asked.

Sirius turned back to her, his features instantly softening.

“You’re in luck. Turns out there’s a vacancy.” He returned her smirk.

Without wasting another second, he grabbed her, pulling her back into a furious kiss. Then, breathing heavily, he suddenly lifted her up and took her to the door with her legs wrapped around his waist--nearly burning a fever at this point. He blindly searched for the door knob with one hand, then turned it and pushed the door open.

Still kissing her wildly, he took her inside the room and slammed the door closed behind them.

~~*~~

#harry potter fanfiction #marauders fanfiction #sirius black fanfiction #sirius black x marlene mckinnon #james potter fanfiction #remus lupin fanfiction #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #marauders era #marauders era fanfiction #first wizarding war #Order of the Phoenix

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marauderingbad-blog · 8 years ago

Text

The Last of Us

October, 1980

Colors lit up the night sky: Red and green. It reminded Sirius of his final stunt at Hogwarts. He and James had drunkenly sent off hundreds of Dr. Filibuster’s wet-start no-heat fireworks from the astronomy tower. The entire castle had gleefully abandoned their beds to watch the display from the grounds. He could still remember hearing Hagrid’s booming cheers and Filch’s aggrieved despair. He could still remember how he and James had laughed so hard that they nearly passed out.

But this was no fireworks show.

Part 1/12

Read the full story on A03

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12192549/chapters/27682542

October, 1980

But this was no fireworks show.

Sirius’ senses returned to him only after the white noise from smashing his head on the crater of rocks faded. He heard the screaming first and then smelled the smoke. Forcing his head up off the ground, he took in his blurry surroundings: Their camp was burning, along with half the surrounding moor. The Death Eaters had breached their concealment charms.

Get up. Get the fuck up.

He heard his own voice in his head, it sounded like a stranger’s—but he obeyed nonetheless. Sirius grabbed for his wand in the dark grass and pushed his blood-soaked hair out of his face. As he dragged himself to his feet, he grunted in pain. Several ribs were broken, no doubt about it.

Black cloaked figures were swarming everywhere in sight. Sirius assessed that they must be outnumbered at least five to one. The source of the screaming was coming from the pair of duelers closest to Sirius. A Death Eater was visible about ten yards away from him, fighting Marlene McKinnon. It didn’t look as though Marlene could hold out much longer.

Thanks to Sirius’ adept use of nonverbal spells, Marlene’s attacker didn’t even know what hit him. He was violently thrown backwards by the surprise attack and hit the ground with the wind knocked out of him. Taking advantage of this moment of vulnerability, Sirius darted around sprays of red spells towards the fallen Death Eater. And when he was close enough, he pounced.

Sirius constricted the attacker’s throat with one hand and kept his wand pointed at his head in the other. The weight of his body kept the stunned man pinned to the ground.

“How did you find us? Who told you?” Sirius yelled through gritted teeth, shaking with rage. He watched as this stranger was suffocating. He gladly would have killed him, but what good would that do just now? Without any information on this ambush his death was useless. Releasing his grip, Sirius pulled back the man’s hood and ripped off his mask, then looked down at the face of Evan Rosier--A former Slytherin who had been in his year at Hogwarts.

Rosier looked up at Sirius and began to laugh mirthlessly.

“Well, if it isn’t Black the Blood Traitor. Enjoying your surprise party? You’re the guest of honor, after all.”

Sirius responded by shattering Rosier’s cheekbone with a solid crack of his fist.

“WHO TOLD YOU?” he demanded a second time, snapping Rosier’s wand in two then gripping him by the robes. Rosier opened his mouth to speak just as Sirius was suddenly hit by a passing spell.

With Sirius being momentarily bemused from the confundus charm, Rosier seized the opportunity and freed himself. Marlene jumped in to take him on while Sirius scrambled up from the grass and stood beside her. Rosier had found a spare wand and was now joined by two larger cloaked figures, undoubtedly Mulciber and Avery.

Sirius skillfully deflected their attacks and dodged the spells that slipped past his wand-work. Marlene kept pace with him and corralled the three to keep them in one place. Eventually, Sirius managed to get a spell through their defenses. There was a brief pause as the men realized what happened; followed immediately by a shock wave blast that sent all three electrified men skyrocketing out of the battlefield. Blue lightning strips marked their trajectory across the sky.

Marlene turned to look at Sirius with astonishment, “What the fuck was that?”

Sirius’ countenance mirrored her own, “I’ve no fucking idea.”

Five new Death Eaters surrounded them. Marlene and Sirius exchanged a disconcerting glance. Sirius then looked from one cloak to the next--his wand-arm at the ready while his free hand stealthily slipped behind his back and gripped the sheath of a dagger under his shirt that was attached to his belt.

“Take him alive!” A masked voice commanded.

One of the cloaks foolishly dove to grab Sirius from behind. Without hesitation, he spun around and plunged the blade into their neck. Just as Sirius and Marlene were about to be overtaken by the remaining cloaks, an eruption of screaming sounded in the distance. And then there was a brilliant flash of green light.

All fighting stopped as every dueler turned to see what was happening. The cease allowed Sirius to realize that they were in close proximity to Edgar Bones. Edgar had been defending himself against four Death Eaters of his own. They acknowledged each other briefly through labored breathing before turning to witness the life leave Fabian Prewett as the green flash faded. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Antonin Dolohov stood over the body with a dark, indifferent look in his sunken eyes.

Without thinking, Sirius began to lunge towards Dolohov.

“Sirius! Don’t!” Marlene tried to call after him, but Sirius was already yards away from her. Sirius quickly realized he wasn’t the only one running. Gideon, Fabian’s brother, was also barreling towards Dolohov, screaming as loudly as his lungs could allow.

Sirius ran with enraged determination while sending spells at Dolohov, but he was out of range. And Gideon was much closer.

“GIDEON, STOP,” Sirius called breathlessly, realizing what was about to happen.

But Gideon continued to storm towards Dolohov, blasting spells at any Death Eater in his path. He left at least five of them stunned or dead in his wake. All the while, Dolohov just watched Gideon, waiting.

And then he smirked. “Avada Kedavra.”

The sky was still lit with green light when Sirius was abruptly restrained—he and his restrainer tumbled hard into the muck.

Sirius was about to head-butt his restrainer in the face when he heard a familiar voice:

“Don’t be a fool!” The gruff voice of Mad-Eye Moody hissed into his ear. “If you’re dead or captured then Lily and James are lost!”

“And what about Gideon and Fabian?” Sirius snarled as he panted, turning his head to glare at Mad-Eye.

In the distance, howls distinct to werewolves could be heard, announcing their arrival.

“They’re dead. And soon we will all be dead if we don’t get out of here now.” Mad-Eye’s magical eye was rolling wildly. He swiftly stunned a nearby Death Eater he had seen through the eye behind them.

Sirius looked away in fury and agony, but nodded curtly with understanding.

“My bike. Next to the camp. But not without Marlene and Edgar.”

Mad-Eye pulled Sirius up by his sweat-soaked and bloodied shirt and the pair fled into the darkness--parrying attacks from the cheering and hollering Death Eaters as they went. Luckily, many of the Death Eaters were distracted in celebrating the deaths of two formidable opponents.

The camp wasn’t far off. They managed to unite with a teary Marlene and a pale-faced Edgar at the edge of the battlefield. Both of them were bloodied and covered in ash--Marlene’s blonde hair was nearly unrecognizable. But they were both very much alive.

“You alright?” Sirius asked Marlene breathlessly.

“I’m fine...Thought you were dead.” She crossed her arms.

“Not yet,” he said with a tired grin. Marlene's face broke into a smile in return.

"Let's move!" Mad-Eye barked, snapping Sirius' attention back to their escape.

Together, they all lay low and approached their still-burning camp in concentrated silence. There was no use in wasting time to retrieve the plans they had labored tirelessly over for weeks. The tent that secured these plans and all of their belongings had been swallowed by flames. Sirius stopped to watch the burning in dismayed disbelief for just a moment until he was pushed forward by Mad-Eye.

Sirius pulled his felled, damaged motorcycle from the grass and swung his leg over it. After determining that the damage was superficial, he leaned forward on the bike and gripped the handlebars. Then he kicked the sidecar out from the magical compartment he had built into the bike. Marlene hurriedly climbed on behind Sirius and wrapped her arms around his abdomen while Mad-Eye and Edgar squeezed into the sidecar. He could feel Marlene’s heartbeat hammering against his back. It was strangely calming.

They could see the shadowy figures of the werewolf pack advancing closer into the moor now. Most assuredly being led by Fenrir Greyback. Which meant nothing good for the Order members.

"Hang on," Sirius warned Marlene with a small smirk before he kick started the engine, sending the 1975 Triumph Bonneville roaring into life. Immediately, he accelerated and watched--with satisfaction--how quickly the speedometer blew towards the 160mph maximum. But even when the max was reached, it continued to pick up speed. He dodged several streaks of spells as they burned through the moor, nearly knocking Marlene off of his back several times. Mad-Eye and Edgar sent bolts of light whizzing behind them in retaliation. When a mass of silhouettes appeared in front of them, Sirius pulled back on the handlebars, jerking the bike off the ground. As they took to the sky, he beheld the smoking moor below. The thirty or so Death Eaters were still celebrating with their werewolf allies.

They had been on a highly classified expedition. The only way Voldemort could have discovered their location was from the inside.

The dark mark exploded in the sky as the survivors escaped into the clouds.

~~*~~

Rosier returned to the Lestrange manor and slumped into a chair in the parlor. A sense of deep and abiding dread gnawed at his gut as others filtered in sullenly to the waiting room for a meeting with the Dark Lord himself.

The room was tense; it wasn’t that the Order had won the battle, not exactly, anyway--Dolohov had murdered the Prewetts, and that had certainly been a triumph...it was Evan’s own failure and the reality that it would inevitably be unveiled to the Dark Lord that left him nearly sick.

He’d had Black on top of him, and Evan had failed to capture him.

Evan didn’t know exactly how it was that the Potters had managed to fall off the face of the Earth--they used to be everywhere, at every battle; the two had even faced the Dark Lord himself three times and lived to tell the tale. The mudblood had disappeared after the traitor knocked her up, but James would still turn up at various skirmishes and confrontations.

Not long after Severus told them about the prophecy, though, James too had disappeared, never to be seen again at any Order battle or safe house or any other conceivable place they might be. They had search and pillaged endless locales where the Potters might be hiding to no avail. It was as though they’d vanished into thin air, but the Death Eaters had one lead on this mystery; if anyone would know where Potter had gone off to, it would be Black. Pettigrew, useless thing that he was, insisted even under the Dark Lord’s wrath that he hadn’t set eyes on the Potters in months, and finally, Evan was inclined to believe the git really was in the dark and the Potters were not quite fool enough to trust him. There was the werewolf as well, but Evan felt certain that out of the three, Potter trusted and loved Black best. He had to know something. The Dark Lord knew this too, which was why they all were under orders to capture Black rather than kill him.

And Evan had let him get away.

Avery, Mulciber and Pettigrew sat beside Evan, all of them pale-faced and exchanging terrified glances in anticipation.

Bellatrix, Severus, Lucius suddenly entered the parlor. All three sneered down at Evan. They were all still filthy having just come to the battle despite the late hour. The exhaustion was clear to see in their glossy eyes. Each took a seat in circle formation surrounding Evan, Mulciber, Avery and Pettigrew. There was one empty chair left to close the circle.

They all sat in silence for several minutes until Bellatrix could no longer restrain herself.

“Idiot!” she snarled, pointing at Evan. “I hope the Dark Lord let’s me kill you.” She smirked darkly.

Then, the double doors of the parlor opened, followed by the slinking, coiling body of Nagini. She greeted the room of Death Eaters by drawing back her fangs and hissing threateningly. She slithered close to Evan and extended herself so that they were eye-to-eye.

She watched him for a moment before lunging for his face, chomping her jaw mere inches from his nose.

Evan had to bite back a scream as terror coursed through his veins; a strangled cross between a gasp and a groan managed to escape his lips.

“Now, now, Nagini, that’s no way to treat our guests,” the smooth voice of Lord Voldemort could be heard from the doorway.

“My Lord!” Bellatrix burst out and immediately threw herself off of her chair and bowed to Voldemort on her knees.

Severus fought back a sneer as he regarded Bellatrix but bowed low from his seat. Lucius followed his lead. The rest followed in turn.

Evan weakly returned the gesture, keeping his eyes trained on the ground.

Voldemort took a seat in the armchair at the head of the circle. Nagini backed away from Evan and coiled herself around Voldemort’s chair.

“I hear there was a great celebration tonight after the moor ambush,” Voldemort began, looking at each Death Eater’s face as he rapped his knuckle on the armrest of the chair.

“I do apologize for taking you all away from the fun,” his sarcasm was subtle but Severus and Lucius had now followed Evan’s gaze to the floor.

“I’m so very glad that we succeeded in our mission. Now, can one of you bring me Sirius Black? Naturally we must have him--that’s why we’re celebrating, isn’t it?”

Whatever color was left in Evan’s face drained completely at the mention of Black. He felt like he was about to pass out. He wasn’t the only one, though--from the corner of his eye, he saw Pettigrew twitch visibly.

The room was dead silent other than Nagini’s occasional hiss and Voldemort’s knuckles knocking on the chair.

Finally, Lucius cleared his throat. “We did not secure him, my Lord.”

“Did not secure him?” Voldemort asked, mocking surprise. “Severus, remind me of the purpose of that ambush…”

Severus lip thinned as he turned to face Voldemort. “To secure Black.”

“Now see, you can understand my confusion. Celebrating typically follows a victory. Bellatrix, tell me what happened,” His tone was becoming harsher each time he opened his mouth to speak.

Bellatrix looked all too pleased to be the one to inform the Dark Lord of Rosier’s failings, but her expression swiftly darkened as the scope of his incompetency sent her on the brink of a rage. “Rosier was duelling the McKinnon brat, my Lord, and for some reason didn’t manage to kill her. Then my filthy blood traitor of an ex-cousin pinned Rosier to the ground, and he didn’t manage to overtake the traitor,” Bellatrix tuted then turned to Avery and Mulciber.

“And you two tried to incapacitate Sirius too, didn’t you?” she asked. Bellatrix refused to refer to him as Black, refused to bestow that honor on him any longer. “In any case, Sirius bested them all and got away.”

Mulciber, whose eyes were still red and swollen from mourning his father, now widened at Bellatrix exposing him. Avery looked just about as sick and meek as Rosier as their names were now dragged through the mud. Evan had been the only one unmasked, but Bellatrix always seemed toknow who was who.

“Oh, then the little blood traitor killed Mulciber Senior. Stabbed him in the neck like a common Muggle.”

“What I’m gathering is that one boy bested four of my men. Now, either Black has some incredible superhuman skill or i’m in need of better men. I’m leaning towards the latter.” Voldemort’s black eyes were burning with rage now.

He stood up abruptly and strode over to Evan, regarding him with a loathsome stare.

“Yes, I see the marks from where he grabbed your throat,” Voldemort remarked quietly. “You must’ve been close enough to have kissed him, even,” he sneered.

Voldemort suddenly grabbed Evan’s throat with one hand and lifted him up into the air.

“Perhaps I should kill you all like muggles. If that’s how weak we are. He turned and stared into Evan’s eyes as he choked him.

His eyes widened as he struggled for air.

“Each and every one of you has failed me tonight,” he addressed the room before looking back to Evan.

The entire room tensed as they watched Evan suffocating, all wondering what would come of them next.

Bellatrix, meanwhile, watched with a loathsome expression on her face; if she had gotten half a chance with her foul little cousin, he would be singing all the Potters’ secrets like a canary right now.

“But there are times when a Lord must be merciful,” Voldemort continued. “Rosier, I will grant you a second chance. A chance for you to prove me wrong. You are now in charge of securing Black’s capture. Take Avery, Mulciber and Wormtail with you. I want everything there is to know about Black. I want every weakness he has. And then, I want him writhing at my feet.”

Voldemort looked down at Avery and Mulciber before turning back to the nearly unconscious Evan.

“And should you fail me again, I will make you beg for death. Do you understand?”

It took Evan a moment to even comprehend what the Dark Lord was saying; his ears were ringing, and he felt as though he was watching and listening to Voldemort speak from the bottom of a pool. Everything was muffled and blurred, everything except the persistent ringing in his ears.

“Yes, my Lord,” he croaked, finally, his throat aching as he spoke.

Voldemort released Evan and dropped him unceremoniously to the floor.

“Glad to hear it,” Voldemort spat. “Now get out--all of you.”

~~*~~

Harry had fallen asleep about a half-hour into the Godric’s Hollow Halloween parade. Lily had twisted her hair into Princess Leia buns, James had felt bad ass in a leather jacket and an outfit that closely resembled Han Solo. There had been much debate over what to do with Harry; Star Wars offered myriad good options for sickeningly adorable baby costumes, but they’d eventually resolved on Chewbacca. Not only did the sight of Harry in his funny costume make James’ heart feel like it was going to burst from the cuteness and ingenuity of it, but the furry little get-up also left Harry toasty warm on the cool autumn day.

The Potters had gotten a lot of fanfare over their clever family costume. They’d taken Harry trick-or-treating as well, which he mostly managed to stay awake for. One of James and Lily’s neighbors asked, “Can he really eat this?” to which James winked and answered, “Nope!” and the older woman laughed. Harry, after all, didn’t have any teeth yet--but James and Lily certainly did.

They made their way home in the early evening to let Harry tuck in for the night, James pushing Harry in his pram. As they neared their block, Lily wrapped her arm around James, squeezing his waist.

“I had fun today,” she told him.

“I’m glad, princess,” said James, leaning in and kissing her. Sometimes, he felt a little guilty for their cozy escape; there was a war on that all his friends were fighting in, that they had fought in, and here he was in Godric’s Hollow now, living a disgustingly adorable little life with his young wife and son. And yet...James really only felt very slightly guilty about it all, and not nearly as badly as he expected he would when he first learned he had to go into hiding. The thing was, building this nice and safe life wasn’t really for James or even Lily, who James knew was just as willing to risk it all. It was all for Harry, and Harry hadn’t asked to be born during a war, he hadn’t asked to be born to vigilante parents, and he sure as hell didn’t ask to make it onto Voldemort’s shit list for a reason James still didn’t fully understand. As James peeked over the top of the pram at Harry fast asleep in his Chewbacca costume, he felt unabashedly certain they were doing the right thing. Harry deserved a happy life, and it was up to James and Lily to give that to him. He had to be their top priority now, not just because he was somehow crucial to Voldemort’s downfall, but because he was their son.

Lily rested her hand atop James’ on the pram handle and squeezed it, indicating that her thoughts were wandering in a similar direction.

As James neared the house, he felt a small surge of heat from the small mirror in his pocket--Sirius. He paused and took it out, Lily turning anxiously towards him.

“It’s Sirius,” he said, then peered into the mirror. “Padfoot?” he greeted uncertainly.

Sirius’ dirty, bruised and bloodied face appeared in the mirror.

“I’m sitting at your dining room table. Figured I’d give you a bit of a warning so you didn’t walk in and piss yourselves.”

The image in the mirror of Sirius eyed what he could of James’ costume skeptically.

“Well done on the costume. But we both know which of us would really be Han Solo. You’re more of a Luke. You’ve got that scrawny hero thing going on. Though, you’ve also got the hair of Chewbacca.” he smirked.

James was startled by Sirius’ appearance, but before he could ask, Sirius managed to elicit a laugh, “I knew you were going to say that,” he told him. “But Lily’s Leia, so I’m not letting you sweep her off her feet,” James said, winking over at Lily, who said “As if” as she listened in on this conversation.

"Her loss," grinned Sirius.

“Thanks for the heads up.” he knew Sirius wasn't there to just hang out, not in the shape he was in, but James was happy to see him soon anyway. James grinned, “Wait until you see Harry.”

The Potters approached their front door, Lily scooped Harry up and out of the pram. He made a few clucking noises at being stirred, but didn’t quite wake up. Instead, Harry snuggled his head into Lily’s chest. James carried the pram into the entryway and left it there, then preceded into the dining room. He was momentarily surprised to find that it wasn’t just Sirius there, but Marlene, Mad-Eye, and Edgar, too.

“Marly!” Lily squealed, handing Harry off to James as she rushed over and hugged her.

Marlene was laughing at the Potters’ costumes, “You look amazing, Lils,” she said.

Mad-Eye and Edgar, meanwhile, looked thoroughly perplexed.

“What did you do to Harry?” Mad-Eye asked. “Does it have some sort of...protective enchantments on it?”

James had to try not to laugh, “Errrrmm...not exactly. It’s Halloween, remember? Harry’s Chewbacca!”

Mad-Eye and Edgar continued to stare blankly at this revelation, while Sirius snorted at them with laughter.

In the midst of it all, Sasquatch--the Potters’ old family cat--launched itself from the top of the china cabinet where it’d been hiding, chiefly from Moody, and landed with dexterity on the table.

Mad-Eye whipped his wand out and nearly killed the thing then and there.

“Moody, no! It’s just the cat!” Lily cried, and he hesitatingly put the wand away. Sasquatch purred and rubbed against James’ side. She then hissed and spat at Sirius; Sasquatch had never much liked Sirius since he’d become an animagus. Sirius stared down at the cat and then emitted a loud bark; this led Sasquatch to hiss once more before abandoning the room all together, not out of fear--just irritation.

“Always been more of a dog person,” Sirius explained with a shrug, winking at James.

“We’re not here for a Halloween party!” Mad-Eye barked, rolling his eye. But no one appeared to be listening. Marlene was still chatting with Lily, Sirius had scooped Harry out of James’ arms and was laughing at his costume--and Edgar had fallen asleep on the the table.

“HAVE YOU THREE FORGOTTEN WHY WE ARE HERE? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN GIDEON AND FABIAN ALREADY?”

Harry woke and burst into tears at the sudden noise.

Sirius paled immediately at Mad-Eye’s outburst. “Of course not,” he stated firmly, his voice hardening. He exchanged a look of grief with Marlene before handing Harry back to Lily. Lily took Harry; though she was alarmed by the allusion to Gideon and Fabian, there was a part of her that would like to remind Moody that they have a three-month-old.

“I’ll bring him upstairs,” said Lily. She hurriedly got Harry changed and settled--in spite of Moody’s outburst, it wasn’t too difficult, since he was a bit overtired and eager to sleep. Lily then returned to the dining room.

“We have to talk to you,” Sirius said as Lily reentered the dining room, still dressed as Leia, as she hadn’t wanted to waste anymore time. “And we need this to be relayed to Dumbledore as soon as possible,” Sirius continued, returning to his seat at the end of the table while looking from Lily to James with a grave expression.

“We were on a top secret expedition up north in Windermere for the past two months. Just me, Marly, Mad-Eye, Ed, and the Prewetts. Only a few members of the Order other than us even knew. Anyway, last night the Death Eaters came and then the werewolves. All of them,”

Sirius explained, pausing to swallow hard. “They blasted through our concealment charms and scattered us. We were overwhelmingly outnumbered. Bloody hell, I think Ed was taking on four of them on his own at one point.”

He nodded approvingly to Edgar, quirking an impressed grin. Edgar grinned weakly in response. “Aye, I wasn’t the only one, as I recall,” he said, eyeing Sirius and Marlene.

"I bet Rosier still looks like burnt toast thanks to you," Marlene smirked at Sirius, who sat up slightly higher in his seat with pride.

"Yes, well, I've been compared to James Bond." Sirius replied, modestly.

"Is that so?" Marlene asked, raising an eyebrow. "By who?"

"Your mum," he answered with his eyes flashing as he crossed his arms.

Marlene leaned over and punched him, hard, in the bicep. "You are such a twat!" she exclaimed and Sirius laughed.

"Get on with it, Black," sighed Mad-Eye.

“Right. Anyway, we had no chance,” Sirius continued, shooting Mad-Eye an irked look. “Escape was our only means of survival. And Gideon and Fabian…” he looked down at the table now, unable to get the words passed his throat.

“They fought like heroes!” Mad-Eye picked up for Sirius. “But we lost them,” he grunted, bitterly.

James had an increasing sense of dread ever since Mad-Eye’s outburst. From the context in which he’d mentioned them, James had a creeping suspicion that they’d been killed, but that didn’t make the confirmation hurt any less. His throat constricted and he quickly felt tears gather in his eyes. Lily wrapped her arm around James, fighting back tears of her own...but with a little more success than james.

“Has someone spoken to Molly?” asked James quietly.

“This was our first stop on the road. And we couldn’t trust sending an owl,” Sirius frowned.

“We should hold a memorial for them. For all of the Order members,” Edgar suggested, misery mixing in with his exhausted countenance.

Sirius nodded in agreement. But he couldn’t shake his suspicion that someone from the Order had leaked their location.

“You understand what this means, don’t you?” Sirius asked, staring at James with a hard look. “The expedition was Top Secret...Only the Order knew. How would the Death Eaters know where to find us?”

“Not this again!” Mad-Eye interjected angrily, pounding the table with his fist. “You can’t go around accusing our own men of treason without proof!”

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat; it wasn’t in his nature to be distrustful, and while Mad-Eye may have scolded Sirius for being toosuspicious, he often scolded James for not being suspicious enough.

“What, Gideon and Fabian’s deaths aren’t proof enough for you?’ Sirius spat back.

Mad-Eye abruptly stood up and faced Sirius from the opposite side from the table. Sirius stood in turn, returning Mad-Eye’s glare.

“Watch your tongue, Black. You may be good in a scrap but I can still blast you back home to London,” he warned.

He turned to address the table, “We lost two great men last night and they will be missed but the Death Eaters failed last night. And now we have knowledge of what they’re after…”

Sirius sat back down with a haughty look about him as he listened to Mad-Eye.

“They want Sirius. And they want him alive.”

James looked alarmed, “What?” he asked.

Lily pressed her fingers into her eyes for a moment, trying to relieve the stress and grief that had gathered behind them.

“They must suspect your connection to us…” she said quietly to Sirius.

“They can’t know the whole of it, though,” Sirius assured her, but didn’t deny what Mad-Eye was saying. “And even if they do somehow capture me I would never tell…”

“We know that,” said James swiftly and forcefully.

“But we’re not going to allow him to be captured,” Mad-Eye grunted, “They’ll be watching you, hunting you. So we’ll have men with you for everything you do and everywhere you go.”

“Can I still shit by myself?” Sirius sneered.

“You have to be vigilant, Sirius. Be conscious of everything you do. They’ll know your every move,” Mad-Eye barked, ignoring the comment. “I figured you’d prefer this over going into hiding.”

Sirius crossed his arms in response and looked away but didn’t argue. Mad-Eye was right about this one.

“And we can use their distraction against them,” Edgar suggested. “They’ll be focused on Sirius and not the rest of us.”

Lily had been quiet for a while, then finally, she spoke, “I agree with Moody that we shouldn't grow too suspicious of one another, but I think Sirius’ point is worth considering...if it was a secret mission,” she began, then gestured between James and herself, “I mean we didn't even know about it...how do you think it might have gotten leaked?”

“Thank you!” Sirius said with exasperation.

Mad-Eye turned to Lily and listened. It was far easier to agree with her on this matter than with Sirius.

“You’re right, Lily,” Mad-Eye finally said, nodding. Sirius glared at him, affronted.

“We’ll have to sit down in private with Dumbledore and find out exactly who knew about the mission. But this must be kept quiet! We’re struggling enough without causing dissension in the ranks.”

He turned and addressed the table. “Agreed?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Lily.

“Agreed,” James echoed.

Marlene and Edgar were both on the verge of passing out but also mumbled their agreement. Marlene didn't bother to remove her face from her hands. Even Sirius looked like he was teetering on the edge of consciousness. It had been nearly two days now since any of them had any sleep.

“Agreed,” he stated firmly in turn.

~~*~~

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