Pawns & Players - Sirius Black

-13-

Do anything, but let it produce joy - Walt Whitman

"Soo Evans... Do you want to eat with me in the Great Hall tonight ?" James had finally made a move upon Lily after months of obsessing over the girl.

Lily sitting next to Severus in Potions, turned her head back to answer him.

"Really Potter ? Is that best you've got ?" Giggled the girl and turned her head back to the potion they were making, not knowing the beast she had just woken up.

Slughorn had decided to "enforce the feeling of unity" between Slytherins and Gryffindors and had paired them up.

Sirius had punched Ben Rowle three minutes in, Mulciber was hexed by Marlene and Laurel had "accidentally" given Baneberry leaves to the unprotected hands of the Selwyn girl next to her, scoring the Gryffindors a 3 - 0 advantage, which easily closed with Avery punching James, Alice being driven to a literal mental breakdown and Frank's hand burning from the boiling potion being thrown to him, Slughorn had learned the most that day.

Waiting for their friends in the hospital wing, the two purebloods were thirsty for revenge. Sirius standing his ground on going straight up to their common room and waiting outside to punch them and Laurel explaining her simple 45 step plan on torturing them to insanity, they were trying to find a middle ground.

"Okay no memory charms, what do you suggest Black ?"

"Well Laur dearest, I think you are sleeping on the color inverting jinxes, because I, on the other hand, can clearly picture a red and gold Slytherin common room..."

"... And that will only require me collecting their mails in the morning from the other owls, placing the dung bombs we will have jinxed earlier, -extra points if we can add a smell- and watch them destroy their own common room, one by one."The smirk growing on her face as she made the plan.

"Exactly Owlbert."

"The nicknames have got to stop"

Needless to say, the Slytherins had woken up to a pleasant surprise, and the two masterminds behind it could have easily gotten away with it. Keyword -could have- as Black had seen the obvious need to make the dung bombs leave their signatures wherever it exploded, not leaving many questions to anyone, earning the two a two-week detention, and an even worse letter by their parents.

The year had gone by with James, Peter, and Remus also joining their pranks, taking each time a half-hour to redirect the murder plan to a language changing charm, jiggly legs or the girl's personal favorite, the Slytherins attached to fireworks for the end-of-year feast, leaving the entire school to remember their names for the rest of the summer. 

The train ride was as always, loud and cramped with Lily and Marlene trying to give methods for the girl to convince her mother to let her stay with them at Marlene's house, Remus helping her fill the muggle book stock secretly, Peter promising to send her at least ten good prank ideas to do the upcoming year, James hugging her while constantly trying to convince her to come to visit him, Mary and Dorcas inviting her each to their summer houses and Alice and Frank both making their baby siblings wave at her as the loving crowd next to her slowly left her alone to the uncertainty that was her parents with Sirius standing right next to her. 

"I don't want to go." Admitted Sirius

"Me neither."

That said everything between them, and their eyes finding the support they needed in the others, they walked out, slowly yet steadily.