/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟏.𝟙𝟙.𝟥

"it sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning." ~ H.G. Wells

~may 1972~ ((continued))

It took forever to get Marlene back up to Gryffindor tower. Peter kept having to slip out from under the cloak to re-position it over the huddled group supporting her, and it didn't help that Marlene let out little yelps of pain every time they made any sharp movements. To make matters even worse, Sirius shushed her loudly every time she did so, which got on the nerves of everyone involved. The only good part of the night was that there didn't seem to be a teacher in sight. They made it the whole way up to the Gryffindor common room without even a close scrape with trouble. When they got there, the boys helped Artemis support Marlene all the way to the bottom of the steps leading up to their dormitory, and then watched as Artemis struggled up the stairs with Marlene's arm draped over one of her shoulders. "Well," Sirius sighed, collapsing onto the couch by the fire and running his hands through his hair, "dunno about you lot, but I vote we never take them with us again."

"Hey, that wasn't all her fault," said Remus. "You were the one egging her on."

Sirius sat up and gave Remus an indignant look. "I was not egging her on!"

"You were," Peter said in a singsong voice. "I'm going to bed." The boys all uttered soft goodnights to him and he disappeared up the steps to the dormitory.

Remus stood behind Sirius's couch and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "I'm going to bed too, I think. I'm going to help Artemis take Marlene to the hospital wing first thing tomorrow morning, and you guys should too. We're all responsible." He started towards the stairs, but hesitated at the bottom. "And start thinking up excuses as to why she'd have a cut on her face and broken ribs."

"Goodnight to you too, buddy," James called over his shoulder, then relaxed back onto his usual armchair and sighed. "What a night."

"What a night," Sirius repeated. "Think Marlene'll be okay?"

James shrugged. "She'll be in pain for tonight but tomorrow Madam Pomfrey'll fix her up. I just don't know how we're going to explain it."

"Not our problem anymore," Sirius said in an unaffected tone, closing his eyes and letting his hand fall back behind his head.

James sat forward, propping his elbows on his knees. "Really? I mean, we were all there. We're the ones who brought them with us."

Sirius let out an impatient sigh. "Doesn't matter. She's the one who ran at the moving tree. You can't be the hero all the time, James."

"Alright, alright." James sat back and pulled his legs up to his chest. "What about Remus, though? He got all weird when we went the tree and he's been jumpy all night. Maybe we should talk to him, I mean he disappeared last week and made up another excuse."

Sirius opened his eyes and squinted at James. "You mean the 'excuse' that his mum's sick and he had to visit her in the hospital? Leave him alone, James. He's jumpy all the time. That's why we call him Loopy- he's weird. We like that he's weird. Don't push it."

"You're in a bad mood," James mused. "What were you and Artemis talking about?"

Sirius shrugged and sat up, propping a pillow behind his back. "Nothing, her mum or something. I dunno." Then, with a twitch to his mouth and a more relaxed voice, "Okay, you're right, I'm in a bad mood. What should we do about Marlene?"

James grinned and thought for a second. "She fell down the steps."

"And... broke her ribs?" Sirius asked with a disbelieving smile. Then, he shrugged. "Yeah, I'd buy it. We'll tell Remus tomorrow."