The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

Missing

Each morning for the next week, James woke before the others and prepared breakfast. He packed a lunch for them each, just like his mum did for him as a kid, and he cleaned the floo of ashes. He even swept the landing outside the door and went down stairs to help the kind curry shop owner take his rubbish out to the dumpster 'round back of the flat.

One by one - always Remus, then Lily, and finally Sirius, always in that order - the other three would rise and come out. Remus would read the paper and Lily would be chattering. Sirius would be there physically but still asleep mentally. Then Lily and Remus would leave together by floo and Sirius would wake up more, turn on the radio and dance his way into getting dressed in his jumpsuit uniform. He would return with his hair tugged up into a knot and his leather jacket and boots on, make a grand deal of checking the Days-Until-Freddie countdown on the fridge, and head out the door, pulling his motorbike from his pocket.

"BYE HONEY I WILL MISS YOU!"

"Bye Padfoot."

The door would slam shut and James would go pick up the kitchen, set the dishes to doing themselves, and then...

He sighed, chucking himself down on the couch, and leaning back into the cushion.

It had been a week of this, and James was already getting tired of it. Luckily, it was the last day of classes before the holiday for Lily and Remus, so soon they would be home until the start of term, at least, and in between was the wedding and the honeymoon to think of. But James knew that after that he would be needing something to fill his time.

He set himself to considering some of the options that might work for him, and he remembered helping Sirius with a similar list not so long ago. He decided he would check some of the shops on Diagon Alley, like he had told Sirius to do, but he wasn't sure if any of them other than Quality Quidditch Supplies would be a good fit. He thought rather not.

Luckily, he had loads of freedom to make choices out of desire and not necessity. That was something that he was very lucky for, and he was determined not to take it for granted. Whatever he found to do, he told himself, it would need to make a difference - to matter to somebody. That was what he had left the Ministry for, at least partially - because he didn't agree with their politics. He couldn't very well be a hero in his own story if he wasn't doing things he considered a hero to be, he decided, and he leaned back, thinking about what he might be able to do to make a difference...

Underhill had said it was better to change things from the inside out, but James reckoned it only worked if you could stand being on the inside long enough without them changing you first. He couldn't stand without fighting and the fighting did no good. So maybe there was something that fought without fighting and made real change... but what?

As one does when one is alone with their thoughts, James fell asleep.

It had been a week since Oni had seen Regulus Black.

At first, she thought he just had more detentions, but then she saw McGonagall in the Great Hall and knew he wasn't being detained in the Transfiguration professor's office.

Then she thought maybe he was avoiding her, though she wasn't sure why, except perhaps that one of the last times she'd seen him she had kissed him and she worried that maybe he didn't like it that she had done... He had been so high-strung and anxious lately, it seemed ever since that week it had been worse than ever... and there had been that incident of passing out in the water that he had half told her about, a cryptic story he didn't go into details about. He'd accidentally mentioned nightmares.

In her Care of Magical Creatures class, Oni asked Professor Kettleburn if Regulus had gotten by to see the Kelpie eggs yet. "Not yet," Kettleburn answered, "But next time you see him, tell him he'd better hurry down - they'll be hatched by the time you all return from the holiday!"