The Marauders Year Five Part 2 #Wattys2017

More Than He Ever Had

More Than He Ever Had

Although the flag was taken down rather promptly, and Sirius, Lily, and Frank Longbottom were given a detention each for their work upon it (Sirius given one for each incident), the were assured by Professor McGonagall that the measuring stick that Frank had helped to spellotape to the spire of Gryffindor Tower had remained upon the tower. The measuring stick, McGonagall claimed, had been adhered so well that it was just impossible to remove from the spire... though Sirius could've sworn he saw her wink when she said it.

"A WHOLE METER HIGHER!" Frank was saying loudly at the Gryffindor table that night at dinner, after he, Sirius, and Lily had been sentenced by McGonagall, "A WHOOOOOLE METER HIGHER!" Several Ravenclaw boys were scowling and muttering to one another unhappily at the next table, glaring over at Frank as he bragged.

Everyone was talking about the flag and the stick, though, not just the Ravenclaws. Everyone was waiting to see what insane thing Sirius Black would do next, whispering in hushed voices about him being mad, about rumors they'd heard that Sirius and Remus had broken up, though nobody knew why, and all this madness from Sirius Black was the slow burn of a pending meltdown... Bets were collected on how long it would take before Sirius Black completely lost it, and what sort of madness he would be involved in next. Everyone had their eyes on Sirius.

Remus knew the moment he got into bed after returning from the Shrieking Shack that Sirius had been there. Aside from the dog hair that he found in the sheets, he could smell his scent lingering on the pillows and he hugged the pillow that smelled the most of him close, burying his face into it, and crying silently that night, his back turned to the rest of the room - trying to ignore the feeling of Sirius staring at him from his own bed across the room. It was only a room between them, but it might as well have been the entire world.

James meanwhile, angry that Severus Snape had not come to Lily's defense in the incident with Mulciber and the others, had taken to sending small spells in Snape's direction on whim in the hallways. For instance, they might pass him on their way through the courtyard to Herbology and James would wave his wand and undo the seams at the bottom of Snape's bookbag, sending his belongings crashing to the stones at his feet, his ink bottles smashing and staining his dirty old shoes. Or else he would send a stinging charm or a langlock... or untie his shoelaces from afar and retie them together so that when Snape tried to walk he would trip and fall on his fat nose. He always was sure to do these things when Lily wasn't around or wasn't looking, and he'd raise his eyebrows at Snape or, even more annoying, one of the time he'd tripped him in the hallway, he pretended to go to Snape's rescue and offer him a hand up. That particular time, Lily had come 'round the corner just as Snape had fallen down and James had made certain that she saw he offered Severus help -- she didn't need to know it was him that had tripped the bastard to begin with.

Only Sirius and the other Marauders knew of this, and Sirius was prone to doing it for James in James's absence - only he cared less whether Lily Evans knew what he was up to. After all, hedidn't have a pending date just a few days away with her. He could do whatever the hell he wanted to Snape in the halls, and so it was that he engorged Snape's nose one day and shouted, "Oi Snivellus, no wonder you can't keep your nose out of other people's business!" and another time he waved his wand so that Severus's necktie tightened itself against his throat and Snape was left tugging at the thing, trying to loosen it.

Of course this walked a fine line, too, and Severus would glare and threaten to reveal the secret about Remus Lupin, but slowly Sirius got more and more confident that there was something keeping Severus from actually doing it - because he never did it, despite the threats, and soon the threat became sort of... unthreatening.