The Marauders: Year Six #Wattys2017

Unnatural

Unnatural

Sirius sat in his usual detention chair in McGonagall's office, pretending to study but really unable to concentrate. He shifted his weight and looked over at her. She was reading the Daily Prophet. It was very early Saturday detention - they'd only just left breakfast in the Great Hall - and Minnie was still drinking her tea, her glasses perched upon her nose.

"Minnnnnie," groaned Sirius, and he rolled in the chair so that he was laying across it instead of sitting upon it, his back on the seat, head hanging over the side, staring up at McGonagall, his hair dangling down to the floor. "I'm bored."

"That, Mr. Black, is precisely the purpose of detention," she said crisply.

He stared up at her.

She lowered the newspaper and was surprised to see him laying there as he was and shook her head. "Mr. Black, sit up and do your homework!"

"My homework's boring, Minnie."

"What subject is it you are working on?"

"Herbology."

Minnie was quiet a moment, then she sighed and put the paper down completely. "Perhaps being bored will teach you a lesson about levitating books in the library?"

"C'mon Minnie. Flying books! It was funny. And you saw Ollie Kent trying to catch them. Merlin's tit, Min, he's just so short... and when he climbed up on the table... and still couldn't reach it..." Sirius was laughing.

McGonagall's face stayed stoic.

"You know you want to laugh, Min."

"You'll watch your mouth in this office, young man," she said sternly, and she looked down.

Sirius rolled on the chair again, this time so he was kneeling on it sideways, his boots hanging off the far side, and he stared at McGonagall as she stared down at the paper on her desk. Then, "Minnie, can I talk with you about something? It's rather serious. And I'm not talking about myself, either. I mean it's actually serious."

She looked up. "What is it?"

"It's James Potter."

McGonagall looked wary. "What about James Potter?"

Sirius got up and walked over, accepting this question as invitation to go sit in the chair by her desk instead of the one in the corner designated for detentions. He threw himself into the plush chair and crossed his legs on the seat in a yogi position. "Darling, surely you've noticed his latest love affair with Meg Johnson?" he said the name as though it were poison.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "You've mentioned it," she said. "In class," she added pointedly.

Sirius nodded, "Good, well, then, you know how bloody unnatural it is."

"Unnatural?" McGonagall asked.

"Yeah, sure. James Potter being with Meg Johnson." Again with the poisonous name.

"I thought you got along well with Miss. Johnson?" McGonagall questioned.

"I do," Sirius answered. "That's not what's got me upset about their... union. It's just that... James doesn't belong with Meg. I mean Meg's grand. But she should be dating somebody else. And James should be dating Lily Evans."

McGonagall stared at him.

"Don't you agree, Professor?"

McGonagall's face twitched. "How is this any of your business, Mr. Black? James Potter is perfectly capable of choosing who he does and does not date."