The Marauders: Year Six #Wattys2017

A Good Show, At Least

A Good Show, At Least

"NO! No! Please, no, please! Stop it!" Lily Evans shrieked, grabbing at James and Sirius as Sirius launched himself at James in the wake of the punch to the mouth. He grabbed at James's glasses and James caught Sirius's hair up in his fist and yanked - hard - and Remus jumped back as the pair of them knocked each other over onto the floor and rolled toward him as Peter squealed and dropped a waffle that James and Sirius rolled right over - strawberry jam sticking to the back of James's shirt. "Stop it!" Lily cried and she grabbed hold on James's elbow, trying to pull him off Sirius, "Stop hitting him!"

Sirius and James both were shouting at one another - incoherent curses and name-calling that nobody could understand but was a constant stream of obscenities and threats, accentuated by punches, cracking noses, and spurts of blood.

"Separatum!" shouted Slughorn, and Sirius and James were split apart like they were opposing magnets, thrown in two different directions rather violently, each landing on their arses a couple meters apart. "That is quite enough!" Slughorn grumped and he glowered at them as everyone in the room stared with dropped jaws at the torn shirt sleeve on Sirius Black's shoulders and the crooked glasses barely hanging onto James Potter's ears. Lily was crying and Remus was staring in awe at them. Peter was eating nervously, just shovelling sausages into his mouth. "Good friends!" Slughorn admonished them, "Fighting! And over what?"

"Carly Shaw's legs," offered Peter.

"Carly Shaw's fucking mouth," Sirius corrected.

"Sirius Black's idiocy," James corrected again.

"James Potter's jealousy!" Sirius corrected again.

"I'm not jealous!" James shouted.

"You are too!" Sirius said, "Because Lily Evans will pay me attention and she never did you!"

"Fuck you!" James cried and he got up, dusted himself off and left the room.

Carly Shaw squeaked in frustration at Lily, then rushed after James.

Sirius watched them go and when the door had banged shut, he stood up carefully, cleared his throat, trying at regaining dignity, and he turned to Horace Slughorn. "Really, a great party, sir. Truly bang-on. After this display, I truly expect to never be invited again, and so I should like to express my true gratitude. Adieu." And with that, Sirius turned to the door and stepped out into the corridor as well.

Lily looked at Remus, her mouth gaping like a fish.

Remus sighed, "Thanks for the brunch, Professor. Sorry." And he, too darted out.

"Yeah, me also," Lily added, and she followed along.

Slughorn looked flabbergasted.

Peter hesitated and as a house elf walked by he stopped the little creature and took up the whole tray of waffles and said, "Sorry," and bolted out after his friends.

Silence fell over the room.

"Well," said Regulus in as bold a voice as he could muster. Everyone turned to look at him. Then, "You can't ever accuse the Black family of not giving a good show, at least, ey?"

Several nervous laughs erupted around the room and Maryrose squeezed his fingers.

James went straight to the dorm room. Carly Shaw followed after him, squeaking and squealing for him to wait up the whole way from the dungeons up to the Portrait Hole. Several heads turned when he banged his way through the common room, and slammed the dormitory door as hard as he could - so hard that a portrait outside fell onto the landing. Carly ran into the room after him and closed the door much more gently.