101 Ways to ditch the Date | SIRIUS BLACK

No. 77

Lily quickly managed to locate Marlene and Emmeline who were walking briskly through the corridor holding hands. Lily looked curious but Sirius ignored it. All that mattered was re-grouping and getting down to Bristol ... tonight. Luckily, time was on his side and a few minutes after they'd found the two missing girls, Dexter and their other half walked in.

"We've found it - "

"You found it," Remus corrected Dexter beaming, "This was you."

"No, Remus Lupin, this was a team effort," Dexter replied jubilantly before slamming a pile of papers onto the desk in front of Sirius. Considering he was sat on said desk, it made everything a bit awkward but he was good at craning his neck, "It's on page fifteen, if a social event is held where a date is expected or required by written invite, the other is obligated to attend and provide a passive 'I am [Ora/Sirius]'s [girl/boy]friend' to anyone who should ask at the minimum. No physical contact is required but it is allowed with mutual consent."

Sirius banged his hand on the table excitedly, "Yes, Dexter!"

"It was a fascinating read if a little crude at times," Dexter admitted sheepishly.

"A little crude?" Dorcas laughed, peering around the tall boy, "Um, Ora is into some freaky stuff."

"Yeah," Sirius admitted dryly, "It's not for everyone ... but it is for me which is why I've only gone and figured out where she is! Bristol, we reckon her Grandpa's going to help her disappear just like he did with Miria."

"No, she would have told me - " Emmeline began.

"Em, I doubt she knew either judging from the way she spoke about them," Marlene whispered aside. 

"Oh, Dawid, why..." Emmeline moaned, resting her head on Marlene's shoulder who offered back a comforting side hug.

Sirius couldn't help notice the two looked very close but figured that would be more fun to question when he had Ora by his side again. She said what she thought and hopefully, he wouldn't have to wait too long anyway.

After some minor celebrations, cut short by James on behalf of his antsy best friend who would rather wait than yell, they finally came face to face with the final question: how the fuck they'd get to Bristol. Luckily, with so many brains, they quickly came up with a solution for that too. So as not to overwhelm Ora and alert the teachers, they decided only a select few would go. After some discussion and shoddy arguments (such as Mary claiming she'd always wanted to see the Suspension Bridge), they narrowed it down to just Sirius, Dexter, Emmeline and Marlene. Four was a good number and he liked three-quarters of the group - himself included. 

The plan was crazy and basically involved taking whatever skills everyone had to offer.

"We have the cloak, it might be able to fit four of you under at a push ... not that Padfoot needs it, the sly dog."

"The prefects are all susceptible to bribes ... I can get the four of us out unnoticed."

"I'm Head girl. If need be, James and I can ... lie."

"Hippogriffs love me, I'll tame some of them for you. They're fast flyers, you could be there in only a few hours."

"One time, I managed to spy on someone and got caught."

"Mary, how is that helpful?" Sirius was forced to ask to the last one.

She shrugged, "I'm just saying, don't put me on spy watch, that's all."

•••

Usually, Marauders' plans fucked up just a little, even if they were successful usually. Yet this one somehow went by without a hitch. Everyone knew what they were talking about, the prefects turned a blind eye especially when the Head Boy and Girl told them it was teacher authorised. Peter checked ahead for them in rat form so they didn't have a fun midnight encounter with Filch so they managed to get out pretty quickly. Even Dorcas hadn't oversold herself, proving good on her eerie ability to turn the Hippogriffs from wild to docile with nothing more than a few curtsies and strokes. Even if Hogwarts wasn't a date, Sirius was definitely going to count this as a ditching as they'd put so much thought into it, he was sure as hell going to bring it up to Ora. Hippogriffs and bribery would hopefully bring a smile to her face.