The Marauders: Year Seven Part Two

Staying Alive

"ODAIR YOU ARE!" Sirius had shouted it the moment that Jasper Odair came through the floo in the library at Fallengunder. Only Sirius Black could be engaged in mortal, one-on-one combat with a Death Eater and still have the mental faculty to shout such a ridiculous thing, Jasper thought, shaking his head as he was followed by Florean Fortescue and Minerva McGonagall.

Jasper jumped into the fight, taking on a Death Eater that was coming up behind Sirius, aiding the one Sirius was battling to the front. Next thing, Jasper and Sirius were back-to-back, shooting spells in the offensive while covering one another.

"It's fucking amazing to be fighting with you, Odair," Sirius called over his shoulder, snapping a good stinging curse toward the mask of his death eater. The curse rebounded off the bone of the mask and zipped over their shoulders, hitting Jasper's death eater in the shoulder with a yowl of pain.

Jasper replied, "You find it amusing, do you?" He smirked as he jabbed a punching curse.

Sirius let out a bellowing laugh, "You know, Odair, I don't know why I ever hated you."

"You hated me?" Jasper asked.

"Yes, well you were stealing Lily from my mate," Sirius answered.

"To be fair," Jasper said, pausing between words, slashing his wand, "James sort of stole her from me, really..." He was laughing even as he spoke the words.

"Nah," Sirius answered, "Lily and James were meant to be since day one of first year."

Suddenly Jasper fell, slammed into Sirius from the back, knocking them both down to the floor, and Sirius turned, jabbed his wand, and a pile of ducks exploded from the Death Eater on Jasper's side before Sirius turned back to his own and cast an excellent binding spell, sending his death eater to the floor as he pulled Jasper up to his feet. Jasper laughed as swarms of ducks started flapping about wildly in the library, their feathers fluttering about as though they'd walked in on a pillow fight at a little girl's slumber party. Ducks were flying out the window, quacking loudly, confusing Death Eaters...

"NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR DUCKS, MR. BLACK!" Minerva McGonagall shouted at him as she dodged a couple of them flying past her. One hit a death eater in the face with his great flapping wings, and McGonagall used the moment he was caught off guard by the waterfowl to strike him with a spell that had him doubled over, clutching himself between the legs. She sniffed and flicked her wrist, ropes binding the guy's arms quickly as he lay on the ground groaning.

Sirius's eyes were wide. "Did Minnie just --"

Florean's voice came from behind Sirius, "Oh yeah she did. Was a specialty of Min's back in the day..." he chuckled, sending the two bound Death Eaters into a pile in the corner of the room to be collected once the fighting was over. "Used it once on Flea... what a glorious day that was..." he giggled in a childish way, then bounded off calling, "Oi, Al! We've got to stop meeting like this!" as he joined Alastor Moody across the room, helping with the cluster of Death Eaters that were being mercilessly beat one-handedly (and one-leggedly for that matter) by Moody.

Sirius shook his head, grinning, "Well bloody hell. Flea? That's dad," he laughed. "Can't wait to bring THAT up and get the full scoop on-- Whoa, watch out!" He knocked Jasper to the side, narrowly missing a ball of fire that had come from an overshot spell across the room. His eyes followed it and he saw Dumbledore had cast it, but it had been sent awry by one of the Death Eaters who had cast a spell to send the fireball into the fray. The fireball sailed out one of the broken windows...

Dumbledore and James were at the center of the fray, back to back, a tight ring of death eaters pressed to them. And all of the scariest ones, too, the ones who were so frightening that they were easy to recognize, not bothering to wear their masks - Bellatrix and Rudolphus among them. Sirius patted Jasper on the back. "Careful with yourself mate, I'm off to help over there." And he ducked quickly away as Jasper dodged a stunner and returned it with a hex of his own...