fatal love

chapter 141

"Bad news about Mary," James said the next day, as he and Sirius were walking down to the Quidditch pitch at the crack of dawn. Bloody crack of dawn practices - Sirius couldn't wait to get their match with Slytherin over. He was getting incredibly bored of watching the sunrise at least four times a week.

"What do you mean?"

"She's backed out from the Order," James whispered, his face grim. "Her and Ariston, they're sticking with their original plan and going to go to the states."

Sirius sighed. "Can't say I blame her, to be honest."

"I don't- I mean, I don't blame her," James said, looking remorseful, "it's just a bit crap, having her back out."

"When'd you find out?"

"She told Evans last night." James grimaced. "She was really nervous about it, apparently. Lily told her it was fine, obviously, but..."

"Yeah," Sirius sighed. He was a little surprised, but he didn't feel like he could blame Mary. To be honest, she was probably making the smart choice. But never one that he could make himself. And hell, a muggleborn openly dating a pureblood for the last three years? She'd probably had enough blood purity to last her a lifetime. He honestly admired Evans' resolve when it came to that shit. "So who's joining now?" he asked. "Us four, Evans, Marlene and Dorcas?"

James nodded. "Plus Florence."

"Eight's still pretty good," Sirius said in a light tone. "Only five joined last year."

"I guess, I just feel like I'm letting Dumbledore down, you know?" James said suddenly, his eyes wide and sincere. "I mean, we already put off joining until after we left Hogwarts, and I still feel pretty guilty about that, but I thought we'd at least get a bunch of people willing to help. But everyone's so bloody terrified - Mary and Ariston aren't the only ones just getting out of the country."

"I know you think it's your job to do everything you can, Prongs, but it's not," Sirius said tiredly. Sometimes it felt like these conversations with James just went round and round in circles. "And it's definitely not your job to make sure other people are doing their part too. Okay? You're already joining the Order, straight out of Hogwarts as well, and that's more than enough."

James shot him a weary smile. "Yeah. And, look, I know it's harder for Mary anyway - even if she didn't join the Order, just staying in Britain would be dangerous for her. So I get it, it's just disappointing."

They stopped their conversation as they reached the pitch, where the rest of the Gryffindor team was already waiting. James somehow slipped seamlessly into his role as Captain, even though Sirius struggled to make the switch from war talks to just being a Beater that quickly.

Still, practice was good for stress relief. He and Marlene whacked Bludgers back and forth for an hour, sending each other all over the pitch, as James ran some new plays with the other two Chasers and Keeper, and the Seeker did her own thing, darting all over the pitch like a lightning bolt.

Even when James called practice to an end, Marlene asked Sirius if he wanted to carry on for a while, and he agreed easily, and spent another hour out there with her. She was never one to go easy on him, and on two separate occasions he almost suffered a Bludger to the head.

"Oi!" he yelled furiously after the second time. "My face is my best asset McKinnon, stop trying to damage it!"

She only laughed at him. "Gotta keep your reflexes up, Black!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "I think that's enough for today."

She pouted at him, but didn't argue, and the two of them descended to the ground.