the Horcrux Thief, james potter

vii. hypothetically useful

"Well, I'm not doing anything," said Marlene, her shoulders slumping. "Lily has her potions and you lot your delusions, what do I get?"

"My cock?" tried Sirius with a smirk and yelped when the blond witch hit him beside the head.

"You're a pig, Black."

"Fuck pigs often, Mckinnon?" he replied with his brows raised.

She just ignored him while the others snickered. "I want to do something useful too," said Marlene, her eyes sparkling with determination, "Like Amaya, you know. Do something that will benefit the war. I'm sick and tired of being just a member when I know I could help."

Silence fell upon them and James was sure every single one of them felt the same way as Marlene. The war had started before they were at school, and at Hogwarts, they'd been mostly guarded by the castle's walls, but now that they were out they wanted to do something. It was true they were the youngest members of the Order of the Phoenix but that didn't make them useless.

He knew, for example, that Marlene was a great strategist, he surely hadn't imagined her handing him his arse on a platter every time he played a match of chess with her; and Lily was just a brilliant witch, with a good heart and fiery persona who was made to do something for others, not just brew whatever potions the Order needed—not that that was a bad thing.

All of them had been chosen for the Order for a reason, and James was excited that they were finally being considered for tasks.

"Well, apparently, Amaya has the key to the end," said Peter, breaking the silence.

James' brows raised. "Apparently? You don't buy it?"

Peter shrugged. "Honestly? I'm not sure."

"It is a fair point," said Remus, and James frowned.

"So, you lot have no faith in her?" he asked and for some reason, he was offended in her stead.

"I have infinite faith in the bird," assured Sirius casually, leaning back on his chair, his arm thrown over the back of Marlene's, "She's too pretty to be a liar."

Lily snorted from beside him and rolled her eyes. "Where's Amaya either way?"

"She's home, studying herself to exhaustion on how to end this war," said James, barely keeping the bite off his tone.

He just couldn't understand why they doubted her. Sure, they knew nothing about her mission but James had seen her, he'd seen her spend hours in the library, worrying herself; she had done more in the few days she'd been there than they had since they left Hogwarts. Besides, his parents had vouched for her and so had Dumbledore—and the latter didn't just throw his trust around.

"I don't doubt that," said Remus after a pause. "I'm just saying it sounds too good to be true."

"So, she's a liar?"

"No, Prongs, I'm just saying that she might have a solution or a hint, but it might not pan out." Remus shrugged. "If Dumbledore believes her then so do I, but I just wished we had something more than just his word."

"Yeah, whatever." James shrugged, before painting a grin on his face, even though it felt forced. "We should celebrate anyway, for our soon-to-be mission. Your place?"

"Let's get take out from that Muggle place!" added Marlene before looking up at Sirius with a grin, all the previous tension forgotten. "You need to get me one of those weird deserts you like."

Soon they were all headed to the Floo, only James felt a hand on his arm and was stopped by Lily who glanced at the others before looking up at him. "Can we talk for a second?"