The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix Part Three

Thestrals

Sirius was laying across the arm chair at the campsite - one leg up on the back of the chair, the other hanging over the arm, his head laying on the other arm, smoking. He blew smoke straight up into the air and James lazily magicked the puffs into shapes from across the fire that glowed between them.

"I can't stop thinking about the invisible sheep," Sirius said.

James laughed, "That's disturbing."

Sirius looked over, grinning, "And you lot say I'm the dirty one?"

James smirked as Sirius shook his head dramatically, taking a pull off his cigarette, as though he were deeply offended. "What about the invisible sheep, Sirius?"

Sirius sat up, twisting in the chair so he could knot his legs up like a pretzel and leaned forward, elbows to knees. "Where do the invisible sheep go?" He wagged his cigarette, sending embers raining to the ground before him.

"Over the line of the charms, I told you."

"So say there were sheep just now over yonder in Muggle-Land --"

James snorted at the words over yonder in muggle land.

"-- and they go a'wanderin' over the line --"

"The fuck is wrong with you, mate?" James asked at a'wanderin'. 

"-- as wizards, can we still see the sheep? Or do they go the way of thestrals? Invisible unless you've witnessed death?"

"Sheep don't seem dark enough to be omens of death," James said.

Sirius held his cigarette loosely between his teeth and lower lip, his face quirked funny as he did so, and his brows knit together.

"What?" James asked. 

"I've just had a very - a very strange epiphany," Sirius said, and he sat back, reaching up and taking the cigarette out of his mouth. He shook his had, "Fuck." The joke was gone from his expression.

James sat forward, recognizing Sirius's solemn expression. "What is it, Sirius? What's the matter?"

Sirius scratched his nose and tossed what was left of the cigarette into the fire before him, his eyes meeting James's and he said, "Regulus could see the thestrals."

Sirius hadn't much mentioned his brother since March. James shifted in his seat, unsure what to ask as a follow up question, or what to say. He waited patiently while Sirius stared at an empty spot over James's shoulder, processing. 

Finally, when this had stretched on what seemed like hours but was really only a minute or two, James asked, "What thestrals, exactly?"

Sirius looked caught off guard, as though he'd forgotten James was there and was just brought back to the present by the sound of his voice. "Father took me and Regulus to a World Cup once, when we were small. It's one of the only good memories I have of Father," Sirius added, "Though I'm afraid to think too much about it because I'll reckon there was probably more to the things that happened that day than my young mind comprehended that I may just understand more than I want to now, looking back." He paused, shaking his head, and said, "I don't even remember who was playing except that one of the teams had thestrals as their mascot --"

"That's West France - the Morlaix Morte-Mares," James said, knowledgeably. "When the International team's made up largely of Mares they bring the Thestrals to the Cup. When it's the East -" James smirked, "You're going to love this, but they bring magical sheep."

Sirius laughed, "Visible ones?"

James shrugged. "I mean they brought invisible horses so why not invisible sheep."