What is normal to the spider,
is chaos to the fly
or
In which Antares Kelly knew he would get tangled in the web of the Order of the Phoenix.
----------------
[THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX]
[BOOK ONE]
Sirius had always been good at reading between the lines. He first learned it with his parents. Their smiles gradually became tight until they couldn't even bring themselves to smile at all. At home, he wasn't their son. In public, he didn't feel like their son. So he played along until he couldn't bring himself to.
With Antares, there wasn't any need to do that, even if he was a smug and devious little bugger — just like his father. So when his nephew looked him dead in the eyes, he knew whatever followed didn't bode well.
Antares had that look again, the kind he had whenever they attended Order meetings. Sirius could never decide if it was defiance or determination. Maybe it was both, but it never failed to set Moody off. They rarely clashed now that Antares was practically bound to the school, but that didn't mean it stopped.
The argument was always the same. Moody felt that Antares was too cozy with pure-blood society. He accused him of placing his social interests over the interests of the Order, and while Sirius knew his nephew took his duty seriously, he couldn't help but agree. He would never blame Antares for it. He knew that many of his friends were born within the Sacred Twenty-Eight. His nephew grew up with these people — and went to school with these people.
But so had he.
Sirius knew the war would be fought with the new generation, just like it had then. The line had been drawn, and it seemed clear to everyone but him. Family would turn on family, and the people Antares sat next to in class would stand on the opposite side. His nephew's heart was in the right place, but war never cared for such things.
Still, he was proud of Antares. He didn't accept Moody's accusations or let the other Order members believe him. He would throw it back in the Ex-Auror's face, telling him his suspicions were unfounded and fueled by paranoia rather than evidence. Antares even went as far as to claim that his so-called connections were the only reason the Ministry wasn't tearing them apart. It was hard to argue that point when he was the talk of every newspaper and tabloid. Dumbledore hadn't been on the cover in almost a month. Sirius had to hand it to him; his nephew had bite — just like his mother.
Maybe that's why it hurt so much to learn that Marissa was dying halfway across the world. It struck him like a physical blow, leaving him reeling with helplessness. Marissa had been more than just a friend. She was family the moment Lily linked their arms together and stormed off from him and James.
He remembered it vividly.
✯ ✯ ✯
"Okay, but hear me out," he heard James' voice cut through the lazy afternoon air, "What if we used Polyjuice Potion to switch places with each other for a day?"
