The Marauders: Year Six Part 2 #Wattys2017

Fiddlefaddle

Because he knew everything there was to know about the guy.

And yes, James Potter had been acting rather odd... but for some time now, really. Ever since last term, the Hogsmeade weekend in April. He'd progressively gotten odder and odder, but then things had been happening to him, too, things like nearly losing his dad, losing his house, and losing his crush on Lily Evans...

But yes, too, James had been at his oddest lately.

Since the start of holiday.

Sirius shrugged, not ready to commit to anything Regulus said - particularly after that introduction he'd given. "James is James," he said.

Regulus asked, "But what if he's not?"

Sirius laughed, nervously. "What?"

"James isn't James, Sirius," Regulus said darkly. "It's a fake James. A Polyjuice James, if you will..."

"That sounds like a bloody Broomstick Boys song," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, but even if he wouldn't have admitted it - his heart rate picked up just a little bit. "Stop bloody joking about. Did you seriously drag me all the way here just to tell me fiddlefaddle about polyjuice you've just made up?"

"No,," Regulus said quickly, "It isn't just fiddlefaddle, Sirius, it's true. That imposter you've been hanging about with isn't the real James Potter. The real James Potter's with the Dark Lord somewhere, being tortured for information... Information that I know for a fact that he doesn't have."

Sirius forced himself a chuckle. Even the thought of Voldemort torturing James gave him the chills and turned his stomach.

James Potter will die at the hand of the Dark Lord, Mopsus's voice echoed in his head.

"You're full of shit, Reg," muttered Sirius.

"I knew you'd say that. And... and yeah, maybe I am full of shit and I'm just trying to yank you on or something..." Regulus said, "But what if I'm not? What if I'm telling you the truth? What if I'm right and you're so caught up in Severus Snape's lie --"

"Snape? What's that twatwaffle got to do with this?" Sirius hissed.

"-- that you can't see it, and meanwhile, somewhere out there, your best friend's being tortured, Sirius?" Regulus continued.

Sirius glared at Regulus, his jaw set in anger that he would suggest that he, Sirius Black, couldn't tell the difference between Severus Snape and James Potter!

Regulus's voice was persistent. "He's real good at torture curses, Sirius. He's driven people mad with his cruciatus curse. I've seen it. Seen his wand electrocute a girl with it until she'd lost her mind and all that was left of her was madness..."

Sirius's eyes searched Regulus's, hoping to find some sign that he was making this all up.

"James will go mad, too, if he's left there too long," Regulus whispered.

Sirius felt chills in his spine.

"Or he'll kill him," Regulus said, "And that would be the merciful thing to do."

Sirius's face was pale.

"Are you sure enough that it's him so as to risk James Potter's life, Sirius?"

Sirius stared warily at Regulus, his expression clear that he didn't believe his brother.

"Just... think on it," Regulus said. "We'll be here. Come and get us when you're ready."

Sirius hesitated a moment more, then he turned and left the room, walking just as swiftly as they had when they'd left the butterbeer cart to come here to this dusty, dark little inn room. He balled his fists and jabbed them into the deep pockets of his leather jacket, trying to dodge off from the cold. He ran past Tom the bartender faster than he'd ever done before, tapping the bricks in their sequence and running out into Diagon Alley once again, leaving the inn behind him.

The nerve, Sirius told himself as he ran, ducking about, dodging customers and peddlers 'til he found Remus Lupin and James Potter, looking for him, too. "There you are!" Remus said, sighing in relief, "We've been looking everywhere for y ---"

He stopped mid sentence as Sirius Black pushed past him, roughly grabbing James Potter by the neck of his shirt and pushing him against the glass window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, drawing his wand and aiming it to James's throat. He stared into his eyes, past the thick frames of his glasses... "When I came to your house the first time ever. We did something together that night that we could never undo." Sirius stared into the nervous eyes staring up at him. He cleared his throat, "James... tell me what we did that night."

James Potter stared at him.

"TELL ME!" Sirius screamed. He was thinking of when they'd become blood brothers.

People stopped their walking to stare.

"Sirius!" Remus's voice was admonishing, and he reached for Sirius's shoulder, "What on earth are you ---"

But Sirius Black looked rather pale. "You don't know, do you?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Jamee shivered up at him.

No. Not shivered.

Snivelled.

"WHERE IS HE?" Sirius bellowed and his fist tightened in the neckline of the shirt as he shook James, hard enough that his head jostled forward and backwards - probably giving him whiplash. "WHERE IS HE, YOU FUCKING SNAKE??!!?"

"SIRIUS!" Remus cried, "SIRIUS, STOP IT! YOU'RE HURTING JAMES!"

People were staring, whispering, a scream had come from somebody in the quickly gathering crowd...

"NO I AM NOT," Sirius bellowed, and he gave Snape one last, really hard shake so that Severus's head hit the frame of the window rather violently. "WHERE IS THE REAL JAMES POTTER, SNIVELLUS, HUH? WHERE IS HE?!?"