ᴅɪsᴘᴇʟ ᴍʏ ʙᴏʀᴇᴅᴏᴍ | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴅᴇᴜʀs' ᴇʀᴀ

Chapter 36: Bindweed

'The mutt will bark at a stranger in the morning, at least some use. And a thoroughbred fight dog had to match higher demand, but the reward is higher too', Lucius recalled Abraxas's words.

Really. Why shouldn't the Lord humour the mutt? Malfoy sighed with a small smile and closed his eyes, that's why he didn't see the attentive glance of the Lord aimed at the potions-maker. A look full with respect.

✨ ✨ ✨

The Great Hall, April

"Actually, I wanted to say," James swallowed an impressive piece of meat and drank pumpkin juice. "If it goes on like this, I'll run the hell away from this school."

"Where will you go?" Black inquired, absently brushing his fingertips along the top edge of the mug. "The monastery?"

"Why not? No nasty Slytherins' faces, no Dumbledore's oppression, no classes. Freedom."

Sirius only lifted his eyebrows in response and continued to look into the coffee-grounds on the bottom of the mug. It seemed there was written in thick black ink: Tell James and Lily what you know. Tell them, otherwise you'll burn in hell with Malfoy and Rosier.

"What's going on, Pads?"

But Sirius didn't hear, plunging into reflections. If he tells James, Prongs will go devil knows where and vanish. But being silent... For a week Sirius pushed inside this rotten secret, and it grew bigger and bigger, penetrating like thick roots in his lungs and heart.

"Padfoot, what the fuck is going on?!" James slapped Black firmly on the back, and he finally woke up.

Sirius smiled crookedly, turned his head toward his friend and looked at him uncertainly. For a moment, James didn't recognize in this strange drooping person arrogant and insolent Black.

"Lily's parents. And Marlene's," Sirius said hoarsely. "Something's wrong with them."

He paused, looking at James as if waiting for an execution.

"What? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"We overheard while you were at that meeting," Sirius stared at his hands and smiled bitterly. "Dumbledore spoke with Dearborn and Remus heard that they couldn't find the parents of some muggle-borns and Aurors assigned to protect them."

James stared at Sirius as if he had never seen him before. "When did it happen?" he asked hoarsely.

"About a week and a half ago. I'm saying, you were at that meeting and─"

"Who else knows about this?"

"Remus and Parker. We just were there. And... Look, I wanted to say, but Caradoc! And Moony!"

"Are you fucking kidding me, Sirius?!" James roared as he got up from the bench. "I'm your friend! Evans is your friend!"

He met with headmaster's eyes and, for a brief moment, felt mental tentacles climb into his brain. Potter shook his head, driving away foreign magic, and looked angrily at Black.

"Who should I believe if not you, eh?!"

Sirius kept looking into the mug and smirking weirdly. He had nothing to say, he didn't want to.

Peacefully eating breakfast students didn't even pay attention to this squabble. In the Great Hall, someone yelled and quarreled all the time. Plus, in the light of recent events, verbal quarrel mattered no more than hippogriffs' shit regularly cleaned from the pen on detentions.

James stormed away from the Hall, pushing sleepy students aside, and only then Sirius ventured to raise his eyes. Moony stood next to the table and looked at Black disapprovingly. Sirius answered him with an angry stubborn gaze.