COMFORT ZONE | Sirius Black [REWRITING]

45. Mandrake Month

Wednesday, 8th January 1975

Sirius and Madiha had reached a silent agreement not to bring up the events of Narcissa Malfoy's wedding again. It was far too easy for him to go into a rage at the mere mention of the things Bellatrix had said and the words his parents had bestowed upon him during the remainder of the Christmas holidays. Some things were best left unrepeated.

The teachers had not allowed them a gradual transition into the new year; they'd ruthlessly dumped mounds of homework and essays on them the moment they returned from the Christmas holidays.

But James was not going to wait any longer.

Begrudgingly, Remus ended his long boycott of them, perhaps due to the heartfelt presents he had received from them over Christmas, or maybe because he actually missed them. Either way, James had taken this to mean that Moony was now docile and would no longer pose a threat to their Animagus operation.

This is why Madiha, Sirius and Peter had been rounded in the boys' dormitory while Remus and Lily were off studying in order to plan for the next stage of their scheme.

"I think we should tell Alice."

"Why not Evans?"

"Why do you think it should be her?" she asked.

Sirius shifted slightly beside her. "I don't know, I just thought you talk to her about this stuff more."

"Not really." Madiha shook her head. "I talk to all the girls about lots of things, not just Lily—"

"Stop distracting me, and tell me why we should tell Alice?" James interrupted. She had to applaud him; this was the first time he'd diverted a conversation away from Lily.

Madiha straightened up. "Well firstly, she goes to the greenhouses every week to help Sprout, so she's got access that we don't."

Peter caught on first.

"If she snags a few leaves for us, and doesn't get caught, we don't need to break in ourselves!" he exclaimed. "That's perfect, Mads!"

James was thoroughly unconvinced. "Alice is too moral. She won't steal."

"But this is why we've got to tell her what we're doing," Madiha reasoned, "She'll see the benefit and agree."

"What if she tells someone else?" asked Sirius.

"James just said she's too moral. Alice would never break someone's trust like that."

If it wasn't for her friend's saintly disposition, she was sure it would've taken months to get James and Sirius on board with her idea, but there wasn't a shadow of doubt in any of them: Alice Fortescue was a living moral compass, and she was their best shot at getting the mandrake leaves.