fatal love

chapter 87

Sirius and James were taken to Platform 9 ¾ by Euphemia and Monty on the first of September. Orion had never bothered to come and say goodbye, he'd always left the childcare to Walburga, but now Sirius thought about it, he had never seen James only have Euphemia drop him off. Monty was always there.

They had left early, and were one of the first families to arrive at the station. Sirius had asked Euphemia quietly last night if she would mind taking them early so he didn't have to see Walburga, and she had nodded at once, smiling at him like a mother should.

"Have a good term, boys," Monty said, "work hard, and we'll see you both at Christmas."

"We always work hard, Dad," James grinned.

Monty snorted. "Not according to all those letters home I get."

"We'll miss you both so much!" Euphemia said suddenly, pulling Sirius and James into a tight hug. "Write us every week, okay, each of you! And let me know if you need anything, I'll send it over."

"We'll miss you too," James said, hugging her back, "we'll keep in touch, I promise."

Sirius didn't say anything, but he held on longer than James had, savouring it, and she gave him a special smile when he withdrew.

"See you in December," James promised, and he and Sirius grabbed their trunks and boarded the train, turning back to wave one last time.

They went to their usual compartment, which, unsurprisingly, was empty, as was the rest of the carriage. Sirius reckoned they had at least an hour until other people started showing up.

"Will you and Remus be okay?" James asked hesitantly.

Sirius sighed, but nodded. "Yeah," he said. "We're just friends now. All that stuff from last year is in the past."

"At least we're all friends again, right?" James smiled bracingly. "It's gonna be a good year, Pads, I can feel it. No more Blacks, no more drama, just pranks and parties and getting Evans to smile at me."

"That's all?" Sirius grinned. "You just want her to smile at you?"

"I'm trying not to set myself up for failure. That right there - that's an achievable goal! Then next year, maybe we'll have a whole conversation without her yelling at me, and before you know it, we're in love."

Sirius laughed. "I can see it now. Both of you two in your eighties, old and wrinkled, and she'll finally agree to a date, and you'll come and find us and say I told you so."

"It's all about patience."

Eventually, they were joined by the two missing Marauders, as the station slowly filled with its usual crowds. Sirius steadfastly did not look out the window - he did not want to even catch a glimpse of her. He did look at Moony though, for longer than he should have. He was still infuriatingly handsome.

As soon as the train set off, Remus had to leave for a prefect meeting, which was probably a blessing in disguise. Sirius had to get better at controlling his thoughts. The three of them made meaningless conversation for a while, but it wasn't long before Marlene came bursting into the carriage.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" she yelled. "WHAT THE FUCK?"

Sirius grinned. "What you on about Marls?"

" Been disowned, at James', see you in September ?" Marlene exclaimed. "I get one letter from you all summer, and that's what you say?"

"Well," Sirius defended, "that's basically all there was to say."

She glared at him. "How are you?" she hissed.