Mischief Managed Y2 Part 2: The Truth of the Tournament

Chapter Seventy-Two: Lost Fights

Summary:

Sirius: "The Heroes of Hogwarts are going to save the day or die trying!"

Peter: "w-what..."

Sirius: "Oh calm down Pettigrew, it's a figure of speech."

Peter: "I-if y-you're sure..."

Song: (Possibly) Try Everything by Home Free (Cover of Shakira)

I messed up tonight, I lost another fight

I still messed up but I'll just start again

I keep falling down, I keep on hitting the ground

I always get up now to see what's next

/

Nobody learns without getting it wrong

I won't give up, no I won't give in

/

Try everything 

.................................................

"This is so boring," Sirius groaned, passing the time by trying to balance the muffins that Peter had brought on top of his head. He had gotten as high as six, Peter applauding his effort like the excellent mate he was when the door to the room slammed open. Startled, Sirius jerked back, the pastry goods tumbling to the ground. It never occurred to Sirius that the nasty thieves would somehow make it past the pranks; those were some of his best ones yet!

"R-run." It was impossible to identify who had spoken, the voice sounding as pained as would be expected after making it through all the traps. Bloody footprints trailed behind the student, who staggered into the room. The small stature could not belong to either Daniel or Christine, who were ridiculously tall. The poor sod reeked, seven different types of nasty goop smeared over various parts of their body. The thief's laboured breathing almost made Sirius feel bad for them. The prat should have thought twice about stealing! But there was no denying how small the student seemed, who sagged to their knees with a squelching sound. Sirius found himself stunned. There was something that he couldn't quite place his finger on that made all of this seem wrong.

Wanda and Fiona, both witches he recognised, stormed into the room. It satisfied Sirius to see the later covered head to toe in a concoction of flour mixed with a glowing potion nicked from Slugghorn's collection. There was no way the faintly yellow-glowing animagus could turn invisible now!

"Well, look who's here," Fiona pointed out in her eerie, emotionless tone, not looking surprised in the slightest to see them. Wanda entered, shoving past the swaying kid fighting collapse, not seeming even remotely concerned about the student. That was very odd if the lad was on their team...unless he wasn't. Sirius felt a pit form in his stomach as he squinted at, if he had to guess, the boy slumped onto his knees. What if they had used a human shield? What if that shield was Reg? Sirius didn't think so; the voice certainly hadn't sounded like his brother. However, the mere possibility left him pissed. The rest of the thieves had entered with their wands drawn, except Fiona, who didn't seem to think she would need it. Sirius cursed himself for not pulling his out as soon as someone had come through the door, even if that person appeared incapable of fighting them. He should have considered the possibility that more than one person would have escaped the traps! But he had gotten too cocky about the success of his pranks. Remus would be so disappointed in him...

At least Wanda, some older guy he had never seen before, and Fiona all looked worse for wear. They were all covered in the bright pink sparkly gunk that was impossible to remove. Thanks to Sirius' prissy cousin, he had found remnants everywhere for weeks when he'd fallen victim to the goop. He hadn't minded sparkling, but Narcissa's prank from combining several potions from her first child's potion set had felt gross on his skin. It also looked like Wanda had fallen down some of the impossibly slippery stairs, an idea Remus had remembered from Gideon and Fabian's magical book of pranks. At least that would explain the sizeable purpling bruise on her face. Sirius promptly shoved down any feeling of remorse, convinced whatever Wanda had told him when they had been 'dating'- for he now refused to see it as such- were nothing but fibs designed for him to trust her. And he stupidly had.