Watching Over Our Nation

Chapter 2: Bad times are coming

Sirius' POV:

The meeting has just ended, our meeting with the Order. As always, I leave alongside Prongs, Lily, Moony, Marlene, Dorcas and Wormtail of course.

"So what about tonight?" Prongs suggests, bursting with excitement as always. I bet he's forgotten to take his medicine today, like he always does. Lily scoffs, I think she also knows he forgot. I mean it's pretty obvious. He's practically bouncing as we walk.

"I can't come," Remus responds sadly and I turn to him. Why not? We're free, I know we're free, because I saw the calender this morning. The calender he always sticks to like it's his best friend.

Or knowing Moony, maybe it actually is his best friend.

"What?" Lily says disappointed. "Another mission? What is it he wants with you and those missions?! You can't leave me alone!" She motions to us all and we all laugh. I think we've been rubbing off on her, she never used to be this dramatic.

"Next time Moony!" James pats Remus' shoulder. If any other guy does this, I get all these weird feelings, but when it's James, that somehow doesn't happen at all.

"I think we'll skip tonight, should we 'Cas?" Marlene nudges Dorcas with a not-so-subtle wink. She thinks she's subtle, but we all know what it is: they're going to make out tonight, maybe more...

Dorcas happily agrees and cancels. James turns to Peter, who's been a bit quiet all through the conversation. He seems very stressed out lately, because of the war. It wears us all out. That's why we still meet up almost every night to lighten our moods.

"I'm coming Prongs!" I put my arms around both Lily and James and walk between them. "I'm loyal, right?!" The group laughs again and Peter finally also agrees to come. Good.

As we've already arranged everything here, we all go home: Lily and James and Pete, Dorcas and Marlene, and Remus and I. James and Lily asked Pete to live with them so he wouldn't be all alone, while all of us were settled with a partner.

If you ask me, it wouldn't have mattered: we see each other every day, almost all day and Peter doesn't want a girlfriend or boyfriend, as far as I know.

When we were home, Moony turned on the radio immediately. "Moony..." I said in that typical tone. The one that almost always works. "Let's not think of the war for a bit... you're going away tonight again!"

Remus stills a little, just for a moment. "You wanna make out, don't you?" I smile at him, waiting for him to answer that question, the one he just put into words. "Padfoot, I gotta pack. I'm leaving tonight..."

"Please Moony, just for a bit," I plead again and he turns to me, giving in already. "I guess a little bit couldn't hurt."

Then the notes of deaths start and we both still, holding our breaths. There's so many deaths every day, they just call out the names one by one these days. No backgro- und, no kind words, just an empty name. One of the many reasons I hope not to die in the war: my name says nothing about me and no one who didn't know me will know I'm not a Death Eater.

I think Remus knows this about me, as he takes my hand, while we're still listening to the names, luckily none of which I really know yet.

"And last, we don't know for sure, as there is no body yet found, but after weeks of searching and asking around, Regulus Arcturus Black has been presumed dead."

I feel all my senses go numb, all at once. Remus says something, but I don't catch what he says. No, not Reggie. Reggie can't be dead, surely? How? He was the youngest one out of all of us! He's always done everything Mother, Father and now what probably Voldemort tells him to do. How did this happen?