All the Young Dudes ( Sirius' Perspective )

Seventh Year : Betrayal

“REMUS!”

He was shouting, banging fists hard enough to bruise.

“COME BACK, YOU BASTARD!”

“Sirius, mate—” James grabbed his arm, trying to stop him, “Calm down, it’ll be alright—”

“Fuck off, Potter!” Sirius rounded on him, breathing heavily. Before he could think, he was shoving James, sending him stumbling backwards. “This is all your bloody fault!”

“What?!” James stared at him, incredulous.

“You told him to go off on his own!”

“I told him that we trusted him, I didn’t know he’d go barrelling off—”

“Alright, alright, both of you stop it!” Lily stepped between them, holding her hands out as if to fend them off. Sirius glared at James, hands still balled into fists, and James glared right back, glasses askew. After a moment, he pushed them back up his nose. Lily continued,

“Look, Sirius, I know you’re upset—”

“I’m not upset, I’m bloody furious!”

She gave him a sharp look, and he fell silent. Lily took a breath, then went on,

“But trying to fight each other isn’t going to solve anything. None of us knew that he was just going to storm off like that, and I certainly didn’t know that he could cast wandless magic—did either of you?”

Sirius shook his head, sullenly, and James echoed the movement.

“This isn’t any of the spells we practiced…” James murmured, placing a hand against the invisible barrier, “It’s…I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Could it be a shield charm?” Lily asked, squinting at what appeared to be empty air. James shook his head.

“If it is, it isn’t any shield charm I’ve ever heard of. Blimey, I can feel it…”

Sirius took a breath, struggling to get a grip. He felt as though every cell in his body was screaming run, fast, go—don’t let him leave. Which was useless, of course, seeing as Remus had already left.

He needed to punch something.

“It can’t go on forever,” Lily said, decisively, “C’mon. I’m sure if we just hike down a little way, we’ll be able to go around it—every shield charm has a set radius, yeah?”

“Yeah,” James perked up, nodding, “You’re right, Evans.” He glanced at Sirius. “Come on, mate. Let’s go find Moony.”

Sirius nodded, stiffly. He followed as they began to move off the footpath, walking carefully along the outskirts of the forest with their fingers trailing along the invisible wall. Pretty soon, he’d overtaken James and Lily, practically running as he hurried along the line of the trees.

It didn’t end.

Sirius tripped; fell; stood up again. He kept his hand on the barrier, searching desperately for a crack, a chink—anything. But there was only the strange, buzzing static, repelling him no matter how far he went.