All the Young Dudes ( Sirius' Perspective )

The War : Numbers

Come up on the hills, playing little boy soldiers

Come out on the hills, playing little boy soldiers

Come on outside – I’ll sing you a lullaby

Or tell a tale of how goodness prevailed

We ruled the world, we killed and robbed

The fucking lot – but we don’t feel bad

It was done beneath the flag of democracy

You’ll believe and I do – yes I do, yes I do

Yes I do, yes I do, yes I do

 

They had to apparate three times, to make sure they weren’t followed or tracked. By the time they arrived back at the safehouse where they’d all agreed to meet, most of the group was already back—Sirius felt weak with relief when he saw James and Dorcas, sitting safe and unharmed on one of the sofas in the living room.

James stood the moment he saw Sirius, crossing the room in two strides and pulling him into a fierce hug. Sirius hugged him back, tightly, limbs still buzzing with adrenaline, heart still pounding.

James pulled back, slightly, scanning him. “You’re alright?”

Sirius nodded, and was about to open his mouth to respond when Alice pushed past them, scowling as she walked into the room. She stormed straight up to Gideon, who was standing beside his brother, speaking in hushed, furtive voices.

“What the hell was that?!” She spat, looking for a moment as though she might hit him. Gideon bristled immediately, frowning down at her, mouth pressed into a thin line.

“What?”

“Don’t what me, Prewett. That was the bloody killing curse.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. James cast a confused glance at Sirius, question in his eyes—but Sirius shook his head slightly, watching Alice and Gideon. Later.

Gid folded his arms. “If you have something to say, just say it, Alice.”

“If I have something to—fuck’s sake, alright! How about this, Gideon: what the hell were you thinking? That’s dark fucking magic, that is. You don’t come back from that kind o’ shite, once you start usin’ it.”

“And what would you have had me do, Alice? In case you didn’t notice, we were bloody outnumbered—it’s not like any of them would’ve thought twice about taking us out!”

“That’s my point, Prewett – what you did back there? It’s just as bad as them.”

Gideon flushed, hands curling into fists, voice rising. “This is war, Alice! It’s a bloody numbers game—they’re going to keep on killing us, and if we don’t start taking some of them out, then what the fuck d’you expect to happen? Should we just keep stunning them? Try to kill them with bloody kindness??”

“Oh, right, because using dark magic to stop people from using dark magic is a really brilliant plan—”

“That’s enough!” Moody barked, barrelling into the room with Caradoc Dearborn close behind. Everyone spun around to look at them, and Moody surveyed the space, magic eye whirling.