I'll Be Your Soldier

Home for the Holidays

James's POV
"So this is Xmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun!!" I heard Padfoot screeching at the top of his lungs as I fall out of bed in fright.
"And so this is Xmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young!! Everyone!!" Padfoot continued to "sing" as I roughly opened my curtains.
"A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear!!" Padfoot, Frank, and Wormtail screamed at the top of their lungs. I shared a look with Moony, who was bent over Hogwarts: A History, trying to ignore them.
"And so this is Xmas." Frank and Wormtail sing.
"War is over!!" Padfoot screeches as he jumps up on his bed. It continues like that for a while.
"For weak and for strong."
"If you want it!!"
"For rich and the poor ones."
"War is over!!"
"The world is so wrong."
"If you want it!! TAKE IT AWAY PRONGS!!" I chuckle as I stare at the four of them staring at me, waiting. I shake my head, put on my glasses, and run over to Moony's bed. I jump on the bed and open my arms out wide.
"AND SO HAPPY XMAS!!" I scream.
"WAR IS OVER!!" The other three "sang".
"Moony!!" Padfoot exclaimed and pointed at him. He looked up at all four of us with a look of disbelief.
"I'm reading." He stated.
"We're going on break today!! You can read on the train!! We do this every year, come on!!"
"Yes, and every year I am reading-"
"And every year you eventually crack. Let's just cut to the cracking part, Moony. It's almost Christmas!!" I exclaimed. Moony stared at the four of us again, lingering on either Frank or Wormtail, but neither let up. Moony sighed.
"For black and for white." He half sang.
"IF YOU WANT IT!!" The other four of us yelled.
"This time with feeling, Moony!!" Padfoot ordered.
"For yellow and red ones." Moony sang.
"WAR IS OVER!!"
"Let's stop all the fight."
"NOW!!"
"EVERYBODY!!" Padfoot exclaimed.
"A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear!!" All five of us sang. We always skip to the last chorus because when we first started the tradition no one knew all the words to the rest of the song.
"A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now!!" Everyone sang. The five of us collapsed on whatever bed we were near and laughed uncontrollably. When we could finally catch our breath, we all sat up and went back to our own beds. We each took a shower and I, eventually, got dressed. I then went into the bathroom where Padfoot was already "styling" his hair.
"You know, Prongs, for someone whose dad created Sleakeasy, your hair is pretty disastrous." Padfoot commented as I tried to pat down my hair.
"Why do you think my dad was in the hair styling business to begin with? It doesn't work on me, though he kept trying. Eh, it adds to my charm." I replied.
"Yeah, not everyone was blessed with such beautiful hair as my own." I snorted and he glared at me.
"And what was that for?" He asked.
"Well, I'm sure it's nothing. I mean, I'm sure your personality is fine." I said as I erupted into laughter.
"What? Prongs!!"
"Okay, okay, fine. Well, it's just, I've known Marlene since the moment I was born and whenever we discussed the dating thing and what we found attractive, she always said she hated long hair on guys."
"What? No she didn't. You're lying."
"You can choose not to believe me, I really don't care. Doesn't make it any less true."
"Damn it, Prongs." Padfoot stalked away as I erupted into laughter. As if Marlene and I would ever talk about what we find attractive in people. Why do that when there's a fort to be built or a puddle to jump into? He's gonna kill me. It's gonna be hilarious. What if he cuts his hair? I would die from laughter. I finished chuckling and brushed my teeth. Then, I followed the rest of the guys down for breakfast.
Mary's POV
I made sure to avoid all mistletoe while running around Hogwarts in order to get ready for break. Since I'm a Muggleborn I don't really have many resources for homework so I try to get the information I need before I leave. Avoiding the mistletoe was simply because I'm with Remus and neither of us like PDA and to be honest I'm not really sure where he is right now. Break is going to be pretty hectic. We get out a week before Christmas and I will be staying at McKinnon Manor with the rest of the girls until the Eve of Christmas Eve, then I'll go home until the big New Years' Eve party at the Prewetts, and finally I'll spend a few more days at home and then back to Hogwarts I go. I'm pretty sure it's the same story for all the girls. As for the guys, all of them will be at Potter Manor and we will exchange gifts the night before Christmas Eve. I know Frank, Remus, and Peter are definitely going home that night and will be back for the party, but I'm not sure about Sirius. I'm sure he plans on going home, but his house is so toxic for him who knows how long that will last. Poor guy. The Hogwarts corridors are cold and dank this time of year, and it makes me wish I had brought my robes with me to keep me warm. As I passed the main hallway in order to get to Gryffindor Tower, I found Benjy and Lily standing under mistletoe. I watched the two of them slowly inch closer to each other until their lips finally met and it got passionate, in a gross way for me as a friend. I turned my eyes away from the couple and they fell on James, who looked like he was about to tackle them. I swiftly moved over to where he was standing and pulled him into another hallway.
"What are you doing, exactly?" James asked.
"Stopping you from being an arse." I stated.
"All I was going to do was make them stop making out in the hallway, I was doing everyone a favor."
"No you weren't, James. Lily is with Benjy, you have to respect that."
"No I don't."
"Yes you do, as Lily's friend."
"Me and Evans aren't friends."
"But you like her. Not in the obnoxious way you and Sirius act like, but in the real way. I know it hurts that you can't have the girl you want, but you can't ruin her relationship."
"You're making no sense, Mary."
"I'm making perfect sense, you know that. It's Christmas, just let it go and be happy."
"Fine." We began to walk back to the Gryffindor Common Room when Lily caught up with us, her hair and makeup in slight disarray.
"Hey Mary, Potter, the train leaves in less than an hour so make sure you're ready to leave." Lily warned.
"No need to worry about us, Evans. You should just make sure you gave yourself enough time after sucking Benjy's face to get yourself together." James spat. Oh James, I tried so hard too. The two began to argue as we made our way into the common room and went to our usual spot by the fire where Remus, Marlene, and Sirius were sitting. I sat next to Remus in one of the big chairs while the other two continued to fight as Lily sat down next to Marlene on the couch and James sat next to Sirius on the ground.
"What is it this time?" Remus asked.
"Benjy Fenwick. What else?" I replied and Remus and I shook our heads as Sirius and Marlene tried desperately to catch on to what the two were fighting about, which has morphed into a completely different argument since the hallway.
Sirius's POV
I finished packing early, for once, so I had a lot of free time on my hands, not caring for Evans and Prongs' fighting. I decided to get food from the kitchen, but before I could reach it I was caught by Regulus and Narcissa. They must have waited for me and then followed until I was far enough away from any quick exits. Sly.
"What do you two want?" I asked.
"We want you to agree to what Mum has ordered you to do." Regulus said.
"Of course you do. Look, I wouldn't marry Female Carrow if my life depended on it. I have a girlfriend."
"Marlene McKinnon is a Blood Traitor, she isn't worthy of someone with the name Black. I know Alecto very well and she's-" Narcissa began.
"A slut? Whore? Probably a lesbian?" Narcissa reached out and slapped me.
"How dare you speak of Alecto like that, as if you know her. Maybe if you'd been sorted into Slytherin or paid any attention at the parties when we were younger you'd know her better."
"I know her just fine. She's horrid and the idea of spending the rest of my life with her makes me sick, even though we would have some sexy kids."
"Sirius, would you stop this? How long are you going to toy with Mum? I get it, you don't like her all that much, but it's upsetting for her to think of you hanging out with James Potter and the others. Can't you just stop this little rebellion of yours and take your rightful place in the Death Eaters with the rest of your family?" Regulus exclaimed.
"I'd die first. What do you mean the rest of the family? Narcissa, you haven't gone and gotten yourself marked, have you?"
"No, I have not. Reg, on the other hand..." Narcissa trailed off as my eyes widened and I looked at my brother. I walked over to him and rammed his sleeve up. It was there, on his left forearm, blood red and sickening to look at. Voldemort's Dark Mark, the ultimate sign of your allegiance to him.
"Regulus Arcturus Black, how dare you get marked? Are you bloody insane? Who forced you? Snape? Mother? Father? Bellatrix? Who?" Regulus withdrew his arm from my grasp with a yank.
"I did it by myself, of my own choosing. Mum was getting angry that I hadn't given her an answer about you yet. I was trying to give you some more time to do the right thing." Regulus explained.
"This is... this is unforgivable. I-I can't believe you would join the Death Eaters."
"It's our birthright, Sirius. The Dark Lord wants us to take our rightful place above all the Mudbloods and Muggles and Blood Traitors."
"Don't you dare use those words in front of me. I'm friends with Muggleborns and Purebloods who know what's right. They're my family, a concept neither of you appear to understand."
"Sirius, you listen to me and you listen good. You will not be welcome in our lives forever if you continue acting like this. You know what happened to Andy... to Andromeda, and you could very well be next." Narcissa reminded.
"Sometimes I think Andy is the only one with enough balls to do what she wants, no matter what the consequences."
"Don't use such language around a lady, Sirius. We aren't animals like your Gryffindor friends."
"That's all you have to say? Narcissa, don't you even care that your sister is gone? That she's not coming back? You don't even know if she's okay and you seem fine with that. How can you go from loving Andy to hating her in a matter of minutes just because dear Bella said so?"
"Who said I don't love my sister? The sister, the Andy, I know and love is still with me everyday. The one who held me when I was sad and the one who finally got me and Bella to play in the woods and use our imaginations and have fun. The Andromeda that caused my mother to disown her is not my sister though. She's this horribly twisted version of her."
"No, she is the same person, don't you get it? She's always been that person, you just chose to ignore it and now look at you two. You're following in Father and Aunt Druella's footsteps, congratulations, I hope you're pleased with yourselves. You can tell Mother that I will not be joining you for Christmas or New Years. I am so unbelievably disappointed in the two of you it makes me sick." I turned on my heel and walked back to Gryffindor Tower, no longer hungry. The common room was loud when I entered it. I walked past Mary, Marlene, Evans, Prongs, and Moony without so much as a glance, causing Moony and Prongs to quickly follow me. I entered the dorm and saw Wormtail sitting on his suitcase in order to zip it. I collapsed on my bed as he finished.
"Padfoot, are you dead? Should I get Madam Pomfrey?" Wormtail asked as Moony and Prongs walked in.
"He's not dead, Wormy. What happened, Pads?" Prongs asked. I flipped over in order to face them and stared over their heads as I answered.
"Regulus is officially a Death Eater." I stated hollowly and continued to stare, not letting any emotion take over me. Prongs sighed as Moony walked closer to me.
"We're sorry, Pads. You're allowed to show emotion, you know?" Moony said.
"I know, I just don't know what to feel. It's not like it's even that shocking, yet it is all at the same time. I'm staying at your house all break, Prongs."
"Okay." Prongs said.
"What do you want us to do?" Wormtail asked.
"Nothing. I don't need anything." I stated. The others nodded and we stayed in that position until Frank came.
"Come on guys, time to go... what happened? Did somebody die? You know, I haven't seen Em all day." Frank asked.
"No one died. Regulus joined the Death Eaters." I answered. Frank's smile drooped.
"I'm so sorry, Sirius. What can I do?"
"Nothing really, it's done. Let's just go, we don't want to miss the train." I got up and dragged my bag behind me as I went down the stairs, the others following me. Evans and Marlene were the only ones waiting for us, Alice, Mary, and Em making sure we got the compartment we wanted. When I reached Marlene I put my arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
"What was that for?" She asked.
"No reason." I mumbled.
"That's a lie, Black. You forget that I've known you since we were 11. Spill."
"Fine. Regulus joined the Death Eaters." Marlene's smile dropped as she wrapped an arm around me.
"I'm sorry, Sirius. I know how much you love your brother, even if you won't admit it." I simply nodded and she figured out I didn't want to talk. We walked with the others to the train, Evans yelling at Prongs along the way.
Lily's POV
Potter won't reply to me. I keep yelling at him yet he keeps a stoic face and, every once in a while, looks at Black.
"What's wrong with you, Potter? Cat got your tongue?" I taunted.
"Not the time, Evans." He replied, not even looking at me. This is strange, he's normally always looking at me.
"What's wrong?" Potter looked at me, mildly shocked at the sincerity of my question. He sighed and messed up his hair, like he always does whenever he feels the need for his hands to be doing something, which is always.
"You remember Regulus?"
"Yes, Black's brother."
"Well, he joined the Death Eaters and Padfoot just found out."
"Wasn't he apart of the Death Eaters before?"
"No. There's a difference between supporting and following Voldemort's views and being a Death Eater. Death Eaters are the biggest extremists of them all, marked with the-"
"I know. The Dark Mark. Red ink, snake and skull, Morsmordre, I got it."
"Pads still held out hope that Regulus wouldn't join. He could deal with his brother being offensive from time to time, but becoming a fully pledged member of Voldemort's group is something completely different. He's upset, therefore I'm upset."
"Well, I'm sorry. I can relate to the whole estranged sibling thing, sadly, so I get how he feels, kinda."
"You and your sister?"
"Yes, how did you know that?"
"Marls is my best friend too, she talks about you from time to time."
"When you ask her to?"
"Sometimes."
"Well, yes, me and Petunia aren't speaking. She's worried about being a good housewife, I'm worried about being killed in a mass Wizarding genocide, so you could understand the distance between us."
"Yeah, my only siblings are Padfoot and Marls so I haven't had to deal with that. It sorta makes it hard to help, I can't really imagine what he's going through."
"Just imagine what would happen if Marls turned around and became a Death Eater."
"She would never do that, none of us would."
"It's hypothetical. Whatever, I'm sure it'll all be fine."
"Look at us, Evans. A whole conversation without me asking you out and you screaming at me."
"Well, technically I was yelling at you in the beginning."
"Yes, but that was before I replied."
"It still counts."
"Why do you have to do that, Evans? It was a nice moment."
"I'm just saying that your statement was wrong."
"Merlin's Pants, you can be bloody annoying."
"I am not annoying."
Frank's POV
The ride to King's Cross Station was dreary. Normally we would be the loudest compartment on the train, but the news about Regulus has sort of put everyone in a bad mood. Sirius has been asleep since we got on the train, his head in Marlene's lap. Marlene is absentmindedly playing with his hair as she talks to Lily who's across from her. Alice is next to Lily, then me, and then Remus. James, Em, and Peter are all on the ground and Mary is sitting under Sirius's legs. Alice has been asleep as well for a long time, same with Peter with his head on Em's shoulder. After jolting him up several times, Em just let him stay there as she chatted with James. Halfway through the train ride Lily and Em went in search of the Ravenclaws and Mary, Remus, and Peter went to talk to the Hufflepuffs, leaving me, Alice, James, Sirius, and Marlene in the compartment. Alice woke up soon afterwards and played a game of Exploding Snap with James. I continued to watch the people walk down the aisle. Emma Vanity, Ian Avery, Alecto Carrow, and Regulus walked past several times. I think the first three wanted to torment Sirius with his brother and kept waiting for him to wake up, but he slept right through. Once we neared the station and everyone was in their Muggle clothes, Sirius finally waking up, I decided to take a walk around the train with Lily and Remus so I could stretch my legs as they did their rounds. They purposely saved the Slytherins for last, the Prefects for them being Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black and not trusted to have even left the comforts of their compartment. When Lily poked her head in they all either booed or groaned except Snape, Talitha Denkers, and Regulus. Lily ignored them.
"I need all of your names so I can make sure everyone is accounted for." Lily stated.
"Of course you do." Lucinda Talkalot sneered.
"It's really not anything new, Lucinda. Is Ian Avery here?"
"Yes he is and you can check off the rest of the Fifth Year Slytherins, the Carrows, Rabastan Lestrange, and Lucinda Talkalot." Talitha said as Lily checked them off.
"Why are you still here?" Malfoy asked.
"I'm going, don't get your panties in a twist." Lily commented.
"By the way, make sure to tell Sirius that his darling brother approves of his betrothed." Alecto remarked.
"Oh yeah, and who's that exactly?"
"Why, me, of course. Who else could it be?" Lily's face became contorted with anger as Remus gripped his quill so tight I thought it would snap.
"What makes you think you'll ever be betrothed to Sirius Black?"
"The fact that Daddy and Mrs. Black have been discussing it over the past few months and have asked me my opinion. I'm rushing home to tell Daddy how I have agreed to the marriage."
"Why do you even want to marry Sirius? You hate each other."
"Exactly. What better way to destroy him than to make his life miserable by keeping him from his girlfriend and having him do everything he swears he'll never do?"
"You need to leave Marlene and Black alone."
"Or what, Prefect?" Lily clenched her jaw as she tried to think of an answer.
"Lily, let's go." Remus said and dragged her out of the compartment. I quickly followed as we walked back to our own compartment.
"I can't believe the nerve of that girl. She isn't just talking about messing with someone's relationship, she's talking about fully committing to keeping Black away from Marlene and making them both miserable just for a laugh." Lily spat.
"I didn't think you cared that much." I stated.
"I may not approve of Black, or see the attraction, but I love my best friend and she's been having a rough time with the war and seeing her happy... it's a relief. I'm not just gonna let Alecto Carrow ruin that."
"Neither will Sirius or Marlene."
Alecto's POV
Once the Prefects leave Ian hands out some cigarettes and I light one. I blow out a bunch of smoke as Snape fidgets.
"Yes, Severus?" I asked.
"What?" He asked.
"You're fidgeting. What's on your mind?"
"Black. If you get betrothed to him, does that mean we all have to spend time with him as well?" I rolled my eyes as Amycus looks at me, apparently looking for an answer to the same question.
"Of course not. I'm just gonna be betrothed, not in a convent. I'll still sleep around and hate Black, but this way I anger him without doing a thing. It's the perfect plan."
"I don't know, Alecto. I think Sev is right. You need to think about what will happen once we graduate and you actually have to move in with him and marry him and start a family with him. I don't want Sirius Black to be the father of my nieces and nephews." Amycus commented.
"Amycus, Severus, just let me have my fun. I graduate a year before Traitor Black, by the time he graduates I'll just tell Daddy I fell in love with someone else."
"Why would you tell Evans you plan to marry Sirius then?" Talitha asked.
"She and her friends don't need to know I don't plan on keeping my threats."
"Who exactly do you plan to fall in love with who will please Father more than a Black, Alecto?" Amycus asked.
"I dunno, Rabastan maybe, he'll still be alone and his mother adores me."
"Uh, hello? I'm right here and I have no intention of marrying you." Rabastan said.
"You say that now, but I'll seduce you, don't you worry."
"Great."
James's POV
The gang and I walked into my house after my mom picked us up from the station, Marlene's parents out late at work. We immediately sat in the den where my mom had laid out a bunch of snacks for us to eat.
"Welcome home." I said.