The Marauders Year Five Part 2 #Wattys2017

Mr. Black

Mr. Black

James learned very quickly the ramifications of Sirius having yelled at Minerva McGonagall were quite severe.

"Mr. Black," McGonagall's voice rang sharp from across the room, "You will put your feet on the floor, where they belong, right this instant, or I will give you a detention." She turned from the chalkboard she was writing on and looked at Sirius with a stink eye.

Sirius, who had been leaning back in his chair and just about to put his feet up on the table like he usually did in Transfiguration, dropped forward so that the chair and his feet thumped against the floor. He stared up at McGonagall with a bit of an attitude and sucked on the end of the sugar quill he was using to pretend to take notes, his eyes never leaving McGonagall's in a bit of a stare down.

McGonagall won the stare down and sniffed proudly before turning back to her job of writing their notes on the chalkboard.

James kept his eyes very carefully on the parchment before him because he could just feel Sirius trying to get him to look over and James just didn't dare to because he couldn't muster any sympathy of any kind of Sirius when he was treating McGonagall like that. There was no need to glare at her. Honestly, she'd let Sirius get away with far too much all this time and if she was simply going to start holding him to following the rules that everyone else in the castle had to adhere to then... well, really he couldn't blame her for it. Sirius was perfectly capable of keeping his feet on the floor.

James looked to his left, where Lily Evans was sitting. She was bent forward over the desk, her eyes trained on her work, her hair a curtain of ginger. He scribbled her name - Lily - on a bit of parchment, flourishing the end of the Y in Lily to be a sketch of a lily flower, and wrote in a circle around it. Hi Evans - How are you, love? - J.P.

He glanced over at her when he'd finished his work of art and she was still looking at the parchment intently, her lips moving as she read over what she'd written, keeping up with McGonagall. He picked up his note and folded it carefully into a butterfly.

Sirius looked over, smirking, and watched as James used his wand to charm the note to flutter over to Lily and land gently on the edge of her textbook, fluttering its wings patiently.

She looked up and spotted it after several moments of James breathlessly waiting, and she blinked at it in surprise. It was a very good bit of magic - and it fluttered very life-like. She scooped it up from the book gently, glancing up at McGonagall, and then over and spotted James staring over from his table, Sirius leaning 'round him to see, too.

She nodded at McGonagall for them to look forward and pay attention and James answered by motioning for her to open the butterfly.

"Mr. Black," McGonagall's voice rang out. "Are you paying attention?"

James and Sirius both simultaneously looked up - both had been looking at Lily Evans. "Yes, I am," Sirius said.

"Funny, I thought I saw you looking over Potter's shoulder just now," McGonagall replied.

Sirius replied, his voice dripping with rebellious attitude, "You didn't specify what it was you were wondering I was paying attention to, only if I was paying attention. And I was indeed paying attention." Then, "I'm paying attention to this blossoming love affair occurring in the seats beside me." He waved his hand at James and Lily.

Lily's face turned scarlet. "This is not, a blossoming romance - I have a boyfriend, thank you," she hissed.

"Do you find him as attractive as James?" Sirius asked, grinning.