The Marauders Year Five Part 2 #Wattys2017

Leaving On a Jet Plane

Leaving On a Jet Plane

Sirius stood in the doorway of the dorm room, looking about at the four posters and their desks, the neatened bookshelf, the closed drawers, made beds... the trunks were gone, the mess from the floor picked up... Sirius ran his fingers over the list of rules on the back of the door and smiled. It was time to go home. The other three were yelling for him as they went down the stairs to the common room, but Sirius felt less like he was going home than he did like he was leaving it and he took a deep breath and tugged the door shut as he backed into the hall. He was three steps down the flight when he realized ---

Sirius ran back.

"SIRIUUUUUUUS c'mon!" James shouted from the foot of the stairs.

"I'M COMING!" Sirius yelled back, pushing open the dormitory door and running across the room. He flung himself over James's bed, frumpling up the duvet and leaning over the side, shoving his arm under the mattress by the head and pulled the Marauder's Map out. He slid back off the bed, slid his hand over the blanket to smooth it out a little (it was still a mess), and he turned and ran back to the stairs, thundering down to where James, Remus, and Peter were waiting. He waved the Map at them, "We almost forgot someone."

"Bloody hell, how could we?" James asked and he snatched the Map out of Sirius's hands, looking aghast. "Good call remembering, mate." James opened his bookbag and slid the Map in.

Sirius jumped up on James's back, wrapping his arms 'round James's shoulders and James hoisted him up on his back as Sirius snuggled his cheek into the wild hair and James laughed and the four of them set off out the portrait hole and down the moving staircase, past all the portraits that were waving goodbye to the students. Several of the suits of armor waved and clanked as Sirius went by.

They'd made it to the entrance hall before James heard his name called and he paused to see Maryrose coming 'round the bend from the corridors that led off to the Hufflepuff common room and he paused. Sirius slid off his back and patted his back, "We'll see you on the Express, Prongs," he said and he turned to Peter and Remus, tugging Peter into himself and they went out the door of the castle as James ducked back to meet her up.

Maryrose and James came to a stop just steps away from each other. James felt a lump in his throat. "Hullo Maryrose," he said.

"Wow, you do remember me," she said. But she said it sadly, not in a rude way at all. Maryrose's eyes searched James's. "I feel like I've barely seen you all month."

"I know. I'm sorry," James said and he ran a hand through his hair down to the back of his neck. He felt badly. He'd saved her and everything had changed, she'd suddenly become his girlfriend and he just wasn't used to it. Being with Maryrose was one of the weirdest elements of this timeline, and he was terrible because he seemed to keep forgetting that he and Maryrose were together, too busy struggling with why he and Lily Evans were not.

Maryrose said, "Look, James, I think I know what's going on."

"You do?" he asked.

Maryrose nodded. "We're both in the same place, really, aren't we?"

James looked around. "The entrance hall?"

"No, James," Maryrose sighed, "I mean emotionally."

He blinked at her.

"You want Lily Evans," Maryrose said. "You're spending all your energy at trying to get her attention." She paused as James flushed. "And honestly, James, I'm doing the same thing with Regulus Black."