✔️ 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐕𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄 → 𝑠. 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘

08 | F A I L U R E

◈ ━━━━━━ ⸙ ━━━━━━ ◈

"You're kidding?", Margo exclaimed, running her fingers through her hair, a thin sheet pressed against her body. Her head was running wild, her heart hammering against her ribs.

"Margo, I didn't mean it like that ..."

"Didn't mean - oh, you have to be kidding!" Wrapped in the sheet, she jumped up, about to stomp out of the room, but yet stopped in the doorframe. "So that's it, yeah?", she snapped, staring at Sirius, who'd covered his face in his hands. "A failure?"

She could hear him groan, as he removed his hands, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yes, a failure", he replied. "What do you think this will turn out to be, Margo? Listen, I was selfish, I shouldn't have done that. There are a million reasons why!"

"Start counting then", Margo spat and narrowed her eyes.

"This just can't be what you want!", he shouted. "See, you're too young, you probably don't understand the consequences -"

"You act as I'm fifteen!"

"Margo, I'm a sentenced murderer, I'm locked in here, I'm drinking way to much, and hell, do you know how much I curse?" He sat up with his face being a furious mask. "You're a talented young woman with a bright future in front of you! You've dreams and plans and a life to live, while I - I have this!" He waved his arm in a sweeping motion through his bedroom; the room of a once sixteen year old boy, of a man that had been just thrown back into the remains of a terrible youth he wanted to forget about. "And if you don't understand why I'm not going to do this to you, you're infact as stubborn as a naive teenage girl! Despite I am too old for you."

"I'm old enough to decide myself what I'm capable to endure."

"But this isn't about endurance!", Sirius barked. "I don't want you to endure!"

"Merlin, don't try to tell me what to do, you're not my father!"

"I am old enough to be!"

"So that's it? From all the people, you are the one to have scruples about an age gap?" Margo gave a joyless laughter. "Unbelievable!"

"I just want you to live a proper life! You're the minister's daughter, the whole world is open wide just for you!"

"Have your forgotten about the war going on outside?", she hissed. "Being the minister's daughter is not really the safest to be nowadays. But fine", she lifted her hands as a sign of capitulation, "let's call it a failure." She watched Sirius falling back into the pillows, obviously facilitated. "I'm writing to Charlie. I'm going to Romania."

The door fell shut behind her, her last words still hanging in the air. Margo had told him about her dream to work with dragons. Still he couldn't imagine her to do that; still his brain was incapable to paint a picture of small, breakable Margo Fudge in front of a gigantic, firebreathing dragon. But at least she wouldn't have to hide in this godforsaken house with him.

Margo on the other hand was incapable of thinking anything at all. With burning rage pulsing through her vains, she threw the few of her belongings into her trunk. She would have to face her father in first step. There were still many things she had to get from home, before she'd make her way to Romania.

A while ago Charlie had visited Grimmauld Place for his report of recruiting Order members in Romania. That was when he asked Margo, if she still was interested in working with dragons. One of his colleagues was about to retire. Back then, Margo didn't know if that was what she wanted. Now after what she wanted had called it a failure, she exactly knew what she had to want now. And the only failure was, that she didn't instantly take the chance, but ran straight into this embarrassing moment that happened just minutes ago.

With a flick of her wand, her trunk lifted from the ground, and she made her way downstairs, halfway hoping Sirius would follow her and hold her back, but in her rage she wasn't even mad when he didn't.

Entering the kitchen, there was a green sting flame shooting out of the fireside, and a second later Remus stepped out, brushing ashes and dust from his robe.

"Margo!", he called, as he saw her. Then his eyes fell on the trunk. "Are you about to leave?"

"I am", Margo absentmindedly replied, placing her trunk on the grid. "I am at my father's for a few days, before I'm heading off to Romania."

"Ro-Romania?", Remus stuttered, looking like she'd slapped him straight across the face. "Margo, what is going on here? What's happened?"

"Oh, why don't you not ask the genteel king of this castle?", Margo snapped, and just in that moment the kitchen door flew open, and Sirius hurdled in.

"Margo, I -" He abruptly stopped, when his eyes landed on Remus.

"Will someone please tell me, what's going on here?", Remus repeated, looking from Sirius to Margo, and back.

"I won't be the one", Margo said in a defiant voice. "Inform me about the next meeting, would you, Remus?"

"C'mon, Margo, don't go just like that", Sirius groaned, but Margo had already grabbed a hand full of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace.

"I think you've said enough, so don't exaggerate", Margo coldly replied. Throwing the floopowder into the ashes underneath her feet, she loudly spoke her home address and vanished in an equal green stingflame as Remus had arrived in minutes ago.

Remus watched the scene, mouth agape. Slowly he turned to Sirius, his lips closed, his eyebrows both shut up.

"What have you done?"

Sirius ran his fingers through his messy hair, eyes still fixed on the empty fireplace, his mouth opening and closing like a fish on dry land.

"Sirius", Remus said in a dangerously low voice. "What have you done?"

Sirius finally tore his eyes off of the place Margo had vanished, looking at Remus kinda lost.

"A really great mistake ..."

◈ ━━━━━━ ⸙ ━━━━━━ ◈