Chapter Four: Reactions, Expected and Unexpected
The next morning Sirius and the Weasleys ate breakfast as usual, their long experience at looking innocent serving them well. Only Lillian gave him odd looks, proving once again that he couldn’t hide anything from her.
Finally he leaned over and whispered, “I’m sure you’ll find out not too long from now.”
His words were punctuated by a commotion from the entry to the Great Hall. Students were pointing and laughing, and a figure was moving through the crowd towards the Gryffindor table. The figure turned out to be a crazed looking McFarren, his eyes wild and his hair unkempt. He was still dressed in his pajamas, making him seem even more deranged.
He walked right up to Sirius.
“I know it was you, Potter, don’t try to deny it!” he shouted, and a crowd gathered for what they assumed would be a great fight.
“Deny what, McFarren?” Sirius said with a blank look on his face.
McFarren’s features contorted with rage, but he backed down slightly as he looked behind Sirius; the Weasleys were all sitting quietly at the table watching.
“I’ll make you pay for it, Potter, believe me,” McFarren finally said in a whisper, too quietly for anyone but Sirius to hear. “And I know just how to do it. You Potters are all the same; all I have to do is make your family suffer,” and McFarren’s eyes flickered towards Lillian, “and you’ll know whose fault it was.”
Sirius knew the other boy was trying to goad him into a fight; anyone who knew anything about Sirius would know that any kind of threat to his family would be inviting a fist to the mouth. Sirius fought down the urge to oblige those expectations and smiled. It was a hard smile, but a smile nonetheless.
“You don’t have what it takes to do anything to anyone in my family,” Sirius said calmly, but also loud enough for all around him to hear. “Any one of them could take you in any kind of a fair fight. Or would you try and sneak up behind them and kick them down the stairs? That would be just like you, coward.”
There was laughter throughout the crowd as McFarren’s fury grew. He began yelling and ranting, saying things about the Potter family that were making Sirius’ teeth grind. Sirius kept his temper in check, barely, and kept his smile in place. Then McFarren started talking about his mum, and Sirius’ smile vanished instantly.
“Nobody talks about my mother that way,” Sirius said in a quiet voice.
“What are you going to do about it?” McFarren asked smugly, certain that he was about to get the fight he wanted. As long as Sirius threw the first punch, most of the blame would go to him.
“Nothing,” said a voice behind McFarren, and he turned to find James Potter, his face livid, looking at him.
“I suppose the mighty Head-Boy is going to stop him then,” McFarren said, not quite willing to give up.
James, at least two inches shorter and thirty pounds lighter than McFarren, moved so quickly that even though everyone was watching it took them several moments to realize that he had punched McFarren in the nose, sending the other boy toppling to the floor with blood steaming out of both nostrils. Sirius was stunned.
“Nobody talks about our mother that way,” James said firmly before turning around and walking away.
He didn’t get far before Hermione was there, and very soon all three of them had detentions. Sirius didn’t think it was fair, since he hadn’t done anything.
When he said so, Hermione took him aside and hissed “Don’t think that I don’t know exactly who pulled that prank last night, Sirius. If I could prove it, you’d be in a whole lot more trouble.”
Sirius kept his mouth shut after that; there was no point in giving her enough reason to find the proof. The worst part, as far as Sirius and James were concerned, was that their detention would be served that day, with their father.
Harry had been coming to talk to Sirius about his fighting, and now, at Hermione’s request, he was going to talk to both of them. And he had taught at Hogwarts before, so he knew about giving a horrible detention, as all of his kids knew.
James and Sirius both sat in the empty Transfiguration class, waiting for their father to show up.
“That was a pretty wicked punch,” Sirius said finally, not looking up.
“Well, I have watched you for a few years now. It would be a shame if I never picked up anything,” James said with a grin that quickly faded. “I think I know how you feel, though, after experiencing that. I couldn’t help it; once he started saying those things, I couldn’t hold back. Is that what it’s like for you?”
Before Sirius could reply, Harry strode into the room, the door banging shut behind him. His face was calm, but stern, and both of his sons braced themselves for the telling off they knew was coming.
Instead, however, Harry calmly sat down next to them.
“What happened?” he asked simply, and waited.
James and Sirius exchanged surprised glances, and then James started explaining what had happened in the Great Hall, including exactly what McFarren had said about their family and their mother in particular, and finishing by pointing out that Sirius hadn’t done anything.
Harry’s lips tightened at hearing what had been said. “Why didn’t you hit him, Sirius?” he asked finally.
Sirius opened and closed his mouth a few times in surprise, before replying. “I promised Aunt Hermione that I wouldn’t get into any more fights.”
“Well, I won’t condone fighting, but I won’t be angry with my kids for doing exactly what I would have done,” he said finally. “But I know from talking to Hermione that you did something to provoke the boy, Sirius. What did you do?”
Harry was looking intently at him, and Sirius closed off his mind before answering. “Nothing big,” he said evasively. “I called him a coward in front of the entire school.”
That should ring true, since it was, and satisfy his father’s Legilimency. Harry knew when he was being lied to, but Sirius had learned how to tell the truth without telling the whole truth. Plus, he could use Occlumency if he needed to, though he hated lying to his family.
His dad seemed to accept what he was saying, though, and didn’t push the issue.
“Well, we have a few hours of detention to serve together,” Harry said finally. “How about some dueling practice?”
His sons grinned and pulled out their wands, while Harry cleared back some desks with a wave of his hand.
For the next several hours they fought back and forth, James and Sirius fighting their dad together, while he showed them several new spells, and helped them with non-verbal spells and wandless magic. James was showing a good bit of talent in both, though Sirius knew he could do better. He still didn’t want anyone to see how good he was.
Finally, Harry called for them to stop, and all three of them sat down breathing heavily.
“That was fun,” Harry said. “I should come up here and do this more often.”
“That would be brilliant,” James said, agreeing.
“Well, we’ll have to see what time I can get off from driving the bus. James, why don’t you go and get your sisters so I can say goodbye to them too.”
As James left, Sirius felt a momentary panic rise up, certain he was going to be in trouble now; Harry always kept punishments private, saying anything was between him and the child being punished.
“I had planned on doing this alone with you, Sirius, to help you work out some aggression,” Harry said. “Your mother and I were getting worried about your inability to keep the rules, but I don’t think we realized what’s been going on, completely. James told me about McFarren kicking you off the train in a letter, and I know that it was Nott that started the fight earlier this year. If you could keep yourself from fighting even after what McFarren said about your mother, I think you’re doing just fine. I don’t really approve of the pranks, either, but since I can’t prove anything…” Harry trailed off and smiled.
Sirius was gaping at his father in shock. The last thing he had expected from his father was understanding. Adults never understood what was going on. Harry read his son’s face accurately and smiled.
“Don’t be too surprised,” he said, laughing, “I ended up in detention lots of times when I didn’t deserve it, and lots of times when I did. I know what it’s like. And I’m glad to see you’re doing better with the fighting.”
Sirius couldn’t think of anything to say as his father hugged him. Then all of his siblings were back, and Harry was saying goodbye to them too.
Sirius couldn’t help feeling that his family couldn’t be cooler.
***
When Sirius entered the dormitory that night, all of the quadruplets were waiting for him with solemn faces.
“What happened?” Jack asked slowly, as though fearing the answer.
“Are our Marauding days over already?” Chris added, as though he were already sure of the answer.
“We had dueling practice,” Sirius answered smugly, “and I think we need to start planning how to top our last adventure with Nott as our target.”
All of the Weasleys mouths dropped open in shock.
“You have the coolest dad ever,” Brian said in awe.
“I know,” Sirius answered, then grew more serious. “I think we need to keep an eye on McFarren with the Map, though. He threatened my brother and sisters, and I don’t want him to get away with anything.”
“That should be fun in and of itself,” Lee said with a grin.
***
Sure enough, for the next few weeks McFarren could be spotted on the Map, waiting where one of Sirius’ siblings would pass, or waiting near the Gryffindor table. And whenever he was, he would have Sirius or one of the Weasleys tap him on the shoulder and ask him what he was up to, or have one of them walk by with a cold glare. He began to get jumpy about it, too, much to their delight. Lee summed it up for all of them; “Paranoia suits him.”
Finally it seemed like he gave up, and they congratulated themselves on a job well done. They were busy, between classes and constant Quidditch practices, and keeping an eye on McFarren as well was stretching their time, so it was good that he gave up. They had decided to wait for a big prank against Nott and his cronies until after the first Quidditch match, deciding that they wanted the Slytherins defeat to be completely fair.
The morning of the match, Sirius gathered his four cousins around him.
“The Slytherins are going to be up to something here,” he told them. “They’ll be aiming for Lillian, so keep an eye on her.”
“Quidditch has always been a great medium for revenge,” Jack said happily.
A/N: Okay, so this chapter didn't end very well, at least in my opinion, but a lot of what I wanted to do in this chapter needs to wait until the next chapter. I'm sorry, because that also makes this chapter short. Sometimes I don't know what's going to happen until I write it, and this was one of those times. The next chapter will be longer, and have a much more exciting cliffhanger.