Mr. Wilson
Remus rested his chin on his knees, which were drawn up to his chest, and he hugged his legs as he watched the three other boys sit and scheme on the common room floor.
"We have to target all of them, especially the children," Sirius said, "They're losing respect for their elders. And they're all evil!"
"Alright, but that means that I'm going to have to give up a Quidditch practise night." James grumbled.
"Nonsense," Peter put in. "You can just work around it."
"And I can work through it." Sirius added. "Remus, too."
"I would as well, but I've got detention that night." Peter said, frowning.
"So we can do it, then?" Sirius asked, looking at James.
James grinned and sat down at his planning-couch.
"I believe we can, lads." He said, and he opened up the map.
"Thank Merlin for that." Sirius said, sitting down next to James and sighing with relief. "I was so scared we wouldn't be able to do it. Already I was worried that my best was all in the past."
"Most of it was my best," James said, smiling, "And I've still got years to go with my genius planning skills."
Sirius scoffed and rolled his eyes, all in jest, and reached for their latest bag of stolen potions materials. He winked at Remus and beckoned for him to join them.
Remus sat at the end of the table, resting his chin in his hand. He watched them all as they planned.
"We shall have to strike soon," Dumbledore said solemnly. He addressed the small team of people he had assigned to this task. The Marauders plus three.
"It will take a lot of effort, this one." James said, looking at Melvin to see what his thoughts were.
"Sirius, are you certain you can get us in there?" Melvin asked, glancing at his wife Shanti as he so often did these days, ever worried.
"So long as Sal can get me that stuff." Sirius assured them.
"Salinster?" Dumbledore asked, looking to her.
"Got it here." She said, and passed Sirius the small bag of magical items.
Sirius smiled slightly as he put the bag on the table and started looking through it. He caught Remus' eye and winked.
Remus tapped his foot nervously as he waited for Sirius' signal. The signal came in a significantly different form than they had planned.
"Run!" Sirius yelled, and grabbed Remus by the arm as he came around the corner at high speed. Together they bolted down the hallways and turned left, left, right, left and then right into the disused classroom they had been occupying while planning this latest anti-Slytherin venture.
"Did you get it in?" Remus asked, half excited about the answer, half apprehensive.
"Yes!" Sirius yelled, and then calmed down as Remus grinned. "They'll all awake to the sweet sound of dragons, and the smell of dungbombs."
Remus whooped and they jumped around, cheering loudly in the sound-proofed room.
"Fantastic." Remus said, thoroughly pleased with the idea, now.
"Kiss me." Sirius said, grinning stupidly, and he didn't wait for a response.
"He should be here." Melvin whispered.
Remus nodded, but stayed silent. He tended to be very silent when he was worried, and he was, most definitely, worried.
"Remus, is he here yet?" James asked, apparating beside him.
"He's late," Melvin told him.
They heard a noise and they all raised their wands in the direction it came from. A second later they heard thumping footsteps and the whizzing and zapping of curses flying past.
"Run!" Sirius called to them.
The four of them turned and bolted, occasionally throwing a curse behind them. When they reached a safe distance they all apparated back to head quarters at Hogsmeade and stood panting in the hallway of the small house.
"It's done." Sirius said. "I planted it and they thought I was just spying on them."
"When will it go off?" Melvin asked.
"Tomorrow. About eight hours from now, and they'll all be unconscious before they know it." Sirius told him.
"Wonderful," Said Dumbledore, who had been watching them since they came in. He beckoned for them all to follow him back into the dining hall, and Remus waited for Sirius to catch his breath.
"I was worried," He said.
"I know." Sirius replied, and he gripped Remus' elbow as they went back into the planning room.
"Did you hear about Theodore?" Peter asked as he came back into the dorm.
"Theodore Wilson?" James asked, piping up.
"He was the very farthest from the exit from the dungeons." Peter told them, and laughed to himself.
"And?" Sirius asked, glancing at Remus as the three of them waited for Peter to get on with it.
"He passed out at the door, and landed on Snape." Peter said, and they all cheered. "Snape got stuck and he's up in the Infirmary because his ears won't stop ringing and he keeps throwing up everything he eats!"
"Haha! Fantastic." James said, holding up an imaginary drink. "Here's to another successful mission. Well done, Marauders."
"Indeed." Sirius agreed, holding up his own imaginary glass of something. "Snivellius. Smarmy git deserves everything he gets. And that bloody Wilson, dirty, slimy Wilson." They laughed and downed their invisible drinks and Remus approached Sirius for a kiss and a hug. And he'd damned if he wasn't going to get them.
"Unfortunate news." Dumbledore said as he addressed the Order, all of whom had gathered to review the outcome of their latest raid on Voldemort's followers. "I'm afraid Mr. Wilson was killed in an explosion caused by our actions yesterday."
"Killed?" Sirius asked. His eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth hung open as he waited for Dumbledore to explain himself.
"There was a fault in one of the items." Dumbledore told them, mostly Sirius. "Theodore Wilson was right at the centre of the blast, and it killed him instantly. There were also minor injuries sustained by some of the other Death Eaters, but Mr. Wilson's body was collected and taken away by the Ministry today. They have also claimed the rest of the captures to be the work of their Aurors, as some of you may have seen in the Prophet today."
"Sirius," Remus whispered, as the rest of the room began discussing other things. He reached out to hold Sirius' hand, but Sirius pulled away and stood up, quickly leaving the room.
"Go on," James whispered. "I'll hold the fort here."
Remus stood up and followed Sirius out of the room and into the kitchen, where he found Sirius facing out the window, both hands leaning on the bench.
"It wasn't your fault." He said quietly, soothingly.
"I don't care." Sirius said. "He was a Death Eater. What do I care if he's dead?"
"Of course you care." Remus reasoned. "You're human."
"And he wasn't?" Sirius asked angrily. He hung his head and tried to take deep breaths. "Nobody was supposed to die. They were just meant to be asleep so we could come get them and take them to a nice little prison. It was foolproof. Bloody hell, Moony, it all fell through."
"Don't be absurd." Remus said, and he went over to stand behind Sirius, wrapping his arms around the other man's waist. "You didn't know. Nobody did."
"And I didn't bother to check. Like the last one. That was my fault as well." He said, referring to a previous mission which had, like this one, gone fatally wrong. "I had no time to check things," Sirius said, sarcastically. "No time to check, too busy screwing up the battle. Screwing up the bloody war."
"Accident." Remus said sternly.
"And how many accidents before I get someone on our side killed?" Sirius asked. "How many accidents before I get you killed?"
"I can't be killed." Remus told him.
Sirius turned around and stared at Remus, puzzled.
"And why's that?" He asked.
"Can't you see?" Remus asked, smiling. Sirius looked confused for a second more, and Remus rolled his eyes. "Guardian angel," He said, smoothing his finger over Sirius' jaw.
"I love you." Sirius said. He was still upset, that much Remus could see. But it would be alright. Remus nodded and kissed Sirius gently, then hugged him.
"I could hold you forever." He whispered. And he decided to give it a go, and they stood there, in the cold kitchen with the grey morning light moving through the kitchen window. They stood there, so content in their silence.