The alarm sounds through the ship and Sirius wakes with a start, instantly alert. He's out of bed in a second, pressing the button on his watch, and running out of the room. When he emerges into the war room, he's dressed in full battle armor.

Everyone is already at their battle stations. Sirius joins Remus at the map, where the live video feed shows the aliens' steady approach, the sun at their backs.

"No doubt about this one," Remus says without looking at Sirius. "They're going to come on board."

"Yeah, no shit." Sirius laughs cynically. He pecks Remus on the cheek, murmurs, "Good luck," and departs for the weapons station. Alice, who is in charge, is frantically shouting orders.

"Hey, need any help?"

"There you are, captain," Alice snaps. "We're about to be attacked, or were you too busy snogging your boyfriend to notice?"

Sirius blinks. "Uh…"

Alice exhales. "Just go, prepare your weapons." She waves him off and starts shouting at Benjy.

SIrius groans and goes to do as she says as the aliens' spaceship looms ominously in the distance.


There is a reason why Sirius had been assigned to a combat position — he'd been trained in combat since he'd been a child, and he had had years to hone and sharpen his abilities. He is arguably one of the best fighters on the crew.

When the aliens dock and board the spaceship, they find it empty, except for a single man standing at the entrance. He is fully decked in armor but does not move, staring at the leader of this band of aliens.

"Tom Riddle," Sirius says calmly. "So you finally stopped hiding behind your soldiers like a coward."

"Sirius Black," Tom Riddle says in that grating, throaty voice of his. "I see you've learned no respect since our last meeting. Must I remind you —"

"Yeah, yeah, your 'villain' name," Sirius says, snorting. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to skip to the part where I kick your arse to the next planetary system."

Riddle looks briefly disconcerted but his face hardens. "Very well, and I presume you can take me on by yourself."

"Oh don't worry, I brought some friends." Sirius grips his sword tighter. "See, they were eager to not miss the party."

Riddle sneers and Sirius knows he's expecting a call to attack. But Sirius says nothing. Ten seconds pass. Then twenty. Still, he's silent, glaring at Riddle.

"Well?" Riddle snarls. Still, Sirius traps him in his waiting game. The longer he waits, the more unnerved Riddle becomes. It's almost hilarious to see the wheels turning in his head, wondering what Sirius is planning. He can sense Riddle's impatience growing with each passing second.

"Fine, I suppose you'll get your way," Riddle says, irritation clear in his voice, and Sirius smirks triumphantly. "Attack!"

The band of aliens charge towards him but Sirius remains motionless until the very last second — and then he kneels as one alien goes flying past his head, and sweeps his sword to knock the other off his feet.

Easy. Too easy. The aliens are formidable in numbers but not in cleverness. And they rely more on brute strength than agility. They're far bigger targets, and far slower.

And his "friends" have not shown up yet.

Not until…

"Riddle me timbers!" Sirius cries, almost choking on his own words with laughter. The call had been his idea. He sinks his blade into the alien's chest, but only because it has stopped, confused. The rest keep charging and between their bobbing heads he catches a glimpse of Riddle, looking utterly bewildered.

But he doesn't have much time to ponder because James materializes behind and swings his sword at Riddle's head. Riddle, with his superhuman hearing, jumps away just in time.

And then more warriors come off of the walls, their chameleon suits returning to the colors of the Order, and launch themselves at the enemy.

After that, it is sheer mayhem. Sirius' heart pumps in his chest, adrenaline lending him strength, and he fights. The aliens are driven back; some lay in smoking, sizzling heaps on the ground.

After five minutes, the fight is over, and what is left of the force Riddle had brought him is tied up and decapitated. Riddle is nowhere to be found — presumably, he'd escaped, because no one could find him. One of the crew discovers that an escape pod is missing from belowdecks. Somehow, Riddle had managed to make his way through the melee, ripped off the access panel, and hijacked an empty pod.

"It could be worse," says Remus, tending to Sirius' meager wounds. Sirius had tried to shoo him away to go and treat the others, but Remus had insisted that the medical team had it covered. "Riddle escaping is bad, but we're lucky he didn't take anyone with him. He could have captured one of our own and held them hostage."

"He's a fucking coward," Sirius hisses, clenching his fists and feeling a flicker of rage. "The next time I get my hands on him —"

He cuts himself off as James approaches. Nodding respectfully, his second-in-command says, "Just finished inspecting the ship. Aside from the escape pod, everything is still as it should be."

"Good," says Sirius. "Then he can live another day."

Remus rolls his eyes. James smiles. "Need me to do anything else?"

"Yeah, go get yourself treated," Sirius says, eying the cuts on his face. "Those cuts look like they could turn nasty."

"Yes, sir." James' salute is more cheeky than respectful; they'd been doing it since Sirius had been first nominated for the captain position. And no one ribs them for it, they all know how close the captain and first mate are.

As James walks away, Remus returns his attention to Sirius. "What are you planning to do next?"

Sirius lets out a long, measured sigh. "To be honest, I don't know," he admits. "Now Riddle is going to think twice before facing me himself, which means we have to chase him. We have to fight him on his soil. Not to mention, he's angry that we kicked his arse so he'll amass his forces."

"You know," says Remus, standing up, "some days, you surprise me with your strategic thinking abilities."

"Thanks for your faith."

"But you're right," he continues. "So we don't chase him. Play chicken with him. We'll build up our ranks, stay where we are, maybe retreat a little bit. You saw how easily you were able to unnerve him and force his hand. Something about you rattles him — your unpredictability, most likely — and we need to capitalize on that. He won't be able to resist."

"...Sometimes, I wonder who is the real captain of this ship," Sirius jokes after a beat of open-mouthed silence. "But I agree. Let's lay a trap."


Riddle, it seems, is in no mood to wait. He takes their bait and sends Bellatrix, his cousin, with a small army of alien warriors, after them in a smaller vessel. Sirius has had many run-ins with Bellatrix before — he'd dueled her many times during their youth, and their score is even — so it's too easy to win the battle. No casualties and they send Bellatrix back to her commander with her tail between her legs and in worse shape than she had come in.

The day after, Riddle sends them a message.

"He can't just leave us alone," Sirius mutters. "Arsehole. What does he want?"

"Do you want verbatim or a summary?"

"Summary. Do you not know me?"

"Well." James scans through the digital message again. "Basically, he's declared war again and he's sending more aliens after us. He wants to end this once and for all. Duel to the death."

"Fine." Sirius doesn't hesitate. "I'll duel him. But —"

"Sirius, wait." Remus lays a hand on his arm. "Do you think it might be better to refuse? It'll unnerve —"

"To hell with unnerving," he says more harshly than he intends and Remus looks stung. "I'm sorry, Rem," he says softly. "But Riddle is right about one thing. We need to end this once and for all. I'm tired of feeling hunted all the time. I can't put up with this anymore. I want to enjoy the rest of my life. I know I can beat him."

Remus doesn't argue. Sirius searches his face for any sign of discontent, and when he finds none, he turns to face the room. "Let's draft up some terms. I'm not letting this bastard do what he wants, not anymore. We're ending this on my terms."


That night, Sirius tosses and turns. Even Remus' comforting warmth isn't enough to help him sleep; it reminds him of what he has on the line. Even though he's confident of his victory, he's cautious not to be overconfident. He knows that losing is a genuine possibility.

But he can't afford to think that way. He needs to be prepared.


He waits at the entrance of the dock again, but this time, he doesn't hide his army. No, he does the opposite. He plays Riddle's strategy — a demonstration of power. He has a damn good army and he's proud of every single member.

He has two guards stationed at the door of the escape pods — just in case Riddle tries to escape that way again — and he has guards posted at every possible exit. Even then, he's still got a sizable army.

And then he sees Riddle's spaceship approaching and his stomach flips, but he subdues the feeling quickly.

No. He cannot be scared.


One and a half hours later, it is done.

Riddle is slumped against a wall, awaiting a decision on his fate. Sirius and his main crew gather around a table, Sirius leaning against the wall for support. Next to him, Remus slides a hand through his, offering strength.

"I think we should kill him." Alice is the first to voice her opinion and there are several nods. Sirius hesitates.

"Sure," he says, "but what about his band of followers? If we kill him, they'll come for our blood, and we'll have another problem on our hands."

"Riddle's followers are bound by an oath of loyalty," Remus says. "He is the only one who can break it or alter it. If we force him to renege on his promises of vengeance and order a peaceful transfer of power, then his followers will have no choice but to obey him. Death does not tamper with the oath, so we can kill him afterwards."

"...Good point," Alice says, lacing her fingers together. "We can do that. I just...I just really want him dead after all he did to us." A shadow crosses her face.

"I know. We all do." Sirius looks at each of his crew in turn, his gaze settling last on Remus. "But this is the final step towards peace and then we're all free."


He hopes he's made the right decision. He hopes that Riddle's surrender will usher in an era of peace.

"I can't believe it's over," Remus murmurs. "Just like that."

"I know." Sirius leans his head on Remus' shoulder — he's still exhausted. "I think we have more important things to worry about now. Like our future. We've got no manic arsehole hellbent on our tails now, so we can focus on things normal people are supposed to do."

"Yeah?"

Sirius' hand dips into his pocket and pulls out a ring. "Yeah." Remus gasps softly.

"Are you —"

"Remus Lupin, will you marry me?"

He feels no need to wonder about if this is the right decision or not, because he knows. He knows with all of his heart. And so does Remus.

"Yes!"


This. This is happiness.

This is happiness, cuddling with Remus as they plan their wedding. This is happiness, pledging their lives to each other as their loved ones watch. This is happiness, spending night after night in each other's arms, knowing nothing could ever tear them apart.

This is happiness.


2018 words

Assignment 2, Mythology Task 11 - Write a fic set in space (or in the sky).

Auction 4, Day 1 - Alien!AU