The Marauders: Year Five #Wattys2017

Propaganda

Propaganda

Ace Dante opened his door Saturday morning when there came a knock upon it and smiled at Sirius Black, who stood before him wearing his leather jacket, the collar popped, his Deep Purple t-shirt, and a pair of strategically ripped-and-safety-pinned jeans. "You're here for your spinner, I'll bet."

"You didn't think I'd forget, did you?" Sirius asked, smirking. "Been counting down the days."

Ace tuned and grabbed two helmets off a table beside the door and handed a plain white one with a chinstrap to Sirius as he lifted his own leather jacket from a hook beside the door. ""Well, let's not make you wait even a minute more.

Sirius eagerly slid the helmet onto his head, barely caring that it would flatten his perfectly set hair, and he jumped backward eagerly as Ace put his own helmet on and came out, swinging his leather jacket on 'round his shoulders, the keys for the motorbike jingling in his pocket.

Across the street, on the wall of the church graveyard, sat the other boy - the nervous one that hung around with this Sirius Black character. Ace nodded toward the other one, "Does your friend fancy a ride as well?"

"James? Nawh, James isn't overly fond of motorbikes."

"No?" Ace asked.

Sirius shook his head, "Bad experience on one. Lost control a bit and it ended up blowing up a house." He said it so offhand - as though that were a perfectly normal thing to have happen to a motorbik - that Ace couldn't help but laugh and assume that Sirius was exaggerating or else making the whole thing up.

"Then he doesn't need to have a spinner if he doesn't want to," Ace said, and he swung his leg over the bike. "Up you go," he said.

Sirius climbed aboard the bike behind Ace and gripped the seat with nervous excitement. He glanced back over his shoulder at James, who gave him a thumbs-up, and then turned back to Ace.

"So to start them... you grip here... that's the clutch, so you don't go stalling the bike the moment you start it... and then, once you've got that grip, you turn the key... Hear that? The motor? Now grip your break with this finger... and you shift here with your foot... See, into reverse or first to start. Reverse to back up of course, first to move forward... So reverse, that's the R... and then you just..." and he jumped, kicking the starter and the bike roared to life. The vibration moved through the seat, trembling up Sirius Black's legs and he felt just so bloody alive, he grinned with absolute excitement. "Ready?" Ace yelled over the engine.

"Ready!" Sirius shouted.

And Ace lifted his feet from the ground, kicking the stand as he went, and they backed down the carpark to the street. Sirius's knuckles were white from clutching the leather seat and he grinned at James as they pulled level with the stone wall, James sitting up straighter, watching eagerly... And then Ace shifted into second and Sirius waved... and they pulled forward smoothly and off they went.

James watched as the motorbike went off down the street and he smiled to himself at how excited Sirius must be feeling. He settled back onto the wall, his eyes travelling over the cemetery stones that stood sentinel in the dismal little graveyard.

Ace Dante pulled into a small wooded road and came to a stop on the bike. He turned it off, kicked down the stand and climbed off, turning to Sirius, who looked surprised. "Why are we stopping?" Sirius asked.

Ace dropped the key into Sirius's hand. "This road's about a half mile long of pure woods, nothing to run into, the worst you could do is end up tipped in the sand..."