The Marauders: Year Five #Wattys2017

The Best at Breaking

The Best at Breaking

Thursday evening, Remus was sitting in the little cot in the observatory room with the Charkorais chicks. They had taken to him quite a lot and enjoyed napping, nestled into the folds of the jumper, right on his chest. So Remus had begun a habit of laying in the room with them pecking at a loose thread in the neckline of the sweater, reading or drawing for hours on end. Newt and Tina Scamander had managed to capture the mummy Charkorais bird during the full moon, but seeing as she wasn't used to captivity, the poor thing needed to be quarantined so that she didn't hurt the chicks as she angrily barrelled about the room, and was only allowed time with them during feeding times. As the chicks got older, Remus noticed they were becoming more and more transparent until sometimes they seemed to blend right in with his jumper and he would feel the need to reach up and stroke their little heads just to make sure they were still there - especially the quiet one.

He'd named them Burt and Ernie.

"Remusss..."

He turned and saw Sirius's face peering up at him from the mirror by his side in the blankets on the mattress and he picked it up so he could see Sirius, "Hey," he said, smiling.

Sirius looked very, very happy, his face flush with excitement. "Rey, did you hear?"

"Hear what?" he asked.

"About Druella Black!" Sirius said.

Remus shook his head. "What about her?" he asked, a shiver running through his spine at the very thought of her.

"They did it! They finished her off!" Sirius's voice was rife with joy.

Remus's eyebrows stitched tight. "What? Who's done away with her? I thought the Ministry had captured her? Did she escape?" He realized it had been some time since he'd received an update on the situation - last he'd heard was that Sirius and the other Order members were going to go hand out posters at the Ministry the day of the trial. He hadn't even heard the results of the trial. He nudged himself upright as much as he could without disturbing the Charkorais chicks much, carefully sliding them so they were in his lap without waking them up.

"No, Rey, the Ministry sentenced her to the Dementor's Kiss - they've performed it this morning and that's it! She's gone! They've carted what's left of her off to Azkaban, as though it really matters if they lock her up for not now, in her state now that the Dementor's kissed her." Sirius sounded like he was telling Remus brilliant news, but Remus's stomach sank straight to his toes and he felt as though he might just cry. "Come now, Moonkins, what's the matter? Tell me those are tears of joy you're fighting back over there!"

Remus stared into the mirror, into Sirius's face. "Don't you get it? It's the same whether it's us or them that's killed somebody. We're just as bad as the Death Eaters are for it - it's still wrong, even if it is Druella Black that's dead."

"Mooooooony," drawled Sirius, shaking his head, "It isn't the same at all! It's very different, really. She deserved death for all the wrong she's done - all the people she's hurt and killed! Now she can't do it anymore. She's finished."

Remus felt conflicted.

Sirius frowned, clearly not approving Remus's hesitation. "And here I thought you'd be over the moon, happy."

"Happy?" Remus looked stunned, "Because somebody's dead?"

"Yeah, like I said, it isn't just any somebody - it's Druella Black - you know, the one that stole you away, twice, and tried to kill you and all... Lady friend to your sworn enemy, Fenrir Greyback --"