Chapter Text
In the middle of English class on Monday afternoon, Sirius has a realization. As soon as the final bell rings, he meets James to share his revelations.
“Moony’s turning eighteen soon!”
James nods.
“Soooo?” Sirius prompts.
“Soooo we should get him something really cool?” James tries as they walk towards the band room.
“Well, obviously. But also…We have to throw him a party!”
James raises his eyebrows. “Damn it- I can never do that thing you do, you know-”
Sirius raises one eyebrow.
“Yeah that.”
“It’s really easy, i’ll teach you- wait. Why do you want to raise an eyebrow at me?”
“Padfoot, it’s Remus. He hates parties.”
Sirius sighs. “And he hated musicals too, now look at him. Clearly, things change.”
James rolls his eyes, fondly. “Well, okay, maybe. I overheard Barty say his folks are gonna be out of town that weekend, so we could-”
“No.” They’re on the stairs now, headed down to the basement where Glee Club is unfortunately held.
“Why not? His place is huge. Well, not as big as ours- but there’s no way mum would let us throw a party unsupervised. I think it’s-”
“James are you crazy? You’re talking about Barty. As in evil, annoying, loud, kind of sort of irritatingly hot, best friends with my brother Barty.”
“What was that last thing?”
“Best friends with Regulus?”
“No, the other last thing.”
Sirius waves James off. “Irrelevant. The main thing is, we can’t have it there.”
They stop in front of the open door.
“Why not? We’re all spending time together now anyway. It doesn’t hurt to ask-”
“If we have it at Barty’s, then Regulus will be there,” Sirius says, biting the inside of his cheek.
“And is that really so horrible?” James’ lower lip puffs out a bit, his brown eyes pleading.
“Oh my god James just drop it! I know you have this great big fantasy of us reconciling but it’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t understand why you don’t get it. He’s an annoying, stuck up, narcissistic, control freak and I never wanna talk to him again.” Sirius takes a deep breath, his hands are shaking now. “I hate him!”
James' eyes are wide, his face paling. Sirius hears a sharp intake of breath behind him. He turns around to see who it is and- Shit .
“Reg-” James starts, but Regulus just stalks into the room, holding his chin up high and refusing to acknowledge either of them as he pushes past. Sirius’s stomach twists.
James looks at Sirius with a mixture of pity, and sadness on his face, his mouth turned all the way down.
“I didn’t…” Sirius trails off. I didn’t what?
Sirius doesn’t say anything else as he slinks in the room and drops into his chair. He keeps his eyes on the ground. There’s no reason to feel guilty; he was just telling the truth- wasn’t he?
Everyone else is already there, except for Remus who’s the last straggler to arrive. Sirius doesn’t even look up to greet him.
“Hello everyone,” Trelawney says. “Does anyone have anything they’d like to share? Or perform maybe, before I give you all some time to practice?”
From the corner of his eye, he sees a pale hand go up across the room.
“I have a song I’d like to sing.” His brother’s voice is flat, emotionless.
“Oh, yes of course dear. Go ahead.”
Sirius feels James' eyes boring into his skull. If only Sirius wasn't so protective of his hair- a hat would be useful right about now.
He sinks even further into his chair as the song begins on youtube- he knows those blinker sounds.
I got my driver's license last week
Just like we always talked about
Regulus’ sounds incredible, of course.
'Cause you were so excited for me
To finally drive up to your house
But today I drove through the suburbs
Cryin' 'cause you weren't around
Maybe he was just really feeling Olivia Rodrigo today?
And you're probably with that blonde boy
Boy?
Who always made me doubt
he's so much older than me
he's everything I'm insecure about
He?? Despite his sour stomach, curiosity gets the better of him and Sirius lifts his eyes.
Yeah, today I drove through the suburbs
'Cause how could I ever love someone else?
Regulus is standing in front of the microphone, holding it in his grip. His eyes are closed;
combined with the raw emotion in his vocals he seems younger, softer-vulnerable.
And I know we weren't perfect but I've never felt this way for no one
And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone
Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street
James is no longer harassing Sirius with his gaze, at least. Instead, his eyes are wide and his bottom lip is wobbling as he watches Regulus on ‘stage’.
And all my friends are tired
Of hearing how much I miss you, but
For a second, Sirius swears he sees Regulus’ eyes open and flicker towards his friends.
I kinda feel sorry for them
'Cause they'll never know you the way that I do, yeah
Today I drove through the suburbs
And pictured I was driving home to you
Sirius looks back at the ground.
And I know we weren't perfect
But I've never felt this way for no one, oh
And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone
I guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street
Red lights, stop signs
I still see your face in the white cars, front yards
Can't drive past the places we used to go to
'Cause I still fuckin' love you, babe (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Regulus’ voice falters slightly on the word babe, Sirius cringes.
Sidewalks we crossed
I still hear your voice in the traffic, we're laughing
Over all the noise
God, I'm so blue, know we're through
But I still fuckin' love you, babe (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
I know we weren't perfect but I've never felt this way for no one
And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone
'Cause you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me
'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street
Yeah, you said forever, now I drive alone past your street
There’s a ragged breath into the microphone before Regulus steps away and straightens his back. Sirius can almost see the mask slipping back on; his eyebrows going slack and his gaze hardening.
“Lovely, as always Regulus,” Trelawney says gently. There’s a scattered applause- no one seems quite sure what to do with that performance. It sounded beautiful, of course, but it was so, well, intimate. Then again, Regulus has always been a great actor.
“Anyone else?” Trelawney asks. Crickets. “Okay, well then everyone is free to use the rest of the hour to practice for Thursday. Don’t forget to check in with the boys about your song choices if you want their help,” she adds, referring to Remus and Pete. He overhears Lily tell Marlene that they should go talk to them.
James is back to his staring. Sirius picks at a loose thread on his sleeve.
“Sirius-”
“James.”
James narrows his eyes. Sirius continues ignoring him.
“You should talk to him,” James says.
“Who Moony? I don’t know what song I’m doing yet though. Do you? I was thinking maybe a Panic! At the Disco song but you know how last week-”
“Sirius.”
“Do I have to?” Sirius asks, petulantly.
“You hurt his feelings. Come on that song was clearly a message-”
“Why would that song be about me? It’s a break up song, a
romantic
break up song- I know our family is fucked up, but we’re not
that
inbred.”
James' eyes narrow further. “Don’t play dumb.”
Sirius groans, his stomach in a giant knot. “Fine, I'll try.”
He gets up and heads over to where Regulus is sitting with his friends. His feet are blocks of lead, but he makes it there eventually.
“What do you want?” Barty sneers. Evan glares at him and places his arm on the back of Regulus’ chair protectively.
“I want to talk to my brother. Alone.” He manages to make the words sound authoritative without belying any of his conflicting feelings. Slay.
Regulus’ eyes are still cold, but he stands up.
Barty’s eyes stay narrowed at Sirius and Evan crosses his arms but neither of them say anything, watching the brothers go.
In the corner of the room Sirius lightly kicks an empty chair. Regulus watches him.
“So?” Regulus asks, his tone flat.
Sirius toes the chair again, he can feel James watching them.
Regulus huffs. “If you just wanted to waste my time, I’m gonna go.”
Sirius’ instinct is to say please do , but he forces himself to say something else. “Look, about earlier-”
Regulus' eyes somehow grow icier, Sirius can’t meet them.
“It’s fine. Nothing I didn’t already know,” Regulus says. Sirius’ stomach turns unpleasantly.
“Right, but-” Ugh why is this so hard! “-your song. It um, I just…” He’s not sure how to word this, and he’s not even sure he wants to.
“You think that was about you? You know she’s singing about Josh- her ex right? I know our family tree is a wreath, but really?”
Sirius surprises himself by laughing. “That’s what I said. But James was all like-”
“James sent you?” Regulus blinks, seemingly forgetting for a second to hide behind his unbothered demeanor.
“Yeah he wants us to be friends again or whatever. But, um. Well.” Sirius falters. Regulus doesn’t interrupt him, just looks at him as he stalls, the mask returning.
“Well, it’s just that I used to write songs for you. Like, when I wrote you that song ‘forever’. I just thought, maybe. I dunno.”
Regulus' face completely slips, his eyes widening in surprise, his ears turning pink at the tips.
“You remember that?” He says, so quietly it’s almost a whisper.
Sirius’ eyes the chair he was kicking. “Yeah, I remember.”
Regulus seems so small now, vulnerable- his kid brother who cries at commercials and slept with a teddy bear until he was twelve. Sirius finds the words tumbling out of his mouth before he has a chance to think about what he’s saying. “I didn't mean it. What I said to James. I don’t- I don’t hate you .”
“And the other stuff?” Regulus asks, but his voice is fractionally lighter, the corner of his mouth twitching up almost imperceptibly .
“Well, I do think you’re an annoying stuck up control freak.”
Regulus rolls his eyes. Oddly enough, it feels like a win.
“Whatever Sirius. It really wasn’t about you though.”
“Sure.”
Regulus glances over Sirius’ shoulder, Sirius instinctively turns to see who he’s looking at, but all he sees is James hovering near Remus and Pete.
“Glad we cleared this up then, I’m going to practice now.” Regulus walks back towards his own friends. Sirius turns too, and James gives him a big thumbs up. Now it’s Sirius' turn to roll his eyes. He takes his phone out of his pocket and opens spotify. He might as well pick a song for Thursday, since he’s here anyway.
Wednesday after school, the marauders all meet up at the Potter’s’ after school. More specifically, in their shed-recently turned makeshift studio. Remus is gaping at the red electric guitar in his hands.
“Dad said you can have it if you want. He’s got like three, and I think all he knows how to play is Smoke on the Water.”
“James, I can’t-”
“Oh shut up Moony of course you can.” Sirius is a bit jealous of the way Remus is cradling it in his hands, like it’s the most delicate flower that he also wants to, well- deflower.
“At least for tomorrow!” Peter says. “It’ll work so much better for everyone’s songs.”
Sirius is also a bit jealous how this Glee club is taking up so much of Moony’s free time too, that everyone keeps asking him and Peter to practice and learn new songs for them. Even if that’s why they’re all gathered here today in the first place; that’s different. This is his Moony. Sirius is allowed to demand his attention and resources.
“Unfortunately, Wormtail is right,” Sirius agrees. “It sounds so much cooler, like you’re a real rockstar or something.”
Remus tears his gaze away, looking directly at Sirius. “You think?” he asks Sirius- as if they’re the only two people in the room. Sirius’ face grows a bit warm.
“Yeah,” he nods. “I really do.”
Sirius, Remus and Peter practice his song for a bit, then James kicks Sirius out when it’s his turn, citing that his song is a ‘surprise.’ Sirius can’t help but be a little bit afraid.
On Thursday, when James and Sirius walk into Glee club, James waves at Regulus and his friends. Barty waves back, mockingly. Regulus doesn’t react at all. There’s something comfortable about it all, which Sirius hates. He also hates that this morning, he almost grabbed his eyeliner and looked through his closet before remembering himself. It was like he was possessed or something- Sirius, wanting to put effort into singing for Glee club? Now, he looks down at his black cotton shirt that has a suspicious green stain near the collar; somehow this doesn’t feel much better.
Trelawney is wearing a giant oversized knit sweater today, decked in patches of various witchy things- planets, tarot cards, crystals, and mushrooms. Sirius kind of loves it.
“Hello everyone! I hope we've all had a lovely week. Jupiter is opposite Saturn today, and it’s nearly a full moon, so I hope we’re all doing our best to be gentle with one another. It's a good time to let go of old prejudices and seek forgiveness within ourselves and towards others.” Trewlaney’s big eyes seem to be pointed right at him as she speaks.
“Alright, I’m assuming we’ve all gotten our songs. This week’s theme is ‘Pop Punk’ and I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve all come up with. Anyone want to go first?”
When James doesn’t immediately jump up, Sirius can’t decide if he should be relieved or nervous.
“We’ll go first,” Barty says standing up. He’s wearing all black; ripped jeans and a tight sleeveless shirt that shows off his surprisingly muscled arms. Regulus and Evan too, are wearing all black- but that’s Regulus’ standard outfit anyway.
Sirius shoots Remus a smile as he gets ready to play. The three boys stand beside each other, Barty standing at the mic first. Fuck, they look kind of cool.
I wanna take you home
A night out on the town
Say that you're pretty so you stand up stand up
Before I drag you down
The way Barty sings it is almost seductive, and really good.
He steps to the side swiftly and Evan sings the next lines, his confidence clearly grown since last week. Barty watches him through his annoyingly thick eyelashes.
Crawling up your skin
Potions pills and medicines
To drain you
And bleed your magic out
The three of them harmonize oooh oohh ooh . Sirius has to admit, their voices sound super well together. Especially with Remus and Pete in the background, it almost feels like a real performance, not like their in a dingy high school basement that smells vaguely like mold.
Regulus steps up and grabs the microphone for his lines.
Lonely little life
And nobody believes you now
You're bleeding magic out
Sirius’ heart hurts a little bit, but he’s not sure why.
Don't want to scare you off
Don't want to know your name
You'll never know a single thing about me
Until it's far too late
Barty sings those lines, holding the microphone and leaning into it. Evan frowns a bit. Sirius is beginning to think in an alternate universe where a) Barty wasn’t friends with Regulus and b) Sirius wasn’t hopelessly pining for his own best friend, that he may have developed a bit of a crush on him because… damn.
Barty and Evan switch again, Barty’s fingers lingering on Evan’s waist for a fraction of a second during the shuffle.
Crawling up your skin
Potion, pleasing medicines
To circumvent your brain
The way Evan sings ‘circumvent your brain’ scratches an itch in Sirius’ brain.
They harmonize again and Regulus repeats his lines. Sirius has never heard his brother sing anything like this before- he would’ve assumed that Regulus was mostly into singing ballads or slow sad french songs, but it works.
Lonely little life
And nobody believes you now
You're bleeding magic out
Lonely little life
And nobody believes you now
You're bleeding magic out
And nobody believes you now
You're bleeding magi c
Regulus finishes the song, his hair falling into his face. Everyone claps, even Sirius, begrudgingly. Barty smiles, and it’s a different smile than Sirius has seen before. It’s not mean, or sarcastic- but a real genuine pleased smile. He’s standing in the middle of his friends and throws his arms around their shoulders, Evan’s mouth turns up too, and he looks up at Barty. Regulus doesn’t show anything on his face, but he doesn’t flinch away from the touch.
“Wonderful,” Trelawney says.
“Sorry, but was that really ‘pop punk?’” Lily asks.
Barty shrugs. “Maybe not, but it’s not like we’re getting graded on these assignments are we?”
It truly is an unfortunate set of circumstances that this is not the alternate universe he was pondering about before, because that’s exactly what Sirius was just thinking. Alas, his eyes find their way to Moony, whose face is slightly flushed, and the butterflies rattle around in Sirius’ stomach.
“Dallon Weekes was in Panic at the Disco,” Evan says, as if that explains anything.
Trelawney sighs. “Who wants to go next?”
James still does not put up his hand, although Sirius can sense his best friend's buzzing adrenaline radiating off him in the way his knees are bouncing.
“Should I be worried?” Sirius asks him.
Marlene and Lily end up taking their turn instead.
Lily nods at Remus to start. Sirius is so glad Remus accepted the guitar, because he really is in his element. Sirius’ pants get a bit tight watching Remus nimble fingers strum, his hair falling into his face. He’s just so fucking good, and it sounds incredible.
Lily takes the mic first, Marlene bopping beside her- not doing any particular dance moves but just vibing to the music.
All that I want
Is to wake up fine
Tell me that I'm alright
That I ain't gonna die
All that I want
Is a hole in the ground
You can tell me when it's alright
For me to come out
Sirius does love Hayley Williams.
The girls share the mic to sing the chorus, Marlene's alto voice blending nicely with Lily’s higher one.
gonna make you wonder why you even try
(Hard times) gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
(These lives) and I still don't know how I even survive
Hard times
Hard times
Marlene says the last line, swinging the microphone stand while she does.
And I gotta get to rock bottom
After the small musical interlude, in which Sirius can’t tear his eyes away from Moony, Marlene does the next verse, singing while her eyes dart across the audience. She’s having a lot of fun, and it’s infectious. Sirius doesn’t bother trying to stop his foot from tapping out the beat.
Walking around
With my little rain cloud
Hanging over my head
And it ain't coming down
Where do I go?
Gimme some sort of sign
You hit me with lightning
Maybe I'll come alive
They do the chorus together again, both leaning into the singular microphone.
gonna make you wonder why you even try
(Hard times) gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
(These lives) and I still don't know how I even survive
Hard times
Hard times
And I gotta hit rock bottom
Lily:
Tell my friends I'm coming down
We'll kick it when I hit the ground
Marlene:
Tell my friends I'm coming down
We'll kick it when I hit the ground
Both of them together sing the final parts, including the chorus. They abandon the microphone to sing freely, jumping around the stage and singing to the audience. Lily seems to sing directly to James, Marlene sings to Regulus. James smiles widely, Regulus does not.
When I hit the ground
When I hit the ground
When I hit the ground
When I hit the ground
gonna make you wonder why you even try
(Hard times) gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
(These lives) and I still don't know how I even survive
Hard times, hard times
Hard times, hard times
gonna make you wonder why you even try
Hard times gonna take you down and laugh when you cry
(These lives) and I still don't know how I even survive
Hard times, hard times
Hard times
And I gotta get to rock botto m
Again everyone claps.
“Great job Lily! And you too Marlene,” James tells them.
Mary congratulates her friends as well.
“Very nice, girls!” Trelawney says. Lily’s mouth turns up.
James looks between Mary and Sirius, the three people left to perform.
“Don’t look at me,” Mary says. “I’m going last.”
James raises his eyebrows at Sirius in question. Maybe Sirius should go before. But then James squares his shoulders, seemingly have come to his decision. “I’ll go.”
Sirius exchanges a glance with Moony, like “is this going to be crazy?”
Remus shrugs and mimes sealing his lips. Hater.
James goes to the microphone, standing tall- which he is, just not as tall as Moony, but then again hardly anyone is.
He looks at the ‘band’ and takes a deep breath, adjusting his glasses.
Remus is grinning as he plays, Peter looks like Sirius feels, which is to say mildly concerned and already partially embarrassed.
Gonna make a heart-throb out of me
Just a bit of minor surgery
These desperate times call for desperate measures
Oh God. Sirius nearly breaks his neck trying to gauge Lily’s reaction. Doesn’t have a crush on anyone, my ass! Lily is sitting stock still as James sings, Mary and Marlene are giggling, as if they too can not believe this.
I'll give you something to cry about
Show some skin-
James pulls down the neck of his shirt, revealing his collarbones. Lily blushes. Across the room, so does Regulus.
-and would be, catch it
How could you let this get to desperate measures now?
For a first effort this,
Feels kinda last ditch
I guess this just
Got kinda drastic
Trust us you just fell off the bus, baby
James is singing into the microphone, and oddly enough his gaze seems to be turned towards the other side of the room, away from Lily and towards Sirius’ brother. James does turn back though, to look at Sirius, his eyes twinkling. Sirius groans. What a grand ‘first effort’.
I can't let this, I can't let this, I can't let this go
I can't let this, I can't let this go
(Desperate measures) I can't let this, I can't let this go
James is putting his heart into it, singing with gusto. It’s obvious that he really means it too.
When I got you right where I want you
I been pushing for this for so long
Kiss me, just once, for luck
These are desperate measures now
I can't let this, I can't let this go
Barty is burying his face into Evan’s shoulder, probably hiding his laughter. Not that James is bad, he’s very very good actually. But it must be painfully obvious even to Regulus’ friends that this isn’t going to work. Although, Lily’s pink face does look perhaps a bit secretly pleased?
Have a piece of American dream
Open up, and swallow, on your knees
And say Thank you
I'd like some desperate measures, please
During that section, James looks up at the ceiling and puts his hands together in prayer, bending his knees towards the ground and lowering himself halfway to a squat. It’s almost obscene. Regulus’ eyes are wide and panicked. Sirius forgot to add ‘prude’ to the list he told James.
For a first effort this,
Feels kinda last ditch
I guess this just
Got kinda drastic
Trust us, you just fell off the bus, suckers
Yeah, well, payback is a mother fucker
Trelawney gasps loudly at the way James spits out the swear. James flushes, looks at her apologetically.
I can't let this, I can't let this go
When I got you right where I want you
I been pushing for this for so long
Kiss me, just once, for luck
These are desperate measures now
Desperate measure now
James sings the rest at no one in particular, though he does occasionally swivel to look at Sirius with an almost guilty look in his eyes.
I can't let this, I can't let this go
When I got you right where I want you
I been pushing for this for so long
Kiss me, just once, for luck
These are desperate measures now
(Desperate measure now)
I can't let this, I can't let this go
He finishes the song and there’s a beat of silence. Barty, Marlene, and Mary clap. Sirius, Lily, and evidently his brother are shocked into silence.
James’ bravado seems to wear off slightly as he steps back to his seat.
“For what it’s worth James, that would work on me!” Mary titters.
“That was, um really good James!’ Lily says, unable to meet his eyes. Huh? That’s not the reaction Sirius was expecting from her.
“Thanks Lil!” James smiles at her.
Sirius slow blinks at his best friend, who just shrugs and adjusts his glasses again. Trelawney speaks again, and out of the corner of his eye Sirius catches James looking over towards Regulus and Co. Regulus does not look pleased, his cheeks still rosy.
“Mary? Sirius? Which one of you would like to step up?”
Sirius has no choice but to go, since Mary won’t budge on going last. It feels a bit unfair though, going after James.
His heart is beating a bit quickly as he takes his place. It’ll be his first time doing a song with Remus and Pete in public. Not that he’s particularly trying to impress anyone here, but still. Remus gives him a private encouraging smile, then bites his lip as he gets his fingers into place. It does not slow Sirius’ heart one bit. He takes a deep breath, waiting for his cue.
If home is where the heart is
Then we're all just fucked
There wasn’t a particular reason he picked this song. He was just looking through his spotify playlist and this one felt right. As he sings the first lines though, he finds himself glancing at his brother.
I can't remember
I can't remember
And I want it so bad
I'd shoot the sunshine into my veins
I can't remember the good old days
It’s actually really nice, doing this with his friends. He starts to lose himself in the song, the world fading away outside the words escaping his throat and his best friends playing their hearts out behind him- the three of them in their own private bubble.
And it's kind of funny
The way we're wearing anchors on our shirts
When being anchored aboard just feels like a curse
My mind is a safe
And if I keep it then we all get rich
My body is an orphanage
We take everyone in
Doing lines of dust and sweat
Off last night's stage
Just to feel like yo u
It’s almost embarrassing how right it feels to be here.
The milligrams in my head
Burning tobacco in the wind
Chasing the direction
Chasing the direction
Chasing the direction you went
You're a bottled star
The planets align
Just like Mars
You shine in the sky
You shine in the sky
Are all the good times getting gone?
They come and go and come and go and come and go
I've got a lot of friends who are stars
But some are just black holes
He flicks again to Regulus, to find him looking at him too, his gaze searching, for some reason.
My mind is a safe
And if I keep it then we all get rich
My body is an orphanage
We take everyone in
Doing lines of dust and sweat
Off last night's stage
Just to feel like you
Sirius can’t help himself again, despite being in front of Remus, to look back at him during the guitar solo. He feels his heart swell, but this time with pride. Sirius has to convince him to keep the guitar.
And it's kind of funny
The way we're wearing anchors on our shirts
When being anchored aboard just feels like a curse
My mind is a safe
And if I keep it then we all get rich
My body is an orphanage
We take everyone in
Doing lines of dust and sweat
Off last night's stage
Just to feel like you
If home is where the heart is
Then we're all just fucked
When the song ends, Sirius has a ridiculous urge to rush back and jump into Moony’s arms. He doesn’t though, he just dips his head in a small bow and rushes back to his seat. When he looks over, Moony gives him another small private grin. Maybe this Glee club thing isn’t so terribly deeply horrible.
Finally, it’s Mary’s turn. She gracefully walks over to her spot, her eyes sparking with something like mischief. Regulus goes to the keyboard for the first time today. He sits down and stretches his fingers.
Peter and Moony have mysterious looks on their faces too.
“What’s going-” Sirius is interrupted by Regulus’ fingers hitting that starting G. There’s a collective groan from the room, but it’s not really an angry one. Sirius catches his brother’s mouth ever so slightly lifting as he plays the next notes until Mary’s voice cuts in as well.
When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
Sirius rolls his eyes at Moony, fondly. Of course Mary would pick this song.
He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten and the damned?"
He said, "Will you defeat them?
Your demons, and all the non-believers
The plans that they have made?"
"Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom
To lead you in the summer
To join the black parade"
Sirius knows that Remus loves this song too, but even if he didn’t Remus looks like he’s having so much fun it’s contagious.
When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten and the damned?"
Peter too, looks like he’s having the time of his life over there on the drums, his head bobbing so quickly.
When it’s time to sing the next verse, Barty stands up before Mary gets a chance and belts the lyrics from where he’s standing. Mary doesn’t even seem phased, as though she expected something like this.
Sometimes I get the feelin'
She's watchin' over me
And other times I feel like I should go
Then Marlene is jumping up to sing:
And through it all, the rise and fall
The bodies in the streets
And when you're gone, we want you all to know
The two of them join together, singing at each other.
We'll carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And in my heart, I can't contain it
The anthem won't explain it
Mary takes the lead again for a few bars.
A world that sends you reelin'
From decimated dreams
Your misery and hate will kill us all
She looks over at James and (metaphorically) hands him the mic.
So paint it black and take it back
Let's shout it loud and clear
Defiant to the end, we hear the call
The four of them sing all together.
To carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches
It seems like this is no longer Mary’s song, but rather the Glee Club as a whole- everyone chiming in at some point.
Mary:
On and on, we carry through the fears
Oh, ah, ha
Lily:
Disappointed faces of your peers
Oh, ah, ha
Barty:
Take a look at me, 'cause I could not care at all
Evan:
Do or die, you'll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Go and try, you'll never break me
We want it all, we wanna play this part
Sirius finds himself standing up too:
I won't explain or say I'm sorry
I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scars
Give a cheer for all the broken
Listen here, because it's who we are
Mary:
Just a man, I'm not a hero
Just a boy, who had to sing this song
Just a man, I'm not a hero
I don't care
After that, they all give up on having any semblance of order. Everyone just sings together, a blend of voices, not all perfectly in tune but all full of passion.
We'll carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on
You'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches, oh
Do or die, you'll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Go and try, you'll never break me
We want it all, we wanna play this part (we'll carry on)
Do or die, you'll never make me (we'll carry on)
Because the world will never take my heart (we'll carry on)
Go and try, you'll never break me (we'll carry on)
We want it all, we wanna play this part (we'll carry on!)
At the end, they’re all panting a bit, their energy expunged. Lily even beams at James, before turning away quickly. Regulus too, seems to be in good spirits. Sirius catches Moony’s eye once more. Maybe-
“That was wonderful! We should put that on our list for regionals.” Sirius' smile slips. Regionals? He almost forgot for a second what this really was. “For next week it’s an easy assignment, you just have to pick a song by a female artist. Any genre, any time period.” Easy enough, but Sirius is once again bothered that he has to do it at all.