the_debt_of_time

"But I'm supposed to live without mine?!" Sirius snapped, finally breaking out of
Remus's hold. "Prongs, do you have any idea what I would have done if you'd died?"
James kept his expression tight, but Sirius noticed that Mia recoiled at his words
and averted her gaze entirely. Assuming that she was reliving the moment when she had
tried to kill the Carrows over what they had done, Sirius sighed. While he did not blame
her for her rage in that moment, he did not know if he had it in him to do the same.
Revenge, certainly, but killing? He very briefly pondered what it would take for him to
cross that line, only making him angrier when he remembered how terrified he was when
James fell and when Mia confronted Bellatrix.
"Fuck," he growled, dark eyes darting between the two of them. "When will you
bloody Potters get it through your heads that I am not worth saving if it means risking your
own lives?"
"Can't help it," James offered with a shrug. "If it makes you feel any better, I would
have done it for Moony, Wormtail, or Mia."
"It doesn't," Sirius, Mia, and Remus all responded at the same time.
James laughed. "Look, I'm fine. Wizard's honour."
Sirius groaned and headed for the door. "I need a cigarette. Mia, come with me."
When she hesitated, he turned, stalking toward her in a predatory manner, and Remus
stepped forward. Sirius put a hand out. "No, Moony. She and I need to have a chat about
what happened on the pitch."
His eyes met Remus's, and the two shared an understanding. Mia's near use of an
Unforgivable had gone unreported to the headmaster and Aurors that interviewed them all
after the Carrow twins disappeared, and none of them had dared to mention it while James
remained unconscious.
"I can do that," Remus insisted.
"Like hell. You're the boyfriend, the good guy who reads her poetry and makes her
feel better. You won't hurt her, and right now she needs to hurt a little," Sirius insisted,
ignoring the look of protest that was crossing Mia's face.
"Our job, means we share responsibility. I'll be the bad guy who gets to tell her what
a fucking idiot she is." He turned and glared at her for a moment, catching the way her eyes
flashed amber at the insult before he turned back to Remus. "You can wipe her tears when
I'm done and agree that I'm an arsehole."