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Borrowed Without Permission


Sirius Black was dressed head-to-toe in black. He’d smeared dirt under his eyes across the tops of his cheekbones. James sighed, standing beside him in his regular clothes as Sirius crouched and crawled his way up the stoop to the door. He drew his pocket knife from his pocket and slipped it into the keyhole on the door.

“This is a terrible idea,” James whispered.

“We need transportation,” Sirius whispered back, fiddling with the knife.

“There’s the knight bus.”

“Shhh.” Sirius turned the knife just so and there was the click of the locks and he grinned and pulled the knife out, folding the attachment back in. The knife slipped into his pocket once more and he put his fist ‘round he knob. “The knight bus won’t do,” he said lowly, “The knight bus is too loud and far too noticeable. If someone were to follow us going to get Moons, they could follow the knight bus a lot easier than they’ll do if it’s just you and I on the motorbike.” He carefully turned the knob, holding his fingers tight ‘round it to keep it from creaking.

Ace Dante’s house was dark.

“But this is stealing,” James hissed.

“It’s borrowing,” Sirius breathed. “We’ll return it and he’ll never know it was gone.” He slid through the door, just inside. Ace Dante’s leather jacket was hanging on a hook there. Sirius reached for the jacket - cringing as the leather squeaked with movement - and felt for the pockets until he found the keys to the motorbike… It seemed too easy. “Got’em. See, look - it’s like he planned this. See how easy they were to find?” Sirius backed out of the house, closing the door gently and took out his wand, aiming it at the handle, “Colloportus,” he announced and he locks clicked together once more.

James’s palms were sweating as the two boys ran across the yard to the cranberry red motorbike. Sirius tilted it up carefully, clutching the handlebars and kicked the stand up. “Help me roll it out to the street,” he whispered, “We can’t start it ‘til we get away from the house a bit, he’ll hear it and wake up and then we’ll be caught stealing his bike.”

“Borrowing,” James reminded him.

“Yeah - borrowing,” Sirius nodded.

“Why is it that I’m always helping you borrow motorbikes?” James asked as he and Sirius pushed it down the driveway, onto the street, and away from Ace Dante’s house. The moonlight was bright - if anyone looked out, they’d see them there, all painted silver in the moon -- red handed.

Sirius scoffed, “Always?” he asked,” James, this is only the second time we’ve sto -- borrowed -- a motorbike.”

“Only!” James scoffed right back, “Stealing a motorbike is far from an only, mate.”

“Borrowing,” Sirius repeated.

“Yes, borrowing without permission,” James said.

They were ‘round the bend in the road and Sirius reckoned that was far enough away that the engine starting wouldn’t rouse the whole neighborhood, so he drew out his wand and held it in his teeth as he climbed aboard the motorbike. “What’re you planning to do with that?” James asked warily as Sirius shuffled himself about, getting comfortable on the leather seat. Instinctively, James also grappled at his pockets to be sure he’d remembered his wand when they’d left. Amazingly enough, he had. He felt sort of proud of himself. He was getting better at remembering it.

“How else do you reckon we’ll make it fly?” Sirius asked, shoving the wand over his ear so it was tangled up in a mess of his perfect mane, “It hasn’t been modified, so we’ll need to levitate it in order to fly.”

He said this like it was quite obvious.

James stared at Sirius.

“Well come on, then, climb aboard! We haven’t got all night!”

“You’re bleedin’ mental,” James said. “How far are you thinking you’re going to drive this levitating motorbike anyway? Where is it that you think we’re going with it? We don’t even know where Remus is at, wouldn’t it be wiser to find out where he is, and then go stealing motorbikes?” James had a very unsettled feeling in his stomach concerning the whole thing.

“Obviously I’ve already thought of that,” Sirius said calmly, sticking the key in the ignition. “We’re going to Hogsmeade first.”

“To Hogsmeade? What’s in Hogsmeade? Surely not Newt Scamander and his magical briefcase full of werewolves.”

Sirius patted the leather seat behind him for James to get onto. “We’re going to the Hog’s Head. That’s where Dumbledore’s staying.”

James raised an eyebrow.

“I’m going to march up the stairs to Dumbledore’s room and I’m going to make him tell me where my Moony’s at,” Sirius said confidently.

“And if he won’t tell you?” asked James.

Sirius shrugged. “Then I’ll hex him, won’t I?”

“Bloody hell,” James said, “You won’t.”

“I will! I’m serious!”

“Yes, you are Sirius, which is exactly why you’re mental!! You can’t possibly believe that you - Sirius Black - are going to hex Albus Dumbledore for information.”

“I do - I can - and I bloody will!” Sirius announced with bravado. “Now, Potter, are you getting on this motorcycle or am I going to have to demonstrate my hexing powers on you, too?”

James snorted. “Yeah, right, like you’d ever hex me, I’m your best mate, you waffle-headed--” But even as he said it, Sirius raised his wand and James scrambled onto the motorbike.

“S’what I thought,” Sirius snickered, turning ‘round to face the front of the bike and sliding his wand back up in his hair. “Now… let me remember how to turn it on…”

James smooshed his face into Sirius’s back. “This is the most idiotic thing you’ve ever done.”

Sirius shook his head, “Nawh, mate, you’re forgetting the time I ran out in the dark into a werewolf’s lair with nothing but a bag of blankets.”

“Okay, there’s that,” James agreed.

“Or the time I thought that a bunch of ickle first years were gonna capture the Dark Lord by themselves.”

James nodded in consent. That had been more idiotic than this.

“How about when I decided that we were gonna all become illegal animagi and then I got stuck as a dog for a whole summer?”

“Good Snuffles,” James snickered.

“Or that one time we stole all the Filibusters and I insisted it would be alright to flush them down the toilet and clogged up the whole school.”

“It smelled so bad in there,” James remembered solemnly.

“Or the time we blew up my dear cousin’s home?”

“With a stolen motorbike. Sound familiar?” James intoned.

“Or there’s the time I bought a bag of weed off a traveller and we smoked it in the woods and I ended up expelled because my bleedin’ boyfriend can’t empty his pockets out.”

James snorted.

“Or the time I --”

“Oi, Padfoot,” James interrupted.

Sirius looked back over his shoulder. “Prongs?”

“This list could go on for absolute decades. Just start the bloody motorcycle.”

Sirius grinned. “As you wish.”

With that, he twisted the key and jumped up on the kickstart. The engine roared to life and the lamp blinked on as he twisted the knob. James gathered his knees up and hugged Sirius ‘round the middle so he wouldn’t go falling off and he closed his eyes tight-tight-tight.

“Wait.” Sirius paused before the bike started moving forward. It rumbled and vibrated beneath them.

“What for?” James asked.

“I made a promise,” Sirius answered and he cleared his throat, drawing his wand from his hair, tapping James on the head with his wand. “Galeati!” James winced - expecting something truly horrid but instead there was a heavy thump and James realized he suddenly had a helmet on. It was black and the straps hung down for him to connect. Sirius aimed his wand at his own head, “Galeati!” a second black helmet burst out of Sirius’s wand and landed on his head. He stuck the wand in his boot so the handle stuck up against his pant leg and he fastened the strap. “There we are,” he announced.

James shook his head. “You’re unbelievable.”

“What? Why?” Sirius asked.

“Look at you! You’re stealing a motorcycle you plan to levitate clear across the country so you can hex one of the two most powerful wizards alive in order to find your gay werewolf boyfriend, who’s living in a magic suitcase, and you bloody remember to magic yourself a helmet.”

Sirius grinned and revved the engine, “Well. I did make a promise that I would wear one if I ever stole a motorbike again.”

And with that, they took off - racing down the street until they’d gained enough momentum (nearly 95 kilometers an hour!) that Sirius felt they were ready and so he held onto the gas with one fist and drew his wand from his boot with the other and taped the bike -- “WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!” he cried…

And they were off - the wheels of the motorbike groaning as they lifted off the cement… heading up into the sky… over the trees… and away from Godric’s Hollow.