Mastermind
Once upon a time, the planets and the fates
And all the stars aligned
You and I ended up in the same room
At the same time
And the touch of a hand lit the fuse
Of a chain reaction of countermoves
To assess the equation of you
Checkmate, I couldn't lose
“Come here” Ursa pats the spot in front of her on the carpet. She peers up at Peter through long, full lashes and Peter is suddenly thrilled to get his makeup done for the first time. He shoots to his feet eagerly to take James’ spot.
He sits cross-legged in front of her and offers his face through joking batting lashes to hide his discomfort at putting himself in the line of scrutiny. Her fingers grip his calf, an ice touch she uses as anchor to slide herself forward in one smooth move along the carpet closer to him. Their knees bump together and her hand’s gone. Centimeters away from her, he can still feel the ghost of contact her hand left behind on his leg.
“What do you want?” She stares straight ahead into his eyes. The weight of her whole gaze shrinks him in the spot. He’s never been good under scrutiny. Being Sirius and James’ best friend, he’s used to being overlooked, and even if he doesn’t always like that, he’s keenly aware he’s grown so used to it that stares make him squirm “For your eyes. What do you want? I have little to work with,” she says that last bit to Sirius with a friendly glare at the skimpy makeup elements, if that’s what a glare can be described as “but I’ll do my best, what do you want?” Peter opens his mouth to respond but no words fall out. Unlike him, Sirius’ never had that problem
“I was thinking we paint the whole lid, kind of those strong, block, glossy—”
“Shut up Sirius” Ursa cuts him off and he scowls
“Fuck off, I was just—”
“Is that Remus downstairs?” she knits her brows together and pretends to strain her ears
“Remus’ here?!” Sirius hops up and charges out the room like an excited puppy
“I didn’t hear anything, how could you possibly hear him from all the way up here?”
“I didn’t” she smirks at him, but it’s one of mischief rather than malice. He tries to pinpoint what it is that makes the difference from her usual smug smirk, if he can pinpoint that tiny inflection on her face then maybe he can translate such subtlety into his own drawings “don’t worry, I’m not doing anything of what he just said”
“It’s not that I don’t like it or that I think men shouldn’t wear it, I just… I don’t know”
“The first time I really did my makeup I only put on a bit of mascara, not even the black kind, just the clear kind. Then I went up from there with things I was comfortable with and wanted”
“You weren’t comfortable with—” he stops himself before he asks the question, before he takes the bait. Right, this is her manipulating him. Sirius told them they did her makeup all the time, but he was never allowed to wear any of it. It used to drive him crazy. Peter’s glad now he can wear all the makeup he wants. She changes both the pencil and liquid liner a different hue of the same shade of blue, a striking match to his eyes. She leans forward into his spaces and gestures for him to close his eyes. Her touch is light as a feather as she draws along the line of his lashes. She guides his face to one side and the other with a soft finger barely gracing his chin. It’s a subtle look, and his eyes never looked bluer “Gorgeous” she winks at him and then she’s gone out the door before he can even blush.
You see, all the wisest women
Had to do it this way
'Cause we were born to be the pawn
In every lover's game
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Strategy sets the scene for the tale
I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails
And the liquor in our cocktails
Ursa admires herself in the mirror. She isn’t shy to admit she looks fierce, dangerous. She’s wearing a leather skirt, a matching corset laced up on the front for a top, black eyeliner smoked out on the sides and tall, chunky platforms. She twirls her hand in the air and a flower materializes into it, an icy blue. She tucks it behind her ear and kisses the mirror “urs, aap bahut khoobasoorat lag rahee hain” Mrs Potter tells her. Ursa, you look absolutely beautiful. She bites down the urge to tell her she knows. Instead, she grins and in perfect pronounciation states
“dhanyavaad, yah bahut... kind?” thank you, that’s very… kind?
“dayaalu” she offers with a kind smile
“dayaalu” she repeats after her, a flawless imitation of her accent
“uttam,” Perfect “aap jems se bhee behatar dhvani karate hain” You sound even better than James
“dhanyavaad” Thank you. “dhvani ka kya arth hai?” what does dhvani mean?
“Sound”
“dhvani” she repeats to lodge it in her brain
“Show-off” Regulus teases his sister as he walks through the door in a deep-blue button down and black trousers that James’ will definitely appreciate. Alright, a part of him is definitely bitter that she’s picking up on the language so fast, he’ll need to learn a new language to keep up.
“Reggie, what’s that over there? Did you burn yourself with a curling iron?” she bats her lashes and pouts at him in feigned innocent concern, pointing at the spot on Regulus' neck that apparently James is quite the fan of.
“Yes.” He clasps his hand over it and Euphemia makes a tsk sound with her tongue but lets it slip with a smirk. He glares at his sister “Je te déteste”
“tu m'aimes” she bops his nose and with a twirl of her hand she tucks a new flower behind his ear
“Davvero? un giglio?” Really? A Lily? He glares at her and instead of a smirk she grants him a smile
“L'unico giglio che vedrà stasera” The only lily he'll be looking at tonight.
“Stai bellissima” You look beautiful he admits with a roll of his eyes
“Lo so” I know She winks at him and he chuckles “Grazie. Anche tu” Thank you. You too.
With another twirl of her hand she offers Euphemia her own flower, a gorgeous yellow. She melts and dutifully tucks it behind her own ear the way the other two are wearing theirs “Phlemont, yahaan utaro aur hamaaree ek tasveer lo!” Fleamont, get down here and take a picture of us! She calls just as the rest of the boys step into the living room
“Don’t you two look beautiful?” James wraps his arms around Regulus and aims his lips for that same ‘curling iron burn’
“You saw him two seconds ago” Sirius pushes them away from each other
“Cock-blocker” Peter coughs and Sirius glares at him.
“He looked beautiful then too” James stares at him with adoration “the flower’s a nice touch”
“Speaking of beautiful,” her eyes twinkle at Sirius with a look he’s seen enough times to know he should fear it before they round on Moony “Lupin, tu es bellissimo” she relishes in the way Sirius jaw tightens at her French-italian declaration of his Moony being beautiful “Don’t you agree Siri?” she smirks at him through long, curled lashes and he swallows
“Uh—wha—yeah—sure. You… uh… you always… you are” he mutters and she beams
“Thanks” Remus blushes
“You really do look bellissimo” Peter butchers its pronunciation but he’s too delighted by his two idiot friends’ flushes for it to matter
“I think you should be saying that to your future girlfriend” Remus bites back. Only then does Peter actually look at Ursa, his jaw drops and his face turns the same shade as a tomato
“I don’t need people to tell me I’m beautiful, I already know it” she flicks her long and ink black hair back
“As much as it pains me to admit it, you look good” Sirius admits because there’s no denying it and he appreciates the switch of focus
“And hot” James nods to her in appreciation
“Very hot” Remus seconds and Peter hums in agreement
“You’re drooling” Regulus gives the three of them an unimpressed look, specially James
“In my defense, she’s like the girl version of you” he tries to kiss Regulus but he dodges it with a reproachful glare and it lands on his jaw instead “not as pretty as you though” James pouts at him “No one is as hot as you. You’re so hot. You’re the hottest” he whimpers, eager for a kiss while both of Regulus' siblings stare at him with the same look of disgust, only Sirius’ is sprinkled with a spice of horror.
“James?”
“Hmmm?” James sways closer to Regulus like his mere presence pulls him in
“You’re an idiot” he shakes his head and James beams up at him
“Why don’t we all take a picture?” Ursa doesn’t want to put up with another second of… that.
“Everybody get in there!” Fleamont tells them with a camera
“Hold on, I want a picture with them first—Oh no, James, love, I meant with Ursa and Regulus ‘cause we’re matching, but I’ll get another picture with my bellissima boy too” she turns to Ursa for approval of the Italian word for beautiful, Ursa beams back at her use of its feminine conjugation.
“Bellissima” she bops James’ chin. James narrows his eyes on her but he’s still smiling
They snap picture after picture until Fleamont declares that “Euphie, you’ve taken enough photographs, now let the poor kids go before they miss their party”
“Hold on, just one more please” Ursa chimes and Euphemia smiles so brightly she should be pulling a muscle. Ursa handles Euphemia with ease, like they’ve been friends for years. It took Sirius years to warm up to the Potter’s easy love, their carefree affection. It was years before he could finally return it. Regulus still hasn’t. He still flinches whenever Fleamont puts an arm on his shoulder or Euphemia hugs him. Ursa doesn’t bat an eye at it. She doesn’t soak it up like Sirius does or flinch away from it like Regulus. She simply lets it pour down on her with full force like it’s nothing, neutral, normal, like it slides right off her unaffected.
What if I told you none of it was accidental
And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me?
I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork
The dominoes cascaded in a line
They arrive at the stingy muggle bar not long after. They’re certainly not the target demographic. It’s almost entirely empty, except for a few guys in their forties sipping on some cheap beer by a table. That’s why Mary said they’d serve them alcohol, they’re desperate for customers “What are they doing here?” Mary Macdonald, always the tactful person, scoffs at the Black twins. Such crudeness, of course she’s friends with her brother.
“They’re staying with us” James loads meaning into his words and they don’t need more explanation. He’s certainly glad he didn’t invite the others afterall, just the manageable three Gryffindor girls. Marlene eyes Sirius with concern but his Black smile is plastered on his face while Lily just straight up glares at him
“Look, I know Sirius isn’t like his family, but they are. They’re friends wi—” she’s unbearable. She wonders if that’s a Gryffindor trait or a mere coincidence. Great. She’s surrounded by seven of them. And she’ll have to put up with them throughout the entire year. Brilliant.
“We can go if it makes you uncomfortable” Ursa swallows down the venom charged into Mary’s words like it’s sugar . Her words sound heartfelt but there’s not a single beat of feeling in it. As much as she doesn’t want to be there anymore, she won’t yield the ground to Mary Macdonald. Plus, she likes being the prettiest person in the whole entire bar “We didn’t mean to—"
“They’re staying. And if you have a problem with that, I suggest you leave” Sirius snaps at Mary
“That psycho’s staying nowhere near me! She’s the devil in the flesh.”
“She once cat-napped Mrs Norris and framed me for it so she could swoop in and be the valiant hero who rescued that ugly cat. Filch has my picture with my eyes crossed out in his office and I’m pretty sure she gave it to him!” Marlene agrees with her
“Wait, she was behind the missing case of Mrs. Norris in ’72?” Peter hides his impressed smile behind a chip when Mary fervently nods, a few dark curls coming loose off her bun with the motion.
“You already knew that!” she hisses at him
“Oh right” he hums with a laugh, he’d been to tell her after he found out
“I don’t think her leaving is an option” Moony stubs his cigarette on the ground
“I don’t remember giving it” Sirius glares at Mary and Ursa frowns at him, Gryffindor do truly believe themselves gallant knights. Insufferable
“I just think we at least deserve an explanation—”
“You’re not entitled to anyone’s trauma. But if it makes you feel better, I still have nightmares about it” Ursa crooks a smile at Mary but there’s no joy in it
“Please! You’re their perfect little clone”
“Statistically, the homes where one kid is being abused, so are the rest. Statistically, the homes where only one of the children is being abused it’s of the sexual manner. Statistically, sexual abuse happens to girls more often than boys. Factually, you shouldn’t talk about thinks you don’t know.” Mary stares at her, horrified and shocked into speechlessness for the first time. Her mouth wobbles like it wants to speak words her mind isn’t capable of forming, which had never stopped her before but so long as no sound comes out of it Ursa is content, she bites back a smirk and hides it behind a puppy frown “I’ll be at the bar” she steps past her. The bar is empty, because this place is shit. Apparently picking locations is another thing Macdonald isn’t good for. She wonders if there’s anything Mary is good for.
Everyone glares at Mary but Peter and Regulus watch Ursa stroll up to the bar, popping on a charming smile for the bartender. Though Lupin’s glare is more like a judgmental stare to be honest. And to be entirely transparent, it isn’t far off from his usual stare. Sirius blinks in startlement when his sister’s words process through his thick head. He grabs Regulus' arm and yanks him to the side, as Lily scolds Mary like she were a misbehaved child. The rest of the marauders stare at their friend through concerned brows.
Sirius stares at his brother blankly and drops his arm “What she—” Regulus flashes James a worried look and he rushes over to them at once, Remus and Peter not far behind him “That’s not—" Sirius takes a deep breath but when he looks at James over Regulus’ shoulder he’s anything but soothed. James’ never been good at concealing his emotions, he never had the years-worth of practice the Blacks had. Sirius swallows, his jaw twitches.
“What?” he snaps and James jumps
“What?”
“Spit it out”
“I don’t—”
“you think she’s lying?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know something.”
“All I know is she doesn’t flinch. Not ever. And she hates being touched. Sirius, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but… it’d make sense”
“She was lying before, she… it’s not true” He’d know if she did
“Okay” James nods
“It wouldn’t she… she hasn’t… I would’ve noticed if… I would know”
“Okay” James reassures him with a hand on his shoulder
“I would know” Sirius nods to himself, his voice certain. He suddenly recalls Regulus standing next to him, he looks at him and any pretense of clarity crumbles “Right?”
“I think we need a drink” Peter lifts their foggy spirits. Sirius looks at his sister by the bar and nods. He marches over to it and stands next to Ursa as the bartender hands her a bottle of vodka. He reaches for it but she slaps his hand away “get your own” Sirius clenches his jaw and gestures at the bartender for a drink. She nods something to the bartender in russian and Sirius takes the shot he hands him. He gestures for another. James and Lupin exchange a look and follow their friend to the bar, Regulus and Peter close behind. None of them like the looks of that.
“You don’t have nightmares.” he tilts his head back with his second shot. He’s been sleeping on the same bed as her, at least when he wasn’t sleeping outside, he’d know if she had nightmares. She doesn’t have nightmares. She doesn’t even move. She sleeps like a mummy. What she said is a lie. She was lying. It’s all false. That’s all it is, just a lie “Is the other thing—” he clenches his jaw unable to get the words out, he balls his fists “Did papa ever—”
“No, Sirius, papa never touched my no-no bits, you can relax now.” She chuckles at the horrified concern on his face “Those aren’t even real statistics, I made them up. If someone pities you, then they forget they hate and fear you” she takes a third shot from him and hands it to James, she pats his cheek and walks away taking a swing of her vodka bottle.
Sirius sighs with relief and orders five drinks. The girls join them at the bar a minute later and they make their order. Mary takes a seat next to Sirius after a pointed, encouraging look from Lily “Sirius, I’m sorry. I didn’t know but Lily’s right anyways, she always is, I should have dropped it when you told me to, I was out of line and I’m sorry”
“Thanks. But I’m not the one you should be apologizing to” he leaves her at the bar while he joins his sister by the jukebox.
No one wanted to play with me as a little kid
So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since
To make them love me and make it seem effortless
This this the first time I've felt the need to confess
And I swear
I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian 'cause I care
Regulus is questioning Mike about Ursa’s true Russian knowledge. Mary takes James by one arm and Lily by the other. The three of them drift off to the side “So, you and Sirius’ little brother?” she hums. He’d made it almost ten entire minutes before thoughtlessy kissing him in a very non-platonic way “Collecting Blacks, aren’t you?” His face lights up and his eyes find the exact second Regulus’s frown deepens, Ursa’s russian must be better than he thought
“He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?” he sighs dreamily, like a love sick puppy
“Yeah. Bit of an arse too”
“He’s just shy and generally surrounded by dickheads”
“Fair enough, but he still came with his puppeteer”
“And we know for a fact she isn’t ‘just shy’ but, in fact, devil incarnate” Lily and Sirius had bonded over both their evil siblings. The few stories he told her made Petunia look like a saint.
“Says the girl who was rubbing all up on her not even an hour ago, Mary”
“I’m allowed to do that because I’m not in danger of falling for the Black charms”
“Still hang up on Sirius, are you?” now that makes Mary laugh so hard that tears threaten to spill over “Look,” James gives up understanding her “she really cares about Regulus, okay? And even if she’d never admit it, she cares about Sirius too and they obviously care about her, so she can’t be all that bad”
“I fear there’s some issues with your logic James” Lily pats his shoulder “In our third year she somehow convinced Severus that Barty ate his frog. He harassed him for two weeks before I could finally get him to leave him alone”
“Did he really eat his frog?” James gapes at her with big broad eyes
“Of course not, you dolt” Mary smacks his side and he pouts at her
“The point is she convinced him he ate his frog. Ate it James. I know Sirius mentioned to you how much she loves playing mind games and your innocent, pure mind is the perfect target for that”
“Look, I’m not denying any of that, she’s done awful things. I’m just saying that maybe once she’s spent some time away from her psychotic family she might—I don’t know, have a chance to be decent?” Mary wonders if he simply lost his marbles or if Ursa actually stole them from him “I know how I sound, but she’s never had a reason to be better, all she’s ever known is people expecting her to be hateful, maybe if we give her a reason, if we show her—”
“So you want to rescue her? Save her from herself? James Fleamont Potter, you sod, you’re fucking helpless, she wasn’t wrong about your hero complex, was she?” that’s what she’d called him in school when they were younger, paired with a look of repulsion
“Regulus says she usually isn’t wrong” he tells her and Mary rolls her eyes so far back in her head she sees her own brain melting
“She’s not a damsel in distress okay? If anything, she’s the dragon endangering your damsel in distress—and yes, by your damsel in distress I mean Regulus”
“I think she’s starting to cave” James is determined to make her his friend, even if everyone agrees it’s a terrible idea. Ursa included.
“you big-hearted dummy”
“You’re really in love with him, huh?” Lily’s voice is gentle, her stare soft
“So fucking much. It scares me sometimes. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. Losing him would wreck me. I love him so much that I even care about her”
“Sounds like you’re fucked” Mary tells him
“You’re not fucked” Lily shoots her a scolding look
“Sorry, I got a bit carried away, didn’t mean to, Sirius tends to cut me off before I can get too far. Like whenever I mention that he’s good in bed—he is, by the way. Really good. He does this thing with his tongue where he sucks and licks at the same time that makes my body sing, I didn’t know I could moan so loud” his eyes twinkle with delight, but they’re glossed over, like he’s in the moment and not entirely aware of what he’s saying aloud. He’s too in love.
“I’m starting to understand why Sirius cuts you off before you get too far” she smiles at him
“I know, it sucks, he didn't mind when it wasn’t ‘his baby brother’, but he isn’t a baby, and now I’m having the best sex of my life and I can’t tell my best friend about it. I mean, I did tell him, he just didn’t want to listen to me. The first time we kissed for real I ran all the way back to our dorm and told Sirius how I’d really liked it and wanted to do it again and again and probably forever but he covered his ears and made a gagging sound until Peter offered to talk somewhere else” Lily does her best to hold in her laughter but there’s only so much one can do
“I’m happy for you James, you seem… happy”
“I am”
“Just… promise us you’ll be careful, alright? We don’t want them to break your heart”
“He won’t” he's sure of it
“You can’t know that. And even if he doesn’t, she might. Just promise you’ll be careful with your heart, okay? It’s such a sweet, soft, fragile thing that I’d hate to watch it harden” Lily wraps an arm around him. They’re both glad he got over his silly crash and now they can have this: pure platonic friendship. She smiles at him softly and they exchange a tender look between them.
“Jamie!” Ursa's voice rings loud in his ears before he can make any promise “Come dance with me!”
“You want me to dance with you?!” he roars with big, broad eyes like a puppy being offered a treat. So much for being careful. She holds a hand out for him and he rushes to take it. Lily sighs and Ursa eyes her carefully, not bothering with a fake smile. Lily hovers off and finds herself beside Remus, she rests her head on his shoulder with a sigh.
“Oops, sorry Jamsie! I must be drunker than I thought, sorry” she sounds wistful after fully decking him in the balls not two whole minutes later, unfully camouflaged into a dance move and Peter hides a chuckle behind a cough alongside Remus “See? This is why I shouldn’t be dancing, Reggie, take my spot!” James tugs on Regulus' hand until he's swaying beside him.
"I think you might be losing your touch" Sirius tuts at her "That wasn't smooth at all"
"And who says I was trying to be smooth?" She peers up at him with a smug smirk
"You're so full of shit" he rolls his eyes
"I'm a mastermind" she corrects him with a wink. She saunters off to the bar and after some Russian whispers back and forth she takes off with a beer in each hand. She heads for the drooling, ugly men's table but she doesn't quite make it there "Oops" she dumps both the bottles down Lily's shirt with the subtlety of a hand grenade. She jolts straight up and away from the werewolf, giving her just what she wanted "Silly me, I don't know what is up with me today, I'm being so clumsy!" She claims trying to help clean it up only to makes it worse while a smug she doesn’t bother trying to hide tugs at her lips.
"It's fine! Just leave it!" Lily shrieks and Ursa smirks as she rushes into the bathroom. Mary's glare is trained on her as she follows where her friend has run off to, so she doesn't miss the stern, scolding look both her siblings shoot at her, or how she seems to shrink under them. She shuts the bathroom door and Marlene follows close to her heels and Ursa straightens back up dropping the act, let the games begin.
So I told you none of it was accidental
And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me
I laid the groundwork and then saw a wide smirk
On your face, you knew the entire time
You knew that I'm a mastermind
And now you're mine
Yeah, all you did was smile
'Cause I'm a mastermind