In the Beginning:
The Marauder's Story
By: Ashley R. Fischer
Chapter One
One day, a long time ago, there was a frail, solemn boy named Remus Lupin. Remus's best friend was another equally pale boy with hair as black as the raven feathers he used in potions class, and piercing blue eyes. Remus and Sirius, although they were best friends, were extreme opposites. Remus was quiet and reserved; extremely intelligent, and solemn. Sirius possessed a bit of a rebellious streak, and was quick to anger; a truly misunderstood creature.
Sirius and Remus walked side by side across the majestic Hogwarts campus. The towers and spires of the castle turned school house soared in the background. Taking in the beauty of this scene, Sirius scoffed, "I'm so sick of this place. I'm restless; I need to get out."
Remus, partially ignoring his friend's comments, rolled his eyes.
"We've only been back for two weeks, and you're already giving me the same speech you gave me at the end of last year. Still, I don't understand you. I love this place."
Sirius, obviously unhappy with Remus's reply, chaffed at his imagined restraints that bound him to the school. Unfortunately, the only way he could express his frustrations was by kicking a rock that was unfortunate enough to rest by the toe of his shoe.
"Ah, bloody hell. I can't take it! I think it's due time I pay old Padfoot a visit and get out of here. Do you want to come?"
Remus stared at his friend indignantly.
"Are you mad? Sneaking off campus within the first month of school, accompanied by an illegal animagus? No thanks, I've had enough of these near expulsion adventures. Besides, we're taking a trip into Hogsmeade today for the Trade Fair. That's off-campus, isn't it?"
Sirius just stood there, completely dumbfounded by Remus's complete lack of understanding.
"Hogsmeade? That place is even worse! A few low-caliber jokes, and a "haunted" house. That's not my idea of a good time. I guess I'll just have to go off by myself."
Remus shrugged. "Whatever suits you."
At these words, Sirius shot Remus a hostile stare, opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it, and stormed off. For a moment, Remus started after his mildly overdramatic friend and shouted, "If you keep this up, people will think we're married!"
~*~*~
Meanwhile, a girl desperately tired to dodge through the bustling streets of Hogsmeade. She hastily moved the basket she was cautiously carrying above her head. Even without a large basket above her, the girl was a sight not easily missed. The sun reflected off her long, burgundy tresses, and shone in her sage green eyes.
"Excuse me, coming through, excuse... Hey!"
An elderly wizard in tattered velvet robes practically running through the streets, collided with the girl, causing her to drop her basket, scattering its contents, brightly colored jewels across the dusty road.
"Sorry, Holly!" The wizard shouted over his shoulder, and hurried on.
"Great, just my luck..." Holly muttered under her breath. She frantically grasped at the glittering jewels embedded in the dirt before they, or her hands were trampled. Pausing for a moment, Holly looked up and called, "Nips! Get over here! This is supposed to be your job!"
Suddenly, an elongated, black furry creature came scampering around the corner. It was Holly's Niffler, who was an extreme help to Holly's chosen profession of selling precious stones. Nifflers possessed an affinity for shiny objects, and with their pointy snouts and flat front feet, Nifflers were perfect for digging through the ground to apprehend them. Within a matter of seconds, Nips successfully placed all the jewels back into the basket. Holly quickly stood back up, and continued down the street.
At the end of the street, there was a circus-like atmosphere buzzing through the air. There were tables and booths of all shapes, colors, and sizes, advertising the most fantastic and exotic products of the wizarding world. Hovering above it all, there was a large sign, glittering and darting about the sky. It proudly displayed the words, "625th Annual World Wizarding Trade Fair!"
Holly sighed, and began gingerly setting her meticulously cut and polished jewels on the table. Holly glanced over at the table to her right. A three-foot tall man with a fluffy, powdery white beard was scurrying about, setting up his display of fairy garments.
"These wizards are more vicious than ever this year," Holly commented to the man.
"Oh, yes," he squeaked. "Even the Hogwarts lot is coming in today. I suspect that this fair will be very successful," he added giddily.
Indeed, Holly saw a group of Hogwarts robes working their way down to her table. She looked back down to her work, but then she suddenly felt her head shoot back up, and found herself staring at one of the Hogwarts boys. He was quietly flipping through the pages of a huge, ancient looking book. Holly could feel her cheeks flushing, and her powers of speech ceased to function.
"Oh no.." she thought. "I hate it when this happens..."
~*~*~
High above, on Hogsmeade Mountain, another girl was busy with far different tasks. Her frail figure was bent over a small, crystalline stream, gathering water. A lanky, baby unicorn stood next to her, grazing on the lush, green grass. The sun reflected off of its fuzzy golden fur, and on to the pale skin of the girl. A mass of black curls cascaded over the girl's shoulder as she let the icy water slide between her fingers.
When her jug was full, she stood up and smiled, as she took in her surroundings with her inexcusably blue eyes. A few feet away from the stream sat a squat, comfortable, yet intricately constructed hut. Near the entrance, there was a large fire pit, with books of all kinds scattered about it: spell books, transfiguration books, Quidditch books, Muggle Studies books; she had read them all. All of this was perched high above the village of Hogsmeade. This mountain setting was Evelyn Everheart's home, and she cherished the peace and tranquility found on the outskirts of the wizarding world.
Evelyn's silent musings evaporated when the unicorn, her unicorn, Persephone, gave a sharp whinny of alarm. Looking up, Evelyn asked, "What's the matter, Percy?"
The only reply Percy gave was pawing the ground anxiously with one of her dainty, golden hooves. Evelyn's alarm raising, she stood up. She then saw what she thought was a small hippogriff galloping toward them. Only after staring for a moment did she realize that it was a dog, a huge dog, with shaggy black fur. Evelyn moved toward her unicorn.
"What are you so worried about? It's just..."
Evelyn never finished her sentence. Instead, her back was slammed into the ground by the largest pair of paws she had even seen landing heavily on her chest. Percy let out a piercing shriek of terror. Evelyn's hand searched desperately across the ground for a weapon. Finally, her hand closed upon her wand. Frantically searching her mind for something to say, she screamed the first spell that popped into her mind, "Minizous Shrinkarnum!"
Suddenly, the huge beast that had been standing upon her was nothing more than a mere nuisance, nipping her robes and barring its teeth.
"Yeah, not so tough now, are you?" Evelyn said as she scooped the tiny creature into the palm of her hand.
"Ow!"
She nearly dropped the miniature dog as it latched its sharp, needle-like teeth around the tip of her finger. Evelyn closed her hand, and shook it until the dog finally let go. She once again flattened her hand, and raised it to her face so that she was eye to eye with the fur ball.
"Now there. Even though you made my finger bleed, I still have the upper-hand."
At this, the dog growled indignantly.
"But," Evelyn continued, "if you promise to stop attacking me, I'll undo the spell, and perhaps find you something to eat. Do we have a deal?"
The dog sat placidly in the middle of Evelyn's hand, its long, pink tongue flopping at the side of its mouth. It almost seemed to be smiling at her.
"Alright then. I'll take that as a yes. But, no more funny business, or I'll do something far worse than shrink you."
With that, Evelyn performed the counter curse, and the once again gargantuan creature sat before her, still smiling.
"Wipe that smirk off your face!" Evelyn commanded. "It's incredibly unnerving."
The dog promptly closed its mouth and continued staring at her.
"Right... Well, unless you're satisfied with grass, I'm going to have to find you something to eat. So, if you want food, wait here, and I'll be right back."
The dog just smiled in agreement.
~*~*~
Back down in Hogsmeade, Holly Gollightly was having her own adventure of sorts.
"Stop beating so loudly! Someone'll hear you!" Holly silently commanded her heart to stop its racket. The mysterious Hogwarts boy was only five tables away, and only kept getting closer. 4 tables... 3 tables... 2 tables... Holly desperately tried to make herself look busy. She was polishing a stone from her runes collection when she heard, "Ah, these are nice, but I think I already have enough Dragon's Heart opal necklaces, don't you?"
Holly cautiously sneaked a glance at the boys. One with insatiably messy hair and glasses covering the most brilliant green eyes she had ever seen was holding up one of her necklaces.
"Heh, heh, yeah, James, you already have tons," squeaked another voice. This boy wasn't nearly as handsome as his two companions. His head only reached to the glasses wearing boy's shoulder. He had thin, greasy, mousy blond hair combed to one side of his small, round head. The most strikingly unappealing feature of this boy were his beady, rodent-like eyes that sat glistening within the folds of his skin.
"James, why do you feel the need to make fun of every table we come across?"
Holly did not need to look up to know where this voice came from. The boy spoke softly, just like his delicate features. Holly felt a gaze boring into the back of her neck as she fervently wished that she could disapperate to Mongolia. From her crouched view, Holly saw a thin, bony hand pick up one of her Defense Stones. Remus examined the stone with his watery brown eyes. The outside seemed to be clear, but inside, the stone was filled with a substance blacker than the darkest night sky. It possessed a black so pure, that it seemed to suck the color out of the world surrounding it.
"I know what this is..." he breathed. "It's a Black Heart Stone. It's filled with a drop of blood from those innocents who have been killed unjustly by trickery or dark magic. Supposedly, it protects you from unforeseen death."
Holly felt a sharp pain in her chest and felt as though her head was floating away. Only then did she notice that she held her breath so she could hear every word.
"Breathe, Holly, breathe," she reminded herself.
Through Remus's entire speech, James had been eyeing his friend strangely.
"Sometimes Lupin, you're a bit too loony for me."
All the while, the blond boy at James's shoulder looked extremely uncomfortable.
"Yeah, well, I don't know about you, but I've had enough of jewels. Let's go check out those invisible owls over there."
"Good idea, Petticoat," James snickered, and began to walk towards the InvisOwl booth, with Peter "Petticoat" tottering behind him.
"I'll catch up to you later," Remus said distractedly. He continued to stare at the stone in his hand for a minute, before taking notice of the girl behind the table for the first time. In spite of her efforts to make herself invisible, Remus couldn't take his eyes of her. He stood there with his mouth open, wondering where his voice ran off to. He finally managed to force his tongue and jaw to move in conjunction with each other and create the sentence, "Er, how much is this?"
Holly paused for a moment, wondering if the voice had really been directed towards her. She looked up and saw Remus holding out the black stone. She managed a smile and said, "18 galleons."
Remus's face noticeably fell.
"Oh," was all he said.
Thinking quickly, Holly said, "Oh, well, er, that's just my asking price. I'm willing to haggle."
"Really?" She saw Remus smile for the first time since she'd been watching him. Remus dug his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out 15 galleons.
"This is all I have," he offered hopefully. Holly took the coins from his willowy hand.
"That's good enough for me."
Her shy smile suddenly grew into a full fledged grin. Remus's smile grew as well.
"Thank you," he said sheepishly. There was an awkward silence before the boy, looking a bit more delicate than usual ventured, "So, what's your name?"
"Holly Gollightly."
"Oh, you don't happen to go to Hogwarts, do you? I've never seen you around before."
"Oh, no, I..."
"Oh, so you go to Beauxbetans, then?" Remus interrupted. "You're too pretty to go to Durmstrang."
Holly felt her cheeks flush to a color that matched her brilliant burgundy hair. When she recovered from Remus's compliment, she answered, "No, I... I don't go to any school. My parents couldn't afford it."
Remus's face contorted into an odd look of pity and horror.
"Oh, I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean... I just assumed..."
Remus's extreme discomfort made Holly feel all the more at ease.
"Would you like to sit down?" she asked boldly.
Remus continued stuttering for a moment before he realized what Holly had said.
"Sit? Oh, yes, of course..."
~*~*~
"Evie, you've really outdone yourself this time. You trekked miles to get food for a dog you made a deal with! A dog! What was he going to do if you didn't? Drool on you?"
Evie continued badgering herself all the way up to her hut.
Sirius Black lied on his side on the prickly grass in front of Evelyn's hut reading Voyage's With Vampires, the debut book by Gilderoy Lockheart. He stopped reading when he heard Holly cursing her stupidity as to why she didn't simply transfigure something into a steak for the "bloody beast" to eat.
Sirius pretended to keep reading and forced himself not to look at the girl as she reached the top of the hill.
"Here's your food, you stupid mutt," Evelyn said, throwing a large cut of meat on the ground.
"It's a tad undercooked, don't you think?"
Evelyn felt herself finally snap.
"Why, you ungrateful, idiotic creature! Out of the sheer kindness of my heart, I bring you food, and you have the audacity to com..."
Only then did Evelyn realize that typically, dogs did not talk. She also noticed that the dog whom she had been addressing had been replaced by a boy, and a rather handsome one at that.
Sirius felt the girl staring at him. A slight breeze picked up, stirring the grass, and blew a few strands of his shaggy black hair into his face.
"You read this? This Lockheart character is a real git."
Although his voice contained an air of nonchalance, behind the crimson cover of the book, Sirius's eyes gleamed, and he grinned uncontrollably.
"I wish I could see her face..."
Evelyn stood there staring at this cocky, handsome boy, and felt her body shake with rage.
"You, you... You were a dog! How dare you! Yeah, you think you're real cute, reading my book. Did you sleep in my bed and eat some porridge too?!"
"Actually, I did, and it was rather cold..."
"You volatile, presumptuous, scruffy looking... Ahh!"
Unable to finish her insult, Evelyn picked up the meat lying on the ground, and hurled it at Sirius's head. Without even watching to see if she hit her target, Evelyn stormed off, and sat down at the bank of the stream.
Sirius, still smiling, moved from his spot in front of the hut, and sat down next to Evelyn.
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Sirius Black."
He offered the girl his hand, which she eyed as though it were a rabid flobberworm. Locking her gaze with his she said, "Wish I could say the say for you."
Ignoring Sirius's outstretched hand, Evelyn turned her back to him, pretending she thought the water was far more interesting than he.
Ultimately pleased by Evelyn's fiery response, Sirius pressed on.
"So, does my gracious host have a name?"
Suppressing a smile, for she was sure this devious boy would hear it in her voice, she answered without turning around.
"Evelyn. Evelyn Everheart. Perhaps, if you ever give me a reason to like you, you can call me Evie."
"Alright then, Evie."
This statement caused just the reaction Sirius had wanted; Evie turned to face him. They sat staring at each other for some time before Sirius broke the silence.
"You're cute when you're angry."
"Yeah, pity you're not," Evie shot back, no longer able to suppress her smile.
Sirius's heart leapt. His front of confidence was not as sound as it appeared to be. But, this one smile was all the affirmation he needed.
"Pity you're a terrible liar," Sirius replied, returning Evelyn's smile.
"I never said I was a good one."
Sirius leaned forward and tucked a curly tendril that had fallen into Evelyn's face back behind her ear.
"So, what's a girl like you doing out here all alone?"
"So, what's a Hogwarts boy like yourself doing turning into an illegal animagus and sneaking off campus?"
Sirius didn't falter.
"I asked you first, dear."
Evelyn cast her blue eyes to the ground. Sirius seized this moment and finally allowed his eyes to take the girl in: her ebony hair, her pale skin, her tiny, delicate hands, and her silk robes which sparkled like the stars. He watched her bite her wine-stained bottom lip as she looked back at him.
"It's a long story..."
"I've got time," said Sirius.
Once again, both of them smiled.
"Well, I was just a little girl, when..."
~*~*~
"Ow!" Remus Lupin cried out after he hit his head on the underside of the table.
"Sorry, Holly, there's no more rune starter kits under here. I guess you're all out."
Holly smiled at her new friend.
"I wouldn't worry about it, Remus, the fair's almost over anyway. I was just about to start packing up."
Remus sighed a happy sigh. In all of his years at Hogwarts, and in all of his trips to Hogsmeade, no day had been so rewarding as this one. He spent the whole day with Holly, talking, joking, and selling her unique jewelry creations. Time had gone by so quickly, aside from that first awkward pause, there had been no other break in the conversation. Remus had told her things that Sirius-What ever became of him?-didn't even know.
Holly placed what little stock there was left back in the basket, and shrunk her table so it would fit in her pocket. Holly surveyed the area one last time before she turned to Remus and said, "How about a Butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks? I think we've earned it."
"Sounds good to me."
The sky had long been dark, and the moonlight cast a soft silver glow over Holly and Remus as they walked towards the Three Broomsticks. The streets were nearly deserted, except for a few remaining stragglers from the fair, and a group of goblins arguing noisily over splitting the profits from their booth.
Holly shivered slightly, and pulled her robes more tightly around her. The gentle breeze from the afternoon had now turned into a strong wind.
Holly greatly welcomed the warm blast of air as Remus pulled open the door to the Three Broomsticks. The bar was far more crowded than usual, with wizards and strange creatures from all parts of the world. Holly and Remus worked their way to a small corner in the back. Mademoiselle Rosemertta with her frizzy red hair piled in a bun on top of her head pushed her way to the back of the room where Remus and Holly were sitting.
"Hey Rosy," Holly said smiling.
"Hii, Holly," Rosy cooed. "Who's this you've got here? A Hogwarts boy, huh? Isn't it a bit late for you to be out? All of your little friends left hours ago."
Remus's eyes widened with realization. "Left? Oh no. What time is it?"
Rosy shrugged. "I'm not sure, about ten or so."
Remus stared at Holly. "Oh no."
In this moment, Remus leaned forward, kissed Holly on the cheek, grabbed his Butterbeer from Rosemertta, and dashed out of the building, all in one swift movement.
Both of the girls stared after him, not quite realizing what happened. Rosemertta shook her head, and laughed.
"You sure do know how to pick 'em, Holly. Well, it was nice talking to you. I have work to do."
Holly still sat there, in a daze. Her face slowly broke into her largest smile of the day; she hardly knew what to do with herself she was so happy. Holly grabbed her Butterbeer from the table, and hopped lightly out of her stool. Holly left the Three Broomsticks walking on air.
~*~*~
Evelyn Everheart and Sirius Black lied next to each other on the cool grass, staring up at the stars. They had been in this position for hours, talking, listening, and above all things, laughing.
There was a fire in the fire pit, which Evie had insisted that they start without using magic. She and Sirius walked along the outskirts of Hogsmeade stuffing their pockets full of brightly colored fliers advertising the fair that littered the ground. They used these as kindling for the fire which Evie started with some Muggle matches.
Their hard earned fire surrounded the couple with warmth, and cast happy shadows that danced across their faces. Percy had gone to bed long ago, and was no curled in a ball near the blaze. The occasional pops of the fire and the soft rush of the stream provided the only background noise to Evie and Sirius's conversation, which was dominated by their maniacal giggling.
"Yeah, so, James and I were in Potions with Slytherin, and Snape, the dark, tormented soul, was only two rows in front of us. So we threw these specialized smoke bombs we designed into his cauldron. There was this weird sort of explosion, and his potion turned this weird, purple color, and smoke started rising from it. The smoke formed into the words, 'Stupid Git.' It was hilarious!"
Sirius had to pause for a moment to regain his composure. He was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe, as was Evelyn.
"You are so evil! I hope this Snape fellow at least did something to deserve it."
"I'm sure he did," Sirius replied. "He was probably following Lilly around again, or something."
There was a contented silence before Evie sat halfway up, so she was looking at Sirius's face.
"Did you know," she started, "that the star Sirius, is in the constellation Canis Major, which forms the shape of a large dog?"
Sirius smiled up at her.
"I was not aware of that," he said playfully.
"It's also the brightest star in the night sky. I guess your parents knew what they were doing when they named you."
Sirius continued smiling at her.
"Wait a minute, I thought you hated me, Evelyn Everheart. Don't tell me our whole relationship has been a lie!"
"I do hate you," said Evie. "So don't go getting all full of yourself now."
Evelyn winked at him, and pointed to the sky.
"You can't really see it that well right now, because it's only ten or so..."
Sirius's eyes followed her finger, and he reveled in his own happiness until heard the word "ten." Sirius suddenly jumped to his feet.
"You don't mean, ten at night, do you?"
Evelyn looked at him quizzically, then up at the dark sky.
"Am I missing something here? Because I'm confused."
Sirius shook his head. "No, you're not missing anything, it's just that it's a little late to be strolling back up to the campus."
Evie's eyes widened. "Oh. Yeah, that's definitely not good."
Sirius gave her his signature mischievous grin.
"Don't worry about me. It's not like I haven't done it before, and besides, a Marauder never gets caught."
With infinite grandeur, Sirius pulled Evelyn off the ground and kissed her forehead.
"Now, before I leave you, I must warn you to watch yourself, because a certain wild beast will be stopping in quite frequently to harass you."
Evelyn nodded, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to make it suffer."
"Good."
They stood there looking at each other before Sirius finally changed back into the huge black dog he came as, and took off at a lope.
"Get out of here, you stupid mutt!" Evelyn half shouted, half laughed, as the Padfoot gave a last flick of his tail, and vanished into the shadows.
Chapter 2
Remus Lupin bolted from the doorway of the Three Broomsticks, and headed towards Honey Dukes sweet shop at a flat run. He dashed through the deserted streets cursing his own stupidity, and praying that he would actually be able to get into Honey Dukes, which contained the closest, and most accessible entry back into Hogwarts.
There was little light, except for a soft, eerie glow coming through the windows of a few modest Hogsmeade homes. Remus, completely engrossed in formulating as to what he would do if he could not get into Honey Dukes, failed to notice the large, shadowy figure of Padfoot bounding towards him.
Remus turned his head to look at a cat sitting on the corner with glowing red eyes, which he could have sworn was glowering at him.
"That couldn't possibly be Mrs. Norris..."
"Hey!"
Remus let out a yelp of surprise as he fell backwards to the ground, and suddenly found himself entangled with a large mass of black fur.
Remus instantly knew he collided with.
"Padfoot! What are you doing here?" He whispered.
The dog gave no reply, but righted itself to its feet, gave a decisive swish of its tail, and continued walking towards Honey Dukes.
Remus stared agitatedly after his furry friend before quickly getting to his feet, and following. Upon arriving at Honey Duke's, Remus and Padfoot found the store to be completely empty, and completely dark.
"Oh great, now what are we going to do?" Remus sighed.
Remus sighed once again before turning to Padfoot, "You know, I really wish you would turn back into yourself. I feel like an idiot talking to you this way."
The dog sat there, as though it were pondering its possibilities, before trotting off behind the building. In a few moments, Sirius Black emerged.
"You're too kind," Remus said dryly.
Sirius just shrugged. "Don't worry about it. So, how are we going to get in there?"
"Gee, I don't know, but, if I had the answer, I wouldn't just be standing here!"
"You don't think they have any charms guarding the building, do you?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm also not sure if it's worth it to find out the hard way."
This boys sighed simultaneously before sliding down the wall into a sitting position. They sat there motionless, engrossed in thought. Remus felt himself growing agitated as each valuable minute ticked away, especially when he looked over and saw Sirius idly drawing in the dirt with his finger. Remus thought he would explode any second, until Sirius suddenly sat up, and his face lighted with an epiphany.
"You know, when I went behind the building to change into myself, I saw a window back there."
Remus raised his eyebrows. "And...?"
"I don't think it was locked."
Remus exploded.
"You idiot! It took you this long to realize that?"
Sirius stood up, and lazily dusted himself off.
"I don't know, I might be wrong, but it's worth a shot."
Ignoring Remus's still outraged face, Sirius turned and walked to the back of the building.
"Come on, Remus! It's open!"
Without waiting, Sirius climbed through the now open window, which conveniently entered right into the back room which contained the secret passage. Before getting up, Remus silently counted to 10, and followed his friend through the window. When Remus crawled into the dark, dusty room, Sirius was sitting on the edge of the small opening in the floor. He grinned sheepishly, and muttered, "Sorry," before dropping through the trap door.
In spite of himself, Remus smiled slightly, and slipped through the door himself, making sure to close it behind him.
~*~*~
Sirius and Remus sprinted the entire distance back to Hogwarts, bumping their heads numerous times on the low passageway. After finally reaching the end of the tunnel, a slight glimmer at the bottom of the steps caught Sirius's eye. He leaned in closer, and discovered James's invisibility cloak with a note tied to it. Remus peered over Sirius's shoulder.
"What is that?" He whispered.
"The invisibility cloak, with a note from James."
Sirius reached into his robe, pulled out his wand and whispered, "Lumos!"
Sirius's eyes were greeted with James's large, and childlike handwriting hastily scrawled on a small piece of parchment.
Thought you guys might need this. This story had better be good.
-James
"James knows us so well, it's almost creepy," said Remus. He began to unfold the delicate, silver material of the invisibility cloak, and draped it over himself, and Sirius.
Remus felt incredibly cramped underneath the cloak with Sirius; it had been quite some time since two people had attempted to fit underneath it. He glanced down at his feet, and realized that the hem of the cloak was hardly even touching the ground.
"One of us must have grown a lot over the holiday, or this cloak just isn't as long as it used to be. Look! It's not even touching the ground!"
Sirius glanced down at his feet.
"You're right, but quit worrying! I don't think anyone will be out there to see us, and even if there were, they wouldn't notice anyway."
Remus reluctantly pushed open the trap door, and both boys assumed the difficult task of crawling out without revealing too much of themselves from under the invisibility cloak. They made it successfully, with only minor difficulties, and began stealthily walking towards Remus's Ravenclaw tower. As they made their way past a potions class room, a flicker of candlelight behind a partially closed door caught Sirius's eye. Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Sirius grabbed the back of Remus's robes and yanked him towards the doorway.
Remus suddenly felt himself being pulled sharply towards his right, and almost tripped over himself in the confusion.
"What are you doing?" he hissed angrily.
Sirius did not reply, and continued pulling Remus until he reached the door.
Sirius peered through the crack eagerly.
Severus Snape sat hunched over a desk, carefully cutting newt's tails into tiny slivers. His medium-length black hair fell to the side of his face, blocking it from view. Even still, his eyes gleamed with an odd sort of glee. Although it seemed as though they were fixed intently on his work, his eyes were truly fixed on some distant point, almost as though he could look straight through to the future. Snape's black ensemble clung loosely to his frail form, making his tightly drawn skin seem all the more pale.
"How poetic, how tragic this is," Sirius whispered tauntingly, "the lone student working, for endless hour in the potions lab, meticulously creat..."
Sirius's speech was stopped short by Remus jabbing his elbow painfully into Sirius's side.
Snape's head shot up, and looked straight towards the doorway. Thinking he had been found out, Snape quickly gathered up his supplies, stuffed his cauldron into a back closet, and locked it.
"C'mon, move, he's leaving!," Remus hissed.
Sirius turned on his heel, and began moving away from the classroom, and quickly as possible.
Snape stepped gingerly out of the classroom, and closed the door quietly behind him. Then he saw it. He shook his head slightly to be sure he was not hallucinating. A heel of a shoe stepped down, then disappeared, again, and again, and again. Snape felt the corner of his mouth twitch slightly in a malicious grin.
"This is almost too good to be true..."
Snape lengthened his stride until he caught up with the disappearing shoe and casually put his foot down exactly where the invisibility cloak should be. The cloak slowly slipped to the ground, revealing Sirius and Remus.
"Well, what have we here?" Snape seethed.
Remus and Sirius stopped in their tracks, and turned to face Snape. His countenance was filled with an expression of utmost hatred and contempt.
"Careful, Severus, if you keep making that face, it will get stuck that way," Sirius practically spat the words at him.
Remus stood there uneasily, wondering what Snape was planning. He didn't have to wait long to find out.
"I wonder what the Professors of this school would think if they found out that last year's head boy was sneaking about the school after hours with his delinquent friend."
"I wonder what the Professors of this school would think if they found out that a greasy sniveling rat was lurking about the school after hours, and concocting a suspicious potion." Sirius's face almost matched the utter hatred expressed by Snape's.
Knowing that he was beaten, Snape merely stood there clenching his fists, before storming off, with his long, black cape trailing behind him.
~*~*~
"I hate that bastard," Sirius sneered as he watched Snape's long cape slowly fade into darkness. He turned to look at Remus, and stood there slowly clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Hey, it's Snape you hate, not me," Remus said quickly. "Now, let's get out of here before someone else wanders through."
Sirius nodded in agreement, and once again slipped beneath the invisibility cloak with Remus. The two boys slowly made their way through the enchanting Hogwarts hallways to the Ravenclaw portrait entrance. In the portrait, Sir Cadogan snored softly as he slept next to his fat, gray pony, while clutching his sword; always on the alert.
Remus groaned, "Aw, I hate waking him up. He always makes such a raucous, and he half the time, he's so grumpy, he won't let you in, even if you know the password!"
Sirius snickered. "At least we have the fat lady, she's a reliable one."
"Oh, you Gryffindors wait, one day Cadogan will be forced upon you, and you'll have to deal with his drunken antics."
Sirius rolled his eyes, "Yes, Remus, I'm sure that will happen."
Remus allowed himself a large yawn.
"Well, I'd love to stay here and chat, but I'm rather tired."
Remus turned, and began to lift the edge of the invisibility cloak when Sirius pulled him back. There was one question that had been burning in the back of Sirius's mind ever since he and Remus collided in Hogsmeade.
"What were you, of all people, doing roaming about Hogsmeade after hours?"
Remus shifted his weight from foot to foot, while looking mildly uncomfortable.
"Oh, well, I was just hanging about with some girl..."
"A girl!" Sirius's face filled with an odd combination of glee and pride. "Why, our own little Remus Lupin, spending his hours with a living breathing female. My, you do grow up fast! Do you believe that she's a bit taken with you?"
Remus's face broke into the tiniest of smiles.
"Actually, I do, and I'm quite taken with her as well."
Sirius continued grinning.
"Well, if you care to know, I also spent my evening with a lovely lady."
Remus once again felt himself rolling his eyes.
"Well, that's hardly surprising. I'm sure she's fallen madly in love with you, right?"
"Actually, that is not the situation at all, for you see," Sirius clasped his hands together and brought them near his chin, while exaggeratedly batting his eyes. Sirius sighed a mock dreamy sigh, and continued, "For you see, Loony Lupin, she hates me."
Sirius jumped away from Lupin, removing him from the safety of invisibility. Lupin stood there, staring at where he knew Sirius would be standing, and gave a meek wave.
"See you tomorrow."
Lupin heard this faintly, for Sirius already turned and began heading away from Lupin and Sir Cadogan, towards the Gryffindor tower.
Remus stood with his hand frozen in mid-air. He was so happy; all he wanted to do was replay each moment of the day in his head on a never ending cycle. Finally waking from his momentary stupor, Remus shook his head, and said the password, Sugar Lumpkins, only loud enough for Cadogan to hear. The tiny knight let out a loud snort, ruffling the hairs of his moustache. He then mumbled something that sounded like "yellow-bellied coward," and turned on his side.
Remus was about to repeat himself, until the portrait swung open, nearly decapitating him. Yawning once a gain, Remus slipped through the opening in the wall, and closed the portrait behind him.
~*~*~
Sirius maneuvered his way across Hogwarts, which was not nearly as enjoyable when he had to traverse them alone, especially when there were things like nearly treading upon Mrs. Norris's tail, or having a run in with Peeves, the poltergeist to deal with. Luckily, Sirius arrived at the Gryffindor tower undetected. The Fat Lady sat primly within her frame, reading a romance novel. Her cheeks were flushed, and she failed to notice Sirius, completely uncovered from the invisibility cloak, standing in front of her portrait, and tapping his foot with mock impatience.
"Ahem."
Sirius loudly cleared his throat, and watched delightedly as the Fat Lady slammed the book shut, and flushed to an even deeper shade of crimson. Still flustered, the Fat Lady smoothed her hair, and anxiously asked, "Password?"
"E Pluribus Unum," Sirius answered. Before The portrait swung open, Sirius winked at the Fat Lady and said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
Looking slightly offended, the Fat Lady swung her painting open, and slammed it shut after Sirius crawled through, eager to get back to her reading.
Sirius felt a comforting feeling of warmth wash over him as he stepped into the Gryffindor common room. The last embers of a once roaring fire still glowed in the fire place, casting dark shadows over the deep reds and golds of the room. Huge, plush chairs were scattered about, and the rich mahogany tables were covered with huge, leather bound books, quill feathers, and empty ink bottles. Sirius couldn't keep the thought from entering his mind, "I'm home..."
The room was completely deserted, except for James Potter, who sat hunched at one of the tables, scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment, his hair a bit more untidy than usual.
Sirius strode over to the table where James was working, and leaned casually against the wall behind it. He watched James work for a moment before saying, "Don't work yourself too hard, James."
Startled, James stopped writing, and looked up.
"Well, if it isn't Sirius Black. I was wondering when you would come strolling back in here."
Sirius glanced at the elaborate, gold clock encompassed by two roaring lions on each side, which sat ticking away on top of the mantle; just as it had been doing since the first day Sirius had arrived at Hogwarts.
"What, is midnight not late enough for you?"
"Actually, it's not. I was expecting you around three or so tomorrow morning."
James once again looked down at his parchment, but instead of working, he merely glared angrily at it, as though his sleep deprivation was the parchment's fault. Sirius moved from his position on the wall, and sat down in a chair next to James. Sirius placed the invisibility cloak on top of a huge pile of books, and glanced over to view what James was working so laboriously on. James suddenly threw down his quill, splattering ink spots across his planetary alignment chart.
"Bloody Divination! If that bespectacled insect of a teacher gives us anymore of these charts to do, I'll give her a prediction she won't be happy to hear."
Sirius nodded sympathetically as James rolled up the parchment and tossed it aside. James sighed, and placed his head in his hand, massaging his temples with his fingers.
"Anyway," James said, his emerald eyes peering at Sirius from between his fingers, "where did you and Remus go tonight?"
Sirius stretched his arms back behind his head and folded them across his chest before beginning his story.
"Actually, Remus and I weren't even together. I left long before he did as Padfoot, and I was just off wandering around. Remus went on the Hogsmeade trip, or something..."
"Yeah," James interrupted. "He was with me and Petticoat, and we lost him at some jewels table right after we got there, and didn't see him for the rest of the day.
Sirius shrugged. "I don't know exactly what happened, but apparently he was with some girl."
James reacted with the same mock surprise as Sirius when he heard this comment, although it was a bit more subdued. Sirius continued on for a long while, describing his own adventure of the day, to an incredibly curious James.
"Wait, so you attacked her as Padfoot?" James gave a hearty laugh, leaned back in his chair, and placed his feet on top of the table, crushing his planetary alignment chart. "For some reason I always thought attacking a girl as a huge beast wasn't exactly the best way to initiate conversation."
When Sirius and James finished their conversation, the fire in the great fire place had completely died out, and the Gryffindor clock had continued ticking for a good hour or so.
James swung his legs of the table, and stood up, stretching his long, lean frame, and scratched the upper part of his back.
"Right, well, your romantic escapades are always entertaining, but if I don't sleep, there's no way I will make it through Professor Binns' class tomorrow."
Sirius stood up, and also stretched.
"I haven't managed to stay awake through Professor Binns' class once since we've been back this year. "
Sirius continued as he and James walked up the winding staircase to the boy's dormitory.
"I probably won't even be awake in time to go to Divination tomorrow."
James nodded.
"Neither will I. Lucky you're a genius Sirius, otherwise you'd never survive."
"Oh, I think I'd find a way."
When James and Sirius reached the boys dormitory, they collapsed simultaneously on their familiar four-poster beds, which they'd been sleeping in for seven years; ever since they arrived at Hogwarts. Sirius stared at the ceiling, his mind overflowing with thoughts. He glanced over at James, who was already asleep, his feet dangling off the edge of his bed. Sirius returned his gaze to the ceiling. In spite of what he said, this was home for him. He took a deep breath as he turned onto his side. At that moment, everything in his world was perfect. With this thought, Sirius was asleep.
~*~*~
The next morning, sunlight spilled through the thick windows of the Gryffindor boys dormitory, and obtrusively worked its way across each boy's eye lids, forcing them to wake up. Sirius pulled his pillow tightly over his head. There was no way he would be going to his first class of the morning, the invitation of more sleep was far more appealing.
Suddenly, Sirius felt the pillow being pried from his hands, and once again he was vulnerable to the sun's glare. When this failed to rouse him, Sirius felt himself being rolled from his warm, comfortable bed onto the cold, stone floor. Then, and only then did Sirius open his eyes to view his attacker. James stood before him, not looking much more awake than Sirius himself. James stood there groggily for a moment, then wordlessly walked back to his trunk, and began pulling out his robes.
Sirius glared at no one in particular, before heaving himself off the floor, and beginning the cumbersome task of getting dressed. Sirius made it through the entire process with little difficulty, until he engaged in an all out battle with his tie. James sat on the edge of his bed, watching Sirius struggle to force the tie into an acceptable knot. Finally, Sirius surrendered to the red and gold piece of silk, and merely stuffed it beneath his gray vest.
James walked up and patted Sirius's shoulder, holding back a laugh.
"Well, good morning sunshine," James said with unrestrained cheerfulness. "I do know how much you love mornings," he continued sarcastically. Sirius merely responded with what sounded like a growl, and began walking down the steps, and towards the Great Hall for breakfast.
Ignoring the typical house seating arrangements, Sirius, Remus, and James sat together at the end of the Gryffindor table. Out of nowhere, Peter Pettigrew came scampering towards them, his pointed chin flecked with crumbs.
"Morning, all," Pettigrew said cheerfully, taking a seat next to James. All three boys replied with a muffled greeting of their own. The four Marauders sat, engaged in amiable conversation, until a piercing shriek, followed by a flapping of wings descended upon the Great Hall.
All of the Hogwarts students stopped eating, and looked up, scanning the bright blue "sky" for a sign of their owls. Each of the Marauders caught their own individual package or letter as their owls swooped down upon them.
Remus unrolled the most recent edition of the Daily Prophet, which he subscribed to as a first year, and had been receiving ever since. A huge headline, taking up nearly the entire front page shouted, Fifth Member of Ministry Found Dead! Remus eagerly began reading the article that accompanied the head line.
Senora Byrd, a prominent member of the Ministry of Magic, was recently found dead in the outskirts of Iceland, and has been connected with a number of strange disappearances and deaths that have plagued the Ministry for months.
Byrd's body was found by a Muggle hiking expedition, which Arthur Weasley, who had just been recently hired to the Muggle Control (?) section of the Ministry. He had been accompanying the Muggle team on a hike, for a study he was conducting on Muggle outdoor recreational activities.
Remus's eyes quickly darted to the small picture of a man with bushy, copper hair, freckles, and glasses, who was waving timidly. Remus then returned to the article.
Weasley performed the appropriate memory charms on the Muggles, and immediately returned Byrd's body to London.
Byrd has been the fifth victim of the unexplained deaths which have been randomly occurring for the past four months. Also, there have been many abductions of powerful officials in the Ministry, whose bodies have not been found, but officials assume to be dead.
All of the discovered bodies have been linked together by the cause of death. The dark curse of Avra Kadavera has been used in all five killings.
Many Ministry officials have been abandoning their jobs, and refusing to attend work, because they fear for their lives.
Remus looked up somberly from his article, and his eyes happened to fall upon the Slytherin table, which sat directly across from the Gryffindor table. Severus Snape, and a skeletal looking boy with sharp, angular features, and shoulder length silvery blond hair pored over the same article Remus just read. The blond boy looked up suspiciously, his face contorted with excitement. Remus recognized him as Lucius Malfoy, who was even more despicable than Snape.
Remus's thoughts were interrupted by a heavy sigh from James, as he crumpled the letter he had received and tossed it down on the table. Sirius looked up from his own letter and said, "Is that another letter from dear ol' dad?"
James nodded angrily.
"I don't even know why I bother reading them, it's the same thing every time. All he does is tell me I'm not trying hard enough, that I'm letting my talent go to waste, and my intelligence would not be wasting away had I been placed in Slytherin; just like him."
A pair of small, elegant hands came to rest on James's shoulders, subduing the hatred he felt towards his father. He looked up and smiled at a small girl with copper hair, and velvety brown eyes. James took the smaller hand within his own, and said, "Hi Lilly," before continuing on his speech.
"I swear, if I ever have a kid, I'm just not going to even bother sending him mail, because I'm sure he won't even want it anyway."
James then stood up, and embraced Lilly, whose head barely came to James's chest.
"James, don't let your father get to you. If he doesn't realize how wonderful you are, he doesn't deserve you."
Lilly spoke softly, yet forcefully. Just hearing her voice washed away any bitter emotions James possessed. James bade farewell to his friends still sitting at the table, took Lilly's hand, and began walking with her towards her first class.
Peter, who had been silently taking all this in with his small, beady eyes, quickly tucked the package he received inside his robes and said, "Well, I guess I better be going," and slinked back towards the Hufflepuff table.
Remus, who had almost forgotten what he just read, once again unrolled the parchment of the Daily Prophet, and showed the article to Sirius. When Sirius had finished reading, Remus asked, "Do you have as bad of a feeling about this as I do?"
Sirius merely nodded, and for once, the ever present gleam in his eyes had vanished.
"Yes, this is extremely bad. But, you don't really think it could filter down and affect us here at Hogwarts, do you?"
Remus nodded solemnly. "I think it can, and I think it most definitely will. I get the feeling that our times of peace will soon come to an end."
Remus then told Sirius what he had seen at the Slytherin table between Snape and Lucius.
Sirius stared coldly into the distance.
"Well, it's not surprising that Malfoy would pounce on anything that had to do with Dark Magic. It's also not surprising that Snape, would do exactly as Malfoy."
Sirius sighed. "Well, thanks, Remus, that just ruined my day."
Sirius stood up from the table and quickly stuffed something into this pocket. He was not quick enough to get past Remus though.
"What was that you just shoved in your pocket?" Remus asked curiously.
Sirius reached back into his pocket, and pulled out a small dog treat, attached to a small note.
"Evelyn sent it to me," Sirius said excitedly.
Remus stared at the dog treat, completely puzzled.
"I'm not even going to ask, Sirius. But, I must say, you certainly do have a way with people."
"You know it," smiled Sirius, and once again he placed the dog biscuit and the note back into the pocket of his robe. Remus stood up, hastily folding the Daily Prophet before putting it inside his book bag. "Come on," said Remus, "we're going to be late to Herbology. I guess we're stuck with you Gryffindors today."
"You say that as though it's a bad thing."
Remus and Sirius continued arguing all the way out of the front entrance of the Great Hall. Slowly, all the students began filing out in numerous directions. Soon, the huge room was completely vacant, all except for a small pair of glowing red eyes, peering from beneath a table, and in an instant, they were gone.