Disclaimer: Thank you for paying me such a big compliment as to think I'm J. K. Rowling or that this story would actually make me money!
Warnings: Alternate Universe, warped timeline and minor changes to plot. This story has been updated to be compliant with OotP, HBP and now DH.
Prologue: Arriella Magurall
My name is Arriella Magurall, but when people are too lazy to call me that – which is most of the time, they prefer Ariel. I was, am, and will be a Marauder, one of the four daring pranksters. We were the best that Hogwarts had ever seen. To be a girl in an all-boys group is strange, I know. But then, I had never been normal either. I said four, because the last member of our group has been disowned, and Lily was not an original Marauder.
If anyone were to ask me, "What do you hate the most?" I would answer that it was the Dark Arts. In this way, the Marauders are alike. For me, it was my past. For James, his parents were Aurors, and he was brought up to hate Dark Magic. For Sirius, despite his upbringing, his desire to be different propelled his hate. For Remus, it was the dark nature of the werewolf and the prejudice against Dark Creatures. And for all of us, it was the horror of what Voldemort can accomplish with Dark Magic.
I am a Marauder, not because I top all my classes, but simply because of the train compartment I picked on that very first day. My marks are above average, and I do not love flying like James. Sure, I like it and all, but I am not that enamoured with Quidditch. I'm not a prefect, the good boy, unlike Remus. I'm not a pranking mastermind – that's Sirius. But thankfully, I'm also not a tagging little kid – you should know who that is.
When we found out that Remus was a werewolf, we did the unthinkable for him – all because he was our friend. We became Animagi, to stay with Remus during the full moon and help him through when he was no longer himself. If only the wolfsbane had been invented earlier… , he would have suffered less. James became a stag, Sirius a dog, Peter a rat, and me a snowy owl. Moony, Wormtail, Skye, Padfoot, and Prongs were born one night in the fifth years boys' dormitory.
Together in school, we made the Marauders' Map, emblazoned with our nicknames. We scouted out the school grounds with a werewolf in tow. We made friends, yes friends, with Peeves the poltergeist. We played pranks on everyone, even the teachers. We helped James to win Lily's heart. And we made Snivellus, sorry I mean Severus's life at Hogwarts a living hell. Most of all, we had fun, and somehow all – I mean most of us managed to pass our NEWTs with flying colours.
James, Sirius and Remus remained my very best friends, even after we graduated. The Marauders, with Lily in Peter's place, was possibly Dumbledore's best Hit Squad. Attacks on and by Death Eaters used to be a monthly routine.
We laughed together when James got married, endured the full moon together with Remus, helped Peter with his work, and all that. I prefer not to think about that traitorous rat too much. How could he? We were his friends, who shared our fun, who saved him from trouble, and what not!
We were brilliant, but too asinine to spot the traitor. We were powerful, but too weak to stop Voldemort. We were united, until one who knew us best ripped us apart from the inside.
He betrayed us, all of us, and sent James and Lily to their deaths.
But after those years of grace, tragedy struck. He was the reason James and Lily died. He was the reason I spent years as an owl. He was the reason why Sirius landed in Azkaban. He was the reason why Remus had to survive twelve years of heartbreaking grief.
I was finally alone, with no living blood relatives left in the world. All except for my friends. When I think of Harry, however, I realised that he had it worse than I had. To be sent to his uncaring relatives, not knowing he was a wizard until the age of eleven! Everyone he ever cared deeply for was taken away by Voldemort, everything.
When Voldemort came back, the remaining true Marauders – Sirius, Remus and I – sprang into action. We were among the first to re-join the Order of the Phoenix, eager to see the murderer of James and Lily fall. Despite the passage of time, despite the uncertainties in a world where no one trusts anyone else, despite the deaths of our friends, our friendship held true.
This is the story, my story, my life. it may seem impossible, everything, but it is nevertheless reality. Will I have happiness? I sometimes wondered. Thinking back to the times at Hogwarts, after Voldemort died, and the times when I could rest easily knowing everyone I loved was safe and sound, that is what I call happiness. And I answer myself, yes.
It all began on the day James and Lily were murdered by Voldemort, and the prophecy proven true. He shall have powers the Dark Lord knows not, and the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal…