Spirit
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
The Marauders all had strong spirits, and in a different way each.
Prongs was known for his effortless strength of loyalty and love. He didn't just have the good looks but the kind heart. He would never tell anyone (beyond the Marauders), but the love he had for the fiery Lily Evans wasn't a bet or joke. He loved her pure and true. He would never have another and he meant every word he said. He meant every vow and promise he made. He said he would never stop loving her, and he never did stop. His loyalty was his strength and trust, and it killed him when Peter betrayed them all.
Padfoot was known for being a player, and for his Black heritage. On the surface he lived an easy life, unaffected by his abandonment from his family. He hated Slytherins, and was a true Gryffindor to hearts. He had the Black traditional look and was outgoing, a rebel and troublemaker. But that made him everything he was. His heart and truth made him strong, and that gave him the strength to make it out of Azkaban. He had a wild, recklessness when he fought. A joyous gleam in his eyes. The freedom he felt when he could save those he loved from evil, it was a beautiful thought. He wasn't one to get tied down to a girl, though he might have found love, somewhere along the way.
Deeper from outside, he really didn't have anyone who loved him. Not his mother who struck him when she found out he was Gryffindor. Not his father who never turned to see his son's face as he disowned him. Not his brother who faded into the Dark Arts like his parents had wanted him to. He had his first family with the Marauders, and these were people who loved him, for who he was. He loved James like a brother, and Remus like a close relative that he never had. Peter was just a friend, and often time was the target of Sirius or James' teasing.
Moony was known for his near Ravenclaw intelligence, and incredible calm. He was the shining light in the midst of a storm that raged around him. He had a hard home life, being forever a scarred young werewolf. He had one of the top grades, and was the middle of the bunch. He was the one who took what he had for granted. These were his first friends, and some of the only people who accepted him for who he was. Society saw werewolves as monsters, but these friends loved him for it.
Wormtail is known best for his betrayal of the Potters. But by his friends, he was known as the one they protected. Stood up for. But could also rely on to get out of trouble. He stood alone, against a war he could not fight alone, but refused to ask for help in. He is the final and last Marauder. He was terrified, scared of death. He had seen it and knew that they were Dark Times that they were born into. Into a war, shoved into the middle to fight. He fought, and in the end he chose the wrong side. He wasn't known for good looks, or a particularly nice personality. He was passive, and silent. He never objected to the ideas of the others. He went with everything, never speaking up or speaking out. He never once spoke out about how he felt. It was always about the rest of them. He let that be the way of things, and never thought once that they would listen to him anyway. Because he was just Peter. Just Peter.
So maybe, in the end he wasn't the only one who betrayed. They let the Dark Side take him. Never once did they tell him to stop. He let them see it, his dark side come out. How he was changing. Once, James even caught him, a letter from Voldemort in his shaking hands. Yet James turned a blind eye to it. Sirius never knew, and Remus was thought to be the one who had betrayed them. After all, who could ever truly trust a werewolf?
The one some consider invisible, and nonexistent. When really, he did exist. He lived, breathed and he was a piece of the Marauder History that they wrote. A History that was written and left behind in the one thing they created. The thing that kept them friends until the first betrayal. Proof of their friendship, written, lies and all in the Marauder's Map.
