Under Construction:
The Revised Marauders
This plot is largely based around a single "What if. . ." question - what if, instead of being placed in Slytherin, Severus Snape had sorted into Gryffindor house, and the opposite for Peter Pettigrew? We'll never know for sure what would have happened, but based on our assessments of the Marauders' and Severus's characters, here is our best guess. . .
* * *
Five owls set our from the tall stone tower that August night: a barn, a screech, a snowy, a dwarf, and a tawny. Each owl clutched a thick envelope in its talons, making certain not to tear the paper. Soon enough, though, first the barn, and then the rest broke off from the small "flock." After each had delivered its parcel, it found a nice, safe tree or the like to wait until it knew that its job had been accomplished. . .
* * *
Lily Evans stretched and opened her eyes, blinking blearily in the late morning light. Although she was allowed to sleep in during the summer holidays, she had never been able to stand staying abed much later than nine. Despite the fact that she would have liked to wake up slowly and revel in the summer calm, she knew with a glance at the clock (9:17) that if she didn't get up soon, the calm would be broken by her sister's shrill yells for Lily to rise.
With a sigh she sat up and swung her legs out of bed. Grabbing a hair tie from her night table, she pulled her just-past-shoulder-length red hair into a ponytail and donned a T-shirt. She had just begun debating with herself whether the hot weather would permit jeans when a young female voice rang through the house.
"Lily! Get out of bed already! Do you know how late it is?"
"Yes, I do, Petunia," Lily hollered in response, hopping a little to pull her pants up. She flung open the door of her bedroom and came face to face with her blonde sister. "It's precisely nine twenty-six in the morning."
"Oh, so you're not dead after all," Petunia retorted, turning around and walking towards the stairs at the end of the hall. "It's a shame." The redhead chose not to respond to this remark and followed after the younger girl at a more subdued pace. Thumping down the stairs, Lily groaned in exasperation.
"Does nobody get the mail?" She asked no one in particular as she bent to pick up said mail and headed to the kitchen.
Petunia was in the bathroom flossing her teeth when she heard a loud gasp and then a lot of mad-sounding laughter. She rolled her eyes irritatedly up into her head, wondering what had gotten into her maddeningly abnormal sister now. She supposed that it was her sisterly duty to find out, and so she stormed into the kitchen and planted her hands on her hips.
"You're not reading my magazines again, are you?" Petunia accused.
"That trash?" Lily gestured toward a stack of magazines with subjects like celebrity love affairs and 20 ways to get rid of or hide acne glaring across their covers in neon colors. "No, of course not. I learned what filth that is after reading them once. Somebody's just sent me a mail gag, that's all." Lilly held the thick, parchment-like piece of paper out for her younger sister to inspect.
Petunia snatched the letter out of the older girl's hand, muttering under her breath about her magazines not being trash. As she glanced across the green ink, however, she found that for once she had to agree with Lily. All of this blather about a school of witchcraft (with a no less fanciful name than "Hogwarts") had to be some sort of joke. She'd honestly never seen anything like it, though.
"Humph," she sniffed, tossing the letter back at her sister rudely. "Load of nonsense, if you ask me." With that, she turned on her heel and returned to her tooth flossing.
* * *
James Potter was just starting to figure out a way around eating the towering pile of lima beans on his plate when an owl swooped into the dining room. Much to his surprise, however, the official-looking bird did not deposit its message by his father (who was home for lunch break), but in front of him. Curiously, he picked up the thick envelope and inspected it, although he already suspected what it contained. With a surge of adrenaline he opened it, and only a glance at the first line confirmed his guess.
"Yeah!" he exclaimed, shooting up from his seat and holding his fists above his head victoriously (knocking his chair over in the process). "I got in! Dad, I GOT IN!"
His father looked at him slightly quizzically. "Got in? To what?"
"Hogwarts, Dad!" The wild-haired boy shouted ecstatically.
"Surely not," the older man gasped in mock horror. "A son of mine at Hogwarts? Never!" James's grin widened, if at all possible.
"Of course, I could always work for your store, Da," he joked impishly while trying to feed the owl the offending vegetable without being caught. "Become the youngest official prank developer in history..."
"Heavens forbid! Go to this barbaric school of yours! Take my broom! My wand! My money! Anything to keep you out of my store!"
"But father dear," James wiped the smile from his face and pretended to look concerned, "why turn away your best patron?"
"You win!" Mr. Potter declared in false despair. "I am defeated! There is no stopping the terror of James the horrible. Where will it end?"
"It'll end when Fudge beats Mum in the election," the bespectacled boy told him almost seriously. "After all, why elect someone you can eat?" This brought on more gales of laughter, during which time James made certain that the last legume made its way into the ill-looking owl's stomach. He could hardly wait to tell his mother the good news.
* * *
There was daylight streaming in Sirius Black's bedroom window, and there was an annoying tapping noise on the glass in the same direction. Sirius flopped over on his stomach, pulled the blanket up higher, and muttered under his breath, "shut up, shutup, SHUT UP!"
The tapping continued, and something large blocked out a huge chunk of the light. Siir peered over his shoulder at the shape, squinting his eyes and brushing long strands of black hair out of his face.
"D**n owl, waking me up. . ." he grumbled, hauling himself off the bed and slumping over to open the window. A majestic white owl swooped in, dropping a thick envelope into the bleary-eyed boy's hands. It pecked him once on the head for good measure, and then circled back out into the bright summer morning.
Sirius swore at the owl and slammed his window shut. He dropped the letter on his nightstand and was about to climb back into bed when someone knocked on his door.
"It never ends. . ." he growled quietly.
"Sirius? Sirius Black, get up right now or - "
"I'm up, mother," he called. "Just give me a minute to get dressed."
"Hurry up! I've got to - " Mrs. Black began again, cut off this time by the opening of her eldest son's bedroom door.
"See? I'm up. And look - I've got my letter from Hogwarts." He handed the envelope over to his mother, who opened it and pulled out the first sheet of parchment. She glanced at it and nodded briskly.
"Yes. I'll leave you a few Galleons and you and your brother can go to - "
"Actually, I think I'll go to Diagon Alley by myself, thanks," interrupted Sirius. "Regulus is mad at me and would probably run off on purpose."
"Will you stop interrupting me?!" demanded Mrs. Black. "And if you wouldn't set your brother off, the two of you wouldn't have half so many problems. He's really such a little darling, as opposed to some sons of mine." She sniffed disdainfully. "In any case, I'm going to your aunt's house for the afternoon. Don't you dare blow anything up again, do you hear me?"
"Yes, mother," Sirius sighed, as his mother swept off down the stairs. Then he grinned happily - he got to spend the day in Diagon Alley, and his mother had forgotten to forbid him to leave his younger brother at home.
* * *
It wasn't voluntarily that Remus Lupin woke up, but one boy could only sleep for so long. As it was, he felt as if he had been run over by a herd of centaurs. Slowly he opened his eyes and sat up in bed, stretching as much as his sore body would allow. As he slowly became awake enough to be aware of his surroundings, he realized that he was not alone in the room.
"Hello," he told the barn owl, looking at it curiously. After all, he almost never got mail at all, and no owl would want to go into his room. . . would it? "Do I have mail, then?" he asked, more to himself than to the owl. Naturally, he was surprised to find a letter in his lap.
He tore into the envelope eagerly, hardly believing what was happening. As he read the parchment, it took him a moment for reality to sink in. Then he almost forgot his condition and leapt out of bed.
"Mum! Da!" he yelled, tearing down the hallway. From a doorway, two matching shocked faces stared at their elder brother.
"Is he smiling?" Remus heard one - the boy - ask the other, and his grin widened even further. However, he did not stop until he barreled into the kitchen, where his mother was washing dishes. He skidded to a halt before her, noting with a sort of glee the surprise she quickly hid.
"Is something wrong, Remus?" she inquired, just to be on the safe side.
"Mum," he panted happily, "I got in! They're letting me go to Hogwarts!"
* * *
Severus Snape was reading in bed when an owl flew in his open bedroom window. He looked up, blinking at the owl, and realized that it was morning. He'd read through the night again, like he usually did when he was having a restless night and couldn't sleep.
Severus marked his page with a corner of his pillowcase and got out of bed. Stretching stiffly, he took the letter that the owl held in its beak and thanked the bird. It hooted once and flew back out the window.
Sev sat down on the chair of his mahogany desk and carefully tore the flap of the letter open. He pulled out the pieces of parchment that it contained and scanned the first one quickly. A grin began to spread across his face, and he stood up quickly, crossing to the door of his room. With the letter in one hand, Severus, still smiling broadly, took the steps down to the ground floor two at a time. He stopped abruptly in the large, stone- tiled entrance hall, and the smile slipped off of his face.
The boy crossed to the door and pulled down the slightly yellowed paper Spello-Taped to it.
"Severus - " it read. "I've gone to Ms. Fremont's house for the day. Tell the house elves what you want for lunch - there's leftovers from last night, or some ham you can have. I'll be back around dinnertime. ~Mum."
Severus sighed and sat down on the floor. He should have known that his parents wouldn't be home; they never were, after all. He set the Hogwarts letter down on the banister, where his mother would be sure to see it when she came home, and trudged back up the stairs to his room to read some more.
* * *
The Revised Marauders
This plot is largely based around a single "What if. . ." question - what if, instead of being placed in Slytherin, Severus Snape had sorted into Gryffindor house, and the opposite for Peter Pettigrew? We'll never know for sure what would have happened, but based on our assessments of the Marauders' and Severus's characters, here is our best guess. . .
* * *
Five owls set our from the tall stone tower that August night: a barn, a screech, a snowy, a dwarf, and a tawny. Each owl clutched a thick envelope in its talons, making certain not to tear the paper. Soon enough, though, first the barn, and then the rest broke off from the small "flock." After each had delivered its parcel, it found a nice, safe tree or the like to wait until it knew that its job had been accomplished. . .
* * *
Lily Evans stretched and opened her eyes, blinking blearily in the late morning light. Although she was allowed to sleep in during the summer holidays, she had never been able to stand staying abed much later than nine. Despite the fact that she would have liked to wake up slowly and revel in the summer calm, she knew with a glance at the clock (9:17) that if she didn't get up soon, the calm would be broken by her sister's shrill yells for Lily to rise.
With a sigh she sat up and swung her legs out of bed. Grabbing a hair tie from her night table, she pulled her just-past-shoulder-length red hair into a ponytail and donned a T-shirt. She had just begun debating with herself whether the hot weather would permit jeans when a young female voice rang through the house.
"Lily! Get out of bed already! Do you know how late it is?"
"Yes, I do, Petunia," Lily hollered in response, hopping a little to pull her pants up. She flung open the door of her bedroom and came face to face with her blonde sister. "It's precisely nine twenty-six in the morning."
"Oh, so you're not dead after all," Petunia retorted, turning around and walking towards the stairs at the end of the hall. "It's a shame." The redhead chose not to respond to this remark and followed after the younger girl at a more subdued pace. Thumping down the stairs, Lily groaned in exasperation.
"Does nobody get the mail?" She asked no one in particular as she bent to pick up said mail and headed to the kitchen.
Petunia was in the bathroom flossing her teeth when she heard a loud gasp and then a lot of mad-sounding laughter. She rolled her eyes irritatedly up into her head, wondering what had gotten into her maddeningly abnormal sister now. She supposed that it was her sisterly duty to find out, and so she stormed into the kitchen and planted her hands on her hips.
"You're not reading my magazines again, are you?" Petunia accused.
"That trash?" Lily gestured toward a stack of magazines with subjects like celebrity love affairs and 20 ways to get rid of or hide acne glaring across their covers in neon colors. "No, of course not. I learned what filth that is after reading them once. Somebody's just sent me a mail gag, that's all." Lilly held the thick, parchment-like piece of paper out for her younger sister to inspect.
Petunia snatched the letter out of the older girl's hand, muttering under her breath about her magazines not being trash. As she glanced across the green ink, however, she found that for once she had to agree with Lily. All of this blather about a school of witchcraft (with a no less fanciful name than "Hogwarts") had to be some sort of joke. She'd honestly never seen anything like it, though.
"Humph," she sniffed, tossing the letter back at her sister rudely. "Load of nonsense, if you ask me." With that, she turned on her heel and returned to her tooth flossing.
* * *
James Potter was just starting to figure out a way around eating the towering pile of lima beans on his plate when an owl swooped into the dining room. Much to his surprise, however, the official-looking bird did not deposit its message by his father (who was home for lunch break), but in front of him. Curiously, he picked up the thick envelope and inspected it, although he already suspected what it contained. With a surge of adrenaline he opened it, and only a glance at the first line confirmed his guess.
"Yeah!" he exclaimed, shooting up from his seat and holding his fists above his head victoriously (knocking his chair over in the process). "I got in! Dad, I GOT IN!"
His father looked at him slightly quizzically. "Got in? To what?"
"Hogwarts, Dad!" The wild-haired boy shouted ecstatically.
"Surely not," the older man gasped in mock horror. "A son of mine at Hogwarts? Never!" James's grin widened, if at all possible.
"Of course, I could always work for your store, Da," he joked impishly while trying to feed the owl the offending vegetable without being caught. "Become the youngest official prank developer in history..."
"Heavens forbid! Go to this barbaric school of yours! Take my broom! My wand! My money! Anything to keep you out of my store!"
"But father dear," James wiped the smile from his face and pretended to look concerned, "why turn away your best patron?"
"You win!" Mr. Potter declared in false despair. "I am defeated! There is no stopping the terror of James the horrible. Where will it end?"
"It'll end when Fudge beats Mum in the election," the bespectacled boy told him almost seriously. "After all, why elect someone you can eat?" This brought on more gales of laughter, during which time James made certain that the last legume made its way into the ill-looking owl's stomach. He could hardly wait to tell his mother the good news.
* * *
There was daylight streaming in Sirius Black's bedroom window, and there was an annoying tapping noise on the glass in the same direction. Sirius flopped over on his stomach, pulled the blanket up higher, and muttered under his breath, "shut up, shutup, SHUT UP!"
The tapping continued, and something large blocked out a huge chunk of the light. Siir peered over his shoulder at the shape, squinting his eyes and brushing long strands of black hair out of his face.
"D**n owl, waking me up. . ." he grumbled, hauling himself off the bed and slumping over to open the window. A majestic white owl swooped in, dropping a thick envelope into the bleary-eyed boy's hands. It pecked him once on the head for good measure, and then circled back out into the bright summer morning.
Sirius swore at the owl and slammed his window shut. He dropped the letter on his nightstand and was about to climb back into bed when someone knocked on his door.
"It never ends. . ." he growled quietly.
"Sirius? Sirius Black, get up right now or - "
"I'm up, mother," he called. "Just give me a minute to get dressed."
"Hurry up! I've got to - " Mrs. Black began again, cut off this time by the opening of her eldest son's bedroom door.
"See? I'm up. And look - I've got my letter from Hogwarts." He handed the envelope over to his mother, who opened it and pulled out the first sheet of parchment. She glanced at it and nodded briskly.
"Yes. I'll leave you a few Galleons and you and your brother can go to - "
"Actually, I think I'll go to Diagon Alley by myself, thanks," interrupted Sirius. "Regulus is mad at me and would probably run off on purpose."
"Will you stop interrupting me?!" demanded Mrs. Black. "And if you wouldn't set your brother off, the two of you wouldn't have half so many problems. He's really such a little darling, as opposed to some sons of mine." She sniffed disdainfully. "In any case, I'm going to your aunt's house for the afternoon. Don't you dare blow anything up again, do you hear me?"
"Yes, mother," Sirius sighed, as his mother swept off down the stairs. Then he grinned happily - he got to spend the day in Diagon Alley, and his mother had forgotten to forbid him to leave his younger brother at home.
* * *
It wasn't voluntarily that Remus Lupin woke up, but one boy could only sleep for so long. As it was, he felt as if he had been run over by a herd of centaurs. Slowly he opened his eyes and sat up in bed, stretching as much as his sore body would allow. As he slowly became awake enough to be aware of his surroundings, he realized that he was not alone in the room.
"Hello," he told the barn owl, looking at it curiously. After all, he almost never got mail at all, and no owl would want to go into his room. . . would it? "Do I have mail, then?" he asked, more to himself than to the owl. Naturally, he was surprised to find a letter in his lap.
He tore into the envelope eagerly, hardly believing what was happening. As he read the parchment, it took him a moment for reality to sink in. Then he almost forgot his condition and leapt out of bed.
"Mum! Da!" he yelled, tearing down the hallway. From a doorway, two matching shocked faces stared at their elder brother.
"Is he smiling?" Remus heard one - the boy - ask the other, and his grin widened even further. However, he did not stop until he barreled into the kitchen, where his mother was washing dishes. He skidded to a halt before her, noting with a sort of glee the surprise she quickly hid.
"Is something wrong, Remus?" she inquired, just to be on the safe side.
"Mum," he panted happily, "I got in! They're letting me go to Hogwarts!"
* * *
Severus Snape was reading in bed when an owl flew in his open bedroom window. He looked up, blinking at the owl, and realized that it was morning. He'd read through the night again, like he usually did when he was having a restless night and couldn't sleep.
Severus marked his page with a corner of his pillowcase and got out of bed. Stretching stiffly, he took the letter that the owl held in its beak and thanked the bird. It hooted once and flew back out the window.
Sev sat down on the chair of his mahogany desk and carefully tore the flap of the letter open. He pulled out the pieces of parchment that it contained and scanned the first one quickly. A grin began to spread across his face, and he stood up quickly, crossing to the door of his room. With the letter in one hand, Severus, still smiling broadly, took the steps down to the ground floor two at a time. He stopped abruptly in the large, stone- tiled entrance hall, and the smile slipped off of his face.
The boy crossed to the door and pulled down the slightly yellowed paper Spello-Taped to it.
"Severus - " it read. "I've gone to Ms. Fremont's house for the day. Tell the house elves what you want for lunch - there's leftovers from last night, or some ham you can have. I'll be back around dinnertime. ~Mum."
Severus sighed and sat down on the floor. He should have known that his parents wouldn't be home; they never were, after all. He set the Hogwarts letter down on the banister, where his mother would be sure to see it when she came home, and trudged back up the stairs to his room to read some more.
* * *