They met in their second year. Well, formally met, being that they knew each other from sharing a dormitory in the noble house of Godric Gryffindor. It was in the common room on a late night after dinner. Sirius Black had been ranting for what felt like days but only lasted a few short minutes, to his best mate and partner in crime, James Potter, about the transfiguration homework Professor McGonagall had given to her second years on their second day back to classes.
"I swear, I don't understand this! This is why I don't make an effort with my work. I never know what's going on, so trying to write a bloody essay on something incomprehensible to my pathetic second year brain is rather outlandish! If that lousy bird took the time to teach us-"
"If you could just quiet yourself before someone tells McGonagall that one of her own house students is bad mouthing her class, I can help you," piped in the rather quiet, slightly pale, and wholly weak Remus Lupin, who was sitting by himself, as per usual, working on that same essay that his fellow peer had been screaming about.
Regardless of Sirius' then fury at the classmate that told him to shut up, he accepted Remus' offer of help.
Soon James and Sirius had welcomed Remus to their inner group. It was Remus who shortly introduced to the other boys the shy and mousy Peter Pettigrew, a fellow Gryffindor with a lack of self-esteem and friends. Together, they named themselves "The Marauders" and would remain with each other through thick and thin. That is, until thick and thin became suspicion and doubt as to Remus' being and what exactly that was. When word became flesh and the other boys found out that their friend had lied to them, left them in complete risk of danger, and was suffering with the wretched disease of lycanthropy, the Marauders were almost no more. After several days of not talking to each other, Sirius decided that they couldn't leave their friend out in the cold.
"And besides," Sirius said soon after he told Remus that they all still wanted to remain friends. "Having a werewolf for a friend could feel like my own personal rebellion from my pureblood oafs back home."
The four boys were not only thick as thieves, but they were also becoming teenagers. As their years at Hogwarts continued, so did the memories they would create. By their fifth year, they created more than memories. They created other beings. Remus, although reluctant, had supervised the others as they worked on becoming animagi. After pulling off this great success, they felt that anything, including passing marks on their O.W.L. exams, would be possible. Sirius, the dog, became "Padfoot." The stag, James, was now "Prongs." Little Peter was a rat, and rightfully named "Wormtail." Remus, the werewolf, was named after the thing he feared most, the moon. Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs proudly created havoc and chaos with their new identities with the help of their wonderful invention, the Marauders Map, their pride and joy in the form of parchment. Their happiest memories came with this creation.
As life continued, so did the mischief. A sixth year prank on the slimy Severus Snape of Slytherin (which was highly envisioned by Padfoot) went horribly wrong. Not only did Remus' secret almost get out, but it created a gap in the friendship between Remus and Sirius. The more Remus thought about the state of affairs, the more he wanted to hurt himself. The more Remus longed for self inflicted pain, the more Sirius wanted to apologize. And yet, the two split because of their lack of communication. But soon, just as Remus was about to fulfill his own death wish, Sirius came back and apologized a thousand times over. And Remus, being weak and in need of a friend, forgave and forgot.
With four boys, one of them was bound to fall into a deep romantic relationship. Not with one another of course, but with the wonderful girls that Hogwarts had to offer. Sirius had his fill on just about any girl he deemed worthy. James, who pined for his red-haired vixen Lily Evans, had finally been able to claim her as his, and the two become inseparable. This pure, unadulterated love that these two had for each other soon lead to their happiest moments together: their engagement, marriage and the birth of their first and only child, Harry. They were able to find great joy in the darkening days of the rise of the evil wizard Lord Voldemort, unlike most of the wizarding population. Sirius, Peter and Remus fell into that category. Friend and enemy alike began to raise suspicions about one another. As was the case of the rat, the dog, and the wolf. Sirius had become a rather angry and hostile person. Angered by the war, hostile to those purebloods who tried to continue it. Peter was becoming less and less friendly amongst friends, and rather inverted from society in general. Remus kept a tally of how many times one of Voldemort's precious followers, Death Eaters, had come to get him onto their side, despite his loyalty to the right cause, the Order of the Phoenix. Another tally he kept was that of how many jobs he had been denied, wizard and muggle alike. His "condition" prevented him from a real wizard job, and his request of a monthly absence gave muggle store owners the idea that he was not stable enough to be employed. Sirius and Remus were two soldiers in this unnerving battle, and with every attack on their soul came to counteracting, artificial joy that only firewhisky and cigarettes could bring. It was when James and Lily had asked for a secret keeper that the friends began to see things in different lights.
"Oh sure, you would pick yourself, you egotistical git," said Remus, when Sirius suggested himself.
"You would say that, wouldn't you?" Sirius replied, the anger boiling through his blood.
"Yeah, I would. You've been so full of yourself since the day I met you, so why should it phase you that I would utter those words?"
"You know, Lupin. No one needs you. Haven't you taken every bloody hint that's been dropped your way? Werewolves are the wizarding elephant in the room. They are obviously not wanted. So therefore, no wizard needs you to keep his secret."
"Coming from one of the heirs of the Noble, Most Malicious, House of Black-"
"Oh really now? Every fucking Death Eater has come your way. I'm surprised you don't have a Dark Mark amongst those scars on your arm. But wait, even Greyback hasn't been welcomed to the inner circle yet, so why would Voldemort pick a scrawny, little werepup like yourself to be one of his followers?"
"You sound like you know first hand what goes on at those inner circle meetings."
"Because I can actually sober the hell up and get my arse to an Order meeting every time we have one."
"I don't know what the fuck your problem is, Black. It's not like I missed every goddamn meeting, and it's not like you've held perfect attendance record."
The problem was that the two boys had matured far faster than nature wanted. The war was not making them angry. It was making them scared. A wolf frighten by the hideous world of a pureblood and a pureblood terrified of the monstrosity of nature of the wolf.
"My problem?" Sirius' face curled up into a sneer of pure disgust. "My problem is that I should have never befriended you. Because you've only proven yourself to be a studious little git who can't get his nose out of the books to see the real world at it's fucking finest." The sarcasm dripped right off of his tongue.
"You don't think I know what the real world looks like? I'm sorry, I didn't think living a life as a bloody werewolf from the age of six wouldn't make me see the real world."
"It didn't; your parents spoiled the hell out of you."
"Spoiled me? Because being locked up in basements, being kept at Hogwarts over breaks, getting kicked out the day after graduation, getting told by my own father that I have no fucking purpose to live, let alone torture him and mum, that isn't anything close to the 'trauma' you've been through. Leaving your house on your own will, having your uncle for support. You look like your getting along just fine. Without the overabundant kindness from James and Lily, I would be rotting away in some alley in London."
"Don't you ever address them that way. You should be grateful for all their efforts in helping you when they have themselves to worry about, especially at a terrible time like this."
"You know what, Sirius Black. I wasn't even trying to address them in any other way but gratitude. That's it. I've had it. You really are nothing to me."
"Good, because you were never anything to me. I wish with all my heart that I never got the nerve to come and apologize in sixth year. With you out of the picture, none of these fucking problems would be lingering around."
Both boys were flushed in the face from the heatedness of their argument. As Remus left without saying another word, tears stung his eyelids as he mentally agreed with what Sirius had said.
Lily and James decided to use Peter as their private secret keeper, and let the whole world know that Sirius was their secret keeper. In the end, Lily and James were brutally murdered by Voldemort; their child survived. Sirius was imprisoned in Azkaban for revealing to the Dark Lord every secret he should have kept, as well as murdering thirteen innocent lives, twelve muggles and Peter Pettigrew. Remus was left alone, as if fate had destined him to that lifestyle. But when he found out about the death of the Potters and Peter, and Sirius' sentence to Azkaban, he figured it was coming. Figured Sirius was too defensive over himself that he had to be up to no good. Regardless of the triumphant standstill that baby Harry Potter brought to the wizarding world because of his defeat over Voldemort, Remus knew that the war, his war, had already ended. It was the painful and heartbreaking split from his friends that marked it's final days. He knew it would happen, and especially in that brutal manner, because no one said that war was easy.