Before We Died- Starting from second year, we follow the marauders in the epic journey of brotherhood, love, adventures, and betrayal all the way until the very end.

Hello, everyone. I have been thinking very hard on this story of mine, and after a long, long time of preparation, well, here we are. Get ready, and fasten your seat belts. This won't be over and done for a long time.

"It's necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live."
-Alexander Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo.

Dear Sirius,

I would hope that you and James could not start another fire in a muggle street, but it seems even that is just too much to ask. Oh, well, I should be used to it by now. Also, how is James? He never replies to any letters, I've noticed. Tell him I said hello.

I know you might call me a girl, but I miss school. Shut up, Sirius, stop rolling your eyes, I can feel the annoyance from here. Oh, I'm in Germany, by the way. I guess I have family here, but I've never met them, so I don't care either way.

Anyways, thank you for the chocolate, but I unfortunately have to inform you that it was gone in a matter of hours. Hours, I tell you.

If you're able to get a hold of Pete, that would be nice.

Sincerely,

Lupin.

(())

Dear Remmylicious ultra-mega-cool-book kid,

"Lupin"? What the hell is a "Lupin"? I only know a REMUS, okay? You're name is REMUS! James and I have, fortunately, set fire to many things since we've been out of school. They haven't got too out of control, though James' shoe melted on the bottom. This is not such a bad thing, though. Not anywhere near as bad as the curtain incident in the dorm.

Okay, okay, I sorta kinda miss school, too. There, that's all the feelings and mushy talk you're going to get out of me. Enjoy it, ravish in it, for it is so very rare. James says he misses school too, but not because of us, or learning, like me, but because of, wait for it...Evans.

Shocker, right? You need to save me, I can't take his gross Evans talk any longer.

On another note, James' dad bought a muggle record player! Yeah! And he's allowing us to bring it to Hogwarts, along with our Beatles record. We only have one so far, so it might get boring quickly, but I have a feeling you'll like it.

Another cart-full of chocolate is coming your way, but you do need therapy, or rehab, or something. This chocolate addiction breaks my heart. My poor, poor heart. Do you enjoy hurting me so? Yes, as I write this, tears pour out of my eyes, and I transfigure them to ink for my quill. :(

I haven't heard from Pete, but he told us before we left he was going to Canada to see his cousins, remember? He's probably gonna stay there until we get back to the ol' Pigfarts.

James says hi. :P

Bye bye,

Some really cool kid with even cooler hair.

(())

Dear Remoustache,

Hi!

Sincerely,

James "Swag" Potter

Remus put the letters in his trunk with a click. These were written weeks ago, but he still read them from time to time because of how awfully boring his house was. He's read every book on the bookshelf twice already, including the one that Hope got when she was pregnant with him, titled What To Expect With Your First Pregnancy. The paragraphs he read in that particular book still makes him shudder when he thinks about it.

"All ready to go?" Lyall popped his head into Remus' room. The boy quickly went over a mental checklist, marking things off as he saw them. Trunk, robes, wand, money.

"I think so." Remus grabbed his heavy trunk off the floor, though he was very strong for his age and didn't struggle under the weight. His wand was stationed in his robes, ready to be used, as was some money he had been saving since he was eight.

"Good, then. Let's get on with it." Lyall smiled proudly, happy that his son was going back for another year. He hurried down the stairs, where Hope was fixing Remus his favorite snacks for the train ride. Peanut butter and grape jelly, as his mother liked to call it since part of her family is American, was placed in a bag along with her wonderfully warm chocolate chip cookies. Remus took a big whiff of the kitchen before turning to his mother.

"You're growing up too fast." Hope hugged him tightly, holding him gently yet firmly as if he was still a baby. To her, he still was.

"Mum," Remus muttered in embarrassment, his cheeks reddening. Hope let him go, fixing his hair into place as she did.

"Oh, alright, I'll let you leave." She tutted, amused. "Have fun, darling, and don't forget to write! I love you!"

"Love you, too." Remus smiled, not ashamed to say it as some boys his age are. "Bye!" He called as he walked to the fireplace, throwing Floo powder into the flames. "King's Cross Station." He said loud and clear, then walked into the green fire as he heard his mother say goodbye back.

Lyall followed him quickly, and as they ran through the secret, wizarding wall, they were soon in a crowded, excited place.

"Okay, Remus, the train is leaving soon. Here's some chocolate for the way." Lyall handed him a bar of chocolate, looking proud of himself for sneaking it past Hope. She didn't like Remus to eat only chocolate when it wasn't near the full moon, but Lyall was almost as bad as Remus himself when it came to chocolate.

"Thank you." Remus said gratefully, although he didn't particularly need chocolate for any reason at the moment.

"Be careful, and try to be safe, alright? Now, I suppose you can go." The man ruffled his son's hair, messing up what Hope had done. "I love you."

"Love you." Remus allowed himself to be given a quick, manly hug from his father, then began the walk to the Hogwarts Express, only ten minutes before it was set to leave.

Now on the train, Remus checked into compartments, hoping to find at least one of his friends. Usually he would find them wherever mess, chaos, and loud noises were, but it was harder when everywhere was full of mess, chaos, and loud noises.

He instead found Lily and Severus, who were chatting among themselves casually, occasionally laughing at something the other said. "Hello, Lily. Severus."

Immediately, Severus scowled, rolling his eyes. Lily, however, seemed to glow upon seeing him. "Remus! It's good to see you! How was your summer?"

"Same old, same old." He shrugged, grinning. "I've got to get. I'm sure I have many messes to clean up."

"I'm quite sure you do." Lily knew he was talking about his friends, whom she hated, but she was joking along with him.

"See you later." Remus left them, walking forward again. The trunk in his hand was starting to get just a bit heavier, but he could take the weight. Looking into another apartment, Remus found the three boys talking very vibrantly about all sorts of things.

"Remus!" James smiled, looking slightly relieved. His glasses sat crooked on his nose. "My favorite," James made a point to glare at Sirius, who rolled his eyes in amusement. "Friend."

"What is it this time?" Remus asked, sitting down next to Peter, who was busy trying to find jelly bean flavors that were actually considered edible.

"See? He's already done with us. We've broken him." Sirius joked, sounding dramatic and heartbroken.

"Can't be my fault." James stated, looking sure of himself.

"Again, what is going on?" Remus asked, biting into the piece of chocolate that his father gifted him moments before.

"Sirius has forbidden me to talk about my feelings and instead is forcing me to keep it all bottled up inside. Tell him, Remus, tell him how unhealthy that is." James answered, not looking near as mad or "bottled up" as he sounded.

"What kind of feelings are we talking about?"

"Evans."

"Ah, in that case, I'm going to have to decline your offer as best-best friend."

James gawked. "Remus!"

Sirius broke into prideful laughter. "Ha!"

Just then, Peter spat something dreadful into the floor. It was grey-blue mush that was previously a jelly bean. "Ew, Merlin, that's-" Peter shuddered.

"What'd yah get?" James asked, forgetting about his heartbreak quickly.

"Mold, I think. Mold and socks. Moldy socks?" Peter looked unsure of his answer, but all he knew is that it tasted terrible.

Remus grabbed a bean out of the box Peter was holding, and took a whiff of it. "Ugh, you don't want to be eating that one." Remus shoved it into his pocket, and reached for another, once again sniffing it. "This one tastes like apple cider."

"How do you know?" Peter was eyeing the piece of candy with hatred and wariness, but then grabbed it out of Remus' hands to put in his mouth. "Merlin, you're right! Apple cider."

"I didn't know you could smell the flavors." Sirius seemed astonished, and grabbed one, too. After looking it over, he sniffed. "I don't smell anything."

Peter was also sniffing a bean, and smelled nothing. "It doesn't even have a smell."

Remus was watching the exchange with hidden worry in his green eyes. Of course they can't smell anything, they're fully human. Remus, being a werewolf, has slightly better senses than the average person, especially around the full moon.

"Must've been some that had a big smell." He shrugged, wanting to leave the subject. To make a point, he grabbed another bean and took a great big sniff of it, trying not to gag. It was shit. Pure shit. "See? I can't smell it." He choked down a cough.

"Your eyes are watering, mate." Sirius watched him with amusement. James laughed at Remus' expression, and Peter was still trying to find a bean that he could smell.

"I have allergies." Remus lied smoothly, dropping the bean into his pocket quickly. The other boys seemed satisfied with his answer, and went back to talking about the pranks they were already planning.

"We haven't even got there." Remus pointed out, hoping he wasn't sounding like a stick in the mud.

"It's never too early." Sirius replied.

"We haven't even worked out the details, but we know it's going to involve many, many dungbombs and a Slytherin house." James told him excitedly.

"Sounds like every other prank we've ever done, if I'm being honest."

"I hate to say it, but he's right." Peter added, now deciding to suck on a sugar quill.

"You've got a point." James sighed, looking tired, which was odd for the hyper boy. "We'll figure it out, I guess."

"What's in there?" Sirius turned his attention to the brown paper bag Remus was gripping. To be honest, Remus had forgotten it was even there.

"Oh, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a chocolate chip cookie." Remus, too, turned his attention to the wonderful smell coming from the sack. "Want some?"

"I've never had muggle treats before." Sirius eyed the cookie with a great sense of wonderment, and Remus snapped it into four pieces for all of them.

"Oh, wow," Peter leaned his head back on the seat, a smile on his face.

"This," James pointed at the rest of the cookie in his hand. "This could make a lot of money."

"Where the bloody hell can I get more?" Sirius spoke, being quite serious.

"My mom makes them. Some secret family recipe, I think." Remus said, finishing the rest of his cookie. They were quite good. Now, the sandwich.

"And that, that thing! A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, right?" Sirius pointed at it, hoping it tasted as good as the cookie.

"Here," Remus pulled the sandwich apart into nearly equal slices for all of them. He wasn't that hungry, anyway. "This and chocolate is all I used to eat when I was little."

Remus watched them bite into their pieces, and soon, they were all feeling like little kids (okay, smaller kids) again though they didn't know why.

"This tastes like home." Sirius said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"We've still got a lot of time left until Hogwarts." Peter pointed out the obvious. "What should we do?"

"Read." Remus dug a book out from his trunk, picking off from where he finished last. No one was surprised.

"I guess I'll just sit here and rot." James announced, looking bored.

"In the meantime, boys," Sirius settled down, laying his entire body across James' lap. "I'm gonna have a nice, long nap."

Within minutes, the compartment was filled with quiet, low snores, and the others were left to wonder why he was so tired that he's able to nap on a train.

After the sorting ceremony and feast, they were all quickly led back to their dorms. James and Peter were wishing to go sneak around, especially after James revealed the heirloom he inherited just before coming here. An invisibility cloak.

Remus at first refused, as was tradition. No, we can't go to the girls dorms tonight, it's 5 in the morning, Sirius, and, James, why on earth would you need so many flobberworms at this time of night? But then, he would agree to go, secretly thrilled that they were out and about, hiding from prefects, professors, and Filch. It was just so much fun.

But, Sirius never refused to go. In fact, he was the one mainly forcing the others to join him.

"Not tonight, mates, I didn't sleep at all last night." They believed him, and so James and Peter only went to get food from the kitchens. Hot chocolate for Remus, and pumpkin pasties for Sirius. "Tomorrow, though, definitely."

"Sirius." Remus didn't ask his name like a question, merely stated it. But, it got his attention, which was it's purpose.

"Yes?"

"Are you, uh," Remus knew how Sirius was about feelings, and how feelings are for girls and I'm a manly man. "Are you alright?"

"I'm perfectly fine, I just was," Sirius paused, taking a moment to think about his words. "I was gonna tell the others sometime soon, but I suppose you can know now. I sneaked out my window, and I didn't return until five in the morning, and, yes, this is the truth."

"Wow," Remus blinked. "What were you doing?"

"Seeing the sights. Playing on a muggle playground. Have you ever been on a swig, Remus? Swigs are wonderful."

"Swings, you mean?"

"Yes, that. Swings." Sirius smiled. "Swings. You've probably been on loads of swings. It's like flying on a broom except it's not at all like flying on a broom, you know?" Sirius allowed his smile to disappear slightly, a completely content look taking over his tired face. "Well, that's enough talk for me. I could barely keep my eyes open during the feast."

Somehow, Remus knew that wasn't all of the story, but he let Sirius lie to him because he understood how necessary lying sometimes was. "Goodnight."

"Remus, you are such a girl." Sirius smirked, rolling over on his side to face the wall. "Goodnight." He spoke with a yawn.

About twenty minutes later, James and Peter returned carrying hot chocolate and pumpkin pasties, but neither got eaten as the two boys were asleep.

The next morning, Remus felt a very familiar small ache in his muscles, the very first signs that he would be transforming in a week. He could get by pretty well on this day, though, since it was only a small pressure on his bones.

As he got up and glanced around the room, the only other person up was James. Sirius was still sleeping, his body curled in the fetal position on the bed. Something was up with the young boy, and Remus didn't know what to think of it.

"Is he okay?" He asked James, who was just finishing brushing his teeth.

"He hasn't told me anything." James answered honestly, looking just as worried as Remus felt. "I got letters from him, though, and let's just say he's not had a very nice past two weeks. He acts like, like nothings wrong, but I know him."

Sirius was still sleeping like a rock, and neither wanted to wake him up, but it had to be done. Remus heated up the hot chocolate and pumpkin pasties from last night and sat them by his bed for him to have for breakfast.

"Sirius? Sirius, wake up." Remus nudged the boy in the back.

"Hmm?" Sirius grunted. Remus smiled a bit.

"Wake up."

"Hmm-oh, hello." Sirius opened his eyes, and yawned widely, Remus getting a whiff of morning breath. Remus made a face, but he didn't show it to the boy who was clearly still not totally up.

"Here's the food from last night, if you want it. It's heated and everything."

Sirius nodded, trying to comprehend. "Mm, thanks, Remmy."

"No problem." Remus responded, confused where the new nickname came from.

Fin.