Disclaimer/Warning: I do not own Harry Potter, Marauders and what not. Only my own made-up characters.
Also I will give a warning all who do not wish to suffer a most painful death... joking! The only warning is that in the beginning there will be spoilers from the 7th book. Haven't read it all? Planning too? Don't like spoilers? Answered yes to any of the following questions? Then don't continue. This is an alternate reality so there may be some wacked out things for the fact that there are new characters that need to fit in because my marauder fan-fic leads into the present harry potter fic and then into the future. So no complaining. IT IS MY FANFIC NOT YOURS. Besides that though, I hope you like it!
A Story That Will Outlive Us All
It was a quite morning inside of the Burrow, as most who gathered there the previous night were still asleep. Only one soul seemed to be stirring as he had always been an early riser, no matter what ungodly hour he fell asleep at.
This man's name was Chase Black and he appeared to be in his late fifties. Even though the man was aging, no one would ever suppose he was almost sixty at first glance. Chase's hair was still as jet black as when he was seventeen and his eyes showed youth in his years. Even he had to admit he was slowing down though… Chase walked with a limp in his right leg and had raspy breathing; from smoking all his life and subtle wrinkles told the truth.
Chase leaned against the counter, relieving the pressure on his bad leg and reached for his glass of water. The night before had been July thirty-first; Harry Potter's thirty-seventh birthday and all had gathered to properly celebrate it at the Burrow. Everything had started out slow and normal that was, until the children went to bed then the rum came out. Chase had to admit that he drank a little too much because now he had a major hangover.
"Men over fifty should not have to worry about hangovers," he whispered to himself, chuckling slightly. It was quiet funny the longer he thought about it but Chase dared not laugh louder; that would worsen his headache.
"Good morning Chase," a familiar voice said. Chase looked up to see Harry Potter enter the kitchen, along with his daughter; Nienna Weasley.
"If you say so," he replied, smirking. Chase reached into the pocket of his robes and brought out a small, silver box the shape of a square.
"What is that father?" Nienna asked, an excited tone coming over her voice. She knew very well what it was but Nienna had never expected such a thing from her Slytherin father. Harry ran a hand threw his unkempt, dark brown hair, a look of confusion on his face. Was he the only one who didn't know what was going on? Chase grinned and limped over to Harry, holding out the box.
"Happy birthday, kid, I meant to give this to you last night but things got kind of rowdy," he said. Harry took the box from Chase's hand and undid the poorly tied ribbon. Nienna rolled her eyes at the box; were men so helpless that they couldn't tie a ribbon properly? The ribbon fell away and Harry opened the box. Inside, on a black and emerald cushion laid a large, silver pocket watch.
"Hey, doesn't George have one of these?" Harry asked, picking the watch up by the silver chain.
"Yes, Harry because he was accepted into the Black family. See how the snake is wrapped around the letter B? That is our symbol; that is the Black symbol. All the men in the family have one and the women have rings. It means my father has invited you into the family. By accepting this gift, you accept being a Black as well," Nienna told him, running her finger around the emerald snake until she reached its golden fangs. When she was done Harry, who was still processing the information, popped it open. Inside was the initials HJP; his initials which stood for Harry James Potter.
Smiling, he closed the watch, clipped the chain to the loop in his jeans and slid the face of the watch into his robes pocket. This really was a surprise; Harry would never have thought Chase would allow him into the Black family. "Thank you, it means a lot to me," he muttered, a smile still on his face.
"Hey! Don't get mushy on me… I know Sirius would want you to have it and… frankly so do I. You have been part of the Black's since before you were born so that should have been given to you a long time ago," Chase replied, chuckling. He grabbed his walking stick and continued out to the front porch.
Harry patted the pocket that the watch was in before turning to Nienna and nodded. She grinned and both went to the fire place and stepped inside it. With a little floo powder and a shout to the Ministry of Magic both were gone to defend the Wizarding World as auroras.
The day was nice and breezy outside, one of those rare mornings that you usually don't get in the middle of the summer. Looking up at the sun though, anyone could see it promised a hot day was coming. Chase sat down on a lawn chair, happy with his decision and content to stay were he was until it got to hot.
He had almost fallen asleep when soft footsteps made him open his electric blue eyes again. Chase's granddaughter Nymphadora, or Nymph for short, sat down on the grass in front of him. Her fiery red hair seemed to come alive in the glare of the sun and hazel eyes starred down at her small, pale hands.
Nymph had been named after Nymphadora Tonks, a metamorphous that had been related to the Blacks. When Chase's own daughter was old enough to realize that she too was a metamorphous she grew very close to Nymphadora. The two were like sisters, as Nienna always trailed Tonks around. When Nienna was seventeen years old Tonks married Remus Lupin, who was also close to Nienna. The young teen, even though in the midst of a war, cherished her loved ones marriage and was beyond excited when their son was born. Nienna was appointed Godmother, while Harry was asked to be the child's Godfather. The couple's son wasn't even a couple months old when both Remus and Nymphadora died in the last battle against the dark lord. Nienna had been so devastated that she decided, when her youngest and only girl was born, to name her after Nymphadora Lupin.
Chase watched the eleven year old with curiosity. A troubled look had come over the girl's freckled face which resulted in worry for her grandfather.
"What is it Nymph?" he asked, patting the young girl's head. Before she could answer though, Nymph's fourteen year old twin brothers appeared next to her. Fred, who had been named after his father's brother whom had also died in the last battle, sat on her left side. Nathaniel, whose name came from his mother's brother who had been killed by Lucious Malfoy while protecting her, sat on her right side. Both boys put one of their arms around Nymph's shoulders to comfort her.
"We were wondering Grandfather," Nathaniel began, his voice unusually serious.
"If you would tell us," Fred picked up but stopped, biting his lip in nervousness. All three of them fell silent, making Chase's curiosity grow, but he waited for them to continue patiently.
Nymph looked straight up at her grandfather and finished, "about the marauders."
A surprised look came over Chase as he realized his grandchildren didn't know the full story of the four trouble makers; one being his own brother. The man sighed and leaned back in his chair; preparing to tell the epic story that would outlive them all.
"Well, my dear children, that is a story about four extraordinary men; Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. The four had a sort of friendship that everyone believed would last forever… but in truth it ultimately ended in disaster."