[A/N]: Hey there! Okay, so I'm sorry to say that this was meant to be a series, but I decided not to use this as a beginning of my first chapter. In the beginning I wanted to include of these characters, like so, but once I stopped the prologue, before writing the actual book down, I realised that I didn't want Alice, Frank, and Regulus here this early in the books, and it really didn't work out how Severus and Draco came into the situation. I still like what I wrote, so I'm just putting it up on the site as a one-shot. The new prologue I'll be writing will continue on with the series as I intend it too, and I hope you enjoy it just as much!
Sorry this AN is so long, I just wanted to explain my reasoning for stopping this multi-book series. I'll hopefully have the first chapter of the actual series up soon!
THE ROOM THAT REQUIRED THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE
FIRST PROLOGUE [CUT FROM SERIES]
"Prongs, will you be quiet! We don't want Madam Pince to kick us out!"
"Relax, Moony. Why are we even here anyway?"
"You know the N.E.W.T's are this year, James, and since you and Sirius obviously won't study using your own willpower, it's up to me to make your study guides."
"Aw, Rems, you know you love us!"
"Mr. Black! Please be quiet or leave!"
"Sorry, Madame!"
The library was where the Marauders had ended up over Christmas Break in their seventh year, upon Remus Lupin's orders. The three Gryffindors had stayed for their last winter in Hogwarts castle, taking in the lovely views, and trying to be together as much as possible in their final year. Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail as his friends would call him, had to leave for his home, as he wrote in his letter, "My mother's illness has been getting worse, and I'm afraid this is the last Christmas I'll be able to spend with her. I'm sorry guys! I'll send your presents over Christmas Eve or morning, depending on when I can get down to the Owl Office and get one." The three friends were disappointed, but wished his mother all the best, and let him go on his way.
Another opportunity had sprung up dealing with the winter break – Lily Evans, 7th year Head Girl, Gryffindor, and James Potter's love interest had stayed as well. Her family had gone out of country to visit relatives on her father's side, so she didn't really have anywhere to go. A plus to this would be that she had stopped antagonizing every little thing the Marauders (James) had done, and started talking to them on a more friendly level. James took this as a good sign, but kept his ego down – They were getting closer, and that was perfectly fine with him.
"Hey, Prongs, come over here!" Sirius hissed loudly, as to not let 'Miss Pincers' hear him. "Do you have a 'Harry' in your family?"
James walked over, as did Remus, to see what kind of book could have possibly gotten Sirius Black's attention.
"No, I don't. Why do you ask?" James wondered curiously.
"Because there's a series of books with his name on them in here." Sirius blatantly replied back.
"Woah, what? -"
"- Wait, what!"
Both were said at the same time, but all three boys were shushed by a fiery-haired girl, green emerald eyes glaring at the rudeness they have shown in the library.
"Would you all just be quiet, people are trying to get work done in here!" Lily Evans would have screeched this, her temper slowly going up, hearing them all whispering for the past five minutes.
"Lily, we weren't even talking that loudly-"
"- Lily, calm down, or else we'll all get thrown out!-"
"- Evans, look at the book I found! James' got a famous cousin or something!"
Of course, the last was stated by Sirius, who had used his non-indoor/library voice.
"Out! All of you, out!" Madame Pince brandished her wand, pointing to the exit of the library.
"But Madame, I wasn't even with them-" started Lily, but she wasn't able to finish as one of the books Sirius was pointing to had dropped unceremoniously onto her head. After it hit her, it fell to the ground. Once her bearings were straight, and her string of curses under her breath had subsided, she picked up the hardcover tome.
"Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone... He looks a lot like you, Potter. You sure he isn't related to you?"
"No, Lily, I'm positive." replied James, quietly noting in the back of his mind that, although she was mad a few seconds ago, the madness wasn't related to himself. James realised she had started a nice, albeit small, conversation with him, involving no curses being thrown. His face internally lit up at this, hoping that they could do it more often.
"Hmmm... Oh hey, there's a note." Lily said.
"Oh, what does it say?" Remus asked, curious as to who this possible boy could be.
"I'm not sure Remus, here let me read it-"
"OUT! ALL FOUR OF YOU! OUT, NOW!"
Being pushed into the hallway, Madame Pince closed the door behind them, not granting the four 7th years entry back into the library.
"Now what will we do! It's not like we can read this anywhere else!" Lily stated, frustrated.
"There must be somewhere, Evans. I want to know who this kid is, and we're going to find out. Trust me." Sirius said, looking dead into Lily's eyes.
Suddenly Lily dropped the book, clutching her hand.
"Lily, are you okay!" James asked frantically, trying to find her hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... the book sort of burned me... it was weird."
Remus picked up the book, noticing the cool touch of the cover. He opened the front cover, to see a piece of paper. 'This is the note Lily must have been talking about' Remus realised.
"Here, I found that note you were talking about before. I'll read it." He stated, before clearing his throat.
"To James, Remus, Sirius, and Lily,
Please do not let anybody see these seven books, besides the four of you. If you would be so kind as to travel to the seventh floor, there is a portrait of Barnabas the Barmy trying to, repeatedly, teach the trolls to dance ballet, all will be explained.
Please do not be alarmed to see others waiting as well, for they all had received a letter, quite like the one in your hands.
-The Golden Trio
"Well, let's go! I've been getting bored anyway. There aren't enough people to pull good pranks on," said Sirius, while starting to leave the doorway, turning left to the staircases. "Are you guys coming or not?"
"Coming!" they all yelled, following the teenager.
The four students had made it to the seventh floor hallway in about ten minutes. While getting there there was mostly silence, but it wasn't strained. It was a comfortable silence, with random lines going in-between the four. Once turning to get to the Barnabas portrait, they saw someone who three-quarters of the group never wanted to see: Severus Snape.
Hearing the gasps at his presence, Severus turned around, seeing the Marauders and Lily Evans, of all people, staring at him, gaping like goldfishes. As Snape rolled his eyes at their reactions and proceeded turned to taunt his yearmates, his body angling made the others find another boy with him. He was a tad shorter, although not by much. He had long hair, going to his shoulders, although it was tied back with a black ribbon. The child's face was smooth like porcelain, the aristocratic air flowing off of him dominating his facial expressions. A growl of "Reg..." burst through the stillness that had gone by, and said boy looked up to see his brother, Sirius, glaring at him.
"Hello, older brother. How are you doing on this fine day?"
"Shut it Reg, you berk. What are you doing here anyway?" Sirius replied scathingly.
"I got a letter, telling me to get to this location. Apparently you got one as well, as you are here. We are still waiting for some people though, if you were curious" Regulus said.
Sensing that the Black brothers were getting on each other's nerves, Remus stepped in to interrupt. "Regulus, do you know who else we are waiting for?"
"Hello, Remus. I actu-"
"Hey, guys!" Frank Longbottom called from the end of the hallway. His brown hair was dishevelled, as was the girls' whose hand he was clutching – Alive Prewett's tie was slightly askew as well.
"Sorry we're late, this letter just fell onto our heads..." Alice started off strong, but noticing the look Lily was giving her, she realised how ridiculous they both must have looked. 'We obviously look like we just came from a broom closet. Not like it's a lie, but still, we could have straightened ourselves out. What was I thinking? I'm so forgetful sometimes!' By the time she ended her sentence with a mumble, her cheeks were bright red, telling everybody that what they were thinking was correct. Frank, also noticing their uniforms and their classmates' faces, had his cheeks also painted a tinted red.
Regulus coughed, interrupting the Gryffindors' antics. "So, are we all here, or are there others too?"
"I don't know, let me check..." James trailed off, and walked forward towards the painting.
"Honestly, Potter, what are you doing?" Lily asked exasperatedly. She had never been in the presence of the Marauders (Well, Remus she liked, but he didn't really count in her mind), and although they were a laugh when they weren't targeting Snape, she really didn't want to be exposed to them for elongated periods of time.
"Just wait, Lily." James replied, and proceeded to walk back and forth three times, with his eyes closed. He opened them, and the depressed look gave it away – whatever he wanted to pop out of thin air, didn't pop out.
"...Very exciting. What should I be waiting for?" Snape drawled. His voice showed his annoyance, but the lifted right eyebrow showed he was quite amused by Potter's failed actions.
"Shut up! The door's supposed to appear... Moony, it worked last time, so why didn't it this time?"
"I do believe I could answer that for you, Mr. Potter."
All of the students' necks turned, and saw Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Professor Minerva McGonagall walking down the hallway.
"Oh, hello, Professors!" Lily and Alice called.
"Hello Ms. Evans, Ms. Prewett. May I presume you all got a letter addressed to you?" McGonagall asked, noticing some stray parchment in hands, or pockets.
"We did, Minnie. Were we waiting for you two as well?" Sirius asked, eyes lighting up when he saw how ruffled McGonagall got when she heard the 'loving' nickname given to her.
"Yes, we were. And according to the letter I have received, we are all together. Now, please let me get the door working in proper order. It was specifically warded to let only a specific request go through for us." Dumbledore replied, eyes twinkling at the mish-mosh of students. 'Well, this will certainly be an amusing time.'
Albus walked back and forth like James had, but his action had the desired effect – A large decorated wooden door appeared, looking anything but new. There were indents and scorch marks everywhere, leaving almost none of the door underneath unscathed. In places where there were little to no dark marks, solid images were visible – a stag, wolf, doe, and grim were in a circle together, while there was a snake and rat next to each other. Behind the whole scene of animals, there was a large lightening bolt, streaking down the whole frame. After admiring the door's in-depth woodwork, Dumbledore opened it, revealing the door within.
It was a very comfortable looking room, with stuffed couches, and a roaring fire. It was basically a carbon copy of the Gryffindor common room, for all that have seen it. The color scheme, though, was not a replica. It was mostly dominated with the scarlet and gold shadings, with green and silver accenting all over. To the Slytherins' delight, and the Marauders' disappointment, there was quite a lot of those two colors, although tastefully done.
Everyone sat down, with Severus and Regulus sharing a small couch, the Marauders and Lily sharing the long one, and Minerva and Albus staking claim to the single armchairs. Another large couch and comfy armchair were there, although kept unoccupied. There was a slight charm on them, to not let anyone sit down, stinging whatever was connected with the seat cushions (Sirius found out the hard way, warning everyone else). Once they were all comfortable, Sirius, Remus, and James having already placed the books down on the large low-placed circular table in the middle of them, another piece of parchment came floating down onto the table. Albus Dumbledore picked it up, and read out loud for everyone to hear.
Hello, everybody!
Now, you must have noticed that you are quite an eclectic group of people. As there are some of you who will, being put lightly, get on each other's nerves, I must ask you all to keep your wands away. For the safety of you all to get through all these books in one piece, either Minerva or Albus can, and will, give you detentions, although no house points can be given or taken away. The Room of Requirement, which you are currently in, has already been made to not give you any leeway in pranks. I must apologise, Marauders, that you will need to go throughout reading these books without starting pranks. Once you have finished reading this letter, there will be another flash of light, but please don't be alarmed. That will be us, the letter-writers, coming.
-The Golden Trio
When Dumbledore finished speaking, the parchment blew up in green flames, and another bright flash occurred in the room. When everybody brought down their hands, they saw five bodies standing there, brushing off the invisible dust that came with the light.
The students couldn't believe there eyes. In front of them were four students! The one closest to them had bright, shaggy ginger hair, floating freely down around his ears, blue eyes shining brightly. The only girl in the group had bushy brown hair cascading down her back, with chocolate brown eyes. Next to her other side was another boy, with shaggy black hair, looking like a bird's nest sticking up in all directions, going down to his neck. His fringe in front covered his forehead, going down to his eyebrows, letting bright green emeralds shine through behind his glasses. To his left was a pale blonde, with stormy, yet amused, steel gray eyes. His hair was tousled slightly, although still drawn back away from his face. Between the blonde and black-haired boys was the only adult. He had long, greasy black hair, with obsidian eyes. All the younger people were dressed in jeans, and assorted tops, ranging from the girl's long sleeved thin sweater, to assorted tshirts the boys were wearing. All wore dragon-hide boots and coats, in black. The man wore black slacks, with a black dress shirt, underneath his black cloak.
"Well, hello there. I must say, I was expecting three of you, not five." Dumbledore stated to the new bodies standing off to the side of the room.
"Hello, Albus," said the black-haired boy. "How are you doing on this fine day?"
"As much as one can while being whisked away to read books, child." Dumbledore said serenely, eyes shining bright with stars.
The boy's green eyes widened when the Professor had said 'child', making him, and the rest of the unknown group snort with delight.
"Please, Albus. I'm probably the farthest thing from a child in this room. Direct that word to Sirius." the boy couldn't hold it in much more, holding onto the blonde boy's shoulder, cackling with glee, seeing the comical surprised look on Sirius' face.
"Mr. Black, please compose yourself so we can get their names!" Minerva McGonagall intervened, effectively getting Sirius' mouth to snap shut. The chuckles quieted, and the newcomers sat down onto the couch. The ginger sat on the right, with the girl next to him, the bespectacled boy, with the blonde on the left end of the couch. To his other side sat the adult in the armchair.
"Okay, well, I guess I'll start first," stated the red-haired boy on the couch. "I'm Ron Weasley."
"Weasley? Are you related to Arthur and Molly?"
"Yeah, I am." chuckled Ron. The rest of them continued down the couch.
"Hermione Granger."
"Harry Potter."
Many cries were heard, as it seemed the boy the books were talking about, were about him. Harry scratched the back of his head, causing his hair to be even more unruly. James' face was priceless. He couldn't see how someone could look so much like him, without being brothers. 'We could be twins, for all I know!'
Seeing as the cries weren't calming down much, the next boy loudly stated his name. He could tell how frustrated Harry was getting with all the noise, and wisely quieted them down. "Draco Malfoy."
"Severus Snape."
"Wait! That's Snivellus!" Sirius cried, with James, Remus, and Lily's faces gaping. Snape was surprised, seeing his older self, yet succeeded in not showing it as much as the Gryffindors.
"Black, shut up!" yelled Draco, cutting off the protests. "Can we just get started?" Draco drew his left hand through his hair, noticing the startled gasps that came from all the past students in front of him. "What... oh." He noticed too late that he was wearing a dark red tshirt. Which was short-sleeved. Which would effectively show off his Dark Mark. Although it had faded from when Voldemort had died, it was still there.
"What is that Death Eater doing here!" Sirius roared, getting up to pounce onto the pale-faced boy. All the other students were scared out of their wits, trying to get their wands out to incapacitate him. Harry jumped off the couch, shouting, "Severus!" over the loud tirade of Sirius Black.
Snape looked up, surprised the new kid was yelling his name. He looked over to Regulus, confused, but Regulus pointed back, and just stated quietly, "Watch."
The older Severus quickly got up, and grabbed onto Sirius' left side, while Harry went to his right. They both held him back, Harry trying to convince Sirius to calm down.
"Sirius, stop! He wouldn't be here right now if he was a Death Eater!" Harry shouted, making the Black stop his futile struggling.
"Oh, yeah? How do you know he won't be a spy, or something! Slytherins are all horrible!" James fervently nodded his head, although letting Sirius do all the talking.
"I would NEVER make friends with a Death Eater! Are you even listening to yourself? Spys are the most trustworthy people to have on your side! Padfoot, drop the conversation. You won't win against me, in any way, shape, or form." Harry finished darkly. Once finding out why Draco and Severus had done the things they had done, Harry couldn't ever find better trustworthy friends than them, besides Ron and Hermione, of course. "Slytherins are cunning, and ambitious. They can get out of trouble, if they are ever caught. I wouldn't want anyone besides Draco or Severus watching my back. Now, can I let you go without attacking Draco?" Harry asked, agitated. 'Seriously, we haven't even started the books yet! This will take forever!'
Sirius grunted his agreement, ripping his hand out of Severus' grip, and sitting back down onto the couch between James and Remus. Severus went back to his armchair, and Harry went to sit next to Hermione and Draco.
"Hey, Draco. You okay?" Harry whispered.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Wasn't that surprising, really. I mean, Aunt Bella is his cousin, right? I can tell why he's so against me. Lets just thank Merlin they haven't seen Severus' arm yet." Draco whispered back.
"Yeah, I know..." Then Harry got back to his normal voice. "Oh! Here, Frank. Would you like to start?" Harry asked, passing the book to him.
"Uhm, sure Harry."
"Wait! Who are you guys, anyways?" Lily asked.
"Oh. Well, you'll figure out from the books, but we're from the future." Hermione replied.
More shouts of disbelievement, but all was quieted once Dumbledore lifted his hand. "I believe we can start with the books, as anything we will ask might possibly be answered."
"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," Frank started. "Chapter One, The Boy Who Lived."
[A/N]: I do hope you enjoy, and any positive criticism is welcomed! Anything you think I can improve on in my new prologue will help me a lot. Press that lovely Review button below!