The Lone Marauder

Prologue

I used to believe we were invincible, that we would stride through life as effortlessly as we did school. We could stand up against anything together. This, of course was a young boy's rash thoughts. Hogwarts and the marauders had sheltered me from the cold world. There is no such thing as invincible. There is no such thing as effortless. I learned all of these things the hard way. It was too good to be true, my time at Hogwarts. I had three great friends who accepted me for who I was, attended one of the best magical schools ever known, and was protected and under the most powerful wizard of our time, Albus Dumbledore. This is the story of my life, or what was supposed to be my life...but I'm getting ahead of myself. When I got the bite, it seemed as if my life was over. Ruined all because of something my father had said. There was the prospect of never being Welcome in the Wizarding World again. Not being able to find a job was another big one. Plus there was little chance I would even be accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

At the time I wasn't quite old enough to comprehend the entire impact of this, but seeing my mother in a constant state of distress was enough to tell me that it was serious. Sometime around my 9th Christmas she broke. I guess it was all the stress of preparations…the looming dread of my up coming 11th birthday perhaps. We hadn't heard anything concerning my admission to Hogwarts yet. My father had sent a letter to the headmaster concerning me and my condition, and we were awaiting a response. Each day she seemed to become more anxious. It could have been a number of things though, the quantity of which you and I shall never know. These were hard times. Some of the hardest I've ever had to live through, and that's saying something. She had to spend the next 14 months in St. Mungo'sHospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Just about a month after my mother was admitted to St. Mungo's, we received a letter. The letter was from Professor Albus Dumbledore, Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts. In his letter, he released some private information that he would be succeeding Armando Dippet as headmaster of Hogwarts the upcoming September. He had heard about my condition and was willing to make an exception. A ray of hope broke through the layer of smog that had built up around my heart over the past few months. I was so excited; I thought it was all just a dream. He said that he would think the matter over and figure out a way to make it possible. From that day forth, Dumbledore was a god to my family. He had given me another chance to prove myself, and I wasn't about to throw it away.

---- flashback

Remus waved to his grandmother one last time before stepping onto the train. He took a deep breath and smiled as he inhaled its magical scent. They had come extra early, and the platform was practically empty. A few prefects and their families were standing idly around the platform, but mostly it was awkwardly empty. Remus climbed onto the train and took another deep breath. He slipped inside a compartment to his left, figuring most of them would still be empty. He settled in, stowed all of his things and pulled out a book. The Dark Arts Outsmarted. Remus checked his watch. He still had 45 minutes until most of the students would arrive, and an hour before the train would actually be leaving. Oh well, he thought, wriggling into a comfortable position in the corner near the window. He glanced out the window. His grandmother had left. He read for a while, completely engrossed in his gook. Slowly people started to filter into the platform, and before long it was packed and bustling.

Remus was incredulous to all of this though, until his compartment door slid open. Startled, he looked up. Two laughing boys stumbled inside, slamming the compartment door closed. "Shhhh!" One of the boys whispered harshly as slapped his hand over the other's mouth. They crouched, chuckling, behind the door, their ears pressed to the wood. They were oblivious of Remus' presence. He studied them. The one with his hand over the other's mouth had jet-black hair that was a complete mess. He had wire-rimmed glasses and hazel eyes. The other had longer dark hair that hung down on his head and shining gray eyes.

Remus lowered his book and cleared his throat. The two boys jumped and turned at the same time.

"Bloody hell! You scared me there mate!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Sorry, we didn't know anyone was in here," said James distractedly. He blinked a few times, taking in Remus' full aura.

"Well, I'm Sirius Black," said Sirius boisterously, bounding over to Remus and shaking his hand.

"Uh, Remus Lupin," he said nervously.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Remus!" Sirius slapped him on the back. "Oh, and this is James." Sirius gestured to the boy with the glasses. He had slid the door open slightly and was peering out.

"Sirius, I think the coast is—Oh! Pardon me," said James turning around and finally joining the conversation. He rumpled his hair and set his other hand on his hip. He hastily shook Remus' hand.

"Sorry about ol'James here. He's a little distracted. Women. Tsk Tsk."

Remus chuckled. James sat down across from Sirius and Remus, his hands folded in his lap. He kept looking anxiously at the door. Sirius nudged Remus and winked.

"Check this out," he whispered. Remus raised an eyebrow but remained silent. "So…James, how about those Cannons…" This seemed to get James' full attention.

"The Cannons! Sirius! You know I hate the Cannons!" James changed completely as he ranted. The real James came pouring out. James rattled on about why he didn't like the Cannons while Remus and Sirius sat watching him, highly amused.

"James Potter!" the compartment door flew open and James jumped out of his seat, landing face first in Sirius' lap.

"Bloody hell James!" yelled Sirius, standing up and shoving James off of him. A tall blonde girl with sparkling blue eyes stood framed in the doorway. James scrambled to his feet, grinning like a madman.

"Why hello Ophelia, what brings you to this particular compartment this lovely morning?" he carelessly flicked a stray piece of black hair out of his face, feigning casualness. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't try to pull that on me, I know you too well." Ophelia folded her arms across her chest, covering her gleaming prefect's badge. "I saw what you did to Molly Prewitt back there on the platform." James just continued to grin and stare at her. "James," her tone changed completely, "please tell me you won't be trouble here too…" James' hands moved to his hips and he stared smugly at her.

"I am terribly sorry…but I just can't make any promises at this point in time." He shrugged, a look of mock-sympathy masking his face. She sighed heavily and dropped her hands to her sides.

"Fine. Come with me." She grabbed his arm, mumbling something about trouble and how the train hadn't even left yet. James grinned at Sirius and Remus and wagged his eyebrows behind her back.

After they had turned the corner, Sirius chuckled.

"That there tells you more about James than I could have ever begun to try tell you." He sat down and slapped the seat with another chuckle. Remus sank down next to him, his face drowning in confusion. Sirius stared blankly at him for a second before exclaiming, "Ohhh…I forgot. See, that was Ophelia, Ophelia Norman. She used to be James' sitter. She stayed there a lot during the summer when James' parents were…out." Sirius explained. "James has had a crush on her for a long time, but she's a 6th year, so he doesn't have too much of a chance, but I wouldn't put it past him." Sirius sounded proud.

Remus sat quietly, taking all of this in. He had never dreamed that the train ride would be this way. How could James be so content with being in trouble on the first day? Remus was puzzled. Obviously he had no reason to need to prove him self the way Remus did.

"Oh yeah," Sirius chuckled, breaking the strange silence, "mind if we sit here with you? I just remembered we left our trunks in a secret compartment a little ways down the hall. I should probably go get them."

"Of course not," murmured Remus, picking up his book again. Sirius retrieved their bags and sat down on the seat across from Remus, leaning onto his knees and using his elbows to support his upper body.

He stared at Remus for a while before saying, "You don't talk much, do you?" Remus shrugged, turning the page in his book. His eyes never left the page.

"Huh." Sirius stared a while longer before adding, "That can be easily changed…" he grinned mischievously. Remus finally looked up.

"I…just don't have that much to say. I only talk when I have something to say." Sirius let out a loud 'ha!'

"You know," he said trying to be matter-o-fact, "you have great potential. I also reckon, just from how you are taking advantage of this situation, that you haven't ever had any real fun in your life…yet." The same mischievous grin slid lopsided onto his face. Remus carefully set down his book and furrowed his brow.

"Of course I know how to have fu-"

"Silence!" Sirius snapped to a standing position and swept his arm through the air and stopped to point it at Remus, halting his speech. He clutched his heart and grabbed Remus' wrist. "You're reading a bloody book for Merlin's sake! We haven't even left the station! I shall make something out of you yet," he said proudly to the overhead rack. He began to drag Remus from the compartment. His book fell to the ground with a clatter.

"What?" said Remus, completely shocked and even more confused.

"From now on you will be our protégé. 'Our' being James and my good looking self. We shall teach you the ways." He added extra mysterious emphasis to the word 'ways'. Remus was even more confused now, too confused to respond as Sirius pulled him out the compartment door.

A/N: Well, I still have a bunch of editing and compiling left to do on the rest of this story, but I got sick of waiting to put it out. It been almost a year since I started announcing I was going to write it. Please Review!