Hogwarts
A boy with raven colored hair walked quietly along the castles cold corridors. He had round glasses, as would his future son. The sixteen year old approached a worn, wooded door. He thought about turning back, about how he could creep back to his dormitory fire, and face his problems in the morning. But they would be bigger. He faced the door again, and tentatively knocked. *clonk clonk clonk*
The door swung open almost immediately.
An elderly woman looked up from her book. She wore emerald green robes, and a pointed hat with a green feather in it.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. Have a seat, will you?" She said lightly. He knew this situation far too well. He walked across the red and gold carpet to the worn scarlet sofa. He sat down on it, and the sofa welcomed him back to his usual spot. Now that he was familiar, the boy began to relax. His usual laid-back manner returned.
"Mr. Potter, it seems-"
"I'm sorry about the trunk, Professor, it was just calling to be set on fire!"
The woman seemed rather startled.
"I'm not here for that am I, Professor McGonagall?" Asked the boy, suddenly taking great interest in the golden lion portrayed on the carpet.
"No, James, you are not. But do remind me to look into that later." She said briskly, her mouth thinning.
James knew why he was there, if it wasn't the trunk... "It's about the-" He started, but stopped, because McGonagall seemed far too surprised at this. "The...the quidditch match? Yes, I was rather magnificent, wasn't I?" He covered, with a plastic smile upon his face.
McGonagall was not amused.
"Mr. Potter, it seems that you are not in any sort of trouble at all...this time...In this case, James, you have been assigned a mission. You and your band of friends."
James leaned forward with interest, and nearly fell of the sofa itself, forgetting that he was already on the edge. "Go on, Professor." He said, eyes wide, mouth open.
And so she did...
James practically ran back to the common room that night. It was far past bed time, but he still felt wide awake. He spit the password at the Fat Lady, and climbed through the portrait hole. Hopping up the steps, James entered his dormitory. He ran to the opposite side of the room and shook Sirius awake.
Sirius' long, dark brown hair was in the state of "bed head".
"Wha-what?" He said sleepily, propping himself up on his elbows. " 's that you, Prongs?" He said thickly.
"Yeah!" James said, far too loudly. "You need to hear this-"
"Hear what?" Came a third voice. Remus pulled the curtains back from his fourposter. "What's going on?" He said.
James put his finger to his lips. *Don't wake Peter!* he mouthed. Remus nodded and scooted to the edge of his bed, closer to the other two. "What's happening?" He said, much more quietly.
"I've just been to McGonagall-" James started.
"She found out about the toilet?!" Sirius panicked.
"No, no...We're not in trouble this time." James said, putting an arm on Sirius' shoulder.
Sirius sunk back into his sheets.
"We got a...mission, from Dippet. He wants us to join the Order!" James whispered excitedly.
Sirius thought he heard wrong. "You...you mean, like, The Order Of The Pheonix?!" He spat out, disbelieving.
James nodded vigorously. "There's supposed to be some sort of mission for us, back at your mums house..." He started to see a problem forming.
"I 'avent seen my mum in ages...I'm not going back there!" Sirius said, flopping back onto his pillows.
James was distraught. "But Sirius!" He complained.
Sirius rolled onto his side, his back to James, and refused to answer.
Remus butt in, "Just leave it, James. We'll figure it out in the morning..." and in turn, they all crawled back into bed.
James stared at the ceiling of his fourposter, too excited, nervous, and thrilled to sleep. So many thoughts ran through his head. He must have fallen asleep at some point, in the early hours of the morning.
Light, streaming through the small hole in his curtains, woke James up. He flickered his eyes several times, and then rubbed them with his hands. Sitting up and pulling back his curtains, he realized that they had off today, it was a grading dedicated day, for the teachers. This would improve Sirius' mood, and hopefully get him on track with Dippets plans...
James stalked over to Remus' bed, ready to scare him, only to find it empty, and neatly made. James scratched his head and stared curiously around the room. There was Peter, covered in crumbs and his large stomach bulging from the sheets, and snoring loudly; there was Sirius, sleeping quietly, on his side, the way James had left him. Aside from other boy's beds, there was nothing unusual about the room. James decided that Remus could only be wandering the grounds or in the library.
"Hey. Hey Sirius," James whispered, touching his friends shoulder. Sirius opened his eyes for a minute, looked at James, uttered the words "I'm not going" and turned back on his side.
"I'm not here for that!" James lied, thinking up a new story. "I was just wondering if you'd seen Remus. I assume he's headed to the library, but-"
Sirius cut him off "He went to ask specifics from Dippet. Why don't you join him, and let me sleep." He snarled, and rolled back over. James got up rather abruptly, changing quickly, and headed out of the dormitory, his feelings slightly hurt by his best friend.
James often got sidetracked as he wandered the halls, which tended to lead to his lateness for classes. Now that he wasn't even headed for class, his mind wandered even more freely than usual. As he zigzagged his was through the castle towards Professor Dippets office, James cut through passages and shortcuts. He found some things that even he didn't know about. Murmuring to himself, he made a wrong turn, without realizing. It was thirty minutes before he actually made it to Dippets office, when it usually would have taken ten. As he approached the statue, it began to twist upwards, collecting its prey from the office above. As it came down again, James realized that he didn't know why he was looking for Remus. Was he excited for something?
The statue returned to the floor, and Remus stepped off. He looked rather surprised to see James. He immediately went red in the face, and stuffed something into his pocket.
"What's that?" James asked, attempting to peer into Remus' pockets.
Remus, if possible, went redder. "Nufin" he said. James sniffed impatiently.
"Let's just get back to Sirius" Remus said. James shifted uncomfortably, making a face.
"What?" Remus asked. "Is he alright?"
James nodded. "Yeah...he's just a bit...of a swine."
Remus stifled a laugh. "Hm. About the O.O.T.P.?" He asked.
James nodded again. "He refuses to see his family...they have a bit of...a history." James trailed off.
Now it was Remus' turn to nod. "I'll talk to him." He said. They walked back to the dormitory.
"SIRIUS BLACK GET YOUR LAZY BUTT UP OFF THAT OLD BED, GET DRESSED, WE ARE GOING TO YOUR MOTHERS HOUSE, SO LOOK SHARP!!!!!" Remus shouted as they entered the dormitory. James, Sirius, and anyone else who happened to be in the castle at the time, jumped in surprise. James let his jaw drop, as did Sirius. Remus crossed the room, threw a pair of muggle clothes at him, and left the room, slamming the door.
Sirius continued to stare in shock at the closed door.
James cleared his throat. "Um. Yeah. What Remus said." He mustered up, and promptly left the room.
5 minutes later, Sirius came out of the room in the clothes, and said, "Sorry guys. I...I'm ready." They crossed the common room and climbed through the portrait hole.
"Where...where exactly do you live?" Remus said, his fire gone, as they descended the steps.
"Number Twelve Grimmauld Place." Sirius said. "And I don't live there." He added.
After stopping at McGonagall's office for a pass, they left the building.
"Um...how are we going to get there?" James asked, uncertainty creeping into his voice.
A boy with long, blonde hair, approached the trio.
"Xenophilius Lovegood" he introduced himself. "And I believe you'll need to fly..." he gestured towards the Forbidden Forest, where a group of three Thestrals awaited mounting.
"We can't thank you enough, Xenophilius!" James said. The other two nodded, and they set off for the Thestrals.
clickety clickety click*
The Thestrals hooves landed on the hard pavement. James dismounted, Sirius and Remus following his lead. The Thestrals took off, on their way back to Hogwarts. James, Sirius, and Remus, resumed their attention to the wall of houses in front of them. Houses 11, 13, 14, and so on, were in a row.
"Um...Sirius I thought you said number twelve." James said uncertainly.
"I did." Sirius said, smirking at the other two. He whispered something under his breath, and the houses eleven and thirteen began to separate, the houses shaking and rumbling, as a large one in the middle became plain and obvious to the boys. The muggles in eleven and thirteen didn't seem to notice a thing.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was dark, dirty, and dusty. As the boys entered the house, they left footprints in the dust. "YOU FILTHY LITTLE-" Came the cry of a woman who closely resembled Sirius.
"WALBURGA!!!" Came the rare shout of Dumbledore's voice. He appeared in the long hallway.
"James, Sirius, Remus, please do come in. I was told you would be arriving..."
The boys passed the woman, giving her dirty looks, all of which were returned, and followed Dumbledore into the over large kitchen.
"Take a seat boys, take a seat." Dumbledore said warmly. He flicked his long wand, and three chairs were pushed out, awaiting the rumps of the boys.
"Would you mind, James, telling me how much Professor McGonagall has told you?" Dumbledore asked.
And so, James began the long story of that night...
Authors Note
I hope you enjoyed it! This was my first fanfiction, and there are many more Marauder stories to come! Please review, share, and like! Follow this story to see what adventures these three troublesome boys will dive into!