A/N:
Hullo all. A couple of housekeeping notes and then I'll leave you alone.
I don't own Harry Potter.
This is just for funsies, I did my best to keep to the timeline but there are quite possibly hiccups. It's a large universe. Stuff happens, ya know?
Anyway, in case you can't tell from the title this is a story about the Marauders and the friends who helped them along their way. It takes place in their seventh year which will be evident when you start reading but anyway, Please enjoy!
Guardians and Marauders
Chapter One:
Elise Simon strode swiftly down the platform in Kings Cross station, taking long purposeful steps and doing her best to remain unobserved by the masses of muggles milling about her. Elise's long, wavy, blond hair streamed behind her while her sharp blue eyes locked on the 9 ¾ sign. Without missing a beat or slowing down she squared her shoulders and hips and went right through the brick wall to be greeted with almost the same environment on the other side. Throngs of students bustled about, pushing their similar carts all while kissing their parents goodbye and greeting old school friends.
Elise paused a moment to take in the scene and tuck an unruly curl behind her ear. She observed a group of what had to be first years to her right, obviously intimidated and obviously a little uncertain, bickering with their parents about where they were supposed to be.
She saw a couple of thirteen year old Hufflepuff boys, one of which was sneaking a dirty magazine under his cloak while winking at his friends and slapping high fives.
And then she saw one of her best friends practically running toward her.
"Elise!" cried Kimberly Taylor. "Elise Simon, you are in so much trouble! You hardly responded to any of my owls this summer!"
Elise cringed and brought her hand up to her face to rub between her eyebrows. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm the worst. I just got caught up in some things. My mom always has a harder time with her condition in the warmer, summer months."
Kim's chocolate brown eyes softened and she placed a delicate hand on Elise's shoulder. "Oh, right. Of course. I should have known. It's no trouble. I was just giving you a hard time because… well, because I have fantastic news!" She finished with a squeal and a little hop. Kimberly's berry red mouth smiled widely and her eyes twinkled.
"Well, I would absolutely love to hear all about it while we hurry off to find a compartment." Elise stated beginning to push her trolley toward the luggage car. "Besides, with events this exciting I'm sure that we should find Lily and Dorcas first, yeah?"
"Oy! Sirius! You nearly mowed down that tiny second year back there!" James exclaimed, ruffling his jet black hair with his free hand anxiously as he and Sirius strode toward the train.
Sirius let out a bark of laughter, "And so it begins! Gonna give me a detention there, Head Boy?" Sirius teased.
James scowled a moment before chuckling too. "I was only saying! That poor girl looked like she thought she wasn't gonna survive the fall."
"Oh, she'll be fine, mate. Can I expect you to worry and follow the rules that strictly the whole year then?" Sirius accused. "Because Wormtail and I have got something mad planned for the Feast tonight."
James sighed. "I'm going to pretend I did not. just hear that, Padfoot."
Sirius laughed again and gave James a shove to the shoulder. "You sound just like Moony, Prongs. If only thirteen year old you could see you now...Speak of the Devil! Look! There's Moony!" Sirius exclaimed but both boys stopped in their tracks when they took in the scene.
"Wait a moment… who is that bird he's talking to?"
Remus Lupin was in fact talking to girl, a girl by the name of Erin Walter. Erin was known to be a very intelligent and kind sixth year Ravenclaw who had gotten "O's" on all but her Transfiguration O.W.L.s. She sported a short, brunette bob and had a knack for knowing when she was being lied to. Her hazel eyes always twinkled merrily and right now she was looking through her long, thick lashes at Remus Lupin.
"So," she was saying, holding her hands together behind her back. "I enjoyed writing you over the summer."
Remus allowed a small, shy smile to light up his face. "As did I. Did you finish reading the book I sent you?"
Erin beamed. "Of course I did! And you were right. Although the author did have some great points about the dangers of experimenting with spells and potions and a necessity to pass stricter laws, I do think that he failed to properly analyze the ramifications of entirely discouraging experimental magic."
"Right?!" exclaimed Remus. "I don't know how he expects the wizarding community to…" but he trailed off when he caught sight of his friends gawking at him. Erin followed his gaze and waved at the two boys. James and Sirius weakly waved back.
"You know, why don't we talk about this after the Feast?" Erin suggested.
As Sirius and James had now joined the pair, Sirius added, "Oh, that would be fantastic Erin. We need to steal him now but we'll be sure to return him in one piece."
Remus gave Sirius a quick side glance that was meant to read as "Shut up" and replied, "That does sound brilliant, Erin. After the Feast then?"
Erin nodded, "Later then." She smiled and left.
"Moony! Look at you! How long have you been talking to Erin, mate?" Sirius asked appreciatively. "She is…" He trailed off but raised his eyebrows and gave Remus a wink.
Remus shrugged. "We worked on a project together last school year and have been writing each other over the summer. Mostly to talk about school, actually."
Sirius whistled but Remus shook his head. "You know it's not like that. It can't be like that. I can't have that. Come on, we had better get on the train and find a compartment, I imagine that they'll be filling up soon. By the way, where is Peter?"
"It all happened while my family was taking holiday in Ireland," Kim began dreamily. "I met him while out looking for a good bookstore and he quite literally ran into me. See, he was late to meet up with some other blokes and wasn't looking where he was going. Knocked us both down. Lucky for me." Kim sighed dreamily.
Dorcas Meadowes grunted. "He sounds rather rude, this bloke, Kim."
"Oh, no!" Kimberly gushed. "He was a perfect gentleman. Offered his hand to help me up and then took me to go get a cuppa and a book. We ended up talking so long that it was dark by the time we left."
"Did he walk you home then?" Dorcas asked.
Kim nodded enthusiastically. "We shared the sweetest kiss I've ever had. He was so dashing! Sandy hair and the most gorgeous green eyes...We've been writing ever since."
"So, what's the catch?" Elise asked, surveying her friend.
"Catch?" Kim asked confused.
"What's wrong with him." Lily Evans clarified for her, crossing one leg over the other and flicking her long red hair over her shoulder.
"Well… that entirely depends on your perspective…" Kim drifted off and suddenly became preoccupied with picking at a loose thread on her seat.
"Kimberly... " Elise warned. "Out with it."
"Before we make you." Dorcas insisted but Lily smacked her arm.
"There is no need to threaten her." Lily chastised.
"Thanks Lily," Kimberly said in a sheepish voice and sighed deeply.
"He's a muggle."
Peter Pettigrew was running late for the train and was rushing as fast as he could down the platform to dispose of his luggage before the train left without him. Wheezing slightly, he searched with his rather beady eyes for the luggage drop off and nearly hurled his bag into a compartment before he was running for an open door onto the train. With difficulty, he managed to pull himself up and shut the door behind him, breathing deeply. He stood up straight and brushed off his clothes before starting to make his way down the car in search of his friends.
"Well, would ya look who it is." said a voice behind him. Peter froze.
"Why, it's Peter Pettigrew." Peter felt uncomfortable goosebumps prickle his arms while the hair on the back of his neck stood up on end.
Peter slowly turned to come face to face with two seventh years. He gulped. He recognized the two to be the Carrows, Alecto and Amycus.
"Now, what are you doing out here all by yourself, Pettigrew?" Alecto spoke smoothly with a terrifyingly sinister glint in his eye.
Peter didn't answer and instead made a move to continue down the carriage. Amycus Carrow stopped him with a strong hand on his shoulder. "You sure about that course of action?" She hissed through her teeth.
Again, Peter didn't answer and merely looked between the two of them.
"We know life's hard without your friends to back you up, huh?" Amycus purred. "We could be your friends."
"For a certain price." Alecto finished for her, coming to Peter's other side.
Peter glanced back and forth between them and took a slow step back out of their reach, followed by another and another. "I've got to go." He said unsteadily.
"You think about what we said. We'll be in touch." Alecto said, allowing Peter to hurry away down the hall. "Mind you don't breathe a word of this… encounter, Pettigrew. Or you will be sorry."
The three other girls immediately burst into giggles. "That's...that's what's wrong with him?" Elise gasped, bracing a hand on her knee. "He's a muggle?! Oh! The horror!"
"I thought she was about to tell us he was a Slytherin or something!" Dorcas laughed heartily, barely catching her breath.
Kim crossed her arms across her chest and glared. "It may not be a big deal to you lot but my parents would die if they knew!" She exclaimed.
"Oh, lovey," Lily cooed. "We just mean that if there's going to be something wrong with him, being a muggle isn't the worst thing that could happen. We are glad for you, really. Don't be so grumpy about it. Besides, as you know, Elise and Dorcas are both Half Bloods and I'm Muggleborn. We don't much care about his blood status."
Kim let a small smirk cross her face, "Fair enough. And you know, the really funny part is that he told me he doesn't believe in magic and that it's 'all a load of bollocks'." Kim finished with a fake Irish accent.
And the four girls dissolved into another fit of giggles.
"Aye, what's so funny?" James Potter asked from the doorway of their compartment.
"Oh, Kimberly is dating a muggle who doesn't believe in magic." Dorcas supplied, a smug grin on her face.
"Kimberly's dating a who now?" Sirius Black's head popped in beside his mate's, a curious expression on his face. "Ladies." He greeted with an incline of the head.
"We are not dating!" Kim defended defiantly. "We've just been writing."
"And snogging." Elise added.
"Only once!" Kim shot back.
Elise and Dorcas snorted while Lily sighed and brushed her hair back again.
"Anyway, how were your summers, then?" Lily asked, "Sirius, Remus, James…" She trailed off when she noticed the badge pinned on James Potter's chest. "You got Head Boy?" She said surprised.
"And he's already wearing his school uniform!" Sirius teased. "Prongs, Lily isn't even wearing her uniform yet."
"Well, the Prefect Meeting is in about fifteen minutes and I wanted to be prepared!" James shoved Sirius on the shoulder. "I don't know the first thing about being a responsible authority figure, I've got to at least pretend, mate!"
The group snickered at that but Lily just continued to look on curiously. "Actually, that is a great point. Would you all excuse me? I've got to go change and make my way down to the meeting." And with that Lily quickly and quietly gathered her robes and left the compartment.
James stared after her and yelled down the hall, "See you in the meeting, Evans!" James gave the girls a wink and left the compartment.
"You know," Dorcas said. "We should all get going. James is actually quite right about the time. Hmm. Never thought I would say that."
Remus and Kim muttered a response in agreement and the two girls grabbed their school robes and followed suit. The three prefects said their goodbyes and then it was just Elise and Sirius left in the compartment.
"So, are you going to invite me to sit?" Sirius asked, continuing to stand in the doorway.
"I hadn't intended to." Elise responded, pulling a book out of her bag.
Sirius took a seat across from her anyway. "So, you're the only one out of your friends who isn't a prefect. Does that make things awkward?" Sirius asked, leaning back and putting his feet up on the seat to the right of Elise.
She pushed his feet down and replied, "No. I don't care and neither do they."
"Why aren't you a prefect, anyway?" Sirius asked, putting his feet back on the seat.
Elise shoved them back down again with slightly more force and opened her book. "I break too many rules to be a suitable option, I would imagine. I get myself into too much trouble."
Sirius snorted. "Trouble? What trouble do you get into with your nose in books and your arse in class?"
Elise gave him a glare but did not respond.
"Ahhh," Sirius said. "I get it. Nice. Trouble." He winked.
"What are you on about?" Elise asked, looking up from her book.
Sirius shrugged. "Oh, nothing." He looked up innocently before fixing his eyes back on hers.
"That was not the kind of trouble I meant, Sirius."
"Right." Sirius winked again. "Course not, tart."
"I'm not a tart."
"Right, right. Of course not."
"I'm not."
"Right." He paused. "Respect."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, I have respect for a girl who can engage in those particular activities and not feel like it's wrong or something to be ashamed of."
"Sirius." Elise warned. "Shut up. My personal life is none of your business."
"Course not, tart. But you did bring it up."
Elise glared, book forgotten now. "Bugger off, ya tosser. I didn't. You did."
Sirius feigned offense, clutching at his chest and sliding down in his seat. "Your words cut me deep, Simon. Whaddya say. Kiss and makeup then?"
Elise groaned and rolled her eyes. "Get out, Sirius. I've had enough of you for one day."
"What are you going to do? Make me?"
Elise quickly and smoothly pulled her wand from her bag and held it a few inches from Sirius's nose. "If I must, Black."
Sirius smirked and put his hands up. "Alright, alright. I'm going. No need for wand waving but let me just say that for someone who is most decidedly not a tart, I can see an awful lot of your bra through that shirt. I never figured you for a black lace kind of girl, Simon, but it suits you."
And the next thing he knew, Sirius was tumbling onto his ass in the hallway as the compartment door slammed shut behind him. He looked up a little dazed to see someone standing in front of him.
"Oh, hullo Wormtail. Where in the bloody hell have you been?"
