AN/ Disclaimer: Anyone that you recognise belongs to JK Rowling
Chapter 1 – Some Introductions are Unnecessary
Wednesday 14th April 1976
SIRIUS BLACK
Sirius Black was an unusually handsome boy - tall, broad shouldered with shaggy but luscious black hair, regally high cheekbones and notorious beautiful grey eyes.
There was absolutely nothing unusual about Sirius Black finding himself in the Headmaster's Office – in fact this was the tenth time in his illustrious 5-year schooling career. But there was something significantly about this occasion; the room was a buzz with paintings muttering between themselves and Sirius himself fidgeted in his seat.
Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, slowly turned and faced him.
Despite his old age, Dumbledore gave off an aura of power and commanded the respect of those in his company. Today Dumbledore's blue eye lacked their famous sparkle instead they radiated anger and his words lined with barely supressed frustration "I will give you one chance to explain the events of this evening, Mr Black".
Sirius exhaled, he didn't even know how long he had been holding that breath in "It was all my fault Professor, please don't punish James or Remus". Dumbledore silently regarded him before indicating that he should continue.
"I saw Snape and I knew he was sneaking around trying to confirm his suspicions about Remus' lycanthropy. I told him how to get into the Shrieking Shack and everything. When James found out he went ballistic and chased after him. Given the lateness of the hour, the moon was already up and I knew he could be in danger."
Dumbledore continued to regard him, "Sirius, I'm going to ask you why you chose this action?"
Sirius Black finally looked up and directly into Dumbledore's eyes and spoke again.
Dumbledore sat down and regarded the boy as he spoke once more.
"Okay, given these facts I have decided that your punishment will be detention every Friday Night until the end of the term and you are illegible to play in the final Quidditch game of the year. You are very lucky to escape expulsion. Futhermore, I expect you to apologise to Mr Snape."
"Thank you, Sir. Once again, I am so sorry for my behaviour." The contrition was splashed across his face.
"Sirius, before you go, I would like to discuss another matter with you… As you are aware there is a difficult time brewing outside this castle and sooner or later sides will have to be chosen. You may find yourself needing to sever old bonds in order to establish others. Our families don't define us forever Sirius, in the end our choices do…" And with that, Dumbledore waved the boy away.
Sirius walked outside and closed his eye for a moment. Once they were open again he found himself walking towards the Gryffindor Tower.
Murmuring the password to the grumpy Portrait of Fat Lady, he moved quietly into the common room where he could hear two familiar voices in a hurried conversation.
"If I see him I swear I'm going to deck him"
"But, Prongs he your best friend"
"I can't believe what he bloody well did. Okay Pete?" and with that the owner of the voice swept up the stairs.
"Aren't you going to wait for him?" Peter called out to no avail behind him.
Peter looked up and recognised the figure of Sirius by the door. "What happened?" he quietly enquired to his friend.
"I'm not expelled but I have detention every week until the end of term and I can't play in the last game of the season…" Sirius whispered back in a low voice.
Peter regarded his friend before nodding, "that's not a bad result, considering…".
Sirius looked up and muttered " I suppose….I'm going to sleep somewhere else tonight. I don't want to really face James yet."
Peter looked at his feet before nodding and Sirius sped out of the common room as quietly as he entered.
Sirius pulled out a peculiar map from his pocket, scanning for a particular person. He sighed in relief when he found her.
DORCAS MEADOWES
Dorcas Meadowes sat on a thick window ledge with her feet propped up, she stared out the window and admired the full moon. The howling in the background never bothered her; after all she had always admired the creatures of the night.
Dark haired and slight, with olive skin that tanned particularly well, Dorcas was a pretty girl. But all anybody talked about when it came to Dorcas' appearance were her stunning violet eyes. Always one to enhance her better qualities she always wore her hair with a thick fringe to frame her lovely eyes.
Dorcas was the kind of girl that had head in clouds, and that was lucky tonight or she might have noticed the commotion at near the Whomping Willow.
Hidden away in a secret attic space above the Astronomy Tower, she spread out her parchment and began to work undisturbed for the next few hours.
BANG!
A loud clanking sound broke her concentration. She paused and decided to investigate.
She could only make out the rough outline of a boy.
"Lumos", Dorcas' wand lit up and startled the boy.
"Dory?" whispered the voice of Sirius Black.
Ahh. The infamous Sirius Black – perhaps the most lusted after boys to walk the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. Dorcas was reasonably familiar with the boy behind the mask after spending the past year and half on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with him. Tonight, Dorcas noted, he looked like a shadow of his regular self. His face was sullen and he looked exhausted.
"Oh hi, Sirius" she said, matching his soft tone, "what are you doing here?"
"Avoiding people…I thought I might find you here," he shrugged, as though carrying the weight of the world on his handsome shoulders. Because she understood that feeling, she motioned for him to follow her.
Curious enough to comply he followed her lead, where she conjured a rope ladder.
Dorcas climbed up the ladder and waited for Sirius. He followed quickly behind her, she watched his eye darting around. He was surveying the stone walls, soft maroon couch and parchment littered all over the plush red carpet.
His brows furrowed, "what is this place?"
Dorcas smiled, "My secret room," she said nothing further. He asked nothing more.
Sirius picked a scroll of parchment. Dorcas, with all the speed and agility of a seeker, grabbed it quickly. Sirius lifted his arms up in surrender.
Dorcas sighed, "you can rest on the couch, if you like. There's a couple of hours until breakfast."
Sirius took seat on the couch and Dorcas went back to her parchment, by the time she looked up again he was sound asleep.
Dorcas sat back on the ledge and watched the sun rising and the birds chirping. She contemplated waking up the sleeping Black but decided against, opting to leave a note saying that she had gone to shower and head for breakfast.
Half an hour later, Dorcas sat at the Gryffindor table buttering up her toast.
"There you are, cuz! Been looking around for you everywhere…" Dorcas looked and found her cousin Benjy Fenwick staring straight back at her.
"Why?" she enquired, in exhausted voice.
"Well I was looking for you about some Arithmancy homework that's kinda due today…" Benjy was wearing his sympathetic face Dorcas noted as she looked over at him.
"You know you'll have to sit for you own NEWTs next year, right? I hate being in the same year as you," she muttered as she reached into her bag to find the right scroll.
Benjy's face broke out into a huge smile and he swooped down to give her a kiss on the cheek before racing off.
Dorcas rolled her eyes and returned to her toast.
JAMES
James Potter woke up on that particular Thursday morning feeling drained. Patting around his side table, his hands finally located his clock – 8:07am.
Fuck!
He was late in getting down to the infirmary to see Remus.
James wanted to tell Remus the events of the previous night before he could hear any innuendo from the others involved in the whole debacle.
James put on his uniform in record speed, scrunched his red and gold tie in his pocket and didn't even bother trying to control his messy black hair.
James went tearing down the corridors. Two of the beds were occupied and had partitions surrounding them. James knew who occupied the secondary bed but he was focussed on checking on his friend, Remus Lupin. He arrived at just in time to see Remus sitting up from his bed wearily eating some porridge.
"Dumbledore was here?" James asked.
Remus nodded and then he added, "I could have killed him…", he nodded his head in the direction of the other occupied bed.
"But nothing happened, Moony!" James voice was steady and reassuring. Remus was desperate to believe him.
James cracked half a smile "Maybe buy him some Sleekeazy shampoo as an apology gift… the greasy haired git could do with some."
Remus found that despite himself, he cracked a small smile.
…
Fifteen minutes later, James found himself sprinting through the corridors once more.
"Mr Potter, you are late!" Professor McGonagall's voiced was so sharp, James winced.
"We are revising the vanishing spell, some of the hardest magic to be examined in your upcoming OWLs. Thank you for volunteering a demonstration," she continued, pointing at the eagle perch on the stool in front of her.
James sighed, and with a precise flick of his wand muttered "Evanesco".
The eagle vanished into this air. Annoyed but impressed with his immediate success, Professor McGonagall ushered him to his usual seat. As he sat down, James was surprised to find the chair that was usually occupied but Sirius to be empty. Last night Peter had rushed to their dorm room and told him that there was no expulsion for Sirius – but with that many detentions so he couldn't really afford to be skiving off classes. On his other side sat Peter, who simply shrugged when James gave him a quizzical look.
As the rest of the class got to work, James stood up and approached Professor McGonagall.
"Professor, I'm not feeling very well. Perhaps I could be dismissed to go to the Hospital Wing?"
"No, Mr Potter you can not go", was the curt response.
"Well, I can clearly do the spell…" James protested.
McGonagall surveyed his face and whispered, "I know what happened last night and if Mr Black is not in my class tomorrow morning, I will personally add to his detentions." James nodded his head and sped out of the classroom.
Deciding against another visit to Remus, James headed up to his dorm. He could hear that the bathroom was occupied and wanting to continue to avoid Sirius, James simply grabbed his broom and sped to the pitch.
James always found peace when the wind was running through his hair and he was dancing in the sky.
By the time James returned to the dorms, he found Sirius lying on his bed. Before he could say anything Sirius spoke.
"I'm sorry!"
In their almost 5 year friendship, James had never heard him apologise.
"Okay, then why did you do something so bloody stupid?" he asked wearily.
Sirius spoke, his eyes hollow and pained.
"I forgive you but you have to get Remus' forgiveness to make things okay."
James saw Sirius' head nod in understanding.
LILY
Lily Evans was not very good at transfiguration. It was currently her twentieth attempt at vanishing her eagle and so far the only change was that he was feather-less and bald.
Professor McGonagall came around to inspect her work, "you'll have to put some more work in Miss Evans," she stated bluntly before moving on.
Lily's grumbling amused the girl next to her. Marlene had a wonderful soft laugh that came straight from her belly.
"Wow Lily, you created a new species!" she chuckled to herself before continuing. "This class has been so boring without James and Sirius and Remus…"
"You mean peaceful, right?" Lily commented as she rolled her eyes.
It irked her that James Potter could just waltz into class 10 minutes late and then successfully perform the spell on his first attempt. James Potter was perhaps the most irritatingly talent wizard at Hogwarts. Smug and arrogant he gilded through school with seemingly little effort, played Quidditch better than anyone had seen in decades and was incredibly popular due some devastatingly effective charisma.
Marlene had already lost interest in Lily's complaining and was unabashedly flirting with Hufflepuff's Quidditch Team Keeper George Abbott.
Marlene McKinnon was easily the most attractive girl in 5th year at Hogwarts – long, dark blonde hair and golden skin with light blue doe eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, class was finally dismissed. As Lily was waiting for Marlene outside the classroom, Frank Longbottom – 7th Year Gryffindor and esteemed Head Boy stopped next to her.
"Hi Lily. Lupin is under the weather today so I'll be doing the rounds with you today" and with that Frank continued to his next class.
Lily turned around to see if she could spot Marlene, and sure enough she was standing behind her whispering conspiratorially with Benjy Fenwick. When she saw Lily looking in her direction she quickly hushed Benjy and sent him on his way.
"What was that about?" Lily enquired.
Marlene sucked in a breath and paused, "He was just …umm… asking about tutoring me in Arithmancy."
"Hah, tutoring…. In your best subject" Lily scoffed. Marlene rolled her eyes.
Marlene McKinnon and Benjy Fenwick would have been one of Hogwarts' true glamour couples, except they stubbornly weren't a couple. Lily could not understand why her dorm mate and friend refused official status with the handsome 6th Year.
…
Lunchtimes one month away from OWLs were not a time for relaxation for 5th Years. Marlene was frantically scribbling an essay that was due for Potions while Lily was answering some translations for Ancient Runes.
Lily and Marlene finished their Shepard's Pie and went on to complete their afternoon classes amicably.
Lily found that in spite of her better judgement, Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew (aka the self-described Marauders) were conspicuously absent all afternoon and all of their classes were significantly duller as a result. If any of their teachers knew the cause of their absence they remained tight lipped.
…
Later that evening Lily found herself seated in her favourite couch by the Gryffindor fireplace when Marlene bounded in.
"Holy moly!" she exclaimed as she sat on the arm of Lily's chair
Lily looked up and Marlene continued, "The Great Hall was buzzing all through dinner. Rumours are flying everywhere… Apparently James saved Snape's life, Snape is in the Infirmary. Now James and Remus are really mad at Sirius for some reason."
"Really? Potter saved Severus?" Lily was shocked.
"Oh for Merlin's sake Lily, James is a really good guy!"
The matter of other friends was something that Lily disliked to discuss with Marlene. Marlene had grown up in the same circles as James Potter and as such always had a soft spot for the boy. Lily had grown up with Severus and counted him as an equal friend to Marlene.
Ignoring Marlene, Lily stood up.
"I'm going see Severus. Bye Marlene!" she called over her shoulder as she left.
MARLENE
Marlene sighed as Lily walked away. Now that was a relationship she would never understand.
Marlene McKinnon was absolutely gorgeous, but it meant people often underestimated her abilities. She was very talented in Ancient Runes and Arthimancy, enjoying the skills to communicate and analyse.
She had thought about trying to catch up with James but he was conspicuously absent. When Marlene had heard the rumours she wondered how accurate they were but decided against trying to find out gossip from the source. Marlene might be one of James Potter's oldest friends but no one compared to Sirius Black in his eyes.
Her eyes darted around the common room in search of a familiar mop of brown hair. Ah Benjy…she paused when found him and admired all of his rugged features, his light brown eyes had a familiar sparkle. When Marlene noticed he was causally chatting up Freya Rhodes, her eyes narrowed.
Freya Rhodes had a reputation. And it was for being a cheap gossip.
Marlene assessed their chat – it was obviously flirtatious – and promptly decided to interrupt.
"Hi Benjy!" she cheerfully greeted the young man. He beamed up at her.
"Hey Marly, ready for tutoring?" he asked her with a cheeky grin.
Marlene nodded, not quite matching his enthusiasm.
"What are you getting tutoring for Marly?" piped up Freya.
"Arithmancy… and it's McKinnon to you Rhodes," said Marlene in a clipped tone.
Freya scowled.
Benjy sensing trouble grabbed his bag and yanked Marlene towards the door.
"What was that about?" he asked, as soon as they were in the corridor.
"I should ask you the same thing!" she exclaimed, "I can't believe you made a date with me and then you flirted with the cheapest slag in Gryffindor!"
"Hey, hey, hey" he was getting annoyed now, "You're the one that doesn't want labels or exclusivity. Don't get pissed at me for listening."
"I'm pissed because we have a 'tutoring session' tonight. Don't hit on other girls just before. Merlin how stupid are you!"
Benjy took a good look at Marlene; she was absolutely stunning. Her long blonde hair caught in a messy ponytail, her cheeks tinged with a pink flush and her bottom lip pouting. He simply couldn't resist her.
Marlene was cut off mid sentence when Benjy's talented lips crashed into her own mouth. Marlene was always surprised about just how magnetic their chemistry always was. No one else had ever made her feel so alive. Or so turned on.
And before either one of them knew what was going on they were kissing in the very unromantic confines of the nearest broom closet, and Benjy's fingers were lightly skimming the skin between her shirt and her skirt.
INTERLUDE ~ LILY II
Lily wasn't the kind of girl who had her head in the clouds that is what made it surprising that she ran in a very solid human quite suddenly, and without realising.
"Oh shit, Evans! My bad," came the familiar tone of one Sirius Black.
If Lily was objective she might have understood the undoubted appeal of Sirius Black, he was probably the best looking guy at Hogwarts. As such there was a dedicated Black fan club – headed up by renowned airhead Daisy Adams. But Lily had always associated Sirius Black with his best friend James Potter, and because she though Potter was the most arrogant self-centred git she had ever met, she never bothered to get a long with Black.
He stuck out hand to help her up.
"Oh Black, no worries." Lily smiled "Are you okay? You weren't in class today."
Sirius looked weary, and if Lily had known him better she wouldn't have bothered asking.
"I'm fine," he mumbled.
"So umm where are your shadows?" she asked teasingly.
Sirius went from look weary to look very pained.
"I don't know," he said in a dejected voice.
"Oh, umm… Would you like a sympathy hug?" because perhaps Lily had never seen anyone need a hug more.
"I'm not sure I deserve one…It's my fault. I fucked up," he spoke quietly once more.
Lily decided to ignore him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Sirius was never more grateful for Lily Evans.
"Thanks, Lily" he whispered quietly into her hair.
REMUS
Remus Lupin was enjoying a piece of chocolate as he contemplated his Charms homework.
The sound of the door opening broke him out of his reverie. His fellow 5th Gryffindor Prefect bounded into the hospital wing. Remus assumed she must have heard a rumour about Severus Snape being in there too.
"He's left already!" Remus called out to Lily.
She whipped her wavy red hair around, disappointment clearly visible on her pretty face. Her normally bright green eyes appeared a bit gloomy.
"Oh hello Remus," she greeted him politely. "Are you sick again?"
Remus nodded in agreement.
Lily continued to speak, "Oh that's why Frank said he would do the patrols with me tonight. Remus can I ask you something?"
She hesitated for a moment, "Did – umm – did Potter really save Snape's life?"
Remus regarded her. As much as he liked Lily, she didn't know all the details surrounding the incident.
"Yeah, he absolutely did…" he agreed with a soft smile.
Lily beamed and Remus couldn't help but think how many times he had heard vivid descriptions of that same smile from James. After all, James Potter had it bad for Lily Evans. Unfortunately for him, Lily thought he was a pompous jerk.
Lily and Remus were enjoying a lively debate about a renowned writer when the door opened again.
A raven-haired boy entered the room.
"I don't want to talk to you, Sirius. Get out!"
Lily had never heard this dangerously low tone from Remus before. His whole body radiated with anger and his pale green eyes gleamed a gold hue.
"Moony, please! Just give me a chance to explain!"
Lily had never seen Sirius Black beg before.
"Get the fuck out!" was the even more forceful response.
Sirius, recognising this was not the time to push the subject, turned on his heel and left the room.
Lily waited until she stopped hearing Sirius' footsteps before she spoke.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"Not even a little…" Remus managed to accompany the statement with a weak smile.
"Boys…." said Lily shaking her head.
"Do you want me to go?" she asked.
Remus shut his eyes, " Yes that would be the best, I think."
As Lily was leaving, Remus heard her talking a soft voice to a few male voices.
"Umm… hi Moony!" Peter was a tad nervous in greeting his friend.
"Hi Pete," was the sullen response.
"Moony don't be angry, but I asked him to come back…" James felt himself trailing off. Remus shot him a terrifying look.
"Prongs, how are you okay with what happened?", Remus' eyes burned with fury and frustration that James had forgiven all.
"Because I heard him out, okay?" James responded tersely but with equal force. "Besides I didn't forgive him. I already told him that it's up to you."
Sirius shuffled out from behind the curtain surrounding the bed.
"I don't want to hear it, okay? I'm so disappointed with you Sirius. Imagine if I had turned him or worse killed him."
"I'm so sorry Remus – I was just blind with rage. I couldn't think straight." Sirius paused and waited for an indication that he should elaborate.
"I heard Snape with Regulus discussing the Dark Arts… joining Voldemort and becoming a Death Eater." Sirius' voice was barely above a whisper, "Merlin, he's only 14 years old Remus. I just couldn't bear the thought of it." James put a reassuring hand on Sirius' back.
"I'll need some time," Remus tilted his head, a small gesture that Sirius took to mean his apology had been acknowledged but his actions not yet forgiven.
Peter, sensing that the urgency of the situation was dying down, decided to lighten the mood. "So Moony, you wanna hear the details of how James fought a flock of hippogriffs to save Snivellus or do you want to hear the story of how he single-handed slayed the giant squid?"
"What?!" James and Remus exclaimed simultaneously.
"Haha yeah I overheard Freya Rhodes telling Daisy Adams and Grace MacMillan…", Peter explained as though obvious.
"Daisy Adams? As in the biggest gossip at Hogwarts?" James looked uneasy, "why didn't you fix this Wormail?"
"Well, I thought the rumours were better than the truth…" Peter shrugged.
Remus was inclined to agree.
By the end of Peter's story James and Sirius were laughing so hard they had to support each other to stay upright.
JAMES II
James looked down at his watch and decided it was time to head back to the dorms. The three friends waved good-bye to the werewolf and made their way back.
James walked slightly ahead of Sirius and Peter, as the latter was trying to explain all the classwork that had been missed for the day.
Up ahead he spotted a familiar mane of dark red waves. James Potter thought that Lily Evans was the most amazing girl that he had ever encountered. Of course she was beautiful with her dark red hair and stunning green eyes. But James had fallen for her radiance and kindness and the fierceness in her gorgeous eyes when she stood up to him. Too bad for James that Lily Evans thought he was an arrogant arsehole.
Lily was on rounds with the Head Boy, Frank Longbottom. James saw the two of them pause in front of a broom closet and swiftly open the door.
In the next minute several things happened at once, Sirius and Peter rounded the corner and a very dishevelled Marlene and Benjy toppled out of the closet. Marlene shrieked, as did Lily, and Benjy wore a sheepish expression.
Cue a long awkward silence as the seven Gryffindors stood in the hallway.
Sirius and Peter just gaped; Lily opened and shut her mouth several times as though words refused to form.
James wanted to cover his eyes, Marlene was like his sister and Benjy Fenwick really should've known better. James would definitely have to hex him later – out of sight of Marlene.
"Oh Merlin Benjy, can you please find a place other than the broom closet if you're going to defile one of my favourite people?!" James smirked at them.
Marlene turned a tomato red, "There's no defiling, James!" she snapped.
Frank cleared his throat, "I think you all you just head to your respective dorms… and you own beds" he added cheekily.
James couldn't believe it but Marlene's face turned even redder.
Sirius, ever the playboy, causally slung his arm across Benjy's shoulders and said, " Geez Benjy there are more discreet closets in Hogwarts… Let me run you through them!" Peter raced ahead to join them.
James looked at Marlene, "Well…" as they too start to walk.
"We aren't dating…" are the first words to tumble out of her mouth.
James raised an eye at her but said nothing.
"We're mates. We just, you know, make out every now and again."
"Okay but you had such a crush on him for years, since you were 12! And I know he like likes you too."
"Yeah I know," concedes Marlene " it's like this – if were to date then we would end up together forever. James I'm only 16, I'm not ready forever. I want to flirt and date and be a tart!"
James winced at the thought of his lovely Marlene as self-described tart. James and Marlene had known each other since they were babies; they had an easy friendship that was often mistaken for a romantic entanglement. The thought made his shudder; it would be like dating his sister. Besides, James had always known that Marlene and Benjy had a special connection and despite her reasoning James suspected part of her might be afraid of the scale of that bond.
But knowing better than to waste time arguing with his truculent friend they walked in an amicable silence.
"So I heard a rumour about you having a sword fight with the giant squid!"
"Let me guess, you spoke to Rhodes?" Marlene grunted at the question.
They laughed and laughed all the way back to the Gryffindor Tower