A/N: Hello, lovelies! I'm back with another new story! I'm trying to get all of my ideas out before I go back to school next Monday. I'm starting college :/
Anyway, here's a nice little ficlet about our favorite Marauders and a boy who just moved to Britain.
Enjoy! :)
P.S: Don't expect a lot of plot. You regulars know that I'm not an angst writer, and I just like cute little fluffy things. :)
I understood why they were wary of me, but that didn't mean I was happy about it. It wasn't like I was a Death Eater or anything. I was just an exchange student. Of course, Hogwarts had never had an exchange student and probably never would again, but their Minister had personally requested my dad to come work in their Auror department, so it's not like they had a reason not to trust me.
Except for the obvious: I was encroaching on their territory. These Marauder boys were definitely not fond of me being thrown into their House, their common room, or their dorm room. But that definitely wasn't my fault! It wasn't my fault the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor. It wasn't my fault the people in the common room were more interested in me than in them. And it most certainly wasn't my fault that we were all the same age.
As a sixteen-year-old boy, I completely understood why they didn't like me.
As the new kid at Hogwarts, I didn't like it.
So I did the only thing I could think of. I talked to them about it.
We were all sitting in the dorm, added to which was another bed and another thirty-square-feet of room to accommodate another person. The Marauders were all sitting on the beds of James Potter and Sirius Black, which were the beds farthest from me. I could hear them whispering about me, and I wasn't about to ignore it.
"He's American," Sirius complained. I couldn't help but chuckle. I knew that would be an issue.
"Yes, but he's here for the next two years so we'll have to at least try to like him," Remus, who was clearly the voice of reason in the group, shot back, glancing at me but looking away when he noticed I was staring at them.
"What do you think, Pete?" James asked the slightly smaller one of the four. I think Peter was probably my favorite so far; he always seemed to think things through before speaking out loud.
After a few moments' contemplation, Peter spoke. "I think he's a filthy American," he said, earning a smile from Sirius, "but I also think Moony could be right. We do have to deal with him for two years. We can't exactly ignore him the whole time."
"You've been doing a great job so far," I said, earning surprised looks from all of them. "Yeah, I know. I can speak. Weird, right? But I tend to do it a lot, so you're going to have to get used to it, especially since you're stuck with me for the next two years. Speaking of which, I have no clue where the restroom is, so if one of you could point me in the general direction of someone who isn't an ass and could take me to one, that would be great."
"I'm not sure I like your tone," James said, glaring at me.
"I'm not sure I like your face," I countered. Stupid comeback, I know, but it was late and I was tired. "So, again, restroom?"
"I'll take you, Michael," Remus said, sliding off the bed. I cocked an eyebrow at him.
"And be stuck with an American? Oh, no, I couldn't let you go through that any more than you already have to. I'll find one on my own, thanks." And with that, I left.
Making my through the crowded common room, I tried not to meet the eyes of all the people who were staring at me. Which was most of them. Once I reached the portrait hole, though, avoiding glares was impossible.
A beautiful red-haired girl stopped me by stepping in front of me, hands on her hips. Her emerald eyes were narrowed and I couldn't help but wonder if she was as offended by my presence as my roommates were.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked. I frowned.
"The restroom," I said, but it came out as more of a question. This girl was obviously an authoritative figure and I would have to watch myself around her.
"Not without an escort," she said. "As a Gryffindor Prefect, I have to insist that someone walk with you so you don't get lost. Stay here." And then she walked away from me, up the stairs to the boys' dorms, and out of my sight.
What in the world was wrong with all of these Brits? When a man can't walk to the bathroom by himself you know something is off.
Finally, the redhead came down the stairs, followed by Remus Lupin. I groaned. Of course, it would have to be one of them.
I didn't wait around for them to say anything to me. I just walked out of the common room and took a left, smiling at the sound of hurrying footsteps behind me.
"What's your problem?" he asked when he caught up to me. I turned to face him, eyebrows furrowing when I saw that the dim light made his scars more noticeable. I vaguely wondered if we had the same problem, but then I reminded myself that he'd asked me a question.
"Good question. Glad you asked," I said. "I'm at a new school, surrounded by people who talk funny, and I'm rooming with four guys who hate me because they think I talk funny. And then, I try to go and take a piss and some redheaded girl tells me I need an escort, like I'm some sort of child. And then, she comes back with you. One of the guys that hates me for no reason. Enough of a problem for you?"
"Not yet. I think you need to add another thing to that list," he said. I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, yeah? What's that?"
"You're going the wrong way."
I stopped and stared at him, wondering how much trouble I'd get in if I hexed him right there, then decided against it, reasoning that I didn't need a detention in the first week I was here. I turned on my heel and started walking the other way, not trying to make conversation.
Once we had reached the end of the corridor, and the restroom, I was glad to be rid of him for a moment. I did my business and washed my hands, leaning against the sink just to have a few more minutes to myself.
I didn't know why I was so angry. Why did it matter that they didn't like me? Chances were, my dad would find this guy and we would be out of this country in no time. I was eager to get back to the States, where everyone was used to me. Where I knew who would talk to me and who wouldn't. Where I knew how to hide my secrets.
"You alright in there, mate?" I heard Remus ask. I sighed and made my way back into the corridor, following my roommate all the way back to our dorm, once again ignoring the stares of my fellow Gryffindors.
"As much fun as we had on our little adventure, I think I'm going to go to bed," I said, jumping into bed, fully clothed, and pointing my wands at the curtains, drawing them closed.
"What's his problem?" I heard Sirius ask. I rolled my eyes, ready to explain it to him the way I did for Remus.
But the blond did it for me. "Us," he said. I frowned, but didn't say anything. Perhaps I could try to be a bit nicer. At least to Remus.
The next morning, I was unsurprised to see that three of the Marauders were still very hostile towards me. It seemed that they weren't pleased with what Remus told them last night. Not that I cared, of course. I didn't need their help; all I had to do was follow my fellow Gryffindors. So that's what I did. I nonchalantly stayed a safe distance away from the redhead girl from last night as we all made our way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
I found a seat at the Gryffindor table, well away from my fellow early birds, and filled my plate with a couple pieces of French toast and bacon. I was halfway finished when the Marauders came in, making an ungodly amount of noise for how early in the morning it was. I turned my head back to my plate hoping to go unnoticed by my roommates, but to no avail.
"Good morning, Michael," Sirius said cheerfully, piling food onto his plate. I nodded to him but made no other acknowledgements. We all ate in silence until McGonagall handed all of us sixth years our schedules.
"Bloody fantastic," Peter groaned. "Potions first thing with the Slytherins. How could this day get any worse?"
"You could be that redheaded girl?" I said, nodding to the scene unfolding in front of them. The girl who was against late night restrooms visits was talking to some greasy-looking guy with whom she didn't look pleased.
"What's that slimy git doing talking to Evans? After what he said to her last year, I'm surprised she's not hexing his balls off," Sirius said. I gave him a questioning look, but he was too busy trying to hold James back that he didn't see it.
"That's Severus Snape," Remus said, gaining my attention. I turned to him, once again shocked by the sight of the scars on his face, noticing a particularly nasty one that followed the line of his jaw. "He's talking to Lily Evans, who James has been obsessed with since he first saw her. Snape and Lily were best friends, completely inseparable until Snape called Lily a Mudblood last year."
"Which didn't help the hatred we all feel towards him," Peter said. "Especially James."
"Padfoot, let me go. I'm not going to hex him, I swear. I want her to know I'm different," the bespectacled boy said to Sirius. Those three sentences had me even more confused. I turned to Remus again.
"Lily won't go out with James because she's convinced he's an arrogant toerag," he explained.
"And rightly so," I commented, earning a glare from James.
"Normally I would agree with you, but he really has changed. He just doesn't make the effort to show it all the time," Remus muttered. I gave him a skeptical look but didn't say anything. I went back to my breakfast, ignoring James' whining about Lily Evans.
Even though I had started much before they had, the Marauders finished their breakfast at the same time I did. Sirius, James, and Peter all wolfed down their food. Remus just didn't eat a lot, which surprised me because he was almost as big as his friends. Not fat, but… built? Perhaps he just had a high metabolism.
Anyway, they were nice enough to wait for me so we could all walk to Potions together since I had no clue where I was going. We walked down some increasingly narrower hallways until we reached the dungeon-like Potions classroom. Sirius and Peter sat at a table together, and James ran off to sit by Lily, so Remus offered to sit next to me. I didn't say no, knowing I would need help. Potions was definitely one of my worst subjects and it would be nice to have someone civil to talk to while I failed.
Professor Slughorn came in shortly after and explained that we were going to be brewing a Draught of Living Death, which terrified me, but I gathered the ingredients anyway and began working.
"Can I ask you a question, Michael?" I heard Remus ask softly. I looked over at him and saw that he was very concentrated on mashing his root of asphodel into a fine powder. I was still measuring my wormwood…
"Sure," I said, rereading the directions to make sure I was following them precisely. I couldn't handle a failed potion on the first day of class at a new school.
"Are you really that opposed to the Marauders?" I wasn't expecting that. I was so surprised that my knife slipped and I nicked my finger.
"Shit!" I waved my finger in the air to ease the pain. Remus, without even looking, grabbed my hand and set in on the table, then brought his wand to it. The pain went away immediately, and the guy never took his eyes off his asphodel.
"Thanks," I muttered. It took me a minute to realize I never answered him. "And, I guess I'm not all that against you guys. It just seemed like you were all against me."
He didn't say anything to that, just kept working on his potion. I decided to take his lead, and didn't speak again for the rest of class.
Later that night, I found myself in the library writing my Transfiguration essay when a weight on the other end of the couch pulled me from my thoughts.
"Hey, new kid." It was a lovely raven-haired girl with blue eyes, and she was smiling brightly at me. I smiled back politely, then turned back to my essay. She wasn't having that, though. She reached over and put her hand under my chin, forcing me to turn back to her.
"I'm Marlene McKinnon," she said, still smiling.
"Michael Hayes," I said. "Nice to meet you." I tried again to get back to my essay, but the girl scooted closer to me and wrapped her leg around my calf. I sighed.
"You have the loveliest green eyes," she said. I didn't answer; maybe if I ignored her she would go away. "And the softest hair. It's so pretty. Brown, like chocolate." I picked up my quill, wondering if it would offend her if I stabbed my own eye out…
"Marley!" I heard a familiar voice yell. It was promptly hushed by Madam Pince, the librarian. Suddenly, Marlene had stiffened and I looked up to see Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Sirius was the one who had yelled for the black-haired girl next to me, and she obviously didn't want the attention. I knew the feeling.
"Go away, Black. I'm trying to have a conversation," she said, cozying up to me even more.
"I'm actually trying to write my essay," I said softly. She pulled away from me, seemingly upset.
"Fine. We can continue this later," she huffed, standing and straightening her uniform.
As she walked away I said, "I'd rather not," under my breath, but Marlene apparently heard it because she made a sound of indignation, turned, and gave me the finger, which was much different in the UK, and then stormed off.
Sirius gave me a disbelieving look and ran after the girl, leaving me with Remus and Peter who couldn't stop laughing. Peter plopped down next to me, clutching his stomach and Remus pulled a chair over from another table, still chuckling.
"Will someone please explain to me what just happened?" I asked, completely forgetting about my essay.
"That was Marlene McKinnon," Peter said as if that should explain everything.
"So?"
"So she's only the most wanted broad in Hogwarts. I don't think she's ever been rejected, actually," the smaller blond said. "In fact, I'd watch out if I were you. She gets pretty scary when she's determined to get what she wants. And right now, that something is you."
Great. Now I had even more to worry about.
"So, where's James?" I asked Remus and Peter.
"He's up in the dorms, working on Quidditch plays," Remus answered. It was the first time he'd spoken to me since Potions. He didn't even say anything in Arithmancy, though he had sat by me again.
"Already? Isn't it a bit early for that?" I asked. Peter gave me a funny look.
"You clearly don't know James," he answered, going back to his essay. I waited for either of them to elaborate, but it never happened so I rolled up the sleeves of my button-down and got back to work.
"Where'd you get those scars, mate?" I looked up to see that Sirius and James had joined us. James was the one who asked, and I felt the eyes of all the Marauders on my arm, where three long, thin scars marred the skin.
"I was at the zoo with dad and I stuck my arm in to pet the kitty. Even baby tigers don't like humans," I lied easily. It wasn't a tiger that got me. The beast was more canine than feline.
"Wasn't anyone watching you?" Peter asked.
"Of course. But I was young and much quicker than they were, and that tiger was quicker than me." I was starting to get uncomfortable. Everyone in America had accepted the lie, no problem, but these boys were definitely analyzing everything I was saying. I began to worry that my roommates would soon discover my secret.
"I gotta go, guys. See you later," I said, throwing my things in my backpack and rushing out of the library. I didn't stop until I was safely in the common room, curtains drawn, and silencing charm cast.
I couldn't let them find out. I had no clue how any of them would react and quite frankly, I didn't want to know. I just wanted to get through my time here so I could go along with my life, and evade anyone who was suspicious of me, like I was sure my roommates now were.
I didn't need friends. I could get through school without them. What I needed was to talk to the Headmaster. The full moon was the next night, and I still didn't know where he was keeping me.
The next day went well, despite the fact that I felt awful thanks to the full moon; I tried to avoid the Marauders as much as possible so they wouldn't notice my change in behavior, the scrutinizing bastards, but they never seemed to be far away from me. I had every class with at least one of them and they always sat next to me so that I couldn't escape their glances.
They surrounded me at meals, too. It was only my second day at Hogwarts and already I had a gang, it seemed. I was constantly under their watch, but I didn't think it was me they should be watching. Remus was the one who looked terrible. I noticed that Remus ate progressively less with each meal, and by dinner he looked as sick as I felt. I wasn't eating much either, and they all seemed to notice that I was only pushing my food around my plate.
The full moon always took a toll on my health, and when Sirius asked if I was feeling okay, I told him it was probably just a stomach bug, which only served to make him – and the rest of the Marauders – more suspicious. I sighed inwardly, cursing their perceptiveness.
"When are you leaving tonight, Remus?" James asked the sandy-haired boy in front of me.
"Same time, I suppose," he answered.
"Where are you going? I thought students couldn't leave the grounds," I questioned. If I had known we could leave, I would have gone home for the moon.
"His mum's sick," Sirius said. "He goes home once a month to visit." I didn't say anything else. I felt sorry for Remus, though, to be stuck here while his mom could be dying. No wonder he looked so bad.
Soon we were all finished eating, and as we stood to leave, Professor McGonagall stopped me. "Good evening, Mr. Hayes. The Headmaster requires your presence in his office at eight o'clock this evening. Mr. Lupin will escort you." And with that she was gone. I turned to Remus, who only stared at me, then shook my head and hurried out of the Great Hall.
At ten 'til eight, Remus came upstairs to our dorm. I silently slid off my bed and followed him out of the common room. We were both moving pretty slowly; I wasn't sure what Remus' problem was, but I thought it odd that he seemed to be mirroring my movements…
Holy shit. Remus Lupin was a werewolf. Holy shit.
"Shit. Shit fuck ass bitch!" I exclaimed, jumping away from him. He stared at me, wide-eyed. "Merlin's saggy left testicle, you're a werewolf!"
He stopped walking. Stopped moving. Stopped breathing, it seemed, from the color his face was turning.
"Breathe, Remus," I reminded him. He let out a long breath, but still stared.
"How?" he whispered. I assumed he was asking how I knew, so I answered him in the simplest terms I could think of.
"I am, too," I said, shrugging. "I can't believe we didn't notice sooner. Shouldn't our instincts be better than this?"
Remus took a deep breath but didn't say anything. He ran a hand through his hair and stared down at the ground.
"So…" I said awkwardly. "Now what?" I wasn't exactly sure where to go from here. I'd never met another werewolf, and I'd definitely never heard of any my age.
"Now we go see what Dumbledore wants, and we'll finish this when we get back to our dorm. Though, I have a pretty good idea of what he's going to talk to you about."
We made our way to the Headmaster's office, but it seemed we didn't have to go too far. We saw the gray-haired old man when we turned the corner.
"Ah, there you are! It occurred to me that I never gave you the password so I came down to wait for you. I couldn't help but overhear your discoveries, however," the headmaster said, blue eyes twinkling. "And now, we need to discuss what will happen tonight. Would you like to join me in my office?" Remus and I looked at each other, then looked at the headmaster and nodded. What choice did we have?
As we made our way up the spiral staircase, I couldn't help the foreboding feeling in the pit of my stomach. I closed my eyes and prayed that I would come out of this night alive.