Two six year olds ran around the park playing and laughing. "Remy, you're my best friend. I love you," Bekka said, laughing.
"I love you too, Beks," Remus said, running towards the swings.
"I love you more!" Bekka yelled running after him.
"No way! I love you more!" Remus yelled over his shoulder.
"Liar! I love you more than you love me!" Bekka said, catching up to him.
"Not-uh! I love you so much I'm going to marry you one day!" Remus reached the swings and sat down on one.
"I wish you could, Remus," Bekka said, suddenly sad.
"What's wrong, Beks?" Remus asked, concerned.
Bekka bit her lip and said nothing for a few seconds. She smiled brightly before saying, "Nothing, Remy. I'm fine. Promise you're going to marry me?"
"I promise! No matter what," Remus said, smiling.
Bekka pulled the green ribbon out of her hair and tied it around Remus's wrist. "Why did you do that?" he asked.
"Don't ever take it off. That way you'll always have something to remember me by," Bekka said, grinning at him.
The next day, Remus headed over to Bekka's house. He knocked on the door and waited. Nobody came to the door. He stood there waiting for over five minutes, before looking in the window. The house was empty, all he saw was bare walls and no trace of his best friend. He sat on the porch, convinced Bekka wouldn't leave without at least saying good-bye. He sat there all day and would have stayed there all day if his mother hadn't come looking for him. Remus cried himself to sleep that night wondering why his best friend had left without a word to him.
~5th Year – Start of Term~
"Oi, Remus. How is it you don't have a girlfriend? The rest of us do," James said. The four Marauders were lying in their dorm room, each on their beds. Remus was sketching a picture of what he imagined Bekka would look like now. James and Sirius was tossing a stolen quaffle back and forth, while Peter watched the ball, turning his head left to right as the quaffle flew across the room.
Remus sighed. "We've gone over this guys, I've already met the only girl I want. I just have to find her again."
"Remus, you haven't seen her since you were six. Who says she's even going to remember you?" Peter said.
"And what if she's hideous? I mean you keep drawing those beautiful pictures of her but what if they are nothing like her?"
"I promised to marry her, she'll remember. She has too. And she won't be hideous, Sirius. And even if she is, I don't care. She's the one," Remus said, never looking up from his drawing.
"But that doesn't mean that you can't have a girlfriend until you find her. I know that Lily is the only one for me, but I'm still dating Courtney," James chimed in.
"James, you're only dating Courtney to make Lily jealous," Remus pointed out, finishing his drawing of the imaginary Bekka.
"Not that it's working," Sirius added.
"Hey! We aren't talking about me here. This is about Remus remember? I propose a plan! Let's get Remus a girlfriend! All those in favor say aye."
"Aye!" Peter and Sirius said in unison.
"We can call it Operation GRAG: Get Remus a Girlfriend!" James said, giddily.
"I do not approve of this plan!" Remus said, closing his sketch book and glaring at his friends.
His friends just smirked at him.
~5th Year – After Winter Holidays~
Sirius, Peter, and James were in their dorm waiting for Remus to return from his prefect duties. "We have yet to find Remus a girlfriend," Sirius pointed out, sadly.
"He's too stuck on a ghost," James sighed.
"Wait… Bekka's a ghost?" Peter asked.
"No, Wormtail, but she might as well as be. She's just a memory."
"But that is real love. Honestly, even if it means Operation GRAG fails, I hope he finds her. It would be a true love story, like me and Lily," James said. The other boys rolled their eyes, but couldn't help but nod their head in agreement.
At that moment, Remus walked in and headed to his trunk. He didn't even seem to see his friends. He pulled out all the sketch books that were filled with his drawings with her and all the pictures he had of her and him together as children. He piled them all up in his arms and headed toward the door.
"Remus?" Peter called. Remus seemed not to hear and continued walking.
The other three boys exchanged confused looks and followed him down the stairs into the common room.
"Remus, what is going on?" Sirius asked, as a sketch book slipped out of Remus's arms. Remus didn't notice, just kept on walking straight towards the fireplace.
James stopped and picked it up, before hurriedly following the rest of the Marauders.
"Remus, mate, talk to us. Tell us what is going on," James said.
Remus dumped his sketch books and pictures into the burning flames and watched them burn, oblivious to his friends look of surprise. James quickly tucked the sketch book that had fallen under his robe.
"Remus, what happened?" James said, laying a hand on Remus's arm.
Remus blinked and realized his friends were there for the first time. "You guys were right. This obsession with her was stupid. She could already be dead for all I know, or maybe even in love with someone else," he said, sitting on the couch watching his things turn to ash.
"Come on, mate. Don't think like that. She's the one, remember?" James said, sitting next to her.
"It doesn't matter, she could never love me. I'm a monster," Remus said. He looked at his friends for the first time that night, and they realized that for the first time since they had known him, he had been crying.
~7th Year~
Two weeks after the term started, the morning after the full moon, James, Peter, and Sirius walked into the great hall, half asleep. "These late nights with Moony are killing my beauty sleep," James yawned.
"Shut up," Sirius said, "This was your idea remember."
"And if I remember correctly you said it was absolutely brilliant," James replied, as they took their seats at the Gryffindor table.
"Well, it was… in theory."
James reply was cut off by the door swinging open loudly. All eyes turned towards the sound. There was a teen girl standing in the door way. She was on the tall side and she had a messenger bag on her shoulder. Her dark brown hair fell around her face, ending at her chin and her wide crystal blue eyes stared back at everyone. "Well that was loud," she said, pulling nervously on her skirt. "Erm, anyone know where I can find Professor Dumbledore?"
Professor Dumbledore stood up, "Miss Richards, so good to see you again. Attention students, I'd like you all to meet Elizabeth Richards. She just transferred to our school. I'd like you all to give her the warmest welcome." Elizabeth was staring at her feet, disliking being the center of attention.
After the Marauders got a look at her, they glanced at each other. "Does she look familiar?" James whispered, while Dumbledore talked, trying to figure out who she was.
"Yeah, but I don't know why," Sirius answered, just as confused.
They were silent for a few seconds before understanding all at the same moment. "Remus's Bekka," James said.
"It can't actually be her though," Sirius said, his earlier tiredness disappearing. "Dumbledore just said that was Elizabeth Richards. And Bekka had long hair. And we don't even know if Remus's pictures were accurate. Plus he destroyed them all."
"Not all. He dropped one, remember. After he burned all the others, I hid that one. I still have it," James said, excitement in his voice.
"But he finally got over her. He hasn't even mentioned her in over a year."
"If he's really over her, then why has Operation GRAG failed every time?"
The three boys turned their attention back to what Dumbledore was saying. "Perhaps one of your new school mates would like to show you around?" he said, expectantly.
"Professor Dumbledore, as Head Boy, I would be honored to show her around," James said loudly, standing. Everybody stared at him in shock; even the Headmaster appeared speechless for a few seconds.
"Very well, Mr. Potter, I expect no harm or wrong doing will come to her, while she is in your care."
"Of course not, Professor. Come on, I'll give you the tour of the castle," James said, walking towards her. Peter and Sirius automatically followed him.
"Boys, you are excused from your morning classes to show her around and answer any questions she might have," Dumbledore called after them. The Marauders grinned at each other.
The boys hurried Elizabeth out of The Great Hall. "I'm James Potter, by the way. These are my mates, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. We make up the Marauders, well us and our mate that's currently home visiting his mom," James said, to the girl.
"I'm Elizabeth Richards; most people just call me Liz though," she said, pleasantly.
"Excellent," James said. He turned his attention to Sirius. "You and Pete take her to that empty classroom in the second corridor. I'm going to get the book and I'll meet you guys there. We have to know."
Sirius nodded in agreement. "Hurry, Prongs." James took off, leaving Liz in confusion.
"What's going on?" she asked, looking between the two remaining boys.
"Come on, we'll explain in a bit," Sirius said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and directing her.
"Is this where I disappear and nobody sees or hears from me again?" she asked.
Sirius laughed, "Of course not. We would be immediate suspects. That would happen when you're all alone and nobody would suspect us."
"So you're saying I shouldn't go anywhere alone, because if I do the boogey man is going to get me. And by the boogey man, I mean you," she asked, smiling.
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"So comforting to know," Liz said, sarcastically.
They reached their destination quickly and didn't have to wait long for James. He came running in moments later, out of breath, sketch book in hand.
"So is anyone going to explain to me what's going on?" Liz asked, impatiently.
The three boys gathered around the sketch book and flipped it open. They looked between it and Liz for a couple of minutes. "It's her," Sirius whispered in disbelief. "Cut the hair, age her two years, and it's an exact copy. There is no doubt about it, it's her."
"What's me?" she asked, walking over and taking the sketch book out of her hands. She gasped as she looked at the picture. "What is this? Some kind of hazing ritual? Freak out the new girl because you have a drawing of her."
"Look at the year it was signed," James said.
Liz glanced down. "Two years ago? This is exactly what I looked like then. How can that be? Where did you get this? Somebody has better explain to me what's going on, before I hex the three of you into the next century."
The three boys glanced at each other. "Our mate, the fourth Marauder, the one you haven't met, he's been drawing these pictures since we met him our first year here. He'd go through two or three sketch books a year," James started.
"They were always of the same girl. A girl he knew when he was younger. And with every passing year, he would age the girl, Bekka, imagining what she would have looked like," Sirius continued.
"This girl must have really been something special then," Liz said, staring at the sketch in her hand.
"He promised her that he was going to marry her one day, he said that she was the only one for him. And he was going to fulfill that promise somehow," Peter answered.
"What happened to her?" she asked, flipping through the sketch book.
"He didn't know. He went over to her house one day and she was just gone. He would spend his entire winter and summer breaks looking for her. He'd get super excited when he thought he found her or at least found a lead. But it was never her, and his hopes would get crushed. But even then, he didn't give up."
"But he did, didn't he?" Liz asked, quietly.
"Yeah, how did you know that?" James asked, surprised.
Liz looked up at the boys, her eyes shinny with unshed tears. "This is two years old. If there were any more recent, you would have brought those. He stopped drawing them and he'd only do that if he had given up. But that's just my theory."
"It's right. One day, shortly after we returned from winter holidays in our fifth year, he came back from prefect duties. Gathered up all his sketches and pictures of her from when they were younger and dumped them in the fire. The only reason that one escaped was because he dropped it and didn't notice."
"We don't know what happened that night. We only know that ever since then he won't talk about her. Every time we mention her, he pretends not to hear. Or shrugs us off," Sirius said, finishing the story.
"He probably just realized it was a childish dream and that it was time to let it go," Liz said, handing the sketch book back to the boys. "Strange that he imagined she looked like me though. So how about that tour?"
"That's all you have to say? You are his dream girl and all you have to say is strange?" Sirius asked.
Liz shrugged. "I'm not his dream girl. His dream girl left him without a word of warning and has made no attempt to get back in touch with him. I'm just a look alike. My name is Elizabeth, not Bekka. He's given up on that dream, and you guys shouldn't be trying to get him to start believing in it again. It's not fair to him."
The three boys actually looked a little ashamed. "You're right. Come on, we'll give you the tour." The rest of the morning passed rather quickly and was filled with a lot of laughter and jokes. Liz was enjoying her time with the boys. They headed back to the great hall for lunch. "Let's see your schedule, maybe we'll have some classes together," James said, cheerfully. Liz dug it out of her bag and handed it over. "Oi, rotten luck, you got all classes with Slytherins."
"Why is that rotten luck?" Liz asked, shifting her weight from one foot to another.
"Because they are foul and disgusting and a disgrace to wizards and witches everywhere," Sirius said, contempt filling his voice.
"Oh," she said, shifting her weight again. "Well excuse me, I'm going to go find the ladies room." She turned and hurriedly walked in the direction.
"Did that seem weird to you?" James asked, looking at Sirius. He nodded in agreement; the two stared after her in confusion.
"Um, guys," Peter said, pointing to the top of her schedule.
Elizabeth Richards
House: Slytherin