Disclaimer: I own just WAY too many plot bunnies. This is a twist on the 'read the books' fic, and not just in that we'll just be seeing their reactions…
As with all good Marauders tales, it started with an explosion. Remus had been chasing the other three for stealing his chocolate stash when Sirius had let off a Reducto that had blown apart several books that had been on a board between two windows.
"Look at what you did," groaned James. "Madame Pince going to kill us. Or tell McGonagall."
Peter caught a single chapter as it drifted down. "Well, at least they blew up into chapters instead of pages. That'd be really bad."
"Magic; gotta love it," Sirius grinned, collecting two more chapters. "These two are called The Slug Club and Hermione's Secret. Anybody know anyone named Hermione?"
The others shook their heads. Peter commented, "This one is called The First Task. Weird."
James poked around and found five more while Remus collected seven chapters off the surrounding floor. Sirius and Peter each grabbed one more each. James decided, "Well, we have seventeen chapters now. Let's organize them by chapter number and read them. Maybe that'll help us put them back together."
A short note finished floating down. Remus read: "Someone does something that seems unforgivable, but it ends up it was on Dumbledore's orders and pleas."
"Dumbledore pleading? Pah," snorted James as he organized the chapters. "We got two chapters that are twos, and two thirty-twos as well. So- Dobby's Warning or Spinner's End?"
"Spinner's End sounds interesting," commented Remus, leaning against the table Sirius had decided to sit on. Nodding, James multiplied said chapter into four and the Marauders began to read.
"Wait- it's a book about my psycho cousins Bella and Cissy… do I have to read this?" grumbled Sirius very quickly. James retorted, "Yes."
Another minute passed and when Sirius opened his mouth Remus sighed, "Save the comments until the end, okay?"
"Fine," grumbled Sirius. Quickly the Marauders read the chapter. When finished James cackled, "It's a book about a future! AWESOME!"
"Why am I in Snape's house?" Peter freaked out. "Am I a prisoner? And how do they know that I'm Wormtail? And how come You-Know-Who put me with Snape to ASSIST him?"
"No clue," admitted Sirius. "I liked the part where Cissy hexed Bella… never thought that could happen. Though apparently Bella killed me; I have to admit, not a surprise."
Remus looked a bit sick from the mention of Greyback and the idea one of his three friends would be dead.
"So Snape is a greasy git. Knew it," snarled James, hazel eyes dark. "And who's this Harry Potter? He might be a relative of mine, especially if Snape hates him. And I guess he must be a Hogwarts student if Snape has easy access to him."
"Possibly a relative or yours, or a Muggleborn. Potter isn't an uncommon Muggle surname," pointed out Remus. "And I wonder what went down with the Sorcerer's Stone and at the Ministry. I think they were at least five books on the shelf so this must be at least the third one."
"Yeah," nodded a muted Peter, clearly disheartened by his future self's position. "And I guess Narcissa ends up marrying the Malfoy heir and having a kid. So this must be at least ten years in future, probably more if Draco is being pressed into You-Know-Who's service. Though what could a boy do that You-Know-Who himself can't?"
"No idea," frowned James. "So Peter's been captured and Sirius is dead when this book happened. Where are Remus and I?"
"No clue," sighed Remus, replicating the next chapter so everyone could read at once. "Maybe this chapter will hold some answers.
