In a world of ever-growing darkness, can four mischievous teenagers find a way to turn on the light?
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are starting their fifth year at Hogwarts. At this important time in their lives, they must deal with the struggles of their teenage years, family and friends. And all the time, the threat from the outside world gets stronger, and the Marauders must search inside their hearts to choose their path in the coming conflict.
Chapter one
Sirius breathed an audible sigh of relief as he stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, leaving his parents – and with them all his troubles – behind on the platform. He hadn't been out much all summer, forbidden by his family to leave the house. Sirius had never been one for obeying orders, but disobedience in the Black family was about as advisable as paddling in a lava flow. His hand still hurt from the latest punishment inflicted on him by Kreacher, but a few healing spells and some Skele-Gro had sorted it so that the injury was no longer visible.
But none of that mattered now, he thought, as he loosened his tie so far that it was almost level with his navel, and adjusted his grip on his precious Nimbus 301. He'd be at Hogwarts in a few hours, and right now he was going to see the three people who meant more to him than anything in the world.
Sirius opened the compartment door to a scene of chaos.
The other Marauders must have been in there for five minutes, tops, but already the table was strewn with sweet wrappers, and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans had been tipped over, scattering the contents everywhere. Several Qudditch magazines were spread out in front of James, although he wasn't reading any of them, and was instead trying to wrestle a chocolate bar away from Peter. Remus was sat opposite them, reading a book with his feet on the seat next to him and pretending to ignore the pandemonium, although they all knew he loved it really and Sirius suspected the werewolf had been the cause of most of the mess.
They all looked up and froze when they realised Sirius was standing in the doorway. James released Peter from a headlock and stood up to pull Sirius into a brotherly hug. "Good to see you, mate," he said, as he clapped Sirius on the back.
"You too," said Sirius, releasing James. "Lucky I came in when I did, Pete's purple in the face," he laughed.
"Not my doing," James protested, "he's been eating those Chameleon Candies again. He was silver a minute ago."
"Ah, typical Pete," Sirius reached across to ruffle the boy's curly blond locks. Peter was treated as the baby of the group, despite being the same age as all of the other Marauders. He never seemed to mind, though, and grinned at Sirius.
Remus had never been big on human contact, but he squeezed Sirius' outstretched hand as he moved his feet off the seat to let his friend sit down. Sirius just managed to refrain from wincing as he realised that he'd held out his injured hand. But he didn't mind the small pain, because it was Remus, and Remus was one of the Marauders.
"So, fifth year, lads," James leant back in his seat, running a hand through his already messy dark hair. "What do you guys think, finally my year to be Seeker?"
"Yeah, maybe," Sirius answered. "And Snivellus might stop dipping his hair in grease every morning," he cackled. When Sirius laughed, his smile grew so wide that it looked like his face would split in half, and his usually guarded expression lit up like a firework.
"Oh, shut up," James threw a bean which looked to be snot-flavoured at him. "I mean it, I've got a good feeling about this year. The winds of change are blowing at our old castle. I'm thinking by Christmas, Evans will be ready to go to the dance with me." He paused as the others sniggered. "I saw her on the platform this morning, and she didn't hex me!"
"Shocking," Remus muttered, drawing his eyes away from Sirius' joy-filled face. "I'm not sure if you guys got the memo, but we have our OWLs this year. You know, those exams that will determine whether you two can become Aurors or not." Remus' hair had grown out a little over the summer, and was now pulled back into a small ponytail, which might have looked silly on anyone else but it suited him.
"We know, Remus, we've just got more important things to worry about," Sirius joked. "You know, like which prank we're going to pull on old Slughorn next week."
"Are you guys really thinking about Quidditch and exams right now?" moaned Peter, who hated both things with a passion. Then his face brightened. "What about the spell, do you suppose we can get it working this year?"
"Keep it down, Pete!" James warned, alarmed.
"Relax, James, nobody can hear us from outside. And we can definitely complete the transformation soon. We've been working on it since second year; we've got most of the main components already. All that's left really is the actual transformation," said Sirius.
"You guys are mad," Remus shook his head, but he couldn't help smiling.
"Nothing mad about looking out for our mate," said James, his features lit with a heart-warming resolve.
"Yeah, we can't stand it when you're all alone at the full moon. We want to be there for you." The unusual show of concern from Sirius was a pleasant surprise, since he normally refrained from showing his emotions much, even to the Marauders.
"I hope I can do it," Peter muttered, his round face a little worried now. "I really want to be with Moony when he transforms, but the Animagus spell's so difficult. I'll work as hard as I can though," he added, determination creeping into his voice.
"Too right you will," James grinned. "And we'll give you all the help you need, so you'll have it nailed in no time," he put an arm around the smaller boy.
Remus looked around the compartment at the bright, dedicated faces of his friends, and thought that he must be the luckiest werewolf in the world, and he could never ask for a group of better friends. Not that he would ever dream of telling them something so sappy.
Suddenly, Peter's ears pricked up. "Is that the sweet trolley?" He asked, excitedly.
James laughed at his friend's childlike expression, and again when he glanced at Remus and noticed the werewolf was sniffing the air eagerly. "It is, I smell chocolate," Remus confirmed.
"Well, go on then, you two. We all know you've been waiting for this since we got off the train last year," James told them, and was promptly poked in the eye by Peter's elbow as the small boy pushed past him to exit the compartment.
Sirius, who had received a similar treatment from Remus, said, "ouch, never get between a werewolf and chocolate."
James looked across the table at his friend, his expression uncharacteristically serious. "Now those two are out of the way, can we talk about it?"
"I don't know what you mean," Sirius said, levitating one of the sweet wrappers and deliberately not making eye contact with James.
"Yes, you do. Sirius, we need to talk about your family sometime."
"Fine." Sirius lounged back against the seat, spreading his arms out in a nonchalant position. "Talk away."
"Just… how have things been?" James asked.
"You useless blood traitor! A child of mine, friends with mudbloods! This is the last I'll hear of it!" Walburga Black shrieked so loudly as she pointed her wand at her eldest son that Sirius barely heard the severe crack it shot out the curse.
But he felt the immeasurable pain on his cheek as the skin split open. This wasn't like a regular cut; it felt like it had been filled with vinegar, and then scratched deeply with sandpaper. Sirius couldn't help but produce the smallest groan of pain, and his mother laughed.
"All that time you spend playing the hero with your Gryffindor peers, and you can't even take a punishment when it is due without whimpering like a baby." She moved closer to Sirius, sweeping across the hall so that she was beside him in an instant. "You'll never be like them," she whispered, seething with rage. "No matter how much you pretend. Your rebellion will only result in more punishment. It is pointless. You cannot deny that you have a Black heart."
"Worse," Sirius admitted, raising a hand to his cheek as if the wound was still fresh. "She's been having a go at me for being friends with muggle-borns, but Merlin only knows how many other things she thinks she's punishing me for as well."
James covered his face with his hands. When he took them away a few seconds later, his eyes were a little redder than normal. "I wish there was something I could do for you. I just want to get you out of there, mate."
"I know," said Sirius.
"What about Regulus?" James asked.
"Well, it's not easy for him, having to watch all of it. I'm almost glad he's so hopelessly obedient of all their insane laws. At least he doesn't get hurt as well."
"I meant doesn't he ever stick up for you? He's your brother, Sirius. After everything you've done for him, you'd think he'd be the one person in your family who would defend you!" James was yelling now, furious.
"It- it's not that simple, James," Sirius told him, and it seemed a struggle for him to get the words out. "Reg used to try and defend me, bless him, even though he couldn't do anything to stop them. He just ended up getting hurt just as badly as me. I convinced him to stop."
James shrugged, his anger subsiding a little. "Just saying, I would stick up for you if I was your brother."
"You are," said Sirius.
The Marauders made jostled their way over to the carriages, just like they did every year, but something unexpected made Peter stop in his tracks.
"What are those… things?" he asked, pointing to strange, ghost-like creatures which were pulling the carriages. They were the same shape as horses, but nothing could have been further from the majestic, docile creatures that Peter ridden when he was younger. These were the spookiest things Peter had ever seen, with grey skin stretched thin over their skeletons, of which each bone was glaringly clear. And their eyes- well, they just didn't have any, simply empty sockets which still seemed to watch the children hungrily as they mingled about, unphased by the beasts standing inches from them. The most spectacular things were the wings. They were like incredibly large bat wings, still with translucent, taut skin.
"What things?" asked James, perplexed.
"Those… they're like horses, only not. I've never seen them before, they weren't here last year, but now…" Peter trailed off, unsure how to combat the looks on his friends' disbelieving faces.
The other Marauders exchanged worried glances for a moment, the Remus put a hand on Peter's shoulder, pulling him towards one of the carriages. "Come on, Pete. We are never letting you have that much sugar again."
Sirius and James laughed, and the tense air around the three of them was gone. But Peter couldn't stop thinking about the ghostly creatures that nobody else could see. Maybe he was losing his mind, he thought. He just hoped their appearance didn't have anything to do with the awful events of the summer.
Author's note:
Heya, NoxScribe here!
Thanks for reading this story, I hope you had as much fun reading as I did writing it. I love the Marauders and have wanted to write a fanfiction about them for ages. If you want to leave a review, please go ahead. Any feedback is welcome!
Chapter two will be out soon!
Disclaimer: I do not own the wizarding world, or any of the characters in this story. That all belongs to JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.