25 August 1978

The magpie sat on the bracket of the pub sign, ruffling its black and white plumage with its beak before once again staring down at the sidewalk. It cocked its head slightly to the side, watching intently as a plump young man approached the aged building. The man seemed in good spirits, greeting the attractive, blonde woman who was walking in the opposite direction toward him. She brushed by him without so much as a hello and the young man frowned, sending a sharp glance towards her as she walked out of sight. The mousy-haired man glanced up at the bird, and the magpie began chattering noisily at him.

"Shoo!" The man spat while waving his hands at the bird, annoyed that even the bird seemed to mock him.

With one last glance, the bird flew off over the rooftops and out of view. The young man entered the familiar establishment and sat down at the far table with enough seats for four. The Leaky Cauldron had always been his pub of choice, and he was glad today that his friends would be joining him. A grey-haired wizard who had worked at the Leaky Cauldron longer than the young man had been alive approached where he was sitting and gruffly asked for his order. The young man thought for a moment to try something different, but decided on his usual and informed the barman of his selection. Moments later, the old man returned with a pint of brown ale and placed it in front of him.

"Just you again?" The man grunted.

"I'm waiting on some friends, thanks." The young man said casually. He hated to admit it, but he frequented the bar more often alone than with company.

He glanced down at his watch for a moment, realizing it was now already quarter past when they had agreed to meet. He never knew the others to be timely, except for Remus of course, but started to grow anxious that maybe his friends had decided not to come after all. He tapped his finger nervously on the table before taking a moment to take another drink. His nervousness instantly eased when he saw Remus Lupin enter through the door. The mousy-haired man waved his friend over, and with a smile, Remus joined him.

"No sign of the other two, Peter?" Remus asked, looking around the pub.

"No... not yet." He answered.

"I didn't mean to be late, but I noticed a 'help wanted' sign in the window of Flourish and Blotts and thought I would inquire." Remus explained, taking a seat across from Peter.

"And?"

Remus frowned. "He had already acquired a copy of the Register, so he knew I was a werewolf as soon as I gave my name. He said he'd mull it over, but I don't think I'll be hired."

"I'm sorry, mate. Keep your chin up."

Peter knew how frustrating the job search had been for Remus. It was no secret that prejudices existed in the wizarding world against werewolves, but the full effects of its reality hadn't hit until Remus was faced with little to no employment opportunities after leaving Hogwarts. The pair had owled back and forth over the past months as Remus had tried again and again to find employment, only to be turned away due to his condition.

"Hello, mates." Sirius bellowed as he made his way to the table with James not too far behind. "Sorry Jamsie and I are late. We would have been here sooner, but I couldn't seem to get him away from a certain redhead."

James shrugged. "I keep thinking one day she'll wake up and realize with horror that she's dating me. I've got to make the most of these moments while I can."

"Remus, what are you drinking today?" Sirius said, pointing at his friend. "It's on me."

"I'm fine, thanks." Remus said with a look of guilt behind his eyes. Both James and Sirius had been helping him financially since they had graduated from Hogwarts, knowing Remus was struggling since being unable to attain work.

"Butterbeer it is!" Sirius said cheerfully as he went to the bar with James.

Remus rolled his eyes, but smiled.

After a few moments, the duo returned with drinks in hand. Sirius handed Remus a pint of butterbeer and nudged him over to sit next to him on the bench. James placed his pint on the table and took the seat next to Peter.

"Well, lads. I've got an announcement." James told them, taking a swig from his pint and setting it back on the table with a loud thud. "I'm going to ask Evans to marry me. "

Sirius choked on his firewhisky. "You didn't tell me that!"

"I'm telling you now, aren't I?" James chuckled. "I figured I'd tell you when we were all together."

"Congratulations, James." Remus said, grinning.

"Now don't congratulate me yet. I only said I'm asking her. She's still got to say yes."

"She'd be mental not to." Peter chimed in.

"Oh, I dunno, Pete." Sirius grinned. "I think she'd be mental to say yes. Can you imagine being married to James? Besides, those kids'll turn out incredibly ugly looking."

James kicked his best friend under the table, laughing. "Who said anything about kids? I'm not trying to raise a kid during this war." His voice turned serious as he muttered, "Merlin knows we'll all be lucky to make it out alive anyway.

"Here's to living until we're all as old as Dumbledore!" Peter said, raising his glass, and the four drank to that.

"I don't know if I'll want to live as old as Dumbledore. D'you think I'd still keep my devilish good looks?" Sirius joked.

"Sirius, I have no doubt that when you're old and grey you'll still have swarms of women at your door." Remus insisted, laughing.

"Well, I'll drink to that, Moony." Sirius chimed, taking a swig from his butterbeer.

"Would you really not want to live until you're that old?" Peter asked, frowning at his friend.

Sirius contemplated it for a moment and shrugged, "I dunno. I don't think it'd be much fun to be that old. Unless we all make it to be that old, that is. I imagine James and I could still get into some trouble at ripe old age of one-hundred and fifty, don't you think?"

Peter tuned out of the conversation for a moment, as he noticed a brunette witch with ragged robes selling the Daily Prophet on the other side of the pub. He excused himself from the table as Sirius was rambling off the elderly hijinks they could get into, and wandered over her way to buy one. His mum refused to allow a subscription to come to their house, especially due to the increasingly depressing news, but Peter wanted to stay current with the goings-on, even if his mum did not.

"Daily Prophet, love? Only a knut." She said, waving the newest edition in front of him.

Peter dodged the paper that was being waved in his face and handed her a knut. "I'll take one, thanks."

She handed him the paper and he glanced at the headline as he walked back to join the rest of his friends. MINISTRY OFFICIALS TARGETED. Peter sighed as he started to read the first few lines:

Ministry of Magic insider confirms that two high level Ministry officials have gone missing in what appears to be the latest attempt at Death Eater infiltration into the Ministry. Florence Belby and Gabe Alderton, both of the Department of Security, were reported missing after failing to arrive at work several days in a row.

"Are you going to stand there and read it by yourself or let the rest of us see?" James asked as Peter stood by the table.

Peter pulled his eyes away from the article to see his three friends staring at him. "Oh, sorry."

He laid the paper out on the table in front of them, and the rest of the marauders crowded over his shoulder to read. It hadn't been an easy go lately in the fight against You-Know-Who. The paper was riddled with disappearances and sudden deaths, with the mood of the wizarding world becoming filled with more and more paranoia and fear.

"Dumbledore already told us this," muttered Remus as he read over the article. "Nothing like the Prophet being a little behind the times."

It was true. Most of what was being reported in the paper had already been mentioned by Dumbledore earlier in the week. The Order meeting had been a dismal one. It wasn't that they didn't enjoy being in the Order of the Phoenix, but the mood had certainly gotten worse in only the few months since they joined. Dumbledore had approached them immediately after graduation from Hogwarts and had explained that he had a group of witches and wizards who would be loyal to the cause of defeating the so-called 'Dark Lord', and that he hoped that they would join. Sirius, Remus, and James had agreed instantly, but Peter hadn't been so sure. Being honest, It had taken much prodding from Sirius to get him to agree to be a part of it. It wasn't that he didn't like Dumbledore, but he was hesitant to do anything that put his life so much on the line. However, the first meeting had been filled with so much excited optimism and fierce determination that Peter couldn't help but feel proud of his affiliation with such a group. The plans and missions laid out with careful certainty had given them hope that it would be possible to defeat You-Know-Who after all. But, unfortunately for them, it didn't take long for the realities of war to trump the optimism of youth, and Peter was starting to doubt his decision.

At their latest meeting, Dumbledore had reported gravely on the disappearances that were beginning to hit very close to home for many of the members of the Order. One disappearance that had been mentioned in the paper was a member of the Order that Peter had barely known. Florence Belby, an older witch who worked in the Ministry in the Department of Security and a good friend of Alastor Moody, had disappeared over the last week from her home, leaving no trace of her except for the clear struggle that had taken place before her abduction. She had been an early member of the Order, but Peter had only seen her once since joining. It was odd, Peter thought, seeing her name in the paper. Her life and legacy reduced to the black and white print of her disappearance. He doubted that the Death Eaters had let her live and hoped silently that his life would never end like that.

James read one of the death notices for a moment before announcing, "If I go, you be sure to write something less dull than these obituaries. I'd like something nice, well written. Maybe some poetry thrown in there for good measure."

"I will make sure the valour of your life is written about in exceedingly good verse." said Sirius, turning his attention to his best friend. "I'll make Remus write it, is what I'll do. Remus - come up with something catchy and poetry-like for James' obituary."

Remus thought for a moment and cleared his throat dramatically,

"A limerick, maybe?

That wizard named James was a blunder

How he married Evans, a wonder

But he kept goofing off,

Though she told him to stop,

And now the poor bloke's 6 feet under."

The group paused for a moment before bursting into laughter. James, laughing so hard he was almost in tears, "Can't say I disagree in the slightest."

James was certainly better than he used to be, but Sirius seemed to always bring out the recklessness in him. It was a good thing Lily had grown fond of Sirius, or she might never have started dating James to begin with. She had acquired some sort of power over Sirius as well, and with one look of an intensely focused glance, she could reel in their childish behavior.

"Moony, you definitely get the honor of writing it." James said, recovering from his laughter. "You'll outlive us all anyway."

Remus shook his head. "Don't be daft, you know I'll be the first to go."

"What are you talking about, Moony? You know you'll be the last of us to die. You're much smarter than the rest of us. Definitely less likely to get into trouble." James insisted.

"In case you've forgotten lately, I am a werewolf. You know, my kind happens to be very prone to self-injury and death." Remus remarked.

"But your instinct is spot on at least," reminded Sirius. "You saved us last month."

The four of them had been on a mission for the Order, watching over the main hall of the Ministry of Magic when Remus had suddenly sensed that something was amiss. They had managed to call in for reinforcements right before Death Eaters stormed the building.

Remus shrugged, "Who'll be the first to go, then, if not me?" He joked.

Peter watched Sirius glance around at his three companions before settling his eyes on him, "If we're taking bets, I think you'll be the first. Sorry mate, but you do happen to have the worst luck." Sirius said, looking at him with a grin.

Peter's heart fell. He knew there was some sense of truth to that.

"I doubt it'll be due to Voldemort though," James said, seeing the look on his face. "More likely you'll trip down the stairs or something."

The four laughed, including Peter. He wasn't particularly good on his feet, and wasn't very good at dueling either. The combination of the two leaving him quite vulnerable.

"We've got to work on your dueling skills though, mate." Sirius told him. "I imagine you couldn't give a fly a nosebleed."

"Likely because flies don't have noses." Remus added, defending Peter.

Sirius smirked and conceded the point, but Peter knew he really should practice more. The rest of his friends were incredibly talented at dueling, especially Sirius and James who were practically unbeatable. When those two dueled alongside each other, they read each other's movements as if they were planning them in a conjoined brain, making it quite a challenge for anyone who tried to duel the pair. Peter had managed not to get into any direct confrontation with the Death Eaters yet, as he had been the one to leave their post at the Ministry to find help, but was not optimistic about his chances if he did.

"That leaves you, Sirius." James said, turning on his friend. "I think you'll die in battle: a dramatic fight of good versus evil where you'll fight until the bitter end as you protect some future woman of your dreams-"

"- no, no. I can only imagine that Sirius will remain a wild bachelor until the end of his days-" Remus interrupted.

"Boys," chimed Sirius. "I happen to agree with the both of you." He said to his friends' confusion. "I can see it now as James says, dramatic fight and all. But the woman-of-my-dreams, the woman I die dramatically protecting, the woman who sobs over my prone body-"

"Get on with it!" James insisted.

"-Will be none other than the beautiful-"

"Sirius."

"-the magnificent-"

Peter rolled his eyes.

"Illustrious... Minerva McGonagall."

James spat out a mouthful of firewhisky as the group fell into another bout of laughter over the mental image Sirius had planted.

The night went on, filled with happiness and laughter as the sun slowly began to set outside the windows. The Daily Prophet was discarded to the side of the table as the group spent the rest of the evening talking and joking about anything that didn't relate to the war. Peter thought to himself how easy it was inside the Leaky Cauldron to forget the horrors and casualties that were happening outside. For now they could remain happy and whole as they finished their drinks and enjoyed each other's company.


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