The Marauders Live On
Summary: The Ups and Downs of the Mischievous Marauders. The Marauders have experienced a lot of pain. But before all that, their friendship was a part of happier times. A story that can make you laugh and cry (I hope).
A/N: This is my first Harry Potter fanfic, so please go easy on me! I'd love reviews (good and bad) of whether I got all the amazing four characters (three of whom we love) correctly, and whether I captured the mood as well. Thanks in advance and I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling is the genius who owns all the characters. I am only, respectfully, borrowing them.
"Padfoot! Look out to your right! Behind you!" Lupin's hoarse voice pierced the dark forest night. Curses and enchantments were blasting through the air, but Lupin's eyes only saw Sirius and the danger he was in.
Sirius, Padfoot the Playful, the wittiest of the Marauders, wanted to instinctively turn towards Lupin-to see his face before the end. But he was a quick dog and calculated his plan of action. There would be no escape-it was too late for that. But if he sidestepped to his left while aiming a cursing spell in front, he would block Lupin from two advancing curses-and kill Pettigrew.
"Sectumsempra!"
"Cruciatus"
The two curses were blocked by Sirius's quick body and Lupin remained unharmed.
"Avaada Kadavraa!" shouted Sirius, his face full of rage as he looked onward at his enemy-his former friend. He saw Pettigrew's body lift in the air, fall, and move no more.
"NOOO!" shouted Lupin. Sirius's body writhed in agony. Blood seeped from his thin form.
"Lupin! Watch over Potter! Teach him and let the Marauders live on!"
"Expelliarmas! Don't say such things! You will be by my side to help me. Protego! James would have wanted that!"
Sirius smiled amidst his pain. Didn't Lupin see? The Deatheaters were surrounding him on three sides. Lupin could run. But for this old dog….
"Moony…Solemnly swear to do no good…" and with that, he turned towards the three dark figures.
"PADFOOT!" Lupin would not let Sirius do this.
"Cruc-" shouted Sirius, but he was too late.
Three green streaks hit Sirius at the very center of his body. The light at his core was extinguished.
Lupin's anguished scream reverberated beyond the forest and into the heavens.
Mountains, tall and majestic, rose around the four friends. They laid in the meadow surrounded on three sides by a forest and on the fourth side by a clear reflective mountain lake.
James and Sirius rested their heads in their right and left hands respectively, lying sideways with their upper bodies propped up by their arms. Peter was laying belly-down on the grass, head in the middle of his two hands idolizing his friends. Lupin sat cross-legged staring at his book without absorbing any of the words.
"Sometimes you wonder whether in life anything can be as extraordinary and breathtaking as snow-capped mountains," sighed James dreamily, his eyes glazing over the Alpine mountains before him.
"Whoa! Slow down there lover boy," cautioned Sirius. "Continue speaking like that and you'll start sounding intelligent!" Lupin gave a wolf-like laugh.
"Yeah! Lover boy!" shouted Peter.
There was an awkward pause, in which Sirius's eyebrow slowly crept higher up his forehead and Lupin tried to suppress a chuckle.
"Well, not to repeat the obvious," and here Lupin gave a small cough but continued, "But in all fairness, Prancing Prongs here does have a considerable accomplishment when factoring in, well, Prongs in general, by managing to finally score a date with Lily!"
"Really! I hadn't heard!" Sirius said in mock surprise.
"Padfoot, you sly dog, you never told us what happened with Windaldia." James said, hoping to remove some attention from himself.
"Ugh, don't remind me. She made it seem as if asking her to the Blue Moon Ball was her worst night ever!"
Without missing a beat, Lupin corrected, "Second. The first was when you stood up on the table in the Great Hall and declared your love for her. Boy, I've never seen a death stare so perfected!"
Everyone laughed until-
"Yeah! The SECOND worst night!" Peter added.
The laughing stopped and Sirius's face turned gloomy once more.
"So yeah, I had to do something to cheer myself up, otherwise I would've gone insane with grief! Did you know that using the powder floo to get into the girls dormitory at midnight costs a month of detention?"
"That doesn't make sense! Putting Stinking Hornbeatles in the Great Lake to scare off the mermaids was only two weeks!" James said.
"Not to mention bewitching all the owls to leave droppings on the Slytherin Quidditch team while they were practicing was, what, two and a half weeks?" Lupin tried to remember.
"Ah yes," Sirius recalled with fondness. "Nice touch with the homing owls, Moony. You really got Merlinkin's bottom well!" Lupin gave a nod of appreciation.
"You know," Peter ventured nervously, "There is a pattern among all this..."
"Quick wit and cunning with unsurpassed knowledge of Wizarding spells?" offered James.
"Y-yes and no," Peter stammered.
"Wait, Wormtail's right…" Lupin thought slowly, trying to support his friend. He thought he knew what Peter was trying to propose.
"Anyone could be right when they say 'Y-yes and no!' What other option is there?" Sirius was slightly annoyed he wasn't following the conversation.
Lupin continued, "Well, we do have a slight penchant for breaking the rules."
"Aw, no Moony, it's more like a 'penchant' for good fun." James said as he stretched out on his back, the fresh grass crunching under his weight.
"Exactly!" Peter continued lest he lost his train of thought, and courage, "So I say, being Masters of Mischief, we should maybe write like a guidebook or leave a written legacy." How else would anyone believe he belonged among the coolest wizards?
"Self-help and memoirs are boring!" Sirius said dismissively. "Let's draw like a treasure map with all the secret passages of Hogwarts!"
"We can be called Marauders: The Masters of Mischief's Map by the Marauders," said Lupin.
Sirius was quite excited, "If we are to be a famous group, we would need a motto!"
"How about," James had a mysterious gleam in his eyes, "We solemnly swear to do no good…"
It had been nearly six months since Sirius's death. Harry really wanted to visit Hogsmeade for the first time, but didn't have the heart. All the other third years seemed like they would have so much fun. It didn't seem right to be in a place filled with so much happiness when Harry himself felt grief-stricken and…alone. To have found out you had a Godfather, then to lose him in a month, was more than any one could bear.
So, on the first day the third years got to visit Hogsmeade, he bade farewell to Hermione and Ron with as much of a smile he could muster. They understood his grief and knew Harry needed some time alone. Harry watched them leave as they chattered about what they would do and, of course, what they would bring back for him. Harry never felt lonelier.
Lupin saw Harry mulling about down the hall. The poor boy really needed some cheering up. Lupin had an idea. He called to Harry, "Professor Flitwick is about to do a small demonstration charms show for the first and second years, Harry. Want to come?"
Harry looked up and made a slight face, quickly corrected it, and said, "Erm, no thanks, Professor."
Right, Lupin thought, hanging around first and second years is the epitome of uncool.
"Well, want to have some Butterbeer in my office? Came from the Three Broomsticks of Hogsmeade itself!"
Harry this time looked more interested and gave a small smile, "Gee thanks, Professor!"
I've got this! Lupin thought confidently as he smiled back. They made a right down another hall towards the swiveling staircase.
"Professor," Harry began in a small voice, "did you know Sirius well?" He seemed a bit nervous and Lupin's confidence was ebbing with each step. They waited for the staircase to slowly turn towards them and then hopped on and continued upwards.
"We were quite good friends, yes." Down the hall they went and Lupin opened the 5th door to his left. An image of Sirius right before he turned towards his three killers flashed across Lupin's mind. He shook his head and swallowed the lump in his throat.
As they entered his office, Lupin motioned for Harry to sit. He took out a large bottle of Butterbeer from his cabinet and poured it into two glass pints. Harry took one. The Butterbeer was extremely, almost magically, cool. The two drank for a moment in silence. Before his pint was halfway empty, Harry decided to take a breath. He had a small mustache of white foam above his upper lip.
Lupin studied the boy with the brilliant green eyes, who reminded him so much of James that it hurt. He couldn't make out what the boy was thinking, though he suspected they were both occupied by the same thought.
Harry cleared his throat and said a little shakily, "The reason I asked Professor," it was as if the silence never occurred and they were continuing the previous conversation, "I wanted to know what happened the night Sirius…I mean I know he was killed by three Death Eaters in a forest, but did he…how did happen?" Harry struggled to find the right words.
Lupin thought he knew what Harry was trying to get at. Don't worry Harry, Lupin thought, he was your Godfather through and through-until the very end.
"Well, Harry, he was brave and valiant. He blocked two curses that could very well have taken my life. I guess you could say that he gave his life for me. Sirius also killed Pettigrew for revenge and for the Greater Good. You have to understand, Peter did many horrible things and needed to be stopped. All this, he did while still under the Cruciatus Curse. Even the moment before death, Harry, Sirius was a great man."
Harry looked quite satisfied and stared off into the distance. He seemed to be aware now of his foamy mustache and wiped it with his sleeve.
Sirius, Lupin thought, also thought of you, Harry, in his last moments. How could he not? You were his life-his only son. You are the son of all of us.
"You know, Harry. Sirius's last words were about you." Harry turned and looked at Lupin, curiosity filled his eyes, as well as the haunted look that often accompanied extreme sadness.
"R-really? What did he say?"
You're so young, Harry, Lupin worried. You shouldn't experience this much grief and pain at thirteen. My God, what were us Marauders doing at that age? Feeding bogie-flavored Chocolate Frogs to first years, undoing faucets in girls' restrooms, we were a mischievous bunch!
"He wanted me to show you the ways of the Marauders, of which your father, Sirius, and myself were a part of." Harry's brow furrowed in confusion.
Lupin pulled out the Marauder's Map. Hogsmeade will have an extra visitor today. "Our motto was, 'We solemnly swear we are up to no good…'"