This story is dedicated to paperpotter for showing me that good Jily fanfic and well-developed Marauder characters really do exist. Thank you.
(Nights of the Animagi is in 10 parts, published weekly. Each part features one night and the adventures of James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus. AU parts may exist, though most of the story is canon.)
March was cold in Scotland. Hogwarts, with its heated rooms and warm clothes, was quite inviting during the wet month, leading to a lot of days spent inside by the four marauders. One such time was Saturday, the ninth of March, 1974. The group of fourth-years were not the only ones in the common room, though they might have been the only ones who didn't leave it at all that day. Except perhaps Evans.
"Remus," James hissed, snatching A Charmsman's Guide to the Outdoors from his friend's hands, "Remus, I think she's looking at me! Isn't she? Isn't she, Remus? Does this book make me look smarter?"
Remus rolled his eyes, but didn't try and take back his book. Instead, he stretched out next to James on the couch, picking up the immaculate homework planner sitting next to him. Stealing a quill from the floor next to Peter, he started checking off assignments. The only reaction he gave to James sitting up straighter, adjusting his glasses, and pretending to read the book upside-down was to let out a pained sort of whimper when James knocked out the bookmark with little abandon. Of course, being Remus, he'd memorized the page number, but it was still a pain.
Sirius, stretched out on the floor, coughed. The word "desperate" was barely disguised in the sound. When James cast him a dirty look, he laughed that charming Sirius laugh and went back to charming a pair of Regulus's school robes.
"What are they going to do to him?" asked Peter, scribbling a few more words on the end of his currently illegible essay for Professor McGonagall. Remus looked over at it, winced, and turned back to his pristinely written planner.
"Oh, nothing harmful," said Sirius, soliciting a collective groan, "It'll just make him turn all wooly. Teach him to call me the black sheep of the family. I don't even know what it means, but it's sure as hell an insult and I'm going to-"
"Sirius." Remus cut in, a smile playing across his tired face for the first time that night, "Sirius, it's not an insult. He's saying you're different than the rest of the family, which I believe you take pride in."
"Watch me stick his wand up his own- wait, what?" Sirius had ignored Remus, and just now seemed to process it. He pondered the robes a moment, tilted his head, and shrugged. Everyone in the common room rolled their eyes- well, except James and Evans. Evans was, per the usual, absorbed in her book. James was, per the even more usual, absorbed in Evans's bright green eyes.
The clock chimed eight. The four Marauders looked at each other, as though this was some kind of a sign. It was indeed, as it turns out. Remus shut his planner and caught the book that James threw at him without a backward glance. Sighing good-naturedly, he put the objects in his book bag and started upstairs with the rest of the Marauders. Sirius pulled out his ebony wand, pointed it at the robes, and muttered "Wingardium Leviosa." Completing the spell with a swish and flick of his wand, he levitated them high above the quartet as they made their way up the stairs. James, at the back of the group, hurried to catch up while making eyes at Evans. This, of course, led to him smashing into a wall and the common room- including his elusive target- erupting into laughter. Peter didn't do anything. He just followed along, smiling contentedly to be in the middle of his popular, powerful friends.
When they got into their dorm, James and Sirius furtively looked around. Remus took out his beech-wood wand, waved it in a complicated pretzel shape, and said with confidence, "Homenum Revelio." Nothing happened. The four boys relaxed and threw themselves onto James's bed.
"Where are we scheduled to go tonight?" asked Sirius, eyes glowing with excitement.
"Are we seeing that Muggle band, Lead Zaflin or something?" James joined in the guffaws of laughter from Sirius. He was the only one of the Marauders to actually know about Muggle customs, which he had learned in an effort to distance himself from the Blacks and their heritage. Peter joined in laughing, though it was clearly forced. He clearly had no idea what anyone was talking about.
Remus shook his head, looking pensive. He stared into space for a moment, opened his mouth, and then closed it. James stopped looking at him to glance at Sirius, who raised one dark eyebrow. Peter stared at everyone, mouth slightly open, pudgy face contorted in confusion.
"Come on, Rem. What's wrong?" asked Sirius. Remus looked at his friends and sighed, shoulders dropping. His decrepit appearance didn't make it any easier to see him looking this defeated. James and Sirius looked at each other again; each was thinking through the day, trying to figure out what might have set their friend on edge.
"We're scheduled to go to a 'singles night' at our bar in Muggle London." Remus finally let the words escape, and he seemed to find them much more significant than the rest. Most days, James and Sirius would have started giggling at the idea of a singles' night. Tonight, however, was different. They would never forget their friend in favor of a bad joke.
Upon hearing nothing, James spoke up hesitantly. "Er… Is that a bad plan?"
Remus shook his head. "No, no. I just… Well, girls don't like me. People don't like me. And I don't want to go and seem like a weird guy who is so obsessed with his schoolwork that he's not someone you want to be around. McKinnon and Macdonald don't even know my name, and they live in the girls dormitory- literally fifty-five metres away from us."
Peter made a soft "aw," sound, and James and Sirius stepped away for a moment. James cast what was unmistakably muffliato on Remus and Peter, and a few minutes later, the buzzing left their ears.
"Don't worry, Rem. We've got you." Sirius said. "Ready to go?"
The walk down to the grounds was quite unpleasant. While the conversation under the invisibility cloak was good, and the air crackling with curiosity about Sirius and James and their plan, a cold wind ripped through the lawn. A late March rain started to fall, thick enough to be barely sleet. The wild fingers of the gale threatened to snatch the cloak, and Remus increasingly had to stop every few paces and clutch his head.
They were within sight of the Willow when Remus started to spasm. Peter cried out, though James put a hand over his mouth just in time.
"Peter! Go!" yelled James, and a moment later Peter was gone, only a wormlike tail snaking through the grass. James and Sirius put their arms on Remus's arms, both of them wincing at his emaciated body- starving even with the castle's rich food. Well, not that he ate much of it. But that's a matter for another story.
"Come on, Moony," urged Sirius, breaking into a jog. The willow froze as they headed towards it, and Remus wrenched the last bit of humanity out of himself and streaked toward the opening. James and Sirius followed, and as soon as the tree began to creak and thud behind them, they were bounding instead of running, four beats as their legs hit the ground.
Immediately, they could hear each other's thoughts. Remus cut in and out, just screaming, as he transformed. Peter watched in fascination, just like every time, as Remus's head began to elongate, his arms to sprout hair.
"Stop it, Wormtail," thought James, giving his friend a stern glare.
Wormtail jumped, startled, and immediately looked away. A moment later, Remus appeared as Moony, shuddering for a moment as he got used to the new form. Sirius well, Padfoot- bounced to the edge of the tunnel, wagging his tail. Moony laughed.
"To the Seventh Heaven!" Padfoot cried, joyfully.
"You're sure about this plan?" asked Moony. It was Prongs's turn to laugh.
"Completely," he answered.
They arrived at the bar in a few minutes via a portkey. Convenient? Not really. Smart would be a more accurate term. It wasn't mere coincidence that this portkey lead to their desired location- Moony had charmed the old potions jar to transport them before any of the others were awake that morning.
The bar was old, clearly not doing particularly well. Stools were placed out front on the porch, picked up from half a dozen garage sales. The smell of trash emanated from behind the building. The walls were crumbling, pitted brick, only red a long, long time ago. Of course, the Marauders didn't mind. This was their bar, after all. Along with a few locals here on the edge of London, they were the only frequents, and they knew the staff well.
Once they reached the woods from which they could see the front stoop, Padfoot pulled from his bag a small purple vial. Moony uncorked it, and coughing at the ensuing haze of steam, downed the whole thing at once. Quickly, his wolf's attributes began to shrink- thank goodness the Marauders had invented Wolfsbane before it was "officially" created.
Once he was fully human, Remus gave the thumbs up. Padfoot's fur shot inward, his ears faded into Sirius's head and he, along with the rest of his friends, stood human once more. For a final touch, each wizard held up his wand and tapped himself on the head. Immediately, four well-dressed hipsters in their mid-twenties were standing in the same places where the Hogwarts students had been before.
Once inside the bar, the four boys attracted a large amount of attention. Sirius's eyes widened. Somehow, the word about singles' night got out, and he was surrounded by girls who were staring at him like he was their one true love.
"I call the blonde," Sirius said, something he'd be berated about by Evans for the rest of his adult life (James had told her the story in a fit of reminiscence once.)
James nodded and, tearing his mind away from the readhead in his schoolyard fantasy, set his eyes on a brunette who was leaning up against the bar with a cigarette. She smirked at him and raised the burning stick. She was wearing metal spikes on her leather jacket. Peter stood confidently in the middle of the crew, and let a honey-blonde waitress carry him off on one arm.
"Excuse us for a moment, ladies," said Sirius, and they all nodded mutely and watched the three boys leave the bar for a moment.
"Okay. Which one do you want?" asked James. Remus looked like he considered being offended by the possesive statement about women, but ignored the urge and looked in the window. Everyone was staring out at them, and gasped excitedly when they turned back around. Well, everyone except a pink-haired girl who appeared to have been reading in the window before it was overtaken. She was looking out with mild interest, Tolstoy's War and Peace clutched in her hands.
"The one with the pink hair," he said. Sirius looked at him dubiously for a moment, then let the expression slide from his face to be replaced by a grin.
"And so it shall be," said James, "Follow us."
They walked inside, James and Sirius with their usual swagger. James ruffled his hair, which received an audible sigh from the girls. Sirius blew kisses into the crowd. Everyone tried to catch them- and that's literal. The pink-haired girl seemed to lose interest.
"Hello ladies," said James. "My name is Johnny, and this is Alfonso."
Remus snickered to himself at Sirius's chosen name. He liked what he had decided on- Carter. It sounded so normal- what kind of a name was Remus Lupin? Well, he knew what kind of a name. A werewolf name.
"We're going to be going out with one very lucky girl tonight," James continued, "Anyone who wants to try out for our affection, why don't you head into the back room? We'll be right behind you."
As the crowd moved away from the pink-haired girl, Remus still reeling from the complete playboy attitude of his two best friends, Sirius jabbed him in the ribs. "Go for it," he said, and disappeared.
Shit. Remus was supposed to just do this? He'd explained that nobody liked him. He was skinny, and his hair ratty, and he knew more than was necessary about anyone or anything. He'd been put down by nearly every girl in the school. And he was just expected to go up to this beautiful girl and say hello?
He steeled himself and walked over. Tolstoy, he thought. He liked Tolstoy. A little dry, but interesting nonetheless. She looked up at him as he approached her table and motioned to the seat across from her. She looked him up and down, tilting her head a little, then shrugged and pointed to it wordlessly.
As he sat opposite her, Remus took in the finer aspects of her features. She appeared slight and small, from her thin arms to her short height. She reminded him of a bird in skeleton. Her nose was small, turned up a little at the end. Her eyes were hazel, like his. She looked back at him, no doubt doing the same analysis in her own head.
"Riley."
"Remus. I- I mean- Carter."
"Remus is a cooler name than carter. It fits you. Go with that one."
"Riley's a nice name as well."
They regarded each other silently, his eyes meeting hers. She put down the book, dog-earing the page. He could see the pages were worn down and crumpled. Smiling slightly, he opened his rucksack and took out his Muggle book. Anna Karenina. She saw it, and broke into a smile for the first time that evening.
"Well, Riley. Would you like a coffee?"
And that was how it started.
It was two in the morning before James and Sirius showed up to his table. James was wild-eyed and bright-faced, covered in lipstick. Remus cringed inside to think of his friend's face when he sobered up and realized whatever it was that he'd done tonight. Sirius seemed happy enough, and sober, a giggling blonde on his arm.
"Having a good time, Carter?" he asked. Remus laughed and corrected him, receiving a stern glare from his friend. He knew, of course, that he wasn't supposed to tell anyone anything personal, lest they were found out. He'd had to, though. Riley was so… So real. Pure. Anything but one of the five fake girls who were hanging onto Peter as he walked over to them.
"I have to go, I'm afraid," he said to Riley. Her face fell- there had been real emotion in it before. Real happiness. It took him hours to coax it out of her, but with enough talk about literature and art and music, he'd gained entry into her mind. And he never wanted to leave.
"Will… Will you call me?" she asked. He sighed, and shook his head. They'd practiced this cover story so many times.
"I would, really, but my phone is broken. The neighbors crashed their car into our electric cords."
She sighed, clearly hurt. She knew he was lying. And he looked helplessly at James and Sirius, who shrugged. They'd comfort him later- he knew they weren't being rude on purpose. They just had a reputation to uphold, if they ever wanted to come back to Seventh Heaven again.
"I… Riley, will you come home with me?" he asked. James kicked him. Sirius gasped. But Remus knew, for some reason, that he meant it. Riley wasn't a witch, but if squibs could live in Hogwarts, why not Muggles?
"I'd love that," she said, getting up and fastening the olive-green button on her denim purse. She picked up War and Peace and followed him out the door. James and Sirius looked on in utter shock.
"Riley…" said Remus, as they walked towards the wood, "There's a few things you don't know about me."