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"This is gonna be great!" Sirius Black announced to his friends on their last day of school.
"We're finally free! No more homework or tests!" shouted Peter Pettigrew.
"This is the day we have been waiting for since the first day of first year!" said Sirius as he sat down on one of the benches in the compartment that he and the other Marauders were sharing on the Hogwarts Express.
"Yeah and now we can finally do something about this war instead of just reading about it in the newspapers," said James with great enthusiasm.
"Hey Moony, what do you think? You haven't said anything yet," Sirius said turning to his werewolf buddy.
"Just kinda in shock, I guess," Remus said. "I mean, no more curfew, no more Filch, no more stressing over tests. I'm kinda freaked out though; we're done. We're never coming back."
"Now Moony, mate, don't think of it like that; it'll get you all depressed. We are s'posed to be happy!" Sirius exclaimed, slinging an arm around Remus' shoulders.
"Yeah," began Peter. "But Remus is right; we're not coming back to Hogwarts. We're going to be on our own now. Are we still going to be friends? We're all going in different directions."
"It's true," agreed James. "I'm going into the Auror training program."
"My dad got me a job at the Ministry," supplied Peter.
"My Uncle left me some money so I'm going to get myself an awesome flat in London and party all day, every day!" said Sirius, trying to lighten up the mood.
"I'm working at the second-hand robe shop as a clerk," said Remus dully.
"See! We're all going to live in different places and have different jobs and whatnot. It's not going to be like we're going to see each other all the time anymore," said Peter sadly.
"But we'll still get together on full moons, right?" said Sirius, still trying to save the excitement graduation brings.
"Excellent, we can hang out when I would rather eat you than talk to you," said Remus dryly.
"Oh… Er, I forgot that part of it… Well, we'll just have to put aside one day a week where, no matter what, we get together and hang out," Sirius said.
"That's it!" James exclaimed excitedly. "That's how we all stay in touch! Don't worry Peter, we'll be friends 'til the end!"
"Alright, cool. Now, who's up for a game of Exploding Snap?" Sirius asked pulling a deck out of his robes.
The game lasted only a few moments however, because soon Remus' prefect partner, Marlene McKinnon came by to tell Remus that it was their turn to patrol the train. Then a few minutes later, Lily came by the compartment because she had to "talk" to James about some "urgent matters". Soon after that Sirius left Peter to use the loo. Then Peter was left all alone in the compartment.
"We're already drifting apart," he mumbled to himself as he picked up the cards.
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Four months later everyone had settled into their new lifestyles. Sirius was loving his curfew-free life in which he could drink whatever whenever, date whoever whenever, and throw parties that completely trashed his apartment without fearing a week of detentions. Although the program was difficult and took up most of his time, James was also enjoying training to become an Auror. Peter was also relishing his cozy job in the Ministry, getting coffee for his superiors and sitting in his miniscule cubicle organizing papers. Remus had been somewhat happy with his life and his job until he was fired because he took too many sick days at a certain time every month…
It was one Friday, the day that the Marauders had deemed was their day to hang out, when Remus received notice that he no longer had even the meager income he had somehow been able to eke out a living on. So, he decided to go to the Leaky Cauldron a few hours early, hoping that this week all of his friends would be there; he needed all of the moral support and free drinks he could get. In the weeks previous, he was lucky if he was joined by two out of three of his friends. Usually either James or Peter had to work and often Sirius had a date.
So he sat at the bar and waited, turning down Tom's offers of drinks. Around six Lily turned up in the pub with a large group. The group went to sit at a table and Lily offered to get them drinks. She approached the bar, and stood right next to Remus, not noticing him. It wasn't until he said, "Hi Lily," did she jump and turn to look at him.
"Oh! Remus! Hi, I didn't see you there," she said grinning.
"Obviously," he muttered under his breath to himself. Out loud to her he said, "How are you?"
"Oh, I'm well. Me and some other people from Healer training decided to stop in for a quick drink before heading home after training. How are you?" she asked.
"As well as can be expected. Have you seen James at all?" He asked quickly, turning the subject away from himself.
"No, I haven't. But, listen, you could join us if you wanted. You know, come sit with us so you're not here by yourself. Why are you here by yourself anyway?" she offered.
"Well, the others are supposed to be meeting me here. I guess I could take you up on the offer for company; I've been alone here for a bit longer than I anticipated," he replied, rising from his bar stool. She smiled at him, then accepted the tray of drinks from Tom. He followed her over to the table that her colleagues had chosen, and nodded to each in turn as she made introductions.
He realized his mistake once conversation started: everyone was talking about medical things, using medical words and whatnot and he had no idea what in the name of Merlin they were talking about, leading to him not being able to contribute anything at all. Thankfully, Lily noticed this and tried to include him.
"So Remus," began Lily. "How is your job going?"
Slightly startled at being addressed, Remus said, "Umm, ahh it's good, really good." He figured that it wasn't worth it to tell the truth; he didn't really want a heap of sympathy from the aspiring Healers.
"That's great," said Lily with a smile. "And how is…"
Lily was cut off by a loud voice that seemed to come from her pocket and the pockets of all the other Healers-in-training, "All Healers report to St. Mungo's immediately. There has been a large scale attack. Codes red, green, 45 and dragon are in effect."
The group immediately snapped into action. In a flurry of activity they all put on their cloaks and grabbed their belongings.
Before she disapparated, Remus said to Lily, "But you guys are only in training, why are you going?"
"Code red in conjunction with code dragon means that things are really bad. Civilians, both muggle and wizards have been hurt and killed and code green means that aurors have been injured and killed. When all three are put into effect with code 45 then it means that all Healers-in-training are to go too," explained Lily hastily. "Bye Remus! Take care of yourself!"
Lily was gone by the time Remus said, "Bye."
And again, Remus was left alone. So he sighed and retreated to a shady table in the corner where less people would be able to notice the fact that he had been deserted by his friends.
Sighing, he rested his elbow on the table, and his chin in his hand. A half an hour and a pint of Fire-whiskey later, the door to the pub opened. Remus looked over his shoulder to see if maybe it was one of his so-called friends. To his surprise, it was Sirius, but he wasn't alone: Sirius had a date with him- some blonde with too much make-up and not enough skirt.
He watched out of the corner of his eye as they walked to the bar, ordered their drinks then began to look for a seat. Sirius spotted him apparently because he heard Sirius yell, "Oi! It's Moony!"
Remus closed his eyes and prayed for patience as Sirius and his sl-, er, date stumbled across the bar towards him. He wasn't upset to see Sirius, he just didn't think that Sirius was there for the reasons that he was supposed to be there for.
"How ya doin' Moony?" Sirius said cheerfully as he sat down in the chair across from Remus and pulled Blondie down to sit on his lap.
"Oh, pretty well. How are you?" Remus asked politely.
"Good, good. What're you doin' here?" Sirius asked.
"Didn't have anything else to do, I guess," Remus responded.
Soon, there was an uncomfortable silence, and Remus tried to avert his eyes from the scene the two across from him were making. Sirius didn't seem to notice as Blondie's hands roamed his body, and she alternated between nibbling his ear and trying to seemingly devour his face. Eventually, though, he began to respond and before long the two were full out snogging.
"C'mon Siri-bear," she stage whispered huskily into his ear, "let's go somewhere more private."
"I hear ya! See ya Moony!" Sirius said, standing and quickly finishing his ale.
"Yep, bye," Remus said uselessly about three seconds too late for them to actually hear him.
Remus just shook his head and sighed deeply. He had no job, a lousy flat, terrible friends, and no money, as he soon found out when he rooted around in his pocket for some coins so he could buy another Fire-whiskey. Remus figured that life couldn't get much worse.
Then James arrived. He went up to the bar and ordered a Fire-whiskey. While he was waiting for Tom to get it, he scanned the bar as if looking for someone. After he had gotten and paid for his drink, he walked over to Remus and sat down.
"Hey Moony, sorry I'm," he looked down at his watch. "nearly two hours late. I was just finishing up training for the day when there was an attack and we all had to go and help. Then I got hit with a curse and had to go to Mungo's to get myself healed. It's a madhouse in there! Luckily, I happened to grab Lily while she was rushing past me and she healed my cut and signed my release papers. And then I remembered that it's our one-year anniversary tomorrow, so I have to run and go see if I can find her some sort of present. So, I gotta run, but I promise I'll make it next week," said James very fast, not giving Remus any opportunity to speak.
"Bye," said Remus feebly to James' retreating back. Luckily for Remus, James had left half of his Fire-whiskey on the table. Sighing yet again, Remus gulped down the rest of his friend's drink. By this point he was numb to the fiery sensation, though not yet much more drunk than "tipsy."
Another half an hour found Remus sitting alone at his table in the corner, sighing, and watching other patrons of the bar come and go. He was just contemplating heading back to his flat when the door opened once more. Deciding that since the other two had made an appearance, it was about time that Peter showed up too; he turned around and it was in fact the last of the group, Peter.
Remus watched as he approached the bar like the others had before him, and turned to scope out the bar. Spotting Remus, he made his way over to the table, and sat down heavily.
"Hey, sorry I'm late Moony; got stuck up at work," he said, taking a sip of his alcohol.
"No problem," Remus said, shrugging.
"Where are the other two?" Peter asked looking around the bar somewhat awkwardly.
"Well, I believe Sirius went off somewhere with some blonde, and James had to rush off to find an anniversary present for Lily," Remus replied, playing with one of the empty mugs in front of him.
"Oh, that's nice. How've you been?"
"Brilliant, just… brilliant," Remus said not-so-convincingly.
"Look, Moony, I'm sorr-," Peter started to apologize, but he was interrupted by Tom coming over to the table to let them know that he was closing the bar.
"Aw," Peter sighed as Tom shuffled away, waving his wand to put up the stools and extinguish the lights. "Well, I guess we gotta head out. I'm really sorry about this Remus. I'll see you later."
"Yep, bye Peter," Remus replied, grabbing his worn cloak off the back of the chair.
The two made their way to the exit, and parted ways.
After that Friday, Remus didn't even bother showing up for the weekly Marauder meetings at the Leaky Cauldron. At first he was curious; did they still meet there? Did anyone notice he wasn't there? Did anyone miss him? But he was determined not to seem weak. If they weren't going to make an effort to find out if he was surviving, then he certainly wasn't going to chase them down for sympathy.
Now here he was, sitting in the local park on a Friday night wondering why his life sucked so much. He had finally found another job, but it was only a part-time position as a janitor in a sleazy bar and he made next to nothing. In fact, he made so little that he was two months behind on his rent and his landlord was threatening to evict him if he didn't get the money soon, which he wouldn't because he was broke. And to top it all off, he hadn't had a date in weeks.
As he sat on the cold and lonely park bench he thought back to something his mother had said before she had died the summer before his sixth year.
"Remus, there are going to be days and weeks when things seem really bleak. You're just going to have to keep your head up and struggle through it. Don't ever expect anyone to help you because out there in the real world, it's everyone for them selves. Only the tough survive, and you, my son, are strong so just hang in there," said Mrs. Lupin, a tough woman on all accounts. After her husband was killed her son was bitten by Fenrir Greyback, she had gotten a job and had supported both herself and her son, though it left her very bitter.
Remus couldn't help but think that his mom had been right, as much as he hadn't wanted to believe it at the time. He had thought that his friends would always be there for him. After his mom had died, James had invited him to stay with him and Mr. and Mrs. Potter had welcomed him with open arms. He thought that it would always be that way. Nothing could separate the Marauders right? Nothing could stop them for staying as close as they ever were right? Nothing could prevent them from doing everything to help one another right? Wrong.
If there was one thing that could have ruined Remus' night it was a reminder of his "furry little…" ahem, lycanthropy. And there it was, the almost full moon. Remus couldn't help but feel as if it was laughing at him. He also couldn't help but think that the following night he would be laughing, well, howling back. Ugh. He hated life and he hated his ex-friends for not being there for him when his life sucked. After all, he had been there for each of them when they had problems.
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"James? What's the matter?" Remus asked worriedly as James stormed into the dormitory, slamming the door behind him. James jumped, and whirled around.
"Oh, Moony, I didn't realize anyone was in here," he said, looking down at the ground and running his hand through his hair.
"What's the matter James?" Remus repeated, putting his book down, and sitting up straighter on his bed.
"Nothing. It's nothing," James said, waving his hand as if he was waving away the question.
"It's not 'nothing' James. You look positively miserable," Remus said.
"I said it's nothing!" James exploded, facing Remus angrily. After taking in Remus' shocked expression, James deflated and sank onto his bed. "I'm sorry Moony. I just don't want to talk about it."
"Quite understandable, but talking about it may help you start getting over it," Remus suggested quietly.
James sighed and looked at Remus who was now sitting on the edge of his bed facing James's. "Alright. It's just that me and Lily had a bit of a… disagreement today…"
"And…?" Remus prompted.
"And, well, we kind of… broke up," James said gloomily.
"You broke up?"
"Yes!" James admitted, practically crying.
"What did you fight about?" Remus asked sympathetically.
"I told you; it wasn't a fight, it was a disagreement. And we disagreed about how to treat Sni-, Snape," James said.
"So you fought about, and broke up because of… Snape?" Remus asked.
"Yes."
"I see. Well, what happened?"
"She wants me to stop pranking Snape altogether, but I don't want to because I haven't done anything exceptionally mean or harmful since The Prank, and it's all mostly in good fun. She said that if I couldn't do that one thing for her, then she didn't want to be with me," James explained.
"Well, did you tell her it was all in good fun, just like all the others? Besides, pranking is part of you; you prank everyone from Dumbledore down, she knows that," Remus said.
"Yeah I told her that and she told me to stop acting like a first year and grow up!" said James angrily.
"What did you say to that?" asked Remus.
"I told her that with the world getting darker every day, everyone needs to laugh sometimes and that's why we prank people."
"Well it's true," said Remus. "Don't worry Prongs, she'll come around; she always does."
"Yeah, you're right Moony. Thanks for hearing me out; I really needed that," said James gratefully.
"Anytime James," said Remus as he clapped James on the back. "Now let's go raid the kitchens; that always makes you feel better."
"It's true. Now what are we waiting for?" he asked.
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Remus was on his way back from the library, alone. James was off stalking Lily, and Peter was getting extra help with Lily so that James could watch. Sirius was… somewhere unknown. He had just reached the next corridor over from the library when he heard raised voices coming from a supposedly abandoned classroom. Being the responsible Prefect that he was, Remus decided to take a quick detour to find the source of the quarrel.
As he approached the classroom, Sirius burst out of the room, almost running Remus over. Barely sparing his friend a glance, Sirius ran away down the corridor. Remus, the ever caring friend, took off after him after he spotted Regulus standing nonchalantly in the room.
Remus followed Sirius down through the castle all the way outside. They crossed the grounds, heading towards the Lake's shore. Sirius finally came to a stop under the beech tree that the Marauders usually sat under.
"Sirius," started Remus once he approached his friend who was staring out at the lake angrily.
"I don't want to talk Remus," said Sirius curtly and firmly. "Go away."
Remus, as usual, didn't listen to Sirius; instead he sat down next to his friend and stared at the lake as well.
After a few minutes of silence, Sirius tore his gaze away from the lake and said, "Aren't you going to leave?"
"No," said Remus calmly. "I need a bit of fresh air I think."
"It's the middle of January and below freezing," Sirius pointed out.
"Very true, but it's still nice out. The lake looks nice today," said Remus, making bland small talk.
"Really, could you just leave?" asked Sirius angrily. "I really want to be left alone. Please."
"Fine," said Remus. He stood up walked around to the other side of the tree and sat down.
Sirius turned his head and sighed. "Why do you have to be so bloody annoying?!"
Remus shrugged even though he knew Sirius couldn't see. "I just did what you told me. I'm just sitting here reading; I promise I won't bother you anymore."
The two fell into a tense silence. Sirius was still fuming, while Remus pretended to read.
"Fine!" Sirius exploded after three minutes. "Fine, I'll talk! I had a fight with Regulus."
"Really?" Remus said, indifferently.
"Yes, he was just being an arse. He started… saying things to get me mad, and, well, it worked," said Sirius softly. Remus noted the sad tone of his voice and decided it was safe to go back to Sirius's side of the tree.
"What did he say?" Remus said sympathetically.
"He was just making snide comments about the Marauders and practically every thing in my life that means something to me. He talked about how much better it is at home without me," Sirius explained.
"As much as he's better off without you, you're even more better off without him. Wow, that didn't come out like I meant it to…" said Remus uncertainly.
"I get what you mean though," said Sirius.
"It's true. You're much better off without them. Who needs them when you've got us anyways," said Remus trying to make Sirius laugh.
It didn't work. Sirius just sighed and said, "I know, you guys and the Potters are like my family and I really appreciate it, but it's not the same. I sometimes just wish that my family wasn't evil and twisted and hated me."
"I sometimes wish I wasn't a werewolf; oh wait, that's all the time," said Remus dryly.
"That kind of puts it into perspective," said Sirius thoughtfully.
Remus shrugged.
"No use moping about what I can't change I guess," said Sirius.
"That's always been my philosophy," said Remus.
"You're right Remus. I should buck up. Life could be so much worse; I could be ugly!" joked Sirius.
This caused the both of them to laugh.
"Thanks Remus, you really helped. I would rather have you in my family than Regulus any day," said Sirius gratefully as he hopped to his feet and extended a hand to Remus.
"Anytime mate, you know I'm there for you," said Remus as he and Sirius shared a manly hug.
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Remus was sitting in the Gryffindor Common room doing his Defense of the Dark Arts. James was at Quidditch Practice. Sirius was across the room trying to help Peter with his Herbology homework as a favor to Remus.
Suddenly, he heard Sirius shout from across the room, "Merlin Peter! How thick can you get? It's bloody Herbology- the easiest class on the face of the earth! You are such a useless lump! I'm done. I'm leaving. Get Remus to help you later!"
Remus looked over at the two as Sirius stomped away up to the dormitory. Peter was still sitting, staring at the place where Sirius had been moments before, looking about ready to cry. Remus sighed, and went over to Peter.
"C'mon Peter," he said quietly, gathering Peter's things and steering him towards the corner Remus had been doing his homework. Peter just nodded and walked over, his head bowed to the carpet.
"Sit, Pete," Remus said, reoccupying his chair.
"Okay," said Peter trying very hard not to cry.
"Now what's the problem?" asked Remus kindly.
"Just the fact that I'm stupider than a Flobberworm and Sirius hates me!" said Peter loudly.
"You're not stupid," Remus reassured him. "And Sirius doesn't hate you; he just gets frustrated and he can't really understand that not everyone understands things like he does. Some things that just come naturally to him take me hours to figure out."
"But I never figure anything out! One of you guys always has to spell it out for me!" said Peter dismally.
"That's not true Peter. Out of the four of us, you get the best marks in History of Magic."
"That's because Sirius and James sleep through that class and don't do any of the homework or reading," responded Peter.
"No, it's because you have a mind for memorizing facts and dates. I have to study a lot harder than you do and my marks aren't as good," Remus admitted humbly.
"Really?" asked Peter hopefully.
"Yeah of course. And Sirius gets frustrated with me sometimes too. Like last month I asked him to explain the wand movements for a curse that he learned as a kid and he just couldn't understand how I could not know how to do it. For him it was something he had always known how to do, even before he got a wand," Remus explained.
"How do you deal with it?" asked Peter.
"Well, I mostly ignore him when he starts saying things like that. But I also just remember that 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent'," Remus said.
"Wow. Did you make that up?" Peter asked in awe.
"No. Eleanor Roosevelt said that," Remus admitted.
"Who?"
"Never mind. Anyway, are you ok now?" Remus asked.
"Yep. Thanks for all your help Moony! You're such a nice friend," Peter said, grabbing his things to finish his homework.
"Anytime Pete, I'm always here for you," Remus said, turning back to his own essay.
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Remus walked slowly through the rain in Hogsmeade a few hours before the moon was supposed to rise. His body language showed the despair that he felt; his shoulders were hunched and his head was bowed. It looked as if a very heavy burden lay on his shoulders. His feet led him to the last place in the world he wanted to go; the very place he knew that he had to go to, the Shrieking Shack.
All too soon he was inside the old building that appeared to be falling apart. He stood inside what used to be a very nice parlor and mutely gazed around at his surroundings. He took in the long scratches on the walls, the chewed legs of what used to be a piano stool, blood smeared on the floor and the stuffing of an old pillow that lay scattered around.
Upon closer inspection, Remus also saw other things. He saw a dent in the wall where he knew that Prongs had hit it with his antlers, he saw muddy paw prints on the old sofa and he saw a tiny little imprint about the size of the body of a rat, in the one intact pillow in the room.
These observations were bittersweet for Remus. On one hand they reminded him of all those times that his friends had stuck with him, at great personal risk, but they also showed him that soon these things would fade away, just like his friends. Already the dent had become not so noticeable because the house was so decrepit, the mud of the paw prints was dry and caked and would be blown away by the slightest breeze and the imprint on the pillow could have been anything, not necessarily the resting place for a rat as he watched his bigger friends playfully spar.
Anger, bitterness, despair, hurt, and sadness welled up inside of Remus. At last he just let them overcome him; he crumpled to the floor and cried like he had never cried before. For hours he sat there on the floor, trying not to feel anything. Then he started to feel the tug of the moon's power on his consciousness.
"No!" he yelled desperately. "Please no! Dear Merlin spare me!"
Then he heard the sounds of someone walking quickly up the gravely path to the house. He heard them walk skillfully across the decaying porch to the front door. The person knocked and said, "Moony. Moony! Are you still, ummm you?"
"Yeah, Prongs, just hurry," said Remus.
"Don't worry, mate, we're coming!" another voice called from farther off, Sirius's, Remus registered; he could also hear the heavy breathing of another person, presumably Peter.
James, Sirius and Peter quickly got the door open and re-warded it. The entered the parlor just as Remus let out an agonizing scream, and the change began. They rushed over to him.
"We're here mate; we're here Moony," James said, kneeling and placing his hands on Remus's shoulders and looked into his face- Remus had fallen over onto his back at some point and was now convulsing.
Remus's face briefly showed that he knew they were there before the transformation took better hold and the wolf took complete control. James, Sirius and Peter quickly changed into Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail.
The wolf seemed extra happy to see them; all night long the four animals ran around the shack, playing tag, hide-and-seek, and sparring. Moony was so enthusiastic, it was as though he wanted to get in as much playtime as possible, like he thought they were going to go somewhere.
Finally, the moon began to set and Remus began the excruciating transformation back to human form; once it was safe the others followed. The change ended and Remus immediately fell asleep on the floor. James and Sirius carefully picked up their friend and brought him to the room which had a nice bed and lay him down.
Sirius then tiredly called, "I claim the other side of the bed!"
James groaned. Peter quickly grabbed the pillow on the bed before Sirius could put his head on it. "I get this pillow then!"
"Fine," said James, who was too tired to conjure up another bed. He grabbed the comforter off of the bed, balled it up and put it on the floor. Then, as soon as he laid his head down on the make-shift pillow, he joined his friend in dreamland.
Many hours later, Remus was awakened by the distinct sound of Sirius snoring. At first he was very disoriented, but soon he recognized the familiar bedroom of the Shrieking Shack and the sleeping forms of his best friends. He immediately felt very loved. His friends hadn't abandoned him; they had come through for him when he had needed them most.
For a few minutes Remus lay on the bed, just content to listen to the even breathing of his exhausted friends. Then he heard sounds coming from downstairs. He silently bounded out of bed and quickly got dressed. He also made sure that he grabbed his wand; he was pretty sure that he was going to have to modify some memories in a moment.
As he warily descended the staircase, a delicious scent reached Remus's nose. It smelled like waffles, bacon, sausage, and eggs. Remus reached the bottom of the stairs and peered into the parlor. What he saw made him feel even more warm and cozy inside. Lily had conjured a large table and five chairs and she was currently unpacking a large picnic basket. Remus also noticed that Lily had dusted the entire room, repaired the furniture and washed the floor.
Sensing that someone was watching her, Lily turned around and seeing Remus said, "Good morning Remus!"
"Hello," croaked Remus, his throat sore from howling.
"Why don't you come and sit down. Do you want me to heal you while we're waiting for those other lumps to get up, or do you want to just dig in?" asked Lily as Remus walked over to the table and sat down in one of the cushioned chairs.
"Healing would be nice," said Remus.
"Okay," said Lily. "Where do you need healing?"
"All over," said Remus.
"Right," said Lily.
She gently helped Remus to take off his shirt and then she started to heal the scratches and bruises that covered his torso and arms. She also gave him a few Potions to alleviate some of the pain. Then she had to move onto his legs. It was at the moment that Remus undid the button on his trousers and let them fall to the ground so that Lily could heal those wounds too, that Sirius walked in on the scene.
"Everyone always said that I would be the one to steal Lily from James, but I knew better; it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for," joked Sirius as he walked over to the table and sat down. "Nice spread you've got here Lily."
"Thanks Sirius," said Lily as she continued to heal Remus. Once she had finished, she turned to Sirius. "Do you need some healing?"
"There's this one gash on my thigh that could use some work," said Sirius as he unbuckled his pants.
Peter walked in at this point. Remus was pulling his trousers up and Sirius was letting his down.
"Why wasn't I invited to this steal James's girlfriend party?" he asked as he took a seat and surveyed the fine breakfast on the table.
"Morning Peter," said Lily, who had learned long ago to disregard the remarks of the Marauders. "There are some muffins in the basket if you want."
"Absolutely," said Peter as he retrieved the muffins and bit into one. "Delicious!"
"Thank you," said Lily. "Anywhere else you need healing Sirius?"
"My shoulder's hurting a bit," said Sirius. "I think I may have bruised it when your lovely boyfriend pushed me into the wall."
Lily laughed as she helped Sirius out of his shirt. She put some cream that she had brought with her onto the very colorful bruise on his shoulder and stood back to survey him.
"Like what you see?" joked Sirius as he flexed his muscles. "Ouch!"
"What?" asked Lily.
"That hurt," said Sirius, confused. "Right here."
"Hmmm," said Lily as she looked at the area Sirius pointed to. "There does seem to be a bruise…"
Lily gingerly put her hands along Sirius's abdomen, searching for some sign of what was wrong. As soon as she had touched him, Sirius yelped.
"What?"
"Your hands are cold," he said childishly.
Lily rolled her eyes, but performed a heating charm on her hands anyways. "Better now?" she asked.
"Yes," he said.
"Tell me when it hurts," said Lily as she lightly put pressure on each area of his chest.
This is where James walked in. At first he just stood in the doorway watching because he wasn't fully awake yet, and then he said, "This is a bit weird; my girlfriend groping my best friend as my two other best friends watch."
"Early bird gets the worm," retorted Sirius. "Don't sleep in next time and maybe you can be in my spot."
"Morning love," said James as he paused to give Lily a kiss on the check before he sat down to eat some breakfast like Remus and Peter.
"I guess a bruise just hasn't formed yet," Lily concluded. Then she went and rummaged in her bag. "Drink this and you'll be fine."
"That was foul," said Sirius with an awful look on his face.
"You're such a baby," said Lily.
"I am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Prongs! Tell Lily that I am not a baby!"
"I make it a priority not to lie to my girlfriend," said James with a smirk.
"I hate you," said Sirius without a trace of hatred in his voice.
"Do you need some healing?" Lily asked James.
"You bet I do, but I don't think the guys will want to see that," joked James.
Lily rolled her eyes and said, "In that case you can wait until after I eat."
As Lily started to eat, James said to Remus, "So I was wondering Moony, do you want to come stay at my place for awhile? Padfoot refuses to leave his "bachelor's pad," Wormtail's mom won't let him leave home and Lily rejected me once again when I brought up that subject and I'm lonely."
"I dunno Prongs," said Remus unsurely as he gazed down at his plate.
"Please Moony, I'm so lonely! I miss having roommates," said James.
"Please do it Remus; then he might stop bugging me," said Lily.
"Okay," said Remus quietly.
"Great!" said James excitedly.
"So Moony," began Sirius. "I have decided that I should get a job because I'm so utterly bored all day long, and then I thought of a great idea. I could work at Zonko's! But then I said to myself, 'Sirius, you could never commit to a nine-to-five job like that! You would need someone to keep you motivated and remind you to go to work.' And then I thought of you Moony. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to apply to Zonko's with me. I looked into it last week and the manager said that he had two openings, one for full time and one part time. Of course, I would take the part time one because I can't have this job thing cramping my style too much. What do you say?"
"Sounds like fun," said Remus as he watched all of his problems be solved before his eyes; he didn't really want that janitor's job anyway.
"Nice. You start on Monday," Sirius said, smiling.
"Thanks guys, all of you. I don't know what I would do without you," Remus said, only slightly sarcastic.
"I'm sorry we've all been so busy that we've missed Fridays," said James sincerely.
"But we've all reorganized our priorities and meeting on Fridays is number one," said Sirius.
"Being here for full moons is tied for number one actually," said Peter.
"Well actually, on James' list Fridays and full moons are tied for second place; unfortunately for us, Lily took the spot of number one in importance," teased Sirius.
"What these bone heads are trying to say," said James. "Is that us Marauders stick together through thick and thin. We'll be there for each other anytime and every time."
"Friends," began Remus.
"Marauders," continued Sirius.
"Brothers," added James.
"Forever," finished Peter.
"Aww, how cute," teased Lily.
"It's not supposed to be cute!" said James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all at once in distressed tones.
"Jinx you owe me a butterbeer!" yelled Remus. The others groaned. "Yes that's three butterbeers for me!"
Eventually the Marauders were forced apart. James was killed; Peter went into hiding; Sirius was sent to Azkaban and Remus was once again left alone. But before that, they were inseparable. After that day, none of them ever missed a Friday night or full moon again. In fact, Lily and James planned their honeymoon so that James wouldn't miss the full moon and he would be back in time to go out for the Marauders' night. That was because they were all there for each other, no matter how heavy the rainstorm. Mrs. Lupin was wrong; it wasn't an individual battle against life, it was the Marauders against the world.
So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your
jobs a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A.
It's like
you're always stuck in second gear
And it hasn't been your day,
your week, your month,
or even your year
but..
I'll be
there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for
you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz
you're there for me too...
You're still in bed at ten
And
work began at eight
You've burned your breakfast
So far...
things are goin' great
Your mother warned you there'd be days
like these
Oh but she didn't tell you when the world has
brought
You down to your knees that...
I'll be there for
you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like
I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there
for me too...
No one could ever know me
No one could ever
see me
Seems you're the only one who knows
What it's like to be
me
Someone to face the day with
Make it through all the rest
with
Someone I'll always laugh with
Even at my worst I'm best
with you, yeah
It's like you're always stuck in second
gear
And it hasn't been your day, your week, your month,
or
even your year...
I'll be there for you
When the rain
starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there
before
I'll be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me
too...
I'll be there for you
I'll be there for you
I'll
be there for you
'Cuz you're there for me too...