Summary: Extremes can be frighteningly similar. Hotheaded adolescent wizards fight on both side of the line, but how far will the Marauders go in their fight against the Dark Lord? How far to go before the atrocities committed on both sides reflect each other exactly? And when will common sense win through?
A/N: This is probably going to be a long one. Inspired by a conversation between some fellow history geeks about the similarities between communism and fascism; details worked out with the help of MoonlitLightning. Thanks for reading, reviews highly appreciated. Many thanks to those who have already R & R'd!
Remus was a werewolf with a moral dilemma, a girlfriend crisis, and a History of Magic essay due in a mere seven hours. He was, in addition, not bad looking, although a bit pale. Awake and theoretically writing his essay at two o'clock in the morning, Remus was the last Marauder awake tonight. The rest had gone to bed after the raid on the Trophy Room. That particular escapade could be neatly marked down as the cause of the moral dilemma.
There were two parts of Remus. The part that heartily enjoyed the full moon romps with his friends in Animagus form, thought Severus Snape was a slimy git, and knew that Lily Evans was going to end up with James sooner or later. On the other hand, there was also that persistant part of him that knew they were breaking wizarding law under Dumbledore's nose, knew James and Sirius could be as nasty to Snape as he was to them, and occasionally backed Lily's disdain for James's actions. It all ended up in a nasty conflict. The werewolf and the prefect.
Someday he would write verbose and epic poetry on the subject, win an Order of Merlin, and be featured on the cover of Witch Weekly.
On the off chance that particular career path wasn't effective, however, Remus was not going to stop pursuing his studies as it was. Which, unfortunately, meant finishing this essay for History of Magic. And before he could finish it, he would have to start it. Truly an unfortunate and necessary state of affairs. Essays on the Thirty Years War (Magical) were always painful. Essays on the Thirty Years War (Magical) that made up ten percent of your final grade, were a minimum fifteen inches of parchment, and were begun at 2:17 in the morning were labeled with a 'Masochists Only' sign. Or should be, at any rate.
The Bohemian Phase of the Thirty Years War was characterized by , Remus began, then flipped open his History of Magic book. He remembered the motivations of the war (religion on both sides), but couldn't remember the name of the Pope who had been in charge at the time. Contrary to Muggle belief, many of the early leaders of the Catholic church had been wizards; the Protestant Reformation had partially been due to a disagreement on the ethical use of what would become the Unforgiveable Curses. Needless to say, it was a fact excluded from many Muggle history books.
What was he going to do about Marlene? Remus's attention was very divided. Understandably, he felt as though he should do something about this particular problem. It had come up with his girlfriends before, almost always foreshadowing a breakup, occasionally of the nasty sort. The worst had been when Sirius had set him up with that cousin of his—Bellatrix. Bella had been nice at the beginning, at least. Unfortunately, she also had the same kind of pureblood connections that Sirius and James had, which meant the ready availability of a wizarding genealogy. As soon as it came out that Remus wasn't quite as pure as she'd believed (his furry little problem thankfully had not been brought into the picture), things had gone nasty. It had ended with Sirius hexing Bella purple. Literally.
The problem with Marlene was Trust. Yes, with that capital t. The thing that girls tended to talk about among themselves, to themselves, in their heads…however they came up with the ideas they did was beyond Remus. He spoke two languages, got top marks in Ancient Runes, and still could not manage to figure out where Marlene had gotten the idea that he was cheating on her. For one, he objected to the use of the terminology; Remus didn't feel that it was appropriate unless the couple in question was married, or at least seriously dating. He liked Marlene, but pragmatic honesty was a fundamental part of his character. He, Remus, was a werewolf. A sixteen year old werewolf. With little or no potential of getting a job as an adult and the tendency to kill rabbits during the full moon.
She said he was lying to her. Yes, but did she really want to know that once a month he grew fur and went mental in the Shrieking Shack? Or had, until his friends turned Animagi for him. No, she did not.
If only Sirius were still awake. Arrogant and sarcastic he could be, but he also gave good advice. Or at the very least, would listen and make disparaging comments about Marlene. The sort that separated Remus again, between laughing at them (they were always hilarious and firmly based in exaggerated truth) and telling him off; Marlene was his girlfriend, after all.
For the time being.