The Code Part 3 - Remus

3. One Marauder must not hurt another about something he cannot control.

He was broken, but he knew better.

Remus Lupin, sixth-year prefect, sat at the Gryffindor table at breakfast on a Sunday morning in September, doing a crossword in the paper (he wasn't prepared to stare at horrifying headlines and obituaries just yet this day) and chatting amiably with his three close friends. The ceiling which reflected the sky showed that outside, the day was beautiful out. There was just the perfect amount of sun. Add this to the fact that the full moon was many weeks away, he'd finished all his homework and generally, the hall seemed in a pleasant mood, all in all Remus thought the day was starting off smashingly.

Then, the mail came.

Dozens of owls swooped down from all directions into the hall. Remus's owl, a barn owl as it happened, soared through the room to place his letter in front of him. Absorbed in his crossword, Remus barely paid attention to this. James Potter, to his right, must have been giving the letter some attention, because he swore softly under his breath. Remus looked up.

The letter in front of him beared a black seal. And just like that, his quill came clattering to the floor.

"I'm sorry," muttered the fourth-year girl to his left, having noticed as well. Her eyes held pity.

Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew had been spending their breakfast training their food to attack each other. This had occupied the majority of their attention that morning, though they were drawing near the end of the battle, as Peter's waffles were clearly almost destroyed. They had not looked up to see what was distressing their friend, but when the girl spoke, they both looked over in curiosity and mild concern.

Remus was not an idiot. He knew what this letter meant. He had seen it happen to so many other students before him. In fact, he could vaguely hear quiet sobbing from Ravenclaw table coming from a person who'd obviously received a letter just as heartbreaking. He knew what it meant, but he didn't want to believe it. He reached a scarred, trembling hand out to open it. He felt sick to his stomach as he saw the Ministry's return address and began to read.

Dear Mr. Lupin,

There was an attack last night, in your town of Aberfeldy. We regret to inform you that there were many casualities, including those of John and Samantha Lupin.

Your mother, being a Muggle, could not raise a wand to defend herself, and therefore suffered many wounds, such as what appears to be the Cruciatus curse. She died instantaneously when the Avada Kedavra was cast.

Your father fought against those he could. He dueled with four different extreme political activists. He was very outnumbered though, and died from blood loss from a chest wound he obtained in the battle. We have Aurors investigating the event, but as these activists were masked and the witnesses we have are not in a state to describe them, we have no leads as of yet.

Their will shall be read as soon as possible. There were many other losses on this night, and we may not have the resources to procure it efficiently soon. We apologize if there is a delay. We thank you in advance for your patience.

My greatest condolences for your most terrible loss. May they rest in peace.

Demetria Savage,

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

If he had been standing up, his knees would have buckled. He could not breathe, he could not speak, he could not feel anything but an ache that seemed to be stemming from around the middle of his chest. If he could not see the blurry images of the people around him, he would have sworn he was dead or on his way there. Remus felt a hand clasp his shoulder, but he could not bring himself to tear his eyes away from the parchment that had just brought his world tumbling down.

Sirius picked up the envelope. His eyes drifted to the seal, and then he looked back up at the werewolf sitting across from him. "Who?" he muttered quietly, and there was no question as to what he was asking about.

Remus tried to open his mouth to form words, but his brain would not allow it. His mouth remained shut. His white fists were clenched around the letter.

"We have to get him out of here," whispered James to the others.

Sirius and Peter nodded and rose from their spots. Remus heard the command, but could not make his legs function properly. James, as it appeared, owned the hand that was grasping Remus's shoulder, as he used to gently pull the boy up from his spot, and usher him out of the hall. If he could summon any emotions, Remus might have been grateful his friend was holding onto him, or he might have fallen to the floor the moment he rose.

Though these gestures were done quietly, and the catatonic male was shadowed from view by his three mates, eyes followed them as they walked. There were several bemused faces among those who had not recieved such letters themselves, and many people were staring at the four openly, trying to decipher what had caused the drastic change in mood. None of their number had the patience to put up with it on this day, and so they walked at a brisker pace.

Remus heard Sirius murmur to James, "D'you think he can make it up the stairs to Gryffindor tower?"

The response from James was inaudible to him, but as they did not head up the stairs, and instead moved down the hallway to an unused classroom, Remus assumed the answer had been no. He was vaguely aware that hand holding onto him was beginning to hurt. Of course, since there was a much stronger hurt elsewhere, he paid it no heed. His own hands had still not released the letter. James let go of his shoulder as they all took seats on top of desks.

"Moony," James said in a quiet but firm voice. "What happened?"

With a strength he did not no he had, Remus managed to thrust the parchment out of his hands and into those of James. The other Marauder's eyes scanned the letter briefly, and when he finished, he was enraged. "'Extreme political activists?'" he said in a dangerous voice. "That's what they're calling these bastards?" James looked ready spit fire.

"What the hell are you talking about, Prongs?" Sirius demanded, taking the letter from the other boy. He too read the letter, only to be filled with a burning anger apparent on his face. He shoved the letter at Peter, and looked at James. "Activists," he repeated, looking disgusted. "What are the protesting against? Ethics? Decency? Sanity?" he sneered. Sirius's face was contorted with rage and bitterness. He seemed to emanate a barely controlled air of violence.

"Unbelievable," Peter exclaimed, as he finished reading. "The Ministry's mad. 'We may not have the resources'? Since when did murder become so low on their list of priorities?"

James ran a hand through his hair. "The Ministry of Magic is in denial. They know these attacks are more than random, that these activists are more than that. They know it, and they're stretching their resources thin trying to cover it up, because they want the public to see what they want them to see: that the Ministry's doing a fantastic job, and everyone should go about their day and not worry about their little sister being stolen out of their home, their mother being murdered, about their father being kidnapped and tortured until he talks."

"How long do you think they'll do this?" Sirius asked incredulously. "The attacks have been going on for years, it's just gotten worse and worse over the past few ones. It's a war out there now, no matter who says any different. The Prophet's all over it, talking about 'You-Know-Who' and all his supporters ready to kill Muggle-borns and anyone who stands in their way."

"You-Know-Who," spat James. "Why won't they just say the name? It's Voldemort, Dumbledore's not afraid to say it, we shouldn't be either."

"It's fear-mongering. They make him seem more powerful by telling you what he's done, but not using the name of the man behind it. It's like he's this anonymous power that can destroy you in seconds. His supporters are doing it to their own end, the Ministry is doing it not to cause a panic." said Sirius, grimacing. "Honestly, people are dying every minute, it's a little difficult for people not to panic."

Remus finally found his voice. "The Ministry," he croaked softly, "is full of shit. I don't even know who- who... killed my parents..." His voice trailed off into silence and his eyes stung, and their was a lump in his throat he could not seem to get rid of. He bowed his head his vision became blurry once more as tears clouded his eyes. He hated crying. He willed the moisture not to fall, but it did not comply.

A moment of silence found the room. Each took their time remembering Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, and the minutes they had spent in their company. Mr. Lupin, once a talented member of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, devoted the rest of his living days to finding a cure for his son's lycanthropy. It was warrant for arrest of Fenrir Greyback that had prompted said villain to hunt down Lupin's family if the case was not withdrawn. Mr. Lupin did not back down, and on an evening which a young Remus disobeyed the strict rule of not playing outside after dark, his son was changed. Mr. Lupin never forgave himself, though it truly wasn't his fault. Mrs. Lupin was a kind, Muggle woman, who did not understand much of the magical world, but coped with her son's condition and husband's guilt as much as any woman, magic or Muggle, could. She sent each one of the four brownies on their birthday, though she'd only met with them a handful of times (Remus tried not to burden his parents in the holidays). She taught at a daycare during the school year.

"We'll find out who did this, Moony." James uttered with conviction. "My father's in the Auror department, he knew your parents, he won't let it go. You know he won't."

In a choked voice, Remus managed to say, "I know, Prongs." He took a heavy, waterlogged breath. "Can I- could I have a moment alone?" he requested, not meeting anyone's eye.

All nodded, and took their leave. James lingered behind for a moment. "We will." was all he said, before shutting the door.

And once alone, Remus did not comply himself to do anything. He let himself dissolve. Into anger, into loss, into tears.


The following week was a difficult one for Remus. His parent's funeral was held, and their will read shortly after. He missed three full days (not uncommon for him, but the timing caused more people to notice) and by the time he was back in lessons, everyone seemed to be aware of his loss. Many offered their condolences, including those who he had not spoken a word to throughout his schooling. Some even walked straight up to him and asked him how they died. People he barely knew hung around him just to see how he was doing, sometimes not even bothering to have the pretense of conversation, just holding him and telling him he would be fine. To which he would reply, "I'd be fine sooner if you all bloody left me alone."

The worst, however, was the following Friday. The headline on the first page of the Daily Prophet that morning read: Aberfeldy Suspects Released. The article read that the previous night, there had been four interrogations that took place about the attack. Each had remained steadfast that they were not there, and their abilis checked out, but every eye-witness account repeated their exact descriptions. They had been released from Ministry hold on the grounds that 'the investigation must move forward, and there were no further reasons to hold them'. Of course, everyone knew what the second part meant: they'd given the Ministry a load of gold to buy their way out.

Remus felt anger boil up within him. How dare they let them go; they had obviously planned this! Fifty-eight people had been killed that night, his parents included. His father was the only wizard in the area, and the only one who could raise his wand against the murderers. There were only four suspects seen, and they let all of the perfect matches go?

Peter walked into the Great Hall and took the seat to the right of Remus. "Morning, Moony," he murmured absently, before gathering food on his plate. When he received no response, the blond boy looked up. "What's wrong?"

"This," hissed Remus, throwing down the paper. "They fucking bribed their way out of it. They're not being charged with a single thing."

James stormed into the hall. He quickly found his friends and sat down to speak. "My dad's just written. The Ministry ordered for the-"

"We know," cut off Remus lowly. "The Ministry continues to get more and more stupid every day. It's a war, and do they really think indebting themselves to Voldemort's followers will do any good? Money can't excuse murder."

Several of those within hearing distance of the group winced at the name. Betram Aubrey sat nearby and shot Remus a look. "Really, Lupin? Do you think that using His name is a good idea? Hasn't his people killing your family taught you any lessons?"

Remus flinched and started to rise, but Peter put a restraining hand on his shoulder. James, unfortunately, Peter could not reach. He stood and glared at the fifth year. "Back off, Aubrey. Lupin'll use whatever name he wants for the bastard, so keep the nose on that enormously large head of yours out of his business."

Aubrey sneered. "You're going to get yourself killed, too, Potter. Shouting your political preferences now won't get you anywhere but six feet under."

"I'd rather be six feet under than a coward above ground," replied James with a final dark look, and sat back down. He looked at Remus's paper. "I've noticed they've stopped calling the attackers 'You-Know-Who's' supporters, at least in the Prophet. They've started calling them by what he calls them: Death Eaters. I mean, they've mentioned the term a few times, but only on the larger attacks. They still won't say Voldemort, but at least that's something." He addressed his observations directly to Peter and Remus, not sparing Aubrey a glance.

"Death Eaters." repeated Peter. "What kind of an awful name is that?"

"Awful name, awful people, Wormtail," cut in Sirius as he sauntered toward Gryffindor table, hands in his pockets. He slid into place next to James, removing his hands from their resting place to grab the paper James had nicked from Remus. "I don't suppose their message would be conveyed as effectively if they called themselves the 'Sushine Pixies', now would it?" His eyes scanned the article. A look of loathing soon took over his face. "What utter dung. 'No further reasons', really? Who are they trying to fool? Merlin, give the Ministry some gold in they're in your pocket for life. I should know, the Blacks have done it for ages."

Remus sighed, rubbing his temples. It did nothing to soothe the migraine which plagued him; it was too early to deal with these issues. For god's sake, he'd just attended his mother and father's funeral days before. A dull ache which he was beginning to become accustomed to set of in his chest at the thought. His gran had opted for open-casket, which had made the event a thousand times more painful. He sagged in his seat, no longer hungry.

"We should head to Transfiguration," murmured Peter. "Breakfast's almost over anyway, and I don't know about you, but I've not much of an appetite anymore,"

Remus lifted his head to watch the two dark-haired Gryffindors across from him nod their assent. In turn, his three friends looked to him for confirmation, and he moved his head up and down in a weary nod. After this silent exchange, the four Marauders made their way out of the hall.

In his state of lethargy and preoccupation, Remus was not paying much attention to his surroundings, and so it should not have been surprising to him when he crashed straight into another student, knocking himself and the other person straight to the floor. Hoping it was not someone who would take offense (he really could not handle it at this moment), he distractedly mumbled, "Sorry, my fault," while trying to ignore the pain in his backside.

"I'm fine," responded a female voice. "Relatively, anyway."

He looked up. The object of his friend's affections, Lily Evans, sat -laid might be a better term, as she was almost on her back- before him, rubbing her tailbone. It appeared his friends hadn't noticed the fall, as they were much further down the corridor. He sighed once more. He would catch up to them later. "If you're sure. Are you heading down to breakfast? Isn't it a little late?" he inquired, partly out of curiousity, partly so he would not return to his own thoughts.

"No, actually," said Lily, shaking her head as she stood and brushed herself off. She held out a hand to him. "I left my schoolbag in the Great Hall, and needed to double back to get it." she explained.

Remus nodded in understanding once he was on his feet again. He next asked her if she would like any company on her way to the Great Hall. Though it was out of his way, and it might be best if he headed to Transfiguration, he was a gentleman, and all that it entailed required chivalry.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll be fine," Lily replied. She looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "You don't seem too fine, though. It's understandable, I heard about what happened. You must've heard this far too often, but I'm sorry. Your parents were lovely people. If you need to talk, I'll be around." She did not have an expression of pity, but one of understanding. Her words shouted their sincerity.

Being the prefects for Gryffindor house the previous year, the two had formed an acquaintanceship. They would talk during their patrol (never about his friends, or her friendship with Snape, there were some subjects they had to tread lightly upon) and they corresponded over the summer after their fifth year. They'd even run into each other in Diagon Alley, which is where she'd met his father. (She met his mother on the platform that very year.) While, yes, she was correct in the statement he'd heard it too much, he didn't mind it all the same, coming from someone who actually knew him. "Thanks, Lily. I'll keep that in mind." Looking at his watch, he said, "I should head to Transfiguration. The lads are waiting for me."

Lily nodded and said her farewell before departing to her destination. Remus hurried to his class after gathering his bearings. Unfortunately, the journey to class alone gave him time to think.

Thinking was quickly becoming one of Remus's least favourite things.


The rest of his day passed without much event. Peter lost his wand, James hit on Lily, and Sirius hexed a Slytherin who antagonized him, resulting in detention, but it was a relatively calm day after the morning. But on Saturday morning at breakfast (like thinking, breakfast was becoming on of Remus's least favourite things) the Daily Prophet landed in front of him once more, and in wartime, did newspapers ever hold good news?

He did not skip to the crossword on this day, for he hadn't done a crossword since the day he'd received the dreadful letter. He saw the front of the paper. Another attack, of course, was on the front page. He frowned, but was somewhat relieved to see that the family targeted had not been injured, as they were on vacation. Lower, on that very page, was what concerned him. There, the headline was this: Aberfeldy Suspects: Names to Their Faces. His quickly looked down for the information he sought, his heart pounding in his chest. Somewhere in the middle of the article, he caught sight of it. This Prophet reporter has done the almost impossible with the tight security measures the Ministry is taking; I managed to find out the names of those supposedly 'cleared'. The four people brought in for questioning days previous are: Rudolphus Lestrange, Alecto Carrow, Antonin Doholov and Bellatrix Black. Lestrange and Black have been implicated in previous attacks, and I caught wind of the information that she is most likely responsible for the death of the only wizard in the area. Near the bottom of the page were pictures of the suspects, and Remus thought that Bellatrix's grey eyes looked the most hollow and cold.

Most likely responsible for the death of the only wizard in the area, rung a hollow voice through Remus's mind. That meant that she... that Bellatrix... He could not finish the thought. He shook with an indescribable anger. He needed to get out of there, before he did something he regretted. He crumpled the paper, shoving it into his robes, and practically ran out of the room.

On the journey to Gryffindor Tower, his mind raced. He thought about what he would do if he could get his hands on Bellatrix. He hadn't ever been at Hogwarts with her, because she was a good decade older than him, but he had met her once while at Sirius's house in third year. She was the most awful woman he'd ever met. She was a great deal crueler than Sirius's mother, though they hadn't thought it possible until they saw her slay a house elf, stating it was too old to continue sufficient work.

This repulsive thought was brought to an abrupt end when he collided with someone for the second time that week. A girl in his year and house, Amelia Lennox, was now the person that suffered casualties from Remus's distraction. He was in too much of a state of shock and anger to breathe, let alone help her up, so he did not.

"Ow," Amelia rubbed her back as she stood up. She held a hand out to him.

Remus looked at her hand strangely, as if he did not know what to do with it. He did not make any movement from his place on the floor. He sat there, staring at the arm of the girl who he might have apologized to, if his brain could function.

"Are you okay?"

The words set off a chain reaction in his mind.

Are you okay? His mother said every time he came back from St. Mungo's, where he was sent to transform in the holidays.

Are you okay? His father would say in letters every so often.

Are you okay? Every damn gossiping Hogwarts student he knew for the past week.

Are you okay? Dumbledore, the day after he found out.

Are you okay? Lily, Frank, Alice, Dorcas, Mary, James, Sirius, Peter.

He was not okay. He was not okay and he needed to get out of Hogwarts, get out in the real world, hunt down Bellatrix and duel her, or better yet, get her with his own hands because she would never touch anyone in his life again if he could help it. He resolved right then and there to leave the school and rid the world of that heinous woman.

Ignoring Amelia, he stood and bolted towards the common room. He muttered the password, and did not pay anyone in the room heed, making a beeline for the dormitories. Heart pounding, he raced up the stairs to his shared room and when inside, he started to throw items out of his trunk. It wouldn't be prudent to carry frivolous things if he didn't know how long it would take until he was back. Old quills, the the odd sock, most of his school books, they all were tossed one after another.

"Oi! Transfiguration Theory? Why're you tossing your textbooks? What are you looking for?" came a voice from the door.

Remus continued to throw things. "Not looking for anything. I'm leaving." he replied shortly, not caring about to whom he was speaking.

A hand came to his shoulder, and he turned, and for a moment all he saw was eyes. Her eyes. Cold, grey, no regrets. The edges of his vision tinged with red. His hands moved forward involuntarily to strike.

"Moony, are you mad?" cried Sirius, jerking away from his friend as Remus's vision returned to normal. "You can't leave, not now, you... you're a sixth year, you don't know nearly enough to defend yourself yet. And hell, you know if anyone of us was going to jump off the train it'd be me, mate! I'm the twisted one, not you, you've actually got a chance of doing something with yourself!"

"Doing something with myself?" Remus replied scornfully. "A penniless orphaned werewolf, yeah, I'm sure everyone would just think it damned peachy if I sent in my resume. I am not staying here, I'm going to hunt that bitch down and make her pay for what she did!"

The dark-haired wizard stilled. "Who did what?" he responded carefully, his eyes narrowing.

"Bellatrix- Bellatrix Black," the other said, his eyes widening. Suddenly, he had a thought. "Did you have something to do with it?" Remus hissed, drawing near the person before him.

Grey eyes stared in confusion. The boy acted as if he was surprised by what his roommate was saying, as if he hadn't known all along. "What the hell, Moony? With what? You know I don't have anything to do with the Blacks anymore, and I swear to Merlin I'll make Bellatrix pay for whatever she did, but I had nothing to do with it!" Sirius growled angrily, seeming infuriated at the suggestion. But he was a good actor, Remus ought to have known, the number of times they'd lied for each other.

The werewolf scoffed. "Nothing to do with it? You expect me to believe that? It's your family, Black. Toujours Pur, isn't it?" he yelled, pushing Sirius in the chest. "You're all the same, every last one of you! Your damned cousin who killed my father. None of you know the consequences of your actions, or value of life, because you were all bloody born heartless." he spat, pushing him again.

"I am NOT one of them!" Sirius screamed, retaliating with enough force to cause Remus to hit the ground. The Marauder drew his wand and looked down upon his so-called 'friend'.

"Yeah, attack a man while he's down, that's your style, isn't it?" Remus sneered, pushing himself off of the ground. He looked Sirius in the eyes. "Your cousin killed my father, your brother tortures Muggle-borns, you lured Snape down into the Whomping Willow last year and used me to try and turn him, or kill him, or whatever else was going on in your sick mind! You're a murderer, Sirius Black. It's alright, I don't blame you; it's in your blood." he whispered, a twisted sort of half-grin on his face.

That was his breaking point. Forgetting the wand in his hand, Sirius lunged. He tackled Remus to the ground and delivered blow after blow, most likely hoping that each strike hurt as much as the other's words had. A knock to the head, a beating to the ribcage, twisting every available appendage. Remus did not take this lying down. He threw just as many punches, and thrashed underneath him until he had the upper hand. He pinned the boy and hit every inch of him he could reach. As he drew his fist back for another blow, he was unexpectedly grabbed and thrown to the other side of the dorm.

"What the hell is going on?" James asked, drawing his wand and producing a shield between the two boys. His eyes darted to Sirius instinctively.

"Ask him," spat Sirius, glaring coldly across the room.

James turned to the sandy-haired Gryffindor and gave him a look that said he better well answer. "I was just making an observation to Black that it's obviously okay for him to be a murdering son-of-a-bitch, it's family tradition after all." remarked Remus with a grim smile.

The third member of their group narrowed his eyes. "Why the hell are you having a go at Padfoot? When we forgave him, we agreed to put everything that happened last year behind us, the Whomping Willow incident included. You've no right to throw it back in his face." James looked frustrated, as if something was missing from the equation.

"I'm 'having a go at him' because his family is made of cruel bastards with no regard for human life, and he's no different!" shouted Remus, drawing his wand, "Bellatrix didn't give a damn about slaughtering an entire town, including my father, and Black doesn't give a damn about anyone's life but his own, that much is sure."

"Y-your father?" stuttered James, and momentarily his guard was down. The shield charm faltered, and both infuriated males raised their wands and began to shoot spells at one another. James cast the charm again, but as he did, one of Sirius's spells went astray and hit him in the eyes. Though James wore glasses, the Conjunctivitus curse managed to get to his face, and soon his eyes were in searing pain. He swore loudly, dropping his wand as both hands clutched his burning eyes.

This briefly distracted the two boys. "Prongs! Merlin, I-I'm sorry, the curse went off target," apologized the long-haired wizard, moving towards his friend.

Remus let out a mirthless laugh. "Showing your true colours once again, hm? Willing to hurt anyone as long your purpose is served?"

Sirius glared. "Burn in hell, Lupin. I'm not finished with you. Now reverse it, I can't remember the counter-curse."

"Sure thing," replied the other, smirking, "I, on the other hand, think before I act." He waved his wand and the curse was silently reversed. Shortly after, he turned back to Sirius and pointed his wand at his chest.

James let out an irritable growl. "Expelliarmus!" he called, and both wands flew out of their owners' hands. Stowing them away in his pocket, he began to shout. "You two are idiots! Moony, you're an idiot because, for one, Sirius has been at Hogwarts with you this whole time, and literally can't have physically been involved. For two, he's one of your best mates, he's been so for six years, he risks his life on a monthly basis for you, and you'd have to be absolutely daft to think he doesn't care for you.

"Padfoot, you're an idiot because Remus has just lost his parents, obviously he's not thinking rationally, and fighting back is not the answer! Obviously Moony cares for you, he constantly looks the other way when we're being gits, stops us getting ourselves killed or something equally stupid, ignores how you don't think before you act, and forgave you for the shit you did in fifth year. You're off your rocker if you forget how much he cares. And Moony, you're off your rocker if you forget how much you care!"

The room grew silent, but for heavy breathing. Slowly, Remus began to replay the past few minutes in the head, and as James's words also replayed, he realized how little the former made sense. The anger towards Sirius subsided slightly. His pride did not want him to apologize, but he quietly grunted, "He's right."

Sirius gave a noncommittal noise, scowling. "Doesn't sound like an apology, Lupin." he responded, still clearly angry. Justifiably so, but it did not make it any easier on Remus to apologize to the person making unpleasant faces at him.

"Sorry," muttered Remus, rolling his eyes. "I was a git." he added for good measure.

Sirius shrugged and did not reply. James shot him a look, and he sighed. "Yeah, well, so was I..." he said grudgingly. "I know what it's like... not to have your family around. 'Cept mine, they chose... to not have me around. Yours loved you, and all that. They didn't want to leave you." He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away.

"We want you around, Padfoot," interjected James. "My parents want you too, you know that."

The pseudo-tender moment was broken when Peter Pettigrew burst into the room. "What's all this?" he asked, looking between them. "I was on my way up to the dorm when I heard yelling."

James grinned. "We were just having a moment, Wormtail, before you ruined it. But, your timing is good. Mind running over to my trunk and finding the The Code?" he said, his smile widening.

Remus frowned. "Why would we need that?" the weary boy asked.

The shaggy-haired Marauder seemed unable to contain his glee. "You see, my dear Moony, what with you chickening out on the whole Giant Squid stunt a few weeks ago, you broke the first rule of The Code; being up to no good. And what with letting it slip to Dorcas Meadowes that Pete here is head over heels for her; number eight, the keeping secrets rule, this little incident brings it up to... three infractions, is it?" he inquired with a huge smirk.

Sirius snickered, but James turned his smirk to him then, too. "I wouldn't be so amused, Black. Let's see, you missed the full moon because you took the blame for the Giant Squid stunt, landing yourself in detention. You pushed Evans in the lake a few days ago, clearly breaking the traits of Godric Gryffindor rule, have you heard of chivalry? Not to mention that we forgot to take into account that you too were involved in the spilling of Wormtail's secret. Three offenses for the both of you. I think a Marauder trial is in order."

Peter came back from rifling through James's things and grinned as well. "Marauder Trial in session," the mousy-haired boy stated. "Now, since the two of you are the ones being trialed, Prongs and I are the only ones who's votes count. All in favour of the default punishment?" He, along with James, raised his hand. "Running by McGonagall's office in your skivvies it is. Good luck to you, mates. Marauder Trial adjourned."

Sirius loudly protested, and Remus wholeheartedly agreed with him. "Too late," James sing-songed.

A ridiculous argument ensued. Somewhere in the scuffle, Sirius had declared that no more they cared for would die at Bellatrix's hand if he had anything to say about it. He then began to act out a dramatic battle between himself and his cousin. Peter cheered, James joined in, and Remus rolled his eyes but appreciated the gesture all the same. Sirius also vowed that he would exact his revenge upon James and Peter for their betrayal of their most loyal best friends.

But the next evening, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black landed up in the Transfiguration classroom, flicking bits of parchment at each other when they weren't being watched, with a stern Professor McGonagall who could not seem to look them in the eyes.

He was broken, but he knew better.