A/N: Yes, I know I said there wouldn't be an update this weekend. However you can all bow down to the following and thank them for this one:-
EA Games - who declare the UK to be second class citizens and not deserving of their games at the same time as the US.
Amazon UK - who charge for first class postage but don't deliver a first class service.
The Royal Mail - who didn't deliver my game on Saturday morning like they were supposed to.
Which means I get to write this weekend and will be simming next weekend instead.
Of Fleas and Fates
James walked out of the dormitory and into their private common room with a grimace of annoyance on his face. "I give up!" he declared loudly before turning to Remus. "He's your boyfriend, you sort him out!"
"I already tried," Remus calmly replied. "He won't get out of bed for me either."
Peter snickered quietly, having been a brief witness to Remus's attempts to coax Sirius out of bed for breakfast. The attempt had merely resulted in Remus being tugged back into bed and Peter making a rapid exit from the room with his eyes covered.
"What's his problem anyway?" Lily asked impatiently.
"It's because everyone was staring at him during dinner last night," Remus explained. "He's not used to it."
Lily snorted.
"I mean he's not used to the suspicion and hostility," Remus amended. "Since Snape mentioned his name in class he's seeing hostility everywhere."
"I still say they were staring at James just as much as him," Peter commented. "I'd swear I heard someone at the next table say something about him looking just like Harry, whoever that is."
"Did you tell Black that?" Lily asked.
Peter looked offended at the suggestion that he hadn't. "Of course I did."
"I say we leave him to it," James muttered. "He's turned into Padfoot now, so we can't even drag him to class."
"He's Padfoot?" Peter asked with a smirk.
"Yeah," James replied. "He tried to bite me too." James held out his hand dramatically. Remus leaned closer to look at the appendage, naturally there wasn't a mark on it.
"I'll go get him out of bed," Peter said with a grin. Remus watched him grab his wand and head into the dormitory.
"You little git!" Sirius screamed from dormitory.
A moment later Peter ran back into the room; Sirius, scratching his neck with some vigour, was hard on his heels.
"How did you manage it?" asked an astonished James as Peter tried to evade Sirius's grasp by hiding behind his back.
"How did he manage it?" Sirius screeched, prompting Lily to put her hands over her ears at the offensive noise. "I'll tell you how he managed it! The little git just summoned a hundred fleas to attack me!"
Remus tried not to smile as he suddenly saw the small red marks on Sirius's hands, face and neck.
"Maybe you should go get something from Madam Pomfrey?" suggested James as he too tried to duck out of Sirius's way, just in case the critters decided he was a suitable alternative banquet to the one they currently had.
"And how do I explain how I've got dog fleas on me?" Sirius snapped. He moved from scratching his neck to his head, swearing loudly. "Moony, help me."
"You keep them away from me," Remus warned. "Lily, would you like to join me for breakfast?"
"Love to," Lily replied as they hurried out of the door.
Remus heard Sirius screaming 'traitor' just as the door closed and he felt a faint twinge of guilt.
"He'll be fine," Lily said as they hurried down the stairs.
"Oh I know that," Remus replied. "I was just wondering how he'll punish me for deserting him in his hour of need."
"It's hardly an hour of need."
"It is for Padfoot," Remus pointed out with a sigh. "You know he's given to being overly dramatic."
"I seem to recall you have your own moments when it comes to dramatics," Lily commented with a smirk.
Remus grinned. "What can I say? Padfoot's a bad influence on me."
"No comment," Lily muttered.
"Our first class with Professor Moony," James whispered as they took their seats in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and waited for the appearance of Professor Lupin. "This is going to be great!"
Remus flushed and ducked his head, wondering what sort of mischief his friends were going to combine for the next hour.
"Cheer up, Moony," Sirius whispered encouragingly.
"It's going to be awful," Remus muttered as he buried his face in his hands.
"Nonsense," Sirius replied with a wide grin.
"Not that it isn't great that you're no longer moping in the dorm…" Remus began.
"You didn't think I'd miss your class, did you?" Sirius interrupted. He squeezed Remus's hand encouragingly and, despite the rest of the students in the room, Remus didn't pull away and instead squeezed back.
They were still holding hands, despite Remus's half-hearted efforts to disentangle their fingers, when the door to the classroom swung open and Professor Lupin entered. "Good afternoon sixth years." He greeted the class with a wide smile, although Remus could detect a slight nervousness in his manner. He wondered if the nerves were due to it still being his first week of teaching, or the presence of the marauders in his class.
"This term we're going to be concentrating on non-verbal spells," Professor Lupin announced. "Now who can tell me the main advantage of using non-verbal spells?"
Remus felt the warm digits of Sirius's hand slip from around his own as the other boy's hand shot into the air. Remus wondered if he looked as surprised as the professor; Sirius never raised his hand in class. It wasn't that he didn't know the answers, he just never bothered. Now he was practically jumping up and down in his seat to get Professor Lupin's attention.
Behind him he heard James cough 'creep' into his hand and he snickered along with Peter. Sirius took no notice and waited, quite impatiently, to be called on.
"Yes, Mr Black," Professor Lupin finally asked.
"It means you can cast a spell when your mouth is otherwise occupied," Sirius explained with a wide grin.
"I guess that might be an advantage," Professor Lupin replied doubtfully.
"Oh it is," Sirius nodded his head enthusiastically. "Like the other night I forget to cast an imperturbable charm on the bed and by the time they…" he pointed back at Peter and James, "…had got my attention to let me know…well my mouth was definitely engaged on more enjoyable matters." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, shot a lecherous glance at Remus, then to make his performance complete, winked at the professor.
Remus groaned and put his head on the desk in defeat. Just kill me now. So much for discretion!
Several students were openly laughing and Remus heard one female voice whisper 'damn, so he is gay' to one of her friends.
Thankfully Professor Lupin was much more adept at composing himself than Remus was and the class soon settled back down again under his guidance. "Well yes, Mr Black, I can certainly see how non-verbal spells would be useful in that situation. However that is not precisely what I was thinking of. In a duel, which is after all what Defence Against the Dark Arts is about preparing you for, there is another advantage to non-verbal spells. Can anyone tell me that advantage?"
Several hands were raised and Professor Lupin called on Miss Travers of Slytherin who correctly explained that the advantage was that an opponent would not know what spell was being cast against them.
Then after fifteen minutes of questions, answers and explanations, the class was divided into pairs in order to practice their non-verbal hexes and jinxes.
Even without the advantage of having had half a year of sixth year classes already, the marauders knew they were each more than adept at non-verbal spells. Which naturally meant that they were alternately showing off and slacking off within a matter of minutes.
"Not working with Mr Pettigrew?" Professor Lupin asked Remus quietly as he made his way around the room.
"No," Sirius replied in his stead. "I always work with Moony these days."
"You do?" Professor Lupin asked in surprise. "You don't work with James?"
"Not these days." Sirius smiled warmly at Remus, then winked at Professor Lupin once more. "Can't risk either of those insensitive brutes injuring my Moony, can I?"
"Your…?" Professor Lupin faltered as he looked from one boy to the other and back again. "Er…are you two really…er…" His voice dropped to barely more than a whisper and his face was becoming flushed in a strangely familiar manner.
"Yes Professor," Remus replied when it was clear that Sirius was going to do nothing more than stand with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.
"Oh." Professor Lupin flushed even redder and he rubbed distractedly at the back of his neck. "Well I…um…it's a little unexpected. In all these years I'd never realised you were…um…"
"You didn't?" Sirius asked. "But aren't you…like us?"
"Apparently not," Professor Lupin replied with a smile and a shake of his head.
"You don't know what you're missing," Sirius smirked and waggled his eyebrows again.
Professor Lupin looked like he was about to choke until Remus spoke up. "Remember what Professor Dumbledore said. The others never visited this world. You never got jealous of the other you and we never…you know."
"No wonder I ended up in Azkaban," Sirius joked. "No Moony to keep me out of trouble."
"I think you'll find that I did everything to keep you out of trouble," Professor Lupin whispered, his eyes narrowing in a manner so unlike Remus that Sirius took an involuntary step back. Then the shadow of unknown horrors passed by. "But it wasn't enough. I failed my best friends."
Professor Lupin looked down at the ground and took a shuddering breath in an effort to compose himself.
"What happened Professor?" asked Sirius. He raised his hand towards the older man's shoulder, forgetting for the moment that it wasn't Moony he was reaching for. He was startled when the professor drew back sharply at the idea of his touch.
"I'm sorry," Professor Lupin said as he stepped back and looked nervously around the room to see if anyone had spotted Sirius's slip. "This isn't the time or the place for this discussion."
Remus nodded understandingly, knowing that the discussion about James and Peter's fates could not be put off forever, but hoping that it could. Thankfully the class was not the place for the discussion and he instead moved into the opening position for a duel. "Ready Black?" he asked.
"I'm always ready," Sirius bowed low and winked at the Professor again. "For anything!"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you," Professor Lupin replied before he moved off to check on another pair of students.
"Ready now?" Remus asked impatiently.
"Give it your best shot Lupin!" Sirius replied with a grin.
"Always do," Remus replied with a grin of his own. "Now you'll find out what happens when you're idiotic enough to flirt with a teacher in front of your boyfriend."
"Jealous?"
"I seem to recall you're the one with the record for jealous reactions," Remus pointed out with a smirk. "First the other you, then Abby…"
"Maybe I thought you needed a taste of it?"
"Maybe you'd like a life of celibacy from now on?" Remus countered sweetly as he pointed his wand lower.
Sirius lowered his own wand to cover himself protectively, giving Remus the opening to send a spell to throw him backwards towards the cushions that were littering the floor.
"You don't play fair," Sirius groaned as he looked up at the smirking Remus.
"I play to win." Remus reached out to help Sirius to his feet, and wasn't even remotely surprised when he felt himself being pulled down on top of the other boy.
Across the room, Lily Evans rolled her eyes and turned back to the girl she'd been paired with.
"That's so sweet," Erica said with a simpering sigh.
"Here we go again," Lily muttered.
"Sirius?" Remus asked later that night after everyone was asleep.
"Hmm?"
"If I tell you something will you promise not to freak out?"
"When do I ever freak out?" Sirius laughed.
"Last week when we arrived here," Remus pointed out.
"Those were extenuating circumstances," Sirius huffed. "What is it that's bothering you?"
"Promise me you won't freak out," Remus repeated as he leaned up on one elbow in order to look Sirius in the eye.
"I promise, I promise," Sirius muttered with a roll of his eyes.
"Professor Lupin told me that James and Peter are dead," Remus whispered.
"In the war?" Sirius asked quietly.
Remus nodded hesitantly. "I went to look up what had happened in the library. I didn't want to tell the others until I knew for sure what had happened."
"And?"
"James and Lily were killed by Voldemort himself," Remus whispered, even though the charm on the bed would ensure that neither of the other boys would hear them.
"Lily too?"
"Well as long as it was the same Lily and not another one," Remus replied. "But can you really see James marrying someone else called Lily instead of the delightful Miss Evans?"
"No," Sirius laughed. "I guess knowing that he married Lily will soften the blow of the rest of the news for Prongs."
"There's more."
"Peter?"
Remus nodded again. "He was killed too."
"What aren't you telling me?"
"According to the books I read – "
"Books? As in more than one?" Sirius interrupted.
"I had to check other sources after I read the first one. I checked every book in the library that covered the topic. There are dozens of them. But I had to be sure. I couldn't say anything until I'd checked. I wanted to find out if there was a mistake. It has to be a mistake. There's no other explanation for it. But all the books say the same thing."
"Moony?"
"Yes?"
"You're rambling. Now what's the bad news that you're trying to tell me?"
"A-according to the books, you killed Peter and a bunch of muggles as well. According to the books you're one of Voldemort's most loyal followers and you killed Peter."
Sirius was quiet for a long time and Remus wondered if he'd done the right thing in telling him what he'd discovered.
"It's not you," he whispered as he snuggled closer to Sirius and wrapped his arms around him. "It's not you."
"Except that makes two worlds now where I'm evil incarnate."
"You wouldn't kill Peter," Remus whispered. "You'd never join Voldemort."
"You don't know that," Sirius snapped and he pulled out of the embrace and turned onto his side, away from Remus's questioning gaze.
"You wouldn't," Remus repeated, louder this time.
"Insanity runs in my family," Sirius said quietly. "Who's to say that I don't eventually succumb to it too?"
"You'd never hurt Peter," Remus said firmly as he pulled on Sirius's shoulder, forcing the other boy onto his back. "You'd never join Voldemort! You'd die first!"
Sirius looked up at the ceiling stubbornly and didn't reply.
"I shouldn't have said anything," Remus sighed. "I knew you wouldn't be able to handle it."
"I can handle it," Sirius finally said. "It's not me. It's just another crazy parallel world where things are messed up. It's not me."
Remus sighed again, this time in relief, and he leaned over to kiss Sirius on the lips.
"What do we do about Prongs and Wormtail?" Sirius asked once they'd pulled apart.
"And Lily," Remus added. "I don't know whether we should tell them. Prongs'll just use it as an excuse to carry on pestering Lily, especially when he finds out about Harry."
"Harry?"
"Harry Potter," Remus nodded. "Their son. He's called The Boy Who Lived in the books I read. He survived the killing curse when he was only a year old."
"No!"
"Yeah. Voldemort tried to kill him after he'd killed James and Lily but he failed and no one knows why. He defeated Voldemort when he was only a year old. Harry's really famous and he's here at Hogwarts."
"He is? He's really here?"
"He's a third year. Looks just like Prongs too, at least from a distance."
"You've seen him?"
"Not close up. But after I realised he was here in the castle I had to see if I could see him."
"That's why you've been staring around the Great Hall at meal times!" Sirius exclaimed as realisation dawned.
"Yeah, he's in Gryffindor with us."
"Where else would he be?" Sirius grinned. "All the Potters have been in Gryffindor."
"Like that means anything," Remus snorted. "All the Blacks have been in Slytherin."
Sirius frowned at his words and Remus gave him a poke in the ribs. "You're in Gryffindor for a reason. It's because you're not like the rest of your family."
Sirius shook his head as though to clear it of his negative thoughts. "You'll have to point him out to me at breakfast tomorrow," he said with a smile.
"Now you know to look for him, you'll find him yourself," Remus laughed. "He has the same build, the same messy hair, wears glasses that are even a similar style, you won't be able to miss him."
"I'm surprised Prongs hasn't spotted him already in that case."
"He's only a third year and we're not in the tower. It's not like we're sharing classes with him and his friends. I've been listening out for gossip about him though."
"Oooh, do tell," Sirius grinned.
"Well he's on the Quidditch team."
"Naturally."
"Plays seeker."
"Not chaser, Prongs'll be disappointed."
"He's been on the team since his first year."
"Maybe he won't be so disappointed then," Sirius laughed.
"Apparently at the end of last term he killed a basilisk."
"What the hell's a basilisk?"
"A giant snake with poisonous fangs that kills you if you look it in the eye."
"And he took this on in second year?" Sirius asked doubtfully. "I think someone's been winding you up, or at least exaggerating."
"Perhaps," Remus admitted. "It does sound a bit unlikely."
Sirius pulled Remus closer again and smiled thoughtfully.
"What are you thinking?" Remus asked.
"I've just thought of the perfect way to prove that I'm not evil like this other Sirius," Sirius announced.
"You don't have anything to prove."
"The dementors are here at Hogwarts to find me, I mean him, right?"
Remus nodded.
"They must think that he'd be coming to attack Harry, since he's the one who stopped Voldemort. So while we're here, we'll protect Harry. It'll be easy, especially since we have the advantage of the map. If Black gets anywhere in the grounds we'll know about it and stop him."
"You don't need to prove anything to me, or to the others."
"Maybe I need to prove it to myself," Sirius whispered.
"So are we going to tell Prongs and the others?" Remus asked.
"Peter will freak out if he finds out I killed him," Sirius sighed. "Maybe we could…"
"Sure Sirius," Remus agreed quietly. "It'll be our secret for the moment."
"I'll be sure to keep this one better than the last one," Sirius promised. "You're not still annoyed at the way I outed us in class are you?"
"I guess not," Remus sighed. "I'm actually surprised you kept quiet as long as you did."
"So am I," Sirius laughed. "And I really am sorry that git in Slytherin hexed you in the hallway because of it."
"I'm not," Remus grinned. "You giving him rabbit ears was the funniest thing I've seen all week."
"In which case me and Prongs had better get some better pranks organised or we'll be losing our reputations as the greatest mischief makers the school has ever seen."
"I think you already have actually."
"Have what?" Sirius asked sleepily.
"Lost that reputation," Remus replied around a wide yawn. "Apparently the Weasley twins are giving you two a run for your money. I heard Professor Flitwick and Hagrid talking about them, and comparing them to you and Prongs."
"They're the red-headed boys in fifth year?" Sirius asked. "The ones Prongs suggested might be his and Lily's sons because of their hair?"
"That's them. Hagrid said he was only praying that there were no joint efforts between the four of you, or rather the six of us. He said he thought the school might not survive it."
"From what I've seen, they seem like fun," Sirius said with a grin. "We'll have to introduce ourselves first thing tomorrow."
"I knew I should have kept my mouth shut and stayed in my own bed tonight," Remus muttered.
"Scandalous idea!" Sirius exclaimed. "You want to ruin what's left of my reputation by sleeping on your own?" He pulled Remus into a tighter hug in case the other boy tried to escape from the bed.
Remus was just drifting off to sleep when he heard a sleepy voice in his ear. "Remus? Do you think the twins would like to see those underwater fireworks we brought with us?"
"Sirius?"
"Yes?"
"Go to bloody sleep."
AN: More Lily and James in the next chapter which is entitled Mischief Makers United.
I have now put a poll on my profile page in relation to my What If? Lily one shot? If you have read that story (or even if you have only read the summary) feel free to stop by and vote.
