James Potter was getting antsy. The boys should've been here already. If he was going to pull this thing off, being caught was not an option and it was still was early enough that no one would notice until it was too late.
Peter finally came dashing into the docking bay with Remus and Sirius right behind him.
"We're here!" Pete said as he arrived in front of James, panting hard.
"Sorry!" Remus said.
"Yeah," Sirius added.
"It was McGonagall. She wanted to know what we were doing out of bed. Sirius made up some really amazing lies on the spot and saved our arses," Peter said with a smile at Sirius.
"Brilliant, lads! Well… this is it," James said, turning around and opening his arms at the round ship that was behind him.
"It's a ship," Remus observed, flatly.
"Yes!" James said, turning back to his friends with a huge grin.
"It looks like like a deflated ball. What about it?" Sirius asked.
"It's ours! Well, mine but only technically!" James said proudly.
"None of us have pilot licenses. In fact, we can't get them until we are sixteen. And how did you even get that into the dock?" Remus asked.
James sighed and shrugged.
"I can't say that I care about not having a license. I know how to pilot a ship. Actually, I'm a bloody good pilot," James said, chuckled at himself then continued, "As for how I got it here… I pulled some favours and you'd really be surprised what you can manage when you have enough money to through at a problem. As far as the school knows this ship is just making routine deliveries."
"But that's only going to work once, isn't it? If we fly it they'll know and they'll take it away. We'll be expelled," Sirius said with a frown.
"No, I'll be expelled," Peter said and everyone turned to look at him.
Peter sighed then said, "Think about it: Remus is close to the princess. She can protect him. Sirius is practically royalty himself. And you, James… your family really does have enough money to pay their way out of any problem."
James looked at Peter. He looked sad and dejected. James stepped forward and placed hands on Peter's shoulders.
"Look at me," James said and Peter slowly looked up at him.
"Whatever protection we all have will extend to you. I don't think we'll get expelled. We might get a lengthy lecture from McGonagall and detention for a week… or two. But the galaxy needs people who know how to use Tech. The demand far outweighs the supply," James said and gave Peter a small smile.
Peter slowly smiled back at him.
"All right. All right! When do we leave?" Peter said.
"Now!" James said and ran towards the ship.
"Now?" Remus called.
"Definitely. We'll pop down to Fidelius for a weekend vacation and be back by Merday morning. I've never been to Fidelius. I've heard it's nice during Harvest," James said.
"Beautiful," Remus said.
James entered a code into a panel. The loading bay opened, revealing a ramp. The ship was a bit old, having been built at the end of the last war but James was confident it could be repaired. He could've paid for a new ship but he decided he'd want to make enough upgrades that it wouldn't make much sense when he could buy something cheaper that would be easier to modify than newer ships often were.
James walked up the ramp and into the ship proper. The boys followed in behind him and James quickly closed the ramp. He ran to the front end of the ship and slipped into the pilot seat. He entered some codes into the primary control panel to turn on the ship's various systems.
The boys arrived behind him. Peter took the other front seat. With some training they could learn to assist him but for now he would have to manage control of the ship by himself. Remus and Sirius took the seats behind them and everyone buckled in.
"All I have to do is send the docking bay control a code and they'll assume my delivery is complete and we'll be free to go. If we're lucky they might not notice we're gone," James said.
"What if our friends notice we are missing? Lily will notice when I'm not in bed tonight," Remus said.
James cringed. He hadn't thought about that.
"Hopefully, Lily won't worry too much," James said.
"I don't think my roommate likes me. He'll probably just be glad that I'm not around," Peter admitted.
The ship thrummed as the engines engaged. James pushed the button to send the code. A green light quickly flashed on and he sighed with relief. He pulled a lever and the ship lifted off as the gate to the docking bay opened, letting them drift into space.
James steered the ship around the curve of the moon and headed towards the green planet below, his heart pounding and his stomach fluttering.
When Lily woke up she was surprised not to find Remus in bed. Every couple of months, almost like clockwork, Remus disappeared for a night. At first he had been cagey about where he was going those nights but when he was finally pressed he admitted to Lily that he was helping Dumbledore with some filing.
It sounded like a lie but Lily decided if Remus was lying about something it must be important. She had lived around scheming aristocrats too long not to know that some secrets are dangerous.
But Remus definitely slept in their room last night. He had mentioned something about having plans with James and the boys today but she assumed there must be a Tech Ball game.
Lily checked her datapad for the Tech Ball schedule. The next game wasn't until Guinsday. Remus definitely wasn't doing anything Tech Ball related today. Lily sighed and scrolled through panels on her datapad until she found the connections tab and tried to connect to Dorcas's datapad.
A moment later, Dorcas appeared, putting her hair into a ponytail.
"Morning, Lils," Dorcas said with a smile.
"Hello, Dorcas. Is there something happening today?" Lily asked.
"Not that I know of. I was just about to contact you. New holo-movie has arrived at the school. It's about robots falling in love. Sounds trashy," Dorcas said then chuckled as she slid her glasses on her face.
"I'm worried about Remus," Lily said.
"Do you want to look for him? I mean, the station is big but it's not that bloody big," Dorcas said.
"Yes. Yes, I think I do," Lily said.
"I'll be there soon," Dorcas said.
Dorcas was there ten minutes later. Dorcas, had a habit of punctuality and making appointments as fast as possible, no matter how short the notice. She claimed it was anxiety and a perpetual fear of tardiness causing problems.
Lily and Dorcas quickly searched the obvious places: all the passageways, the holo-theaters, the great hall and finally the docking bay. There was no sign of Remus anywhere.
"He's not here, Dorcas. Remus isn't on the station!" Lily said, as a transport ship landed inside the docking bay.
"What do you mean he's not here? Of course, he's here! He has to be! No student can leave Hogwarts Academy during the school year unless it's an emergency!" Dorcas said.
"Yes, but Remus has some sort of connection with Dumbledore. They know each other. Dumbledore was the one who got him into the school in the first place. Maybe he's gone with him for some reason," Lily said.
Just then the transport ship opened it's doors. A single person exited the ship. She was medium height with light brown skin and short, messy, brown hair. She looked serious and tough. The way she walked gave off an air of confidence and strength. Lily found her immediately entrancing.
She was already wearing a school uniform, though it was the weekend and they weren't actually required. Lily had an immediate urge to run up and say hello to her but she felt oddly intimidated. The girl didn't look mean, in fact she smiled at the pilot of the transport when she stepped out but she did look like someone who might not suffer fools gladly.
"Lils? Lils! Are you listening?" Dorcas said, tapping Lily on the shoulder.
Lily hadn't been listening it turned out. All of her focus was on the new girl who was rapidly approaching them.
Compulsively Lily said, "Hi!" right as the girl arrived. Lily cursed herself internally. The girl smiled and looked down at the floor the way Dorcas did sometimes, before looking back up and replying, "Hi. I'm Mary. Mary MacDonald," the girl said.
"I'm Lily," Lily said, feeling suddenly weak and flushed but somehow adding, "Welcome to Hogwarts!"
The corner of Mary's mouth curved up in a half smile and she said, "Cheers."
Mary walked through the entrance into the school while Lily watched, transfixed.
"Wonder how she managed to get into the school mid-term?" Dorcas said, startling Lily.
Lily turned towards Dorcas and frowned.
"You didn't introduce yourself," Lily said.
Dorcas bit her lip and shook her head.
"I figure if she didn't ask, she didn't care to find out," Dorcas said, looking ashamed.
Lily put a hand on Dorcas's chin and lifted up her head.
"Don't be ridiculous," Lily said.
Dorcas smiled then shook her head.
"So what do we do about Remus?" Dorcas asked.
"I'm not sure. My guess is if he's gone missing then it must be important. If he's not back tomorrow then I'll contact Dumbledore or something. It's probably none of my business," Lily said, then gestured back into the school with a hand.
Lily and Dorcas went back into the school, while Lily desperately hoped she was going to have class with Mary MacDonald.
Remus stepped off the ship and looked around at the forest that surrounded them. They were in the middle of the part of Fidelius that was essentially on the other side of planet from the palace. He knew little about it personally and had certainly never been anywhere near there.
"This is the Great Eastern Forest. This is Muggle country, exclusively in fact. When Queen Caelia moved the capital to Fidelius hundreds of years ago, she allowed the Muggles who had been restricted to a district of the capital the freedom to go wherever they wanted and offered them this land to live in," Remus said.
"So there's no Tech here?" James asked.
Remus turned, smiled and nodded.
"Yes. It's kind of amazing," Remus said.
"Who would want to live without Tech? I mean I can understand if you don't understand it, but it makes things easier… more interesting," Sirius said.
"But you see, Sirius, they didn't start avoiding Tech for no reason," Remus said, finding a tree to lean against.
James closed the ship up and locked it down. At least in the Great Eastern Forest, no one was likely to mess with it. Peter sat down on a large stone and Sirius mirrored Remus by leaning against a tree.
"Yes, it was all because people thought they knew better than Arthur and Merlin," Sirius said with a sneer.
"That's not true at all," Remus said.
"Then what is the truth?" Sirius asked.
"The truth is that Arthur didn't want to give anyone a choice. He wasn't going to force them to accept the use of Tech but if they wouldn't comply he was fine with letting them suffer and starve. He denied aid. He stood back and watched as famine consumed them and disease decimated them. He argued that he would've had to use Tech to help them but that was a lie. He wanted them to beg for Tech to save them. Some did. Others didn't."
"Whoever survived has left the people of this land as ancestors. They aren't eschewing Tech for the sake of it… it's part of a complicated heritage that they can't just throw away," Remus said.
Sirius looked down at the leaf covered forest floor, seeming ashamed. Remus couldn't blame Sirius for not understanding. His family were all Tech, all the way back and Remus had heard nothing but dreadful things about them. As far as he was concerned, Sirius was one of the good ones.
"Harvest is a bit cooler than I expected," James observed, probably hoping to break the tension.
"We're entering the third month of Harvest. It's going to get cold these next few weeks," Remus said, as he felt a cool breeze pass through the trees.
"Well, what do we do now?" Peter asked, looking around at them all curiously.
"Let's explore," James said.
"What if we get lost?" Peter countered.
"Relax, mate. I've programmed this mini-pad to memorise the location of the ship. It will also take down basic details about the terrain we cover to actually provide an exact path back to the ship," James said with a smile.
"That's amazing. Where did you find that Tech?" Remus asked.
"Find it? I invented it," James said.
"That's brilliant," Remus admitted.
"Obviously… I mean… cheers!" James said and laughed.
The four boys grouped together and started walking north from the ship. For a while, there was nothing but trees and the small creatures who occupied the forest. They all remained silent and just took the presence of nature surrounding him.
Remus always liked trees. Something about them felt comforting. He used to stand outside of his home on the palace grounds and stare out at the forest and wonder what was there. His parents were afraid to let him explore. If he were to get lost and undergo the transformation there was no telling what damage he might've been able to do.
The fear that he would transform and escape was always a great one. There were many who were children during the last war that could still remember the wolf soldiers and the terror and atrocities they had caused. When Remus was a child his parents had barely wanted to let him out of the house and when they did it was never without supervision.
When he was twelve he convinced them to let him go outside and work unsupervised. When at thirteen Princess Lily Evans showed up on her hover bike and wanted to take him to the palace Remus believed there was no way they would let him go. He wasn't sure why they had agreed but they had done so without a fight. Perhaps, they felt they mustn't say no to the family that let them live on the palace grounds.
Remus could scarcely believe that had been nearly three years ago. Soon he would be sixteen. In most parts of the galaxy he would be consider a man at sixteen. Adulthood seem a strange, vague concept. He wondered if there was just a day when you finally woke up and suddenly felt like you were an adult. Or maybe it was all a lie and you never felt like an adult.
In some ways, the reality of his transformations and years of working out in the sun, helping his parents with their gardening made him feel like he had already been an adult. Right now in the forest with his friends he felt the freedom of an adult and the wonder of a child. Maybe life a never-ending transition to the next stage. Adulthood was a legal concept that said nothing about how you felt inside.
At sixteen he would be free to make all of his own choices. He would no longer require his parents consent or approval. But what did it really matter? There would always be limitations and until school was over he had no actual way of caring for himself. But school wouldn't be over until he was twenty, well past the point of adulthood by even the most conservative outer-rim planets's standards.
Remus sighed privately and decided to think about this again after his birthday.
The boys walked north for a couple of hours. Remus's legs tired. They all spoke surprisingly little. There was something majestic and startlingly real about the great forest. He could see how their eyes roamed about, so wide it seemed like they were afraid they might miss something.
Finally, the boys came upon a woman who was camping. She was cooking some sort of stew in a pot over a fire when they approached.
"Hello! Don't be shy, lads," the woman said.
She was a short, plump woman with long dirty, blonde hair. She wore what his parents might've referred to as 'rags' but upon closer inspection he could see that her garments were dirty but very well constructed.
"Have a bite if ye'd like," she said.
"Cheers," James said and they all grabbed bowls and spoons that she offered.
"I always make extra just in case someone happens by. Terrible thing to get lost in these woods without food," she said.
"I can imagine," Sirius said and Remus realised that he hadn't spoke since their discussion about Muggles earlier.
They all silently sat around the fire, all probably just as afraid of her asking questions as they were afraid of asking her questions.
"You lads aren't Muggles, are you?" the woman observed.
"No, we aren't," Remus admitted.
"Based on your age and your dress, I'm guessing that you're from the school that's floating up there by the moon," the woman said, pointing to the sky.
"We are," James said.
The woman snickered.
"I'm guessing you're not meant to be down here?"
The boys all looked nervously and cringed. The woman burst out laughing.
"Don't worry, lads. Even if I felt inclined to inform your school where you are, and I'm not, I can't. There's no Tech in this forest. Nearest village with Tech is days away west of the forest and I've certainly never been there. It's not a simple path and I've no need of Tech," the woman said.
Remus was desperately hoping none of the other boys would ask her strange, probing questions about being a Muggle. Anything they wanted to know, he could probably tell them himself, having been essentially raised as a Muggle himself.
The woman did tell them her name and her history. She came from a village in the south of the forest and regularly made the trek to the larger village in the north to trade goods. She was fifty and had never been married or had children. She had been born into a small family as an only child. Her parents had died when she was a teenager and she had cared for herself ever since.
They never had to ask her about being a Muggle. She didn't explain things exactly that way but it was easy to see how different her life was. Even Remus, had always assumed that living life the Muggle way, free of Tech was harder but he was amazed at all the alternatives they had developed for handling problems. It was extraordinary. He had been wrong to compare his own parents to Muggles. He had never realised how affected by Tech even their lives were.
An hour passed and they had long since finished the stew. They could tell that the woman appreciated company. Her life sounded lonely, though it seemed in many ways she preferred it that way.
"Well, I must be heading further north. Shan't be reaching the next village 'till nightfall. It was nice meeting ye lads," the woman said, smiling warmly at them all.
After she was gone the boys wondered what to do next.
"We could go north and find out what the village is like. We could even stay there over night," James said.
Peter scoffed.
"The ship has proper cabins… and heating. And it looked like there were rations," Peter said.
"There are rations. That's true. But where's your sense of adventure Pete?" James said, winking at Peter.
Peter shrugged.
"I'm afraid I must agree with Peter. We should consider heading back to the ship. It will be dark by the time we arrive," Remus said.
James looked displeased. He turned to Sirius, perhaps searching for some support but Sirius shook his head. James sighed and said, "Well, let's be off then."
As they walked south, following the path set out for them on James's mini-pad, the sun slowly set. Remus was watching for the moon. He hadn't had a need to do since being at Hogwarts. The moon was always there, right next to them. But down here a full moon meant an almost guaranteed transformation that he wouldn't be able to stop.
As they arrived at the ship Remus was relieved to see that the moon wasn't full that night, though it would be within two nights, most likely.
The boys went inside the ship, all of them yawning. It was decided that they would sleep there that night and take off again in the morning, to find another part of Fidelius to explore for a day.
There were only two cabins in the ship. Remus crashed in cabin two, flopping face first onto a bunk. He was shocked to find out it was actually more comfortable than the bunks at school.
"Hey," Sirius said, startling Remus.
"Hey," Remus said, nervously.
"Looks like James and Peter have the other cabin," Sirius said then, pulled off his shirt then walked in the room and sat on the other bunk.
"Oh," Remus said, feeling his heart start to pound, his eyes not knowing whether it was OK to check out Sirius's bare torso or not.
"I'm uh… sorry about earlier. The stuff about Muggles. I was wrong," Sirius said, his grey eyes looking hopeful.
"Don't worry about it," Remus said and gave Sirius a small smile.
Remus finally let his eyes glance over Sirius's chest. Sirius was filling out nicely. He had seemed thin when they first met. There was a hint of light black hairs covering his chest. He was very pale, but that wasn't surprising given he had lived in space his whole life. Remus licked his lips then looked away, wondering if Sirius had noticed.
"Well, umm… lights out I guess," Sirius said.
"Yeah… lights out," Remus said and stood off the bed then flipped the switch.
Remus dropped back down on the bed with a thump. He yawned and pulled the blanket over himself. The ship's heating system filled the room with just the right amount of warmth. Remus tried hard not to think about the close presence of Sirius Black nearby.
Remus tried to desperately get comfortable. He knew he should be comfortable. The bed was definitely both softer and more firm than the ones at school or even his bed at home for that matter. Only the beds at the palace rivaled it in his very limited experience.
The problem was Sirius Black. He was at best two meters away, shirtless, his tall form stretched out over the bunk. The notion was intoxicating and Remus felt hot, nervous and frustrated. He tried to think about anything else but there wasn't any use.
He wondered if Sirius was sleeping. He was silent. Was Sirius the type to snore when he slept? Did he talk in his sleep? Maybe, he was the type to fall asleep quickly and sleep good, long and hard. Remus grunted, in frustration.
"You too?" Sirius said, and Remus shuddered in surprise.
"Yeah," Remus said.
"These bunks weren't made with a tall person in mind, I think," Sirius said.
Remus wasn't at all tall enough for that to be problem. The beds seem perfectly suited for him.
"This bed is sort of perfect for me. I just can't relax," Remus said.
"Should I leave? I could go sleep in the galley," Sirius said.
"No," Remus said as Sirius started to lift up off the bed.
Even in the dark, Remus could see Sirius's dark hair partially obscuring his face, revealing a hint of his grey eyes. What light there was coming in from outside the cabin door, was enough to see the muscles of Sirius's back flexing and straining as he lowered himself back down.
Dammit, Remus thought and shifted his pelvis uncomfortably. He definitely wasn't going to get any sleep like this.
Both boys went silent again. Remus simultaneously wished he was alone so he could get some relief but also relished Sirius's presence. After a while, Sirius began to lightly snore and sometime later yet Remus must've fallen asleep because there was a knock at their cabin door.
Remus and Sirius both grunted. Sirius was up from the bed, still without a shirt, and opened the door with a push of a button. James was standing there, looking panicked.
"Lads, we have a problem," James said.
"What?" Remus said, covering his face with a pillow as the light poured into the room.
"The engines won't start. I can't move the ship. We're stuck," James said.
Dorcas appeared on Lily's datapad and immediately looked concerned.
"What's the matter?" Dorcas asked.
"Remus never showed up yesterday. I haven't heard anything. What if he got expelled?" Lily said.
"Then he'd get shipped back to the palace, wouldn't he?" Dorcas asked.
"That's what I thought. I contacted the palace and there hasn't been a transport in days," Lily said.
"It's probably nothing, Lils. Do you really think Remus would leave the school without saying goodbye? You're his best mate!" Dorcas said and crossed her arms.
Lily sighed then bit her lip.
"Something feels wrong about this Dorcas. I know something isn't right," Lily declared.
"Then what do you intend to do?" Dorcas asked.
"Dumbledore is probably busy. I'll track down McGonagall and see if she knows anything. I can't stand the thought that something terrible has happened to Remus," Lily said and disconnected the datapad.