Disclaimer - Usual.
Chapter 84
Later that day, when Sirius and James stopped by Gringotts before heading into London, Sirius opened his own bank account. The only problem was, he had nothing to put in it. He handed the attending goblin the key to his vault, but the goblin only squeaked at him, "I'm sorry, but this account has been closed."
"What? This is my account."
"The primary names on the account are Orion and Walburga Black. Walburga Black signed the paperwork this morning, stating that the child on the account had died and it was to be closed."
"Died? Do I look dead?" Sirius yelled in frustration.
"I'm sorry, sir, but the account is closed."
Sirius walked away in a huff, furious that, even away from that house, his family – or more specifically his mother – was finding ways of making his life miserable.
James was waiting outside for Sirius, and, when he saw him approach, asked, "What happened?"
"I'm dead, don't you know?" Sirius gestured wildly in frustration. "So I have no access to my own account." He sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I don't have anything, Prongs."
James put a comforting hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Well, aren't you glad you don't need any money?"
"But I do. I mean, I kind of expected that spending sprees in Hogsmeade would be limited. But I can't even buy my books and school supplies… and robes…"
"Don't worry about it. That's what parents are for," James winked at Sirius, fully confident that his parents would pay for anything Sirius needed.
"Thanks but… I really don't want to have to do that to them."
"Pads, you're either in this family or you're not. If you're in, then my parents fully expect you to mooch off of them as long as possible. If you're not… Well, you'll break mum's heart, and I may have to beat the tar out of you for it."
Sirius snorted in laughter. "Yeah. All right."
The teens headed to London after that, but they weren't there long. Sirius refused to let James buy him anything, especially lunch, using the excuse that they weren't dating and he didn't want to owe James any "special favors" later.
After supper that night, Sirius asked to speak with Mr. Potter. He wasn't used to taking charity and, while he knew that he wasn't putting the Potters out, he felt he should do something to contribute. So he and Mr. Potter worked out a chore routine that would enable Sirius to earn money from them.
This caused minor conflict between Sirius and James, as Sirius took this very seriously, occasionally putting off James to get something done. And James, never having had to work for anything, let alone money, didn't understand why Sirius was so adamant about this, especially knowing that his parents would pay for anything Sirius needed or wanted. But, by the end of the summer, Sirius had earned enough to pay for his school supplies, new clothes, and still have some left over for a trip or two to Hogsmeade. (Sirius didn't know, never having had to work before, that he was being overpaid.)
Aside from the chores, the rest of the summer was the most relaxing and most fun summer Sirius could remember having. They spent a good amount of time in London. At least once a week, Sirius stopped by the motorcycle store to ogle the beautiful machines. He and James also traveled to Diagon Alley, occasionally venturing into Knockturn Alley, as they wanted to keep on top of the latest wizard news and anything that might be going on with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. And Peter and Remus came to visit on occasion.
Toward the end of summer, all four of the Marauders met up in Diagon Alley to buy everything they needed for the upcoming school year. They then sat around Florean Fortescue's discussing their summers, but mostly any news they had heard. And they discovered they had missed a lot while at school.
The papers were not reporting half of what was going on, though it was sometimes hard to tell the difference between real events and rumors. Wizards and witches were disappearing at an alarming rate. Some of them returned with no memory of what had transpired. Some didn't return at all. An atmosphere of paranoia was building, and people were becoming afraid, unwilling to travel alone anymore. The Ministry had even started issuing pamphlets on how to maintain safety, and emergency contact procedures.
Sirius looked over a pamphlet Peter had brought with him to show the others. He shook his head and muttered, "This is not good."
"What's that?" Remus asked.
Glancing up, Sirius said, "They're asking people to report suspicious activity. I understand the need to keep watch, but soon we're going to have people spying on their neighbors."
"It's going to cause a lot of miscommunication and mistrust," James agreed. "But I really don't see a way around it."
"I also heard," Peter inserted, "That the Aurors and Hit Wizards have made some odd arrests. It seems that some very good wizards have done strange things. My dad thinks someone is putting people under the Imperius Curse."
Sirius cursed and looked down the street.
James glanced at him, but said, "And this is only what people know about… or at least the rumors being spread. Who knows what's really going on."
"I think some people know more than most," Remus interjected.
Sirius snorted. "And what does that mean, Oh Cryptic One?"
"As you know, I spend my holidays at the school. Despite everything that's going on, there still aren't many students that stay there – especially over the summer. So I talk to the professors…"
"Way to kiss-up on your down time," James ribbed him.
Remus continued, ignoring James, except for the ice-cream sprinkle that hit him on the cheek. "During conversations, some things have… come up. I've heard mention of secret meetings and 'finding' people to help with the cause."
"You mean like recruiting," James clarified.
Remus nodded. "That's what I'm thinking."
"Recruiting for what?" Peter asked, frowning. "I mean what are 'they' doing – whoever 'they' are – that the Ministry isn't doing?"
"Dumbledore, of course," James stated.
"And the Ministry is only going to be able to do so much through legal channels. Dumbledore will have much more freedom to do what needs to be done," Sirius added.
"I've seen officials from the Ministry stop by the school. So I'm sure that Dumbledore is working in full cooperation with them at this point," Remus stated.
"So… Do you think we should go to Dumbledore…" Sirius started.
"And see about joining up with him?" James finished.
"But I thought we were all pretty much planning on working for the Ministry anyway," Peter pointed out.
"We can't do both?" Sirius asked, in that way that made Peter feel stupid.
"How would we approach him?" Peter asked.
"Well, Prongs here is the newly appointed Head Boy."
Peter practically yelled, "What?" at the same time Remus laughed and said, "You're kidding!"
James nodded his head sheepishly. "I am," he said, smiling in spite of himself. He didn't want to rub his position in, when he felt it really should have belonged to Remus.
To his surprise, Remus clapped him on the shoulder, smiling genuinely. "Congrats." Peter, who was also smiling, nodded in agreement.
"Thanks."
"As I was saying – with Prongs being the new Head Boy, I'm sure he'll have opportunity to speak with Dumbledore."
"You know, this may all be unnecessary. This might be over by the time we're out of school and can actually do anything."
"Moony, you don't honestly believe that, do you?" James asked.
Remus sighed and leaned back in his chair. "No, I don't."
The teens sat in silence for a few minutes before Remus added as an afterthought, "At least there haven't been any more deaths of late." The others nodded in agreement.
The next day, Remus and Peter again joined Sirius and James, only this time for a very different reason. James had taken his apparition test and passed, so to celebrate his success, as well as the ending of their last summer holiday, James invited all of them to join him and his parents for dinner.
A few days later, and the Marauders were back on the train – all of them. Remus had spent the last week of summer with James and Sirius, so he was able to make this final train ride back to school with them – final because most likely none of them would be leaving for Christmas.
James was thrilled to find out that the Head Girl position had been bestowed upon none other than Lily Evans. Because they were Head Boy and Girl, they had to stay near the prefects' compartments. In order to accommodate this inconvenience, the Marauders moved from the back of the train to the front, taking over several other compartments in the same car as the prefects.
All of the Gryffindor seventh-years joined them, as well as Addison's friends, several Hufflepuffs, the quidditch team, and a few other random friends. Nearly the whole first car was taken up by the group, in addition to the prefects. And, surprisingly, both Lily and James insisted that the Slytherin prefects be treated respectfully by everyone else. These Slytherins even joined in the fun from time to time.
The car was so rowdy that the witch who pushed the food trolley had trouble making it down the isle, not that she minded. This particular group of students knew how to make her laugh. She would miss them when they left.
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"Back at school," Sirius sighed, leaning back on the usual couch in the common room and casually draping his arm around Gillette. "So what do we have planned for this year?"
"You mean other than studying for N.E.W.T.s?" Remus asked.
"Yes, Moony. Other than studying for N.E.W.T.s."
"Other than finally getting Evans to say 'yes' to a date?" James smiled roguishly and winked at Lily.
Lily, who was having her hair braided by Patty, looked up at James. "Good luck with that," she said, but instead of the usually cold tones she took on with James, she smiled, and her eyes twinkled.
"That sounded like a challenge, mate," Sirius smirked.
James simply continued to smile, not breaking eye contact with the girl of his dreams.
"I'm interning with Madam Pomfrey this year," Gillette stated, feeling very excited by the prospect. But she frowned slightly when all four Marauders suddenly turned their attention to her with guarded expressions.
"Really?" Sirius asked, his voice casual.
"Yeah. Why?"
"What will you be doing?" James asked.
"Learning to attend to various injuries and illnesses, I imagine. Why?"
"Nothing. That's great. You'll have a nice head-start for your Medi-Wizard training," Sirius said encouragingly. Since Gillette was sitting next to Sirius, with her head leaning back on his arm, she didn't see the look that passed between him and James. Both were wondering how Madam Pomfrey would handle Remus without Gillette finding out about him.
"Thanks," Gillette smiled. "I'm pretty excited." Sirius gave her a quick squeeze and kissed her lightly on the head.
"Anyone else?"
Stacey, who had been unusually quiet, spoke up. She looked on the verge of tears as she said, "I'll just be glad if my family makes it through the year."
"Oh, sweetheart, what happened?" Lily asked, moving to comfort her friend, and leaving her hair half braided.
Stacey sniffed. "My dad works for the Ministry and, well… you know. A lot has been going on. He doesn't do anything particularly… important… but he received an untraceable note telling him to keep his head down if…" she broke off in silent sobs.
Gillette moved closer to Stacey and slipped her arm around her. Lily sat down on the couch on Stacey's other side and took her hand, while Patty came around from the back and hugged her from behind.
"I'm so sorry," Gillette whispered. The other girls nodded in agreement.
"Is there anything we can do?" Patty asked.
"No. But thank you. All." Stacey took a deep shuddering breath. "I'm going to go up to bed. Good night, guys. I'm sorry for ruining the evening."
"Nonsense!" Lily said firmly. "Come on. I'll go up with you."
"I'll take her, Lily. You stay here." Patty came around to the front of the couch and led Stacey away.
Once the other girls were out of earshot, Lily burst out, "That makes me so mad!"
"What?" James asked.
"Stacey… and her family. There's this whole… war going on and I feel so useless! School just seems really secondary to what's going on out there."
"What's going on out there?" Sirius asked.
Lily looked up at him in shock, then she realized he wasn't asking because he didn't know, but rather because he wanted to find out what she knew. "I know the papers are being quiet about a lot. I know the muggles have no idea what's going on. There's been an increase in UFO sightings."
"UFO sightings?" Remus frowned.
"Unidentified Flying Objects."
Sirius and James snickered, but Remus' expression didn't change. "I know what UFOs are. I meant, what does that have to do with the war?"
"Well, a lot of UFO sightings talk about strange lights and missing time. What do you think really causes that? I think it's muggles who have seen something and are having their memories modified. Why else would it be increasing lately – enough to make the muggle news. Sure they're trying to make something of a joke out of it, but still."
"Huh," James uttered. He was impressed that Lily had put those two seemingly disconnected ideas together.
"I'm afraid I don't know much else. I'm kind of cut off from the wizarding world for most of the summer. Though, now that I can drive, I was able to spend time in Diagon Alley picking some stuff up. I heard about the disappearances."
"I don't think school is secondary," Remus jumped in, slightly off track. The others looked at him, wondering where he was going with this statement. "The sooner we become fully qualified, the sooner we can get out there and make a real difference. But we're going to need the stuff we learn this year."
"I know," Lily said quietly. "I still just wish there was more I could do."
Sirius and James exchanged glances and Sirius gave a slight nod.
"Lily – and Gillette – We're trying to… get together a group of people. People who are willing to fight Voldemort," the girls flinched at the use of his name, "here and when we leave school."
"Here?" Gillette asked.
"Yeah," Sirius picked the conversation. "See, we know that he has followers here – that he's recruiting from the students at the school." The girls were looking at Sirius and James in disbelief, not because they didn't believe them, but because they didn't want to.
"We… stumbled upon an induction ceremony last year. We just couldn't see who, exactly, the students were," Peter jumped in.
"We're definitely in," Lily spoke for both girls, and Gillette nodded in agreement. "What do you want us to do?"
"I don't think we can do anything 'big,' but we can start by talking to people, asking questions, see what we can find out. And, apparently, every year a new group of students is chosen to be the next year's Death Eaters. I can't help but think that number is only going to grow from last year," James stated.
"We should talk to Patty and Stacey. I bet they'd want to help," Lily suggested, directing her attention to Gillette.
Gillette made a face at that suggestion. "Stacey's got a lot to deal with already. We might want to wait to talk with her."
Turning now to James, Lily said, "We should talk to the prefects, too. At the very least, they can keep an extra close eye out for suspicious activity – anything that looks like dark magic."
The group of six friends spent another hour throwing ideas back and forth to each other – ways to glean more information, ways to find those who would be willing to help. It was as if they had their first, unofficial meeting, though they had not yet labeled themselves as an organization. It was definitely the start of a new camaraderie – a generation of fighters who would be called to lay down their lives for a cause they didn't yet fully understand.
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A/N - Thanks again for the awesome support! And thanks to my selflessly-unpaid betas - Mom, mei mei, and J.A.Carlton.