Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Thanks for reviewing!
By the way, since I am bored with my name, I have changed it to Crescent Marauder.
Hey, to any of you that read To Save the Future, I have moved the story to here: reading thehpbooks. Proboards index .cgi?board= tosave thefuture
The Marauders Year 3
Chapter 11: The Marauder's War
"Guess what we heard!"
Irritably, Remus looked up from his homework to look at two annoying redhead twins that were in Gryffindor. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his three friends glance up from their various activities as well. "How would we know what you heard?" He muttered.
James sighed. "I thought the chocolate would quench your anger."
"Not if it is as bad as we heard it was." Fabian said, now frowning.
"You heard about Defense?" Peter asked.
Gideon nodded. "How could we not? All those Slytherins are talking about it. Even if the Gryffindors are keeping quiet on someone's demands," he shot Remus a look here. "He can't keep the Slytherins quiet."
Scowling, Remus went back to his essay, but in his anger, his grip on his quill became too strong and it snapped in half.
"The baby lion is still furious." Fabian muttered.
"Anyway, Rems," Gideon started.
"BLOODY HELL!" Remus shouted, gaining the attention of all those in the common room.
Sirius, acting out of character for this was not his job, jumped to his feet for semi-damage control. He jumped onto his chair. "Sorry for that folks! Just ignore everything. There is nothing to see over here. Go back to your various activities." He said, adding a glare to help speed the process along.
"Does everyone have to call me that bloody name?" Remus shouted quietly this time.
"I like it." Gideon muttered.
James rolled his eyes. "Don't mind him. He's just irate because of Nazik. Once he calms down, you can call him it."
Gideon nodded. "Anyway, Dumbledore is looking for you. He says to go to his office. And he wanted you to know that he loves cauldron cakes. Perhaps you should invest in getting him some."
Remus slammed his book shut and stood up, only to be pulled back down by James. "You can't go feeling angry like you are." He hissed.
"No problem. I got the perfect remedy." Peter said, digging around in his bag. He pulled out a few chocolate frogs from his bag and tossed them to James.
Catching the chocolate frogs, James turned back to his friend and held them out to him. "Eat this and calm down. You don't want to freak out on Dumbledore, which you will do with how you are now."
Rolling his eyes, Remus took the frogs. He ripped one opened, watched it jump onto the table and grabbed it. He dropped it in his mouth whole. The savory taste of chocolate was like a dream come true to him. His eyes glazed over in delightfulness at the taste.
"I'm heading out now," He said when he finished the frog in his mouth. He stuffed the other ones in pocket, saluted his friends in a mocking way, and left the tower.
*Y*E*A*R*3*
Remus stopped in front of the gargoyle statue on the fifth floor that led to the Headmaster's office. He shoved another chocolate frog in his mouth and ate it before mumbling the password, "Cauldron cakes" to the statue. The stairs from below the statue began their ascent to the top of the tower with the statue in the lead. He jumped onto one of the stairs and allowed it to take him to the top.
At the top when the stairs came to a stop, Remus jumped off and headed over to the door where he knocked a few times.
"Come in." A quiet voice said.
Pushing the doors open, Remus spotted his Headmaster sitting behind his desk as if waiting for him to come. "Evening, Professor." He greeted politely.
"Come on in, Mr. Lupin, and please take a seat." Dumbledore said, waving towards one of the chairs in front of his desk.
Remus gingerly sat down. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
"Yes." Dumbledore replied, but said no more. Instead, he just looked at Remus over his spectacles.
Remus wasn't in the mood for games though and ended up glaring at his Headmaster. "What did you want to talk about, sir?"
"Is something the matter, Mr. Lupin?" Dumbledore asked kindly.
"No." Remus answered immediately, but then paused. He looked at his Headmaster with a considering expression. "Yes."
Dumbledore gave a small smile and leaned forward slightly. "Care to tell me what it is?"
Gold eyes glared at the Headmaster. "How could you?" He whispered. The betrayal in his voice echoed around the room. All the other Headmasters and Headmistresses of the past tried to act like they were sleeping, but Remus knew better. Portraits were just as much gossipers as the students. It was no wonder nothing stayed a secret here. "I trusted you, and then you go and hire an ex-Dark Creature hunter as a Defense teacher. And if that's not bad enough, you tell him what I am! Granted, he would have found out eventually, but for him to know right off the bat! How could you?"
"All the professors need to be aware of your condition to make allowances for you missing their classes and giving you make-up work." Dumbledore told him. "It is not normal for a student to miss so much school. The teachers would realize something was wrong immediately if I did not inform them."
"BUT why an ex-Dark Creature hunter? He'll be out for my blood!" Remus half-shouted.
"Mr. Lupin, please calm down. Would you care for a pepper imp?" Dumbledore motioned to the candy dish on his desk.
Remus shook his head.
Dumbledore sighed. "Mr. Lupin, I assure you, you will be fine with him as a teacher. He won't try to harm you. He gave his word."
"Like that will mean anything." Remus grumbled.
"Please, Mr. Lupin, behave and be respectful to him. He is a teacher. In return, he will give the same treatment. If you two were to have another argument like today," Dumbledore began.
Remus frowned. "It was a debate, not an argument." He interrupted stubbornly. He would not lose this war just because Dumbledore interfered. "We just had different opinions."
The Headmaster frowned as he looked at his student over his spectacles. "I heard differently, Mr. Lupin."
"Those were rumors." Remus continued on stubbornly. "Rumors get warped when they are spread around like that. Those gossipers like to make everything into something more than it is."
"Are you sure this is the road you want to go down?" Dumbledore asked solemnly.
"Road, sir?" Remus asked, frowning slight. "Sorry. I do not know what you mean by road."
Dumbledore sighed, but did not press the issue. "They are not many who will accept the Defense Against the Dark Arts job as it is said to be jinxed. Something always befalls the Defense teacher before the end of the school year that caused them to have to leave. Because of this, not many apply for the job. Among the few that do apply, I must choose the most qualified."
"Even if it is one that will be out for a student's blood?" Remus said harshly.
"Mr. Lupin, as I have already said, Professor Nazik will hold no grudges to you. He has already given his word on that. He was the most qualified of all the applicants this time around, and I could not simply deny him the job or the students a good teacher because of one student."
"I understand that, Professor." Remus said, though he did not sound pleased with it. Though the betrayal he was feeling did ebb a little. Dumbledore was just doing his job. It was not a personal vendetta against him. "May I be dismissed?"
Dumbledore gave a tired sigh, but nodded. "You may go, Mr. Lupin."
As Remus approached the office door, he heard his Headmaster's parting words. "Remus, please remember, you are not alone here. Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those that ask for it."
Even though he understood that his Headmaster wanted him to talk to him, Remus said nothing. He just nodded his head without turning to face his professor and left the office. If there was one thing that all the student so of this school shared, it was stubbornness. That belonged to them as they were teenagers who hated asking for help. Teenagers thought it was shameful to their pride to ask for help. It was something they all had to learn to not rely on.
*Y*E*A*R*3*
"Lo, Remus." Sirius greeted when his friend returned to his seat in front of the fireplace in the common room.
James looked up from the chess game he and Peter were playing on the floor. "What did Dumbledore want?"
"Nothing." Remus snapped, but when he saw the hurt that flashed briefly in James's eyes, he frowned. Groaning, he dropped his head to the armrest of the chair he sat in. "God, I'm so sorry, James. I've been a real prat today, haven't I?"
"Most definite." Sirius said.
"Without a doubt." James added.
"The biggest prat ever." Peter concluded.
Remus sent them a half-hearted glare. "Thank you for not laying it on so thick."
Sirius shrugged. "Even so, mate, we're not mad with you. You had every right to be upset with the way Nazik treated you."
Remus shrugged. "It's not important now. We only have that blasted class on Tuesdays and Thursdays."
"Yes! Think positively." Sirius said, nodding his head as if he was a wise, old man.
The mental image caused Remus to snort.
"Anyway, there is much that must be done!"
Remus stared at James, who had completely abandoned the game with Peter to turn to the other two with excitement shining in his eyes. "What are you on about?" The werewolf demanded.
"Pranks, of course, my dear Remy." James replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"You idiots never stop, do you?" Remus muttered, shaking his head.
"Us?" Peter asked, frowning. "What about you? You're helping us."
"An excellent point, dear Peter." James said, nodding as if this was a serious issue.
Remus rolled his eyes and sat up. "Why do you even want to do a prank?"
Sirius gasped dramatically. "He….he dares to think that we need a reason!" He exclaimed, pointing a shaking finger at Remus, who rolled his eyes yet again.
"Cut the drama, Siri." Remus mumbled.
"Siri?" Sirius paused, staring at his friend with a frown. "Do. Not. Call. Me. That. Remy."
The werewolf turned to look at his friend fully and raised a brow in a challenging manner. "And why ever not, Siri?"
"That's it!" Sirius roared, gaining the whole attention of the common room, though he didn't notice it as he launched himself off the couch and at the chair that Remus was sitting in. The latter yelped in surprise as he was tackled over the armrest and to the floor with Sirius on top of him.
"SIRIUS BLACK!" Remus yelled, taking a fist full of his friend's shirt to flip them over so he was on top.
"Why must they always try to kill each other?" Peter mumbled, sharing a look with James.
"It's cause they always HAVE TO BLOODY TEST EACH OTHER TEMPERS!" James yelled angrily, jumping into the fray with his two other best friends. He had originally meant to pull them apart, but when he got punched in the crossfire, that was too much for him.
"Why are there never any Prefects around?" Shawn grumbled to Gideon and Fabian, who were both watching the boys in great enjoyment.
Gideon grinned. "They have awesome luck?"
"POTTER! I'M GOING TO MURDERYOU!" Sirius bellowed.
Peter glanced at his wrestling friends, shrugged, and opened a chocolate bar. He threw his feet on the table in front of him and relaxed back in his seat.
Remus suddenly kicked both of his friends in the side to get them off him. They each gasped at the kick and separated. With them separated, he was free to stand up. He made a show of dusting himself off, glaring at each of them in turn with a raised brow as if daring them to say something, anything. Both of them stared back at him with a frown.
It took a few moments of tense silence in the common room before the blacked haired boys stood up. All three boys looked at each other. Each was waiting for the other to break the silence.
Surprisingly, it was Remus who broke the silence. "I call a war on you two prats."
Raising a brow in confusion, Sirius turned to James. "A war?" They echoed together before looking at Remus. "A war?"
"The Marauder's War. When a Marauder gets annoyed with another Marauder, he may call a war on them. If they get more annoyed or mad at them throughout the day, a double war, a triple war, or however many wars come up. The terms of the war are that it lasts until midnight and that you are enemies during the day. The war may only end early if or when something extremes comes up." Remus explained, smirking a bit. That smirk grew when he heard the groans from Gryffindors. "After that, it is over. No more after that."
"Sounds fun, Remus, but how do we fight in this war?" Sirius asked, grinning a bit.
Remus raised a brow. "You really have to ask? I thought you were smarter than that."
Sirius's brow twitched a bit before he suddenly smirked. "That's it! I call a war on you, Remus John!"
"You don't even know how we fight in this war and you're already trying to call one?" Remus said mockingly. Seeing the fire in his friend's eyes, Remus skidded around the chair and to the other side of the common room so he was closer to the portrait door. All the Gryffindors moved out of his way. They were brave, but no one wanted to get in the affairs of the Marauders.
"Then please explain, Remus." James said as he grabbed Sirius to keep him from killing their friend.
"Why, the best way for the Marauders to fight in the Marauder's Wars is by doing what we do best." Remus grinned wickedly. His eyes sparkled with more mischief than anyone, besides his three best friends, has ever soon. "Pranks, of course!"
Before anyone could react, Remus had whipped his wand out and had it trained on his two black haired friends. He whispered a few spells before turning around and running from the common room.
James and Sirius stood in horror in the common room. They were almost too afraid to look at each other to see what happened. But when they heard the students roaring with laughter, they took a glance at each other and stared in horror.
That…that prat that they called their best friend had transfigured their uniforms into a pink dress for Sirius and a baby blue dress for James. Both dresses had corsets in them and were sparkling! But he couldn't just stop there. Noooo! He wouldn't be a Marauder if he did. He had put bows…..BOWS in their hair. Sirius's hair was even braided with the bows tied at the bottom.
"I'll murder him." Sirius snarled, yanking a bow out of his hair.
"Sirius," James said, practically shaking with rage. "I say we strike up an alliance and find that git and pay him back tenfold!"
Peter stopped his snickering and raised a brow. "Is that even allowed?"
"He never said it wasn't!" James shouted before stomping over to the dorm steps with Sirius. "Oh, he is going to wish he never made the Marauder's Wars!"
As the last Marauder left in the common room, all eyes were on Peter to see what he would do. He raised a brow at them and shrugged before standing up. "I want no part. We haven't even been back a week yet." With that, he moved over to the portrait hole, intent on sneaking to the kitchen to get a snack before dinner. The moment he stepped out of the portrait though, silver and green paint poured all over him. An indignant scream tore from him.
"REMUS LUPIN! YOU ARE A DEAD MAN! I CALL A BLOODY WAR ON YOU!" Peter yelled at the top of his lungs.
Breathing heavily, Peter spun on his heel and marched to the dorms. An evil glint was suddenly in his eyes. As he was marching up the stairs, the students in the common room could hear him shout, "James, Sirius, I am on your damn side in this war!"
"Three against one? Who will win in this Marauder's War?" Ness announced in his commenter's voice. "The James-Sirius-Peter alliance or Remus!"
*Y*E*A*R*3*
"So where would he be?" James asked casually as three-fourths of the Marauders walked down the corridor on the third floor.
"Oh, he's around here. He's a Gryffindor! He wouldn't hide in the middle of a war, especially when he started this!" Sirius exclaimed.
"I don't know. This is Re–ARGH!" Peter shouted when a ghost walked right through him.
Sirius and James started to snicker, but then they both shouted out too when the same ghost floated right through them without a glance at any of them.
"What the big idea?" Sirius yelled at the ghost, only to be ignored. Huffing, he turned to his friends in annoyance. "What the hell was that about?"
James shrugged. "Who knows? Ghosts are weird."
"Ugh. Remind me to never become a ghost when I die." Sirius grumbled.
*Y*E*A*R*3*
Whistling cheerfully, Remus nodded to a few students as he walked down the hall. He had thought it best to be on the move after his werewolf hearing allowed him to hear Peter's declaration that he was at war with Remus. It was amazing that he managed to anger all three of his best friends in less than five minutes. He really liked this skill of his, except that it brought a horrible alliance against him, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
After all, he was the one to always make the plans so their pranks could be done successfully.
*Y*E*A*R*3*
"MARAUDERS!"
"Ah, Professor Minnie!" Sirius greeted with an extravagant bow.
Professor McGonagall glared at the boy and his three chuckling friends. Her lips were pressed very thin as she looked at each of them. Everyone else in the Great Hall for dinner were staring at the five in silence, anxiously and worriedly waiting for the punishment that was sure to come. The Gryffindors were all frowning deeply. They were going to lose so many points for this!
"What," Professor McGonagall began harshly. Her voice sounded so hoarse with how angry she was. "Do you four think you are doing?"
The four boys glanced at each other, then at the Great Hall which was filled with ankle deep water, a few kids floating in the air, a few kids spotting different colored hair, a few others transformed into their house animal, and the obnoxiously loud screeching that went off every few minutes. The Marauders, themselves, looked unharmed, but that was because they had managed to remove each prank that they were affected with.
"Professor, we are in the process of pranking Lupin into an early grave. Can this wait?" James asked, shooting a mock glare at his friend.
Remus raised a brow. "You can try, Potter, but as I recall, I am winning this war so you three will be the ones put into an early grave." He said with mock arrogance while smirking.
"No! You four are done!" McGonagall said very, very quietly in such a strained voice that anyone would have to be completely insane to go against her.
"But ma'am, we're in the middle of a Marauder's War! We can't just stop!" Sirius, ever the insane one, protested.
McGonagall narrowed her eyes at him.
Sirius smiled weakly. "Then again, we may have gone too far."
"What is a Marauder's War?" McGonagall demanded.
Sirius, James, and Peter glanced at Remus, who stared blankly at them. As one, they all turned back to their Head of House. "Do you really want to know?" Remus asked politely.
Once again, McGonagall glanced at each of her lions, frowning deeply. "No. I do, however, want to give you each two weeks of detention and take twenty points from Gryffindor…..from each of you."
"Two weeks?" James echoed.
"Aww, come on, Professor McGonagall!" Sirius argued. "Two weeks for this? We didn't even do anything that bad! And it's not like we were aiming for all those other students. They just got in our way. We were actually aiming for each other!"
"In the Great Hall in the middle of dinner?" McGonagall asked. "And what did you think would happen if one of you happened to dodge?"
Remus glanced at the Great Hall, smiling a little. "I assumed something like this would happen."
"And that is funny how, Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall asked, almost dangerously.
"How is it not funny?" Remus retorted. "I mean, it's not often you get to see a controlled mess like this, and it's not like it's anything dangerous. Now, if it was something dangerous, it would in no way be humorous."
"Aren't you supposed to be the good Marauder, Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall asked.
Remus blinked. "I am? I didn't know we had titles, but I suppose I would be considered the good one. I mean, that's not a hard title to get when competing with Sirius, James, and Peter."
"I would like to object to that." Peter argued, glaring at Remus. "You can be just as bad as Sirius and James. You are not 'the good one.'"
"Then what am I?"
"I don't know. I don't know what the titles are that the teachers have deemed us with. All I know is that 'the good one' does not fit you! Honestly, what do these teachers see in you that would even make them consider that?" Peter said flabbergasted.
James snickered. "It's not what they see, Peter!"
"Yes, you are right, James. It's because he manipulates them into thinking he is good, polite, and innocent!" Sirius declared before spinning to look at Remus and pointing an accusing finger at him. "You traitor! Marauders are never, and never act, innocent!"
Remus blinked at him. He really had no response to that so all he could was stare at his friend, who decided that since he wasn't getting a response that he would suddenly run out of the Great Hall and leaving everyone to stare at his back than at the others.
"Yes!" James declared dramatically, grinning impishly at Remus. "Banish the traitor!"
And he too disappeared from the Great Hall.
Remus just blinked again.
"Down! Down with the Marauder's traitor! Burn him!" Peter shouted, pointing a finger at Remus as he declared this.
Then, he was gone as well.
Remus blinked, then looked at his Professor. "Professor, do you think I'll be insane and belong in an insane asylum by the time my seven years at Hogwarts is up?"
Professor McGonagall gave him a small smile. "You'll be lucky to make it through the year, Mr. Lupin."
A/N: Please Review!