9 Years with the Marauders: 1972-1981. Beginning in 2nd year, the trials and tribulations of the Marauders right up until the deaths of James and Lily Potter. Remus/Sirius relationship-centric. James/Lily. Warning SLASH! Contains m/m content in later chapters.
DISCLAIMER: All characters, locations, and bits (with a few exceptions) are property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Studios.
NOTES ON THIS CHAPTER: The beginning of December, 1973
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"I did it." Remus said the words dully, his face entirely impassive.
"Tell me exactly what happened that night." Moody said.
They were in the dungeons, but not in the cell that Remus had spent the last three weeks residing in. Rather, they were in Filch's office. The room was dingy and windowless, lit by a single oil lamp dangling from the low ceiling. A faint smell of fried fish lingered about the place. Wooden filing cabinets stood around the walls. They were all labeled with letters, indicating the lists of students. "Blak and PottiEr" had their own drawer. A highly polished collection of chains and manacles hung on the wall behind Filch's desk. Remus was seated on a small wooden chair, his skinny arms still handcuffed together with the heavy iron manacles, resting in his lap. His feet were free, but he was making no effort to move.
His honey-brown eyes were dazed, and he stared at the wall with the chains, unflinching. Filch was pacing back and forth behind Remus, pressed against the wall and muttering. "This weren't how things was done in my day Miss Penny, in my day they'd have flogged him until he screamed, yes, until he told all his stories... I miss the screaming..." He whispered, and the black cat purred as she sat near the door, dark green eyes watching the scene in front of her.
Moody was leaning on Filch's desk, gazing at Remus. The vial of veritaserum was sitting next to his hand on the desk, it was already empty. Frank Longbottom was sitting in Filch's moth-eaten chair behind the desk, a large piece of parchment in front of him. A quill was suspended over the parchment, and on Frank's mental command it had written several minutes ago:
December 13th, 1973.
Interrogation number two. Method: Veritaserum
Accused: Student Remus Lupin; Primary Interrogator: Auror Alastor Moody; Secondary Interrogator: Auror Franklin Longbottom; Witness: Hogwarts Caretaker Argus Filch.
AM: Let's start with a few easy questions. What is your name?
RL: Remus John Lupin.
AM: And are you, Remus Lupin, a werewolf?
RL: Yes.
AM: What is your date of birth?
RL: March 10th, 1960.
AM: What year are you in school?
RL: Third year.
AM: What is your worst subject in school?
RL: Potions.
AM: Have you ever broken school rules before?
RL: Yes.
AM: Name one occasion when you broke a school rule.
RL: Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and I snuck out of Gryffindor Tower after hours and painted "Severus Snape needs to learn to use shampoo" on the wall that opens onto Slytherin dungeon. We used an Indelible Charm to assure that it wouldn't be removed easily.
AF: Took me five days to wash it off! I knew it was you four hooligans.
AM: Thank you Filch, but you don't need to speak. I think that's good enough Longbottom, let's start recording.
FL: It's been recording this whole time.
AM: Ah, nicely done. Very well, let's move to the harder stuff. Remus Lupin, did you, while in your werewolf form, murder fourth year student Ursula Perch?
RL: I did it.
AM: Tell me exactly what happened that night.
Remus' head felt light and airy. Words flowed from his mouth like water from a spout, and it felt perfectly natural to regale Moody and Frank and even Mr. Filch with the story of that night as he remembered it. "I went out to the Whomping Willow at approximately five-thirty pm. It was not yet nightfall. I entered the Shrieking Shack not too long after. Once there, I transformed. I must have gotten free -"
"Must have?" Moody cut him off there, and Remus looked up at him, his eyes wide open and honest. "Why do you say must have?"
"I have no true recollections of what happens while I am in my werewolf form." He said, as though it were perfectly obvious.
"You can't remember anything? Anything at all?"
"Sometimes I remember snippets, but never images. Smells, or sounds that I heard."
"Very well. Continue, and describe to me as exactly as possible your memories of the night."
"I don't remember getting free. I remember tasting blood, but it was my own I think, I had bitten myself. I remember the smell of forest." Remus said, the last sentence hesitating. "I remember wishing I could run. Wishing to be free. The wooden walls around me were stifling, the moonbeam burned me."
"Yes yes. What do you remember next?" Moody said impatiently, and Remus obliged.
"I awoke as a human again, on the floor of the Shack. Unlike most nights, I felt almost comfortable. There was some bruising and soreness, and the large bite on my leg from where I had bitten myself. I could still taste blood and blood was on my mouth and I am not one hundred percent sure it was my own. My feet and hands were sore, because I had been running."
Moody looked at Frank behind him meaningfully. Frank nodded, still controlling the quill, which was scribbling away on the parchment every word that Remus and anyone else in the room said. "I was able to get up and walk back to the castle. Madam Pomfrey met me at the door to the Shrieking Shack. The sun was up."
"Yes, thank you. That will do, Mr. Lupin." Moody said, stopping him. Frank continued writing a few notes at the bottom of the parchment, and Remus relaxed in the chair. Everything would be all right. He had told the truth.
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Things suddenly happened so quickly that Sirius really didn't know what had happened until it had already happened. First, Bane reached for his bow and an arrow, while at the same time the grizzled man in the dark robes had jumped forward. James had put up a Shield Charm at the same time that Bane's first arrow had flown over the man's head. Then the other centaurs were also notching arrows, while three more humans appeared.
These didn't look like ordinary humans. Other than the original grizzled man, they were all dressed in almost nothing at all, scraps of clothing – or in the case of the only woman, a brassiere and shorts that looked like they had been sewn together from some small animal skins, blood still staining them. Their hair was overgrown and unmanageable, the men all had long beards with different amounts of grey, the woman had a streak of white near one temple even though she was quite young. Their hands were curled into claws, untrimmed fingernails like talons. Brown and red stains on their faces and near their mouths were most assuredly blood.
James' Shield Charms had gotten quite good in only three weeks, and the oldest of the strangers, the man in the black robes, laughed wickedly from the other side of the shimmering wall. James kept his wand steady, and Sirius kept his out. The centaurs all had their arrows notched and pointed. Aries had taken several steps back, but Bane remained at the boys' side.
"Is your friend done yet? Has he confessed?" The man said, in a rasping bark of a voice.
"You killed that girl!" Sirius said, actually wishing the shield would fail so he could throttle the man himself.
"I killed her." He didn't agree exactly, just stated the fact.
"Who are you?" James demanded.
"You young'uns can call me Fenrir Greyback, or alternatively, your murderer!" Greyback attacked the shield. James flinched, and it wavered. Sirius knew only one more good hit would do it. The other humans – probably also werewolves – came closer. They were growling, baring their teeth, more animal than human really. Unlike Remus they had given themselves over to the beast within. Sirius' heart actually hurt for Remus a bit in that moment.
"Why did you do it!" Sirius hissed, trying to think of the worst spell he could perform.
"Lupin... poor little Lupin. One of my children, you know. One of my precious bitten, like the rest of my pack." Greyback motioned to the humans – Sirius had a hard time using that word right now – around him. Greyback's bright blue eyes had wide dark pupils, they stared hungrily at the group of boys and centaurs, just waiting. "Once he's expelled yes, once he's kicked out of school, once they try to send him to Azkaban, we'll get him. I will rescue him, and bring him into the folds, and then the Dark Lord will have another follower. Lupin will forsake the cruel wizarding world and recognize me as his alpha. The Dark Lord will be pleased when I bring another werewolf with a wand to him."
The term Dark Lord meant nothing to Sirius and James, but their lips still curled up in disgust. Greyback let out a cackle and swiped at the Shield Charm. This time it broke. However, the centaurs were releasing their arrows even as James fell backwards. Two thudded into a young boy – he couldn't possibly have been any older than James and Sirius were – and he fell with a scream. James stammered his Shield Charm but it did nothing. Sirius shot a Stunning Spell at the woman that came at him, her dark hair streaming behind her like a curtain as she jumped.
Bane moved in front of James and Sirius to protect them. Aries bounded forward as well, yanking a stone dagger from the belt hung diagonally across his chest and using it to attack Greyback. Two more humans – werewolves – appeared from the forest with war cries. They all used their teeth and nails like animals, except one older man who had a small dagger he used in addition to his "claws". Two of them landed on Aries, including the one with the dagger, who stabbed and stabbed repeatedly while the centaur screamed in pain.
It was utter chaos. It was like moving in slow motion. Sirius and James had never been in actual duels before, and James just seemed to shut down, his brain unable to think of spells. Sirius just used Stunning Spells whenever he got a clear shot, which was difficult because Bane was using his flanks to protect them both from harm, rearing back and kicking out with his front legs. The humans were staying clear of him, but jumping forward every so often, scratching at his hindquarters and chest with their long nails. A horn blew behind them, and Sirius didn't know who blew it, the centaurs or the werewolves.
It seemed to last for days. Sirius' heart was pounding, his vision was swimming. One human got past Bane, and sliced at him, but James finally roared another Shield Charm and Sirius fell back as the werewolf flew backwards, the dark-haired boy's robe cut and his arm beneath it bleeding. Then, suddenly, a dozen centaurs came galloping into the area where the fight was, shooting arrows over the heads of the werewolves. There was another scream as the woman finally fell with three arrows in her chest. Greyback's eyes widened and he scampered back, avoiding the volley.
"It's not over! The Dark Lord is here and even Hogwarts isn't safe!" He shouted as he finally turned and ran. James and Sirius watched as he and the three remaining werewolves who were uninjured ran off into the darkness of the forest. They turned, to see Bane had laid down next to Aries.
James gasped, a shudder traveling through him. Sirius managed to suppress his breathing, but the same shudder tingled down his spine straight to his feet. Aries was cut to ribbons, his broad chest slashed at by sharpened human nails, flesh torn away from his flanks. The stab wounds were most present, covering most of his hindquarters and the dagger was still plunged in his upper chest, either dangerously close to, or in, his heart. He was still breathing though, inhaling great, ragged breaths.
Bane's dark eyes gazed at the man, brushing his hair from his brutalized face in an almost intimate fashion. Sirius suddenly felt as though he were an intruder on a moment between two lovers. James shifted and Sirius knew that he felt the same way. It was several moments before Aries grabbed Bane's hand, and then fell still.
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"Remus John Lupin. It is by the decree of the Wizengamot and I, Ignacious Yiddles, Minister of Magic, that on this day, the thirteenth of December of the year nineteen-hundred and seventy-three, you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In accordance with the Werewolf Regulation Acts of 1642, you have been accused, and found guilty of, murdering a human while in your werewolf form. You will be sent to Azkaban, where you will be imprisoned and kept safe from the rest of humankind, for the rest of your natural life, or until a cure for lycanthropy is found." The Minister read off the parchment floating in the air in front of him. Each word was like a small stab.
Remus' feet had to drag the iron chains. It was dawn now, and Remus gazed out at the sun, knowing this would be one of the last times he got to see it except through bars. He was standing on the grounds outside of the castle, but thankfully no one would be awake to see it. It was still early, students would only just be getting out of bed, none would even be at breakfast. A chilly breeze passed over his face and he closed his eyes, relishing it. The pink sun glimmered on the freshly fallen snow.
Dumbledore was there, next to the carriage that would be taking him away from the castle, far enough that they could Apparate the rest of the way. Moody had a hand on his shoulder, and Frank was talking to Dumbledore in a low hurried voice. The headmaster looked strained, and his eyes kept flickering over to the Forbidden Forest.
Once Ignacio had finished reading the scroll, it rolled itself up and with a small pop it vanished. "Do you understand all that, boy?" He said, his voice a bit kinder.
Remus nodded dully. "Professor..." He said to Dumbledore, who immediately turned to listen. "Please... tell my parents something kind. And my friends, too..." He asked.
The Minister looked ashamed, and Dumbledore strode over to grip Remus' other shoulder, gazing him in the eyes. "Most assuredly, Mr. Lupin. They will only ever think highly of you."
Suddenly the world grew thick and chilled. Remus inhaled shakily, and the air that filled his lungs burned with the coldness. Dumbledore released him, backing away as two tall, black figures glided across the grounds from the direction of the Forest. Remus noted that there were no feet on the ground underneath their cloaks, which hid their faces. The sky seemed to become even darker, and the winter wind which had been refreshing a moment before now cut through his very core. He hadn't been very happy before now, but now he felt a deep, foul depression sink over him.
"Minister, this was entirely unnecessary!" He heard Dumbledore shouting over the sound of wind in his ears. Dumbledore never shouted, he thought subduedly, as two great, rotten hands grabbed each of his shoulders. One dementor had taken each arm, and Remus nearly swooned, letting them drag him towards the carriage.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Remus heard the scream as though it had come from a thousand miles away.
The dementors released him, and he collapsed as the heavy iron chains felt like they weighed a thousand pounds each. He looked up even as his head felt like a iron cauldron. A giant silver dog was running around him in circles, and the dementors were floating off, towards the lake, and the Minister had been bowled over, and Dumbledore was shielding his eyes as he gazed out at the Forbidden Forest.
A whole crowd of people were showing up from the Forbidden Forest. It was only a few moments before a pair of small but surprisingly strong arms were wrapping around his shoulders and pulling him close. "Remus?"
"Sirius?" Remus croaked. "You cut it awfully close... you git." His hands fisted in Sirius' robes, and then he fainted outright, the world going black, as Sirius' laugh resounded in his ears.
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"And you see, Professor, it was this Greyback fellow!" James was explaining things to Dumbledore, along with Bane. Three other centaurs were there as well. Bane was still bleeding, covered in dirt and sweat, and James himself had a scratch on his face and his robes were torn and stained.
Sirius was kneeling next to Remus, and he looked at Moody angrily. "Would you unlock him!" He said loudly. He sounded too much like a Black in that moment he realized. Moody however, merely flicked his wand over at Remus. The manacles around Remus' wrists and ankles vanished, and he suddenly became very light as Sirius dragged the younger boy into his lap. Remus' hair was long and scraggly, and there were huge dark circles under his eyes. Three weeks in the dark had made him even paler than Peter, and Sirius felt even more anger piling up in his gut.
James had finished talking, as did Bane, and Dumbledore was watching the Minister with a bemused expression. Moody and Frank were behind the Minister, but they had strange looks on their faces. "Well Minister. I think that your decree was short-lived."
Ignacio was sputtering with confusion and rage. "Where, where is this Fenrir Greyback?" He demanded.
"He ran off after the attack, like a coward." James hissed.
Sirius was no longer paying attention. Without him even knowing it, he had been stroking Remus' hair from his face gently. He immediately stopped as he had remembered Bane doing the same to Aries.
After Aries' death, Bane had gotten back up, taken the belt that had criss-crossed over Aries' chest, and put it on himself. Sirius wasn't sure if it was because he had obviously cared about Aries, or if the belt had some significance that made Bane the new leader, but everyone had immediately deferred to him as he had told them to take care of Aries while he went out to the castle. He was still wearing the belt, and Sirius noticed – with some confusion – that he kept stroking it lightly in one spot near his stomach, almost absentmindedly.
Madam Pomfrey arrived suddenly, and Remus was being lifted away from Sirius, and he protested, but she got all flustered and said shrilly, "You can come and see him once I'm sure that the Ministry didn't half-kill him!"
Reluctantly Sirius stood, and heard the Aurors now speaking. "I apologize, Pro-I mean Dumbledore." Frank was saying. "All the evidence pointed that way, we had to follow our own conclusions."
One electric, blue eye was staring at Sirius, who slowly made his way over to stand next to James. "That was a fancy bit of spellwork, son, what's yer name?"
"Sirius Black." Sirius puffed his chest out a bit, narrowing his eyes at Moody. "You were about to put one of my best friends in jail."
"Aye. I'm impressed. Nearly getting yourselves killed just for a friend. You've got what it takes, Black. You should consider becoming an Auror. I've never seen a fully spectral Patronus from anyone under N.E.W.T. levels. Your friend Mr. Potter over here too. I think you'd make the department proud." Moody said seriously.
Sirius had never really considered his life outside Hogwarts, but he was immediately struck by the concept of being an Auror. "Yeah well, I'll be a better one than you two." He said in annoyance, and rather than getting angry, Moody laughed raucously and slapped Sirius on the shoulder.
Bane looked at Moody disdainfully as the Minister piped up again. "There's been an official investigation, Dumbledore. You can't just show up with a bunch of... a bunch of centaurs..." Bane's front hooves shifted on the ground dangerously, "and expect that everything will just go away."
"Actually, it will." Dumbledore said calmly. "Remus is clearly innocent. I am accepting him back into Hogwarts at this very moment, and considering this Fenrir Greyback to be the felon, Ignacio. You and your Aurors really should be more preoccupied with finding him. If what James said is true – and I know it to be true – then you have far worse things to concern yourself with."
The Minister turned white. "You mean this ridiculous business about the 'Dark Lord'?"
"You know whom it refers to, Ignacio."
He spluttered as Dumbledore looked down at him piercingly. "Yes... yes... very well. Moody, Longbottom, we'd have better be off. Too many things to do." He headed to the carriage and climbed in, along with Moody and Frank, both of whom gave a last grin to Sirius and James before leaving.
Dumbledore turned his attention to his two students now. "All is well. You should collect Mr. Pettigrew and head to the Hospital Wing to see Remus. Oh, and before I forget. For the first – and perhaps last time in your Hogwarts career," his blue eyes were twinkling down at them, "I award each of you fifty points, for not giving up on a friend, and being the best Gryffindors you can be."
Sirius was flushed slightly, but James was grinning happily. "Thank you Professor." They both said in unison, before James grabbed Sirius' arm and they ran off into the castle.
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Remus felt rather that he was swimming out of a sea of fog. He was in a bed, he realized, and a very comfortable one at that. His eyes fluttered as he tried to open them. Everything was rather fuzzy. The room he was in was white, and very familiar. He was in the Hospital Wing once a month after all.
On either side of him were shapes. He blinked, and they cleared up, and he saw it was his friends. Peter was on his left, slumped over in a seat with his eyes closed. James and Sirius were on a bench on his other side. Sirius was face-down in the mattress, inches from Remus' hand, and James was snoring faintly against Sirius. They were all asleep, or at least he thought they were all asleep, until his fingers inched forward and touched Sirius' thick black hair.
The head flew up, and a pair of grey eyes looked at him almost wildly, before Sirius grinned. "Merlin's pants, you scared me, Moony, thought you were sleeping."
"Dog?" Remus croaked, trying to sit up. His body felt utterly tapped of all energy, just moving his hand back from Sirius felt like it took every ounce of effort he could muster.
"Yeah, that was me." Sirius said, figuring out what Remus was trying to ask.
"'Splains... a lot." Remus said with an amused smirk. "The drooling anyway."
Sirius looked indignant. "I only do that cause I'm happy to see you." He said loftily, and James grunted in his sleep and adjusted himself on his Sirius-shaped pillow.
Remus laughed hollowly, and Madam Pomfrey was suddenly there. She woke up Peter as she moved him aside to fluff Remus' pillows. "Are you in any pain?"
"No, no... just tired..." Remus said, feeling like a small child as James also woke up, and his three friends were suddenly watching him be tended to by Pomfrey.
"Well all right then. You just rest. And if you are feeling up to it, have some chocolate, it will make you feel better after those horrible dementors. Foolish, stupid thing to do. Dementors on a thirteen year old boy!" She walked away, muttering more curses at the Minister and his "silly" Aurors, and James chuckled.
Remus took the chocolate and began nibbling. A feeling of pleasant warmth began spreading from his mouth down to his fingers and his toes, and he was finally able to sit up without feeling like the whole room was some disturbing carnival ride.
"You've been sleeping for hours." Peter said.
"McGonagall excused all of us from classes. She's been talking to your teachers too. They'll want you to take some make-up exams, but they all agree that you don't have to do all the homework. Even Kettleburn apparently. Lucky duck." James said, looking annoyed. "Not like we've been bothering with our homework trying to help clear your name and all, but no. McGonagall expects us to catch up right away."
Remus dreaded going back to classes. "I'll be so far behind." He said mournfully, licking chocolate from his fingertips.
Sirius snickered. "That's our Moony. Back to normal, eh?"
Remus tried to kick at him, but Pomfrey had tucked him into the bed so securely he could barely move his legs. "Shut up, droolface."
James perked up. "Oh that's right! You did your Patronus. Now you know what animagus you'll be. Stole my thunder though, whipping out a fully-fledged Patronus while all I had was Bane."
"Bane?" Remus asked.
"That centaur. He came and told Dumbledore the whole story. He was cross though, like not really cross cross, but I could tell. As we were heading up to the castle, he told Dumbledore that he wouldn't be helping anymore students. That 'meddling in the affairs of humans had had dire consequences in the past', and that he was going to remember those consequences in the future."
Sirius and James looked at each other with something new in their gaze that Remus had never seen before. "Consequences?"
"Cor, Remus. We nearly got killed on your account." Sirius said with a smirk that held no laughter in it.
"We were with the centaurs when Greyback attacked -"
"G-greyback?" Remus said weakly, sinking into the pillows again.
"Yeah, mate. He killed that girl. Wanted to pin it on you so that you'd get expelled, and he was going to break you out of the dementors' hold and get you to join him." Sirius shuddered. "He had a bunch of other people with him... he called them his pack. Anyway, he killed one centaur, wounded a couple others, I'm gonna have a brilliant scar now." Sirius held up his arm which had been sitting on his lap. There was a large white bandage wrapped around his whole forearm. Remus started, and Sirius waved it off. "It's fine, just a scratch. Bane saved our skins, that's for sure."
James nodded. Peter looked mournful. "And I didn't even get to go." He said sadly, as though he would have liked very much to have put himself in mortal danger.
"It's all right, Pete. You were in a ton of danger. What if McGonagall had discovered we were missing? You'd be in so much trouble then, probably more than us and the werewolves!" James said reassuringly. Peter seemed to brighten up at this, and Remus smirked.
"So now that we've overcome great obstacles, we have solidified our friendship, and I think we need a name." James said after a few minutes of silence had passed in the hospital wing, and Remus had eaten another square of chocolate.
"We've got names, you dolt." Sirius said with a roll of his eyes.
James jabbed him with an elbow. "I mean a name for our ragtag group of adventurers!"
Sirius chewed on his lower lip in thought. "Actually, that's a good idea."
"The Musketeers?" Remus suggested.
"The what?" James and Sirius both said together.
"Blimey." Remus rolled his eyes this time. "Wizards. Dumas is rolling in his grave."
"Come on, we've got to think of a name... a good name... one fit for a marauding band of pirates!" James said excitedly.
"That's it! The Marauders!" Sirius said gleefully.
"Brilliant!" James said loudly, and Pomfrey stood up and shushed them all quite brutally.
Remus rolled it over in his mind. Marauders. It was actually quite a good name, though he liked the Musketeers better. "I like it." He said after a moment.
Peter was bouncing in his chair excitedly. "It's brilliant!" He echoed James' sentiment, but without the volume.
James put his hand to the middle of the four of them. Remus put his hand on top, and then Peter, and then Sirius did as well, his bright eyes glittering. "The Marauders then, and let neither love, life, or death tear us apart!"
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: The conclusion to your cliffhanger. Now we really see the boys growing up. *sniffles* More in third year to come, even if it isn't as exciting as all this was. =)
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK:
hotpinkfleur: in every single chapter, because she is, as always, my ever-present writing advisor and friend *hug*
LoverFaery: For using the word "protagonists" in your review. xD
Dorothy and freakyprincess-87: for never failing to perk up my email with another review!
