Chapter Twenty-One: The Marauders' Dueling Club
"Oi! Duck, you idiot! You're supposed to move if you can't block!" Sirius hollered at James two days later.
"Shut it, Padfoot!" said James as he brushed off the blue dust from Moony's spell off of his robes. They were standing in a field outside Potter Manor, practicing dueling. "Didn't see you dodging the bubble hex!"
Sirius just shot another in his direction, which James managed to block with a swipe of his wand. A transparent shield rippled in front of him, and the purple beam of light bounced off.
Instinctively, James retaliated with two quick hexes in succession. Sirius swiped them away, and shot another dust hex towards James, which James dodged. Remus soon joined in, and both began firing hexes at James, until all he could do was block. He lasted about a minute, until another one of Remus' spells broke through his defense, sending him flying backwards and smacking to the ground.
James groaned. The ground was soggy underneath him, and he knew he would have grass in his hair and mud on his trousers when he rose. As he was about to rise, a tickling charm from Sirius hit him, sending him back to the ground as his body started seizing.
"Okay, okay!" wheezed James through his laughter. He could see Sirius laughing above him. "Siri, Siri, stop. Padfoot-" Sirius released the charm, and James gasped for air, his stomach cramping from so much laughter. "Not… fair."
Remus offered his hand, and, after James had regained his breath, he took it to rise to his feet.
"Don't kick a man… when he's down," James said, though he could not help grinning at Sirius' laughter. "Bad sportsmanship!"
"Don't think Death Eaters will be as gracious," Remus pointed out as the trio headed in the direction of the Manor.
"You're not helping, Moony."
"He's right," Sirius said with a grin. "Ya gotta play dirty, Prongs."
"Oh, you'd know all about that," James said.
"You know it." Sirius winked at him.
James smacked the back of Sirius' head, deciding he'd had enough of his best friend's smirk. Sirius ruffled James' hair, purposefully sending the black scruff into James' eyes.
"Aargh!" James said. He reached up to pry Sirius' hands away, but Sirius only mussed his hair up even more, laughing on the while. When Sirius still didn't let go and James couldn't see with his hand in his face, it turned into more of a wrestle.
"You didn't mind…so much when… we were kids—oof!" He and James hit the ground, startling both of them. The mud oozed around them, and Sirius cried out in surprise, "It's wet!"
"No shite!" James smacked Sirius' hand off of his shirt.
Remus appeared above them, a grin on his face. "You two are like children."
"Shut it, Moony, or we'll bring you down with us," Sirius threatened. Mud coated his elbows.
Remus didn't seem frightened, merely amused. "Isn't that a new shirt?" he asked James.
James could feel the damp seeping through his trousers. "Yeah."
The two attempted to stand, and mud squelched underneath their trainers.
"Ick," said James as he pried a worm from Sirius' hair.
Remus snickered. Sirius sent a curse in his direction, but Remus was prepared. He blocked it with a wave of his wand.
"I taught defense, remember?" he said, grin widening as Sirius' expression darkened.
"Bloody prat." Sirius pointed his wand to his clothing and muttered, "Scourgify." He repeated the same for James. The mud vanished from their clothes, leaving only a damp feel to their garments. "Good as new." He looked satisfied. "Lily will never-"
"You two are ridiculous," said a new voice before them, and James and Sirius spun to see Lily. She was approaching them, dressed in shorts and a jumper. Her hair was piled on her head. She looked extremely amused. "If you think I didn't hear that whole exchange…"
Sirius chuckled nervously.
She pointed her wand at them, and immediately James felt his clothes stiffen and dry.
"Thanks, Lily," he said, giving her his most charming smiles.
Her lips twitched upwards. "How'd the dueling go?" she asked them.
"Muddy," Remus said. He looked pleased with himself.
"Funny, Remus," Sirius said. "You're hilarious."
"We're teaming up to work on blocking," James told her.
"And tickling," said Sirius.
"Apparently James is extremely ticklish," Remus told Lily.
"Silly, Lily already knows that. She probably already knows exactly where," Sirius said, winking at Lily, who reddened. "Right, Lily?"
"Sirius!"
"We should have made Remus godfather," James sighed. Remus snickered.
"Nope, nope," said Sirius, unfazed. "You two still have plenty of time to procreate some more. Remus can take whichever little mischief-makers pop out next. I keep Harry."
"Dear Merlin, Siri," James said, deciding to close the conversation right there. He wrapped an arm around Lily, and they began trudging back to the house. There was a path that traced through the field and led back up the hill to the Manor. Because of the rain, it had turned to mud, but James remembered when his dad used to take him down to play Quidditch in the field…
"Erm, so are you planning on having other…?"
James snorted at Sirius' persistence. "No!"
"But if one happens, will you-?"
"Make Remus godfather?" Lily finished for him. "Absolutely."
They laughed at the expression on Sirius' face.
"So, I came out because I need some help with the house charms," Lily said when they had almost reached the manor. "I finished applying the muggle deterrent and the caterwauling charm—James, did you…?"
"Yeah, I got it." She was referring to the Protego Totalem he had set up earlier that afternoon.
"I need help with one of the larger ones. Protego Horribilis should be easier to set up with more wizards."
"Is that…?"
"One of the ones you found in the defense book? Dark spell protection?" Lily finished for him. "Yeah."
"Bloody useful one, isn't it?" Sirius said as they entered into the house. They stepped into the drawing room, a large space with mahogany furniture, patterned curtains, and a large piano. The smell of leather rested on the air and large portraits animated the walls, chatting with one another.
"Dumbledore says it'll be better to place all the charms we can think of," James said. "Maximum protection and all that." All of them cleaned off their trainers with a flick of their wands. Elmza had just cleaned the floors that day, and Wendel might have a heart attack if he saw mud on the floorboards.
"And the Fidelius Charm?" Remus asked them, after a beat.
"Soon," Lily said softly.
"Do you know who…?" Remus didn't have to finish his sentence for them to know he was asking about the identity of the secret-keeper. Sirius lowered his head. His Adam's apple bobbed.
"Probably one of us," she said. "It's not that we don't trust either of you. It's just that last time… it was stressful worrying about our friends' safeties. We don't want to be responsible for any deaths." It was enough worrying about Harry and the Order. And with Order members vanishing left and right on missions—they hadn't had contact with Hagrid or Madame Maxime in weeks—and Dumbledore straining to hold the Ministry at bay, there was enough already going on.
"That's what friends do," said Sirius.
"I know," she said. "But it doesn't have to be like that. Voldemort will be after us anyway when he finds out we're alive, but for now, we're dead. No one is looking for us." She looked at Sirius, pleading for him to understand.
Sirius nodded, though he still couldn't meet their eyes. "I understand," he said.
"We still want you both to come visit," James said. "Merlin knows it got lonely last time, being shut up."
"And Dumbledore says it would be okay to connect the fireplaces via Floo," Lily said. "We'll be able to use a private network that's not overseen by the Ministry."
"That way you'll be able to leave Grimmauld Place safely," James said to Sirius. He watched his best friend for a moment, noting the worry lines that marred his face. Right now, he seemed a shadow of his youthful self. James didn't like it. "Yeah?" he prodded, wishing more than anything that the brooding look could fall from Sirius' face.
"Yeah," said Sirius.
They left it at that.
"Here," Lily said, motioning them to approach a nearby table where a spell book was resting. She picked it up and showed them the page. "Here's the incantation," she said. "It instructs the casters to stretch along the perimeters of the building around which they desire to cast the spell…"
"Maybe give it a bit more space," Remus suggested. "Should we move out to the edge of the Manor property?"
"That's what I was thinking," Lily said.
"It'll probably be safer that way," James said. "It'll give the house more space."
Five minutes later, they all spread out to the four corners of the property. Upon seeing Lily's red warning flare, the four raised their wands, and, simultaneously, a clear, water-like substance shot out of the tips. The substance shot upwards, climbing into the sky and spreading to shape a dome. As they continued to feed it, the dome grew bigger above their heads, soon stretching over the peaks of the manor and fusing together to make a giant bubble. They continued to let it thicken for a few more minutes, until, with a gasp of wind that ruffled their hair, the dome locked. They released the charm, and the dome disappeared from view.
James traveled around the side of the house to find Remus.
"Okay?" Remus asked him.
"Think so," he said.
"Should we check it out?"
The two crossed the property line, through the protective barrier, and looked back at the manor. The dome was virtually invisible to the eye.
"Lily said it was supposed to be invisible?" Remus said.
"I think so."
"Should we try it out?"
"Yeah, probably. Try a dark curse. Maybe the Imperius?" James suggested to Remus, and, at James' nod, the werewolf cast the curse towards the protective barrier.
The resulting sound was akin to a small explosion, and James and Remus stumbled backwards as a gasp of hot air shot towards them. The protective barrier rippled for a moment, like water, and then smoothed and became still. James felt a surge of satisfaction upon noting the charm still held up.
"Well, we know it works," said Remus, brushing his hair from his eyes.
Lily and Sirius met them as they were heading back up the path the manor. "What was that?" Lily said, looking worried. "Something exploded."
"Just trying it out," James told her with a wink. "It works."
Lily looked irked.
"All that's left is to connect the fireplaces and sort the Fidelius," James said brightly. When her irritation didn't diminish, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek to appease her.
"Can we connect one to Hogwarts too?" Sirius joked. "Pop in on Harry?"
"Pretty sure you'd embarrass him," James joked back.
"You'd embarrass him, Prongs. He's proud to have such a handsome godfather."
"Has he contacted you yet?" Remus asked them.
"Not yet," Lily said. "We're going to wait for him to write."
"He will," said Remus, seeming to notice Lily's uncertainty. "He's not a very regular writer, but he gets to it."
"He wrote me over the summer, every couple weeks or so," Sirius told them.
"You'll be hearing about his adventures in no time," Remus said.
"Two galleons that Snape will give him detention within the first two weeks."
Remus laughed. "He does get a lot of those, doesn't he?"
"Does Snape give him a hard time?" Lily asked.
"Yeah. Something to do with hating James…" Remus' eyes swiveled around to give James a pointed look.
James could not help the smile that spread across his face. "We were pricks, weren't we?"
"He was a prick back," said Sirius defensively. "All those illegal hexes and Dark Art books… And all that harassment of muggleborns, do you remember how many muggleborns he and Avery sent away crying? …Can't believe you were friends with him, Lily."
"He was different before. He changed," Lily said. She looked pensive for a moment. "Lots of people change as they grow older."
"…I suspect that comment's also directed at me," James said, after a beat.
Lily laughed. "You would be included, yes." Lily gave him a one-armed squeeze. "I don't think that we should mistrust Snape now on account of what he did many years ago."
"Maybe not," said Remus. They turned to approach the house. "We should be grateful that he even defected. He provides the Order with valuable information."
"If one even believes he's defected. And it doesn't make him any less of a prick," Sirius grumbled. Remus and Lily fixed him with a look. "He's useful, I suppose, but he's still a bloody prick. You should see how he treats Harry, then maybe your opinion would be different. …Don't tell him I said he was useful."
"Everyone needs at least one awful teacher…" said Remus. "It's the only way we learn."
Sirius' eyebrow popped up in disbelief. "You wait," he said to Remus. "He's going to write home and talk about how awful Snape is-"
Remus chuckled. "Harry wouldn't complain like that."
"Well, maybe, but that doesn't mean that it's not happening."
"Severus isn't that bad," Remus said dismissively. "And I'm sure that if Harry had a truly awful teacher, he would let us know."
Sirius wasn't so sure.
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