Author's note: If I hurt anyone's religious feelings through the things I've written in this chapter, I do apologise. But, you don't really have to agree with my religious views to enjoy a story, though, right?
Also, is it even a Hogwarts love story if mistletoe isn't involved? Hehe, this one comes with a twist ;)
"So... you don't hate us. Right?" asked Sirius again, and Remus understood the real meaning behind the question.
Do you hate me for kissing Amanda?
What could Remus say? No Sirius, I don't hate you. All you did was break my heart!
He sighed. "No, Sirius, far from it," he said.
"You're incredible," Sirius told him.
"Took you long enough to figure it out," replied Remus, smirking.
Sirius looked up at Remus' face, feeling incredibly guilty. That wasn't true, Sirius had always thought Remus was incredible. But then if I think he's so incredible, why do I keep doing things to him? Why do I keep hurting him like this? What's wrong with me?
Sirius felt like the worst person on the planet for the way he had acted. On one hand, he wanted to crawl up in a hole, proclaiming that he didn't deserve Remus, and live away his life in that hole like a coward. And on the other hand, he wanted to make it up to him. Because he loved Remus, and he didn't think he couldn't live anywhere without him. But was it corrigible, though, everything he had done? Had he taken things to the point of no return?
James and Peter laughed at Remus' comeback.
"Okay, I really have to go now, I'm already late," said Remus, walking towards the Portrait hole.
"I'll come with you until the Charms corridor. I want to go to the kitchens," said Peter, shoving the Invisibility cloak in his robes and hurrying after him. "I need a snack."
"James, I love him so much," said Sirius, as they watched Remus and Peter walk away to the Portrait Hole, Peter jogging to keep up with Remus' long legs.
"Then do something already," James told him.
"You made me think he had a girlfriend! I'll do something to you!" he said and lunged at James. James shrieked and ran towards the staircase. People around them laughed. Sirius caught up to him and an intense wrestling match commenced.
Lily watched them from a far corner, shaking her head.
"Aren't you gonna stop them?" Mary asked her.
"It's almost Christmas, I'd rather not be spending my time yelling at imbeciles," she said, shrugging. The girls looked at each other in surprise.
Dorcas woke up the next day, and was happily munching on some liquorice wands when the Marauders went to visit her. Lily, Jones and a few other Prefects were standing beside her bed. Much to Sirius' delight, neither Amos Diggory nor Corban Yaxley were present. The other Prefects had gotten her many sweets and chocolates, and she smiled broadly at the Marauders as they added their own gifts to the pile.
"Glad to see you awake. And eating," said Remus, sitting down on the bed and hugging her.
"Glad to be awake and eating," she said.
"Glad Amos Diggory isn't here," said Sirius, and all the others looked at him in unison. "Something I said? Oh no, what happened?"
"He was injured last night, he was here," said Dorcas. "Before he got transferred to St. Mungo's a few hours ago."
"St. Mungo's? What happened to him?" asked Peter.
"Didn't you tell them?" Dorcas asked Remus.
"No, they were asleep by the time I got back to the dorm," said Remus.
"We were not," said James and Sirius at the same time.
"I think I was," said Peter.
"We heard you come in," said Sirius.
"Well, the lights were off, so I just assumed-"
Lily rolled her eyes. "What happened to Diggory, though?" she asked.
"So, what Dorcas had told us was to keep an eye on the Dungeons," Remus began.
"Because my spies tell me that some of the Slytherin kids might be getting out of school somehow. I don't know for what reason, but it's still not safe for anyone to let them continue. I think they may have found a secret passageway out of school," said Dorcas.
"A passageway? But-" James began.
"It's a passageway we don't know about, James," said Remus. "Because Diggory and I set up booby traps in all the entrances to the passages we know, and none of them were triggered."
"A passageway in the dungeons? Hmm," said James, scratching his chin, and Remus nodded.
"Yes. I'm assuming it starts somewhere in the dungeons, because that's where I found Diggory unconscious," said Remus.
"What!" Everyone yelped.
"I know," said Remus, looking around at everyone. "I tried to revive him, but it must have been dark magic, because his blood vessels were kind of visible and protruding out," he described, grimacing. "Nothing I did worked, so I had to levitate him to the Hospital Wing!"
"I remember that, I was awake when you brought him in," said Dorcas.
"Were you?" asked Remus nervously. He'd used all his werewolf strength to run as fast as he could up to the Hospital wing. If she'd seen him come in, she definitely must've thought it odd.
"Oh Merlin! And you were there alone too," said Lily.
Peter shuddered. "Marlene said never go alone," he mumbled.
"Whoever had cursed him was long gone. But I didn't have time to search, I needed to help Diggory."
"What if whoever had cursed him, had been nearby, hiding?" asked Jones.
"I don't think so, otherwise they probably would have cursed me too," Remus replied.
"Moony! You need to be careful! Things are getting more and more serious now," James told him.
Remus nodded. "I know."
"What did you do after that?" asked Anthony Jordan.
"Madam Pomfrey summoned Dumbledore and I told him everything. Then I went back down to check all the traps, that's when I found them all untriggered."
"You went back down alone?" asked Sirius.
"I think whoever cursed Diggory was trying to protect the passageway from discovery. So the danger would only be in The Crypts," said Remus, smiling. Sirius and Jones chuckled.
"I wonder why they're called the dungeons, though. It's not like there are actual jail cells down there," said Peter thoughtfully.
"Maybe there used to be and Dumbledore got rid of them," said Jones.
"Or blocked them," said Anthony Jordan, and everyone agreed with him. James and Remus exchanged looks.
"Oh, by the way, James, I wanted to thank you for saving my life," Dorcas said, looking up at him.
"I got your back, Dorcas," he said, grinning. "So am I part of your crew now?"
"Hell yeah! You were, from the moment you offered to help me last week," she said.
"Excellent!"
"And Sirius. You did such a good job picking him out in the crowd. I would never have noticed him without your help," she said, and Sirius beamed.
"Then why didn't you go with her when she went to follow him?" asked James, frowning.
"She didn't tell me she was going!" Sirius said.
"That's true. We need to plan better next time. I didn't even expect a duel," she said, nodding.
"Yeah, I think we need to be prepared for all kinds of situations," said Jones.
"We need to have a proper meeting," said Dorcas.
"As soon as you're out of here, Dorcas," said Remus and Lily at the same time, and everyone chuckled.
After the visit, the Marauders made their way to their last Charms class before the holidays.
"James, I was wondering if I could borrow your cloak for my rounds next time? Unless you expressly need it, of course," Remus asked.
"Of course, nothing's more important than a Marauder's safety," said James, and they all grinned.
"We combed the entire dungeons area, there weren't any passageways there," said James.
"We must have missed something," said Remus.
"Well, we know what our next operation is," said James, grinning.
"Find the passageway," said Peter, his eyes gleaming.
"If Dumbledore hasn't already found it over the Christmas holidays," Remus added, and they sighed.
"Must you always be a spoilsport, Moony?" James asked him, sniggering.
"Even if we do find that passageway, I reckon we have to show it to the teachers, and they'll probably want to shut it down," Remus said, grimacing again.
"Whaaat… why can't we just booby trap it?" asked Peter.
"Don't be daft, Pete. Booby traps are not death eater proof," said James.
"Oh, yeah."
"Who are these spies Dorcas keeps talking about?" asked Peter.
"Well, Dorcas believes only three of the Slytherin Prefects are loyal to Dumbledore, so they might be. The other three are not. So they're not included in anything Dorcas-related. Maybe Altham and Gladstone?" Remus said.
"Haha, 'Dorcas-related'," said Sirius.
"I know. She's like the centre of the resistance," said James.
"I also think she has other spies, but she keeps them to herself," Remus told them. "She never mentions names."
Remus gave Sirius a look, and Sirius looked at him curiously.
Is Regulus one of the spies? Hah, no way. "She probably never mentions their names because if, by any chance, their names got out, they're as good as dead," he told them.
"Right," said Remus.
As they walked into Charms, James spotted a sprig of mistletoe hanging from the doorway. His first thought was how amazing it would be if he could get Lily to stand under it with him. Then she would be forced to kiss me, how wonderful!
But then he realised it was a completely cheap, underhanded trick and an obvious recipe for disaster. He immediately decided against it. Then he got another idea. If I could somehow get Remus and Sirius under it…
He waited until the class started, and then nudged Sirius and motioned to him to look at the doorway.
Sirius spotted the mistletoe and grinned, and they secretly made a plan to get Remus to stand there.
"We'll stand at the doorway and wait for you, after you're done asking Flitwick the question, you walk up to us," James whispered to Sirius and he nodded. "When you both are under it, I'll say, 'hey, look, it's mistletoe, now you have to kiss'. And then you have to kiss."
Sirius nodded and grinned. "Just make sure you're not standing under it when I walk over. I'd rather kiss an Iberian Imp than kiss you," he said.
"You've already kissed one! I'd rather kiss Moaning Myrtle than kiss you!" James retorted.
"Moaning Myrtle is a ghost! You'd barely feel it!" said Sirius.
"Fine! I'd rather kiss the giant squid than kiss you!" James modified.
"Well, I'd rather kiss-"
"Boys, please!" said Professor Flitwick. "I know it is Christmas, but the lesson will be over soon, be patient."
James and Sirius fell silent. James was somehow more excited about the whole thing than Sirius was, but it seemed like Flitwick's lesson about French cleaning spells would never end. He kept fidgeting restlessly. When the class was finally over, everyone started packing their books up.
"Remus, do you know if the French spells would still work, if they're pronounced differently?" asked James.
"Yeah, they'd work," answered Remus, getting to his feet.
"Really? But how?" asked James.
"Um, not sure. Wait, I'll ask Flitwick," Remus said.
"No, I'll ask him," said Sirius and almost ran over to the professor.
Remus shrugged and packed up his things. James tried not to appear too excited as he walked over to the doorway. The three of them stood just outside the doorway, and let the other students pass.
"Thank you, sir. Merry Christmas," said Sirius.
"Oh, you have a lovely Christmas too, Mr. Black," said Flitwick.
"I know I will, sir! I'm going to James' house for Christmas," Sirius told him happily.
"Oho, excellent, excellent!" said the professor, genuinely happy for him.
As Sirius approached them, James pushed Remus to the doorway and got ready to speak his part, when someone suddenly squealed.
It was Claire Fawcett, one of their classmates. "Arvid, you're standing right under the mistletoe!" The remaining students all spotted the mistletoe and murmured to themselves.
At this point, Sirius was standing a foot away from Remus, he exchanged a horrified glance with James.
'I'm sorry,' James mouthed to him.
All the girls pushed to the front, and Sirius got pushed to the back of the students. Arvid Larsen looked up at the mistletoe and then at Remus.
Sirius looked between Arvid and Remus. No. This is not happening.
"Er," said James.
Remus looked up at the mistletoe and grinned at everyone around him. "There is no chance I'm letting some leaves dictate my life!"
"Remus, stop being a coward," said Lily, laughing. Remus narrowed his eyes at her.
"Aww, how adorable, this is his first kiss, that's why it is such a big deal for him," said somebody from the back.
"Are you stupid? I'm sure he's snogged Prefect Meadowes loads of times," someone replied. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Aw yeah!" one of the boys said.
"Can people stop discussing my love life please?" he requested, and everyone chuckled.
Sirius looked over at Flitwick, who was grinning mischievously. That little… he did this on purpose! To spring this on unsuspecting students!
"Come on, you two, it's tradition!" said Iker loudly, and everyone seemed to agree.
"You know what, Gomez? You lads need to clean your room," said Remus. "I nearly called Professor McGonagall to report a burglary there, the other day." Everyone laughed loudly at that, and Remus was a little taken aback. He didn't even think that was funny.
"I swear I wasn't planning this," said Arvid awkwardly. James burst into laughter at that, and Sirius swore to kick James' bum all the way back to King's Cross the next day.
"Of course not," Remus said.
Arvid smiled. "Is this really your first kiss?" she asked.
"You'll never know," he said and she smirked.
"Come on, Remus, do it!" Frank shouted, and the girls giggled.
"Fine," he said, and leaned in and gave her a small peck on her lips.
"That was ridiculous! Larsen, you didn't even kiss back!" said Claire and the other students agreed.
"Yeah, kiss him properly!" said Pratap, and Remus could hear Peter giggling. He knew the only way to finish this was to kiss her properly. So, he grabbed Arvid's face and chuckled to himself, feeling like he was taking some sort of lame revenge on Sirius for kissing Amanda. He kissed her for a whole five seconds.
Sirius had been scratching his eyebrow, wondering when this production would be over, and he paused mid-scratch as he looked at them. He felt like he'd just been stabbed. The five seconds seemed to go on forever, and when they broke apart, they both were blushing. Everyone cheered.
Remus grinned at Arvid. "Merry Christmas," he said.
Arvid blushed again. "Yeah, Merry Christmas, Lupin."
Then Remus pushed past James to get out of the classroom.
"Congratulations, we are officially late for Divination," they heard Lily say.
"Ah, don't worry about it, Lily. It's Christmas," said Marlene lightly.
Sirius sort of lagged behind and let everyone else exit the classroom first. Everyone was stepping out carefully in a single file to make sure they didn't get caught with someone else under the mistletoe.
"Oh my God, Arvid!" How was the kiss?!" Claire asked in a low voice, giggling.
Arvid grinned. "It was unexpectedly good, his lips are so soft," she told her and the two girls laughed again. Milla smacked her twin on the head.
Sirius scowled. He didn't think he could ever get this jealous. Finally, when he walked out of the classroom, he caught up with the other Marauders as they walked to the North Tower, and to his dismay, Peter was still talking about Arvid. The very thought of Arvid's lips on Remus' made his blood boil.
"Oh, er... it was alright, you know," said Remus, unable to stop grinning. He found the whole situation really funny.
"You're lucky she didn't run for the hills," said Peter. "She probably would have if it had been me."
"Nah, she wouldn't," said Remus politely. He put his hands behind his neck and looked up at the ceiling to steady his thoughts. When he glanced sideways, Sirius was looking back at him.
Sirius turned away immediately. He hadn't been able to resist looking at Remus' lips, remembering how Arvid had described them. Changing the subject…
"Um, about the, er question James had?" he said, and the other three looked at him.
"Oh yeah, what did Flitwick say?" said James.
"Well, since we use wands from English trees, and we're English speakers, the spell works fine even if we pronounce it in an English way. But I expect that every spell has a specific English pronunciation that we must use," he explained.
"Yeah, I see. Thanks, Padfoot," said James and he nodded.
"THAUMATURGY!" yelled Professor Zhao, their divination master, and everyone froze. "Ah, that's better," he said in his thick Chinese accent. Everyone took their seats and opened their books quickly and noiselessly.
Professor Zhao whipped around to write the words 'Thaumaturgy is not obsolete,' on the blackboard.
The professor had a long, thin, black braid which reached below his back, and every day, he tied a different ribbon at the end of it, matching the different silk robes he wore. Sirius wondered if he should grow his hair that long. It would be stressful to manage, though…
"Thaumaturgy is the name we give to the mechanism of wandless magic," said the Professor. "The wizards of old, like the most famous of them all, Merlin, were very efficient in wandless magic. But people felt the need to channel this magic properly, so they invented wands. And after that, there was no need for wandless magic to be researched further, and it was slowly cast aside. You can't forget about it completely though, magic resides inside each and every one of us, whether or not we use wands."
Lily was fascinated by this topic.
"Wow, I thought wands were the reason we could do magic," said Pratap.
"They are just a medium, how else do you explain accidental outbursts of magic from small children?" said the professor, and everyone nodded.
"Oh yeah," said Pratap, and Frank laughed at him.
Lily put up her hand.
"Yes?"
"Why aren't we taught wandless magic at school, professor?" she asked and the professor smiled.
"That's a very good question, Ms. Evans," he said. "That's because magic with wands is quite uncomplicated-"
Some students murmured amongst themselves.
"No, no, I'm not saying wand magic is easy, I'm saying it's uncomplicated. Those who study wandlore know that the wand chooses the wizard, because it's made with elements from other magical living things... wood from wand trees, feathers or hairs from magical creatures, and thus, wands come with their own magic. Combine a wand with an incantation, and the whole process of casting a spell becomes way more efficient. Wandless magic may be more powerful, but in adults, and in children alike, it is often conjured erratically, and sometimes to disastrous results."
"So, it's powerful, but difficult to conjure?" she asked.
"It's not difficult to conjure, but to conjure it in the right amount, for the right thing, and to use it in the proper way... and at the right time, is very, very difficult - because it often requires great emotion behind the act. An emotion that requires not only intensity, but also purity of heart."
Lily nodded.
Then the professor grinned. "Now, your other teachers like Minerva McGonagall or Horace Slughorn, while they may be excellent in their own fields of study, think of this as, as obsolete as the myth of the tooth-worm. But it is not, I assure you."
Some of the students smiled at each other.
"By Long Wang, does no one know the myth of the tooth-worm?!" asked the professor, surprised.
Remus meekly raised his hand.
"Yes, thank you! At least one person knows," said the professor. "Care to enlighten everyone?"
"Well, um…"
"Go ahead," the professor encouraged him.
"Well, this was way before people knew about germs and bacteria… healers in ancient Mesopotamia thought that cavities were caused due to tiny worms that burrowed into your teeth-"
"Oh Godric!" shuddered Mary, and everyone chuckled.
"And once it gets into your gums, your teeth will never be the same again," said Remus, putting on a a dramatic voice and it scared her further.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Mary.
"And do they spread by snogging, Remus?" asked Marlene, and everyone laughed.
"They don't exist!" said Remus in a low voice, blushing a bit, and everyone laughed again.
"Healers in medieval Europe believed it too, because they couldn't explain the holes otherwise, until they discovered bacteria," the professor added. "Anyway, thank you Mr. Lupin, for that piece of trivia, now let us get back to our topic of discussion today. Thaumaturgy hasn't been completely forgotten, only left dormant. A person who practices thaumaturgy is called a thaumaturge. Can anyone name some?"
"How do you know everything?" whispered Sirius. "How is it that he knows everything?" James just shrugged.
"Merlin?" said Claire, and the professor nodded.
"Jesus Christ," said Lily, and everyone laughed at her.
"No, no, don't laugh, she's right," said the professor. "We read of the miracles performed by Him. People worship him as a God. Many wizarding scholars are of the opinion that the technique used by him and his disciples is thaumaturgy 101."
Everyone was surprised.
"Five points to Gryffindor, Ms. Evans," he added and Lily was delighted.
"I thought that was just a myth," Frank muttered.
"Who can name another saint in south Asia, who was also worshipped for the miracles he performed?"
"The Baba of Shirdi," said Pratap excitedly.
"Correct, take another five points," said the professor. "The Baba of Shirdi became so popular, that he earned himself a place on the Hindu pantheon of Gods."
Pratap nodded. "For once, all my extensive knowledge of Hindu mythology actually helped me," he said, and everyone laughed.
The professor laughed too. "What you all must remember about wandless magic and these great saints, is that they were only able to perform these miracles, because they had the purest of hearts, the most honourable of intentions, a zeal to help people, to make lives better for those around them... because they just loved everyone. They loved each and every person unconditionally. And unconditional love can conjure the most powerful magic, which no amount hate can ever shatter."
Everyone was quiet as they digested this information.
"I will just give you the basic concepts today," said Zhao, turning to the blackboard again. "You will only be learning the theory for this topic, there won't be any practicals." Lily looked disappointed. "I have some books on the topic if any of you wanted to do some extra reading though," he added, his long braid swung behind him as wrote forcefully.
"No thank you," said Sirius to his friends.
"Extra reading, why? What fool would borrow those books anyway?" asked James.