A/N: Hello again everyone, welcome back to another chapter. I'm sorry if this seems slow seeing as we're only on the Christmas holidays and over 100K words but we just know so little about The Marauders and Co that my imagination runs a bit wild and I feel it should be quite detailed. I hope you're in it for the long haul!
Sunday 15 December 1976 James let out a deep sigh as they arrived at the doors to Potter Manor. Both his mum and dad had met him at King's Cross and each had enveloped him in a hug as he saw them. They had of course given Sirius a similar hug. Ignoring the looks of disdain from the members of the family's that knew about the Black's disownment of their oldest son and the look of longing that passed so quickly across Regulus' face it was almost impossible to spot, as the younger Black took Kreacher's proffered hand before they disappeared with a crack.
Tizzy had met them at the door and taken their trunks away, James giving her a hug as she welcomed them back. James didn't care what anyone else said, Tizzy was amazing and house elves, with the exception of the Black Family's elf were adorable. James and Sirius looked around, grinning at the Christmas decorations that adorned the walls. Few people knew that Potter Manor was originally a farm that had been bought from a muggle. It had now been in the family for over two hundred years but there was a reason the Potter family was only a Noble House and not a Most Ancient and Noble or even just an Ancient House. What had begun as a simple farmhouse on a large farm had been added to and modified relentlessly until it resembled what it was today- a modest manor with acres of land, including a small forest and a lake, well more of a very large pond. The Potter house had fewer bedrooms than other manors of a similar size due to a rather sad history of Potters not being very fecund, something James was hoping desperately would skip him, when he had kids he didn't want them to be an only child like he was, he loved his parents but he'd always wanted siblings. Monty and Euphemia thought that was why he was so attached to Alice and his Marauders.
The tall, double doors leading into Potter Manor were of a warm oak and they opened to a short, well-lit corridor which terminated in an open and airy atrium. On either side of this corridor there were a few discrete doors, one of which led to the kitchen. The floors were flagstones covered in decorative rugs and tall columns supported a second floor balcony that ringed a dome-shaped skylight. The atrium was shaped like a plus sign with corridors leading forward, underneath the glass dome and into another corridor. To the left of the atrium as you walked in from the front door was the ballroom, to the right was a corridor containing the dining room and straight ahead through an arched doorway guarded on either side by marble Gryffins was the more private part of the house, including the living room amongst others.
Fleamont turned to the two boys. He looked better than he had at the beginning of term, he walked taller although he still had to use a walking stick and his face was more lined than it had been and his hands seemed to have gained a few more liver spots.
"As much as I'd love to have a cup of tea snd some biscuits with you two so you can tell us everything that's happened, I know you're desperate to go look at that bike." James and Sirius grinned matching grins, showing Monty just how right he was.
"Go get dressed and go play." Monty told them, they ran off through the living room and upstairs to their rooms to do just that.
"Dinner at 6.30!" Euphemia called after them. "Do not be late!" She sighed in exasperation at their muffled replies. Monty grinned, wrapping an arm around her and planting a kiss in her hair.
"More tea and biscuits for us, dear." He said lightly and they made their way into their comfortable living room which had a roaring fire in the grate, and helped themselves to tea and some of Tizzy's delicious home made biscuits.
James and Sirius quickly chucked on some old muggle clothes, they were anticipating fixing the bike to be dirty work. James put on some jeans, an old quidditch t-shirt, a jumper, a coat and a cloak along with a warm pair of boots it was a cold December afternoon after all. They went out the back door, walking quickly down the gravel path. The bike was in the old dog house. James' great grandfather used to keep and breed dogs, a tradition his son had never taken to, and something James was slightly bitter about. He had always loved dogs, he'd actually been expecting his animagus form to be a canine, although he did love Prongs. Another ancestor had actually kept horses too with the stables being opposite the old dog house across a gravel courtyard.
James shouldered open the heavy door into the old dog house, the modified gas lamps in the room lighting up as they recognised James' magical signature, revealing the most beautiful thing either boy had ever seen.
"A Triumph Bonneville T140." Sirius said in awe. "She's not even that old Prongs." The wheels and handlebars lay in a pile on top of a frame, the engine was next to it along with some other fiddly bits of the bike. The two teens crouched next to the fantastic muggle feat of magic, running their hands reverently over the frigid metal. There was also a box with several books and manuals and a brand new muggle toolbox.
"We are not messing this up James." Sirius said gravely pulling the box with the manuals towards him after tearing his eyes away from the motorbike. "We are reading all of these, before we even think about touching her." James could only agree, although he did think it was funny how serious Sirius was.
And so it went, they pored over the books, examining various tools and parts of the bike. Sirius used his trace-free wand to light a fire in the wood burning stove in the room. Their breath misting in the cold air of the old dog house in the hours before dinner, proposing various ideas on how they were going to make it fly and what all the bits and bobs on the floor around them could possibly be for. 6.30 came too fast for both boys and they rushed back up to house.
James, Sirius, Monty and Euphemia settled around the dinner table. Like the other rooms in the house, it was cheerily decorated for Christmas. The dining room was a well-lit room with a blazing fire and a decorative chandelier hanging over the rectangular table. At the table there was room for at least 10 but it was only set for the four of them. All of them foregoing the seat at the head of the table. James instead, sitting next to his mum whilst Monty settled in next to Sirius. Tizzy was treating them to a three course meal with a starter of hearty winter soup served with crusty, still-warm bread. A main course of a sausage casserole also served with bread and a bottle of wine shared by all and finally a dessert of rhubarb crumble with fresh cream and a cup of tea. Throughout the meal the foursome chattered away about death eaters, about quidditch, about classes, about anything and everything. James could feel himself relaxing, he hadn't realised the tension he'd been feeling at Hogwarts. Sixth year was hard enough anyway preparing for NEWT's but coupled with the clashes between purebloods and muggle borns and blood traitors it was getting worse. Nothing had outright started yet but James had a horrible feeling it was only a matter of time. After dessert they retired to the living room with hot chocolate provided by Tizzy. Sirius and Monty were having a chat about quidditch across the coffee table while James and Euphemia sipped their hot chocolate quietly on the sofa.
James set his empty mug down, leaning his head on his mum's shoulder. Euphemia ran a hand through his hair fondly. James had done this ever since he was a toddler whether Euphemia was reading a book or going through an auror report James would find her, sit next to her and rest his head on her shoulder, absent-mindedly reading whatever she was going through as one hand attempted to order his ever-messy hair. They sat in silence for a few moments.
"I apologised to Snape the other day." James said suddenly, his voice quiet, he hadn't mentioned his encounter with Snape to any of the marauders, not wanting them to think he was 'putting himself on a pedestal' or trying to brag about it.
"You did?" Said Euphemia, shifting slightly so she could look at her son.
"He didn't accept it. He seemed to think I was being condescending or trying to put myself in a better light at his expense." James frowned. "I'm still not 100% sure what he was trying to say."
Euphemia smiled, squeezing his hand between both of her own. "I'm proud of you Jimbo."
James sighed. "You shouldn't be. I should never have treated anyone like that and be needing to apologise in the first place."
"Well you've done the right thing now." Euphemia said, resting her own head on top of James'. "How's Lily?" She asked, seeking to lighten the conversation, giving him a teasing poke in the side.
"Yeah, good, as far as I know." James replied. "We're friends now, we've had a few spats but I think it's going well."
"Do you still like her?" Euphemia asked tentatively.
"Of course I do." He replied quietly. "She's amazing." The familiar pang shot through James, he was fairly sure he would never even look at anyone else other than Lily, ever.
"But you're not going to ask her out?" James shook his head, well as much as he could still leaning on her shoulder.
"She had a horrible experience with some dickhead in the year above. I wouldn't be surprised if she never considered any other guy while she's still at Hogwarts."
"Is she OK?" Asked Euphemia she had gotten on well with the girl and in letters James had only said that he had gotten a week's worth of detention and lost a bunch of points for a very good cause to do with someone being horrible to Lily.
"Yeah I think she is now. The douchebag left the school but it was a little touch and go for a while." Silence reigned for a few moments before James spoke again.
"I asked her out for practically a whole year and she said no every time. I like being her friend but I'm not going to try and start anything." Mother and son stared into the fire.
"I added her to the list for the Potter ball on Christmas Eve." Euphemia announced. James startled sitting up to look at her.
"You did what?" Euphemia smiled benignly back at him. James ran his hands through his hair. "Are you not worried about inviting her in the current political climate?" He asked voice laced with worry.
"You're worried about how it'll look?" Euphemia asked, her eyebrows knitting together.
"Merlin, mum." Said James. "No. I don't care about her blood status. But you know as well as I do, some people we invite do. What if someone tried something?" The annual Christmas Eve Potter Ball was a well attended event in the influential circles of Wizarding Britain. The Potters were a well known 'light' family and thus invited the other 'light' members of the Wizengamot and other important groups. The Meadowes, Longbottom, Dearborn and Bones families made up the key members of the faction with each family having their own allies with lesser light families or some of the better 'grey' families. For instance Monty had become allies with the Greengrass patriarch- Silas Greengrass and the families supported each other. They were traditionally Slytherins but they didn't have the same attitude to blood purity that people like the Blacks or Malfoys had. The Greengrasses respected tradition and heritage but weren't about to spit on a muggleborn just for existing. Usually James would feel at ease with introducing a muggleborn into the usual Potter Ball crowd but with the way things had been feeling recently he didn't know if people were swapping sides, turning a blind eye or standing firm and it made him nervous.
"Or you're not inviting her to make a statement or something, are you?" James asked.
"James Fleamont Potter." Scolded Euphemia indignantly. "I would not stoop so low as to invite the lovely Lily to make a statement." James shrank back. "She is invited because she is your friend, one of Alice's closest friends and I like her. If anyone tries anything they shall be swiftly escorted off our property, never to return again." James sighed again. "You'll escort her James, and Alice can give her a quick crash course on the do's and don'ts." James ran both hands through his hair, his heart thudding in a strange mix of excitement and terror over escorting Lily to a ball. If she'd even let him. He'd have to write her a letter to let her know he wasn't doing it to hit on her but to make it easier for her. What idiot would insult a witch on the arm of the Potter Heir at the Potter Ball after all?
And write to her James did and Lily replied and James replied to her reply and to somewhat both of their surprise they corresponded regularly. Their letters were light and humorous, Lily would ask him questions about pureblood traditions and other wizarding cultural questions to which James would reply in his sarcastic little way. In fact the marauders and Lily and the girls, excluding Marlene who had said it would be too difficult to come and meet up with them from her muggle home in Ireland, all agreed to meet up for a foray into muggle London in a few days. The Potters and Sirius were going to tie it in with a trip to St. Mungo's to visit Cassian who was still in a coma, it had been four months with little to no change. Cassian was a dear friend to Fleamont, despite being a few years younger and not a week had gone by when Fleamont and Euphemia hadn't gone to see Cassian in hospital and Dorothy at home.
Friday 20th December 1976 Monty straightened up his robes as he analysed his reflection in the mirror in the bedroom he shared with his wife in the manor. He had just finished making his hair presentable, curse the Potters and their hereditary messy hair he thought wryly. He made more of an effort with his hair than his son was wont to do, but it still required liberal amounts of his own Sleakeazy potion to turn his thick head of hair into a respectable style. He'd created that potion for a reason- his own hair had been the test subject for his various concoctions. He poked at his lined face with a sigh. Merlin, he looked old. Fleamont knew he was old, but that didn't mean he liked it, the war with Grindelwald and birth and subsequent childhood of his son had turned all his hair grey and the current political situation and the upstart 'Lord' Voldemort was taking its toll on his face. He'd lost enough of his friends and family to Grindelwald and the unintended side effects of the muggles and their weapons in the 40's and did not want to lose anymore. He was brought out of his morose thoughts as his son poked his messy head around the door.
"Ready to go, Dad? Mum and Sirius are downstairs." Monty smiled, James was a handful and a huge pain in the arse a lot of the time but Monty loved his son more than anything and he was shaping up to be an excellent Head of the House of Potter when Monty's time came. He'd been teaching James, preparing him to take over ever since he was a child and as James was getting closer to 17 Monty was looking forward to sharing with him the bits he hadn't been able to share so far. He nodded to his son, grabbed his walking stick from where it rested next to the mirror and, clapping his son on the shoulder and ignoring the creaks and aches of his bones followed him down the stairs.
James quietly walked into the sterile hospital room. He hated hospitals, they made him anxious, he wrapped Dorothy in a strong hug. The blue-eyed woman seemed to have aged twenty years since the Quidditch World Cup in summer when this had all happened, but she still stood tall and proud, she was a Meadowes after all. Tobias and Dorcas were also there. Tobias had 10 days of holiday planned from his Hit Wizard training and greeted James warmly, pulling his in for a hug. Greetings were exchanged by all before James spoke.
"How's he doing?" He gazed down at Cassian. The once burly man had lost most of his muscle, his dark brown hair flecked with grey and he seemed very small in the hospital bed.
Dorothy sighed. "His vitals are good and stable but his magical core is very low, it has been since it happened."
"He should be all set to wake up any day now." Said Dorcas her glistening eyes looking grieved. "He just won't." Tobias wrapped an arm over his little sister's shoulders, tugging her to him as she cleared her throat, struggling to keep her composure. They chatted, James' mum and dad doing their best to bring some levity to the sad room, it seemed to work because half an hour or so later Dorcas was leaving with James and Sirius to meet their group on the muggle side of St. Mungo's where they would begin their pre-planned shopping trip in London.
Lily found herself walking next to Dorcas, she was preoccupied but that was understandable having just come from seeing her comatose father. Lily had tried to engage Dorcas in conversation a few times but upon receiving one word answers decided to let her friend stew for now, her and Alice could double team her once they got to the main shopping area they were headed towards. In the silence Lily's thoughts turned to Marlene, her blonde friend lived in Donegal in Ireland but very close to the border with Northern Ireland and for years the tensions between the British, loyalist Protestants and the nationalist Catholics had been brewing and sparking. Neighbour fighting neighbour over whether a united (catholic) Ireland was better or a British ruled (protestant) Northern Ireland was better. Marlene had catholic family and her own uncle who lived in Derry had been shot dead on Bloody Sunday four years prior. Alice and Dorcas didn't know much about the situation, but Lily also being a muggleborn had been privy to news coverage about it for years and they had spent many an evening talking it over and even though Marlene had tried to explain the convoluted conflict to Lily several times, she still got confused. Lily couldn't imagine how Marlene must feel with both halves of her world in conflict, and being a catholic muggleborn- Marlene was on an aggrieved side in both and since the summer she'd been worried that her little brother Oisín was getting involved with some locals who were in the Irish Republican Army. Lily suspected that was why she was staying at home this holiday.
She was jolted from her thoughts as Sirius struck up a conversation with her, he was telling her about the gorgeous bike him and James were studying/fixing. As expected he was decked out in full muggle clothes, he was looking a bit like a Teddy Boy today with a pair of tight trousers, a colourful scarf and a thick military coat buttoned over the top. Lilly smiled to herself, if you'd told her this time last year she would be having a friendly conversation with Sirius Black whilst her and her friends walked with them into muggle London for a shopping trip she would've died laughing. But people grew up, she knew enough to know Sirius had been through hell in his family's house and that changed a person. Plus, they'd all been through a crazy event over summer and it had pushed them together, but she didn't actually mind because James and Sirius, the two main boys she had had problems with had effectively shown her that they were growing up and they weren't the cocky, annoying rowdy kids they'd once been. Well, most of the time at least. James soon joined in and they discussed the pros and cons of different charms to use to get it to fly.
"You realise that you can't just take off into the air on a motorbike, though?" Lily said to the two teens. "And that you'd have to fly it high enough that muggles won't be able to see it clearly. Which brings up a whole host of breathing problems and temperature control too, once you get high enough."
"Well what if it was invisible?" Asked Sirius.
"You'd have to be invisible as well, otherwise people will get even more freaked out at seeing someone seemingly floating." Came Lily's reply. Everyone else was listening to their conversation now, as well, with Dorcas coming back to earth to watch the discussion with the beginnings of a small smile.
"Or." Chimed in James. "You could use a few notice me not charms, maybe some mild wards encouraging people to not think too hard about a potentially flying motorbike." Lily opened her mouth to counter-argue before snapping it shut.
"Brilliant Prongs!" Said Sirius enthusiastically.
Lily smiled. "That actually would work pretty nicely if you could pull it off." James grinned victoriously.
"Do you doubt us, Red?" James said, spreading his hands with a smirk. "We're Marauders." Lily rolled her eyes, but the smile remained on her face, if she was honest from what she'd seen this year from James and his friends, from Sirius' party to their much less aggressive pranks (much to Lily and the other prefect's relief after the events of last year) and their skills in martial magic in their training sessions. She could honestly say she didn't doubt them. And for once his confidence didn't infuriate her. A flying motorbike was pretty cool after all.
The group wandered through the shops and it was nice to feel like a normal teenager. Alice and Dorcas were good at acting normal among muggles and James and Sirius were thriving. Lily, Remus and Peter had grown up either among muggles or venturing among them so they had no issues. James insisted on buying Dorcas a muggle jump suit she was admiring in a window as an early birthday present. Dorcas was turning 17 in two days, Sirius bought her a pair of platform shoes to go with them, handing them to her with a wink saying it was better than the previous idea he was toying with which had been a new beater bat for his co-beater. Feeling the pressure, Peter bought her lunch, complete with Dorcas' all time favourite- a Bakewell tart. Whilst Remus found a hamper of Cadbury's chocolate. Remus also bought some chocolate for himself, insisting to Dorcas that he could not think of a better present for anyone than Cadbury's. Lily and Alice smiled as the boys plied her with banter and gifts. Their tall friend now successfully out of her funk. It was a good afternoon and after a few hours they returned to St Mungo's where Alice and Lily would floo to Alice's house where Alice's dad would apparate Lily back home. Although the redhead had got the knight bus down to London she preferred to limit her knight bus travels to once a day, she wasn't sure her stomach could take another trip. Remus and Peter would floo back to their respective homes and Dorcas and James and Sirius would meet with their families to head back home. All seven students were looking forward to apparition lessons come the new year, it certainly made getting around a lot easier.
Monday 23rd December 1976 Lily sighed as her sister's willowy form disappeared up the stairs to her room. Things had been awkward between her and Petunia since Lily had come home. Her sister hadn't reverted back to her old mean self before the summer but she had distanced herself once again. The rapport that Lily had carefully cultivated between them over summer has disappeared and once Lilly had let slip in front of Petunia that she had been invited to the Ball James Potter's family were throwing tomorrow night Petunia had gone dangerously silent and with a furious glare at Lily had stalked up to her room, leaving Lily sat at the kitchen table, on the verge of bursting into sad, frustrated tears. Lily dropped her head into her hands as her dad took a seat next to his youngest daughter.
"Everything I do makes her hate me." Lily said, her voice cracking. Harold Evans wrapped an arm around her back, sitting next to her and giving her a squeeze. Rose looked on sorrowfully, clutching a cup of tea.
"I've already told James I'd go, I can send Athena to him and say I can't." As if on cue Lily's grey owl whom she had named Athena after the Greek Goddess fluttered into the kitchen, rubbing her head against her owner's cheek.
"Honey, you don't have to do that." Rose said.
"I really thought we were moving forward." Lily said, the tears starting to trickle down her cheeks before they were wiped away. "But instead, I come home from the holidays and she's seeing her boyfriend every day, and has seen every day since she started her job, while I barely get to see her and haven't since September."
"She's just in love, sweetheart." Harold said, only a trace of his distaste for Vernon Dursley seeping into his voice. His wife shot him a look.
"I haven't even met the guy!" Lily sobbed in frustration. "Not once has she offered to introduce us, not even when I practically beg her to let me come with when she goes to see him."
"I think she's just worried something will be let slip that would scare him away. He has no idea about magic, Lily." Rose said gently, running a hand through her daughter's hair.
"He's very… normal." Dr. Evans said, trying to think of a better word to describe Petunia's broad, blustering boyfriend. Harold hadn't known what to expect when Petunia wouldn't stop going on about her new beau, but the tall, muscled drill salesman had taken him by surprise. Vernon Dursley was not a handsome man but he was built like a bloody rugby player, his width twice that of Petunia's and probably one and a half Harold Evanses. He seemed ok to start before his snobbish tendencies made an appearance. He had a superior attitude that Tuney drunk up, since she was a little girl Petunia had dreamt of a rich prince coming to sweep her off her feet, look after her and bring back the bread whilst Petunia mingled with the Lords and Ladies of a court. So, incredibly different to her sister. Vernon, as much as Harold wasn't keen on him, made Petunia happy, and that was all that mattered.
"I would never!" Lily cried, removing her hands to look at her mum, who felt her own throat get tight at the terribly sad look on Lily's face as tears tracked through her freckles and down her cheeks. "I would make up a whole bloody alter ego if it made her happy. I'm a muggle too, not just a witch, I know what I can and cannot say." Lily sniffed as she buried her face in her hands again, more sobs forcing their way out of her throat. Rose and Harold shared matching, sad looks.
"We know sweetheart." Rose said, rubbing Lily's back. "But Petunia wants to marry him, she's just scared and when she's scared she gets angry."
"And then I just had to get invited to a ball. Tuney would love to go to a real life ball and now I can and she can't. Just like everything else." Harold drew Lily into his chest, making her sob even harder. Lily thought she had been holding herself together, but just like when you're trying to hold back tears and someone asks you how you are and it just makes you want to cry harder. As soon as her dad's arms wrapped around her she cried even more broken heartedly. She cried at the distance between her and her big sister, at being attacked by Brendan and having to discuss with her parents what had happened when McGonagall had sent a letter home saying Lily had been assaulted by another student. She cried at how awful some people in the wizarding world were, and how one of her best friends had had to deal with her father being put in a coma, and how her and her friends had taken it upon themselves to learn how to fight because they knew it was only going to get worse, she cried because she should have been having a fun, normal time at school. She cried because she was just 16 and didn't want to deal with all this. Her father held her as her tears soaked through his knitted jumper and began to wet his shirt, he shared a look with his wife who made another cup of tea for her oldest daughter, grabbing the comforting beverage as she went up to talk to Tuney.
Petunia sat in front of her vanity, turning on her radio to drown out the sobs of Lily that echoed from the kitchen before looking at her pale reflection and beginning to try and convince herself that she shouldn't feel guilty for her sister's tears, her sister was a freak who seemed to keep getting rewarded for her abnormality. Petunia didn't have to associate with that, she had Vernon, he was normal and steady as a rock, he didn't condone anything different from the norm at all and he was right to. Petunia's head was in her hands as she repeated that to herself.
A/N: Some more Lily and Petunia interactions here, we also see Euphemia and Fleamont again- two characters I have surprisingly enjoyed writing. We don't know very much about the Potter Family Tree but I believe in canon James' parents actually are Fleamont and Euphemia. I've also brought in the Troubles (the conflict in Northern Ireland) using Marlene as an excuse because this is a really big thing that still affects the island of Ireland today. Me and my family are northern irish and my parents were affected by this but I often find barely anyone in the UK that isn't irish/northern irish know about it, so I think it could play an interesting part in Marlene's story. As always, I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review on your thoughts about the characters or the story, or have you guys heard about the troubles? Or just if you're enjoying it, and please favourite or follow to keep up. Thanks :)