Monday 5th June
For at least a month Remus had been feeling as though a kaleidoscope of butterflies had taken up residence inside his stomach, and the closer they got to the end-of-year exams, the more energetic the butterflies became. His entire future rested on the results. Without passes in at least four subjects he wouldn't be able to continue at school, and it was hard enough for a werewolf to find work, never mind an uneducated one. So, when they received the exam timetable at breakfast on Monday morning, he let out a groan at the sight of Monday, 8:30 am, Potions, Practical and Written combined. He'd been hoping to make up for his poor practical grade with the written part of the test, but that would be impossible now. There was no way he could concentrate with all the fumes in the air.
The exam went as badly as he'd predicted. He got the potion started okay, but his head was swimming within five minutes and while trying to focus on answering the questions, he'd forgotten to keep a watch on his timer. His cauldron let out an ear-splitting shriek before the contents combusted. Within seconds, all that was left of his swelling solution was ash.
Things vastly improved from there, however. He was fairly sure he would get top marks on his Charms paper, and on Tuesday morning he completed his Transfiguration practical without a hitch, performing all five of Professor McGonagall's requests perfectly. Tuesday afternoon was spent in Greenhouse one, drawing and annotating each of the plants they'd studied that year and writing a paragraph for each summarising their care and usage. It was unbearably hot, and they were all glad to leave when it was over, but he felt he'd done well.
The Charms practical on Wednesday morning was the best exam by far. Professor Flitwick had set up an obstacle course which required all the spells they'd learned to complete it. The course was timed and their final grade depended on how quickly they reached the end.
So they were all in good moods when they grabbed some food from the Hall and retreated to their cave to complete the last step of the Spectral Essence. Even Peter had completed the Charms course in a decent time, earning himself an E.
Remus watched from the entrance to the tent as Sirius added the thestral hairs to the brew, before Peter took over to stir.
'We'll be done in time for the Astronomy exam, right?' Remus asked when Sirius joined him on his long-distance vigil.
'Yeah, this part will only take about an hour,' Sirius said, keeping his voice quiet so he wouldn't interrupt Peter's counting. 'Do you want to go inside? It's James' turn to stir next.'
Remus nodded, and they entered the tent, climbing onto one of the beds. Remus settled himself into the crook of Sirius' arm and laid his head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
'Only two more weeks. Do you think you're ready?' Sirius asked him.
Remus tilted his head to look up at him and smiled. 'Thanks to you.'
'You did all the work. I just sat there and let you feel me up.'
Remus snorted and smacked him on his stomach. 'Behave.'
'Never,' Sirius said, winking at him.
'What about you?' Remus asked. 'Are you ready?'
He heard Sirius' heart speed up at the question. 'No.'
Remus squeezed his hand. 'It's just a few weeks and then you'll be back here with us.'
Sirius held him tighter, as if he never wanted to let go. 'I know,' he whispered. 'That's the only thing keeping me together.'
'Is it going to be that bad?' Remus' heart clenched at the fear in Sirius' voice.
Sirius glanced at him, and his face cleared, breaking into his trademark grin. 'What? No. It'll be fine. She'll probably send me to my room for the summer. It's going to be boring as hell without you guys.'
Remus didn't feel all that reassured. But he was prevented from questioning Sirius further by Peter entering the tent.
He took one look at them on the bed and raised an eyebrow. 'How do I get in on this cuddlefest?'
Sirius chuckled and lifted his free arm. 'Get over here.'
'James'll need you to take over for him in ten minutes,' Peter said as he joined them.
'Ah, James and his weak little arms,' Sirius said. 'No staying power, that one.'
Sirius, James and Peter continued to take turns stirring the potion through the final hour of brewing, switching out whenever their arm began to ache, and at four minutes past two, on the afternoon of June 7th 1972, the potion was finished.
Peter filled eight vials and handed them out with a grin, passing two to each of them. 'We did it.'
'Not quite,' Remus said. 'We still have to complete the rest of the task.'
'Pfft. That'll be a breeze,' James said. 'Let's go through the door now, get the flag, and then we can hang it after the exam tonight.'
'Shouldn't we clear away our stuff first?' Remus asked, looking around at the mess.
'We should at least bottle the rest of the potion,' Peter said. 'In case we need to get through the door again.'
James, reluctantly, agreed, and Peter bottled the rest of the potion, while James, Remus and Sirius gave the cave a quick tidy up, but they left the tent where it was. They might need it again for future projects. It took thirty minutes to reach the plain, handleless, black door on the sixth floor, and when they finally stood outside, James turned to face them.
'This is it,' he said. 'Is everyone ready?'
Sirius grinned. 'I was born ready.'
'I'm just hoping you all made this right,' Remus said, rolling his eyes at Sirius over-enthusiasm.
'Of course, I made it right,' Peter said. 'But you can go first, James.'
'Oh hell no,' James said. 'We all go together, cheers.'
James stuck out his hand, holding his first dose of the potion, and Remus, Sirius and Peter clinked theirs against it, before shooting each other one more glance and downing the contents.
It tasted revolting, and they all gagged after swallowing. Remus' body felt fuzzy, like it was melting — or becoming a gas? He looked down at himself and gasped. He was translucent. Not like when Madam Pomfrey disillusioned him, but like Peeves. He looked like a poltergeist.
'Cool,' Sirius said next to him.
Remus looked back up to see James, Sirius, and Peter were all examining their own translucent bodies with interest.
'Weird,' Remus said.
'So this is what it'd be like to be a ghost,' James said. 'It's kind of tempting.'
'We should get a move on,' Peter said. 'It only lasts two minutes.'
'Oh, good point,' James said, spinning around. 'Let's do this.'
And with that, he marched straight through the door. Sirius shrugged and followed him.
Remus glanced at Peter. He looked nervous, so he offered him his hand. 'Together?'
Peter nodded and took his hand—which felt solid in Remus' own non-corporeal hand—and together they stepped through the door. The sensation was strange, like the opposite of passing through water, and Remus couldn't help his gasp. But it was over in a second and they were inside a windowless, but well-lit and spacious room.
There were two desks pushed up against one wall, loose sheets of parchment covering their surfaces like a blanket. A brewing station took up the entire wall opposite them, complete with storage for ingredients and finished potions. The other two walls held huge blackboards displaying notes and diagrams with very little unused space remaining to add more.
'What the hell?' Remus said, looking around.
James did that thing where he bounces so fast he seems to be vibrating. 'Don't you see? It's a base of operations. This is going to be ours!'
'Only if we find the flag,' Sirius said. 'I don't see it.'
'Didn't think it would be that easy, did you?' James asked with a devilish grin.
They waited until the potion had worn off and they were solid once more before beginning the search. Remus and Peter took a desk each, while James and Sirius rooted through the potion storage, but they all came up empty.
'Where else could it be?' James asked.
Peter bent down and checked the underside of the desks. 'Nope.'
'Behind one of the blackboards?' Remus suggested.
Sirius and James worked together to lift one of the heavy blackboards off the wall, and Remus and Peter moved behind it to inspect the back, but there was nothing there.
'Damn, I was hoping we wouldn't have to do the other one,' James said, grunting under the strain.
They finally found the flag spellotaped to the back of the second blackboard, and Remus tucked it into his pocket, before pulling out his second vial of potion.
'Ready to go?'
The astronomy exam was a piece of piss. Complete a star chart of the current night sky; Sirius could have done it in his sleep. But it was finally over and he was hanging back with the other Marauders, waiting for everyone else to head out of the door. Once the room had emptied, they followed the crowd to the top of the stairs, and, when they were certain no-one was looking, they crowded together and draped the cloak over themselves. So far, so good. They continued to follow the chattering students down the stairs, but slipped off when they reached the fifth floor, closing the stairwell door behind them.
Alone, they removed the cloak and James strolled over to the tapestry of the solar system hanging on the wall, pulling it back to reveal the secret passage, and his Nimbus 1200 they'd stashed there earlier.
James grabbed the broom and turned around. 'You have the flag, Remus?'
Remus folded material from his bag and passed it to James.
'Which one of you is coming with me then?'
Sirius grinned. 'Me, naturally.'
James mounted the broom and grinned back at him. 'Then let's go.'
Sirius climbed onto the broom behind James, took the flag, and wrapped his arms around his waist. James pushed off gently, so they only rose a couple of feet and hovered in mid-air.
'Back soon,' he said to Remus and Peter, before leaning forward and accelerating at top speed out of the window.
Sirius barked out a laugh at the sudden burst of speed and held on tighter as James soared into the sky.
'We have a job to do, James,' he shouted over the sound of rushing air in his ears.
'Yeah, but why not have a little fun while we're at it, right?'
Sirius could see his point. It was a clear night, and the stars looked beautiful. The air was cool, which was welcome after the heat of the day, and flying was always exhilarating. But his head felt heavy with fatigue and his bed was calling to him.
'I think that's enough fun now,' he said after letting James zoom around for a minute or two to get it out of his system. 'It would suck if we got caught now and failed the test.'
As Sirius had hoped, that caught James' attention.
'Yeah, you're right. That would really suck.'
James turned the broom, so it was pointing at the top of the Astronomy Tower and accelerated, pulling to a sharp stop at the spire. Sirius unrolled the flag. And then it occurred to him they had a problem.
'Er, James? How're we going to attach it?'
'I was wondering when you'd think of that,' James said. He let go of the broom with one hand and reached into his pocket, pulling something out and handing it to Sirius.
'Pinched it from the den when we were looking for the flag,' he said by way of explanation.
It was a small vial of sticking solution, perfect.
'You are brilliant, mate,' Sirius said with a chuckle.
James messed up his already appalling hair and shot a cocky grin over his shoulder. 'I know.'
Sirius gripped the broom with his thighs as he applied the sticking solution to the flagpole. And when he leant out to press it against the spire, James held onto his arm to keep him from falling. It was both terrifying and the most fun he'd had in his life.
They returned to the fifth floor, soaring in through the window victorious, and it was a wonder any of them got any sleep, with them all so high on joy after completing the task. It had taken five long months, but they'd done it.
The next morning, the Marauders watched with amusement as small crowds of students congregated in the courtyard after breakfast, staring up at the top of the Astronomy Tower, muttering and giggling to each other.
The flag was huge. In fact, Sirius was certain it had grown since he stuck it up there, because it definitely wasn't that big last night. It was so large the motif could easily be seen from the ground.
On a background of red, green, yellow, and blue, the words Mischief Makers Rule this School were written in bold black letters.
It was still there when they arrived for lunch after their written Defence exam—Sirius was fairly sure he'd aced the question on werewolves—but the flag was removed at some point during the afternoon, because when they left the greenhouse after their Herbology practical, it was gone.
They weren't sure how the Chiefs of Raucous Revelry would contact them, but they assumed they must have access to Gryffindor Tower to have left the letter on Christmas day, so after dinner they returned to their dorm to wait.
At seven-thirty there was a knock on the door and they all looked up from their game of exploding snap and glanced at each other, grinning.
James got up to answer the knock and Sirius, Remus and Peter stood up, facing the door in a line.
James pulled the door open to find Gideon and Fabian Prewett standing on the other side.
'I knew it!' James said. 'Didn't I tell you, Sirius?'
As Sirius remembered it, James had actually suspected the twins of being the Hogwarts Marauder, before they found out it was their very own roommate, but he decided not say so.
'Are you going to let them in, or just leave them standing in the doorway?'
James laughed and stepped out of the way. 'Right, yeah. Come in.'
The twins waited until James had closed the door before grinning wickedly.
'Congratulations, Marauders,' Fabian said. 'We never expected you to actually do it.'
Gideon nodded. 'Just wanted to see how far you would get with that ridiculous potion before you gave up.'
'Boy, did you prove us wrong,' Fabian said, laughing. 'Where on earth did you get centaur hair?'
James shrugged like it was nothing. 'Made a sacred bond with the second in command of the herd in the forest.'
'During the Creature Hunt,' Sirius added. 'You're telling me we wasted all our free time for five months for nothing?'
The twins looked at each other and shrugged. 'Pretty much,' they said in unison.
'Unbelievable,' Sirius said, laughing. 'Devious as hell. And kind of brilliant.'
'So there's no legacy?' James asked, looking disappointed.
Fabian shook his head. 'Oh no, there's a legacy.'
'It was just already yours,' Gideon said. 'We picked you at Christmas after that awesome party you organised.'
'But we needed to be sure you weren't the type to quit easily when things got hard,' Fabian said. 'This job's a lot of fun, but it's a lot of work too.'
'We can handle it,' James said, puffing out his chest.
'We know you can,' Fabian said. 'You've proven that. There's a lot to talk about, though. Can we sit?'
'Sure,' James said, waving them towards Sirius' bed. The Marauders all perched on the edge of Remus' bed, facing the twins.
'No one knows how it began, but we do know this job has been passed down from generation to generation for several hundred years, and there are a few traditions that go along with it, which we'll explain in a moment,' Fabian said. 'But your most important task is organising the Hogwarts annual games. And they must continue every year until such time as a game is discovered by the staff and measures put in place to prevent it.'
'But you can invent new games and add to the traditions if you want to,' Gideon said.
'Yes, I was getting to that, Gid.'
'Well, sorry, Fab. But you're taking forever. Get to the good stuff already.'
Fabian rolled his eyes at his brother. 'Must you always be so impatient? We have to tell them everything first.'
'Fine, just hurry up.'
'As I was saying,' Fabian said, turning his attention back to the Marauders. 'Your main job is organising the games. Second to that, but almost as important, is keeping a record of everything you do for the next generation.' Fabian reached into his bag and pulled out a horrendously thick book, bound in red dragonskin with gold lettering across the front spelling out the words Mischief Makers' Journal. 'This is for you.'
Remus reached out and took the book, and being the nerd he is, immediately opened it and flicked through the pages. They were covered in notes and diagrams, similar to the ones they'd seen in the Den, and Sirius noticed the handwriting improved the closer he got to the back.
'This will help you get started,' Fabian said. 'And, of course, the room behind the black door is yours to use from September. It's completely secure, so don't worry about anyone breaking in.' He laughed. 'Unless someone else brews the Spectral Essence, but that seems unlikely.'
'Is there a way to access the room without the potion?' James asked.
Gideon grinned and rubbed his hands together. 'I'm glad you asked. It's finally time for the fun stuff. You have one more duty as Chiefs of Entertainment, you must create your own legacy to pass down to the next generation, and this is our gift to you.' He pulled a small mokeskin pouch from his pocket and handed it to James.
After a brief glance at the others, James pulled the top of the bag open and reached inside, pulling out a small penknife with several attachments.
'Cool, thanks.' James said with forced enthusiasm. 'But how's this going to help us get through the door?'
'Years of craftsmanship went into that knife,' Fabian said. 'It unlocks any door and unties any knot. Including the black door.'
'Awesome!' James said, sounding much more genuine in his excitement now.
'And we have to make something like that?' Sirius asked. They had made some pretty cool things already, but the knife was way out of their league.
'Don't panic,' Gideon said. 'You'll get so much practice organising the games, you'll be well up to the task in a few years. We didn't think we could do it either, back when we were twelve.'
That did make Sirius feel better, and he felt a thrill of excitement. Would they really be able to make something that cool?
'One more bit of business, and we'll leave you in peace,' Fabian said. 'We're organising an all day beach party on Saturday, and we want to introduce you to the school at the end. So you need to decide how you're going to disguise yourselves. We have plenty of polyjuice if you want to go that route, but you'll need some hair from the person you're turning into. Let us know what you decide. Okay?'
'Alright,' Remus said, probably already thinking of options. 'I have a question, though. This is all secret from the staff, but what about the prefects?'
'A good question,' Fabian said, nodding. 'They won't get in your way.'
'How can you be sure?' Sirius asked. 'Most prefects are goody goodies.'
Fabian smirked. 'They can't. As soon as they put on a prefect badge they're hit with a tongue-tying curse that prevents them from speaking or writing about the games. A preventative measure put in place by one of our predecessors when prefects were first introduced to the school.'
Sirius chuckled. 'That must be so frustrating for them.'
'Especially since they don't know it's the badge that caused it,' Fabian agreed, laughing.
Remus sat on the beach, leaning back on his arms, with his knees slightly bent and his bare feet buried in the sand. His shoes and socks were next to him, along with his friends' stuff. The owners were off somewhere playing in the water. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes, enjoying the magical-sun on his face—it felt exactly like the real thing, but without the risk of sunburn.
The beach party was amazing, there were organised games, the house-elves had provided tonnes of refreshments, a stage had been set up and several amateur school bands were taking it in turns to perform, some of them were even pretty good. At that moment, a trio of witches were up there and the lead singer had a beautiful voice, but the song was a little slow for Remus' mood. He wanted something loud and fast to reflect his feelings.
In a week's time, he would board the train at Hogsmeade station and when he got off, his mum would be there. Gods, he was excited. And terrified. But mostly excited. Thanks to Sirius and his incredible patience, he could hug his mum for the first time since he was five, without fear. The only part that scared him was confronting his father about the lie. He didn't know what to expect there at all. Would he make excuses? Pretend he thought it was true? Or would he admit it? Try to defend the lie in some way? Remus wasn't even sure what he would prefer. He was still so angry about it.
'Hi, Remus.'
He opened his eyes to the smiling face of Lily hovering over him.
'Have your friends abandoned you?' she asked, sitting down next to him.
Remus smiled. 'They're in the water. I'm not keen on swimming, though, so I offered to guard their stuff.'
'Well, that's not fair,' Lily said with a frown. 'If you don't enjoy swimming, they should've done something else.'
Remus rolled his eyes. 'You're determined to see them as bad people, aren't you? We've been doing other things all day, and I told them to go swim so I could sit down for a bit.'
'Oh.'
'Where are your friends?'
'I left them over by the stage, so I could talk to you.'
'Looking forward to going home?'
Lily smiled. 'I can't wait. I've missed my mum and dad so much. What about you?'
'Same,' Remus said, although it was only his mum he was excited to see. 'But I'm going to miss it here too.'
'We'll be back before we know it, and we'll be wishing the holidays would hurry up again.'
'Hey, Nerd Boy, did you miss me? Oh, hello, Evans,' Sirius said, appearing out of nowhere, dripping wet and wearing nothing but his swimming trunks. The water droplets clinging to his skin glistened in the sunlight.
'Hello, Black,' Lily said with over-the-top politeness.
Sirius collapsed onto the sand next to Remus. 'I'm knackered.'
'Where's James and Pete?'
Sirius glanced sideways at Lily before answering. 'Still swimming. I needed a break.'
Remus took that to mean they'd gone backstage to take the polyjuice potion ready for their introduction as the new Chiefs of Entertainment. After much discussion Thursday night, they'd decided it'd be best if the school thought there were only two of them. That way they could take it in turns and no-one would notice they were always missing when the Marauders were around. James and Peter had won the lucky dip to see who got to play them today.
'I expect they'll be awhile yet,' Remus said to help cover for their absence. 'James is going to miss this place next year.'
'Maybe we'll find it again.'
'It's pretty unlikely.'
'Not if we walk around saying "Congratulations" everywhere,' Sirius said, laughing.
Remus chuckled. 'You can go ahead and do that, I'm going to carry on having a life, thank you.'
Sirius shoved him in the shoulder. 'Cheeky git.'
'Black!' Lily gasped. 'What the hell?'
'What?' Sirius asked, startled by the anger in her voice.
'Remus doesn't like being touched, surely you know that?'
Sirius looked at Remus with surprise. 'You didn't tell her?'
'Tell me what?'
'He's not scared of it anymore. I helped him get over it.'
'Really?' Lily asked, beaming at Remus. 'Why didn't you tell me?'
Remus shrugged. 'It just never came up.'
Lily gazed at him for a moment, before smiling shyly. 'Can I have a hug?'
'Sure,' Remus said, smiling back at her.
When Remus pulled away, Lily gazed at Sirius through narrowed eyes. 'Maybe you're not so bad after all, Black.'
'Careful, Evans. That was almost a compliment.'
'Students of Hogwarts, if we could have your attention, please.'
Remus looked towards the voice to see the Prewett twins, in their disguises as the Chiefs of Raucous Revelry, had taken control of the stage.
'We should go over,' Sirius said. 'Might be something interesting.'
'Help me with the bags,' Remus said, climbing to his feet and picking up his own bag and Peter's.
'Sure, make me carry James' monstrosity,' Sirius said, picking up the two remaining bags and eyeing James' with distaste.
'I'm telling him you said that.'
Sirius shrugged. 'Go ahead. You think I'm afraid of James?'
'I think it depends what he does in retaliation,' Remus replied with a smirk.
They reached the edge of the crowd in front of the stage then, and Remus moved closer to Sirius; he still felt uncomfortable in large crowds. Sirius brushed his hand against Remus' and hooked their index fingers together, before glancing down at him and winking.
'Thank you,' Chief number one said when everyone had congregated in front of the stage. Remus thought it was probably Fabian, the slightly more serious of the twins. 'We hope you're all enjoying the party.'
The crowd cheered and hollered and the Chiefs both gave a bow.
'We had an ulterior motive for arranging this event,' Chief number two said. 'While it's true that we wanted to help you all relax after the exams, we also need to say goodbye.'
Chief number one nodded. 'We'll be leaving the school for good next weekend, and so it's time to introduce our replacements.'
'You already know of them and you've all enjoyed their work. So please give a warm welcome to your new Entertainers in Chief, The Hogwarts' Marauders!'
The audience went crazy, hooting and hollering as James and Peter walked out onto the stage waving, disguised as a young man with blonde hair, and a slightly chubby man, closer to middle-age with dark brown hair, greying at the temples. Remus wondered which was which.
They'd decided to go with polyjuice potion as it was the simplest and most reliable way of disguising themselves, but coming up with a way to get hair from someone outside of the school in less than two days had been tricky, until they remembered the hats in Dervish and Banges. Sirius and James had made a quick dash into Hogsmeade on Friday afternoon to scour the hats in the shop for left behind hairs. They were successful, but they'd had no idea who they would turn into until they took the potion. All things considered, the results weren't too bad. They were both male, at least.
Remus chuckled when he noticed Lily was clapping and cheering along with everyone else. What would she say if she knew it was James she was cheering for?
'You a fan?' Remus asked her.
'Aren't you? The display they put on for Halloween was brilliant, and the Christmas party was so much fun,' Lily said. 'I bet they organise some fantastic events next year.'
'I'm positive they will,' Remus said, working hard to contain his laughter. James would love this, he thought, exchanging a glance with Sirius.
When the noise died down, the greying middle-aged man spoke. 'We're delighted to have been chosen to take over from the Chiefs of Raucous Revelry, and we won't let you down. You can look forward to some incredible events next year, guaranteed!'
That was probably James. The younger, blonde man looked nervous being the centre of attention, but he spoke next. 'The Chiefs tell us they have one more surprise event planned, and it's been cleared with the staff. So look out for that over the next few days and we'll see you all in September.'
James and Peter left the stage along with the Prewetts to more clapping and cheering, and one of the school bands trooped back out to perform.
Sirius grabbed Remus' hand and tugged. 'Let's go find James and Peter.'
'Alright.' Remus turned to Lily. 'I'll see you later.'
Lily waved him off and Remus followed Sirius out of the beach room.
'They said they'd meet us back in the dorm,' Sirius told him when they reached the landing.
The common room was eerily silent for a Saturday with almost everyone at the party, empty but for a couple of loners taking advantage of the quiet. Remus and Sirius tried not to disturb them as they crossed the room to the stairs, and climbed to their dorm.
'That was brilliant!' James said as they opened the door. Or at least Remus thought it was James. He still looked like a middle-aged man. 'Did you see how much they loved us?'
'Even Evans was cheering for you,' Sirius said with a smirk, nudging Remus with his elbow. 'Tell him what she said.'
'She thinks the Marauders are brilliant,' Remus said, chuckling at the weirdness of seeing James' love-struck expression on the face of an old man. 'She's expecting great things from us next year.'
'Merlin, you've done it now,' Peter said.
James was bouncing on his toes so fast he was vibrating again.
'I'd be careful doing that in that body,' Remus said. 'You might hurt yourself. It's a lot older than yours.'
'She thinks I'm brilliant?' James asked, his voice beyond thrilled.
'No, she thinks the Marauders are brilliant,' Remus corrected.
'But I am a Marauder.'
'She doesn't know that,' Sirius said.
'Doesn't matter. She thinks I'm brilliant. And one day I can tell her it was me all along.'
Remus shared a glance with Sirius and Peter.
'Er… Not until we graduate, though, right?' Remus said.
'What?' James asked. 'Oh, yeah. No, of course. Not until we graduate.'
Remus let out a relieved breath. James could be seriously hard work sometimes.
The next morning, Remus was sipping his morning tea in the Great Hall and considering the possibilities for breakfast when the post arrived and Rieka landed in front of him brandishing a letter. After detaching the scroll from her leg, Remus fed her a piece of bacon and unrolled it.
Hi, sweetheart,
I hope you're having fun in your last week now the exams are over, and I'm sure you're worrying about nothing with your Potions grade.
I'm afraid I won't be able to pick you up from the station on Saturday. I have an appointment that I have to attend and probably won't be back in time to Floo. So your dad is going to collect you.
I can't wait to see you. I've missed you so much.
Lots of love
Mum.
'Mum can't pick me up,' Remus said, rolling the letter back up while he swallowed down his disappointment.
'Ah, that's a shame,' James said. 'Who's coming instead?'
'My dad.'
Sirius turned his head, his silver eyes glinting with mischief. 'Guess we'll just have to put on a show for him instead then.'
'Yeah, it doesn't have to change the plan,' James said. 'Your dad's going to be just as pleased as your mum, right?'
More terrified than pleased, but wasn't that exactly what he wanted? This could actually work in his favour. 'Yeah. No need to change anything,' he agreed.
As Remus reached out to pick his tea-cup back up there was a loud crash and he jumped, whipping his head around to find the source of the noise. The doors to the Great Hall had been violently flung open and a robed figure stood in the doorway wearing an oversized hood that obscured their face. While everyone stared at the mystery person, stunned, they lifted their arm, pointing a wand at the teacher's table. A green light flew from the end, soaring down the length of the hall and hitting Professor McGonagall square in the chest. There was a blinding burst of light and she collapsed onto the table without making a sound.
While the rest of the school were too shocked to react, the Gryffindors moved as one. Rising to their feet with cries of anger, horror and disbelief, they pulled out their wands and prepared to avenge their Head of House, but the robed figure turned and fled the moment their spell hit its target and before the Gryffindors could reach the doors, they slammed closed.
'It was green, did you see?'
'The killing curse.'
'Is she dead?'
Remus caught snatches of conversation among the voices as the students tried to make sense of what had happened. The noise was deafening.
'Silence!' Dumbledore's voice rang through the Hall and the student body quietened down, looking to the Headmaster to help them understand what was happening.
Dumbledore strolled up to the podium in front of the teachers' table, looking far too calm for someone who had just witnessed the murder of his deputy, and waved his wand.
On the wall behind the teachers' table, words appeared in six-foot-high fiery letters.
Welcome to Hogwarts first Murder Mystery Weekend
It took a moment for the realisation to set in that the whole thing was staged and Professor McGonagall was fine, before the Hall erupted into laughter. Professor Dumbledore waited patiently for the noise to die down, and once everyone was quiet again he spoke in a mock-grave tone.
'It would seem there has been a horrible murder. Our very own Professor McGonagall has been brutally slain, and it is up to all of you to find the person responsible for this horrible crime and bring them to justice. You may work in groups of up to ten people. Search the crime scene for clues, scour the school, and question the witnesses who will be waiting in their classrooms for you to ask the right questions.' He gestured towards the teachers, who all stood and filed out of the Hall.
Professor Dumbledore peered sternly at them all over the top of his half-moon spectacles and then smiled brightly. 'There are prizes for the teams that solve the case first, second and third. Have fun, everyone.'
'We are so going to win first prize,' James said, shooting to his feet. 'Come on!'
Remus, Sirius and Peter all shared a glance at James' eagerness to play the game, before following him up to the teachers' table. They weren't the only group heading in that direction, two groups from Slytherin and one each from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were also on the move, many of the students didn't seem interested in playing, and others were trying to organise teams. Halfway down the table, Lily, Marlene, Dorcas and Mary got to their feet.
'Hey, Evans! You want to team up with us?' James called out.
'Honestly, Potter. if you were the last person alive, I'd work alone.'
Sirius slapped James on the back. 'Better luck next time, mate. Hey Evans, bet you a galleon we beat you to the finish.'
Lily tossed her hair over her shoulder and grinned at him. 'You're on, Black. May the best girls win.'
'Why does she like you, and not me?'
'Because I'm charming and you're an ass,' Sirius said with a shrug.
Remus sighed. 'She found out Sirius helped me with my phobia. I think that made a difference.'
They'd reached the teacher's table and James leant over the 'corpse' of Professor McGonagall.
'This is weird,' he said. 'I feel like she's going to sit up and yell at me at any moment.'
Remus was close enough that he could smell the 'body' and it smelled like plastic. 'She'd have a job,' he said, leaning close to James to whisper so the other teams wouldn't hear him. 'That's not McGonagall.'
'How do you know?' James asked, also whispering.
'Look at the skin on her hand,' Remus said, pointing to the hand that had landed in the scrambled eggs. 'It's all smooth and shiny.'
James tugged him away from the 'corpse' so they could speak privately, and Sirius and Peter followed them.
'So if that's not McGonagall, either this is actually a kidnapping, not or murder, or they just switched her out because she didn't want to sit there pretending to be dead while students poked at her,' James said.
'It's probably the second one,' Peter said, 'but we should keep the first possibility in mind when we're asking questions.'
'Let's get out ahead of the pack, shall we,' Sirius said. 'They're all still examining the crime scene.'
'Good idea.' James led the way but stopped when they reached the Entrance Hall. 'Who should we talk to first?'
'She was sitting next to Dumbledore, but he's still in there, and I'm not sure he's even a "witness." Who was on her other side?' Sirius asked.
'Slughorn,' Peter said. 'I was looking at him because I wanted to ask him something about the Potions exam.'
'You've been spending too much time with Remus,' Sirius said.
'Look who's talking,' Peter said. 'I saw you reading that Charms book you bought him last month.'
'Honestly, you all spend too much time with me. Would it be too much to ask to get a minute's peace once in a while?'
James sighed. 'We're losing our head start. Are we going to go talk to Slughorn?'
'Lead the way,' Sirius said.
They arrived outside the Potion's classroom less than five minutes later. They knocked, and entered when Slughorn called, 'come in.'
'Professor Slughorn, we'd like to talk to you about the murder of Professor McGonagall,' James said, putting on an officious voice. 'You were sitting beside her at the dining table, yes?'
Slughorn chuckled at James' acting but nodded. 'I was indeed, Mister Potter, and a terrible thing it was too. Quite terrible.'
'Did you notice anything about the perpetrator that might help us identify them?'
'No.'
'Did you see anything odd about the spell that they shot her with, or its effects on her body?'
'Now you mention it, the green was too pale for a killing curse. It should have been brighter.'
James exchanged a look with the others, before returning to his questioning. 'Do you know anyone who might wish to harm Professor McGonagall?'
'No, but I did see Professor Hawthorne speaking with her yesterday. It seemed like they didn't want to be overheard.'
'Thank you, Professor. You've been very helpful.'
'You're welcome. Good questions, boys. Very good. I think you might have this in the bag,' he said, winking at them.
They left the room quickly and once out in the corridor, James shuddered. 'Gods, that man is slimy.'
'I know, he gives me the creeps,' Sirius said.
'So, Professor Hawthorne, next?' Remus asked. 'Find out what he and McGonagall were discussing?'
They all agreed and as they approached the Defence classroom, Remus caught a faint whiff of a delicious scent in the air. It was familiar, but he couldn't recall where he'd smelt it before. And it was making his stomach growl. Although, that might just be because he hadn't had the chance to eat anything at breakfast.
James pushed the door open, and they stepped inside. The room was empty.
'Weird, he should be here,' Sirius said.
'Maybe he just went to use the toilet or something,' Peter suggested. 'Remus? Where are you going?'
Remus was following the scent in the air towards the back of the room. It was coming from the supply cupboard.
'You think he's hiding in the cupboard?' James asked, jogging over to him.
Remus pulled the cupboard door open and staggered backwards, covering his mouth with his hand.
'Oh wow. That's realistic,' James said. 'Looks like there's been another murder, guys.'
'Remus?' Sirius whispered, coming up beside him. 'What is it?'
'It's not pretend. That's really him,' Remus murmured.
'Shit.' Sirius jogged over to where James and Peter were staring at the mangled remains of their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. His throat had been ripped out and his head was dangling at an unnatural angle, his limbs placed awkwardly where he'd been stuffed into the cupboard.
'Guys, I'm not sure this one is fake,' Sirius said. 'That blood looks too real.'
'Of course it's fake,' James said. 'Who would want to hurt Professor Hawthorne? He's awesome.'
'Damn, they beat us here.'
Remus looked towards the door at the sound of Lily's voice and hurried over to her.
'Don't look, it's horrible.'
'Trying to keep us from beating you, Lupin?' Marlene asked. 'You'll have to do better than that.'
She swept past him and joined the other boys at the supply cupboard. 'Oh Gods, gruesome.'
Remus groaned. Why couldn't any of them see it was real?
'What is it?' Dorcas asked, walking over. 'Oh! Oh, Gods. Guys, I think that's really Professor Hawthorne.'
'Why does everyone keep saying that?' James said. 'It's just a game, for Godric's sake.'
'No, my mum's a doctor,' Dorcas said. 'I know what I'm talking about, That's really him, and we need to get someone.'
Thank Merlin it seemed like they were actually listening now. James ran to get Slughorn and Sirius pulled Remus to the side of the room.
'Are you okay?'
Remus couldn't bring himself to meet Sirius' eyes. He was too ashamed. 'You were wrong,' he whispered, staring at the floor. 'I am a monster, Sirius. I could smell his blood. And before I saw him… Before I knew what it was… I thought it smelled good.'
