Friday, 18th August 1972
'Are you sure you've got everything, sweetheart?'
Remus rolled his eyes before turning away from the fireplace to face his mum. 'You've asked me that three times already. Yes, I'm sure. Can I go now?'
'I'm just checking. Don't want you waking up tomorrow to find you completely forgot to pack clean underwear,' his mum said, chuckling at his impatience. 'Give me one more hug before you go?'
Remus sighed dramatically, making her laugh again, and wrapped his arms around her waist. There had been a ridiculous amount of hugging since he returned from school. Both of them initiating as much as the other; neither of them able to resist the overwhelming urge to make up for all the times they'd wanted to, but believed they couldn't.
'I'm going to be late,' Remus mumbled after a minute before pulling away and looking up at her. 'I don't want them to think I'm rude.'
'Alright, go on then. Have a nice time,' she said, nudging him towards the fireplace. 'And remember your manners.'
Remus grabbed a handful of floo powder. 'Of course, mum. Love you,' he said, and threw the floo powder into the fire. He watched as the flames turned emerald green before he stepped in and, making sure his backpack was secure, said, 'Potter Manor.' Closing his eyes against the dizzying array of rooms whizzing past him as he sped through the floo network, he waited to be spat out into James' home, bracing himself to not fall flat on his face. Gods, that would be embarrassing.
Thankfully, even though he stumbled out of the fireplace, he managed to stay upright. There was only enough time to catch a glimpse of a vibrantly red carpet and white walls before there was a shout of, 'Remus!' and he was engulfed in warm arms and the scent of freshly cut grass and a summer's breeze.
'Hey, James,' he murmured into James' shoulder, hugging him back.
James pulled back but kept his hands on his shoulders and stared at him intently. 'You okay?'
Remus nodded automatically, a little intimidated by James' odd behaviour. 'Sure, why wouldn't I be?'
'Just checking,' James said, shaking his head and grinning. He pulled Remus' bag off his shoulder. 'Let me take that,' he said, plonking it down on the floor next to them. 'We'll take it up to my room as soon as Pete and Sirius get here.'
'Am I early?' Remus asked, looking around for a clock, and getting a better look at the room in the process. It didn't seem to have any particular function in the home apart from receiving guests. The room was smaller than his living room at home and there was a bright-red, two-seater sofa against the wall opposite the fireplace, with a glass table next to it, and that was it for furniture. The table held a gold tray containing a jug of water and three glasses—the condensation dripping down the side of jug suggested the water was deliciously cold. A few paintings hung on the wall, landscapes of forest scenes, and the curtains framing the window were red and gold. Remus was starting to understand where James came by his obsession for Gryffindor colours. The whole house couldn't be decorated like this, surely?
'No, right on time actually, the others are late.' James led him over to the sofa and sat him down, but stayed standing himself, bouncing on his toes. Behind him the fire flared green, but James didn't notice. 'Pete's probably fending off his mum's attempts to clean his face one more time, and Sirius is likely getting a last-minute lecture.'
'You couldn't be more right if you tried,' Sirius said, stepping out of the fireplace and grinning when Remus caught his eye. The sight of him made Remus' stomach do a backflip. 'Don't show us up, Sirius. Act like a Black, Sirius. As if,' he finished with a derisive snort.
James spun around and threw himself at him with a cry of, 'Sirius!'
'Alright, mate. I missed you too,' Sirius said, laughing as he caught him and returned the hug.
James repeated his actions from Remus' arrival, leaving his hands on Sirius' shoulders and gazing into his eyes as if trying to read his mind. 'You okay?'
Sirius didn't answer as immediately as Remus had. He swallowed first, before nodding and plastering a smile on his face. It didn't reach his eyes, and Remus was sure James had noticed.
'Yeah, I'm fine, mate. Happy to be here, though.' He glanced over James' shoulder and winked. 'Hey, Nerd boy.' Before returning his attention to James. 'No Pete yet?'
James let him go and shook his head. 'I'm sure he'll be here any second. While we're waiting, what the hell was the letter all about? Don't write to you? Why not?'
Remus had been worried Sirius was angry with him when he first received the note, though he hadn't been able to work out why that would be (Sirius had kissed him, not the other way around), but after James wrote saying Sirius had Owled him the same letter, his worry had turned into concern for Sirius' wellbeing instead.
'I'd like to know that too,' Remus said.
'Merlin! I am so sorry about that,' Sirius said. He dumped his bag down next to Remus' and flopped gracefully onto the sofa, swinging his legs up into Remus' lap. Remus frowned at them in consternation but didn't shove him off. He was just glad Sirius was in one piece, and seemed unharmed—apart from that second of hesitation earlier, but perhaps he was just recovering from the floo?
'Mother was insisting on reading all my mail, incoming and outgoing,' he said with a grimace. 'I didn't want any of our secrets getting out.'
Remus was trying to work out where to put his hands with Sirius draped across his lap like he was—on the seat either side of him seemed a bit awkward—so it took him a moment to process the implications of Sirius' mother reading his mail. But when he did, he froze. His head spun as he frantically tried to remember what he'd written in his letter; he knew he'd been careful in his wording, but was he careful enough?
'You could've just explained that, though,' James said, frowning.
'There wasn't time,' Sirius said. 'I snuck into the aviary while mother was making a fire call, I had to be quick.'
James nodded, before spinning around to look at the fireplace. 'Where the hell is Pete? He's ten minutes late.'
Remus was just about to give up and let his hands rest on top of Sirius' legs when Sirius suddenly swung them off his lap and jumped to his feet. 'He'll be here soon. What's the plan for the next two days?'
'We should wait for—' The fire flared green again and Peter stumbled out of the fireplace, coughing. He must have got a mouthful of ash when he stated his destination. Poor boy, Remus hated it when that happened. James darted over to the table and poured Peter a glass of water, pushing it into his hand and rubbing his back as he took a large gulp.
'Better?' he asked when Peter stopped choking and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His face had gone bright red during the coughing fit, but was fading back to normal now it was over—his eyes were still watering though, and he pulled the bottom edge of his t-shirt up to his face to wipe them.
'Yeah, I think I'm good now. Can't wait until we learn to apparate. I'll never bloody floo anywhere again. Thanks for the drink, mate.' Peter looked around, noticing the others in the room for the first time. 'Oh, hey guys. I'm late, aren't I? Mum wouldn't let me go. Started crying and I had to… Well, doesn't matter. I'm sorry, anyway.'
'It's fine, you're here now,' James said. 'Let's take your stuff upstairs and then I'll take you to see mum and dad, they're in the garden.'
James led the three of them out of the receiving room, as Remus was calling it in his head, through a front hall that was bigger than Remus' living room but thankfully not decorated in red and gold, and up a staircase wide enough that the four of them could all walk side by side. At the top James took a right and led them past several doors and round a corner before finally stopping in front of a door near the end of the hall.
'Welcome to my lair,' James said theatrically as he pushed the door open and waved them inside.
The room was huge, bigger than the dorm they shared at school, but decorated in almost the exact same way. There was a four-poster bed with red curtains, and a desk pushed up against the wall with bookshelves beside it. James broomstick was in the corner and there were two other doors; a bathroom and a wardrobe, Remus assumed. The window sat open to invite a non-existent breeze and showed a beautiful view of rolling hills in one direction and woodland in the other. Remus was itching to go out and explore the landscape, but that was not why they were there. In pride of place above the headboard of James' bed hung the painting Sirius has done of the beach-room featuring James. He was riding his broomstick across the water, skimming the surface with his toes and dodging the larger waves when they threatened to throw him off. They had each taken their own painting home with them, under strict instructions to bring them back to school in September to decorate their new dorm. Remus had hung his above his desk so he could look at it when he was working.
'What do you think?' James asked.
'Well, it's very you,' Remus said, wandering over to scan the titles of the books on display. They were mostly children's stories and books about quidditch, but there were a few magical theory books he'd be interested in looking at later if the others went flying or something.
'I think it's brilliant,' Sirius said, sticking his arms out and spinning around in the middle of the room. 'I love the colour scheme.'
Peter sniffed the air. 'Why does your room smell like barbecue?'
James' face lit up. 'That's dinner! Mum thought you'd be more comfortable if we didn't sit at the table tonight. So she's doing burgers on the barbecue.'
'What's a barbecue?' Sirius asked.
'It's when you cook food outside over a charcoal fire, usually burgers and sausages,' Remus told him.
'It's a muggle thing,' James said. 'My dad learned about it in muggle studies when he was at school, and he loved the idea, so we do it every summer.'
'Muggle, huh? Mother would have a fit, I can't wait,' Sirius said with a grin. Again, it didn't quite reach his eyes. What was going on with him?
Half an hour later Sirius was standing with his friends in James' garden, holding the strangest food he'd ever seen. After asking what a barbecue was, he hadn't wanted to admit to not knowing what a burger was either. It turned out to be a circular slab of meat inside a roll with melted cheese and salad. And apparently it was supposed to be eaten while standing up and holding a drink in the other hand. The salad kept leaking out the edge of the bun and he kept having to catch it with his mouth to keep it from soiling the garden. It was incredibly undignified.
But it tasted amazing.
He took another large bite, catching some escaping lettuce with his tongue, and glanced around. James' garden was massive, if you could even call it a garden. There was no boundary to it as far as he could see. The manicured lawns opened right onto woodlands on one side and spread into the wild hillside on the other. He wondered if the Potter's owned that land too. Effie was standing behind the barbecue—a brick construction with a grill above a firepit—engulfed in smoke with a beaming smile adorning a face glowing red from the heat, flipping the burgers and turning the sausages. She had greeted all of them with hugs when James led them outside, but quickly returned to the food saying it had to be watched or the meat would burn.
Monty was just stepping out through the backdoor having returned to the house briefly to bring out a fresh jug of lemonade. Sirius hadn't had lemonade before either, but Monty had told him it was the traditional children's drink at barbecues. It tasted sharp, but sweet, and fizzed in his mouth. He loved it just as much as the burgers. Monty placed the jug down on the table with the cooked meat and buns and joined his wife at the barbecue, kissing the end of her nose and making her laugh. Sirius smiled, his parents never behaved like that.
'So,' James said through a mouthful of meat and bread, returning Sirius' attention to the group. 'Tomorrow we're going to London to kit me and Sirius out with some proper muggle clothes.'
'I brought you both an outfit to wear for the trip,' Remus said, providing Sirius with an opportunity to look at him properly. His hair was shining in the light from the sun. 'You can't go around London in wizard robes. They're probably going to be too small though.'
James waved his hand, which was still holding a half-eaten burger, sending lettuce shooting across the garden and making Sirius cringe. Sirius glanced at James' parents to see if they'd noticed, but they weren't paying any attention to the boys.
'No worries, mum can enlarge them for us. Sunday is Peter Day, of course.' James smiled at Peter and he grinned back. 'I have something planned for that, but I'm not telling you what.'
'Who wants a hotdog?' Monty shouted from the grill.
'A hot dog?' Sirius asked, alarmed. 'Muggles don't eat dogs, do they?'
James laughed. 'No, it's a sausage in a bun, I don't know why they call it that.'
'Muggles are weird,' Sirius said.
He ate two hotdogs in the end, and a second burger. All washed down with a copious amount of lemonade. By the time they plodded back upstairs to James' room, he was so full he could barely move.
'We thought you boys could just camp out together on James' floor,' Effie said, pulling out her wand. 'James said you wouldn't mind.'
'Not at all, Effie,' Sirius said. 'Whatever's most convenient.'
James rolled his eyes and nudged Sirius with his elbow. 'You're being a Black again. Stop being so polite and tell her how you really feel.'
He looked up at Effie, and she was smiling at him in encouragement.
'I mean, that sounds great,' he said.
'I doubt any of you will be sleeping much anyway,' she said, winking at them. She waved her wand around, muttering incantations under her breath and the expanse of bare floor in the middle of the room softened, followed by a stream of blankets and pillows flying in over the tops of their heads and arranging themselves on the floor.
'There,' she said with a satisfied smile. 'That should be comfortable. I've silenced the room so you won't disturb us with your noise. But do try to get some sleep, won't you?'
'Of course, mum,' James said. 'We'll need our energy for shopping tomorrow, and Remus likes his sleep.'
Remus blushed but nodded his agreement. 'I'll make sure they behave.'
'Don't believe his innocent act, Effy,' Sirius said, swinging his arm around Remus' shoulder. 'He's the brains behind all our mischief.'
'I can well believe it,' she said. 'It's always the quiet ones you have to watch.'
'Well, I've barely slept all holiday, so I don't want to be up late,' Peter said, walking into the room and flopping down onto the nest of blankets with a groan of appreciation. 'This is amazing. Think I'm just going to go to sleep right now.'
Effie laughed. 'Alright, goodnight boys.'
They all said good night to her, and she left, closing the door behind her. Sirius, Remus and James quickly joined Peter in the blanket nest, and it was just as comfortable as Peter had declared. Like sitting on a cloud.
'So,' James said. 'Catch-up? Anyone have any news to share?'
'My mum kicked my dad out,' Remus said. 'Apparently, he lied to her about something and she couldn't forgive him.'
'Woah!' James said. 'That's big, are you okay?'
Remus shrugged. 'We never really got along, so I'm not bothered. My mum's been kind of down about it, though.'
'Do you know what he lied about?' Peter asked.
'No,' Remus lied. 'Just that it was important.'
You're damn right it was important. Sirius hated his mother just a little more in that moment, realising Remus had to deal with the aftermath of their plan alone because of her. Bitch.
'Well good riddance then,' James said, leaning forward to give Remus a hug. 'People shouldn't lie to someone they care about.'
That caused guilt to flood through Sirius in a wave. Should he tell them the truth about his holiday? But what good would it do? They couldn't help and it would just make them worry about him. He was lying to them for their own good; it wasn't the same as what Remus' dad had done at all.
'Yeah,' Remus agreed. 'That's all my news, anyway.'
When no one else spoke, Sirius said, 'Andy announced her engagement. It went about as well as expected. She's been disowned.' Sirius chuckled, remembering the scene in the dining room. 'She was brilliant, though. Didn't back down for a second.'
James put his arm around Sirius' shoulders and squeezed. 'Ah, that sucks, mate. I'm sorry. Good for her, though. She made the right choice.'
Sirius smiled at him sadly. 'Yeah, she did. I'm going to miss her, though.'
'There's no reason you can't stay in touch and see her sometimes,' Remus said. 'We'll help you hide it from your family.'
'Course we will,' James said.
Sirius grinned, 'You're right, thanks, guys.'
'No problem,' James said, before turning to Peter. 'You got any news?'
Peter shook his head. 'No, my summer's been boring compared to those two.'
Sirius wished his summer had been boring too.
'Okay, well,' James said. 'I have something… It's not exactly news, but it's interesting. I was telling my dad about some of the things we did this year, and I mentioned the secret wing we found. Dad said it's the old squib wing.'
'Squibs went to Hogwarts?' Sirius asked, remembering what his Grandfather had said about his Great Aunt Marius. He hadn't seen her since she turned eleven.
'Yeah, apparently they were kept separate from the rest of the school. Everyone knew about them, but no one ever saw them. The program was shut down fifteen years ago.'
'Merlin,' Remus said. 'Can you imagine being shut up in that wing for ten months every year? That little courtyard wouldn't get much sun.'
'Not just ten months,' James said. 'Squibs were sent there at eleven and stayed until they graduated.'
'That's horrible,' Peter said. 'Those poor kids.'
'That explains why I didn't recognise the names in the files,' Sirius said. 'They were wiped from their family history.' Like Marius was blasted from the family tree. And now Andromeda, too.
'How could they be wiped from history?' Remus asked, frowning. 'Surely people would know about the child before they were sent away?'
Sirius shook his head. 'Pureblood families don't announce a birth until the child demonstrates magical ability.'
Remus looked stunned, but James didn't seem surprised. He was a pureblood too, of course, but Sirius doubted Effie and Monty had waited to show him off when he was born.
Peter's forehead was creased in thought. 'So, if no one ever sees them do accidental magic, but they are magical, no one but their family knows they exist until they get their Hogwarts letter?'
'Basically,' Sirius said.
'That is so bizarre,' Remus said, shaking his head in disbelief.
'It must be horrible to be hidden away from everyone your entire life,' Peter said.
'Yeah,' Remus said. 'Lonely too.'
'Well, this got depressing fast,' James said. 'Shall we get changed and play some games to brighten the mood?'
The others agreed, and ten minutes later they were all in their pyjamas and propped up against the ridiculous amount of squishy pillows Effie had provided. The blankets were piled in the middle of the floor, ignored; it was still warm in the room, and no one felt the need to cover up.
James drummed his hands on the floor before clapping them together. 'So, games?'
'My cousins taught me one at Christmas,' Peter said. 'It's called, would you rather? Basically you give two options that are similar in some way and the others have to choose which they'd rather do. Like, would you rather… I dunno… um… eat nothing but chocolate for the rest of your life or never be able to eat chocolate again?'
'Never eat chocolate again,' Sirius and James both said simultaneously.
'Eat nothing but chocolate,' Remus said.
'That's not healthy, mate,' James said. 'You'd get sick.'
'I can't not have chocolate ever again, though,' Remus said. 'What's the point in life without chocolate?'
'Brilliant example,' Peter said. 'When people disagree, they argue about it.'
'Alright, I think I get it,' James said. 'How about… Would you rather be able to talk to animals or babies?'
'Animals,' Sirius said immediately, thinking of Moony.
'Babies,' Peter said. 'Think about it, How useful would that be when we're older and have our own kids.'
'I'm not sure I want kids,' Sirius said. 'And it would only be useful until they learn to talk. Being able to talk to animals would never get old.'
James laughed. 'Remus? You get the deciding vote.'
'I'm not sure there's a winner in this game, but I vote animals. I agree with Sirius,' he said, chuckling when Sirius launched himself sideways and hugged him in thanks, 'understanding animals would be more useful in the long term. Alright, you nutter, get off, I'm going to fall over.'
Sirius released him and grinned. 'My turn! Would you rather…' he paused and rubbed his chin in thought. 'Oh, I know. Would you rather drink a potion that makes you speak every thought out loud or drink a potion that will make you silenced forever?'
'Silenced forever,' Remus said immediately. He shuddered. 'I wouldn't want everyone to hear my thoughts.'
I bet you wouldn't, Sirius thought. Then everyone would know you're a werewolf.
'I'm with Remus,' Peter said. 'You gotta be able to keep some things to yourself.'
'James?' Sirius asked, looking to his right. James looked to be in deep distress.
'I can't choose!' he wailed. 'They're both terrible!'
'Rules are rules, Jamesie boy, you gotta pick one,' Sirius said, laughing.
'Fine, fine. I pick speak my every thought. I couldn't bear to be silenced forever.'
'But you wouldn't be able to cause mischief. Everyone would know what you're planning,' Sirius said.
James huffed. 'I'd just have to learn how to control my thoughts, so I only think about mischief when I'm alone.'
They all laughed at the idea of James having any self-control.
'Yeah, good luck with that mate,' Sirius said through his chuckles. 'Remus your turn.'
'Oh,' Remus said. 'Alright… um… Would you rather… Always be ten minutes late or always be twenty minutes early?'
'Easy, ten minutes late,' Sirius said. 'I hate waiting around.'
'Always, though. For everything,' Remus said.
'He's got a point,' James said. 'Right now it's just late for class, and who cares, right? But what about when we're older. Ten minutes late to job interviews, you'd never get hired. Ten minutes late to dates, every girlfriend would dump you. Ten minutes late to—'
'Alright, I get the point,' Sirius said. 'Fine, twenty minutes early then.'
James whooped. 'I changed his mind! Do I get an extra point for that?'
Peter shook his head. 'Sorry, game doesn't work like that. And I pick twenty minutes early too. My turn again. Would you rather give up your magic and keep your friends or keep your magic and give up your friends?'
Sirius gaped at him. 'What kind of fucking choice is that?'
'An agonising one,' Peter said, grinning. 'So what's it going to be?'
'Give up my magic,' Remus said. He flushed in embarrassment but didn't look away. 'I would hate to lose you guys.'
'Magic,' James said. 'I'd rather be a muggle with friends than a friendless wizard.'
They all looked at Sirius. 'Magic. Merlin knows how I'd cope without it, but you guys would help me, right?'
'Of course. Although, I'd be just as clueless as you,' James said, laughing. 'Hmm. Would you rather be sorted into Slytherin, or never go to Hogwarts at all?'
Sirius glared at him. 'That is a horrible choice, and you know it. But if I had to choose, I'd be sorted into Slytherin, because atleast I'd be away from home and I could just spend as little time as possible in the common room.'
'I'd choose Slytherin too,' Peter said. 'I'm hopeless enough without not going to school.'
'You're not hopeless, Pete,' Remus said, then he turned to James, 'I'd pick not go to Hogwarts. I don't think I'd survive in Slytherin and I'd learn just fine by myself at home.'
'Aw, Remus, no,' Sirius said. 'Come to Hogwarts and be a Slytherin with me and Pete, we could gang up on James and terrorise him.'
'Oi!' James said, crossing his arms. 'Why would you gang up on me? I'd still be your friend, even if you were all in Slytherin.'
'Do you really think so?' Sirius asked, not believing that could be true. 'You'd only known me for a few hours before the sorting.'
'And you only known me for five minutes,' Peter said.
'You didn't know me at all,' Remus said.
'We'd have found each other, anyway,' James said, jutting his chin out in defiance. 'I'm sure of it.'
'If you say so, mate,' Sirius said. He was acting like he didn't really care, but James' utter certainty made him feel like his heart might burst. 'Is it my turn?'
James nodded.
'Alright, would you rather be friends with a vampire or a werewolf?' Sirius very carefully didn't look at Remus while he asked, knowing he would probably react in some way and not wanting to draw attention to him. This game was the perfect opportunity to find out James and Peter's feelings about werewolves.
'A werewolf,' Peter said with a shrug. 'They're only dangerous during the full moon. The rest of the time they're just a normal person.'
James nodded thoughtfully. 'That's true, but vampires aren't dangerous if they've got a hold on their hunger either.'
'No, but they can't go out in the sun, can they? That would really limit what we could do,' Peter said.
James shook his head. 'That's a muggle myth, weren't you paying attention when we did vampires in defence?'
Peter laughed. 'What do you think?'
'Vampires are just like everyone else, except they have a constant thirst for human blood, but they can control it if they try. So they're not necessarily dangerous. Shops sell stuff specifically designed for them, like the bloodpops at Honeydukes, they wouldn't do that if they were dangerous.'
'Can they do magic?' Peter asked.
'Yeah, lycanthropy and sanguinaria only infect magical people as far as I know,' James said.
'I think I'd still rather be friends with a werewolf,' Peter said. 'They're more predictable.'
James nodded. 'Yeah, me too. What about you, Remus?'
Sirius finally allowed himself to look at Remus. He'd schooled his face into something neutral, but Sirius could see his fists were clenched in front of him, hidden from James and Peter by the pile of blankets in the middle of their circle. He was tense; Sirius hoped he wasn't angry.
'Yeah, a werewolf,' Remus said. 'I agree with you.'
He was quite possibly angry. Shit.
'This game's getting boring,' Sirius said, hoping to distract James and Peter from Remus' odd behaviour. 'Let's do something else.'
James stood up, crossing the room to the cupboard under the window and pulling out a box. He returned to the circle and placed it down, pushing the pile of blankets to the side to make room. The lid showed a colourful, moving image of dragons, hippogriffs and trolls surrounding a bearded man in silver robes gracefully battling them, his wand moving through the air so fast it was nothing but a blur. The words above the picture read Merlin's Adventure.
'Mum bought me this last week, I haven't tried it yet,' James told them, pulling off the lid to inspect the contents. The first thing he removed from the box was a square board which expanded to four time it's original size when he placed it on the floor, before the edges turned ninety degrees and grew towards the ceiling for several inches.
James retrieved four figures from the box next, the bearded wizard who was clearly supposed to be Merlin, a house-elf wearing an armoured tunic, a centaur and a goblin. There was a short argument over who got to be Merlin, ending in a vote with no Marauder allowed to vote for themselves. Remus won. Sirius quickly claimed the centaur figurine, James ended up with the house-elf and Peter the goblin.
It was a co-operative game. Each character had their own unique talents, and they were all required to defeat the obstacles along the way. The board told the story in a mystical voice of indiscriminate gender, and as the adventure unfolded, the board changed to match the scenery being described, showing forests, castles, dungeons and caves as the story progressed. The detail was incredible. At the end of each section of narrative, the boys instructed their characters on how to react to the situation and the figurines acted it out. Traps were dismantled, ferocious battles were fought and won, and wounds were tended with care.
By the time the game was finished, all four of them were yawning as if they hadn't slept for days. They tidied the game away and spread out the blankets and pillows across the softened floor, each of them finding their own space to curl up. Sirius closed his eyes and listened to his friends' quiet breathing in the darkness, taking comfort in the knowledge that he was safe again, if only for a few days.
'No! Don't! Stop! Please!' Sirius' pleading voice broke through into Remus' dreams and pulled him into conciousness. He blinked rapidly and sat up. Sirius was sprawled out a few feet away; the blankets were tangled around his legs and he was thrashing around as if trying to fight off some invisible assailant. James and Peter were both sitting up too, rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
'Should we wake him up?' Peter asked, frowning with concern.
'You do it, Remus,' James said. 'He's less likely to hit you.'
'Alright,' Remus said, unable to argue with James' reasoning despite his reluctance to approach the violently jerking body lying between them. He crawled closer and leant down so his mouth was close to Sirius' ear, not daring to touch him in case he got punched in the face for his trouble.
'Sirius, you're dreaming, you need to wake up,' he whispered.
'No! Please! No more! I can't… I can't,' Sirus mumbled and Remus heart clenched at the pain in his voice.
'It's a dream, Sirius. You're safe with me and James and Peter. Wake up.'
'Moony? Help me! Please!'
'Moony?' James asked. 'Who the hell is Moony?'
Remus avoided James' eyes, hoping he sounded believable when he said, 'No idea.' He returned his attention to Sirius, needing him to wake up before he said anything else incriminating and, deciding he'd rather get punched in the face than outed as a werewolf, he grabbed Sirius' hand. 'Sirius! Wake up!' he said, much louder than before, but not quite shouting. Sirius jerked and shot upright, narrowly avoiding head-butting Remus. He was panting and squeezing Remus' hand in a death-grip.
Remus hugged him to his chest and stroked his hair. 'It's okay. It was just a nightmare, You're safe now.'
'Do you want to talk about it, mate?' James asked.
Sirius pulled away and shook his head. 'No, I… I just want to forget about it.' He smiled weakly at James, and James nodded. Sirus lay back down and curled into a ball on his side. Remus, James and Peter glanced at each other and without a word they all grabbed their pillows and blankets and formed a protective circle around Sirius with their bodies. Each of them had a comforting hand on him as they all drifted back to sleep.
The next time Remus woke, the sun was streaming into the room through the gap between the curtains, tinting the backs of his eyelids red. He blinked them open with a great deal of effort to find Sirius smirking at him, his own face mere inches away.
'That looked difficult,' Sirius whispered.
'It was,' Remus said. This statement of fact was closely followed by a yawn.
'Thanks,' Sirius said. 'For waking me up last night.'
Remus attempted to shrug, but it was difficult lying on his side. 'It's okay, I'm sorry you had a nightmare.'
'Me too,' Sirius said. 'I need to talk to you later.'
'About?'
James grunted and rolled over.
'I'll tell you later,' Sirius whispered, before rolling over and launching himself at James, tickling him into surrender. 'Morning, sleepyhead!'
Once Sirius and James' morning ritual of attempted murder was complete, the four of them proceeded downstairs to breakfast. The dining table was set-up with a morning spread to rival Hogwarts, and the boys tucked in with gusto, finishing off a dozen eggs between them and probably a pigs-worth of sausages and bacon.
'That was delicious, Effy, thank you,' Remus said, placing his knife and fork together on his plate politely.
'You're welcome, dear, but you should thank Monty, not me. He does most of the cooking, I just like playing with the barbecue.'
'Oh, I'm sorry,' Remus said, looking down the table at James' dad who was grinning. 'Thank you, Monty.'
Sirius finished his last bite of sausage and rubbed his stomach in appreciation. 'Yes, thanks, Monty. That was better than anything my mother's house-elves cook.'
'You're all very welcome,' Monty said. 'Can't have you all collapsing from hunger in London can we?'
'Talking of London,' Effie said. 'What are you planning on wearing? You can't go into the muggle world in wizard robes.'
'Remus brought us both something to wear,' James said. 'But we need you to enlarge it. He's a bit smaller than normal people.'
'Hey!' Remus said.
James laughed and nudged him with his shoulder, 'Don't take it as an insult. It's what makes all the teachers think you're an innocent little bookworm. And we use that to our advantage.'
'I hope you're not corrupting your friends, Jamie,' Effie said, frowning at him.
'From what I hear, Remus didn't need any corrupting,' Monty said. 'A bit of mastermind when it comes to mischief, aren't you son?'
Remus blushed and looked at his plate. 'What have you been telling him?' he hissed to James out of the corner of his mouth.
'I told him all about how you transfigured everyone's robes, and created the Marauders,' James said loudly.
Remus looked at him with wide eyes, 'James!'
'What?' James asked, seeming utterly confused as to why Remus was upset. Didn't he understand that he wanted James' parents to like him?
'I…' was all Remus could say.
'It's alright, son,' Monty said. 'We're not against a little mischief, as long as it's safe, and James also told me that you're the safety monitor for the group?'
Remus nodded.
'Well, there you go then,' he said, as if everything was settled.
'Right,' Remus said.
An hour and a half later, Remus stood with his friends and James' parents in the Leaky Cauldron. James and Sirius were dressed in Remus' magically enlarged jeans and shirts; the subdued colours and style didn't suit them at all, and they were both eyeing Peter's bright purple satin shirt and white bellbottoms with envy. They'd already been to Gringotts to exchange their galleons for muggle money, and the funds for the trip had been handed over to Peter; the Marauder with the most experience handling muggle money.
'Right then,' Effie said, smiling down at them. 'Here's a map of the immediate area.' She unfolded the parchment she'd purchased from the bar and pointed. 'The pub is here, and the barman said there are several good clothes shops on this street here.' She pointed to another part of the map. 'Don't lose it and do try to keep track of where you are.'
James took the map from his mum and immediately handed it to Remus, 'I dub thee Temporary Master of Navigation,' he said with a grin.
'I graciously accept,' Remus said with a laugh, opening the map.
Fifteen minutes, and a few wrong turns later, they arrived at the street the barman had said was good for clothes shopping and Remus tucked the map into his pocket. They passed a few shops for women, and one that sold only shoes, before they came to one that looked as if it catered to men too.
Remus felt he should have anticipated just how excited James and Sirius would be inside their first muggle shop, but somehow he just hadn't been ready. Not even their continuous commentary on the outfits they witnessed people wearing on the way there had prepared him for their sheer enthusiasm for all things muggle.
He and Peter followed along in their wake as they rummaged through the racks of clothes, searching out the brightest colours and the boldest patterns. James, of course, honing in on all things red or gold. Sirius was less discerning in his choices—although he avoided green as if it was cursed—his decisions seemed to be based on what he considered the most outrageous of the options available.
After visiting four different clothing stores, and purchasing more clothes than Remus thought he'd owned during his entire life, they returned to the shoe shop they'd passed earlier and James and Sirius purchased two pairs each to go with their new outfits. Sirius insisted on putting on his new boots immediately, and then proceeded to stomp his way out of the shop, grinning like a maniac at how loud they made his footsteps.
'Right, lunch is on me,' James said when they were back on the street. 'Did anyone notice any places to eat?'
'I didn't see anything, but I definitely smelled food when we passed that turning earlier,' Peter said pointing at the entrance to a side street.
No conferring was necessary, they all trusted Peter's nose and, as one, they strolled towards the alley, lugging the bags of clothes along with them. The smell turned out to be a small cafe which wasn't in the side street at all but perched on the corner of the next street over. The Marauders took an outside table and perused the menu, eventually deciding on sandwiches and a portion of chips to share. They didn't want to spoil their appetites for dinner that evening, which if breakfast had been anything to go by was going to be spectacular.
When the last crumb of food had been licked from the plate, Peter went inside to pay, leaving the other three to gather the bags up.
'What do you want to do now?' Remus asked.
Sirius shrugged. 'I think we got enough clothes.'
'You definitely got enough clothes,' Remus agreed with a laugh.
'We could look around some of the other shops,' James said. 'We don't have to be back at the Cauldron for two more hours.'
'Sounds good to me,' Sirius said.
'What sounds good?' Peter asked, walking up to the table. He picked up his share of the bags and the others stood up.
'Checking out the other shops,' James said.
Peter nodded. 'Alright, which way?'
'Let's walk down to the end of here,' Sirius said. 'Remus, you keep an eye on the map so we don't get lost.'
Remus nodded and pulled the map out, taking a moment to figure out where they were currently, before telling them to move off.
They wandered down a few streets before they came to a shop with music blaring at a much higher volume than any of the others. Glancing through the window, they saw the customers were mainly teens and younger adults, and they were all flicking through stacks of records.
'Muggle music,' Sirius said under his breath, and then louder, 'We're going in here.'
'I was just going to say the same thing,' James said.
Remus grimaced, but he still had a few days until the full moon; the loud music would be unpleasant, but not unbearable, so he followed the others through the door. It was even louder inside and Remus had to fight hard to not show his discomfort on his face.
'Pick out anything that looks interesting,' Sirius said into his ear. 'I want a big selection.'
So Remus did exactly that. He flicked through the records, pulling out any with interesting pictures on the front or names that caught his attention, and he soon had a small stack to show Sirius.
'Hey! Check this one out. It's called, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Sounds crazy. I'm getting it,' Sirius shouted. 'Ooh, there's a couple more here by the same guy. I'm going to get all of them.'
'This one's called School's out,' James said. 'Might be good to play at end of term parties?'
'Yeah, add it to the pile,' Sirius said.
'How are we going to play them?' Peter asked.
Remus glanced up from his task at the question. Peter had a point, the muggle records wouldn't work on a magical record player, the whole process was different.
'Let's pay and talk outside,' James said. 'It's too loud in here.'
The shop assistant raised his eyebrows at the contents of their basket. Whether because they were buying so much, or because the mix of music was odd, Remus wasn't certain, but his eyebrows shot into his hairline when Sirius asked him where they might be able to purchase a record player. Thinking about it, it was a bit strange to buy such a large amount of records when you had nothing to play them on.
They ended up in a store called Woolworths, which seemed to sell pretty much anything you might want, and they garnered a fair amount of odd looks as James and Sirius oohed and aahed over the muggle merchandise. They found a record player eventually, and Sirius also bought a selection of muggle sweets for them all to share after bedtime.
After hauling their bounty back to the Leaky cauldron, they only had to wait twenty minutes for James' parents to arrive and help them transport everything back through the floo.
'We need to start making some plans for next year,' James said when they were once again ensconced in his room after dinner. 'Did you get a chance to look through the journal, Remus?'
Sirius looked over at Remus. He was nodding with an excited look in his eyes as he pulled the monstrosity of a book from his bag. Only he could look that excited about a book that large, Sirius thought fondly.
'Yeah, it's actually brilliant,' Remus said. 'There are spells, potion recipes, step-by-step guides for all the games. Some of it dates back centuries.' He pushed his hair out of his face and opened the book, flicking through to a page near the beginning. 'Look, this is a ritual to cast a protection charm over a large area, it's used for the Creature Hunt.' He flicked through to a different page. 'And this is instructions for animating and controlling a suit of armour, for the Niffler Hunt.'
Remus just lit up when he was sharing knowledge; his whole body seemed to glow with an inner light. Sirius watched him showing the highlights of the book to James and hoped he'd get a chance to talk to him soon. He'd been trying to get him alone all day, but it had been impossible. Either James or Peter always came over to join them, frustrating him beyond belief.
'So we'll set up the Niffler Hunt for the end of September then, to kick the year off,' James was saying when Sirius tuned back into the conversation. 'You reckon you can brew this potion in four weeks, Pete?'
Peter took a look at the page James was showing him and nodded. 'Yeah, should only take a week.'
'Excellent,' James said. 'I want us to introduce something new for Halloween, though, so have a think.'
'Aren't you the Chief Imaginator?' Sirius asked. 'Ideas are supposed to be your job.'
'What about, like, a Halloween adventure story, all through the castle, with the Houses competing?' Peter suggested.
James rubbed his chin. 'That could be good. We'll need to figure out a scenario and find a spell the players can use to attack each other without causing harm.'
'Going to need the Hogwarts library for that,' Remus said.
'Alright, we'll work on that when we get back to school, then. There was something else I wanted to talk to you about.' James went over to his desk and picked up an article cut from the Daily Prophet. 'Look at this.'
The headline read Horrifying Murder at Hogwarts
Newly appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, Marcus Hawthorne was brutally murdered yesterday morning during a school-wide event which had the student population wandering the halls investigating a fake murder. One has to wonder what Headmaster Professor Dumbledore was thinking when he sanctioned such an event, especially during the current unrest. 'I've always considered a little fun to be good for children's welfare,' Dumbledore said when questioned. Considering this 'fun' ended with eight traumatised first-years discovering the body of their former teacher, which they at first believed to be a part of the event, perhaps Dumbledore should rethink whether this kind of fun is suitable in a school environment.
The ancient Kelpie, known as Emhio, that has lived in the school lake for over a hundred years has been arrested for the murder. It is understood that Emhio had been assisting Professor Hawthorne with his classes, and it is believed that the pressure became too much causing the kelpie to snap. The trial will not be held until the middle of next year due to a backlog of cases in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Professor Dumbledore is insisting on acting as the creature's defence when the time comes.
'We're going to investigate this, right?' Sirius said when he finished reading. 'The trial's not until next year, we have time.'
James grinned and nodded. 'The first thing we need to do is figure out how the real murderer got in. The aurors never searched because they immediately blamed Emhio, and it was obvious how she would have entered.'
'The entrance has to be in or near the classroom,' Remus said. 'We were there minutes after he was killed and we didn't see anyone pass us in the corridor.'
With the plan decided, they played another round of Merlin's Adventure before settling down to sleep.
Sirius lay awake, his stomach squirming with nerves, waiting for James and Peter to fall asleep. It didn't take long. Remus must have been waiting too, because he stood up the moment Sirius did and followed him into the ensuite bathroom.
Once the door was closed, Remus turned to face him. 'What is it?'
'It's…' Sirius started. He took a deep breath. 'It's about what I did at the station.'
'Don't worry about it.' Remus shrugged as if the whole thing was unimportant. 'You only did it to scare my dad. I know it's not natural for boys to do that together, and I'm not going to try to make you do it again or anything. You don't have to worry.'
Sirius' heart sank. That had not been what he wanted Remus to say. At all. He thought it was unnatural?
'Yeah. Good,' Sirius said, keeping his eyes on the floor. 'Glad we got that sorted. Good night, then.' He swept passed Remus and yanked the bathroom door open, almost running in his eagerness to reach his bed and hide his face under the covers. Remus didn't want him.
Sirius passed the night restlessly, and the next day he tried hard to swallow back his disappointment and put on his best happy face for Peter. They gave him his presents after breakfast; a used potions book from Remus; an array of interesting ingredients from Sirius and a set of gold-handled potion's tools from James, and then Effy had packed them a picnic lunch and sent them on their way. James was taking them to his favourite spot on their land for the day.
It was a fairly long walk through the woodland, but the undergrowth was nowhere near as thick as the Forbidden Forest and it was easy going. Despite the early hour, the sun was already well above the horizon and the air was warm against Sirius' skin, but the trees protected them from the worst of the heat.
'Can you hear that?' Remus asked suddenly.
'I can hear birds and insects,' Sirius said, trying to be his normal self despite his disappointment. 'You'll need to be more specific.'
'It's like a rumble.'
James grinned. 'Your ears are good! I can't hear it yet, but that's where we're going.'
'We're going somewhere that rumbles?' Sirius asked.
'You'll see.'
A few minutes later, Sirius' ears detected the sound Remus has mentioned and as they got closer, the noise grew louder, changing from a rumble to a roar. Soon he could feel the vibrations in the ground beneath his feet. The trees they were walking through thinned and the landscape ahead opened into a clearing backed by a sheer cliff face. At the base of the cliff was a large pool which narrowed into a river winding its way into the trees. The noise was caused by the river at the top of the cliff suddenly finding it had nowhere to go and cascading over the edge in a breathtaking waterfall.
'Wow,' Sirius said, hearing similar expressions of awe from Remus and Peter.
'Beautiful, isn't it?' James asked, dropping the picnic basket on the ground and pulling off his shirt. 'Who fancies a swim?'
Sirius forced his face into a grin he didn't feel and pulled off his own shirt, before starting on his boots. 'Is there any way up to the top?'
'I'm glad you asked. There is, but we have to go down the cliff a little way. I'll show you. You coming guys?'
Peter shook his head. 'I'm just gonna sit here for a bit. I'll swim later when it's warmer.'
'Yeah, me too,' Remus said. He was wearing long sleeves, even in the heat of August. It was a lightweight shirt rather than a jumper, but still. He must be baking.
James led Sirius into the trees to a part of the cliff that was less sheer and had decent foot and handholds.
'Reckon you can climb that?' James asked.
'Easy.' Sirius clambered up the rocks, his foot slipping a few times before he reached the top, and James followed him.
When they were both safely on solid ground, James put his hand on Sirius' shoulder and turned him to face him.
'So, I wanted to say, I know your excuse for not writing is bullshit, and if you want to talk about what really happened to you during the summer, I'm waiting to listen.'
Sirius froze. He had thought everyone believed him. 'James… I—'
'It's alright. You're allowed to have secrets. I just want you to know I'm here if you need me,' James said, thankfully cutting him off because he had no idea what he would have said.
James' words had caused a lump in Sirus' throat and he swallowed hard before nodding. James nodded back, before walking back along the cliff to the river. He approached the edge and peered down at the pool below.
'Ever jumped off a waterfall before?'
Sirius shook his head and grinned. 'No, but I'll try anything once.'
'Excellent,' James said, backing up. 'Meet you down there.' He ran full pelt to the edge of the cliff and leapt off with a whoop of sheer joy. As he fell, he tucked his knees into his chest and wrapped his arms around them. Sirius couldn't hear the splash over the roar of the waterfall, and he ran to the edge to make sure he was okay.
James waved up at him from the pool below, his face sporting a shit-eating grin, and shouted something Sirius couldn't hear before swimming over to the edge out of the way.
'Guess it's my turn then,' Sirius mumbled to himself. He took a few big steps backwards as James had done and gathered his courage. This wasn't like the beach room; there were no safety charms to catch him. 'Here goes nothing…'
Sirius bolted forwards and jumped, just about resisting the urge to close his eyes. Letting out a bark of laughter, he curled his body into a ball and hit the water with a splash, sinking like a stone. After a moment of panicked kicking, he broke the surface and gasped for breath.
'That was fucking brilliant!' he screamed over the roar of the waterfall.
'I knew you'd love it!' James screamed back.
Sirius rubbed the water from his eyes and glanced over to the bank, seeing Remus and Peter watching them with laughter in their eyes. The exhilaration of jumping from the cliff had blown his negative feelings from his mind and he swam over and clambered out onto the grass, dripping a trail of water as he covered the short distance to stand in front of Remus.
Grabbing his hands, Sirius attempted to pull him to his feet. 'Come on. You have to jump too. It's fantastic.'
'No, I don't think I do, actually,' Remus said, resisting Sirius' efforts with a stubbornness he usually reserved for avoiding quidditch games.
'Why not?' Sirius let go of his hands and took a step back. 'Will you at least come swimming?'
'No, It's… I don't want to walk back in wet clothes.'
'So, take them off?'
Remus looked down at his lap. 'You know why I don't want to do that.'
'The scars? But… Peter's potion? Didn't it work?'
'A little. Maybe?' Remus shrugged. 'I thought it was working at first, but it might have been wishful thinking. I don't know, some of the smaller ones faded a bit, I think.'
'Why didn't you tell me?' Peter asked. 'I would have tried again.'
'It was a present. You don't complain about presents. It's rude.'
Peter rolled his eyes. 'I'd rather you complained so I could try to fix it, than leave you with a present that's basically a useless bottle of goo.'
'It wasn't completely useless.' Remus looked up and offered Peter a cheeky smile. 'My skin's really soft now.'
Peter laughed. 'Moisturiser. I made bloody moisturiser.'
'Look, it's just us here. We don't care about your scars and you know we're not going to tease you or anything,' Sirius said. 'Can't you just—'
'What?' Remus asked. 'Get over it? No, Sirius, I'm sorry but it's not that simple.'
'That's not what I was going to say,' Sirius snapped.
'Hey, James!' Peter yelled, jumping to his feet and quickly stripping off his outer clothes. 'Show me how to get up to the top?'
'Sure.' James climbed out of the pool and disappeared into the trees with Peter.
'Subtle,' Remus said.
Sirius laughed and flopped onto the grass next to him.
'I can't let the others see the bite,' Remus said quietly. 'Or the other scars from that night. They're too obvious.'
'Because of the silver?'
Remus nodded.
'Where are they?'
'The bite is here,' Remus said, gripping his left arm near the shoulder in an imitation of jaws. 'It dragged me out of the window by my arm. The other scars stretch from here,' he pointed to his chest, just below the collar of his shirt, 'to here,' he pointed to his stomach. 'It's not pretty.'
Sirius ignored that. 'So not on your legs then?'
Remus frowned. 'No. Why?'
'What if you swim in your shirt and then change into mine to walk back?'
'That… Could work,' Remus said, slowly.
Sirius grinned in triumph and jumped to his feet. 'Excellent. Come on then, Wolf Boy, get those trousers off.'
Remus chuckled. 'I thought you'd forgotten that name.'
'Not a chance. Just haven't had a chance to use it since we arrived.'
When Remus had finished folding his trousers neatly, Sirius dragged him through the trees and up to the cliff. Remus was reluctant to jump at first but it didn't take much to persuade him and after the first time, he couldn't wait to go again.
By the time their dripping wet clambering had turned the cliff face into an unclimbable mudslide, they had all worked up an appetite and they tucked into the picnic lunch with enthusiasm, sitting on the bank of the river in their pants (and shirt in Remus' case).
Remus' concerns about walking back in wet clothes proved unnecessary. The sun's rays were so warm that they were all bone dry before they'd even finished eating. Too full after lunch to swim, they lay back on the grass and talked until the sun was low in the sky and they realised they needed to head home.
With his friends surrounding him in a protective circle again, Sirius slept through until morning with no nightmares disturbing him. They took it in turns to use the bathroom and when no one was looking, Sirius tucked the t-shirt he'd worn the night before into Remus' bag. Hopefully, it would still carry his scent when the next full moon came.
