So it was for the next few weeks at Hogwarts. Classes began and the
students threw themselves into their work, some more diligently than
others. Lily and James were still as strong as ever and Remus became much
closer with Isis than before, much to Rhia's secret dismay. Sirius
collected a steady stream of girls and Annie stood on the side, wishing she
were one of them.
"Where's Remus?" Isis asked, approaching three of the four Marauders one day at breakfast.
"He's on holiday with his parents." Peter blurted out and the others shot him glowering looks. He cowered back in his chair and sat silent for the rest of the meal.
"Holiday?" Isis wrinkled her nose and Rhia wished it broken. "To where?"
"He's gone to visit an old dying aunt." Sirius lied smoothly.
"Then why aren't you there, Annie?" she asked, looking at her friend.
"I...we have that potions test, remember?" Annie said brightly. "I had to stay for that."
"Oh." Isis looked puzzled, as if this didn't make much sense. "When will he be back?"
"Later today." James said.
"We'll tell him you stopped by." Lily promised.
"Alright." Isis smiled and went to sit a little further down the table.
Later that night as the three Marauders, Lily, and Rhia sat about the fireplace in the common room, Remus came in, clutching a small bag. He leaned over James's shoulder, whispering almost inaudibly.
"I got it."
"Are you sure? All of it?" James asked excitedly.
"Positive." Remus replied.
"Well geez, Remus, let's go then!" Sirius jumped up. The girls looked up.
"Go where?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Oh, uh... Remus got a book out of his parents' library about, uh.wolves, we're going to go have a look at it." James covered up his friend's impatient mistake.
Lily looked at Rhia sharply. "Oh?" she remarked.
"Yes... um, we'll see you girls in the morning then!" Remus said brightly, and led the way up the staircase tot he boys' dormitory.
"Oh Rhia, do you think its really about wolves?" Lily asked.
"I'm not sure..." she responded.
"If it is, maybe they can find a cure..."
"No. I don't think it has to do with wolves at all! Something's up," Rhia said, "and I intend to find out!"
~*~
"Is the door locked?" James asked, glancing over his shoulder nervously.
"I told you, I locked it." Peter replied, standing watch.
"Remember, you're all sworn to secrecy." Remus added.
"Of course, of course." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Don't we already keep quite about you?"
"I meant James." Remus said. James looked up.
"What do you mean?" He furrowed his brow, his glasses sliding down his sweaty nose.
"He means you tell Lily everything." Sirius explained for him.
"I do not!" James cried.
"Shh!" Peter hushed them. Echoing footsteps came through the hall and quieted as they passed.
"I do not." James repeated, quieter this time.
"You do." Sirius retorted.
"Stop arguing and finish the potion." Remus ordered and both silenced, Sirius going over a thick, dusty book and James stirring the cauldron bubbling away near the window.
"Where's the Fluxweed?" James asked and held out his hand. Remus gave it to him. "Some Dittany...what's the last ingredient?"
"Aconite." Sirius replied, pulling it out of a small bag.
"Stand back, Remus." James said, standing up to get the bottle from his friend. Remus nodded and obediently backed up until he was pressed against the wall, a little light of fear running through his eyes. Sirius handed James the bottle and he turned, taking desperate measures not to drop it as he poured it into the potion. It bubbled and fizzed and turned a bright shade of blue.
"Is it ready?" Peter asked.
"Just need the incantation." Sirius replied.
The three boys taking the potion stood around the cauldron, Remus keeping watch at the door and the piece of paper with the spell on it floating in front of Sirius's face.
"Join hands." Sirius ordered. They did and he began to read as the potion floated into three goblets. "O Oh todo o que seja, tomada de nós agora nosso formulário humano, faz de nós como bestas no selvagem, vista, cheiro, hearing, gosto, toque, deixa tudo ser mudado e deixa todo ser um."
They reached for the three goblets hovering in front of them, draining it all in one drink. The room burst with light...
Remus gasped. Standing in front of him were supposed to be his three best friends, and instead, in front of him were...
His three best friends.
"What happened?" Peter squeaked.
"It should have worked!" James cried, scanning the book once more. "We followed the ingredients precisely, Sirius recited the incantation perfectly... what went wrong?"
"Maybe... maybe you missed something. Like, I don't know, maybe you have to- " But they never found out what Remus thought they had to do, because they all stopped at once and listened to the footsteps on the stairs. At once, James flicked the lights out and Remus scrambled away from the door. Peter squeaked in fright once more.
Five minutes, ten, fifteen they waited until they could be sure it was safe. Remus turned the lights back on and turned to his two friends.
"Where's Peter?" he asked. They looked around, and sure enough, Peter had disappeared.
"Wait... do you guys hear a squeaking?" The three boys looked down, and saw in the place Peter should have been standing, a small, chubby rat quivering on the floor. James backed away to the wall, and Remus laughed.
"What is this? The famous, Quidditch star, soon-to-be Head Boy most likely, James Malcolm Potter is afraid of a little mouse?" Remus asked incredulously.
"It's a rat, and I'm not afraid!"
"Right."
"Well, how did it get in here, Mr. I'm-Smarter-Than-Most-Of-My-Year-Which- Means-I-Can-Act-All-Snooty?"
"Rhia's beating me by a few OWLs."
"Coz she's taking Divination!"
"Um, guys?" Sirius injected. They looked down. He had bent down to get a closer look at the rat, and had eventually picked it up. He now held it close to his face, examining it. "This rat has a freckle above it's left eye. Just like..."
"Peter," they breathed in unison.
"Peter, is this you?" James asked, squatting down next to Sirius. The rat squeaked.
"He did it! Peter did it, he transformed!" Sirius exclaimed quietly.
"Yeah, but into a rat?" Remus snorted. Peter the Rat squeaked indignantly.
"Peter, how did you do it?" James asked.
"He can't answer you," Sirius reminded him with a smirk. They turned back to Peter.
"Do you... do you think he knows how to transform back?" Remus asked cautiously. The three of them stared at Peter, shaking uncontrollably.
"Come on, Peter, you have to change back! We'll be expelled if they find out what we've done, you can't get us caught now!" James said frantically.
"Peter, change back! Do something, imagine you're a human, anything!" Sirius hissed.
Peter jumped from Sirius' hand and scrambled across the floor, turning suddenly and staring straight at them. In the next second, a small pop! echoed in the room and Peter the Human stood, grinning at his friends like a mad Cheshire cat.
"Look at that! I did it!" he exclaimed.
"But how?" James asked, taking his friend's shoulders.
"I dunno, I just.concentrated." He replied, grinning madly.
"On what?" Sirius cried excitedly.
"On being an animal." He rolled his eyes. "Try it, maybe it'll work."
Sirius threw James a skeptical look.
"Might as well." James said, closing his eyes tightly. Sirius watched in awe as a small pop sounded and, in James's place was a great stag, tall and majestic.
"Wow!" Peter cried. "Is that what happened to me?"
Remus nodded silently. Another pop bounced off the walls as James turned back into his human form.
"Well?" he asked. "What was I?"
"A fwuffy bunny-kins." Sirius teased with a smirk.
"Really, Sir." James rolled his eyes.
"A stag." Remus said. "Y'know, a deer, with antlers."
"Antlers?" James repeated. "Kinda cool, Moony."
"Your turn to give it a go, Sir." Peter smiled.
"Dunno...." Sirius looked a bit self-conscious.
"What's the matter?" James grinned. "Scared?"
"Me? Scared?" Sirius raised his jet-black eyebrows. "Never!"
"Oh, is Little Mr. Perfect-Showoff-Ladies-Man frightened?" James taunted, dancing in a circle about his friend.
"I am not frightened!" Sirius cried, his brow furrowing as a pop sounded and a shaggy dog stood in the place where Sirius was.
"James? Sirius? What's going on in there?"
The three boys and the dog looked towards the door where Lily's voice was coming through. Sirius quickly changed back into his human self.
"Oh no, Lily!" Peter whispered, shooting James frenzied looks.
"Quick, dump the cauldron!" Sirius mouthed. James pushed it into a nearby closet.
"Should we lock Mr. Prongs in there as well?" Remus asked grinning. James shot him a look just as the door opened.
"James? Remus? Guys, what's going on in here? Rhia and I can hear shouts from downstairs." Lily asked, walking over to James with a accusatory glare in her eyes.
"Oh, Lily darling, nothing is-is, I mean, we're not..."
"Lily, sweetheart," Sirius stepped in, smiling toothily. "We aren't doing anything in particular, just hanging around, horsing around, you know us."
Lily looked at them skeptically. "Well, we have Transfiguration in about twenty minutes, and you know how McGonagall can get when we're late, so don't be late." She gave James a kiss on the cheek. "See you guys soon."
James collapsed on the bed as soon as Lily shut the door. "Oh, my god."
"Nice, James. Real smooth cover-up." Sirius laughed.
They sat in silence for a moment, contemplating the events of the past half an hour. James looked up.
"What was that you called me, Remus?" he asked.
"What? Oh, I think it was - hmmm... oh, yes! Prongs. Mr. Prongs. Coz, you know, you turn into a stag and everything."
"Makes sense," Sirius agreed. Then a smirk spread across his face. "You guys, I think I just got a great idea."
"Another one? We almost just got caught in the middle of your last great idea!" Peter remarked.
"Yeah, well, we didn't, and it worked perfectly, did it not?" Sirius shot back. "Anyway... we've been thinking for a long time now. We know, and everyone else knows, we are the biggest mischief-makers in the school."
"I like the term mischief-maker so much better than delinquent. It sounds more... homey." Remus said.
"Yes, right, whatever," Sirius replied, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, we've all agreed that "mischief-maker" just isn't enough, is it? We've been trying to think of a way to leave our mark without getting expelled, right?" The boys nodded their agreement. "Well, what if it wasn't us doing the mischief?"
"I don't think we quite follow, Sir," James spoke up.
"What if instead of leaving OUR mark, we left the mark of... say... someone else... but not really..." Sirius explained slower, obviously cranking the wheels in his head.
"Like who?" Remus asked.
"Like Zorro, or Superman... you know, those Muggle characters that fight the bad guys? No one really knows their true identity... what is we were like that? We can pull off anything, and it we blame it on someone who doesn't exist..."
"We can't get caught! It's perfect! Virtually impossible to corner us!" James cried.
"Exactly!"
"But what to call us?" Peter asked.
"Well, Remus is Moony - we've been calling him that forever now, seems a shame to change it. And I think we agree that Prongs fits James pretty well..."
"Sirius, what about Padfoot? You do turn into a dog." James pointed out. Sirius nodded.
"And Peter could be Wormtail!"
"Wormtail?" Peter repeated with an obvious look of disgust.
"Well, you do turn into a rat, Wormtail," Remus laughed.
"Then its settled. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are in business." James spoke. "But what to call us..."
They sat in silence once more, until Remus perked up.
"Do you guys remember what Rhia called us a while back? A 'bunch of bloody marauders'? How about The Marauders?"
And so, the Marauders were born.
"Where's Remus?" Isis asked, approaching three of the four Marauders one day at breakfast.
"He's on holiday with his parents." Peter blurted out and the others shot him glowering looks. He cowered back in his chair and sat silent for the rest of the meal.
"Holiday?" Isis wrinkled her nose and Rhia wished it broken. "To where?"
"He's gone to visit an old dying aunt." Sirius lied smoothly.
"Then why aren't you there, Annie?" she asked, looking at her friend.
"I...we have that potions test, remember?" Annie said brightly. "I had to stay for that."
"Oh." Isis looked puzzled, as if this didn't make much sense. "When will he be back?"
"Later today." James said.
"We'll tell him you stopped by." Lily promised.
"Alright." Isis smiled and went to sit a little further down the table.
Later that night as the three Marauders, Lily, and Rhia sat about the fireplace in the common room, Remus came in, clutching a small bag. He leaned over James's shoulder, whispering almost inaudibly.
"I got it."
"Are you sure? All of it?" James asked excitedly.
"Positive." Remus replied.
"Well geez, Remus, let's go then!" Sirius jumped up. The girls looked up.
"Go where?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Oh, uh... Remus got a book out of his parents' library about, uh.wolves, we're going to go have a look at it." James covered up his friend's impatient mistake.
Lily looked at Rhia sharply. "Oh?" she remarked.
"Yes... um, we'll see you girls in the morning then!" Remus said brightly, and led the way up the staircase tot he boys' dormitory.
"Oh Rhia, do you think its really about wolves?" Lily asked.
"I'm not sure..." she responded.
"If it is, maybe they can find a cure..."
"No. I don't think it has to do with wolves at all! Something's up," Rhia said, "and I intend to find out!"
~*~
"Is the door locked?" James asked, glancing over his shoulder nervously.
"I told you, I locked it." Peter replied, standing watch.
"Remember, you're all sworn to secrecy." Remus added.
"Of course, of course." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Don't we already keep quite about you?"
"I meant James." Remus said. James looked up.
"What do you mean?" He furrowed his brow, his glasses sliding down his sweaty nose.
"He means you tell Lily everything." Sirius explained for him.
"I do not!" James cried.
"Shh!" Peter hushed them. Echoing footsteps came through the hall and quieted as they passed.
"I do not." James repeated, quieter this time.
"You do." Sirius retorted.
"Stop arguing and finish the potion." Remus ordered and both silenced, Sirius going over a thick, dusty book and James stirring the cauldron bubbling away near the window.
"Where's the Fluxweed?" James asked and held out his hand. Remus gave it to him. "Some Dittany...what's the last ingredient?"
"Aconite." Sirius replied, pulling it out of a small bag.
"Stand back, Remus." James said, standing up to get the bottle from his friend. Remus nodded and obediently backed up until he was pressed against the wall, a little light of fear running through his eyes. Sirius handed James the bottle and he turned, taking desperate measures not to drop it as he poured it into the potion. It bubbled and fizzed and turned a bright shade of blue.
"Is it ready?" Peter asked.
"Just need the incantation." Sirius replied.
The three boys taking the potion stood around the cauldron, Remus keeping watch at the door and the piece of paper with the spell on it floating in front of Sirius's face.
"Join hands." Sirius ordered. They did and he began to read as the potion floated into three goblets. "O Oh todo o que seja, tomada de nós agora nosso formulário humano, faz de nós como bestas no selvagem, vista, cheiro, hearing, gosto, toque, deixa tudo ser mudado e deixa todo ser um."
They reached for the three goblets hovering in front of them, draining it all in one drink. The room burst with light...
Remus gasped. Standing in front of him were supposed to be his three best friends, and instead, in front of him were...
His three best friends.
"What happened?" Peter squeaked.
"It should have worked!" James cried, scanning the book once more. "We followed the ingredients precisely, Sirius recited the incantation perfectly... what went wrong?"
"Maybe... maybe you missed something. Like, I don't know, maybe you have to- " But they never found out what Remus thought they had to do, because they all stopped at once and listened to the footsteps on the stairs. At once, James flicked the lights out and Remus scrambled away from the door. Peter squeaked in fright once more.
Five minutes, ten, fifteen they waited until they could be sure it was safe. Remus turned the lights back on and turned to his two friends.
"Where's Peter?" he asked. They looked around, and sure enough, Peter had disappeared.
"Wait... do you guys hear a squeaking?" The three boys looked down, and saw in the place Peter should have been standing, a small, chubby rat quivering on the floor. James backed away to the wall, and Remus laughed.
"What is this? The famous, Quidditch star, soon-to-be Head Boy most likely, James Malcolm Potter is afraid of a little mouse?" Remus asked incredulously.
"It's a rat, and I'm not afraid!"
"Right."
"Well, how did it get in here, Mr. I'm-Smarter-Than-Most-Of-My-Year-Which- Means-I-Can-Act-All-Snooty?"
"Rhia's beating me by a few OWLs."
"Coz she's taking Divination!"
"Um, guys?" Sirius injected. They looked down. He had bent down to get a closer look at the rat, and had eventually picked it up. He now held it close to his face, examining it. "This rat has a freckle above it's left eye. Just like..."
"Peter," they breathed in unison.
"Peter, is this you?" James asked, squatting down next to Sirius. The rat squeaked.
"He did it! Peter did it, he transformed!" Sirius exclaimed quietly.
"Yeah, but into a rat?" Remus snorted. Peter the Rat squeaked indignantly.
"Peter, how did you do it?" James asked.
"He can't answer you," Sirius reminded him with a smirk. They turned back to Peter.
"Do you... do you think he knows how to transform back?" Remus asked cautiously. The three of them stared at Peter, shaking uncontrollably.
"Come on, Peter, you have to change back! We'll be expelled if they find out what we've done, you can't get us caught now!" James said frantically.
"Peter, change back! Do something, imagine you're a human, anything!" Sirius hissed.
Peter jumped from Sirius' hand and scrambled across the floor, turning suddenly and staring straight at them. In the next second, a small pop! echoed in the room and Peter the Human stood, grinning at his friends like a mad Cheshire cat.
"Look at that! I did it!" he exclaimed.
"But how?" James asked, taking his friend's shoulders.
"I dunno, I just.concentrated." He replied, grinning madly.
"On what?" Sirius cried excitedly.
"On being an animal." He rolled his eyes. "Try it, maybe it'll work."
Sirius threw James a skeptical look.
"Might as well." James said, closing his eyes tightly. Sirius watched in awe as a small pop sounded and, in James's place was a great stag, tall and majestic.
"Wow!" Peter cried. "Is that what happened to me?"
Remus nodded silently. Another pop bounced off the walls as James turned back into his human form.
"Well?" he asked. "What was I?"
"A fwuffy bunny-kins." Sirius teased with a smirk.
"Really, Sir." James rolled his eyes.
"A stag." Remus said. "Y'know, a deer, with antlers."
"Antlers?" James repeated. "Kinda cool, Moony."
"Your turn to give it a go, Sir." Peter smiled.
"Dunno...." Sirius looked a bit self-conscious.
"What's the matter?" James grinned. "Scared?"
"Me? Scared?" Sirius raised his jet-black eyebrows. "Never!"
"Oh, is Little Mr. Perfect-Showoff-Ladies-Man frightened?" James taunted, dancing in a circle about his friend.
"I am not frightened!" Sirius cried, his brow furrowing as a pop sounded and a shaggy dog stood in the place where Sirius was.
"James? Sirius? What's going on in there?"
The three boys and the dog looked towards the door where Lily's voice was coming through. Sirius quickly changed back into his human self.
"Oh no, Lily!" Peter whispered, shooting James frenzied looks.
"Quick, dump the cauldron!" Sirius mouthed. James pushed it into a nearby closet.
"Should we lock Mr. Prongs in there as well?" Remus asked grinning. James shot him a look just as the door opened.
"James? Remus? Guys, what's going on in here? Rhia and I can hear shouts from downstairs." Lily asked, walking over to James with a accusatory glare in her eyes.
"Oh, Lily darling, nothing is-is, I mean, we're not..."
"Lily, sweetheart," Sirius stepped in, smiling toothily. "We aren't doing anything in particular, just hanging around, horsing around, you know us."
Lily looked at them skeptically. "Well, we have Transfiguration in about twenty minutes, and you know how McGonagall can get when we're late, so don't be late." She gave James a kiss on the cheek. "See you guys soon."
James collapsed on the bed as soon as Lily shut the door. "Oh, my god."
"Nice, James. Real smooth cover-up." Sirius laughed.
They sat in silence for a moment, contemplating the events of the past half an hour. James looked up.
"What was that you called me, Remus?" he asked.
"What? Oh, I think it was - hmmm... oh, yes! Prongs. Mr. Prongs. Coz, you know, you turn into a stag and everything."
"Makes sense," Sirius agreed. Then a smirk spread across his face. "You guys, I think I just got a great idea."
"Another one? We almost just got caught in the middle of your last great idea!" Peter remarked.
"Yeah, well, we didn't, and it worked perfectly, did it not?" Sirius shot back. "Anyway... we've been thinking for a long time now. We know, and everyone else knows, we are the biggest mischief-makers in the school."
"I like the term mischief-maker so much better than delinquent. It sounds more... homey." Remus said.
"Yes, right, whatever," Sirius replied, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, we've all agreed that "mischief-maker" just isn't enough, is it? We've been trying to think of a way to leave our mark without getting expelled, right?" The boys nodded their agreement. "Well, what if it wasn't us doing the mischief?"
"I don't think we quite follow, Sir," James spoke up.
"What if instead of leaving OUR mark, we left the mark of... say... someone else... but not really..." Sirius explained slower, obviously cranking the wheels in his head.
"Like who?" Remus asked.
"Like Zorro, or Superman... you know, those Muggle characters that fight the bad guys? No one really knows their true identity... what is we were like that? We can pull off anything, and it we blame it on someone who doesn't exist..."
"We can't get caught! It's perfect! Virtually impossible to corner us!" James cried.
"Exactly!"
"But what to call us?" Peter asked.
"Well, Remus is Moony - we've been calling him that forever now, seems a shame to change it. And I think we agree that Prongs fits James pretty well..."
"Sirius, what about Padfoot? You do turn into a dog." James pointed out. Sirius nodded.
"And Peter could be Wormtail!"
"Wormtail?" Peter repeated with an obvious look of disgust.
"Well, you do turn into a rat, Wormtail," Remus laughed.
"Then its settled. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are in business." James spoke. "But what to call us..."
They sat in silence once more, until Remus perked up.
"Do you guys remember what Rhia called us a while back? A 'bunch of bloody marauders'? How about The Marauders?"
And so, the Marauders were born.