This chapter begins a little bit oddly, but once you get past it, it works. Please don't flame after reading the first 5 sentences and then saying 'This sucks! It's not even part of the story.' because that will just be used to roast marshmallows hehee!
The Marauders and the Darkest Talisman
By Gothica Angel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 3 - To Die by the Stars
A figure moved silently into the Forbidden Forest. It ran swiftly along the small path, and slid to a stop at a white stone known as an Iter Stone. There, the path split into two choices. One path was small, and the branches of blackberry vines and Sleeping Roses spilled over onto it from the forest, and the other, darker one dipped into the depths unknown. The phantom sprinted down the dark path, and fell to its knees by a small stream. A black centaur who had happened to witness the figure's flight walked up to it and said,
"Pray, stranger, do tell me of thy restless wanders, and if thee contemplates a destination. What is thy intention, stranger?"
The figure lifted its head to look at the Centaur, its face still hidden by the hood of its cloak. The Centaur gently moved the hood away with his hand, revealing a tear-streaked face beneath long wisps of dark hair.
"Is mine intention so much different from thee? Magical Creature, tell me where the unicorns lie. For my destiny is written in the sky tonight."
"Thee plans death, for thy soul is soaked with the stench of death, beautiful lady. The Forbidden Forest is not a place for ladies such as oneself. The place of the unicorns shall not pass through my lips, young wanderer, for I fear thy plans are not of that which is good. Say why does thee cry?"
"Why I cry is of no concern to thee, Magical Creature. Where do the Unicorns lie? Pluto has traced my future here to and from Earth, so do tell where the unicorns lie before my destiny and Pluto's collide."
"Alas, I fear thee is planning something dark. If thee shall make a promise to this humble forest creature, I shall tell thee where the Unicorns lie. Promise this lowly Centaur that thee shall not take one's life tonight, lovely."
"I promise thee."
"Then return to the path upon which thee came, and travel it until thee finds the Iter Stone. Take the path less traveled, and you shall find the place of the unicorns. Go now, wanderer, and find thy destiny in thy heart, not the stars."
She ran. On the path once again, she ran with cloaks billowing. Reaching the Iter Stone, she continued along the path. The path narrowed in a thicket, and then opened into the clearing, and the nearly full moon bathed the once dark woods with light. A wall of ivy covered a cave that had been carved out of small hill that rose at the edge of the clearing. She slowed near the ivy, and her breathing slowed as she pushed back the curtain of vines. A blinding light flashed from the darkness, and then oblivion...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James sat at his seat in Defence Against the Dark Arts class with Ravenclaw, twiddling his wand idly while thinking. Sirius was busy talking to Remus about their current assignment. They were researching papers about defending oneself against dragons, and Sirius was repeating a rumor he had heard from someone who had heard from someone else, who had hear from another person, who had hear from a confidential source that the Care of Magical Creatures teacher was going to collaborate with Professor Willowbog on the assignment, to everyone's horror. All the students knew that Professor Wormspun was a little on the extravagant side, and nothing good could come of a collaboration on the dragon project. Last year's History of Magic project on Famous Hippogriffs: 1200-1800 had been enough.
"Mr. Potter! Would you like to join us in walking to the library?" Professor Willowbog's voice broke into his thoughts.
James grinned as Sirius laughed at him and pushed Remus out the door, muttering something like, "Heel."
Remus elbowed Sirius and James was left behind with Peter as the two raced after each other down the hallway. Remus was still weak from his last transformation, so he had troubled catching Sirius, but in the end he caught the black haired boy in a head lock and held him there for a minute or two while Sirius struggled against the grip, and then Remus let him go.
"What? Too much for ya Moony?"
"I didn't want fleas."
"Ouch," James replied as he and Peter caught up to them.
They wandered into the library and sat at a table together. James checked out a book on talismans and the history of the Talisman Maker, claiming it to be part of the project, and at the same time knowing it was for his own information. Remus, Peter and Sirius looked at him as though he out to be out of his mind. They wanted to push it to the back of their minds and forget about it, but they doubted that would happen any time soon. James rested his head against his hand, pretending to read the book, as he gazed across the library at the girl with the flowing red hair. If only he were a famous Quidditch player instead of ordinary old James Potter, and if only Lily Evans would notice... He shook his head, to clear his mind when a voice interrupted his thoughts,
"JAMES!" Sirius hissed loudly in his friend's face, and Remus Lupin snorted in laughter next to him.
James rolled his eyes at the two as Madame Pastille the librarian scolded them. The three turned their attention back to their books. They studied the dragon that stared up at them from the page. They had Quidditch practice that night, and their two and a half scroll Defence reports were due the next day. Remus finished the last few sentences of his report and agreed to be at the Quidditch field forty five minutes after class to watch the practice. He was fifteen minutes early and watched Ravenclaw practice. Remus didn't join the Ravenclaws that sat in the bleachers watching practice, after all he was in Gryffindor, but watched the Ravenclaw seeker, hoping to be able to give James some insight into the opponent. When the Gryffindor team had arrived, and Ravenclaw and their housemates had left, Remus sat with Peter and watched James and Sirius practice.
"The Ravenclaw seeker isn't bad," Remus mentioned.
"James is getting pretty good himself. Ten Galleons says the England team will come after him before the year is out." Peter grinned.
"I'm too smart to take that bet, Wormtail."
And so the weeks passed as September blended into October, and the students began to terrorize Hogsmeade on the weekends. Four young men sat in the corner of the Three Broomsticks talking in hushed tones.
"So you think the greasy git will suspect us?"
"Padfoot, he always suspects us. Like the one time Peeves put a two pounds of chipolatas in his bed... I haven't heard him yell our names any louder since."
"That was a stroke of genius on Peeves' part. Wish I had thought of it sooner."
"Don't you think we learned our lesson in the Forest?"
"No way, Wormtail, plus, this isn't the Forest and we haven't seen another amulet. I bet it was one of those spirit vengeance things that Willowbog was talking about the other day, just to scare us. We have to get our vengeance on Snape and Malfoy." the speaker had unruly black hair and a laughing smile.
A pair of eyes glowed bright red outside the window, and then faded into the darkness, and Peter squinted to see what creature was crouched outside, of course guaranteeing strange looks from the others. They shrugged it off, attributing it to the warmth in the room and the butterbeer. A cold wind had blown in from the North, rattling the dry leaves on the trees, as though in warning of the cold, winter weather to come. Lily appeared at the table, and James had trouble smothering the blush that was creeping up his face. Remus smiled at her, and said,
"Hi, Lily, have you been to Zonko's? Where are your friends?"
"Hi, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and... oh dear is that James hiding behind you Sirius?" Lily smiled, and James blushed ferociously, "Unlike you lot, we don't find fun in terrorizing the poor souls at Hogwarts, teachers included. Now what contraband have you stowed under your robes?"
"Uh, not much, um, exploding quills, uh, haha, um, " James stuttered.
"While James sorts out his speech problem, why don't you sit and have a butterbeer? Anyway, we have exploding quills, inkpots with disappearing squid's ink, several 'potions ingredients' that do the opposite of what they're supposed to and some other stuff which will go unmentioned. Here, the butterbeer is on James," Sirius said as Madame Rosmerta handed Lily a butterbeer.
"So where is everyone?" Remus asked again.
"Some of the other Gryffindors and I were at Honeyduke's and some Ravenclaws are around here somewhere with the other half of Gryffindor, and you guys are right here, so that accounts for just about everyone."
Professor McGonagall announced that they were leaving, and as they all returned to the dark castle, no one noticed that Remus Lupin had become quite pale, and that his right fist was clenched tightly...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday morning dawned rainy and foggy. Sirius and James were weighed down with a load of Transfiguration and Potions work, and spent the morning slaving over it. Professor McGonagall had them working on multiple transfigurations, and Professor Acris had taken the sudden duty to teach them where to find ingredients in places other than a greenhouse or apothecary. Remus had been quiet lately, and Peter, who always seemed to be free of homework, was an annoyance to the two who were trying their best not to throttle him, and whispering half curses under their breath. They finished in time for lunch and were returning from the Great Hall when someone stepped in front of them.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Potter and Black."
"Hello, Severus. We bought you something in Hogsmeade to show that there shouldn't be any hard feeling this year, I mean being our last year and all. We just want to end this rivalry." Sirius said innocently, the feelings appearing genuine.
"That goes for me too," James said, playing along with Sirius.
Snape looked taken aback. Did these two who had manically humiliated him year after year really mean a cease fire? A truce? The looks on their faces were completely true to what they said, but again they were Sirius Black and James Potter, and they could make anything seem true. He agreed, just as a group of Slytherines came up behind him, very surprised. Sirius smiled kindly and withdrew a package from his robes and handed it to Snape, who turned bright red. On the front was a book with the title : Magical Ways to Un-grease Your Hair, complete with magical grease free shampoo.
"Well, they didn't come separate, or we would have gotten just the book, seeing as how you don't take a shower..."
Snape wasn't listening as he brought his fist across James Potter's face with perfect accuracy, smashing James' nose. Sirius hurled himself at Snape and floored him with a solid hit to the stomach. Remus, who had been walking with them and staying out of the whole thing thus far, jumped into the fray, as did about ten members of the Slytherine house. By the time Filch and some other professors had split the fight up, not one person in the hall was unbloodied. James' and Snape's noses were all broken, Sirius' jaw was fractured, others were missing teeth, and Remus had a black eye and bloody nose. Madame Pomfrey was quick to clean them up, and Filch was quick to hand out detentions. The Slytherines, with the exception of Snape, got to polish trophies and armor, while James, Sirius, Remus, and Snape got stuck in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid.
"Why the Forest!" James wailed, carrying a magical ice pack on his nose.
"You think I'm happy about that?" Sirius gingerly touched his jaw, and gently worked in more enchanted healing cream, and applied his own magical ice pack.
"Well our detention is tonight, at 11:00, and Sirius, don't you even think about goading Snape into finding the unicorn birthplace, or the Talisman Maker. We don't need that hanging over our heads. Especially with what I found last night." Remus bit his tongue; he hadn't meant to let that out.
The two other boys whirled around on him, glaring accusingly. Remus' eyes darkened with guilt and anger. Why did everyone mistrust him?
Seeing the look in Remus' eyes, James' expression of anger softened, and he said,
"Not here. Tell us in the dormitory."
And he did. Remus pulled the amulet from the laundry bag where he had kept the robes that he and James were going to use in a forgotten prank on Sirius. The dark blue amulet glowed softly in his hands. The stone was a smooth half circle set in a metal clasp with a simple metal chain. Sirius dumped the contents from the bag, glancing at James questioningly and gestured toward the robes.
"Don't ask," James sighed, "What kind of amulet is it?"
"Fear."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A faceless figure sat by a stream in the forbidden Forest. Memories of Pluto, unicorns, and and centaurs ran through its head. The figure pulled back the hood of its cloak and cupped its hands, letting the water form a pool in the scarred palms.
"Thee kept thy promise," a centaur emerged from the unforgiving shadows of night.
"I did."
"Did thee find the unicorns?"
"I only find oblivion where thee has told me I would find light. That is my intention this night. Tell me why Mars burns, and I shall inform thee of the destinies that will cross this hallowed sky," she let the water fall back into the stream and stood.
"Mars burns with the fire of war and evil. Two destinies shall clash this eve, and only one shall emerge intact. I advise thee to flee this wretched place at once, find the unicorns and be off with thee, for Mars warns of the evil that shadows this valley of death. Pray stranger, tell me of your destiny and the other that will cross the darkened sky tonight."
"Pluto and I have a rendezvous with death, and mine intention is that of every stargazer. My future is written in the stars and thee shan't attempt to change it. I kept thy promise and I intend to meet my destiny this night. Be off with thineself."
"What is thy desire, that thee states so clearly, but thy humble servant cannot contemplate. Pray, what is thy desire."
"I have no intention to live by the stars, and by my destiny and Pluto's, I die by them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Snape, James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter arrived at Hagrid's hut, a black centaur, very distraught had already demanded Hagrid's attention, and the boys cautiously approached, not wanting to distress the creature any further. Before they could join the conversation, the centaur galloped off swiftly, leaving them to question Hagrid.
"Why I though you had learnt yer lesson last year Mr. Black. Wit' all the ruckus you caused in the Forest with the centaurs, it's no wonder why Shad'w took off ter leave m wit you boys. And now gettin' detention fer fightin'. Remus Lupin I had high hopes fer you not to learn from these gits," Hagrid admonished.
He explained what Shadow had told him. About the stranger in the Forest. The one who was determined to die by her destiny and Pluto's crossing. 'It was written in the stars,' the centaur had said sadly, 'Stargazers live by the stars, but she is determined to die, and it is written, but only after she finds the unicorns, will she rendezvous with Pluto and their untimely fate.'
Hagrid shook his head, and the boys eyes widened as they learned of the strangers destination. Hagrid gave them the usual warning, and they all stuck close together in the Forbidden Forest. When they reached the Iter stone, Hagrid left them there, and continued down a dark path that dipped down a hill. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, until a piercing scream broke the air. It sounded angry, inhuman, and otherworldly. A cloaked figure raced from the path, stumbling and limping, and fell in front of the Iter stone. Sirius and James backed away from it, shoving Snape in front of them, as a makeshift human shield. Remus looked suspiciously at the prone specter, decided it wasn't breathing, and moved forward, gently brushing the cloak back. A young face with dark hair stared back at them. It clenched a stone tightly in its hands, which seemed unnaturally rigid and white. A spasm rocked its body, making it lost the grip on the rock, and it fell to the ground. A Mortis Stone. Remus backed away after picking up the stone carefully as lids slid painfully open to reveal dark eyes. The lips parted as a ragged breath was drawn and words whispered.
"Mars burns."
I hope you like this in replacement of the original chapter two, and I hope I didn't desperately confuse you. Hopefully next chapter will reveal more about the mysterious young stranger who finds her death in the stars. Why does she want to know about the unicorns? What secrets do they hold? How do our heroes tie into it? What mysterious creature lurks outside the Three Broomsticks? What will Mars reveal, and will Pluto ever cross the sky? All this and more, in the next chapter...