~Year Two~
(Note: There's a teensy bit of French in here. If it's wrong, write me. Yipee.)
'Three shorts months, and they're already back.'
Well, at least, three of them were back.
"When's he gonna be here?" Sirius practically whined.
"I told him to be here in five minutes."
"But what if he doesn't..."
"What, doesn't come back to Hogwarts?" James snorted. "Not bloody likely."
"But what if - "
"Sirius..." Peter squirmed nervously. "He'll be here."
Silence and then the sound of approaching footsteps. All three of the boys' heads turned to the fourth boy.
"So, what's the big surprise nobody else could hear?" Remus asked upon reaching the others.
They remained silent, still a little shy about the subject.
"Well?" prompted the brunette boy.
"We know," Sirius finally said.
"Know...what?" Remus cautiously asked.
"That you're a werewolf," Sirius calmly stated.
"W-What?!"
"We thought it out last year," James explained. "Each of us had figured out bits and pieces throughout the year. Peter was first when he saw Madam Pomfrey escorting you outside towards the Whomping Willow around January."
Sirius chimed in. "Then, James saw you in the infirmary one morning after you had disappeared again in March."
"I'd went in for a bloody nose - "
"From Snape of all people!"
" - and glimpsed you sleeping behind the curtains when Pomfrey came out. You looked terrible."
"Finally," Peter excitedly finished, "A week later, Sirius figured out that it was only on nights of the full moon that you left."
Sirius nodded. "It was when you turned down the offer to go camping during the time of a full moon with a pretty lame excuse that we absolutely knew."
Silence reigned for a thick minute, Remus' mind racing. I could see how he once again looked like a deer in the headlights; he seemed ready to bolt at any moment, when Sirius stepped in front of him.
"Remmie...why didn't you tell us?" he asked softly.
The werewolf now out of the closet (*1) whimpered slightly and turned to run. Sirius instantly threw his arms around his friends, forcing him to stay and face him.
"Remus, you could have told us."
"No! Sirius, you don't - can't understand what it means! I'm a werewolf, Sirius, a *werewolf*! You can't be my friend, none of you can! Nobody ever stays with a werewolf!" Crystalline tears struggled down Remus' cheeks, his amber-brown eyes wide and panicking. "We're monsters! Don't you understand that at all?! Can you even comprehend what I'm capable of?! You don't know what you're dealing with here! I'm a monster, Sirius, a creature Fate deigned evil enough to remain friendless and lonely throughout his years. Je suis un monstre, pas un humain! Les loup-garous n'ont jamais les amis!" (**2) He suddenly realized he had ceased speaking in English and quickly reverted back. "Then, I came here and met you, and I didn't want to lose you. Any of you. I couldn't bear to have you find out. But now you know." he trailed off, staring into Sirius' grey eyes.
"Remus, you're wrong," Sirius murmured.
"Of course we're not leaving, you daft wizard." James came up and put a hand on Remus' shoulder.
"We're together until the end." Peter approached the group of boys and smiled.
Sirius chuckled. "Remus, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us. No matter what, we'll always be together. After all, we're the Marauders!"
Remus sobbed, burying his face into Sirius' shoulder as his three friends held him close.
And I knew they would be alright.
After Remus had dried his eyes, they boarded the train, and students starting to trickle in. I knew they had much to discuss, but I also knew that they would stay together and work through it, never even considering giving up. Especially Sirius. He cared for Remus far more than he let on.
As I thought about it, students boarded the train.
The whistle blew, the train leaving the platform.
***
The whistle blew, the train approaching the platform.
'So much for peace and quiet.'
A group of energetic boys raced out of the front of the train while a bellow came from the back. Rapidly, all four raced behind a brick pillar, quite out of sight of the black-haired boy emerging from the end car with Lucius Malfoy on one side and a flame-haired girl about his age on the other side. The girl was speaking.
"...sure it was some fourth year's wand accidentally going off. After all, the hex was rather advanced, and a second year wouldn't really be able to do it."
"Unless they'd been practicing all year," muttered the black-haired boy I knew to be one Severus Snape.
"Why would they practice all year to simply grow you ears and a tail?" she asked sweetly. Perhaps, too sweetly.
And it was true. Protruding from the crown of his head was a pale white cat's ear and a floppy brown dog's ear; traveling from under his robe dragged a scaly tail with a rattle at the end, which constantly sounded.
" 'Simply' ears and a tail? You think this is funny, Lily?"
"'Course not. Simply terrible. Have a great summer, Sev." She waved and walked off, looking for someone.
I turned my attention to the hiding boys.
"I'm sorry, James. I thought we agreed dog's ears."
"'S alright, Pete. Still looks mad hilarious! But I gotta say that Siri and Rem did a great job on the tail. A snake! Perfect! Who thought of the rattle?"
"Moony, who else?"
"Remus! Who knew you had a sadistic streak?"
"You mean besides all of you? C'mon! I just couldn't resist."
All four of the self-proclaimed Marauders chuckled as they peeked out to laugh at their creation once more.
"Bloody brilliant," James murmured before quietly surveying the platform.
"So, why'd she help us anyway?" Peter wondered.
"'Cause she's got a sadistic streak in her even more hidden than Remus'."
Sirius bounced on the balls of his feet, punching James on the arm to gain his attention. "Alright, there's a story behind that if I ever heard a story opener before."
"Absolutely," Remus agreed. "More hidden than even my sadism? Do tell, O magniloquent one!"
"Magniloquent?" Sirius murmured. "Is that even a word?"
"Of course," Remus responded. "It's a perfectly good word."
"Then, why've I never heard it before?"
"Falling asleep in class all the time? Studying pranks instead of books? Passing only by looking off my paper?" Remus hazarded as guesses.
"Ah, Moony!" Sirius dramatically threw an arm over Remus' shoulders, as if he were fainting. "You have discovered my darkest secret! Ah, whatever shall I do? Wherever shall I go?" He melodramatically pretended to faint.
Remus calmly said as he held his friend up. "Sirius. Be serious."
He opened one eye. "Like I've never heard *that* before, Remus Lupin."
"I'm going to drop you if you're not careful."
"Agh, it's not fun to be the female in our relationship, Moony."
"On the topic of females," Peter interjected as Remus proceeded to drop his burden, "how'd we get Lily?"
"Spill, Jamie." Sirius rubbed his back. "Remmie, that hurt."
Remus looked him in the eye, having been pulled down onto Sirius as he dropped his friend. "It wouldn't've hurt as much if you had let me stay upright."
The boy seemed to consider this as he sat up, Remus erect once more and offering a hand to aid his friend. "Yeah, but this was *so* much more fun. Anyways, let's drop it, Remmie, so that James can spill his guts." Sirius leaned an arm on one of Remus' shoulders.
'That boy certainly likes tactile contact,' I realized. 'Especially with Remus.'
"Yes, well," James began. "You see, you know how we always thought she was just a stuck-up mini-Head Girl." At the other's vigorous nods, he continued. "Well, it seems that she takes after Remus here with the fact that she shows one face to the teachers - the mini-Head Girl face - and a completely different one with her friends. Remember when all those Howlers showed up to all the Slytherins?"
"How can we forget?" Peter miserably grimaced.
Sirius groaned. "Detention every night for three weeks."
Remus nodded, gently patting Sirius hand. "All for something we never did."
"Although it was bloody brill - James, don't tell me *Lily* did that!"
James smiled. "She'd been planning it for a couple of months beforehand, looking up charms and such to imitate each parent's voice."
Sirius whistled. "Blimey. And I thought that girl didn't have a sense of humour."
"Well, I think she'd make a great alibi," James said. "Since nobody would ever imagine Lily capable of pranks, she could wheedle ingredients and such out of professors without them knowing. Or claim to be working on an extra credit assignment and get us a Restricted Book, or something like that. And then, she could claim that she was helping us studying, so we couldn't have done whatever. It'll be grand!"
"Then, that means you want her to be - "
" - a Marauder."
Silence. All the boys glanced at each other. Remus broke the silence first.
"Well, we all just admitted that she pulled off a prank that we wish we could have done. And it was marvelous." He looked at Sirius. "I agree. She'd be a genius. Don't you realize she's the top of our Charms class? It'd be perfect."
"I-I agree," Peter stuttered.
Sirius glanced warily at his best friend. "How do you know it was her?"
James blushed slightly. "Remember that night I went out to get the house elves to put that potion in Malfoy and Snape's dishes the next day?"
"To make their skin change to a Slytherin green? 'Course. It was a great idea."
"Well, I ran into Lily in the kitchens. Apparently, she'd had a similar idea, so we combined our efforts."
"Oh!" Remus cried. "*That's* why they turned green *and* grew fangs and a forked tongue! Fantastic! They were still hissing after a week! That was *Lily*?! You said it was an unforeseen addition to our potion!"
"Well, I couldn't very well give her away, could I?"
"So that's how we got away..." Sirius muttered.
"Lily distracted Snape while we hexed him just now!" Peter exclaimed.
James smiled, making Peter beam. "Exactly. Now, I vote she should be a Marauder."
"I second," Remus said.
"Me, too," Peter added.
Sirius looked at his best friend and then at Remus. Finally, he smirked and said, "She'll make a fine Marauder."
James crowed quietly.
"Speaking of, where's Lil?" Remus asked, looking around. "She should have been here already."
"She's here, she's here." Lily approached, grinning happily. "Were you talking about me behind my back again?"
"Of course," Sirius replied. "But now that you're here, we can talk about you in front of your back."
("That sounds almost obscene," James muttered under his breath to Peter, who tittered before trying to cover it up with a low cough.)
"Ha ha, Sirius Black. That smart mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble one of these days..."
"Like it doesn't get him in trouble every other day already," Remus mentioned.
"Hey, I resemble that!" he cried, delighted.
"Alright already. Settle. We have important things to discuss."
"James Potter asking for order? That's it; I've seen everything."
"Funny, Lily. Especially coming from you."
"I concede. What's so dire?"
"We would like to honour you with something."
"How sweet, James. What is it? And will I think it's an honour?"
Sirius interposed, "If it involves us four, how can you *not* think it honourable?"
She raised one eyebrow effortlessly at the boy. "Do you really want me to answer that, Black?"
He half-grinned. "'Course not. 'Twould harm my precious ego."
"Alright, OK, anyway," James tried to subtly stress. "Back to the subject at hand. To put it bluntly, we would like to present you with entry into the Marauders."
Thrown off, she opened her mouth, but no words came out.
"Great, James. I think you killed her," Peter said.
Suddenly, she squealed as only a girl her age could and threw her arms around the bespectacled black-haired boy, his eyes wide and startled.
"I would *love* to be a Marauder! Thank you all!"
Letting go of James, she hugged all the others in turn and then, just for good measure, embraced James once more.
As they all left, now that Snape and his gang were safely out of sight, the five Marauders laughed as they discussed and bragged about pranks, new and old.
Lily looked so happy. I, of course, knew why. Whenever I'd seen her before, not many of the kids hung around her, voicing to others that she was too bossy, too stuck-up, and far too bright for her own good. Right now, though, she showed exuberance enough to rival even Sirius' natural buoyancy.
As they left, Sirius had his arm around Remus' shoulders, as usual, and Lily had shyly taken James' hand.
The train whistle was silent.
(*1) Well, one closet for now.
(**2) French translation: I am a monster, not a human! Werewolves never have friends!
Feedback earns virtual cookies! scarby13@hotmail.com
~Clamat, sed ubi asinus est?~
(Note: There's a teensy bit of French in here. If it's wrong, write me. Yipee.)
'Three shorts months, and they're already back.'
Well, at least, three of them were back.
"When's he gonna be here?" Sirius practically whined.
"I told him to be here in five minutes."
"But what if he doesn't..."
"What, doesn't come back to Hogwarts?" James snorted. "Not bloody likely."
"But what if - "
"Sirius..." Peter squirmed nervously. "He'll be here."
Silence and then the sound of approaching footsteps. All three of the boys' heads turned to the fourth boy.
"So, what's the big surprise nobody else could hear?" Remus asked upon reaching the others.
They remained silent, still a little shy about the subject.
"Well?" prompted the brunette boy.
"We know," Sirius finally said.
"Know...what?" Remus cautiously asked.
"That you're a werewolf," Sirius calmly stated.
"W-What?!"
"We thought it out last year," James explained. "Each of us had figured out bits and pieces throughout the year. Peter was first when he saw Madam Pomfrey escorting you outside towards the Whomping Willow around January."
Sirius chimed in. "Then, James saw you in the infirmary one morning after you had disappeared again in March."
"I'd went in for a bloody nose - "
"From Snape of all people!"
" - and glimpsed you sleeping behind the curtains when Pomfrey came out. You looked terrible."
"Finally," Peter excitedly finished, "A week later, Sirius figured out that it was only on nights of the full moon that you left."
Sirius nodded. "It was when you turned down the offer to go camping during the time of a full moon with a pretty lame excuse that we absolutely knew."
Silence reigned for a thick minute, Remus' mind racing. I could see how he once again looked like a deer in the headlights; he seemed ready to bolt at any moment, when Sirius stepped in front of him.
"Remmie...why didn't you tell us?" he asked softly.
The werewolf now out of the closet (*1) whimpered slightly and turned to run. Sirius instantly threw his arms around his friends, forcing him to stay and face him.
"Remus, you could have told us."
"No! Sirius, you don't - can't understand what it means! I'm a werewolf, Sirius, a *werewolf*! You can't be my friend, none of you can! Nobody ever stays with a werewolf!" Crystalline tears struggled down Remus' cheeks, his amber-brown eyes wide and panicking. "We're monsters! Don't you understand that at all?! Can you even comprehend what I'm capable of?! You don't know what you're dealing with here! I'm a monster, Sirius, a creature Fate deigned evil enough to remain friendless and lonely throughout his years. Je suis un monstre, pas un humain! Les loup-garous n'ont jamais les amis!" (**2) He suddenly realized he had ceased speaking in English and quickly reverted back. "Then, I came here and met you, and I didn't want to lose you. Any of you. I couldn't bear to have you find out. But now you know." he trailed off, staring into Sirius' grey eyes.
"Remus, you're wrong," Sirius murmured.
"Of course we're not leaving, you daft wizard." James came up and put a hand on Remus' shoulder.
"We're together until the end." Peter approached the group of boys and smiled.
Sirius chuckled. "Remus, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us. No matter what, we'll always be together. After all, we're the Marauders!"
Remus sobbed, burying his face into Sirius' shoulder as his three friends held him close.
And I knew they would be alright.
After Remus had dried his eyes, they boarded the train, and students starting to trickle in. I knew they had much to discuss, but I also knew that they would stay together and work through it, never even considering giving up. Especially Sirius. He cared for Remus far more than he let on.
As I thought about it, students boarded the train.
The whistle blew, the train leaving the platform.
***
The whistle blew, the train approaching the platform.
'So much for peace and quiet.'
A group of energetic boys raced out of the front of the train while a bellow came from the back. Rapidly, all four raced behind a brick pillar, quite out of sight of the black-haired boy emerging from the end car with Lucius Malfoy on one side and a flame-haired girl about his age on the other side. The girl was speaking.
"...sure it was some fourth year's wand accidentally going off. After all, the hex was rather advanced, and a second year wouldn't really be able to do it."
"Unless they'd been practicing all year," muttered the black-haired boy I knew to be one Severus Snape.
"Why would they practice all year to simply grow you ears and a tail?" she asked sweetly. Perhaps, too sweetly.
And it was true. Protruding from the crown of his head was a pale white cat's ear and a floppy brown dog's ear; traveling from under his robe dragged a scaly tail with a rattle at the end, which constantly sounded.
" 'Simply' ears and a tail? You think this is funny, Lily?"
"'Course not. Simply terrible. Have a great summer, Sev." She waved and walked off, looking for someone.
I turned my attention to the hiding boys.
"I'm sorry, James. I thought we agreed dog's ears."
"'S alright, Pete. Still looks mad hilarious! But I gotta say that Siri and Rem did a great job on the tail. A snake! Perfect! Who thought of the rattle?"
"Moony, who else?"
"Remus! Who knew you had a sadistic streak?"
"You mean besides all of you? C'mon! I just couldn't resist."
All four of the self-proclaimed Marauders chuckled as they peeked out to laugh at their creation once more.
"Bloody brilliant," James murmured before quietly surveying the platform.
"So, why'd she help us anyway?" Peter wondered.
"'Cause she's got a sadistic streak in her even more hidden than Remus'."
Sirius bounced on the balls of his feet, punching James on the arm to gain his attention. "Alright, there's a story behind that if I ever heard a story opener before."
"Absolutely," Remus agreed. "More hidden than even my sadism? Do tell, O magniloquent one!"
"Magniloquent?" Sirius murmured. "Is that even a word?"
"Of course," Remus responded. "It's a perfectly good word."
"Then, why've I never heard it before?"
"Falling asleep in class all the time? Studying pranks instead of books? Passing only by looking off my paper?" Remus hazarded as guesses.
"Ah, Moony!" Sirius dramatically threw an arm over Remus' shoulders, as if he were fainting. "You have discovered my darkest secret! Ah, whatever shall I do? Wherever shall I go?" He melodramatically pretended to faint.
Remus calmly said as he held his friend up. "Sirius. Be serious."
He opened one eye. "Like I've never heard *that* before, Remus Lupin."
"I'm going to drop you if you're not careful."
"Agh, it's not fun to be the female in our relationship, Moony."
"On the topic of females," Peter interjected as Remus proceeded to drop his burden, "how'd we get Lily?"
"Spill, Jamie." Sirius rubbed his back. "Remmie, that hurt."
Remus looked him in the eye, having been pulled down onto Sirius as he dropped his friend. "It wouldn't've hurt as much if you had let me stay upright."
The boy seemed to consider this as he sat up, Remus erect once more and offering a hand to aid his friend. "Yeah, but this was *so* much more fun. Anyways, let's drop it, Remmie, so that James can spill his guts." Sirius leaned an arm on one of Remus' shoulders.
'That boy certainly likes tactile contact,' I realized. 'Especially with Remus.'
"Yes, well," James began. "You see, you know how we always thought she was just a stuck-up mini-Head Girl." At the other's vigorous nods, he continued. "Well, it seems that she takes after Remus here with the fact that she shows one face to the teachers - the mini-Head Girl face - and a completely different one with her friends. Remember when all those Howlers showed up to all the Slytherins?"
"How can we forget?" Peter miserably grimaced.
Sirius groaned. "Detention every night for three weeks."
Remus nodded, gently patting Sirius hand. "All for something we never did."
"Although it was bloody brill - James, don't tell me *Lily* did that!"
James smiled. "She'd been planning it for a couple of months beforehand, looking up charms and such to imitate each parent's voice."
Sirius whistled. "Blimey. And I thought that girl didn't have a sense of humour."
"Well, I think she'd make a great alibi," James said. "Since nobody would ever imagine Lily capable of pranks, she could wheedle ingredients and such out of professors without them knowing. Or claim to be working on an extra credit assignment and get us a Restricted Book, or something like that. And then, she could claim that she was helping us studying, so we couldn't have done whatever. It'll be grand!"
"Then, that means you want her to be - "
" - a Marauder."
Silence. All the boys glanced at each other. Remus broke the silence first.
"Well, we all just admitted that she pulled off a prank that we wish we could have done. And it was marvelous." He looked at Sirius. "I agree. She'd be a genius. Don't you realize she's the top of our Charms class? It'd be perfect."
"I-I agree," Peter stuttered.
Sirius glanced warily at his best friend. "How do you know it was her?"
James blushed slightly. "Remember that night I went out to get the house elves to put that potion in Malfoy and Snape's dishes the next day?"
"To make their skin change to a Slytherin green? 'Course. It was a great idea."
"Well, I ran into Lily in the kitchens. Apparently, she'd had a similar idea, so we combined our efforts."
"Oh!" Remus cried. "*That's* why they turned green *and* grew fangs and a forked tongue! Fantastic! They were still hissing after a week! That was *Lily*?! You said it was an unforeseen addition to our potion!"
"Well, I couldn't very well give her away, could I?"
"So that's how we got away..." Sirius muttered.
"Lily distracted Snape while we hexed him just now!" Peter exclaimed.
James smiled, making Peter beam. "Exactly. Now, I vote she should be a Marauder."
"I second," Remus said.
"Me, too," Peter added.
Sirius looked at his best friend and then at Remus. Finally, he smirked and said, "She'll make a fine Marauder."
James crowed quietly.
"Speaking of, where's Lil?" Remus asked, looking around. "She should have been here already."
"She's here, she's here." Lily approached, grinning happily. "Were you talking about me behind my back again?"
"Of course," Sirius replied. "But now that you're here, we can talk about you in front of your back."
("That sounds almost obscene," James muttered under his breath to Peter, who tittered before trying to cover it up with a low cough.)
"Ha ha, Sirius Black. That smart mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble one of these days..."
"Like it doesn't get him in trouble every other day already," Remus mentioned.
"Hey, I resemble that!" he cried, delighted.
"Alright already. Settle. We have important things to discuss."
"James Potter asking for order? That's it; I've seen everything."
"Funny, Lily. Especially coming from you."
"I concede. What's so dire?"
"We would like to honour you with something."
"How sweet, James. What is it? And will I think it's an honour?"
Sirius interposed, "If it involves us four, how can you *not* think it honourable?"
She raised one eyebrow effortlessly at the boy. "Do you really want me to answer that, Black?"
He half-grinned. "'Course not. 'Twould harm my precious ego."
"Alright, OK, anyway," James tried to subtly stress. "Back to the subject at hand. To put it bluntly, we would like to present you with entry into the Marauders."
Thrown off, she opened her mouth, but no words came out.
"Great, James. I think you killed her," Peter said.
Suddenly, she squealed as only a girl her age could and threw her arms around the bespectacled black-haired boy, his eyes wide and startled.
"I would *love* to be a Marauder! Thank you all!"
Letting go of James, she hugged all the others in turn and then, just for good measure, embraced James once more.
As they all left, now that Snape and his gang were safely out of sight, the five Marauders laughed as they discussed and bragged about pranks, new and old.
Lily looked so happy. I, of course, knew why. Whenever I'd seen her before, not many of the kids hung around her, voicing to others that she was too bossy, too stuck-up, and far too bright for her own good. Right now, though, she showed exuberance enough to rival even Sirius' natural buoyancy.
As they left, Sirius had his arm around Remus' shoulders, as usual, and Lily had shyly taken James' hand.
The train whistle was silent.
(*1) Well, one closet for now.
(**2) French translation: I am a monster, not a human! Werewolves never have friends!
Feedback earns virtual cookies! scarby13@hotmail.com
~Clamat, sed ubi asinus est?~