Lot's of quotes from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. God, I love that book. I love the series almost even more – especially Colin Firth as Mr Darcy! The jumping-in-the-duckpont is of course a hommage to that one scene... ah, see-through shirts, what's not to love about them??
July, 1978.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife."
"Mail for you," said Romulus, throwing two parchment letters on the Daily Prophet.
"Not on the paper," muttered Remus irritated, shoving the letters aside.
"Aren't you going to read them?" said his younger brother curiously.
Remus glanced at the letters. "They're from James and Sirius. None of them says: "urgent, read this!" so I suppose it can wait." He continued reading. Romulus sighed.
"The holy paper of Remus Lupin…" he said dramatically.
"If you'd shut up, then I can read my 'holy paper'". Scanning the pages, but seeing nothing really interesting, Remus quickly reached the last page. He folded the paper up and threw it to Romulus. "There you go." Then he reached for his letters.
He opened James' first. The sight of his friend tidy handwriting brought a smile on his face.
"Dear Remus,
Of course, because of your fantastic summer holidays, you might have forgotten that July 25 is my 18th birthday, but, naturally, I have not. Don't panic, I haven't heard anything from Sirius either, and I'm seriously starting to doubt if Peter is even alive.
Well, what I wanted to say is that you're invited to come. There isn't a real party, so you can decide yourself when you're coming. I hope you still know where I live; according to my mother, you were twelve the last time you were here.
Hope to see you then!
James.
PS: Don't forget to bring a present!"
Remus made a mental note to go to Diagon Alley and get a present for James, as he opened the letter from Sirius. Sirius' opening line made him laugh out loud:
"Dear Remus,
Perhaps you've forgotten, but July 25 is James' birthday…"
~*~
A few days later, July 25 to be exactly.
Remus Apparated with a small pop in front of the Potter Mansion. For a few moments, he just stared at the house. He had apparently forgotten how rich the Potters were, or how enormous James' house was.
He walked to the front door and, after a short hesitation, rang the bell. The door was opened, but it took him a split second to notice that there was a house-elf in front of him, reaching not much higher than his knees. The little creature bowed courteously.
"Good afternoon, Sir," it squeaked.
"Uhm, hello," Remus replied uncertain. "Er… I'm here for James."
"The young master is in the portrait gallery," squeaked the elf. "Does Sir know the way?" It blinked quite friendly to him.
"Not exactly," said Remus, walking inside. "The last time I was here was – oh, ages ago…" He wanted to say something about the size of the house, but was interrupted by a woman with short curly black hair; Mrs Potter, James' mother.
She greeted him as though he'd just returned from a six-years long journey and fought the most terrible things, such as dragons.
"Remus!" she said, enthusiastically shaking his hand. "How are you? I haven't seen you in a long time!" He smiled.
"At graduation, actually." She flushed.
"Oh, sorry… of course, how could I forget?" She laughed a bit nervously. Apparently, he thought, she'd just remembered what I am.
"Easy with the ego, Remus" his brother's voice suddenly echoed in his head. "You're not the only werewolf; not everything revolves around you."
Mrs Potter waved her hand around the hall. "And, do you still remember it? The last time you were here was when you and Sirius and Peter were staying over for two nights. You were twelve then, remember?"
Yes, he remembered. And he remembered a whole lot more; Peter falling into the duck pond in the Potter's garden, the pillow fights, and the so-called 'Pyjama-excursions' to the kitchen in the dead of night. But Remus somehow got the feeling Mrs Potter wasn't aware of that part of those two days, so he didn't mention it.
She clapped her hands together. "Anyway, I suppose you're not here to talk with me." She then turned to the house-elf. "Twinky, do you know where James is?"
"Last time Twinky is seeing him was in the portrait gallery," squeaked the house-elf.
"Do you know where that is?" Mrs Potter asked Remus. He shook his head.
"You might as well give me a map of the house," he said.
"No, Twinky will bring you there. Well, Remus, it's been nice meeting you!" She greeted him and disappeared in what seemed to be the sitting room.
~*~
Remus followed the house-elf up the stairs, to a long corridor with huge paintings along the wall. James was looking up at them, and it almost seemed as if he was posing as well. Remus gestured to the elf that he could manage from here, and walked over to his friend.
"Hi," he said. James turned sharply around.
"Oh, hi," he answered. "I didn't know you'd already arrived." He looked, thought Remus, as if he was just caught red-handed for something. Remus grinned.
"What, did I caught you posing for your own portrait?"
"You saw that?" groaned James. "I mean…"
"Next week in Witches Weekly," said Remus teasingly. "'James Potter; is the most eligible bachelor and heir to the Potter-fortune going mad?'"
"'The most eligible bachelor'?" said James. "You must be going mad as well."
"At least I'm not posing for an invisible painter."
"But wouldn't it be cool? Look at this one!" James pointed enthusiastically at the portrait in front of them.
"Who is it?"
"My great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Aurelius Potter," said James proudly. "Member of the Wizard Council."
"Aurelius Potter?" said Remus. "Some name…"
"Oh, there are other stupid names," said James casually. "But there're also some James's around."
"What's your favourite painting?" asked Remus curiously, as they slowly walked past the portraits.
"This one," pointed James, suddenly stopping near a painting in a huge oak frame. The portrayed wizard wasn't old, as the others were. He had long red robes, embroided with gold, on, and silver-grey eyes. The hair on his head was ink-black and untidy. Remus looked a few times from the portrait to James, and back.
"You know what?" he said. "You look exactly like that portrait."
"Hey, you noticed it!" laughed James. "Yeah, that's why I like that portrait. Did you see who it is?" He nodded to a small brass sign. Remus bowed over to read it.
"Nicodemus Gryffindor."
"Gryffindor? The Gryffindor?" he said suprised.
"His grandson, actually," said James casually, examining his nails.
"What is a portrait of Gryffindors grandson doing in your portrait gallery?"
"Well, since there are ten-or-so great's between old Gryffindor and my grandfather…"
"But why are you called Potter, and not Gryffindor?"
James sighed. "Apparently this Nicodemus only got a daughter, and she married a Potter, and that's how I ended up here. Or something like that, you can find the finer details in the library. Don't ask me to explain it, I don't know a thing of it."
Remus continued looking at the painting. "You know, the resemblance is extraordinary," he said. "You look exactly like him, down to the hair…"
"Except for the glasses. Anyone got a black felt-tip?" said someone suddenly. Remus and James whirled around.
Sirius stood there casually with his hands in his pockets, as if he'd been standing there all the time. "Hi," he said. "Peter told me to tell you that he can't come."
"Sirius!" said James. "Next time warn us when you're going to give us a heart-attack!"
"Oh, sorry," grinned Sirius. "Remus, James, watch out, I'm going to scream 'boo!'"
"Bring it on," said Remus.
"BOO!" yelled Sirius over the top of his longs. James and Remus merely flinched.
"And?" said Sirius expectantly.
"Oh, yeah, scream," answered James.
"Faint," added Remus. "That better?"
"Perfect." Sirius cleared his throat. "Ahem, I hereby declare this Marauders Meeting opened. The date is July 25, 1978. James Potter?"
"Present," said James.
"Remus Lupin?"
"Present."
"Peter Pettigrew?"
"Not present," said Remus.
"I am present too," said Sirius. "Okay, our first order of business is to decide whether we're going outside or not, because it's boiling hot inside."
"Well, who's wearing black trousers in the summer?" said James. "That's asking for trouble."
"No personal opinions, Potter. Well, anyone against going outside?"
"Not me," said Remus.
"Me neither," added James.
"Since it was my motion, I agree with going outside too," said Sirius. "That's decided then! End of meeting. James, lead the way." He gestured to James.
"Do you still have that famous duck-pond?" asked Sirius when they were outside, in the garden.
"Why?" replied James. "Want to take a dive?"
"Sure, why not? Last one there is a troll!" yelled Sirius as he started a sprint.
"A troll huh? No way!" said James, and he started pacing after Sirius.
"Guys, what age are you?!" yelled Remus after them.
"A beautiful seventeen years!" answered Sirius cheerfully over his shoulder. "I'm not the grown-up here!"
He reached the pond, and with a loud "yippee!" he dived headlong into the water.
James stopped near the edge and stared at Sirius, now actually swimming around the pond.
"He's crazy," said James to Remus, who came standing next to him. Sirius was now successfully trying to float on his back like an otter.
"At least he's cooler than we are," answered Remus.
"By the way, James," interrupted Sirius, still floating on his back. "I must compliment you on your duck-pond. I can see why Peter fell in it; it's delightfully cool."
"That settles it," said Remus. "Sirius, I'm coming!" He jumped in the water, then he remembered something. He waded out again, and pulled James in by his shirt.
"You too, James!"
~*~
"I'm almost completely dry now," announced Sirius.
"Me too," said Remus, leaning back in his chair, his eyes closed. "Finally."
"There goes your chance to study my fantastic musculature."
"Your shirt wasn't that transparent, Sirius," said James.
"Pity I missed that," said Lily, who'd arrived only an hour ago. She sighed dreamily. "Sirius Black in a transparent white shirt." Remus grinned.
"I know more interesting sights than that."
"Like?" she replied encouraging.
"Like me in a wet shirt," said James, his arm around Lily.
"If Remus thinks you in a wet shirt is an interesting sight, then there's something seriously wrong with him," said Sirius. Remus shot an angry look at him.
"Of course not! What I meant was…"
"McGonagall in a wet shirt?" suggested Sirius.
"Snape in a wet shirt."
"Remus, gross!" Remus burst with laughter as Sirius pulled him from his chair and attempted to choke him. "Thanks for the mental torture!" James pulled him back.
"Sirius, not now, the food's coming." Indeed, three house-elves were walking towards them, carrying trays with food above their heads. Remus, lying on the ground, recognised the first one as Twinky.
"What is it, Twinky?" asked James. The house-elf bowed.
"Mrs Potter said you must be hungry after swimming in the pond," he squeaked. "So she told us to bring you dinner."
So it is true," said Sirius, sitting down on his chair again. "Mothers do know everything."
"Yeah," agreed James. "Or maybe our sitting room overlooks the pond…"
Sirius muttered something as the house-elves put several dishes and plates with food on the table. Finally, they bowed, told them they hoped they would enjoy dinner, and disappeared.
"Aren't we supposed to sing?" asked Remus, as they all picked up their forks.
"No," said Sirius and James together. Lily grinned.
"Bon appetite then," she said.
Then next few minutes the silence was only broken by the soft tinkling of four people eating, and occasionally "could you pass me this-or-that." Finally, Sirius put his fork down.
"Well," he said, "I'm done eating. Now bring on that fireworks."
"Could you please explain," said Remus," what you're talking about?"
"You still haven't read Lord of the Rings, have you? Because then you would have known," Sirius said, "that it begins with the hobbits Bilbo and Frodo celebrating their birthday with a huge feast and, after that, fireworks."
"I stopped listening when you said hobbits," said Remus angelic. Sirius shot him an angry look.
"Remus, what kind of books do you like then?" interrupted Lily. Now it was Sirius' turn to groan.
"Please don't make him start about Shakespeare," he said. "Please, I beg you…"
"Sirius has already answered that question for me," said Remus. "Basically, I like all the books written before, say, 1930."
"Have you ever read Jane Austen?" Lily asked him. Remus looked doubtfully.
"I don't recall… wait, Jane Austen? Didn't she write Pride and Prejudice?" he said. Lily nodded enthusiastically. "Oh no," Remus said. "I'm not going to read that. I mean, my mother has read the book, and she goes all freaky over it with my aunt, drooling over some Mr Darcy and all." He shivered. "I´ll keep away from those books. I'm not a girl."
"You're not?" said Sirius with played amazement.
"You know, I already expected you were going to say that," replied Remus. Lily sighed and looked at James for support. "James, help me. Say something!"
"Like what?" James answered. "Remus, bad boy, how dare you?"
"Of course not! But… wait a sec, you got Pride and Prejudice in your library, right?"
"Uhm… I think so…" said James. "Why?"
Lily got on her feet. "Back in a sec," she said, and walked off towards the house.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," said Remus.
"And I don't feel sorry for you," added Sirius. Remus sighed.
"I never expected you to." He looked at James. "Have you ever read the book?"
"Lily tried to talk me into it," James answered, "and I've read the first few chapters, but never finished it." Sirius wanted to make a funny remark, but was interrupted by Lily, who returned with a leather-bound copy of…
"Pride and Prejudice," said Remus, reading the title of the book. "I can't believe I'm actually holding this."
"Read us a story!" said Sirius in a squeaky voice. Remus grinned and opened the book. He cleared his throat.
"Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen," he said. "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife." He looked suspiciously at James and Lily. "A single man in possession of a large fortune…"
"Now I see why you wanted James to read that book," said Sirius with a grin on his face. Lily looked murderous.
"James, can I please kill them?" she asked.
"What? No, of course not," said James. She stroked his face and kissed his cheek.
"Can I please, please kill them, James?" James closed his eyes, a happy smile on his face. "Of course you can."
"Hey, that's unfair!" said Sirius.
"Yeah, we can't go stroking and kissing James' head," said Remus. James shook his head and checked his watch. "I think it's time you two leave; you're getting to smart now."
"What time is it then?" said Lily.
"Almost eleven o'clock," answered James, getting on his feet. "C´mon, I´ll see you guys off. The house-elves will take care of the table."
They slowly made their way to the drive in front of the house; Remus and Sirius first, and James and Lily behind them.
"You'll never believe how I got here," said Sirius.
"On a dragon?" suggested Remus. "You developed wings? You can change yourself into a butterfly? Or have you finally passed your Apparition-test?"
"None of those. No, you'll see it as soon as we're there," said Sirius, a mysterious smile on his face.
"Does that involve walking as fast as James and Lily do?" said Remus, looking over his shoulder.
"Are they still walking then?" grinned Sirius.
"At the moment, yes," answered Remus. "Say, have you heard anything from Anne yet?" Sirius nodded.
"Yeah, I got a letter two days ago. She's in Ireland now, but she's going to America tomorrow. She wrote that Ireland isn't as green as everybody says it is."
"It's not?"
"No, it's greener," grinned Sirius. "But basically she loved it there, and she wished she could stay there longer, but alas. And she wished I was there to see it, but…"
"It wasn't meant to be," said Remus dramatically.
"No, indeed," grinned Sirius, looking over his shoulder again. "Oh, please."
"What? Did he start eating her, at last?" said Remus.
"Well, close to it…"
"Did his parents never told him he shouldn't eat with his hands?" joked Remus. "I mean… wow!"
They'd finally reached the drive, and there, in the late evening-light, stood a shiny motorbike. It was pitch-black, with silvery details, and Remus had no doubt it was somehow enchanted.
"Is that yours?" he asked impressed.
"Yep," said Sirius cheerful. "Cool, isn't it?"
"You bet it is!" Remus walked around it, admiring it from different angles. "Does it have any special options?"
"It can fly," said Sirius casually, his hands in his pockets. "And it can be made invisible. Useful if you're flying over Muggle-towns."
It took James and Lily ten more minutes to get to the motorbike, and all the while Remus and Sirius were discussing it. Finally, Sirius took his -black- helmet and put it on his head.
"Well, lady and gentlemen," he spoke. "I'm off. See you and good night."
He got on his motorbike and switched it on. The roaring of the engine made it almost impossible to talk.
"I got to work on that one," said Sirius loudly. "Too much noise." The other three nodded and waved. Sirius waved too, and flew off in the night.
"A motorbike," said James, shaking his head. "I wonder what's next."
"An apartment in London," said Remus. "With you, actually. I'm already laughing at Sirius' room."
"That's no room, that's a mess," said James dryly. Remus couldn't help but agree with him.
"I think I must be going as well," he said. "I´d love to say, but alas…"
"Yeah, thanks for coming," said James.
"Don't mention it. I mean, who wouldn't want to swim in the Potters' duck pond?"
A few seconds before he Apparated, Lily pressed something in his hands.
"Here," she said. "You almost forgot this."
It was Pride and Prejudice…