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Disclimer: Harry Potter, along with everything that belongs in that universe, belongs to J.K. Rowling and a bunch of other companies that are now milking it for all its worth. I, however, am getting nothing out of this other than the satisfaction of writing a good story that people like to review. *hint hint*
Author's Notes: Wow... 51 reviews... I'd thank everyone by name if I had time... 51 is way too many... Um... well, here's the next chapter. I was so surprised that everyone liked the first part! My inbox full of review alerts! ^_^ Anyway, I expected 10 at most... I started writing this chapter the night I posted the first part, but I started working on it harder when I saw the reviews... I hope this is as good as the first part... Anyway, here it is!
Other Info on Story: This is set after the fifth book, and will probably be about 11 chapters long. It was inspired by the chapter in the fifth book entittled ' Snape's Worst Memory'. BTW, if that WAS Snape's worst memory, I'm guessing James DID take off his pants. ^_^ lol...
Full Summary: Lupin decides to let Harry see some of his memories of James and Lily... a couple of memories from the Marauder's time with no real plot... Harry gets to see when his parents met, when they married, and when he was born along with some of the marauder's adventures, and realizes why Sirius moved on instead of coming back as a ghost. Spoilers from OotP. Obviously.
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Quote Of The Chapter: " Are you that bad at kissing?" - Ron
" Dunno, maybe I am." - Harry
" Of course you're not." Hermione said absently.
" How would you know?" asked Ron in a sharp voice.
From: The Order of the Phoenix, Page 458.
Author's Note: Harry's been unconscious so many times, Hermione could have stolen a kiss or two, don't you think? Sorry, but I'm an H/H shipper not a H/R person. ^_^
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The trip up to the common room was strangely quiet. James and Sirius kept exchanging meaningful looks. Little Lupin walked quietly, almost as if expecting an attack. Pettigrew was hanging back a couple of feet, walking uncertainly as if he wasn't sure if he was a part of the group or not.
Harry was surprised at the change in his old professor. Lupin, who had always been very solemn and serious, especially after Sirius's death, was smiling almost eagerly. The only other time he could remember seeing him like that was when he had talked to him and Sirius about his father using the fire in Umbridge's office. It didn't take long for them to arrive in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady in her frilly pink dress.
" Password?" she asked, eyeing all the first years a bit suspiciously.
" Sneakoscope." the prefect answered, and the portrait flung open, letting the first years in.
" First years, your dormitories will be on the right hand side. Just go up those stairs and to the door clearly marked ' First Years'. Girls, same thing, but your dormitories will be on the left hand side." Harry looked at the prefect and was oddly reminded of Percy.
As the prefect had been talking, Sirius had been mouthing the words with a comically stern expression on his face while James grinned at him and Peter gave a small clap. Little Lupin looked like he had half a mind to say something to put them in his place, but he was obviously amused.
" Shall we go up to our dormitories?" Sirius asked in a very exaggerated haughty voice. James looked at him gravely and answered in the same tone of voice.
" I suppose that is in order." They grinned at each other and began marching up the stairs. James stopped almost half way up and turned around.
" Aren't you coming?" he asked, looking at Lupin and Peter. Lupin nodded and Peter stood there for a second, almost as if surprised that he had been addressed directly by James. The four boys walked upstairs with Harry and big Lupin following. Once inside the dormitories, Harry remembered what Lupin had said.
" What did you mean, 'their night wasn't over'?" Harry asked as he saw the four boys quietly get ready for bed " They're going to sleep already." Harry watched as another boy walk in and began taking off his robes. He almost burst out laughing as he saw the boy was wearing his pj's under his robe. James was staring at him too, almost as if amazed.
" Wow, you must have been comfy... wish I had though of that... I'm wearing muggle clothes under my robes, these pants are getting very uncomfortable after all that food."
" We ate like pigs." Sirius began, grinning, " So what's your name?"
" Davey Gudgeon," the boy answered. " I overslept this morning... had to put my robes on and leave the house five minutes after I woke up. I never got a change to change..." he sighed heavily. " I couldn't sleep last night, so I'm going to settle down now, hope you don't mind."
Harry could tell he really didn't care if they had minded, and apparently so did James and Sirius because they exchanged a look once again.
" We won't bother you," Little Lupin began, but James cut him off.
" Won't make a sound..."
"... Almost as if we weren't here!" Sirius added.
" Right, then, Good night." Davey answered, looking at them warily.
" That's the boy who nearly lost an eye because of the Whomping Willow... Not very friendly, but always up for a dare." Lupin told Harry quietly. Harry nodded, remembering his conversation with Lupin in his third year.
" Well, g'night, James." Sirius said as a yawn escaped him.
" Good night, Sirius. Good night everyone." James answered, getting into his bed. Once everybody was in bed, the lights went off. Harry stood in the darkness until Peter's snores broke the silence. Harry could feel Lupin moving somewhere near him.
" Professor Lupin?"
" Yeah, Harry?"
" What are we waiting for?"
" Just wait. You'll see. By the way, I don't snore. That's Peter. Davey will start pretty soon." Harry waited for a couple of minutes more. The quiet was suddenly broken by a very loud snore from Davey Gudgeon that had almost given Harry a heart attack.
"Sirius?" Harry found it hard not to squirm every time he heard his father's young voice.
" James? You ready?"
" Yeah. Let's go. Lumos." his father whispered and Harry could see the 2 boys getting up in the dim light. Sirius walked over to the other 3 boys, checking to make sure they were asleep.
" Remus and Peter are asleep already."
" Too bad. They probably would have wanted to come along. come one, quickly, get under the cloak." James whispered, and a few seconds later Harry couldn't see the two boys any more. He could, however, hear soft footsteps heading towards the door.
"The teachers patrol the corridors until 9:00," Little Lupin said from his bed. " I overheard some of the older kids... you better be careful, It's only 8:45." The footsteps stopped.
" Remus! You're awake! You want to come with us?" Harry could tell from the way James spoke that he truly was glad Lupin was awake, and not just inviting him out of politeness. Lupin's answer was hesitant, though.
" I don't know, I wouldn't want to get caught. We won't all fit under that cloak, and I wouldn't want to get expelled on my first day."
" This cloak's big enough to fit at least 4 of us," Sirius answered, obviously eager to get Remus to join them." and we'll be back in an hour, tops."
" And you wouldn't get expelled for being out after curfew... We'd get a couple of points off, maybe a detention, but not expelled." James added. Lupin still looked doubtful.
" I suppose it wouldn't be that bad."
" Of course it wouldn't. Come on, or we might wake these guys up." Lupin still looked nervous, but joined the other 2 under the cloak. Harry and Lupin both got up and followed, it didn't occur to Harry until after they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady that it would be difficult to follow his father and the others if they were invisible. Harry had been about to express his concerns to Lupin, but he realized Lupin had put his hand of his shoulder and was steering him in the right direction.
' Of course he knows the way,' Harry thought, ' It's his memory.'
It wasn't until a few minutes later that the boys spoke again.
" Sorry, Lupin," his father began, " we would have invited you guys earlier, but we could tell that Davey fellow isn't very much up to doing stuff like this... and we wouldn't put it past him to tell on us."
" And Peter fell asleep before Davey, we thought you had too. Anyway, it's 9:05. Teachers are probably gone now... We can take this off." Sirius added as he appeared under the cloak.
" Is that really a good idea?" Little Lupin asked.
" I don't suppose it is," James began as he appeared under the cloak himself, " Sirius never has 'good' ideas, but what's the fun in causing mischief if no one suspects it's you? Feel free to stay under the cloak if you want."
" No, that's okay." Lupin said as he took off the cloak hesitantly and handed it to James. James folded it and put it over his arm since he wasn't wearing his robes.
" Hey, James, did you ever finish learning that tripping hex from Kingsley?"
" Somewhat. I couldn't actually practice it, but I learned the theory. You were there, remember?"
" Yes, I remember, I thought he might have given you more instructions later or something. I was thinking we could cast the spell, and then tomorrow when everyone goes by here, they'll trip. Well just have to make sure not to go by here."
" I suppose we could try." James answered and motioned for the 2 other boys to step back a little. He took his wand and walked the 5 feet from one wall to the other. He did a swishing motion with his wand and whispered something Harry couldn't hear. A thin, glowing line showed where he had run his wand through. The glowing stopped after a few seconds and James looked at Sirius a bit nervously.
" Think that worked?" Sirius asked with an eager expression on his face.
" I don't know..." James answered uncertainly.
" Well, then test it." Sirius answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
" Why me?" James hissed back.
" Because you cast it."
"Oh, all right." James finally muttered, seeing no other choice. He took a deep breath and walked towards the line with his hands in front of him, ready to break his fall if the spell worked. He took a step over the line, and it was almost like there was a short invisible wall in front of him, because his foot seemed to hit something and he fell.
" Bloody-"
" James!" Sirius shrieked in a mock horrified voice." Language, young man!"
" We'll see how you like testing yours..."
" I'll go to that end of the hall, James, you go to that end, and Remus, you do one on the middle. The spell is 'Caeto'. Just do what James did." Sirius said, rushing off towards the end of the hall.
Harry followed after him, getting only as close as he dared. He didn't want to stray too far and walk right out of the memory. Sirius had cast the spell and was trying to figure out a way to test it. His face suddenly lit up and he walked over to where he had cast the spell and he kicked the air a few inches off the ground. His foot met no resistance and he frowned. He walked over the area, and did not trip.
Harry left Sirius and walked back to his father who was unsuccessfully trying to cast the spell again. He had not picked up Sirius's technique yet, and he just kept walking over the area where he had set the spell, always with a pained expression, and when he didn't trip, an odd expression came over his face. It was a mixture of relief and frustration.
Harry was taken out of his train of thought by a triumphant sound from Sirius. He kept kicking the air in front of him, and Harry could see his foot hit something invisible. Sirius winced, but the triumphant expression remained on his face. James glared at him, finally realizing how Sirius was testing the hex. James finally managed to cast the spell correctly. He kicked the wall hard a couple of times to make sure it worked and then went off to join Sirius, who was waiting for Remus to finish.
Little Lupin had already cast the spell, but he seemed to be having trouble testing it. Apparently he wasn't very fond of hurting himself, so walking over the line or kicking the area above it was out. Instead, he did something neither Sirius not James had thought of doing. He leaned down and put his hand right above the line. He moved his hands a bit feeling as if for some sort of trace of magical energy, and then stood up, a satisfied smile on his face.
" Done." he said, grinning at the other two.
" Good work. We should get back. We've been out a while." James said as a huge yawn escaped him.
" Right," Sirius began. Let's go." They put the invisibility cloak over themselves again and walked without making a sound. Harry and Lupin followed them, and were about to turn the corner when Harry heard his father's voice.
" Sirius! How are we going to get through without tripping? What are we going to do, genius?"
" Well, just try to take really high steps or something. As if you were climbing the stairs... that thing can't be more than a foot high." Harry heard the footsteps start, and he and Lupin began walking again too. Harry heard the relieved sighs from the 3 marauders as none of them tripped. He grinned at Lupin who grinned back.
He was about to start walking again, when he saw someone walking their way. His breath caught in his throat for a second as he though he recognized the person. Snape. His hair wasn't really greasy yet, he had probably just taken a shower or something because his normally pale face was somewhat flushed and his hair looked a bit wet. He was really quite unrecognizable. He wasn't sneering, he was just walking like a normal person. In fact, he seemed somewhat happy. He walked right through the spot where his father had cast the spell without tripping. He could hear Sirius whispering to James.
" James, yours wore off... That's why we didn't trip. We have to practice more..." Suddenly Snape fell and cursed loudly. "Look! Remus! Yours hasn't! I hope yours will last until tomorrow." Sirius said happily.
Suddenly Harry saw Ms. Norris walk right by the 3 now silent marauders. Snape, not aware of what the cat meant, scowled at it and resumed walking. Ms. Norris hissed and Filch came running towards them, going right through Harry.
" What is it, my sweet? Ah, yes, a student out of bed!" he said gleefully as he spotted Snape.
" You, there!" he barked." You're out of bed after curfew. Come on, follow me to my office!"
" But-"
" I don't care. Come with me." Snape looked like he was going to protest, but he followed Filch anyway, glaring evilly at the cat.
" Stop that." Filch barked without turning around. Snape looked shock but kept his eyes on the floor from then on. After Snape and Filch were gone, the 3 boys began speaking again.
" Poor guy." James began, " he got caught because of us."
" He was probably Slytherin..." Sirius said somewhere under the cloak." come one, let's go."
They made it back into the common room without incident. They were about to go up the stairs when Peter came running down. The 3 boys took off the cloak and looked at him oddly. He seemed relieved to see them.
" What's wrong, Peter?" Remus asked him quickly. It took Peter a minute to answer because he was out of breath.
" Davey... Gudgeon... you... gone... tell McGonagall... get upstairs... into beds.... pretend you're asleep..." he managed to choke out. The 3 boys exchanged a look and the 4 dashed upstairs to the dormitories. They all got into their beds quickly and Peter managed to regain his composture as they all pretended to be asleep. Two minutes later McGonagall burst into the bedroom with Davey behind her.
" Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin. I just caught Mr. Gudgeon outside of bed after curfew. He said you gentlemen were out of your beds. Is this true?" She gave them one of her signature looks and her lips were very thin. He had to admit, the marauders were all very good actors. Even Peter was looking appropriately puzzled. Big Lupin was grinning, Harry was pretty sure he didn't even remember Harry was in there with him.
" No, professor. We've been in here. We saw Davey leave at least half an hour ago. We figured he was going to the restroom." James answered. McGonagall looked at Peter, who managed to keep his composture even under her gaze.
" Is that true, Mr. Pettigrew? I'm trusting you because you were the only one who hasn't been accused of anything."
" I've been asleep, Professor. I heard Davey go out, but I don't know what time it was." he answered in a slightly trembling voice, and faked a small yawn. McGonagall turned on Davey Gudgeon.
" Mr. Gudgeon! I caught you out in the corridors and you feed me some story about these young men to save yourself. HOW DID YOU EXPECT TO GET AWAY WITH IT? You have 2 detentions. Come see me tomorrow at 7:00. Now go to sleep, all of you."
" But... 3? Why..." Davey was stuttering
" For being out of bed and lying about it and trying to get others in trouble. It's lucky Mr. Pettigrew testified for you three, otherwise you'd all have detentions. Good night." Mcgonagall walked out of the dormitories, closing the door behind her. Davey glared at the 4 boys and gathered his blankets. He took his pillow and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
" Wow... thanks, Peter." James said, looking very grateful.
" Yeah, The Davey boy should have been in Slytherin... the rat. I can't believe a fellow Gryffindor TOLD on us. I thought Gryffindors are supposed to be brave." Sirius muttered.
" He is brave," James answered, " he told on us even though he knew we'd get revenge. We have to punish him somehow... we have to think something up."
" You don't think he's been punished enough?" Peter asked.
" No." this time it was little Lupin who spoke, " I don't like people who squeal on others. He's already in trouble, so it shouldn't be something too big either." James nodded.
" You're right. We can plan that later though. We should go to sleep now." They all agreed and climbed into bed.
" Thanks, Peter." Sirius muttered before going to sleep.
" Yeah, we owe you one." Little Lupin added.
" Yeah, what they said." James muttered, half asleep already.
Harry suddenly found the scene changing. Suddenly he and Lupin found themselves right in front of the 4 marauders. They walked right through them and into the class right behind them. Harry and Lupin followed them in, and watched them all take out parchment to 'take notes'. He couldn't help but notice that James and Sirius looked particularly pleased with themselves.
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AN: Okay, that was the first memory. Next one should be out soon. Anyway, please R&R. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry to stop here, but this took 4 hours, so I'm going to bed, finally. ^_^ BTW, I had Peter warn the tohers because I thought it would be easier to get him inot the group that way. I knew Remus would have very little problem fitting in with them, but since Peter is very shy, it was a little harder to do. They don't hate Snape yet, I'm not planning on having them meet him until next year when they actually know some magic to use against him. Other than me mistyping Peter's name and calling him 'Petter', this story had very little typos. If you see one, though, let me know. And if anyone wants to be a beta for this story, let me know by e-mailing me at sakura_super_kawaii@yahoo.com