The Marauders' Pensieves
By: Roxy Black
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. I wish I did. That brilliant and wonderful author J.K. Rowling owns them all. The only thing that belongs to me is the story line and the plot.
Summary: In Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts, he finds five Pensieves, each belonging to one of the Marauders and his mother, Lily, in the Room of Requirement when he is lost and wishes he knew more about the infamous crew and their thoughts. Please r/r! No flames please, this is my first fan fiction! Short or long, depending on the reviews.
Chapter One: The Long and Lonely Night
Harry James Potter was sitting on his four-poster bed, a magical photo album open in front of him. As he flipped through the pages, he smiled. The pictures showed his mother and father, so happy, and the rest of the Marauders as they moved about. There were pictures from graduation from Hogwarts, a party at his father's apartment, right down to his parents' wedding. He saw James's smug face, Lily's smiling face, Sirius's cocky face, Lupin's laughing face, and Peter's shy face looking up at him and waving.
He reached the end of the album. A painful, sickening feeling flooded his heart. These pictures were the only memories he had of his parents. He had been too young to remember them when they died. Sure, he had Remus Lupin and Sirius Black to talk to, but they never seemed to tell him enough. Harry never wanted to speak to Peter Pettigrew ever since he found out in his third year at Hogwarts that it was Peter who had betrayed his parents and caused their murder at the hands of Lord Voldemort.
"Hello, Harry. You're still up?" Hermione's smiling face beamed down at him. He faked a happy smile and waved. "You know it's not fair that you can come into our dormitory and we can't even get up the stairs into yours." He said. Harry had found out the hard way that boys were not allowed in the girl's dormitory.
"Well, I don't make the rules. I see you have been looking at your parents' pictures again. Don't you ever get tired of them?" Said Hermione as she sat down on the bed.
"These are the only memories I have left. They can never become boring to me. But sometimes I wish that there was something else I could use to get to know them better." Harry said.
"Have you tried talking to Remus and Sirius? They were your parents' best friends, after all. Who's better to ask then the people who knew your parents best?" suggested Hermione. She always seemed to try to brighten up any situation, no matter how dark and tragic it was.
"I've tried. Sure they can tell me what they thought of my parents, but I can never get into my parents' thoughts. I can never know what they thought of the world and of their lives, and of me." Harry replied. He closed the photo album and pushed it to the edge of the bed with a sigh.
"Oh, Harry," Hermione said, trying to comfort Harry, "sometimes things that we truly wish we knew can never be found. It's part of life, it can't be changed. Even for witches and wizards."
"I guess you're right. I will just have to live with it." Harry shrugged his shoulders. He just had to face the fact that he would never know.
Ron entered the dorm and threw four library books on his bed. He looked dead tired. There were lavender circles around his eyes. "McGonnagall says it's lights out, Harry." Ron said sleepily. He yawned and made a sigh. Then he crawled underneath his covers without undressing and was sound alseep before Harry and Hermione could bid him good night.
"Good night, Harry." Hermione said, waving as she left.
"Good night, Hermione." said Harry gloomily. He raised his hand and then dropped it down again.
Harry undressed, climbed into bed, and pulled the curtains closed. He was going to try to fall asleep, but he knew he would never, just like he knew he would never know his parents' thoughts. Perhaps he would look over the photo album again. Either way, he didn't want to fall asleep because he knew that he would dream about his parents, which only made the sickening feeling come back after he awoke from one of those happy dreams.
He sat there on his bed, listening as his friends came into the dorm, undressed, and fell asleep. Ron was snoring loudly and Neville was muttering something about Trevor, his toad, and Professor Snape in his sleep. Harry heard Dean whisper Lumos so he could finish some homework by the light of his wand, and Seamus was tossing and turning beneath his quilt. He could hear a faint murmur of voices in the common room and the breaking of stone as they played a game of wizard's chess.
Soon, Dean slammed his books shut, fell asleep, and began snoring louder than Ron. The voices in the common room died away and he heard heavy footsteps as the others climbed into bed. it was official. Harry was the only one still awake in his dorm.
Harry tried to think of something to do. Within the next hour, he had already looked through the album seven times and had finished an essay that was due the next week as well as his other homework. No one else was awake to play wizard's chest or Gobstones.
Then an idea clicked in his head. Why didn't I think of this before? Harry thought. Quietly and discreetly, he pulled the curtains open just wide enough so he could get out. He opened the trunk beside his bed and removed his father's invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map, which Lupin had kindly given back to him as a memory of his father. Harry slipped the cloak over his head and his body disappeared. He then slipped the map underneath his cloak and muttered Lumos so he could see. Then, in a flash, he sneaked out of the dorm, out of the common room, out of the painting of the Fat Lady, and into the dark hall. Harry Potter was going to take a little walk around the castle...
A/N- Well, there it is! My first fan fiction story! How do you like it? Please rate and review it. The more reviews, the faster I will get the chapters out. :)