Lies

By Neurotica

Seventeen

Sirius Apparated in front of the cottage in mid-January and found himself in thigh-high snow. He groaned at his own stupidity for not Apparating inside the cottage, but slowly made his way to the front door. He hadn't stepped foot in the home Remus had grown up in for months due to the lack of proper security.

He opened the door and cursed loudly, something he'd been doing often in recent weeks. The house was a complete mess. Photos were lying broken and torn on the carpet while their subjects had taken refuge in a tattered corner. Furniture was broken, doors were lying on the floor, and there was a strange smell coming from the bathroom. Somebody had been in their home, and judging by the message left above Sirius' bed, it was Death Eaters.

'Mudblood Lovers Will Pay,' the message read. It wasn't the most creative message, in Sirius's humble opinion; he'd seen better.

When he made his way to Remus' room, he was actually glad his friend had been too busy with Order business to join him that day. Word had obviously spread that a werewolf resided here; the entire room was coated thickly in pure silver. Just the smell of it would have been enough to send Remus to the hospital for weeks.

He walked into the kitchen and sat down in the only unbroken chair that remained. There was still a large dent in the refrigerator from when Malfoy had broken in and fought with Remus. Sirius never asked his friend who went headfirst into the refrigerator that night, but remembering the results of the blood test he'd done, he probably didn't want to know.

Sirius sighed and looked around the kitchen. His eyes locked on a folded piece of parchment stuck to the backdoor. His name was written clearly on the front of the parchment in unfamiliar handwriting. "Accio parchment," he said.

The letter landed neatly before him and he stared at it for long minutes, debating on whether or not he should really open it.

"It's just a bloody letter," he reasoned with himself. "Nothing terrible ever came from reading a letter, right?" Sirius shook his head. "I really need to stop talking to myself."

Using his wand, Sirius opened the letter. The moment the tip of his wand touched the parchment, however, the wand caught fire.

"Shit!" Sirius cried, dropping his wand to the floor. He tried stomping on it to stop it from burning, but in the end, he realized it was a magical fire, and nothing could stop it. He could do nothing but watch his most prized possession burn to ash. "What the hell..." he muttered, looking back to the innocent-looking letter sitting in front of him.

Sirius Black, it said.

I first must commend you on your efforts to capture my Death Eaters and myself. You've done well thus far, and I look forward to seeing you once again. It has been a long time—eight years if my memory serves me correctly—and I believe we are long overdue for a meeting.

I write you with a warning, Sirius. I've taken your life away from you before, and I will do it again. I've taken your lovely girlfriend from this world recently, just like I've done all those years ago. I've taken your precious Potter friends, as well. I will not hesitate, Sirius, to take away your beloved godson and werewolf.

That is, unless you do me one trivial favor: Meet with me on the evening of 18 March. We shall talk about our many differences, and perhaps reach an agreement. You, Sirius, are the last of the Blacks. You are the last of one of the most prestigious bloodlines in our world. And you, Sirius—whether you believe it or not—can end this terrible war.

I will be in contact, Sirius. I look forward to a reply.

There was no signature, but Sirius didn't need one to know who—or what, I should say—had written this letter. So Lord Voldemort wanted to meet with him. Sirius laughed out loud at the very idea. He may be rash and reckless at times, but he most definitely was not stupid. Hell no, he wouldn't meet with Voldemort. He'd received threats against his family's life in the past, and now that the war was in full swing, this wouldn't be the last of them.

Sirius stood and stared back down at the letter. "Bastard," he muttered. "Ruin my wand. Here's my reply: Go suck a dragon's egg."


Remus sat down on his bedroom floor and wiped a layer of dust off an old trunk he'd found in the attic of Number Twelve. It was Sirius' Hogwarts trunk, and he was curious as to how it had gotten back here. After graduation, Sirius had his own flat that he'd purchased with money left to him by his Uncle Alphard. Remus supposed it was possible Sirius had regained the trunk from the Ministry after his release from Azkaban and brought it back here for safe keeping.

Biting his lip, wondering if something was going to jump out at him, Remus opened the trunk and smiled. There was a stack of photos lying atop old school books and school reports. The first photo was one of Sirius and James in Hogsmeade during what looked to be third year. The two boys looked like brothers with their matching Hogwarts robes and jet black hair. The only difference was that Sirius' hair was neat and perfect, while James' stuck up in every direction. The other photos were mostly the same, showing the Marauders at different ages.

Remus choked back a sob as his eyes landed on the last photo in the stack. He remembered the day as if it were yesterday. It was the day Lily and James moved into their home at Godric's Hollow. The photo was of three young couples looking exhausted but elated.

Lily and James were there, of course, smiling widely at one another and exchanging the occasional kiss.

Sirius stood next to them with his arms around the waist of a tall brown-haired witch with dark blue eyes. Julia had been her name, and she was the first and only girl Remus could ever remember Sirius saying he loved. They'd gotten together in seventh year, just after Lily and James.

Three months before Harry had been born, Sirius had spoken candidly to James and Remus about proposing to her. The night he'd planned on doing it, however, Sirius arrived at the home she shared with her parents and found the three of them dead in the kitchen, the Dark Mark floating high above their home. Sirius had been inconsolable for months afterwards. The only thing that finally broke him from the depression he'd fallen into was Harry's birth. The day his godson was born was like a light had been turned on in Sirius; he had a new reason to wake up in the morning, a new reason to stay alive in the war. It was safe to say that Harry had saved Sirius' life.

On the other side of Lily and James, stood a nineteen-year-old Remus with his arm around a blonde-haired woman with the most beautiful hazel eyes he'd ever seen. Naomi. They'd dated during Hogwarts, starting in sixth year, and had even been engaged.

Their story wasn't the typical Remus tells girl he's a werewolf, girl runs away. Naomi had known about Remus since they met, and she couldn't have cared less. She wasn't murdered by Death Eaters like Julia had been. She did, however, break Remus' heart into a thousand pieces.

A week after Lily and James had been murdered, and Sirius was sent to Azkaban, Naomi came to Remus and told him she'd gotten the Dark Mark a few days before Halloween. Her reasons were never clear, but they made a silent agreement that night never to see each other again. Remus never reported her to the Ministry, and she never contacted him after that night. He'd told Sirius that Naomi had moved to America just after Lily and James died to deal with their deaths on her own. As far as he knew, Naomi was still in England somewhere; she'd never been captured by Ministry officials, as far as he know.

"That was a good day, eh?" Sirius said from behind him.

Remus smiled. "Yeah, it was."

Sirius sat beside his friend and began to flip through the photos lying next to Remus' foot. "So I got a letter from Voldemort today," he said casually.

"That's nice," Remus said before the words registered in his mind. His mouth dropped open and he turned to Sirius. "You what?"

"Yeah, he wants me to meet with him to 'discuss our many differences.' Oh, and I need a new wand," Sirius added.

"You got a letter from Voldemort?" Remus repeated.

"Yes, and it set my bloody wand on fire."

"Where is this letter?"

"Probably still at the cottage. But I don't think you should go out there just yet. Your bedroom is laced with silver," Sirius answered as if discussing recent Quidditch scores.

"You're insane, Padfoot," Remus said, shaking his head.

"Thank you, Moony."


A few days later, Sirius returned to the cottage accompanied by Kingsley to retrieve the letter written by Voldemort. Together, they vanished all of the silver lining Remus' room to allow the werewolf to enter his home and help clean up.

"Why would they just destroy the house? It's childish," Remus commented, repairing the sofa.

"Just to piss us off. The wards aren't functioning anymore, and we can't get them back up; I've tried. And they had to know we'd come back here eventually," Sirius said.

"Hey, Sirius!" Kingsley called from Harry's room. "You've got an owl..."

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look, wondering silently if it would be from Voldemort. They entered the room just in time to see the owl fly off. "It's from Dumbledore," Kingsley said, handing the letter over to Sirius.

Sirius opened the parchment and read the three lines written in Dumbledore's elegant handwriting:

Sirius and Remus,

I wonder if it would be possible for the two of you to come to Hogwarts as soon as possible.

A.D.

"Well, that was informative," Sirius said, setting the letter ablaze with his new wand (Beech wood and unicorn tail, eleven and a quarter inches).

Remus chuckled. "That's Dumbledore," he said. "Shall we, Mister Padfoot?"

"I believe we shall, Mister Moony. Mister Shacklebolt, I'll see you back at Headquarters." Sirius saluted his second-in-command.

Kingsley laughed, nodded, and waved as Sirius and Remus Disapparated to the front gates of Hogwarts. They walked across the grounds wondering what the Headmaster could possibly want to see them for. Had there been another attack? Was one being planned?

Their questions increased when they entered Dumbledore's office to see Harry and Ron sitting in front of the headmaster looking very guilty. Molly and Arthur were also present; Arthur was sitting on the sofa while Molly yelled at Ron.

"—completely irresponsible! You two could have killed somebody," Molly yelled.

Remus cleared his throat, causing everybody to look over at the new arrivals. Sirius raised an eyebrow as Harry winced visibly at the sight of his guardians.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, gentlemen," Dumbledore said. He looked amused over the situation, but was trying hard to hide it from Molly.

"Not a problem, Albus. What's happened?" Remus asked, not taking his eyes from Harry.

"This morning, one of the Gryffindor Prefects heard a loud noise coming from the fourth year boys' dormitory. He entered and found the majority of the furniture had been destroyed or caught on fire. Harry and Ron claim they were attempting a simple levitating charm to rearrange the room, and things went wrong," Dumbledore explained, his lips twitching.

Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance. They'd had the same thing happen to them in third year, but it hadn't been as a result of a levitation charm.

"I see," Remus said slowly. "Have they been given a punishment yet?"

"No," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling knowingly. "I thought as the parents and guardians, the four of you would come up with a suitable punishment."

"I think cleaning the entire Gryffindor Tower—without magic—would work," Sirius said, daring Harry to argue. "And of course, Remus and I would like to speak with Harry in private. That is, if you don't mind, Albus."

"Not at all, Sirius," Dumbledore said.

"Come along, Harry," Remus said evenly.

Sirius and Remus said goodbye to the elder Weasleys and led Harry down the spiraling staircase and out of the school. They silently walked in the direction of the lake, and for the slightest second, Harry thought they were going to throw him to the squid. Instead, he was taken to the Quidditch pitch and up the Gryffindor side of the stands.

Harry sat between his guardians and waited for one of them to yell. That wasn't their way of dealing with things, however; Sirius looked at his godson with a wide grin while Remus raised his eyebrows at him. They were looks Harry knew quite well after growing up with two Marauders. They knew what he'd been doing, but Harry couldn't tell if they were angry or not; the two of them were strange in that way.

"So..." Sirius said, his grin remaining in place.

"So, indeed, Padfoot," Remus said calmly.

"A levitation charm, eh? I've heard better," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"You've come up with better," Remus corrected him.

"I have, haven't I?" Sirius said. Remus nodded. "Hmm... So, Harry. When?"

"When, what?" Harry said slowly.

"When did you start all this?" Sirius asked matter-of-factly.

Harry sighed. He couldn't lie to his guardians no matter how hard he tried. "Last year," he muttered.

"Last year?" Sirius repeated. "That would have made you a third year, am I correct, Mister Moony?"

"You are correct, Mister Padfoot."

"That would also mean that you started under the nose of our esteemed professor, here, Harry. I commend you for that," Sirius said with a slight bow.

"You are aware that it's illegal, Harry?" Remus asked.

"Yes, but—"

"But what?" Sirius asked, dropping his former humor. "But you decided just because your father and I did it in second year you should do it, too?" Neither Sirius nor Remus needed to see Harry's nod to know the answer. "I don't know where to start, Remus."

"I do," Remus said. "Are you aware, Harry, of how dangerous what you're doing is?" Harry nodded again, looking down at his shoes. "And are you also aware of how many close calls there were when Sirius and your father attempted it?" Harry nodded. "So why did you start?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but Sirius cut him off. "No, no! Let me guess: you thought it would be a good weapon against Voldemort. Because he could never find out that you and Ron have become Animagi," he said, his tone dripping in sarcasm.

Harry sighed.

"Look, Harry," Sirius continued. "Becoming an Animagus was one of the best decisions I ever made. It was the same for your dad. We were able to help Remus on full moons, and yes, it did help when we became Aurors. But it's not the easiest thing in the world to achieve. There were a lot of hospital visits and close calls with us. If you really wanted to learn, you should have come to one of us. We probably wouldn't have let you done it in third year, but eventually we would have helped you."

"Really?" Harry said.

"Yeah, really?" Remus asked, glaring at Sirius.

"Oh, come on, Moony. He wouldn't be a Marauder if he didn't attempt it and break a few rules. Granted, this is an action punishable by Azkaban imprisonment, but we never got caught," Sirius said.

"So we can finish?" Harry asked hopefully.

"No," Sirius and Remus said together.

"Wait a few years, Harry. We've got enough to deal with at the moment without worrying about you or Ron being stuck as half an animal," Remus said.

"Dumbledore knows, by the way," Sirius said.

"How?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore knows all, my dear godson," Sirius said. "It would do you good to learn that."

"Right," Harry said flatly.

"Now, you have a tower to clean—" Remus began.

"Without magic—" Sirius interjected.

"Yes, without magic. So off you go."

"See you later, Harry. And use a silencing charm next time," Sirius added in a whisper as he hugged Harry.

"Bye!" Harry called, grinning as he headed down the stairs.


Twelve-year-old Remus Lupin staggered up the stairs to the dormitory he shared with his friends. He'd been in the hospital wing under the strict care of the new nurse, Madam Pomfrey, for five days after the full moon. It had been one of the worst full moons Remus could ever remember experiencing. The nurse told him he'd nearly died; he would have if she hadn't gotten to him when she did.

He was hoping for a quiet afternoon so he could rest before he went to classes in the morning. Sirius, James, and Peter hadn't been in the common room when he'd passed. They were probably out pranking Snape or some other Slytherin.

Remus had grown used to the pranks his friends (mainly Sirius and James; Peter just followed them around) pulled. He'd always been convinced that do to his Lycanthropy he would never have the chance to make friends, let alone attend Hogwarts. He had Albus Dumbledore to thank for that.

Remus opened the dormitory door and stopped in his tracks. Though it was mid-afternoon, all of the window curtains had been pulled shut. It was completely dark in the dorm, save four candles that were lit between the four-poster beds, giving the room the feel of a dungeon instead of a tower. A single chair had been placed in the center of the room.

Cautiously, Remus walked further into the room. Is this another prank? he wondered.

"Colloportus," Remus heard James say clearly. The door closed and locked magically.

Sirius, James, and Peter were sitting on Remus' trunk in front of the lone chair, watching Remus look around the room for any means of escape.

"Hello, Remus," Sirius said. Remus noticed immediately that there was no humor in his friend's voice. "Have a seat."

"Why?" Remus asked. He felt himself beginning to tremble.

"We just want to talk," James said calmly. "Sit."

Slowly, Remus made his way to the chair and sat before his friends. They all looked at one another for long minutes before Sirius spoke again. "So how's your mum, Remus?" he asked casually.

"Er... she's, uh," Remus stuttered.

"No need to lie to us, Remus. How's your mum?" James asked.

"Fine," Remus whispered.

"Fine? But didn't you go home to see her because she's sick?" Sirius asked in mock-confusion.

"Erm," Remus said, trying to think of something to say.

"How'd the full moon go, Remus?" Peter asked. For the first time since Remus had met him, there was no quiver or squeak in his voice.

Remus closed his eyes tightly. They know... he thought.

Well, did you honestly believe you could hide it from them forever? asked a voice in the back of Remus' mind.

No.

"We know what you are, Remus," Sirius said quietly. "We just want to hear you admit it."

"What do you want me to say?" Remus asked tightly, not looking at his friends.

"Just tell us," James said simply.

Remus hesitated, but there was no point lying now. "I'm... a werewolf," he said barely above a whisper.

Sirius, James, and Peter looked at one another before Sirius nodded.

"Okay," James said. He raised his wand—Remus winced in preparation—and opened the curtains.

"Damn, that's bright," Sirius said, wincing as the light flooded in.

"So who wants to play chess?" James asked.

"I'll play," Peter said.

"Wait a second..." Remus said, looking at his friend's in amazement. "What... that's it?"

"What's it?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's... you're not... I mean, you don't care that your sharing a dorm with a—well, me?"

"Why would we?" James asked.

"I... I'm a dark creature," Remus said.

"No, you're Remus," Sirius said as if speaking to a rather daft five-year-old. "Now, chess. You want to play, Remus?"

"O-okay," Remus said. It can't be this easy, he thought.

"Oh, by the way, Remus," James said, digging through his trunk for his chess pieces. "We're going to study becoming Animagi."

"What? Why?" Remus asked, his voice squeaking.

"So we can hang out with you on the full moon," Sirius said.

"But... it's illegal," Remus said, trying to reason with them.

"So?" James asked with a grin.

"Look, don't try to argue. We've already got the books from Madam Pince, and we went through hell to get them. Besides, you owe us for not telling us the truth for a bloody year and a half," Sirius said, matching James' grin.

"Okay..." Remus said helplessly, his head spinning.

Three years later, the Marauders had officially formed, thus beginning six years of an endless adventure.