Chapter 20: Leaked Secrets
"Do you know why I love chocolate?" Remus asked his four other friends. He waved a chunk of what used to be a whole Chocolate Frog in their faces. Leaning back against the post of his bed, he bit off the middle of the frog so all that was left was its head. Remus closed his eyes and gave a heavy, content sigh, showing that the chocolate had hit the spot.
"Because you really are one of the girls?" Sirius ventured, sucking on the end of a sugar quill. He, James, Harry, and Peter laughed.
"Heh, that look on you, Padfoot, looks really odd, I've never seen it before," Remus said. No one caught on. "You sucking on the tip of your quill… Makes you look smart."
James howled with laughter at Sirius's dumbstruck face while Peter joined in shrilly. Harry decided not to completely take sides, but chuckled noticeably. Remus just smirked smugly as he chewed his chocolate.
"Okay, Moony, we get it. You're wittier when you're seventeen," Sirius said edgily. "But it's been two and a half weeks since your birthday… so shut it already!"
"Seemed to have hit a sore spot, Moony," James said, still grinning. "Might want to be careful around that one."
"Aw, does ickle Siri need to have a wittle nap since he's so cwanky?" Remus teased in a baby voice. Sirius just glared and growled.
"Weren't you saying something about chocolate earlier?" he asked moodily.
"Ah yes," Remus smiled. "So… does anyone know why I love chocolate so much?" he asked again. He grabbed another piece and started to unwrap it, tossing the card to James, who didn't even look up from his Pepper Imp but just stuck out his hand to catch it. Remus looked expectantly at them all.
"No, Moony. Why?" Harry said at last. "Why do you love chocolate?"
"I don't know. I was hoping one of you would know," Remus said simply. They all cracked up. Their laughter died down as they continued to munch on their sweets. Once through with yet another Chocolate Frog, Remus groaned.
"What?" Peter asked, his teeth chattering loudly from an Ice Mice.
"I ate the last Chocolate Frog," he whined.
"Why don't you go to the kitchens and get some more?" Sirius asked, sucking on another quill.
"I don't want to get caught," Remus said. "I know that Professor Smirch has been wandering the halls for the past few weeks. I don't want to risk it."
"Why not use the Invisibility Cloak?" Harry asked simply, popping a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean in his mouth.
At first, everyone looked as if it was a good idea, until they actually thought about it. Only Peter didn't seem to realize something was wrong.
The Invisibility Cloak… The Marauders had never told Harry about the Invisibility Cloak. They had never shown it to him, never discussed it around him, and certainly not used it around him. It was one of the many Marauder's Secrets. Even though Harry had been asked to join them, they still hadn't told him everything. No, the Marauder's wouldn't have slipped like that. So how did Harry know?
"Naw, " Remus said quickly, trying to avoid a scene. "I'll just go another time." He looked directly at James and Sirius, and shook his head only the slightest bit. Harry didn't notice, since he was fishing around in the Every Flavor Bean box, steering clear of ear wax ones.
James yawned. "All that Quidditch and homework—"
"What homework?" Remus interrupted. "The only homework you did tonight was the five sentence homework Alyward gave us."
"—tired me out," James finished, ignoring Remus. "I'm going to be, mates. Good night!"
"'Night," they echoed. They all stuffed the extra candy into boxes underneath their bed. The swish of five curtains closing sounded through their room and then silence took over as night and sleepiness crept into the room.
Before everyone was deeply in dreamland, James said, "My Watermelon, Patrick, Plays Music Every Evening, Too, In Great Niles."
And all were asleep.
"My Watermelon, Patrick, Plays Music Every Evening, Too, In Great Niles?! What kind of code is that?!" Sirius yelled, outraged, the next night.
"Oh! I know this one!" Peter shouted, sounding quite proud of himself. "It's when you put the beginning letters of each word together to make a code or sentence. He folded his arms across his chest and beamed pompously.
All four Marauders had gathered in a roomy secret passageway on the fourth floor behind a large mirror. A few years ago, when they first found it, they had drawn up a few soft, comfy chairs and every time they used it, Remus would set up a portable fireplace.
"Yes, I know that, Wormtail," Sirius groaned, "hence why I'm here. I'm saying that James recited such a ridiculous code-sentence."
"But you understood it, didn't you?" James countered.
"Yes," said Sirius slowly, almost defensively.
"Then I don't see the problem here, Padfoot," James said smugly.
"Can we get back to our original discussion here, please?" Remus said, massaging his temples. "Some of have homework due tomorrow that they'd like to finish before midnight."
"But this is important, Moony!" James said, shocked.
"And what exactly are we here for?" Peter asked. He sat up a little in his plushy red chair to lean in.
"Harry," James said darkly.
Silence. Then—
"What about Harry?" Peter asked again.
"You haven't noticed anything strange or different about Harry?" James asked patiently.
Peter sat back in his chair and entered pondering mode. Sirius tapped his foot impatiently.
"You don't think he doesn't act like he's really new here at all?" Sirius asked after a few seconds of waiting.
"Well, sometimes I get the idea that he's not like other boys…" Peter trailed off.
Sirius and James snorted. Peter had missed his innuendo.
"But it's Hermione, too," interjected Remus, bringing his friends back down to Earth. "She's also different." He paused. "But I'm not sure if different is the right word here… Something is set out of place with Harry and Hermione."
"I know what you mean," James said at once. Remus didn't need to go into a rant, searching for the right words. Last time he did, they had wasted thirty minutes trying to help him search for the "right word".
"So when did this all start?" Peter asked quietly. He looked nervously around at his friends. "When did things start to get suspicious?"
Everyone paused in silence, thinking deeply of the two new Gryffindor students. It was James who spoke up first.
"From the moment they arrived, really…. They fell from midair, and then went straight to Dumbledore's office."
"Yeah, they were pretty suspicious from the beginning," Sirius added. "They were in Hogwarts uniform, but we hadn't seen them all week. They had stayed over the summer for a tour, but they missed their first week of school? That doesn't make sense."
Remus nodded. "What else?"
"What about when Hermione first saw me, she cried out my name and hugged me?" Sirius said, staring at the ground hard. He looked up to Remus. "I'd never seen her before, but she acted as if she knew me well."
"Hermione also acted oddly around Lily when she first saw her," James said.
"They said they went to Durmstrang before this, didn't they?" Remus asked. James nodded. "As I remember reading about the famous schools of Europe, Durmstrang is a very Dark school…. They probably wouldn't allow Muggle-Borns into such a school. And Hermione is a Muggle-Born, isn't she?"
James nodded. "Hey, you're right. I never thought of that."
"What else?" Sirius asked.
"Well, don't they know the grounds almost as well as we do?" Peter spoke up from his corner chair. Everyone looked at him. "I mean, they walk through the halls without ever thinking where everything is. That's something, isn't it?"
"Yeah, you're right," Remus said after pausing for a moment to think.
"And knew about people here in their first week that normally they wouldn't know."
"What do you mean, Sirius?" Remus asked.
"They knew about Snivellus and Filch and Pomfrey and Moaning Myrtle in the first day or two," Sirius answered.
Everyone was silent.
"Did anyone notice that they never talk about their past friends and family?" Peter asked softly. All four boys tried to think of a time when they had specifically said anything about their past. Nothing.
Sirius suddenly smacked his forehead. "I completely forgot about what happened at the end of September. I was going to tell you… but I forgot."
"What? What happened?" James asked, sounding anxious.
"It was one their way to go see Dumbledore the second time, right? And they ran into my dear brother and his girlfriend." Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair, trying hard to remember what happened. "Harry wasn't polite to Regulus at all. Once my brother and his girl left, Hermione had asked why he was so cruel… And Harry gave an answer that made no sense. He called Reg a future Death Eater… and something about cleaning out headquarters with me. Harry also said something else to Hermione… But I can't remember!" Sirius growled frustratingly.
"It's all right, Padfoot," James said soothingly. "You said Harry told Hermione that he was a future Death Eater?" Sirius nodded. "What do you think?" James turned, asking Remus.
Remus didn't speak right away. He shifted in his seat. "It is puzzling. But there's something that I should've told you…" He cleared his throat. "Back on my birthday, Hermione didn't go back to her dormitory right away. I wanted to see—to see if she actually liked me," he avoided Sirius's gaze, "so I kissed her." No one made a sound. "And she started to—giggle." Sirius snorted. "And then she said my name, my full name. The only people who know my full name are you guys and my family. And that's when I noticed how she knew things others didn't."
"Why didn't you ask her about it?" Sirius asked impatiently. "Why didn't you question her?"
Remus adverted his eyes to the ground. "Because she kissed me. I just—forgot—about what we were talking about after we kissed."
"But why did she kiss you?" James asked.
Remus opened his mouth, but could not think of an answer.
"Ah…" James said knowingly.
"You think she kissed me to shut me up and make me forget?" groaned Remus.
Sirius answered first. "Partially." Remus whipped his head around to look at Sirius, who had an odd glint in his grey eyes. "She also kissed you because she likes you." His voice was certainly not warm and fuzzy.
"Oh, don't start this up again," James whimpered.
"Back to the original topic," interjected Peter quickly, glancing nervously between Remus and Sirius. "So what does all this lead up to? What are we suggesting?"
The only sound was the crackling of the fire.
"Wait!" Remus said suddenly. Every looked up from the ground. "She—Hermione—said she had read Hogwarts, A History."
"So?" Peter asked.
"She also said that she always had to correct her friends when dealing with the information inside that book," Remus continued excitedly.
James finally caught on. "And if her friends consisted of Lily, who is incredibly smart and has read Hogwarts, A History four times, why would she need to explain it to her friends? Especially since they've been here for six years when she's only been here less than three months."
"So back to Peter's original question: what are we suggesting about Harry and Hermione?" Sirius asked. His brain was starting to hurt; what was happening here?
"I say we ask them," James said at last. "We sit down and we talk to them. Get some answers."
"Right now?" Sirius asked. He jumped off his chair and started to walk over to the exit.
"No," Remus answered at once. "We, all of us, need to finish our potion's essay. If we don't, Smirch will fail us for sure."
Sirius groaned. "I hate it when you're right."
Sirius tapped the stone wall door as the other three got out of their chairs, weary of their homework ahead of them, plus the conversation they were just itching to have with the two new students. Sirius turned around to stride out of the passageway, but came face to face with a pallid, hook-nosed boy.
"Snivellus," growled Sirius.
"Tsk tsk, Black," Snape sneered. "You seemed to have strayed away from your cozy little common room. Oh, and look! It seems to be past curfew." Snape's sneer grew eviler. "That's a total of seven times in the past month, isn't it? And yet you never seem to be punished." Snape looked over Sirius's shoulder to see James, Peter, and Remus coming out of the secret passageway also. "And hiding out in a corridor not approved by the teachers. This can't be good for Gryffindor, can it?"
"Obliviate" Sirius yawned. Snape fell, crumpled on the ground with a heavily dazed look in his eyes. "Let's get out of here before mon capitaine graisseux finally realizes it was us he was tracking down."
And minutes later, the four Marauders were racing up the stairs to the portrait. Remus breathed the password and jogged over to his homework. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry and Hermione walking up the stairs in the back that lead to the dormitories.
"Hey Remus," Peter said as he trotted up behind Remus.
"Yeah, Peter?"
"Isn't tomorrow night a full moon?" he asked quietly.
A shadow grew over Remus's face. "Yes, it is." Remus grabbed his parchment and quill and went straight to the table by the fire. He immediately started to work, his mind focusing on potions. He felt Sirius plop down on the floor beside him, and James curl up in a chair, Peter occupying the other.
"Mates, what are we going to for tomorrow night?" Remus asked quietly. James and Sirius looked up, confused. "Full moon and all…"
"What about it?" Sirius asked.
"We'll be right by your side, as always," James said as if it was the simplest thing ever.
"But what about Harry?" Remus countered.
"Oh let him worry," Sirius said, waving his hand impatiently.
"But we're becoming suspicious of what he's up to," Remus said. "What if he's putting two and two together also? What if he finds out?" He looked anxiously at his friends. "I mean, you three figured it out…"
"Are you suggesting that we don't go with you?" Peter asked, sounding completely surprised.
"No…" Remus answered slowly. "Just wait a little while after I go. Once Harry's asleep, go to the shack."
Sirius sighed but nodded with James. He shifted on the floor and started to write about the properties of a hair from the back of a Jarvey.
It was well past midnight before they finished their potion essay and transfiguration short answer. All four were too tired to talk to Harry, so they fell asleep straight away.
"Moony, Paddyfoot, wake up!" James yelled the next morning. "We have ten minutes before class starts!"
Remus launched himself out of bed like a rocket and sprinted to his trunk. He threw aside dirty clothes, searching frantically for some clean, non-wrinkled shirts.
Sirius, on the other hand, groaned and chucked his pillow at James, moaning something about five more minutes.
"Where are Harry and Peter?" Remus asked as he literally jumped into his trousers.
"They already left," James said. "I was given the duty of waking you two up." He strolled over to Sirius's bed. He leaned in so he was mouth was right next to Sirius's ear. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star!" James started to softly sing in his ear. "How I wonder what you are." Sirius unconsciously rolled over and started to sing the child's song with James.
"Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky." Sirius said. He slowly rose up from his bed. "Twinkle, Twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are." Sirius yawned loudly like a dog. "Good morning, Prongs," he said cheerfully.
"How come you wake up willingly and with a smile when we sing that stupid kiddie song?" Remus asked as he did his tie.
"It's a childhood thing," Sirius answered noncommittally. He reached for his pants and clean shirt and started to get dressed. James just shrugged and grabbed his robe.
"C'mon Prongs! You can run faster than that!" Sirius yelled over his shoulder. He was sprinting down the empty corridor that led to the Transfiguration classroom, with James right behind him.
"I ate a huge lunch, Padfoot, cut me some slack!" James growled. He sped up his pace and was soon even with his friend.
"Pathetic," Sirius laughed.
James just raised his eyebrows. He pushed himself a little further and was soon a meter ahead of Sirius. "Looks who's pathetic now! Woohoo!" Almost missing the door completely, James didn't have time to slow himself down. He clenched the door frame and swung himself inside the classroom. Stumbling into the classroom, he did a summersault, landing on his bottom. Sirius came trotting in moments later, laughing his head off. James just jumped up and did the pose Muggle Gymnasts did after their routine, grinning like mad.
Professor McGonagall had been sitting quietly at her desk, waiting for her last two students to arrive. Now she was rubbing her temples and muttering to herself as girls giggled at James and Sirius's entrance. She slowly stood up, and spoke in a crisp, edgy voice, "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, please sit down so we can start our lesson today. Try not to make such a scene next time."
"Yes, professor," the two boys said harmoniously, concealing their grins terribly. They slid into the two empty seats in the back and pulled out their wands.
Professor McGonagall sighed heavily. She stepped in front of the class, scanning the dead silent class with hawk eyes.
"Today… we will start performing Animal Transfigurations on ourselves. You should have every aspect of the spell engraved on the inside of your skulls by now," her eyes lingered on Peter, who gulped, "so this shouldn't be hard at all for you… hopefully. Wands out."
"Well, that lesson proved to be… interesting," James commented as the four boys walked out of the classroom an hour later.
"Did Peter ever get rid of his rat tail yet?" Sirius asked concernedly.
"Naw, he never came back from the hospital yet," Remus answered. He glanced at James and Sirius. "I think I'm going to check up on him. I'm not feeling so well myself."
"Okay Moony," James said.
"See you after dinner," Harry said. He was trying to act as normal as possible, even though he knew it was a full moon that night.
"Maybe," Remus muttered as he walked away.
Once Remus was out of sight, Sirius eagerly turned to his other two friends. "Did you see Snape when he tried to Transfigure himself?"
"No, what happened?" James asked excitedly.
"Ah, it was priceless. You know how we were supposed to be practicing on how to turn into a cat? Well, his spell started out slower than all the rest. Gradually, every few minutes, he would sprout whiskers, and then ears, and then a tail, and then the glowing cat eyes. And he would never notice it, thinking that he was doing something wrong!"
"You didn't make his spell go array, did you?" Harry asked wearily.
"No, he messed up on his own," Sirius said gleefully.
"Damn, I missed it," James said sadly.
"That's 'cuz you were staring at Miss Evans the entire time," Sirius said matter-of-fact.
"Shut it," James growled, but with no venom. Sirius didn't say any more, but just kept a superb smirk on his face.
"Hey look, it's snowing," Harry said lightly, looking out the windows they passed.
James and Sirius exchanged a glance of worry before returning to their usual smirks. They would be trudging out in the snow late that night. They had to be careful.
Remus never came back after dinner. No one had seen him since he went to visit Peter. James and Harry were in the empty common room, deeply immersed into a raging game of wizards chess. Hermione was frantically flipping through her books at a table nearby searching for a book. Sirius and Peter were not to be found that night in the common room.
"Squash him! Squash him!" James hissed to his knight.
Harry glared at his father (in joke) across the game board as his bishop was dragged off to the side of the game. Harry directed his queen into a check against James. "Where did you get this chess set?" he asked curiously.
"This old thing?" James said egging his pawn forward. "It was once my great-grandfather's. It's been in my family for ages."
Harry frowned, but tried to mask it with a concentrated face.
"Harry?" Hermione came up from behind James with a worried look no her face. "Have you seen my book on Animal Transfigurations?" she asked worried, glancing around the table at which James and Harry were at.
Both boys shook their heads.
"Did you ever bring it back from the library?" James asked.
Hermione's eyes widened. "No, I didn't!" And without another word, Hermione went out the portrait hole.
Hermione was quickly walking through the corridors, taking lefts and rights every where, trying to get to the library. A shrill laughter rang through a hall up ahead. Hermione was about to silently slip past when she heard another familiar voice.
"So I saw old Snivelly watching Moony crossing the grounds in the snow to the shack. But he heard me and started to get on me about… about my family. About what my mother has been saying about me…"
"And that's when you told him to go after Remus?" Peter said, thrilled.
"I can't wait to see Snivellus's face when he sees a real werewolf," Sirius growled maliciously.
Hermione stopped dead in her tracks.
"Sirius thought it would be—er—amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me."
The story of Remus and Sirius's childhood that Remus had recited in Hermione's third year echoed in her mind.
"Well, of course, Snape tried it—if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf."
Wasn't James supposed to rescue Snape? …But he's busy playing chess… with Harry! He wouldn't have found out about Sirius's horrible trick because he's with Harry this time, not Sirius. It'll be too late!
Hermione sprinted back to the common room as fast as her feet would carry her. Her side was burning, but she had to keep this time as similar as it had been before. She gasped the password to the Fat Lady and swung the portrait open forcefully. She ran straight to James and Harry, who had looked up from their game to Hermione pink in the face and gasping for breath.
"What's—" Harry started, but Hermione cut him short.
"James, you need to go down to the Whomping Willow NOW!" she yelled frantically, holding her side.
Both James and Harry stared wide-eyed at Hermione. James recovered first.
"Why?" he asked noncommittally.
Hermione bit her lip for a second. She could reveal her and Harry's secret… but she definitely couldn't let Snape die.
"Sirius told Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow," she said, her breaths still uneven.
James stared at Hermione some more. "What are you talking about?" he asked cautiously.
"You have to go save Snape from Remus… NOW!" Hermione yelled madly.
Harry stepped in. It all finally clicked. "James, look, we know that Remus is a werewolf. Sirius has told Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow to see where Remus goes. If you don't get there quickly, Snape'll die, and everyone's secret will be out."
James looked between Harry and Hermione. "Are you sure you heard right?" he asked Hermione solemnly. Hermione nodded fervently, calming her breaths down. James sighed heavily. This was just the thing Sirius would do, especially after that letter his mother had sent him today.
James raced over to the window, and could see a lonesome, dark figure trudge across the grounds. Snape. He turned around to face Harry and Hermione, their eyes were boring into his.
"Tell Sirius to get his arse down at the shack at once, along with Peter… We'll talk about this later," James added in a strict, cold voice.
He swerved around and leapt out the window. He fell a few feet before he transfigured himself into a hawk and soared down onto the grounds.
Harry and Hermione didn't even look at each other, but in unison, dashed out of the common room and down stairs to where Hermione had spotted Sirius moments before.
"Sirius!" Hermione yelled down the empty corridor once they arrived.
Sirius's head popped out from another corridor leading out of the one Hermione had just yelled into.
"You rang?" Sirius said suavely. He sauntered back into the hall, with Peter shuffling behind.
"James told us to tell you to get your arse down at the shack, along with you, Peter," Hermione said at once, delaying not a moment.
"What shack?" Sirius asked, wearing a clueless mask.
"The Shrieking Shack!" Harry spat. "The place where Remus is about to kill an innocent person that you sent if you don't get there in time to help James!"
Sirius and Peter's eyes opened wide, just like James's did, and their mouths hung agape.
"Well, don't just stand there," Hermione said hotly. "GO!"
Without a blink of an eye, Sirius and Peter spun around and ran towards the main entrance doors. Sirius looked over his shoulder at Hermione. His face looked more confused than ever, but he kept on running.
"So what do we do now?" Harry asked quietly once Sirius and Peter were gone.
"Well, they'll be out most of the night," Hermione said, slowly making her way back to the common room. "They'll most likely go to Dumbledore's office after they retrieve Snape. Dumbledore will have a talk with them. And they'll go to bed."
"But they'll want to wait for Remus before they start to ask questions to us, won't they?" Harry asked, along stride with Hermione.
"They'll wait for him, yes," said Hermione.
"Then we can go to sleep?" Harry asked through a yawn.
"I'm sure we can, Harry," Hermione said through a weak laugh.
"Do you think they'll tell Dumbledore about… us knowing about Remus?" Harry asked solemnly.
Hermione shook her head. "They'll be smart enough to keep us out of it."
"So what do you think'll happen?"
Hermione looked at the stone floor. "I… I don't know."
Across the grounds outside in the cold weather, a hawk swooped down onto a tree. It suddenly started to grow in size, its wings spreading out into human arms, its feathers disappearing into flesh and cloth. Now a raven-haired boy was perched on the low branch. He jumped down, landing like a cat, in the snow.
Another boy, huddled in thick, worn-out robes, was only a couple of meters away from another tree; a thrashing tree. The Whomping Willow. Snape picked up a stick near the ground and clenched it tightly in his fist. Ducked down on all fours and prodded a spot on the tree. The tree froze. The Slytherin smirked before crawling under the roots of the tree.
James was sprinting forward the moment Snape picked up the stick. Just as the tree started to move again, James dove head first into the roots.
Running at the edge of the Forbidden Forest were two animals: a large, bear-like dog, and on the dog's back was a rat trying to find its balance between the shoulder blades of the dog. It never slowed its pace as it darted through the branches of tangent trees. Sirius stopped suddenly at the very edge of the Whomping Willow and bent down to let Peter climb off. The rat scurried forward, dodged the whip-like branches, and pressed the knot on the tree trunk.
The tree stopped moving.
Now two teenage boys were standing at the base of the tree. Sirius and Peter heard a scuffle from inside the tree, next a howl, and then a girl-ish shriek, then an Immobulus, and then nothing more. Sirius and Peter looked at each other fretfully. They were about to dive into the passageway when James popped his head out.
James was practically dragging a furious Snape out of the tunnel. Once James saw Sirius's face, he glared bloody swords at his friend. When Sirius went to help James, James growled, "Geroff, Black."
At last, James, Snape, Sirius, and Peter were out of striking distance of the Whomping Willow.
"What the hell do you think you were doing?" James yelled at Sirius. Peter had to step in between the two to stop James from punching his best friend.
"Are you meaning to tell me that Lupin—is a werewolf?!" Snape yelled hysterically. He ripped his arm out of James's grip, glaring at the three boys, waiting for an answer. James forgot his anger for a moment. Snape knew. "So that's what you four do every month. That's why Lupin is always visiting his sick mother, or whatever his excuse is…" A look of dawning lit up his hook-nosed face. "You four are going to be expelled for sure this time," he said gleefully, resting his eyes on James. "There's no way anyone, let alone Dumbledore, would let Lupin stay here now."
And at that, Snape ran ahead of them, heading towards the castle.
"What're we going to do, James?" asked Peter in a far-away tone.
James sniffed and picked up his heavy foot out of the snow. "We'll have to speak to Dumbledore and face our doom." He shot Sirius a loaded glare over his shoulder. Sirius's figure seemed to wilt with disappointment.
Halfway across the grounds, Sirius spoke up. "But James—how did you know that I had told Snape?"
James sniffed again. "Harry and Hermione… they told me."
Sirius's back straightened. "How did they find out? How did they know about Remus?"
"Your guess is as good as ours." James sighed. "We'll have to talk to them in the morning—with Remus, once he gets out of the Hospital Wing." Sirius and Peter nodded. "What, Padfoot, made you tell Snape?" James asked exasperatedly. "Why would you do that to our friend?"
Sirius stared hard at the ground like a little child being scolded. "I—I was in a foul mood after my mother sent me that letter—and Snape heard about it somehow—and he was just really pissing me off… I'm sorry, Prongs. I'm really sorry." And indeed he sounded it.
"Don't tell me that," James barked back. "I wouldn't be surprised if Remus doesn't talk to you for weeks. You could have been responsible for Remus murdering someone! He couldn't deal with that!" James opened his mouth, thought, and closed it with a snap. They said nothing more on their way to Dumbledore's office.
"Mr. Snape," Dumbledore yawned at his office door, still in his sleeping gown, "how pleasant it is to see you—"
"Sir, Lupin is a werewolf," interrupted Snape, glancing back over his shoulder. He didn't know how far behind the Marauders were.
Dumbledore, taken by surprise, looked hard into Snape's eyes. "Yes, I know," he said at last.
"You knew?" Snape repeated angrily. "You knew that there is a killer roaming around the school grounds once a month?"
"Please, sit down Severus," Dumbledore said, stepping out of the way to reveal his office to Snape. Snape, though, didn't find it to be very impressive; he had been there many times before, involving a certain group of four Gryffindor boys. Snape shuffled off to a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk. "One, Mr. Lupin has never killed anyone in his entire life. And two, he has never roamed freely around this school. He is kept safe inside the Shrieking Shack." The headmaster paused. "Now, how did you come across this information, Mr. Snape?"
Snape opened his mouth, when suddenly the doors behind him slowly creaked open. James, Sirius, and Peter stepped through though with no trace of their usual childlike grins anywhere.
"Them," Snape growled, pointing at the three boys.
"Ah, gentlemen," Dumbledore said, though not in his usual warm voice. "Come, sit down. We have quite a lot to discuss about."
The three Gryffindors glanced at each other before conjuring up some chairs and sitting down.
"Do you have anything to say for yourselves?" Dumbledore asked calmly. He steepled his fingers and gazed heavily at the boys.
"I—I told Snape of the whereabouts of Remus, sir," Sirius said, looking at his hands in his lap.
"And what do you, Mr. Potter and Mr. Pettigrew, have to do with this?"
"I—I pulled Snape away from—from Lupin," James said quietly.
"You saved him?" Dumbledore asked. He leaned forward slightly.
"Y—yes," James answered. He mimicked Sirius and stared down at his hands. Snape glared at James.
Twenty minutes later, the three Gryffindor boys emerged from Dumbledore's office. Snape had to stay a few minutes later.
"I'd thought we'd be expelled for sure," said James with a sigh of relief.
"Yeah…"
"Just one thing, Padfoot," Peter started. "How come you didn't mention Harry or Hermione?"
James looked at Sirius too. "Yeah, I was wondering about that."
Sirius gazed out the window. "I didn't want to get them into trouble. I just wanted to figure things out for myself. They have a lot of explaining to do, but I want to get all the facts before I run and tell Dumbledore."
Peter nodded, while James smirked. "And it wouldn't be because you fancy one of them and you don't want her punished, would it?"
Sirius smiled and looked at James. "Now why would you say that?"
"I wonder how Remus is doing," Peter commented up the stairs leading to their room.
"I hope he's okay," Sirius said worriedly.
"He will be," James said confidently. "He's managed without us for years." He pushed open the door to find Harry in a deep sleep behind the half-open curtains around his bed. "We'll talk tomorrow. Right now, let's get some sleep."
"Good night, mates," Peter yawned. He collapsed on his bed without even taking off his uniform. A faint snore could be heard until James muttered a silence spell. The snoring ceased (though Peter's mouth still hung open).
"Hey Sirius?" James said as he slipped into his pajamas.
"Hm?" Sirius crawled into his bed.
"Have I ever told you that you are one complete idiot?"
Sirius smiled a hollow, emotionless grin. "Too many times, Prongs, too many times…"
A/N: You don't know how frustrated I am with my football practice. It never used to be so time-consuming! I hope to update soon once I get into the swing of things (which I'm already starting to). But I'm not sorry to leave you all hanging about what will happen during the conversation with the Marauders and the time-travelers. I just love cliffhangers!
To my reviewers:
Thanks to: Secretly Smiling, Draco's Slytherin Princess, lupinfan, jessa1234, Flaignhan, Niphredel Black, HarryNDracosDarlin, dawn1, Dancerchick314, Larna Mandrea, khuu-khuu, brillokatti, Allison, Sugary Peach Tea, iluvsiriusblacksnufflespa, Paige Malfoy, NightEyes18, and Roxxie-Hart. You all are great!
StrawberriSpoons: Er—sorry. I'm actually an anti-Harry/Hermione. I don't really hate Harry/Hermione's, I just don't believe in them (I don't believe in Sirius/Hermione or Remus/Hermione ones either, but I just love the Marauders).
I Love Conte: Yes, I know Ron will end up with Hermione… in the books.
Stargazer starluver: Impatient much? Those chapters are needed to bring the plot up… (Same to you PIECEOCAKE)
Shelby H: It's all right, I can tell you. Remus and Sirius (since he will be alive) will remember everything. Well, everything they could remember after almost twenty years.
Kou Shun'u: Look below to find all the answers to my "mistakes". It would be funny if Ron came back, but I've got it all planned out. I think you'll like it (along with everyone else). Thanks.
Doodler Girl: Oh, school is completely hard. So much homework and football practice! I haven't even had the time to email my friends! Thanks!
Notes to EVERYONE who reads this story:
There won't be any more flash-forward unless I happen to change my mind (which I don't think I will). I've got it planned out, and a flash-forward would just sort of ruins it. Sorry!
Notes to those who "found" mistakes:
James IS Chaser, folks. J.K. Rowling said it herself. Check it out on if you want, since that site is dubbed the best Harry Potter website out there. The movie is misleading (as is chapter 28 in book five with the whole snitch-catching thing).
"'I've never been in detention before,' Hermione said sheepishly." Good point, but I was thinking about REAL detention. Like class work type. Sorry if I didn't articulate enough. I just assumed everyone would understand.
As for all the songs and their release dates… This is just a fanfiction. I don't spend my time researching the DATES of songs that are just meant to be a frivolous part of my story.
"Sirius's eyes widened before he started to fall backwards, just as he did in the Department of Mysteries." Do you think Harry NEVER talked to his friends about what he saw back in the Department of Mysteries?
Next Chapter:
The Time-travelers talk to the Marauders. How much will the twosome tell the four curious and confused boys?