Making Your Own Place in the World
Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next
-"Dare you to Move" Switchfoot
When Adrianne awoke the following morning it took her a moment to understand where she was. The deep red velvet curtains hanging around her four-poster bed was very much different from the pink satin she was used to at home. She closed her eyes quickly and reopened them, making sure everything of the past day hadn't really been a dream. A voice across the room seemed to prove to Adrianne that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.
"Wake up Chrissy, we're going to be late for breakfast." Came the voice of Jena Sinclair. Adrianne poked her head out of the curtain and Jena spoke again. "Sorry, we haven't been formally introduced yet. I'm Jena Sinclair, and Sleeping Beauty here is Chrissy Valwick."
"I'm – I'm Adrianne Laverte." Adrianne said holding out her hand to Jena.
Lily poked her head out and said "I'm Lily Evans."
The four girls got dressed and went down to breakfast together. Jena and Chrissy had been friends for years, and were both children of pure magical families. Adrianne was jealous of how much they already knew about magic, but the girls assured her that she would catch up quickly.
The girls found four seats next to one another at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Course schedules were handed out, and Adrianne saw that she had Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall for her first lesson. Professor McGonagall, along with being Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts was also the Gryffindor Head of House.
--
James woke up to the sound of someone moving around, trying to be stealthy but making more noise than appropriate for the time of day. He poked his head out of the curtains hanging from his four poster bed and saw Remus was struggling to get dressed in silence, but so far had only succeeded in knocking over his pile of books, and tripping over his own trunk.
"Sorry," Remus whispered when he saw James's face.
"It's alright. I guess I may as well be getting up now." James said, getting up off his bed. He changed into his school robes, having a much easier time then Remus was. By the time the boys were both dressed, Peter and Sirius had woken up and were moving around. James and Remus waited for their roommates to join them for breakfast. The four boys made their way to the Great Hall together, all too sleepy to speak.
--
Course schedules were handed out during breakfast. Gryffindor first years had Transfiguration first with their Head of House, Professor McGonagall. After breakfast was over, the eight first year Gryffindors made their way to the Transfiguration classroom.
Professor McGonagall started off the lesson with an introduction to the subject of transfiguration, as well as telling them what she expected of them. They spent the rest of the period trying to turn matches into needles.
At the end of the period, Professor McGonagall assigned them homework. "As none of you mastered this spell today, I want you all to practice for homework and be ready to try it again on next class. Also, Mr. Lupin if I could have a word with you after class."
--
Remus panicked. What could he have done wrong already? When the entire class had emptied the room, Professor McGonagall said, "Relax Mr. Lupin, I just have a few things to discuss with you about—" she paused, and used her wand to close the classroom door. "About the next full moon. A letter was sent to your parents this summer explaining the safety features put into effect this term for your safety and for the safety of classmates. On the afternoon of the full moon, Madam Pomfrey, the school healer, will escort you to a hidden passageway securely located underneath a tree called the Whomping Willow. The passageway will lead you to a shack in the nearby village of Hogsmead. No one will be able to reach you from the village as the doors and windows are all entirely boarded up. Professor Dumbledore himself decorated the shack with furniture that will not be harmful to you. You will spend the night in the shack in Hogsmead, and in the morning Madam Pomfrey will escort you back to the castle. Do you have any questions?"
"What time?" Remus asked faintly.
"What time will she fetch you from your common room, or what time will she bring you back to the school?"
"Both, I suppose."
"4:30 pm and 8:30 am. It is likely you will spend the day after the full moon recovering in the hospital wing. Anything else?"
"What—won't everyone notice I'm missing?"
"I was asked to have you create a cover story. You don't have to think of anything right now, but sometime in the next three weeks you are to tell me your cover story and we can work out the details. If you have no more questions, you may leave. Your next lesson is about to start."
--
James and Sirius soon realized that they had a lot in common. After their original meeting on the train, Sirius though James to be annoying, and James thought Sirius to be an arrogant prat. They soon learned how very wrong they were.
"Mr. Black if you won't stop throwing paper chunks at Mr. Snape I am going to have to put you in detention." Professor Slughorn said during one double potions lesson with the Slytherins. Snape was a boy with greasy hair and a long hooked nose, whom Sirius had taken an immediate dislike too.
"Yes sir." Sirius said obediently, but as soon as the professor turned his back, Sirius was back at it.
"Detention Mr. Black." Professor Slughorn said, catching Sirius in the act. "I expected better behavior from a Black."
Sirius mocked Professor Slughorn behind his back, causing his three dormmates to laugh. Professor Slughorn turned to investigate, but they stopped immediately. Sirius assumed a pose of complete innocence which made Slughorn even more suspicious.
After Slughorn had gotten back into his explanation of today's potion, Sirius starting making more paper chinks to throw. James took one from Sirius's pile and tossed it with ease right at Snape's head.
"Mr. Black!" Slughorn shouted.
"It wasn't me, sir, I swear." Sirius said, struggling back a laugh.
"It was Potter, sir." Snape said menacingly.
"Mr. Potter, you can join Mr. Black in detention." Slughorn said before returning to the lesson.
From that point on, James and Sirius were inseparable. They were self proclaimed mischief makers extraordinaire.
--
After the first week of classes, Adrianne and Lily wrote letters home:
Cher Grand-père,
I feel like I have been living in my wildest dreams here at Hogwarts. Even the building is spectacular. The school is a millennia old castle in Scotland, with towers and dungeons and a big lake on the grounds. It's not as nice as Le Petit Chateau though. I will give you a full description later on.
I made two friends on the Hogwarts Express, Lily Evans and Remus Lupin. Lily's parents are both muggles, which means they, like you, have no magic in them. Remus's parents are both magic.
At the Welcoming Feast the first year students get sorted into one of the four houses. I was sorted into Gryffindor, a house which is known for its bravery, as were Lily and Remus.
I have also made good friends with my two other dormmates, Jena Sinclair and Chrissy Valwick. They are the other two Gryffindor girls in my year. They are both pure blood witches, and are best friends from when they were young. Jena and Chrissy have been very helpful with me and Lily who know nothing about magic, except what we have read in our textbooks so far. Lily also bought extra books this summer and has promised me she will let me read the ones I haven't already bought. I think Lily and I are going to be great friends.
Classes have been fascinating. We have just been learning the basics right now, but Professor McGonagall, the Gryffindor Head of House and Deputy Headmistress as well as our Transfiguration professor, can turn herself into a cat! She doesn't need a wand or a spell or anything. I simply can not wait until we start learning how to do those things.
There are one-hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide sweeping ones; narrow rickety ones; some that lead somewhere different on Fridays; some with vanishing steps you have to remember to jump. There are doors that don't open unless you ask politely, or tickle them in just the right spot, and doors that aren't really even doors, just walls pretending. And everything seems to move around a lot! The subjects in the portraits move from frame to frame to visit each other, and I am almost certain that one of the coats of armor can walk!
Oh and Grand-père, you won't believe this! There are ghosts at Hogwarts! Each house has their own, Gryffindor's ghost is called Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpimgton or Nearly Headless Nick. Now you may be wondering how someone could be nearly headless, as I was wondering when I heard the nickname, but as Sir Nicholas showed me, his head is hanging on by a small bit of skin due to a horribly botched beheading. Sir Nicholas is very nice, and is always willing to point a lost Gryffindor in the right direction.
Peeves the Poltergeist is not helpful at all. He is usually good for pulling a prank or misleading a lost first year. I had the misfortune of running into Peeves on my second day of classes and ended up being ten minutes late for Potions, and covered in chalk dust. Potions is not a good class to be late to. Professor Slughorn is the Slytherin Head of House.
That is all I can think of right now. There is so much to say and I don't know what I have left out. Send me questions to answer with your next letter. I am sending this with one of the school owls. It should stay with you long enough for you to send a response back, just tie the letter to its leg and the owl will find me.
Princesse Adrianne
--
Dear Mum and Dad, and Petunia,
Hogwarts is fantastic! I absolutely love it here! I have already made a great friend. Her name is Adrianne Laverte, and her grandfather is the old French man who told us how to get onto the Platform. She was raised as a muggle like me, and we have been having excellent adventures learning magic, and the school. Classes have been very exciting. We are learning so much. I can't wait until we start doing real magic. Right now we are just learning the basics.
The girls I share a room with, Chrissy and Jena, both come from families of all witches and wizards. They know loads of stuff I don't know, and they have been really good about filling me and Adrianne in.
I miss you all, and I miss not seeing you everyday. That will be the one hard part of me coming to Hogwarts. I can't wait until I have more exciting things to write to you, but for now this is all.
Love,
Lily
They went together in search of the owlery to send out their letters. They got lost and somehow ended up in the dungeons. Both girls were terrified of who they might run into so they turned around and ran straight into something very solid. The girls looked up at the tall blonde boy they had run into. They didn't know his name just that he was in Slytherin and in sixth or seventh year. He looked down his pointed face at the two girls with his cold, grey eyes. A shudder ran up Adrianne's spine as her eyes met with his. She nudged Lily to move around him, but he spoke before Lily caught the hint.
"Lost are we?" He said in a smooth, cold voice.
Adrianne seemed to have lost her voice, but Lily was able to squeak out a little "No" before falling silent again.
"You are Gryffindors, aren't you?" He said, again in that cold voice.
Adrianne simply nodded a small nod. Lily was motionless beside her, clutching her letter in her right hand. The older Slytherin seemed to notice, as his eyes drifted to Lily's hand. Adrianne looked at her friend and saw that her face seemed to have lost all color.
"You are very far from the owlery down here." He sneered.
Adrianne and Lily just stared at him, or more through him. Both girls were too afraid to make eye contact with this Slytherin.
"Oh there you are Lucius, I've been searching the entire castle for you." called a female. As she drew closer, Adrianne saw that she was also blonde, and had the look of someone who was smelling something rancid.
"I have just been helping these two first years find the owlery, Narcissa." Lucius said. Narcissa looked at Adrianne and Lily with a look of disgust.
"They're just two mudblood Gryffindors, let them find their own way. It's their own fault they got lost anyway, isn't it Lucius." Narcissa scoffed.
Adrianne didn't fully understand what happened next. All she knew was that someone shouted a hex and Narcissa and Lucius ended up in a heap on the floor. Lily looked furious at who had cast the hex.
"James Potter! You are not supposed to use magic in the corridors!" She shouted furiously at James. Adrianne turned to see James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter standing, only James holding his wand out.
"I was just defending the honor of the Gryffindor House." James said arrogantly.
"You are no better than them!" Lily shouted.
"At least I can see past the fact that your parents are muggles."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"She called you a "mudblood." It means dirty blood, it's a really foul name for someone who comes from non-magical parentage." Remus explained calmly.
"That's what that meant." Adrianne said suddenly understanding everything better. "But, my mum was a witch, why would Narcissa call us both mudbloods?"
"To people like her, that doesn't matter." Sirius said angrily. Lily and Adrianne stared at him in confusion.
"Narcissa is Sirius's cousin." Remus explained. "We should probably leave before they wake up. I'm just not in the mood to be taking on two very angry Slytherin sixth years today."
Lily and Adrianne walked with the boys for a while, nobody saying a word, until they reached the stairway that would take the girls to the owlery. Lily and Adrianne climbed the stairs without a word. After the girls had sent their letters out, they sat at the window watching the owls circling the skies.
"That James Potter is such a prat! I don't need anyone defending me from big bad Slytherins!" Lily shouted suddenly, scaring a few of the owls out of the owlery. Adrianne wasn't sure how to react so she didn't. Lily continued on, "He thinks he is so great, and he can come to the rescue of some damsels in distress, but you know what, I'm not a damsel in distress! I am perfectly capable of defending myself from two arrogant Slytherins!"
Lily seemed to have gotten everything out she wanted to say because she didn't speak again until they were back in the Gryffindor common room talking with Jena and Chrissy.
--
"I don't get why she took it so hard. Narcissa called her a mudblood, and I hexed her. Adrianne didn't seem upset by me doing that." James said loudly once they left the girls.
"It's the red hair." Peter said, all-knowingly.
"Really?" James and Sirius asked in unison.
"Yup. I read it once. People with red hair have horrid tempers. Something about having fire coming out of their brains."
"You just made that up Peter." Sirius accused.
"Did not!" Peter said defensively.
"Shut up!" James shouted over the two.
--
The next morning at breakfast, Sirius received his first letter from home. He had been expecting this letter and a great scolding from his mother, and was honestly surprised it took this long. His mother must have been trying to ignore him but couldn't not scold him for doing something so horrendous as allow himself to be sorted into Gryffindor where he would be mixing with blood traitors and mudbloods.
Sirius Black,
I must begin in expressing my displeasure in the fact that after one week away from home you have not so much as attempted to contact home. Narcissa told her mother about the little run in you and your blood traitor friends had with her and Lucius Malfoy. You are mixing with the wrong sort Sirius and I will have none of it. If you were to speak with your cousin I am sure she would be glad to assist you in befriending the right sort. You need to straighten your act up or you will end the same way as Andromeda.
Have a great term, and be sure to write home often.
Your Mother and Father
"What a wonderful woman your mother is." James commented, reading over Sirius's shoulder.
"She's just peachy."
"Who's Andromeda and what happened to her?" Remus asked.
"She's my cousin, Narcissa's older sister. She married a muggle-born and was disowned. The way mother speaks of her its like she died, but I suppose to my aunt and uncle she did."
"They disowned their own daughter for marrying a muggle-born? Harsh." James said.
"You don't know the half of it James."
--
September flew past in a wave of lessons, homework, letters from home, and pranks. The first year Gryffindors seemed to have declared war after the incident with the Slytherins. Lily and James were furious with each other, although their friends couldn't understand why.
Adrianne and Remus remained friends, even through Lily and James's feud. They would stay up late studying together, or helping each other on their homework. Adrianne seemed to be a natural at Transfiguration, and also had a knack for Herbology, whereas Remus was stronger in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Astronomy. Lily, who was excellent at Charms and Potions would often join them, but preferred to study alone in the library.
--
James and Sirius started to make themselves known throughout the school as mischief makers. They started pulling pranks on their fellow classmates, although targeting the Slytherins the worst. All of their pranks were harmless, and earned them many laughs, even though none of them technically could be traced back to them. The teachers seemed to look the other way whenever something happened with the signature of the two young Gryffindors.
Occasionally they would try to include their two dormmates, but Remus seemed too scared to cause trouble, and Peter was far too prone to spill the beans.
One night, Sirius was making plans for another brilliant prank, but couldn't find James.
"Her Lupin, have you seen James?" Sirius asked.
"Not since dinner." Remus answered. He was pacing the room nervously, but Sirius took no notice.
"Well, er, do you want to come along. I have an excellent idea to get Snivellius back." Sirius said, indicating a payback prank for something Snape had done to the boys earlier that week.
"No, but thanks. I'm leavening for the night. I have to go, er, visit my sick mother. She's really ill." Remus answered awkwardly.
"Yeah, tell her we hope she gets better soon." Sirius said.
Remus left the room to go meet Madam Pomfrey at the portrait hole, but got caught by another friend before he could sneak out.
--
"Remus!" Adrianne called across the room. He looked up, startled, but smiled weakly when he saw her. She ran over to him. "Where are you going?"
"I – er, I have to go – go visit my – er sick mum." Remus said. He looked pale and was shaking slightly.
"Oh, well I hope she feels better then." Adrianne said.
"Er – thanks." Remus said before turning around and leaving the common room. Adrianne thought it was strange he was leaving on a Wednesday evening to go visit his sick mother. She guessed she must be very sick for him to be leaving school, and hoped that for Remus's sake she got better quick.
Adrianne walked back to the table she had been studying at and packed up her books. She suddenly wasn't in the mood to work alone, and went to find Lily in the library. To her surprise, Lily wasn't alone in the library. James Potter was sitting in the chair next to her, staring blankly at his History of Magic textbook. Lily was reading her Transfiguration book and taking notes, but seemed distracted by James's presence. She kept shooting looks his way, hoping he would take the hint and move to an unoccupied table. James either didn't notice or didn't care, because he remained where he was and didn't look at Lily once.
Adrianne set her bag down on the table across from Lily, both Lily and James looked up at her. Lily opened her mouth to say hi, but James beat her to it.
"Hello Adrianne, lovely to see you here today." He said in a horribly arrogant tone. Adrianne just glared at him. She redirected her attention to Lily who had a look of desperate pleading on it. Her eyes simply said "Get me out of this."
Adrianne smiled at her friend and said, "Lily, I really need your help on my Charms homework. Do you think we could go back to the common room and work on it?"
"What's wrong with doing your homework in the library? It's much quieter here then in the common room, and that's what libraries are for, studying." James cut in.
"It is impossible to study with you sitting here breathing down our necks, Potter!" Lily shrieked. Her face was almost as red as her hair, and she looked like she was about ready to hit James.
"I didn't realize I was that much of a distraction to you Evans. Please, don't let my presence distract you from you studies." James said smirking, as he stood up and moved to the next closest table, directly in Lily's line of vision.
Lily tried her hardest to ignore James throughout the entire study session. Adrianne was surprised with how little her friend seemed affected by his presence, especially after her outburst earlier. She knew that it was almost painful for Lily to not yell at him again, and to focus on Adrianne and their homework.
When the girls were finished with their Charms and History of Magic homework, they packed up their bags and headed back to the common room. Adrianne saw James do the same from the corner of her eye. He made sure he stayed far enough back so as to not endure the wrath of Lily Evans if he got to close. Adrianne couldn't help but think it was cute the way he seemed to have taken a liking to Lily, especially since she couldn't seem to stand long periods of time in his presence.
Sirius Black intercepted the trio on their way back to the Gryffindor common room.
"James, there you are! I have been searching the castle from top to bottom for you." He said, wrapping his arm around the boy's shoulder. "Where on earth have you been?"
"The Library." James answered quietly, trying to hide his presence from the wrath of Lily Evans.
"Psh, the library! Who goes to the library? Don't tell me you were…studying." Sirius said in mock horror. James didn't answer. "Oh James, please…tell…me…that…you…weren't…studying." Sirius whispered the last word.
"Don't be ridiculous Black, studying isn't horrible." Lily said, surprising everyone with her completely civil tone.
Sirius and James stared at her with their mouths hanging open. "What—did—you—say?" James and Sirius said in unison.
"I said that the both of you could use some time well spent in the library rather than maraudering around the school playing nasty pranks on the Slytherins." Lily explained, sounding more like a teacher or mother than an eleven year old girl.
"What was that word you used?" Sirius asked, perking up.
"Pranks?" Lily said sounding confused.
"No, no, maraudering. That's it James, we are the Marauders!" Sirius said, smiling broadly.
"You have a name for yourselves. How cute." Lily said, mockingly.
James and Sirius ignored her, and started to walk back to the Gryffindor tower.
"What was that all about?" Lily asked Adrianne.
"You gave them ideas Lily. Not good, not good at all." Adrianne answered.
--
"Hey Pete, you want to be a Marauder with me and James?" Sirius asked once they found him.
"What?" Peter seemed confused. "What's a Marauder?"
"It's what we are, James and me. We named ourselves, or more Evans named us. But it's still brilliant."
"It is, it really is." James said.
--
Meanwhile, off in the shack built especially for Remus, the moon was transforming boy into monster. The moon was out in full force tonight, and the monster inside Remus was reflecting that. The monster wanted blood, flesh. He started scratching himself, relieved to smell, taste blood. It was his own, he knew, but if satisfied the cravings. The monster thrashed, grabbed a hold of the nearest piece of furniture and started scratching and gnawing on it. Somewhere deep inside the monster, a little boy was humming to himself trying to remember his mother. The monster laughed, she isn't here, it's just you and me.
--
James, Sirius and Peter stayed up all night, or at least until 3 am which to three eleven year old boys is all night, planning how they would show the world, or at least Hogwarts, that they were the Marauders. Because of this, they were completely exhausted the next day, barely making it though classes without falling asleep.
"Black, Potter, Pettigrew, see me after class." Professor McGonagall yelled at them when she noticed they had abandoned their assignment and were resting their heads on each other's shoulders. Actually it was Peter's loud snore that got them into trouble.
When the class was over and the girls had left the room, Professor McGonagall turned to the three young boys in her house. "I wasn't aware that eleven year old boys still required naptime. However I ask that you use your own time for naps. I suggest skipping lunch, as this information will be on the end of the year examinations. Five points from Gryffindor each, now get to you next class, and don't let me hear you three have been napping in class again or it will be detentions next."
James, Sirius, and Peter filed out of the classroom and headed to History of Magic.
"If only we could have waited until Binns's class to fall asleep." Sirius said jokingly. Professor Binns was the oldest staff member, besides perhaps Professor Dumbledore. In fact he looks like the walking death. Every year students take bets on whether or not he will survive the entire term.
"I don't care if I just woke up from a month long hibernation, nothing can keep me up once Binns gets going." James said. Peter laughed at both boys' jokes.
Sure enough, as soon as Professor Binns started lecturing, all three boys were reduced to zombies, as well as Jena and Chrissy two rows up. In the front two seats sat Lily and Adrianne, who were busy taking notes of every word Professor Binns spoke. Professor Binns neither noticed the two attentive learners, or the five zombies who had taken over the back of his classroom. For the entire period, Professor Binns lectured on goblin rebellions from the 17th century, a topic that could be mildly interesting if taught by any other Professor. The dry, wheezy, monotone voice of Professor Binns has a tendency to lose the interest of students within minutes. Only those who truly wanted to listen could keep themselves focused on his words. Students like Lily Evans, Adrianne Laverte, and the absent Remus Lupin.
--
Remus woke up in the bright white expanse of the hospital wing at Hogwarts. At first, he thought he was back in St. Mungo's, but the sight of Madam Pomfrey made him realize he was still in Hogwarts.
"Good, you're up. Drink this." Madam Pomfrey said, thrusting a goblet of potion into his hand. Remus drank the potion, and then the next one and then the next one until Madam Pomfrey was satisfied. Once all of his cuts were healed, and he was strong enough to move about the hospital wing on his own, Remus was released back to the Gryffindor common room. He walked slowly, avoiding students roaming the halls. It was dinnertime when Remus made it back to the Gryffindor tower. He wasn't hungry and fully intended on skipping the meal, but to his surprise the Gryffindor tower was not empty. Adrianne and Lily were on their way out of the portrait hole as Remus was coming in.
"Remus, you're back already. How is your mother feeling?" Adrianne asked, surprised to she her friend.
"Wha—oh my mum, she's, er, better." Remus muttered.
"That's good. Are you coming down to dinner? You can come with us." Adrianne said. Remus had no choice but to go to dinner now.
--
James, Sirius, and Peter hailed Remus down the moment he entered the hall with Adrianne and Lily. The girls allowed Remus to be dragged away from them and sat down with Jena and Chrissy.
"Hey Lupin, welcome back mate." James said as Remus sat down.
"Er, thanks," Remus said meekly.
"We have a proposition for you Mr. Lupin." Sirius said, sounding official all of a sudden.
"A proposition?"
"How would you like to join an elite group that calls themselves the Marauders?"
"The Marauders?"
"Yeah."
"Er…"
"Just think about it and get back to us."
"Us?"
"Yeah, James, Peter or yours truly."
"You three are these elite Marauders?"
"Yep."
"Cute."
"Watch it or we take the proposition off the table."
"No, no, I'll join, as long as I don't have to do any weird ritual to get in."
"No, but that's a brilliant idea! Any new members, after you of course, will have to go through an initiation or something. Brilliant, mate, simply brilliant."
--
"He looks a bit peaky doesn't he?" Adrianne said, looking over at Remus.
"What do you mean?" Jena asked looking Remus's way as well.
"He said his mum was the sick one, but it looks more like he's been ill." Lily answered.
"Maybe he's just upset that something will happen to her while she's away." Chrissy suggested.
"I suppose." Adrianne didn't seem convinced. She kept glancing over at Remus, noticing how he barely touched his dinner
--
As the days flew by, the Gryffindor first years became more comfortable at Hogwarts and with magic. Lessons were steadily getting more involved, and they were learning simple spells on a daily basis.
Professor Slughorn monitored his students and began to pick out who would go farthest or bring him the most connections. Older students mentioned a group called the Slug Club, which consists of Slughorn's favorites.
Sirius was invited to a few of Slughorn's parties but never cared to go. He reluctantly attended the first one, but after being pressured to rub shoulders with the likes of Snivellus Snape, he stopped going. James got an invitation once, but he flatly refused after hearing Sirius's account of what it was like to be in the Slug Club.
--
October blew by and before Remus was ready, his second Hogwarts full moon was nearing. This time he was prepared to tell his friends he would be leaving and had his cover story better planned out.
"Hey Remus, how's tomorrow night for Operation Degrease Snivellus?" James asked as the boys were sitting around their room the night before the full moon.
"I can't tomorrow. My mum is really sick again. I'm going to see her tomorrow." Remus answered, much less nervous then the previous month.
"Oh, she's still ill then?" James asked.
"Er, yeah."
"What's wrong with her then, that's making her so sick all the time?"
"Oh it's just some obscure life threatening disease. I can't even pronounce it."
"Hope she gets better."
"I'll tell her that."
--
"Hey Remus!" Adrianne called to Remus the next morning at breakfast. "What are you doing tonight?"
"I'm going home to visit my mother. She's ill again."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah."
"Hope she feels better."
"Yeah. Why did you want to know what I was doing tonight?"
"Oh, Lily and I were going to study for our Charms test tomorrow and we though you'd wasn't to join us."
"Charms test tomorrow! I forgot all about that!"
"Are you going to be back in the morning?"
"I'm not sure."
"Do you think Flitwick will let you make it up?"
"Oh I'm sure he will. All the Professors understand about my, er, mum and all. I just don't want to be under prepared for it."
"I'm sure you will do fine Remus. Just study while you sit with your mother or something."
"Yeah, I suppose I can do that."
--
"Is Remus coming?" Lily asked Adrianne as she entered the library after dinner that evening.
"He couldn't come tonight. He's visiting his sick mother again." Adrianne answered.
"Wow, she must be really ill if he's leaving on a weeknight and right before a test."
"Yeah, well you can't plan illness around class schedules."
The girls studied in the library until it was time for them to get back to the common room. As they were walking back to the Gryffindor tower, they met up with James, Sirius, and Peter who were all laughing hysterically over something.
"What on earth could possibly be that funny?" Lily demanded.
"Oh just something we happened to come across on our little stroll." James answered, with a smirk on his face.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"What? We aren't allowed to walk through the corridors and laugh. I'm sorry Miss Evans, I don't believe we are reading the same rulebook." Lily looked furious with this statement made by James. She didn't say another word the rest of the walk back. She stormed upstairs to the first year girl's dormitory and immediately shut herself in her bed. Adrianne stayed downstairs for a bit, reading over her Charms notes one last time, not really worried about the test just trying to relax herself a bit before going upstairs to Lily.
--
Jena and Chrissy were playing chess in front of the fire when Adrianne sat down next to them. Both girls looked up and slight shock. For the first two months of school, Adrianne and Lily were nearly inseparable, and Jena and Chrissy rarely saw one without the other.
"Where's Lily?" Chrissy asked after taking one of Jena's pawns.
"She's cooling herself down upstairs." Adrianne answered.
"Cooling herself down?" Jena asked, confused by this statement.
"Oh just James Potter getting to her again."
"Oh," Jena and Chrissy said in unison.
Adrianne stayed to watch Chrissy beat Jena at their game of chess, and then dozed off briefly in her armchair. She woke up to commotion on the other side of the common room, which turned out to be James and Sirius reeking havoc as usual. Adrianne said goodnight to Jena and Chrissy and went upstairs. She could hear deep breathing coming from Lily's bed meaning that she had fallen asleep.
--
James and Sirius loved to show off. They were two very smart boys, and even though they didn't study they still did very well in classes. Even after just two months of magical education, they were able to impress a group of second and third years in the common room with their pranks and jokes. Peter couldn't match their brilliance, but he was always around to form a crowd with his laughter. When Remus was around, he would sit off to the side, usually reading a book of some sorts, and occasionally glance at his friends. When he was feeling good, Remus would join James and Sirius in their little show, adding whatever knowledge he had picked up from some obscure book that he could.
Tonight, it was just James and Sirius. They were on a high from the prank they had played on Snivellus earlier, and had drawn an unusually large crown around them in the common room. The laughter of their admirers, echoed around the circular room, making it seem even more impressive. A few older students left for their dormitories for some silence. Soon, all that was left in the common room was the crowd swelling around James and Sirius, and Jena, Chrissy and Adrianne sitting near the fire. James noticed Lily Evans was nowhere in sight.
--
After Adrianne had gone to bed, Jena and Chrissy started talking. "I think it's funny how much James Potter upsets Lily Evans. If he's really that annoying then why do I have such an easy time blocking him and Sirius Black out?" Jena said.
"I don't know. Maybe he's even more annoying around her. He does seem to single her out an awful lot."
"You don't think, maybe, he, er, fancies her?"
"Do boys even like girls at age eleven?"
"I don't know. I suppose some of them might."
"But Lily doesn't fancy him, does she?"
"Her rage does seem very, er, ragey. But maybe she's just a really good actress. She is muggle born after all."
"What does being muggle born have to do with acting?"
"I don't know, just that they have movies and TV and everything. Muggle borns are just more exposed to acting."
"I suppose that makes sense."
--
In the shrieking shack, the monster inside of Remus was fighting for control again. The boy inside of Remus was nearly screaming out lullabies his mother used to sing outside his door on the full moon. The monster was laughing. Silly boy, it would say. Your dear mother isn't here anymore. It's just you and me.
"No!" Remus would scream. He fought the monster swelling inside of him with every ounce of energy he had left. The beast was stronger. The beast tore at Remus's flesh, reveling in the blood drawn from the wounds. "No," Remus whimpered. The monster laughed again. Remus's world was fading to black, and he was falling.
--
Lily dreamed she was watching a large bird with the body of a horse fly over the castle. There seemed to be people on this curious winged creature. Three of them, a young girl and boy, and an adult man. The two males seemed oddly familiar, but they were flying much to fast for Lily to get a good look. The winged creature landed and let off its riders. It seemed that she was very much mistaken by the riders. It was actually just herself and James Potter. Potter was leading her across the grounds, past the Lily that had been watching on the ground.
"Where are you taking me Potter?" The Lily who had been flying asked.
"You'll see." James teased. The couple walked toward the forest, and the first Lily followed closely behind. It was strange, the Lily that was walking with James seemed to be older, maybe 15 or 16, while the Lily watching them was the same age as the Lily who was dreaming.
Somewhere off in the distance there was a roar. The Lily walking with James grabbed his arm in fear while the younger Lily looked for the source of the sound. As she looked back toward older Lily and James, all she saw was darkness.
Lily realized that the roar had been laughter coming from the common room. She poked her head out of her bed and saw that Adrianne's curtains were drawn, but Jena and Chrissy apparently were still downstairs. Lily had no idea what time it was, and really didn't care. She shut her curtains and fell back to sleep, forgetting the strange dream she had for a very long time.
--
Jena and Chrissy were the last to leave the common room. The girls had gotten deep into a conversation about their classmates and didn't realize how late it had gotten, or that the crowd surrounding James and Sirius had dissipated. It was nearly 2am when they made their way up to the first year girl's dormitory.
--
The moon shone brightly through the window. Off in the distance, the Whomping Willow was thrashing in the wind, unnoticed by all. In this distant village of Hogsmead, villagers could hear the horrible banging and scratching coming from an old boarded up house no one had ever noticed before.
--
James, Sirius, and Peter woke up exhausted the next morning. They had been in the common room until past midnight, and stayed up talking in their dormitory much later. It was near 3am when they all fell asleep. Peter barely made it to breakfast, only be awoken by Sirius singing loudly in his ear.
Considering they were running on about 4 hours of sleep, James and Sirius were very cheerful at breakfast. They would take food off of Peter's plate while he wasn't looking, causing him to go through an entire plate of scones without eating a single bite.
--
A few seats over, Lily and Adrianne were quizzing each other on Charms in between bites of food.
--
Next to them, Jena and Chrissy were falling asleep in their breakfasts.
--
The Charms test went pretty well. Lily and Adrianne felt comfortable with their performances as the left Professor Flitwick's classroom. James was boasting to Sirius about how well he thought he did, while Peter hoped he did half as well as James or Sirius were sure to have done. Jena and Chrissy were sure they had messed up a few things and checked with Lily and Adrianne afterwards. They decided to attribute their horrible grades to their lack of sleep the night before.
--
Remus woke up in the hospital wing again. He was hurting everywhere. Madam Pomfrey came over to him and handed him a goblet filled with potion. Remus drank it, and began to feel the pain drift away. All he could feel was a stinging pain on his face where a sticky potion was applied to what must have been self inflicted scratches. He fell asleep before soon after the potion had taken effect, drifting off into a deep dreamless sleep.
--
The Marauders soon discovered that History of Magic was the ideal class to discuss their plans. They could pass notes back and forth amongst themselves without Professor Binns even noticing. Occasionally Lily or Adrianne would catch them in the corner of their eyes and glare at them, but both girls knew it was this or sleeping and the silent passing of notes was much less disturbing then snoring.
James-are we still on for the you-know-what after dinner?-S.B.
Sirius-Yep. We should see in Remus wants to come along. I'm sure Peter will mess things up again, but Remus is trustworthy-J.P.
Trustworthy? Really? I see him rating on us as almost as likely as Peter getting us caught-S.B.
Remus is alright you know. He would have come along that one night if he wasn't with his sick mum-J.P.
Are you sure that's where he really goes? He never packs any bags, and its only ever one night. If my mum was sick, and I actually cared about her, I would stick around a lot longer then one night-S.B.
What if he's afraid of missing too much school? Or if his mum won't let him stay with her and ruin his education-J.P.
True, Lupin does seem very pro-learning-S.B.
So Remus is in?
I suppose.
Remus ended up declining the offer, saying he was exhausted and needed to get some rest so he didn't end up sick in the hospital wing, but wished them luck on their prank. Peter nearly weaseled his was into coming along, but Remus convinced him to stay and work on Potions homework.
--
Lily and Adrianne were already set up in the Common Room when James and Sirius came down. James veered off course to purposely walk past Lily, just to annoy her. When Lily showed no visible signs of annoyance, James stopped and turned back.
"Hey Evans." He said, forcing her to look at him.
"What?" Lily said with scowl on her face.
"No reason to get snippy with me, Evans, I was simply saying hello." James responded in a forced pleasant voice.
"Fine then, hello Potter." She smiled. "Good day Potter." Her smile shifted back into her scowl.
"Have a lovely evening, ladies." James said sweetly as he bowed away from them.
"He drives me mad!" Lily said once James was out of earshot. "I can feel the anger boiling up inside me when he speaks." Adrianne didn't want to say anything, but she could see the anger boiling, on her face. Lily's face was now beet red, so much that she looked like her head was just a mass of wild flames dancing on her shoulders.
--
Remus and Peter joined Lily and Adrianne in the common room, only moments after James and Sirius had passed through.
Remus looked from Lily to Adrianne and said, "What's wrong with her?"
"James" was all Adrianne needed to say for Remus to understand.
The four first years worked on their homework for the day together, Remus, Lily, and Adrianne helping Peter a lot, who wanted more than anything to go over to where some sixth years were playing a Wizarding chess tournament.
--
They had gotten away with it. Snivellus would be found in the morning, not knowing what had happened or who was behind it, and James and Sirius could act innocent. That is until someone called out Sirius's name.
Both boys stopped dead in their tracks. They were caught. There was no way of getting out of this, even if it was just a student. But they both knew who was behind them, waiting to hand out their punishments.
If looks could kill, James and Sirius would have died the instant they turned to face Narcissa and Lucius.
"What are you doing down here?" Narcissa demanded.
James and Sirius attempted their very best innocent faces and claimed, "Nothing." It was obvious neither Narcissa nor Lucius believed them.
"So you had nothing to do with the unfortunate condition we found Severus Snape in a few minutes ago?" Lucius asked.
"Unfortunate condition? Snape? How unfortunate!" Sirius said in mock surprise. Narcissa laughed.
"You stupid boy!" She said. "We found him just moments after you deposited him in the toilet down the hall and sent him to the hospital wing. Lucky for us, you two weren't quiet about your exit from the scene of the crime." Narcissa grabbed both James and Sirius's arms and dragged them to Professor Slughorn's office.
Much to the displeasure of Narcissa and Lucius, Professor Slughorn seemed more concerned with the state of Severus Snape (who was fine, he just had spouted antlers) then with punishing James and Sirius.
"If the boy isn't injured then why punish these two for a harmless prank?" Professor Slughorn reasoned.
"But Professor, they were creeping around the dungeons well past the curfew for first year students." Narcissa said in an effort to get the boys in trouble for something.
"I suppose so," Professor Slughorn conceded. "5 points from Gryffindor each then, for being out too late. Now get to bed boys."
As soon as James and Sirius were out of earshot they started discussing their good fortune.
"It's a good thing Slughorn likes us." Sirius said.
"Yeah," James agreed. "Did you see Narcissa's face when Slughorn said what we did was harmless?"
"I've seen that look directed to me way to many times."
--
Dear Mother, Father, and Regulus,
School is going magnificently. Had a lovely conversation with Narcissa last night, and it makes me wonder why we don't chat more often. Her boyfriend is a wonderfully pleasant chap, have you met him?
James snatched the letter out of Sirius's hands and read through it. "I wouldn't exactly call last night's conversation 'lovely.' Do you really think they'll buy this?"
"Probably not, but at least she can't yell at me for not writing."
"But you lied, won't she get mad about that."
"True, but I honestly don't care. Now give that back so I can finish it."
Classes are wonderful. I am learning so much. We get tons of homework and sometimes I feel like that's all I ever do.
James snorted. "That's all you ever do, eh? I must be missing these secret study sessions."
"Shut up."
I hope everyone is well at home, and I hope to hear back soon.
Love,
Sirius Black
"Is there a reason why you signed your whole name?"
"Why are you reading my letter home anyway?"
"They aren't going to believe a word you said, mate. It's a waste of ink and parchment. You may as well have dumped that bottle of ink over Snivellus's head and then thrown paper bits at him."
"That's a brilliant idea James! Let's do it."
"It will just take some planning, we don't want to get caught by Narcissa again. She might take us to McGonagall now that she knows Slughorn won't punish us."
"Yeah. We need to find a way to get Narcissa and Lucius far away. But how?" The two boys sat contemplating this for a while.
--
What do you think they are thinking so hard about?" Lily asked, completely interrupting what Chrissy had been saying.
"What?" The three girls said in unison.
"Potter and Black. They look like they're up to something. I wonder what it is, probably some horribly cruel prank."
"Lily, its not your place to care or to punish so just drop it." Adrianne said, a little more snippy then she meant. The other three girls stared at Adrianne like she had something coming out of her nose. Jena and Chrissy couldn't believe the tone Adrianne had taken with her best friend.
"Excuse me." Lily said, hoping she had heard wrong.
"Sorry Lily, it's just that, well you tend to obsess over what James is doing. And for someone who claims to be completely indifferent to him you seem to notice what he does and awful lot."
"What do you mean by that Adrianne?"
"I don't know. I'm only eleven and I'm just making an observation."
"Well if you were implying that you think I fancy him or something you're mad!" Lily stormed off toward the girls' staircase leaving behind her friends.
"That was interesting." Jena said, breaking the tension that had formed around the remaining trio.
"You could say that again." Chrissy said.
"That wa-"
"Please don't." Adrianne said.
The girls sat in silence for a bit longer before Adrianne noticed Remus leaving the common room and went to join him.
"Hey Remus, where are you going?" Adrianne asked once she caught up with him.
Remus held up a letter and said, "Owlery. Want to come?"
"Sure." The pair walked to the Owlery in almost complete silence. Unlike most silences, this one was anything but awkward. Remus and Adrianne seemed to have become such natural friends.
They made it to the Owlery without any distractions, and Remus found a school owl to use to send home.
"How is your mother doing?" Adrianne asked as they watched the owl fly away.
"Huh, oh, she's doing pretty well for now, but her illness goes in stages. Sometimes she seems almost healthy and other times it's like we're going to lose her at any moment. That's when I go home."
"Oh, what's wrong with her?"
"I'm not really sure what it's called but it's really rare."
"Oh. Do you think they will find a cure?"
"Doubt it." Remus seemed to shut down with this statement.
"We can always have hope. I'm not really religious but I will pray for her if you'd like."
"I'm sure she—she'd appreciate that Adrianne."
--
A/N: Ok, so this was a long one, but this story is going to cover a long time and I am anxious to get to the later years quickly. Now that I have set up the characters and their relationships with each other, if anyone would be interested in cowritting this with me, I could really use the help. Or even if you don't want to do any writing but helping me brainstorm ideas, especially for the early Hogwarts years. I have a good idea where this story is going (besides the obvious!) but getting there is going to be tough. Apply through comments, and if you could give me an email address or aim screen name so I can contact you for details, that would be great. Whomever I chose gets to read the end chapters (just so you can help me get from A to B) so be sure you want to know the ending before you read the in-between when applying. Please review! Don't make me beg!
DISCLAIMER: I do no own any of this nor am I making any profit, this is just my way of passing boring summer nights, and I'm sure eventually it will become another way for me to procrastinate once school starts up again. All names, places, ect. From the Harry Potter world belong to JK Rowling and the publishers ect. and the song quotes belong to their respective artists and the correct rights owners