Standing There By You
Ch. 22- We Were Young
Disclaimer: Let it be known... I hereby declare that by legal binding matters, any recognizable material belongs to the infamous J.K.Rowling.
a.k.a- it's not mine.
A/N: Sirius Black Fan Club is officially underway ; ) Yes, I have actual made one (no life, it's sad), so if you'd still like to be a part and your review was anonymous, your e-mail address would be most desirable.
I'm going to thank all of my wonderful reviewers right now, because I hurried to post this chapter and didn't have time to respond to you indivdually. Thank You!!!
Also, this chapter is longer than I intended it to be.. I already had this written and was going to wait to put it up until later, but I really want to get to the more prominent years. If anybody has any questions on this chapter, please feel to e-mail me at elenya2aol.com. Okay, thanks for listening, hope you enjoy.
From the moment they arrived back at Hogwarts, Sirius remained pent up in the small library he and James had gathered in their dormitory.
Seeing Remus's monthly domain had somehow put everything in a different perspective. Before he was under the impression that werewolves were sort of... cool; they had an amazing amount of strength and well, anything troublesome was quite interesting to Sirius. Though, seeing all of the broken furniture and torturous scratch marks had made it suddenly seem real.
Remus had to sort something out with Madame Pomfrey, so Sirius, James, and Peter were gathered around the Gryffindor fireplace, leafing through the books they had retrieved from the Restricted Section.
"Well, we're not going to get anywhere if we don't know what we're looking for," Sirius said finally, after unsuccessfully skimming an entire book.
"You're right," said James, book-marking his spot and setting down his own book. He asked the next part wearily. "Any ideas?"
Sirius frowned. "Well-"
"What are you doing?" A voice asked suddenly.
Lily Evans stood before the three boys, who rather curiously were surrounded by the unfamiliar setting of books.
"Yeah, what are you doing?" Remus asked curiously, having just entered the common room behind her.
"Er, we're..." Sirius looked over at James, who looked just as stumped as he. "Well we're studying, of course."
"Right," Lily said, reaching down to pick up a book. With a start, James recognized the back cover as a werewolf biography they had selected for some background information.
"Don't touch that!" He shouted, throwing a nearby book over the other to keep it's identity unrevealed.
Lily withdrew her hand quickly before the flying book came in contact with it. "Potter!" She yelled. "You almost hit me!"
"Well it's none of your business Evans," he replied coolly. "And if you must know, I was protecting you."
Lily shot him a highly skeptical look. "Protecting me?"
"Yes," said James. "That book is highly dangerous when it come in contact with-"
"Animagus?!," she said suddenly, her eyes wandering to the other books that were strewn about. "You're looking at books on Animagus? That's incredibly illegal, and very dang-"
"Relax Evans," James interrupted the rambling girl. "We must've picked that one up by accident. See, all of the others are on boring stuff like figs and canon leaves."
Sirius looked over at him curiously. He didn't remember books on leaves. Looking over at James he saw the titles seemed a bit unmatched; James must've transfigured them at the last minute.
"Yes, figs. Very interesting, they are," said Sirius, looking over at James and winking.
Lily sighed. "Ok then. I'm not even going to ask." With that she turned around, and left the boys to their 'studying'.
"Right," Remus said, once they had left. "So what are you doing?"
"Hey James," Sirius said, ignoring Remus and picking up the book on Animagus. "Maybe this isn't such a bad idea."
"You think?" James asked, peering over at the book. Suddenly his eyes widened. "You're right, that way,"
"Yeah," Sirius nodded.
"And then we could,"
"Exactly," said Sirius.
"Er... Right!" Peter said triumphantly.
"What are you getting at?" Remus asked exasperatedly.
"Nothing," James and Sirius said together.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sirius added.
"Come off it," said Remus, sitting down besides Sirius. "What are all the books for?"
James and Sirius looked at one another wearily, before peering around to see if anyone was within earshot. Seeing nobody was, James said, "We're going to become Animagus, Remus."
"What?!" Remus shouted, standing up abruptly. "Are you kidding? That's the worst idea I've ever heard, you can't do that, do you know how much trouble you would get in if-"
"We have to, Remus," said Sirius. "It's not even a matter of 'if', now it's more a matter of 'when'."
"What?" said Remus. "Why in the world would you need to? That's the stupidest-"
"Well what kind of friends would we be if we didn't?" Sirius cut in suddenly.
"What?" Remus asked again, this time taken aback.
"We're doing it for you," said James. "We can't just let you stay out there all by yourself. And if you have to go through all of that..."
"Then at least we can go through it with you," Sirius finished. Then he added firmly, "And we're going to. No matter how much trouble we could get in, or how much you protest."
"Oh," Remus responded weakly. "Well, thanks."
"Sure thing," Sirius nodded. "Now let's get started."
"Right," James said, flipping open the large book. "Okay, er.. looks a bit complicated."
He showed the others the page full of instructions, ingredients and pictures. Sirius shrugged. "We can do it. Go on, read the first thing we've got to do."
"Okay." James found the beginning and read aloud, "Being an animagus involves many dangers if performed improperly... could be lethal... blah blah blah... ah, here we go. Well, we'll need a potion, to start out. Here's a list of ingredients-"
"Why do we need a potion?" Peter interrupted. "I thought it only consisted of muttering a spell."
"It does in the end," said James. "But first you need a potion, as to avoid Deversor."
"Deversor?" asked Sirius. "What's that?"
"Hm... let's see, oh, it's acquiring the process of adflictatio."
"Adflictatio?" Remus repeated. "That doesn't sound pleasant."
"It's not," James said, grimacing. "It means getting lodged between the animal and human form. Says here you can remain there for up to two hundred years, and that's where the potion comes in. It's for beginners- if you screw it up, the potion, if concocted correctly, should prevent that."
"Er.. right," Sirius began slowly. "Well, we'll concoct it correctly then, eh?"
James nodded, and continued skimming the pages. "But using the potion also means we won't transform. A successful attempt will be recognized by a strong violet light instead of the animal form, but once we've achieved the light we can move on to just using wands, and eventually no wands at all."
Looking back up at his friends, he said, "Well this should be pretty simple. Nothing the Marauders can't do, right?"
His three friends grinned back. "Right."
Lily, Grace and Julie walked towards their last class of the day, thoroughly tired after a particularly difficult Potions test.
"Sure, Grace, but if the form-" Lily stopped in mid-sentence to stare at the enchanting sight before her. The three friends had been just about to walk into their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, but the extreme difference in its appearance had caused them to stop. The desks were sorted into five different groups, the walls were completely blank, and the floor was a startling gold. But these were not what made the room so incredible. Falling from the ceiling were snowflakes, but unlike the ones you see outside, these seemed to be magnified at least twenty times, and twirled gracefully until they met the ground. Once one would touch the gold floor, the snowflake spun around even faster, until it completely dissapeared, leaving no trace behind.
"Whoa," Grace whispered in awe. Other students started gathering behind them, craning their necks so they could have a good look at the room.
"Welcome," Came Professor Fide's voice from a far corner. The students had been too busy staring at the new environment to notice he was watching them. "Please, come in and stand in the middle of the room." Seeing the children's hesitant faces, he added, "Don't worry, it's safe. Nothing harmful or permanent will happen to you."
Slowly and silently the students entered the room. Nothing immediate happened, but a few seconds into it Lily noticed a faint green tint forming around Julie. Turning towards Grace, she saw her friend also had some color surrounding her, but unlike Julie's, her's was orange. Examining her own hand, Lily saw blue whisps of light floating around it. As each snowflake hit her, she felt an odd tingling, and then the blue light would deepen.
"Nix Nivis. Very advanced magic, and helpful indeed for me to arrange you for the tasks that are to come. If you will observe, different colors are forming around you, each student's being either blue, green, orange, red or yellow. If you will each sit by the appropriate desks," he took out his wand and swirled it around, turning each group of desks a color corresponding to the students, "then I will explain all further details."
Lily, Grace, and Julie gave each other a quick smile before eagerly heading off to their designated desks. Lily found the blue ones in the right corner, and saw Kirk Douglas, Sarah Findley, and Sirius Black already sitting there. Choosing the only empty blue desk, she sat down and waited for the professor to explain.
Once all of the students were seated, Professor Fides waved his wand, and muttered something under his breath. In an instant the snowflakes were gone, and the colors surrounding the students dissapeared.
"The snowflakes have divided you into groups, each one consisting of many different qualities," he started. "Look around, and you will see your partners for the rest of the year, and ultimatly for the exam."
Lily sighed as Sirius Black looked over at her and gave an exuberant wave.
"Each group will be considered a team, and you will work on the upcoming challenges together," Professor Fides continued. "Some very unusual things are about to happen at Hogwarts, and you will be responsible for them. No one will know the challenges ahead of time, for it could happen in the Great Hall during breakfast, or in the middle of a Herbology test. What are these strange occurences, you ask? Well that you will find out in due time. For the next several months of school, you must always be on the lookout, and if you see anything strange happening, investigate. If the area surrounding, or any part of the out of the ordinary event glows a color, you know that is one of the challenges."
Seeing slightly confused faces staring back at him, he continued, "Let me give you an example. You are walking around the lake and suddenly you see a pile of lipits heading towards the school, leaving an orange trail. You will know this is one of the orange team's challenges, and the team will gather together to rid of the nasty invaders. I will be watching close by to see how well you do, if you work as a team, and if you succeed. Also, if there is any danger or you're in trouble, I will end the challenge immediatly, but I'm afraid you will not get very high marks if it comes to this.
"All of the events I'm sure you can handle, because I have either taught you about it, or will be teaching it to you. The rest of your classes will go on as usual; I will keep showing you new material that you will need for new challenges, and for your exam. I have full confidence in all of you," he looked around the room, smiling, "and I'm sure you will all perform marvelously. Are there any questions?"
Nobody spoke or raised a hand, so he continued on. "Alright then, please take out your books, and you can have the rest of the class time to work on your Narlingston Essays." Interested chatter floated around the room, as the students all pulled out their books and parchments.
Lily looked around at her team. Sarah Findley and Kirk Douglas were both Ravenclaws, and would probably work hard, but Sirius...
"Well this is going to be fun!" Sirius grinned.
Lily gave a weak smile. "Uh-huh. You just better not screw it up."
"Why would you say such a thing, Lilykins?" Sirius pouted.
"I wonder..." Lily took out a book and began to leaf through it, looking for her current page.
"Why aren't you working on your essay?" came James's voice, from the red group behind her.
"Already finished it," Lily replied, not looking up from her book.
"You're such an over-achiever," James replied, shaking his head. "So, if you're done.. why are you reading?"
Lily gave an exasperated sigh. "People read for fun you know, Potter. Not just because they have to."
Sirius and James looked at eachother with wide eyes. "Really?" Sirius asked in a hushed voice. "No, it can't be true."
Lily heaved an impatient sigh, and set down her book with a slam. It was clear she wasn't going to get any reading done.
"Well let's have a gander," Sirius said, picking up Lily's book. "Hm.. The Magic-"
"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed, grabbing it from him hastily. "That's personal property, you shouldn't even-"
"Within?" James said, staring at Lily incredulously. "The Magic Within?" He shook his head. "You are truly odd, Evans. Creepy sort of infactuation you have there; I do believe you should consider help. You know, I've heard of a very nice little place complete with padded wa-"
"Oh shove it," Lily said angrily, twisting around to face the opposite direction. Scooping up her things she grabbed her bag and headed towards her friends.
Sirius shook his head disapprovingly. "She needs to work on that temper problem."
"Okay, we've already got Rentugunous brew and Suctouse draught, what else do we need?" Sirius asked, as he and Peter rummaged through Professor Fluent's copious amount of bottles and vials.
"Feiving and Meinae shavings," James responded, referring to the Animagus book before him.
The Marauders had snuck into Professor Fluent's classroom, in search of the ingredients the Animagus potion called for.
While Sirius hunted for the required ingredients, James hopped up onto a desk and sat beside Remus. "So, where do you go during the Holidays? I mean, you can't come all the way back to the Shrieking Shack."
"Well," Remus started, looking at the indistinct form of his friend. It was quite late at night and the room was pitch black, making it a bit difficult to see one another. "My dad built a sort-of shed like building in our backyard. It's locked and made of a strong metal, so I can't escape."
James nodded, just as a bottle was heard tipping over with a light clunk, along with a string of curses from Sirius. The two friends laughed quietly, as Sirius muttered angrily and fixed the fallen vials. After a couple moments James asked, "How long have you been a werewolf, anyway?"
Boom
At first James and Remus thought Sirius had dropped yet another draught. They began to laugh again, until Sirius asked in a quiet voice, "What was that?"
The two stopped laughing immediately. James quickly got out his wand and muttered, "Lumos."
The beam of light emitted from James's wand radiated across the room, revealing a panic-stricken girl. They recognized her as Antoinette Lamar, a Ravenclaw in the year below them.
Beside him James felt Remus freeze; no one spoke for a very long couple of seconds. Finally James began, "Er- Antoinette, did you hear-"
Suddenly the girl jolted out of her shocked state, coming back to life. "W-werewolf," she whispered, her voice quivering.
Remus cautiously stood up, taking a tentative step towards Antoinette. "L-listen," he began, his voice just as terrified as hers. "I'm not-"
"Get away from me!" She cried, backing up. She gave a quick glance at the door across the room, as if debating her best escape route.
"Now wait just a moment," said Sirius, stepping towards the horrified girl. "There's noth-"
Suddenly, Antoinette bolted from the room, knocking over flasks and beakers in her haste. James and Sirius followed quickly, sprinting after her. They easily caught up with her; James swerved in front and Sirius cornered her from behind.
Seeing she was trapped, Antoinette opened her mouth to scream, but James quickly clapped a hand over her lips to silence her. "Listen," James started, as the girl squirmed underneath his and Sirius's grasps. "Please, he's harmless. You have to believe us, and... you can't tell anyone, alright?"
Antionette stared at him, her eyes still filled with terror. "What now?" James muttered to Sirius with a questioning glance.
"Let's take her to Dumbledore," Sirius suggested. "He'll know what to do."
James agreed and they guided the trembling girl towards Dumbledore's office, where the Headmaster thanked them and sent them on their way. They went back to the Potions dungeon, but Peter informed them that Remus had gone back to the dormitory. They all followed suit and went up after him. Walking in, they found Remus perched on his bed, a blank expression across his face.
Hearing his friends enter, he turned to them. "I told you," he began, his face still expressionless. "People do care. You guys are just different, I guess."
"Well," Sirius began, looking incredibly uneasy. "She's just stupid. I'm sure no one-"
"It's not just her," Remus cut in, his tone resentful. "It's everyone. She's not the odd one out, you guys are."
The boys didn't know what to say to this, as they lingered awkwardly in the doorway. Finally they decided upon silently taking seats beside him, each contemplating their own thoughts. It was unfair how four boys had to face the unjustness of the world at such an early age, one his whole life, instead of the innocent ignorance they should have donned. They sat quietly next to their friend for a while longer, not knowing any words of comfort.
This act, however, was greater than any words could have expressed; their loyalty proved that from that moment on, they would be there for each other, that nothing could divide the brotherhood they had formed in that instant.
They may not be able to count on the world, but they knew they could count on each other.