AN:
Hello everyone!
I just realised I've now written over 100k words for this story! And there's still so much more to come!
As ever, I hope you all continue to enjoy a story I never thought anyone would read. So the fact that there's over 100k words here is down to you too! You are all amazing, and thank you so much!
Now, on with the story!
Rose turned away from the graveside, almost angrily dashing away the few tears that had escaped during the graveside service. Nearby, Jim was escorting Violet away, Rose's mother sobbing into the embroidered scrap of lace that Petunia had handed her. Rose's aunt and uncle followed Jim's example, filing out of the cemetary and into the overcast spring day. Marlene had her arm wrapped around Lily's shoulders, taking the place James had assumed during the service. Now free of wet shoulder duties, he made his way over to where Rose was standing with Sirius, Remus and Peter. Remus handed Rose his handkerchief (Sirius already having lost his to the cause that had been Peter - who always cried at funerals), and they stood in silence, barely registering the concert the neighbouring birds were providing for them. Lily wandered a few yards away, pulling herself together the way that only Lily Evans ever could. Lily looked beautiful in her black dress, while Rose had spent most of the service feeling like a member of the Addams Family, only with less good looks. It really didn't help that James and Sirius both looked like something out of GQ, and even Remus was looking particularly dapper that day. Rose hugged her arms to her chest, trying very hard not to think of her grandfather lying nearby in his eternal slumber. She hated this. Hated everything about it. Grandpa was gone; she had completely forgotten how to relate to her cousins (she loved them, don't get her wrong, but there was so much she wanted to tell them but couldn't because of the stupid International Statute); her father had even been acting a little odd lately, taking phonecalls in his den and not really spending any time with them. She blew out a trembling breath, mentally shaking herself away from the unpleasant thoughts. Sirius and James nonchalantly leaned against tree trunks, James carelessly chatting about plans to nudge Grimhorn into assisted resignation, while Sirius blew smoke pointedly in the direction of the Walrus and Petunia.
It had been a beautiful funeral. Rose couldn't exactly say for sure what had happened, but it had been a beautiful funeral nonetheless. If the beauty has lasted beyond the cemetery gates, Rose would have been happy (well, as happy as she could have been on the day of her grandfather's funeral), but alas it was not to be. Petunia had clearly taken a large dose of heinous bitch juice that morning, and had been nothing short of horrible since they had left the service. Rose conceded that perhaps it may have had a little to do with the alarming shade of green that Petunia's hair was under the wig she'd bought on the way to the funeral, but that didn't give her the right to hiss such vitriol as she had been since they'd separated from the older generation. As if their grandfather had actually died from the shame of having three freaks in the family, Rose scoffed. Their grandfather had loved having three freaks in the family, as Thomas had rightly pointed out in his usual unflappable way. Petunia was, unfortunately, including Thomas in her category of freak for some reason that completely boiled down to the fact that she just couldn't stand him - probably the fact that he was a decent human being and had told Vernon to shut up on no less than seven occasions during the funeral.
"If your sister utters so much as one more peep, I'm going to forget all about the International Statute of Secrecy" Sirius announced, his tone unsettlingly conversational.
"Just ignore her, Siri" Rose advised, pitching her voice to carry. "Everyone else does."
"So, where's the wake?" James wondered, turning the discussion away from the heinous shrew. Probably for the best, all things considered. The mood Rose was in, if Petunia stepped on one more nerve, she would pull out her wand and not be held responsible for her actions.
"No wake" Lily sighed, shaking her head. "Grandpa wanted as little fuss as was humanly possible. Even agreeing to a funeral was a long and drawn out battle with him."
"Seriously?" Peter frowned at that. "It feels weird not having to sit around in a room full of black crepe and feel even more miserable than usual."
"Well, if you want black crepe and misery, we could always pop round to Snivelly's house" James suggested, stepping over Sirius' attempts to trip him up. Remus coughed to hide his sudden snort of laughter.
"Oh behave, you two" Lily chided tiredly, crossing her arms over her black dress. Rose was relieved to see that things were back to normal between James and her, considering the way she had stayed rather close to James throughout the entire funeral. "Elle, Thomas, come on. Marlene wants to catch that showing you were talking about." She waited until Marlene had dragged them up the street a little before turning to the Marauders. "Dad has some floo powder and Dumbledore keeps the fireplace hooked up for emergencies. Go to Diagon Alley, blow off some steam. Whatever you have to. Come back tonight, tomorrow, and try not to prank Tuney anymore. She's going to go crazy in the next few weeks."
"Are you - a prefect - giving us permission to misbehave, Evans?" James checked, flabbergasted.
Lily stared at him evenly. "I'm telling you to do what Grandpa would definitely have wanted. Go have fun."
The Marauders stood around, gawping after Lily, until James shook himself out of his stupor.
"You heard her, let's misbehave!"
Sirius blinked a him a moment, then a slow smirk spread across his face. He grabbed Rose's hand, grinned at her, then started an impulsive dance while singing. "There's something wild about you child that's so contagious. Let's be outrageous. Let's misbehave!" For the life of her, Rose could only remember one verse of that particular Cole Porter song and giggled.
"You know my heart is true and you say you for me care. Somebody's sure to tell but what the heck do we care?"
"They say that bears have love affairs, and even camels, we're merely mammals. Let's misbehave!" James sang, something almost Lennon-like about his voice.
"If anyone saw us now, they'd think we'd escaped St Mungo's."
"You mean a loony bin, Pete" Rose tutted, shaking her head in mock disappointment. "People round here wouldn't have the first clue what St Mungo's was. Or they'd think it's a church."
"Come on" James beckoned. "To the Evans'. Before the crowd of muggles gets back."
"You mean Tuney, Vernon and my awful aunt, right Prongs?" Rose checked, going to have to be offended if he meant her cousins or parents.
"Of course" James replied honestly. "C'mon, Tom hasn't seen us in ages. It'll do him good to start expecting us at all hours. Because soon he'll have to."
"Oh yes" Remus agreed sarcastically. "Because Merlin forbid anyone notices us and asks why were not at school during term time."
"Don't be boring, Moony" James grinned, all boyish enthusiasm. "We know it's your birthday in two days, but that doesn't mean you're an old man just yet."
Remus cocked an eyebrow, his entire being radiating 'oh really' vibes. "Based on what?"
James opened his mouth but Sirius held up his hand as if to say he had this one. "Based on the appallingly low number of times the Earth has orbited the sun since you were born." He smirked wickedly. "Now don't be such an insufferable bore and come on."
Tom didn't so much as bat an eyelash as the Marauders unceremoniously arrived in his pub, dusting off the soot from the fireplace. He did however pause as they strolled up to the bar. "Four Butterbeers and a cherry soda please, Tom" Rose requested, dropping the coins onto the bar top.
"How was the funeral?" Tom wondered, voice soft with sympathy. Rose frowned, momentarily worried about how he had known, but then smiled sadly. Of course Dumbledore would have told him to expect them at some point, and their attire was rather a giveaway as to where they'd been.
"It went as well as could be expected" Rose replied, allowing a more mischievous smile to come through. "This lot even behaved themselves for a change, thank Merlin."
"That Slytherin had nothing to do with it, it was all the work of Gryffindor" James teased, winking with his usual (in public) overdramatic flair.
"Tell Dumbles we'll be staying at the flat tonight - the Evans' is too crowded and Petunia far too bitchy at the moment" Sirius smirked, tossing a wave over his shoulder as he led them out of the dimly lit pub. Rose shrugged apologetically - there was simply no stopping Sirius when he got into these moods - and followed him outside into the spring sunlight.
After a quick stop in their flat to change into something less utterly depressing (no matter how good James had thought Lily thought he looked in his suit - Rose had no intention of getting started on that particular delusion), the Marauders found themselves loose on Diagon Alley with absolutely no clue what they were supposed to be doing. Granted, this was not exactly anything new to the Marauders, but given the circumstances they felt they ought to be doing something purposefully. Gambol and Japes had been a wonderful distraction for two and a half hours (they'd finally got some new stock in, and it would have been downright irresponsible of them not to try it, however sarcastically Remus had agreed with them), but Quality Quidditch Supplies was a bust (and not just because James nearly decked somebody for daring to question the need for comparing the different brands of broom), and Florian's was worryingly closed. It was honestly getting a little boring. And they all knew that when James and Sirius started getting bored, bad things started to happen. So, with absolutely no idea of what to do, they decided (though it was more of a spontaneous thing than anything so close to the term decision) to wander aimlessly around Diagon Alley.
"Oh look" Sirius drawled, glee sparkling in his voice. "The great unwashed."
James followed his eyes and grinned wickedly. It was spooky how alike those two looked when they did that.
"Now, whatever is he doing going down there? Naughty, naughty." He even waggled his finger like a reproving schoolteacher.
"Who?" Remus asked despite himself, craning his head in the direction James and Sirius had been looking.
"Yet another member of the shower optional society that clearly spawned Snivellus" Rose shrugged, not seeing what the boys were in the latest in the long line of the soap-averse. Sirius shook his head, smiling fondly at her.
"Not that I don't agree, sweetheart" he began, leaning casually against the side of the nearest building. "But surely you remember him?"
"Siri" Rose replied patiently. "Half of Slytherin house look like they're allergic to sanity, soap, bathwater, and combs - or some combination of the above. Forgive me if I don't instantly recognise every one of them."
"Travers" James helpfully explained, Rose shooting him a blank look. "Three years above us at Hogwarts. Slytherin, obviously. Looked like sewer slime crossed with a really ugly stoat?"
"How could we forget Stoaty?" Remus asked, frowning at his lapse. "As I recall, fifth year, we sent him off with a literal bang."
"Poor bloke" James snickered. "Never noticed the Fillibusters we put in his pants."
Sirius joined James in looking nostalgically into the distance and smirked. "Good times."
"Because it just isn't Hogwarts if you're not coming back with detentions already to serve." Remus rolled his eyes and sighed. As if the Fillibusters weren't his idea. The placement perhaps wasn't down to him, but the seed of the idea had definitely been all his fault.
"A former snake is going down Knockturn" Peter shrugged, sharing a confused glance with Rose. "I'm not exactly surprised, Prongs. These things happen every day. It's like Evans shooting you down when you ask her to go out with you - a common occurrence."
"You have a point, Wormy" James conceded, but he didn't let it stop him. "Nevertheless, we have to ask ourselves-"
"Of course we do" Remus muttered under his breath.
"-what Shifty McStoat-face was doing going down Knockturn Alley at this particular point in time, and why-"
"Oh yes" Remus groaned, clearly only Rose paying the slightest bit of attention to him. She sometimes wondered why he bothered at all.
"-he looked so shifty in the first place" James finished, as if Remus had not interrupted him twice with his sarcastic commentary.
"The deer has a point" Sirius agreed, as if he had actually needed to be persuaded into this lunacy. "Slytherins slither down there dripping grease and deadly bacteria every day. Why was dear old Stoaty looking so shifty, if he's not up to something?"
"Tell me we're not going to go down there too?" Remus groaned, glancing at the nearest wall as if debating how quickly he'd lose consciousness if he bashed his head against it. Undoubtedly not soon enough for whatever the ringleader Marauders would have planned.
"Oh yeah, great idea Rem" Rose replied sarcastically. "That's what this shambles of a day needs: a mudblood going down Knockturn. As if I don't have a large enough target painted on my back."
"Of course we wouldn't send you down there, Astra" James looked horrified. "Good Godric, what do you take us for? Pads and I are going."
"We just have to think about this logically" Remus interrupted, quick to prevent the oncoming argument.
"Good point" James agreed instantly. "I've got the cloak, Pete can do what he does, and the three of you can-"
"Disillusionment Charms, coming right up" Sirius smirked, wand already out. James just shook his head and lead them into one of the secluded areas of the shopping district.
The Marauders crept into Knockturn Alley on feet made silent through years of pranking practice, following a trail that James seemed to arbitrarily make up. Rose didn't quite have the heart to point out to James that his shoes were peeking out from under the cloak, mostly because she was sure he was doing it on purpose - so they could know where he was. They tracked Old Sotaty Travers down a good way into the disreputable district, finally catching up with him as he hailed a group of wizards Rose vaguely recognised as being former Slytherins. She couldn't remember a single one of their names, only that they had - naturally - pranked the living daylights out of them on more than one occasion. Except for one, that is. A cruel scumbag of a wizard with equally sharp and cruel features. Marty Flint, bully, quidditch cheat, and blood puritan bigot extraordinaire. He had been captain of the Slytherin quidditch team when they joined the Gryffindor team, and had been an absolute pleasure to beat every single time.
"Flint, Travers, Higgs" James's voice breathed around them. "What in the name of Merlin's quidditch pants is going on here?"
"Puritans Anonymous" Remus smirked, voice barely audible. "It's so hard being intolerant, they need the support of other small-minded peabrains."
Sirius cursed fervently in front of them. "They're going into the Dagger. Of course they are."
"The Dagger?" Remus asked, confusion evident in his tone.
"The Cursed Dagger" Sirius spat the name like poison. "The only pub that caters exclusively to former Slytherins. Blood purity is a requirement before entering the establishment. No blood traitors, half-bloods or muggle-borns allowed."
"So" James began, a familar furious undercurrent in his voice. "They're definitely up to something, and we need to get back to the flat ASAP." Peter chittered anxiously, head darting around the suddenly oppressive Alley, and they took it as their cue to leg it out of there.
Meanwhile, inside the private room of the Cursed Dagger (Knockturn Alley's premier establishment for the pure of blood - established 1479), the six former Slytherins (once a Slytherin always a Slytherin) inclined their heads at the man standing by the fireplace. His white blonde hair reflected the dancing firelight, as did the silver snake-head on his cane. "Gentlemen" he announced, voice cold and hard as steel, yet silky with satisfaction. "The plans advance. Your time as come." Grey eyes flicked malevolently over the assembled. "The question is - do you still wish to be of service?"
Thank you for reading!
I won't promise to update soon, but I'll hopefully manage another chapter by September some time. Please stay safe and well.
Reviews are always appreciated!