"This place looks fantastic," said Lily, leaning her head against James's shoulder. They were standing with Sirius, Remus and Peter outside the home in Pixie Grove that James had rented for the five of them from the Pattersons, a family of Muggle-born wizards who had decided to flee the country on account of the Death Eaters' growing power. It was two stories tall and made of stone, its wraparound porch covered in flowers pots and wind chimes and rocking chairs.
There was still a bit of snow lingering on the leaves and chairs—winter had finally set in a few weeks before, bringing the year to a frosty close. In the past couple of months, James and Lily had attended the weddings of both Frank and Alice Longbottom and Vernon and Petunia Dursley, the first of which had gone infinitely better than the second. Still, the fact that people not much older than him were getting married and settling down despite everything going on had made James crave a little bit of stability, which led to his decision to find a place that all the Marauders could officially make their home. Sirius had put down most of the money, drawing from his surprise inheritance from his uncle, and James had chipped in the rest.
"Let's check it out." James said, pulling the house keys from his pocket and leading the way down the shrub-lined path to the door. He unlocked it and ushered his friends inside with a grandiose wave. "There are three bedrooms, apparently," he told them. "Lily and I get whichever one's the biggest."
"Of course you do," Sirius said, sighing dramatically as he led Remus forward. "Come on, Re; we'd better hurry to claim ours before we're stuck in the kids' room."
"I'm fine with the kids' room," Peter assured them.
They gave themselves a quick tour of the downstairs—the vintage kitchen, the living room, the yard and dragon-topped fountain out back—before heading up to the bedrooms. Lily went to claim the master room for herself and James, while Remus and Sirius took the guest room. "Oh, they've got a record player in here!" Sirius exclaimed from inside. "And loads of vinyl."
James lingered out in the hall, his eyes struck by the photographs hanging on the cream-painted walls: they showed a happy, smiling family of four, a mother and father and two young boys, playing at the beach and visiting London and going to Holyhead Harpies games. This was their home, one they'd still be living in if they hadn't been forced to run for their lives and rent it out to the first wizards they could find.
It'll be yours again soon, James promised the family in the photos. No guarantees we won't make a mess of it first, though.
"Oi, Remus, look what I found!" Sirius yelled suddenly. "It's the Muggle werewolf song."
"Oh, please don't play the Muggle werewolf song."
A moment later, a familiar piano riff was echoing through the halls. "I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand…." Peter and Lily followed the song into Sirius and Remus's new room, and James joined them just in time to let out a dramatically loud "AH-HOO!" as he swung through the doorway. He grabbed Lily and twirled her around, grinning as Sirius pulled Remus off of the bed and onto his feet to do the same. And then all five of them were dancing, waving their arms around and stomping and yelling the lyrics until they couldn't remember any more of them. By the time the song was over, they'd all collapsed onto the bed, a laughing heap of arms and feet and heads.
"You boys are ridiculous," Lily said, running her fingers affectionately through James's hair.
"And that's exactly why you like us," James replied. He kissed the crook of her elbow.
"Hey," Peter said, squirming suddenly away from Sirius. "It looks like we've got a visitor."
Confused, James and the others pulled themselves up to find a silvery phoenix materializing on the floor below the record player, which was now playing some song none of them had ever heard before. "I have an important assignment for Remus," said the phoenix, speaking with the voice of Albus Dumbledore. "Please pay me a visit in Larkspur Manor."
The Patronus dissolved back into mist, with everyone's eyes instantly travelling from it to Remus. "Don't look at me," Remus said, bemused. "I've no idea what that's about."
"Just Remus?" Peter asked. "Dumbledore always sends us out together on missions, especially if they're important."
James frowned; Peter was right. What could Dumbledore possibly want with just Remus? Did it have to do with werewolves? He shivered a bit at the thought.
"Well, I'd better go see what he's got for me," Remus murmured, rising to his feet.
"Not without us, you're not," James said quickly. "Dumbledore knows we're a package deal."
"One hundred percent," Sirius said, taking Remus's hand.
Remus bit his lip and nodded. "All right. Let's get going, then."
James rested his chin on his hand, his frown deepening. He had a strong, nagging feeling that he wasn't going to like whatever Dumbledore had planned for his friend.
"Ah, hello, boys," Dumbledore said as the Marauders stepped inside his Larkspur Manor office. He didn't look at all surprised to see they'd come with Remus. "And Lily, of course. Please, have a seat." He gestured to the cozy burgundy furniture that cluttered his office; he himself sat behind a desk topped with neatly-stacked piles of papers and folders. Sirius and Remus sat together on the back sofa, while the other three fell into the armchairs on either side of it.
"What assignment do you have for me, Professor?" Remus asked, leaning forward a little. Beside him, Sirius's hands were clenched tightly in his lap.
"An assignment that only you could successfully complete," Dumbledore replied. He pulled one of his folders from its pile and opened it up. "As I'm sure you know, the werewolf population of this country has almost universally defected to join the forces of Lord Voldemort." James's heart sank, and he felt a sudden surge of anger towards Dumbledore; of course this was about werewolves. He'd been right: he wasn't going to like this.
"Fenrir Greyback leads Britain's largest and most influential pack, and I have it on good authority that he has become an honorary Death Eater himself," Dumbledore continued. "But there are other packs that have broken off from Fenrir's—packs of werewolves who are known to disapprove of Fenrir's behavior and…methods for increasing his ranks." Remus cocked his head a little at this; James wondered how much he knew about the politics of Britain's werewolf packs. He had a feeling that Remus had avoided looking into the subject any more than he absolutely needed to. "One of these packs is currently under the command of a werewolf who goes by the name of Caerny. Members of this pack were last spotted about a week ago near Dornoch—I can provide you with a map."
"What exactly is Remus supposed to do with the werewolves?" Sirius asked, a slight edge to his voice.
Dumbledore looked directly at Remus. "I would like for him to deliver a message from me," he said. "An offer made in good faith to Caerny and his pack. If they would be willing to turn against Fenrir's wolves and hinder their efforts on behalf of Voldemort, the Order will provide them with protection and free lodgings. I have a letter written, but I believe that using Remus as my envoy would bolster its legitimacy."
"And he has to go all by himself to do this?" James asked. He shook his head. "Absolutely no bloody way."
"If I don't go by myself, they're not likely to listen," Remus said evenly. "Werewolves don't tend to trust wizards very much."
"As if you're not a wizard," Sirius said, scoffing a little. "You know you don't have to do this, Re."
"Yes, I do." Remus swallowed, rising to his feet. "I made a vow to serve the Order however I'm needed; if this is what Dumbledore wants me to do, then I'm going to do it."
"Remus—" Sirius tried to catch his arm, but Remus pulled away.
"It's not your decision, Sirius." He glanced at James, who was clenching his teeth in an effort to hold back an angry outburst he knew he would regret. "It's not any of your decisions. We've done plenty of dangerous missions for the Order before—why is this one any different?"
Because we won't be with you, James thought. Because this is about werewolves, and you hate werewolves more than anything. But the hollowness in Remus's voice told James that he was fully aware of both those facts. He was going to take the mission anyway, to prove something to himself or Dumbledore or the Marauders, or maybe all of them. James had to resort to biting his tongue.
Remus took the letter and map Dumbledore offered him and held them close to his chest. "I'll leave for Dornoch tonight," he said. "I promise I won't let you down, Professor."
