Sorry for the delay on this chapter! A little movie called Bohemian Rhapsody took over my life lol but I'm back and excited to keep this story going! Please read and review; I love hearing what y'all think!
SIRIUS'S FLAT
FEBRUARY 29, 1980
"For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellooooooow," the Marauders and Lily sang in unison as James carefully levitated a giant birthday cake out from the kitchen.
"And he forgot to zip his fly," Sirius finished to the tune of the song amid laughter from all present.
Peter's cheeks were as pink as the frosted letters on his cake as he tried to hide just how excited he was.
"I told you lot you didn't have to make a fuss over me!" He said, clearly delighted that they'd ignored his wishes.
"Nonsense, Wormy, 'fuss' is our middle name!" James declared, wiping his brow once he'd successfully gotten the cake into the table. He winked at the others; they'd been planning Peter's party for at least two weeks. Normally they'd all just go to the Leaky Cauldron or the Three Broomsticks and make sure Peter didn't pay a single Knut, but this year was special.
Since it was a leap year, Peter could celebrate his birthday on the actual day!
"Happy real birthday, mate," Sirius said as he clapped a hand on Peter's shoulder. "The big 2-0! You've officially beaten teen pregnancy!"
Lily and James both jumped a bit at what Sirius said—he'd unknowingly praised Peter for avoiding what they hadn't. They'd done the math as soon as they found out Lily was pregnant-she'd been 19 at the time.
"Not like it took him much effort to beat," Remus chuckled.
"Hey!" Lily shook thoughts of the baby from her mind and jumped to Peter's defense. She stood behind his chair and gave him a protective hug around his shoulders. "Don't bully the birthday boy."
"It's all love. Besides, technically he's only five years old!" Remus replied, raising his goblet weakly in a silent toast.
Sirius was amazed Remus had come to Peter's party at all; later that night would be the full moon, and usually Remus liked to lie low for a day or so beforehand. He had insisted on coming to the party, though, with the promise that he'd Apparate the second he started to feel unlike himself.
Sirius flopped down on his couch and kicked his feet up on the armrest. He'd offered to hold Peter's birthday party in his apartment for two reasons—one, he could put his feet on whatever furniture he damn well pleased and two, he could decide when it was over. He wanted Peter to have a great party, but Sirius had already decided that the second Remus felt off and made up some reason to leave, everyone else would be made to leave as well. That way, the Marauders could all go with him to transform for once.
Lily carefully arranged the candles on Peter's cake and handed James, finding himself without something to do, walked over Sirius and sat on his lap.
"Merlin, what have you been eating, Hagrid's rock cakes?" Sirius gasped, faking breathlessness as he tried to sit up with James still sitting on him.
"I could go for one of those right now," Lily said so genuinely that everyone stopped and gave her an odd look. She'd said it more to herself, she thought, but it hadn't gone unnoticed and she averted her eyes when she saw that everyone was looking at her. "The others should be arriving soon," she said quickly as a cover, glancing at her watch. "Then the party really starts!"
"It hasn't already?" Peter asked in wonder; he already felt more than grateful to his friends for what they'd done.
"Nope," said James. He then started counting off the guests on his fingers. "Marlene, Benjy, Frank and Alice, Mary, Dorcas, and the Prewetts."
"Mary's coming?" Peter squeaked, turning pink again. He'd always had a bit of a crush on Mary Macdonald, and his heart leapt at the knowledge that she cared enough to celebrate his birthday.
"Of course!"
"Padfoot, what about Devin?" Peter asked. "Go on, invite her!" He urged.
Sirius had considered doing exactly that when he and James were coming up with a guest list, but had decided it was best not to invite her or her friends for this particular event. If he did, they'd have to nix all the charms and magical tomfoolery, and they couldn't have a Marauders party without that!
"Nah, somehow I don't think she'd take too kindly to what we've got planned," Sirius said with a knowing look towards Remus and James. Remus had managed to secure several Everlasting Firecrackers for later, and everything throughout the night would be charmed, enchanted, or bewitched to make Peter's party as smoothly chaotic as possible.
"Well, I think she'd like it," Sirius amended, "But I'm not trying to get sent to Azkaban for breaking the Statute."
The Statute of Secrecy was an extensive document put in place to protect the Wizarding community from being discovered by Muggles, because there was no predicting the mayhem that would ensue if that were to happen. Under its bylaws, no witch or wizard could reveal their magical abilities to any Muggle by accident, intent, or coincidence, unless it was a quite literal matter of life or death.
There were very few exceptions to the Statute; the only one really ever exercised was when a Muggle couple had a child who showed magical abilities—then, of course, the parents would be let in on the magical world on a need-to-know basis. The punishment for of-age wizards who broke the statute for any unapproved reason were severe, especially during these times.
The Statute of Secrecy was, in James's words, not to be fucked with, so Sirius had made the responsible (his least favorite word) decision not to invite Devin tonight.
"Fair enough," Peter replied.
"This just means we can use all the magic we want!" said James. "A good old-fashioned Marauders birthday party, eh?"
Everyone nodded, and on cue, Sirius's doorbell chimed three times. Lily looked at him inquisitively, and he nodded. A few months back, Sirius had set up an enchanted perimeter about five meters past his door, and any time someone stepped within it, a bell inside would ring accordingly.
Three chimes meant the person at the door was welcome, while two long tones meant someone was outside who had no business being there. Most two-tone occurrences had been Muggles who just happened across his flat and got too close, or the occasional door-to-door saleswizard. Sirius knew he only really needed to worry when he heard one long, drawn out peal of the bell: that meant someone was outside, trying to force their way past the protective enchantments.
That had only happened once, when Rowle, a well known Death Eater, had fled in the middle of a battle, only to try and ambush Sirius at his place later that night.
"Marls!" James shouted when Lily returned with Marlene and Benjy, who were both carrying small presents wrapped in bright paper, which they set on the table next to the cake. James leapt up from Sirius's lap and the latter let out a small oof, but followed suit.
"Happy birthday, Pete!" Benjy said, shaking Peter's hand jovially. Peter thanked him with a sort of awed look on his face; Benjy was one of the most accomplished members of the Order. He had more than a few Death Eater names under his belt, not to mention a different name of his own—he often snuck into Death Eater meetings under his Voldemort-praising alias, Bertram Nietzsche.
"Alright, Benjy?" Remus greeted him fondly.
"Never better. Ready for next week?" Benjy replied, looking eagerly between Remus and Marlene. Remus furrowed his brow, unsure what Benjy was talking about.
"Dumbledore just sent the owl this afternoon," Marlene added. "You're coming with us on the next mission; he thinks your skills will be a real help."
"Oh, erm…must have missed it. Did you say next week?" asked Remus weakly; he looked around at James, Sirius, and Peter—they all understood that look.
"Hope that's not a problem for ya!" Marlene chirped. "Should be easy, anyway—Benjy's got his way in with the Death Eaters, and you and I are just going along disguised as new recruits. Simple infiltration, in and out and home before you know it. Alice!" She then gasped, noticing that Lily had let Alice and Frank Longbottom in.
With Marlene and Benjy distracted by the arrival of new guests, Remus quickly gathered the Marauders together.
"You heard that?" He said.
They all nodded.
"And you know what tonight is."
Again, nods all around. The full moon should have fallen on the first of March, but due to the leap year, it would rear its ugly head tonight as well. Despite feeling under the weather in anticipation of a four-night cycle instead of just three, Remus didn't want to miss Peter's party, even if he did have to leave early to get to a safe area.
He wasn't, however, looking forward to the thought of posing as a Death Eater right after transforming. Spending a few nights not as himself was bearable, but followed by pretending to be someone else? It was a recipe for madness.
The only way he could handle it was if he had his friends with him during the transformation; they somehow calmed him down when they joined him as Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, and romping with them made his transformations not just bearable, but invigorating.
"I hate to ask on such short notice," Remus said. "But tonight's the first night—it'd be bloody helpful if you came with me. I know it's different now, but—"
"Piss off, of course we'll come!" James cut in.
"To be honest, Moony, we were already planning on it," Sirius added, and Peter nodded.
"We hardly ever get to all transform together anymore; it'll be fun!" Peter chimed in.
Remus felt a rush of appreciation towards his friends. Since leaving Hogwarts, it had become much harder for James, Sirius, and Peter to accompany Remus when he underwent his transformations since there was no Forbidden Forest so close at their disposal anymore. Now, transforming required a trip to the countryside, and even with the ease of Apparition, it was rare that everyone's adult schedules lined up. If one of the Marauders could go with Remus, they always did, but to have all four of them available was almost unheard of!
Sirius often found himself thinking how astounding it was that now, as of-age wizards, it was actually harder to become Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs than it had been at Hogwarts. At school, they had had to jump through hoops, sneak out of the castle more nights than stay in it, and dodge rules to become Animagi so they could transform with Remus—but now, they faced the much more difficult obstacles of time and circumstance.
"Are you sure? Wormy, it's your birthday, you don't have to—" Remus began.
"Bollocks," Peter replied. "Sounds like a 'good old-fashioned Marauders birthday party' if I've ever heard of one."
Remus smiles weakly and Sirius laud a comforting hand on his back. "I don't know what I did to deserve you lot," Remus said.
"Oh, you don't deserve us," James said, feigning seriousness. "And we'll be expecting repayment soon, with interest."
Remus rolled his eyes and laughed. "Well, it means a lot. We've still got a few hours before I have to get out of here, though, so Pete, have at it," he said, gesturing to the party.
The Marauders broke up their side chat to rejoin the rest of their friends. The Prewett twins, Dorcas, and Mary had all since arrived, and Sirius watched as James made his way across the room to Lily, clearly telling her of the latest developments. Lily nodded and kissed James on the cheek. As much as the idea of her husband running amok in the middle of a war worried her, she knew why it was necessary and if anything could make Remus's "time of the month" less painful, she was all for it.
"Hey stranger," Marlene nudged Sirius and he pulled her into a one-armed hug. He hadn't seen Marlene outside of Order meetings since they'd all gone out for Valentine's Day with Devin and her friends.
"How's your girl?" Marlene asked as though she could read Sirius's mind, and she raised her eyebrows suggestively over the rim of her martini glass. "Still your girl?"
Sirius grinned and nodded. "Yeah, we get on pretty well," he said nonchalantly.
Marlene smirked. "Is that what they call it these days?" She asked. "Lily said that James said that you said Devin's here quite a lot, but I don't see her!"
"And why're you so interested, McKinnon?" Sirius said loftily. "Jealous?"
Marlene scoffed.
"As if. How does she feel about...you know," she said, pulling out her wand and swishing it in the air so a streak of soft silver sparks flew out of it. "The magic."
"I haven't told her."
"What?" Marlene gasped. "But you—she should know she's with a wizard!"
"I want her to like me, not run for the hills!" Sirius laughed incredulously. "I can't tell her that! Besides, the law—"
"Yes you can! There's a subheading in the Statute that says if you're in a committed relationship with a Muggle, you can tell them that you're a wizard. That's why my grandma knows my granddad's a wizard—you can tell a partner after a certain amount of time!"
Sirius shook his head and smiled ruefully. "That's different. This is not that committed, believe me."
"I see…so she's just getting magical wizard dick without knowing, huh? Seems unethical if you ask me."
"Well, I didn't ask you, and if I'm not mistaken, you've just said I have a magic dick," said Sirius thoughtfully. "So you're sounding a little oh-for-two right now, love."
Marlene pulled a face at Sirius and opened her mouth to spit out a comeback, but Sirius ended up getting the last word; at that very moment, on the other side of the room, one of Remus's firecrackers had gone off, emitting green sparks and pink jets of light that bounced harmlessly off the walls multiple times before finally fizzling out with a high pitched wheeeeeee! It was followed by a series of cheerful pops as Lily, James, and the Longbottoms pulled on birthday crackers that, when they burst, filled Sirius's living room with confetti, sweets, streamers, and in one case, live butterflies.
"To Peter, on 20 wonderful years of life!" James shouted; he was standing on a chair holding his goblet of butterbeer up in a toast while Peter, who at this point was covered in party streamers and a couple lipstick marks, beamed below. "Wormy, may your next year be your best to date," James continued.
"Hear, hear!" Sirius and the others echoed.
"Where's Devin from, anyway?" Marlene continued their previous conversation. "Is it all Muggle, or...?"
"Sydenham," Sirius answered. It was a small area of outer London that was made up of mostly Muggle families and tenants.
"Huh. That's near where our mission is next week. The Death Eaters are holding a meeting at a shack in Crain's Alley in Penge."
Sirius raised his eyebrows in mild surprise.
"Well, say hello if you see her," he joked, but he had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach as he the thought of Death Eaters so close to where Devin lived. It burrowed into his mind and wouldn't come back out. Should anything besides a meeting happen, neither Devin nor any other Muggles nearby would know what hit them. They'd be no match for Death Eater curses even if they were armed.
"Worm-y, Worm-y, Worm-y!"
Sirius and Marlene looked up to see that James and Remus had set up what look like an entire barrel of butterbeer, and with Peter's go-ahead, Lily had pointed her wand and turned him upside down in the air to do some kind of twisted keg stand.
The image reminded Sirius an awful lot of how Snape had looked when James did the same thing to him back at Hogwarts. He dared not point this parallel out to Lily, but allowed himself a little chuckle at the memory, which, no matter how many times he recalled it, remained as bloody hilarious to him as it had been on that day.
James went next, and Remus shook his head in amazement, saying a silent thank Merlin that butterbeer was non-alcoholic. As amusing as it would be to watch Prongs amble around drunkenly, occasionally losing footing or walking antlers-first into a tree, during transformations they all had to have their wits about them.
"Your turn, Padfoot!" Peter beckoned Sirius over with a grin so purely happy that Sirius couldn't turn him down even if he wanted to.
"Alright, then!" Sirius agreed. "What's the record?"
"Twenty seconds; Benjy's our reigning champion," said Dorcas. "I hit eighteen, Peter's in third at fifteen, and James tapped out like a little bitch at nine seconds," she finished, and, not offended in the slightest, James bowed deeply.
"Challenge accepted," Sirius decided.
"Hang on," James said suddenly, holding out his arm to stop Sirius. "Mate? Alright there?"
He was looking at Remus, who was staring blankly into space where he was crouched in place, holding the keg in place so tightly his knuckles looked white where he was clutching the wooden rim.
"Oi. Moony," Sirius said, nudging Remus with his knee. Remus was startled and looked up to see James, Sirius, and Peter all looking at him, their expressions all clearly showing the same combination of concern and excitement. Remus blinked slowly and got to his feet.
"Yeah, fine! Too much cake, that's all," he said, laughing half-heartedly so as not to alarm Dorcas or Benjy. "We should go," he then added quietly so only the Marauders could hear.
"I'll get everyone out," Sirius nodded, then turned to face the party and said loudly, "Hey! Hey! Party's over, I'm sorry, I've just remembered I have a defensive enchantment set to give anyone who doesn't live here boils if you're not out in the next five minutes…irreversible charm, I'm afraid, no way to stop it now…"
"Boils?" Fabian Prewett asked, wrinkling his nose. "What kind of boils?"
"Big ones," Sirius replied, indicating a considerable size with his fingers.
"Where?" asked Gideon warily.
"Let's just say where the sun doesn't shine," Sirius said darkly, and the twins' eyes widened. In two quick pops, they were gone, and the rest of the group followed suit after some hasty goodbyes, which Lily made sure to keep moving.
"I'll be back by sunrise," James told Lily once it was just her and the Marauders left in Sirius's flat. "Promise."
"I know," she said with a smile, then kissed James deeply. "I'll meet you at home. You, stop, I'll do it," she told Sirius, who had started gathering dishes and was sending them magically floating towards the sink. "Go," she urged the boys warmly. "Be safe, no biting."
They all nodded and grinned; those were the same words she'd tell them every month at Hogwarts when they snuck out on full moon nights. She was like their sentry, making sure no one saw them leave the common room or re-enter it bruised and battered the next morning.
"The Highlands, just west of Plumbston," Remus said so they'd all know where to Apparate to. "Come on, we've got to go now."
"On three?" Peter said, and on that cue, the Marauders Apparated straight from Sirius's living room and into a vast expanse of high grass and rolling hills basking in emergent moonlight.
"Holy fuck!" James shouted as he shivered in the cold highland air. "Fuck this, I'm transforming with my clothes on."
"Sound logic, there, Prongs," Sirius laughed. It was freezing, but James would only tear his clothes if he tried to go full stag while still wearing them.
"S-s-sorry I don't want to freeze my balls off, I'm rather f-fond of them!" James rebutted, his teeth chattering.
Sirius shook his head in amusement. He was already down to just his trousers and hearing James whine about the February chill would only make the cold worse. He, Remus, Peter, and a grumbling James made quick work of stripping down and stuffing their clothing and wands in a crevice of a nearby rock formation.
The foursome stood waiting for the clouds to uncover the moon for at least five minutes when Remus spoke up.
"You guys can go ahead and change," he said. "You'll be warmer, and I'll just be a few more minutes after."
"N-nope," Peter said. "All together, like always."
"We appreciate the loyalty, Wormy," James said with a wry smile, "but you've got shit timing."
As it turned out, however, the Marauders didn't have to wait much longer. An almost unbearably cold gust of wind blew across the hill and took the wispy clouds with it. Remus's joints began to pop painfully, and his snout lengthened while thick hair sprouted all over his body. He knew that James, Sirius, and Peter had seen this process a hundred times, but it didn't stop him from feeling a bit self conscious as his body twisted and contorted itself into the thing he hated most. However, as his vision began to blur, he could see a familiar trio of animals standing where his best mates waiting were just seconds ago.
Looking as dashing as ever! Prongs' voice sounded in Moony's head. Moony bared his teeth in a lycanthrope smile and tossed his head back, emitting one long howl that to anyone else might sound forlorn, but was actually one of absolute contentedness.
Ooh, I love it when you talk dirty like that, came Padfoot's snarky drawl, followed by laughter from all four of the creatures present.
With one last glance at each other, Remus felt a surge of happiness flood his whole body, and then Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs took off into the night.
I hope you liked this chapter! It was a bit of filler but trust me it's important in the long run! What did you think?
Stay tuned for CHAPTER 6, THE WRENCH IN THE PLAN, coming soon!
-C