How the Marauders Came About

A/N: Chapter Three's here!

Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me…they are JK's, sadly.

Chapter Three—The Idea

The next morning, when Remus Lupin woke up, he was in shock. His friends were crowding around his bed!

"What is…going on here?" he asked groggily, still recovering from last night. "It's neither my birthday nor my…um…death!"

"Remus, Remus, our dear Remus," said Sirius, sitting down beside Remus and pulling him close.

"We know," whispered James.

"You mean…" Remus was in wonder; how did they manage to figure it out?

"The fact that—that—you—are—a—werewolf," Peter squeaked, Remus wincing in pain. "Yeah, we do."

"Then what are you guys going to do about it?" Remus asked, sitting up.

"We," in an animated motion, Peter, Sirius, and James all raised their hands to their hearts in the 'pledge' way, "James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, solemnly swear we would never, ever tell anyone of our friend Remus Lupin."

They all burst out laughing, Sirius suggesting, "We could do the unbreakable vow, if you like!"

"Nah, it's ok," chuckled Remus, "I trust you guys, and hope you trust me too."

James's face became serious. "Really, Remey, we want to find a way to help, and I knew how,"

"What, you're not risking danger because of me, isn't it? When I'm a werewolf, it's like I'm turned into a monster, you know, I'm not me…anymore," he confessed.

"Animagi!" cried Sirius in excitement, Remus in fright. "No…it's too…risky, you wouldn't do that…for me…"

"We know it's illegal," began James.

"And it's challenging," added Sirius.

Peter simply whimpered.

"So that's why we want to do it!" chorused the duo, making Remus shake his head. "Seriously, you guys!"

"Yeah, we are taking this seriously," said James. "So better follow me to the library now!"

"Now I've never heard that before," muttered Remus, smiling.

"James Potter, library," said Sirius, "Equals impossible!"

The three friends went there, James sneaking into the restricted section to get the book on Animagi.

"Look here," pointed James, "Says that we can morph into any animal we like,"

"Wonderful!" that was Sirius, clapping his hands together in delight. "I can be a tiger or something."

"Don't be silly!" warned Remus, "You'd want to be something…er…better."

"Lion?"

"Come on!"

"Shush!" James turned his attention back to the book. "I'm trying to concentrate here! Erm, to morph into an animal, we must imagine ourselves as the animal and must have a lot of practices."

"Then morphing back?" asked Sirius.

"Same thing," said James, "We only have to figure out what we are going to morph into. I guess I'll be a stag. It's my favorite animal, graceful and majestic," he pointed at Sirius. "And you, Siri, will be a black dog—"

"Wha—at?" squawked Sirius. "Why'd you get to be a—a—majestic stag, and me a dog?"

"Think about it, pal," reasoned James, "You'd be the one to fight off—er—protect (James changed his word at Remus's expression)—Remus, whereas I would look out for everyone."

"Have it your way," Sirius pouted, Remus comforting him, "Besides, your name 'Sirius' means the dog stars up their, anyways."

"Thanks, Remey, that was helpful. Kind of," Sirius said, but didn't actually mean it.

"What about me?" Peter wanted his share, too.

"See, your voice's squeaky, and you're small, so you'll be a…." Peter looked up, hopeful. "A rat."

"A rat!"

"Most suitable!" James added. "You could sneak into anything, imagine that, and any escapes would be easy to cover," Peter nodded.

"Then names," Sirius thought this up. "We must've codenames, so nobody will know our secret!"

"Great idea, Siri," James grabbed a parchment and quill, as was his usual habit of recording things. "A stag…what would you call a stag?"

"Rudolf?" suggested Peter with a weak smile.

"Pete! I don't have a red nose!" claimed James

"Ok, ok," Peter stopped, sighing.

"What about…erm…Sharpie?" said Sirius, thinking about the sharp horns of a stag.

"Now we're talking," James agreed, "But Sharpie sounds somewhat like a marker to me."

"So what do you want?" Sirius was annoyed now.

"James," called Remus, "Speaking of Sharpie, Prongs is also what you call the sharp antlers."

"Cool! I'll take that," James hugged Remus. "Thanks, Remey."

"No problem, Mr. Prongs!"

"My turn!" Sirius said eagerly. "What do you call a black, handsome, graceful—"

"How could a dog be graceful?" interrupted Peter, but everyone ignored him.

"Blackie?" James grinned, Sirius acting beyond disgusted. "Oh no, James! Not another one of your 'pet names!'"

"Wolfie?"

"I said no!"

"Hairy?"

"Er…no.."

"Bobby?"

"That's just nonsense!"

"A…Fluffy?"

"Too girly."

"Paddy?"

"Sounds…like…"

"Yeah," Remus confirmed, "A Paddy is a leveled field flooded to grow rice, but that's not the point," he stopped at Sirius's glare.

"Though Pad…and foot, could be nice," muttered Sirius. "Yep, I'll be Padfoot, the fluffy, cute, lovable—" Peter acted as if he might vomit. "—dog."

"And you, Remey, what would you like to be called?" asked James in his as-a-matter-of-fact tone, Remus laughing.

"Me. Well…"

"Somethin' related to the moon, then," suggested Sirius. "Even though you hate it…"

"Wolfie…might not work, but," James said, "Try Moony!"

That just snapped. "It's cute…" Remus pretended to think, "But I'll take it."

"You, Pete?" asked Sirius, tapping at the table impatiently.

"Ratty?" Peter himself said, his friends all shaking their hands. "What?" he asked, disappointed. "Doesn't this sound like…Moony?"

"Not in the same way," explained James. "Try Whitey,"

"How do you do I'll be a white rat!"

"Dunno…"

Sirius took a try. "Something…wormy-ish,"

"What am I with worms?" worried Peter.

"Remember that week when you accidentally swallowed a can of worms?" Peter's face distorted as he thought, cringing at the memory.

"Ew, so, that didn't taste good"

"A rat must have a tail…" added Remus and was replied with 'Duh's' from Sirius and James.

"Then," Sirius put two and two together. "We'll call you Wormtail."

"Oh fine," Peter admitted. Even though he wanted a better name, it was good enough that his friends accepted him into the group by choosing something to call him.

"Group's name!" James waved his hand in the air, from left to right. "It's got to be something majestic, something cool…"

"The Four Ani—" Peter stopped in mid sentence when they all stared at him.

"Do you want us to be arrested?" Sirius sighed. "It's silly."

"Go by the…the…Super Gryffindors!"

"Cheesy," commented Remus. "Sounds like something out of the Superman."

"What about the Marauders?" their ears flickered at the sound from Remus. "Means cool people who sneaks out, do fun things…well, basically describes us."

"Ok, the Marauders!" everyone agreed, they all holding hands. "Long live the Marauders!"

Lily Evans, walking pass that second, shook her head in disgust, "How childish, Potter," her girlfriends giggling in a flock after her, they went away.

"Oh, but Evans!" James cried helplessly after her, Sirius patting his back. "It'll be ok, come on, we've got to practice,"

"O…kay," James rather reluctantly followed his friends out of the library…and thus, began the adventures of the four Marauders…

A/N: Might come back to edit later, who knows, but what do you think? It was just my idea. I'm hopelessly obsessed with the Marauders right now ;).

Love to EVERYONE…

Your ever humble fanfic writer :).