Eternal Bonds

By Kelsid

September 21, 1977

One moment, the Marauders were sitting there, in front of the Transfiguration classroom, listening to the lesson. The next, they were gone. And in their place were four men. Four older men, one looking about twenty with dark, untidy hair and glasses, one with dirty matted hair and a gaunt face, one's hair graying and face lined, wearing threadbare robes, while the last was balding with watery blue eyes. But, in fact, they resembled the Marauders. Too much to be considered coincidence.

The men stared at the classroom, eyes wide in astonishment. The class did the same. The gaunt man whispered faintly, "This isn't… possible…"

"Who are you?" the teacher asked sharply, taking off her glasses as if to study the strangers closer.

"We were the Marauders," breathed one, unable to take his eyes off the group. "We were the Marauders… a long time ago."

"Twenty years ago," another echoed weakly.

"But… you're here," stated the teacher, staring each straight in the eye.

The gaunt one faced her, eyes deadened. "So we are," he replied. "So we are."

October 31, 1981

The night was silent. Hardly a breeze whispered past the house, and noise was absent. No cars. No laughter. No nothing. It was indescribably quiet, and that's what scared James Potter.

"Brooding?" his wife asked, tracing his jaw line lovingly, her eyes soft and tender. Their son lay in her arms, staring at the two intently. James sighed, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"No, just thinking." About that traitor, Remus? About how Voldemort was after them? About how they were going to live a normal life?

His wife understood, leaning into him gently. "I know, James. I think about it too… Voldemort, Remus… if we survive this…"

"I don't understand, Lily. He was one of us… our friend. No, we were closer than friends, Lily, we were brothers. We all thought he'd never cave into that side of him… the side that rarely showed itself. But he did.

"I just keep remembering good Remus, who convinced us to stay inside the dorm or to not hex Snape from here to oblivion… I just can't believe he's gone." James lifted his face, hoping he wasn't betraying what was raging inside him. His friend wanted to kill him, his family. And he hated him for that.

Lily sighed, bringing Harry closer to her. "I know, James. I loved him too."

Time went by silently, swiftly. Precious time, time that would never be replaced. And through it all was silence.

James had been so unaccustomed to noise, when the door creaked, he heard. He knew. Only what he knew wasn't true. If he had had a bit longer to think on it, he may have realized Peter betrayed them.

But he didn't. He could only think, i Remus. Somehow, he found out. Somehow, he told Voldemort. /i "Lily." His voice sounded hard, commanding. "Take Harry. Go. Now."

She let out a small breath of air, but knew what she had to do. Harry in her arms, she went upstairs. i I love you, /i thought James, watching her leave. i So much. /i

Voldemort was there, laughing. Every laugh rang of Remus… God, he hated him. Not for betraying James himself, exactly, but for betraying Lily and Harry.

And when he saw the green light that ended his life, he never thought about the traitor. He only saw Lily's eyes, Harry's eyes. He saw Sirius laughing in that bark-like way, and Peter distracting someone for their prank. Never did he think of Remus. He didn't deserve it. No traitor like that deserved a thing.

And James died.

October 30th, 1993

Was he really that weak? His knees buckled from under him, and he lay down, relieved. Maybe he was.

Sirius gazed out in front of him. Hogwarts castle stood, imposing as ever, before him, with the lake glittering in the soft rays of moonlight. He'd forgotten what it looked like. Groaning, he propped himself against a tree, ignoring the roughness of the bark rubbing his back.

Yes, he'd be arriving at Hogwarts soon. And he would kill the rat. An eerie sort of smile drifted to his face as he closed his eyes, relishing the terrorized look on Peter's face when he caught him. It would be a pleasure to cause him pain.

Sirius was no stranger to pain. He'd been feeling it for the past twelve years, guilt and suffering at James and Lily's deaths. Every night, he had dreams of them, at their laughter and good times. When Sirius had turned over Harry's 1st birthday cake… when he and James went house-hunting… Good memories.

But every since James died, they'd been horrible. Countless days in Azkaban, all the same, with moans from all around him… He shook his head slightly. It was Peter's fault. After he killed the traitor, everything would be better. After the rat was gone…

He'd betrayed James and Lily for saving his own stinking skin. Repulsion rippled through Sirius, who shivered slightly. Sometimes, he was surprised at his own hate. Right now, he didn't care if anyone thought he was a murderer when he was done with Peter, even Remus or Harry. He wanted to kill. Everything would be all right.

Smiling again, Sirius drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow, the rat would be dead. And everything would be all right.

October 30th, 1993

Sometimes, he couldn't get used to it. Looking up, he expected to see James, Sirius and Peter smiling at him, waving. No, they were dead. He must remember that.

Remus sighed, putting away the papers he still had to grade. He needed some time to think, to get outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Stepping outside lightly, he walked down the dimly lit corridors, ignoring some looks from nearby portraits.

Everywhere he went, memories followed. There, right there, was where they pulled their first prank with the Invisibility Cloak. That's where Sirius received his 100th detention… and there… Remus closed his eyes. i Stop thinking about them, /i he chided. i They are the past. /i Well, except for one. The one that posed a threat more menacing than he would have expected. Sirius.

He escaped. How, Remus could only guess. But he managed it. And he was coming after Harry.

Sirius. The name brought up the image of a grinning, youthful boy, not the gaunt man in the photographs. He imagined him, laughing maniacally in Azkaban, as if enjoying a good joke. He'd never felt remorse at James and Lily's demise. He'd never felt the pain Remus had to go through, every single day. James died thinking it was Remus. Lily died thinking it was Remus. That fact wouldn't stop tearing him apart.

At first, he had hated him. Now it had simply faded into pondering- Why? Why had he done it? - and pity. He had been a good man, Sirius. Loyal, strong, and brave… where did it go wrong?

He stopped to lean against the wall briefly. He probably shouldn't have gone on this walk- Remus should be, as he had heard Madam Pomfrey recount numerous times, "resting." The full moon had only been a few days before, and he was tired. A small thought nagged at him- "When you were at Hogwarts, you never got that tired."

Could nothing ever stop leading to the past? Once again, memories rose from even the tiniest corners, from the most inconspicuous hallway. This was where James first kissed Lily. This was where Peter tripped on Sandra King… This was where Sirius suddenly collapsed on the ground, hoping to gather attention...

It was back to Sirius again, wasn't it? Everything seemed to go in circles. One moment, Remus could be thinking about an entirely different subject, but then suddenly would change into Sirius.

But at least something Remus had discovered dulled the pain- He no longer felt anything for Sirius. He didn't care if he drowned. He didn't care if he was shot multiple times. They no longer had any connection. Oh, yes, he still remembered the times they had… but that Sirius was gone. The person that blinked from the posters plastered everywhere was a stranger.

So, he supposed the Sirius he knew was dead. Remus felt a bit of remorse at that, but he passed on. James was dead. Lily was dead. Peter was dead.

And, he reminded himself, so was Sirius.

October 30th, 1993

The sudden jostle from the surface Peter slept on awoke him. Startled, the rat perked its small ears up. i Just Ron snoring, /i he told himself. /i That's it. /i

But he couldn't go back to sleep; a nagging thought hung to the back of his mind. Looking over the fabric of Ron's shirt, the rat flinched. He imagined James in the shadows, coming to get him. To kill him.

Shuddering, he closed his eyes. James came too often for his liking, to whisper those words over and over again: "You killed me, Peter. You killed me."

"I didn't mean to," he'd protest weakly, flinging himself down. "He forced me, He-Who-Can-Not-Be-Named made me…"

Then James would grasp Peter's jaw tightly, making him wheeze. "They would have died for me, Peter. Remus and Sirius would have."

"But I'm not them!" he cried, sinking to his knees. "They've always been so good… Sirius was so strong and loyal, Remus kind and generous… I'm not like them!"

James's eyes would harden, teeth clenched. "You were never one of us."

Peter would wake from his dream at that time, chattering slightly. And every time, he thought the same thing. i I hate them. /i

He hated them, because they were better than he. He hated them, because they still put up with him anyways. He hated them because he was weak himself.

Well, he tried to convince himself, 1981, Halloween, proved he wasn't weak. He betrayed the Potters! He killed James and Lily! He put Sirius in jail! He caused Remus endless sorrow… was that weak? Of course not. But he knew it was.

He was weak.

And he hated them all.

The loyal James, always with his friends. The brave Sirius, sticking up for those he cared. Kind Remus, giving advice or help when needed. And he caused all those men eternal pain.

He hated them because of that.

He hated them all.

Flashback

The four drops of blood lay in front of them, reminding the boys forcibly of what they'd done. One smiled shakily; trying to reassure everyone it would be fine.

"So… so now… if we're… separated when we've grown… we… we come back here?" squeaked a small boy, blonde hair shaking slightly.

"Yes," replied the black haired one, wiping off his glasses. He pretended to not to notice his hands were faintly trembling.

"We've done something really serious," said a light brown haired one, looking at the four drops.

"It's for the better," butted in one, throwing back his dark hair in a manner of arrogance. "We'll be friends forever, now. Whatever happens, we'll be friends."

"We always will be," the spectacled one said forcibly.

"Anything can happen in the future," said the brown haired boy wisely, nodding as if to verify this. "Anything at all."

They sighed. "If we don't… patch it up … we might not come back," whispered the blonde haired one faintly.

"It's a chance worth taking," said the dark haired one sharply. "It's all of us, or none. An eternal bond, Wormtail- an eternal bond."