James told Dumbledore the whole story— or what he knew of it, anyway. Several times, he saw Remus raise his eyebrows and Sirius let out low, growling noises. Peter looked straight ahead, barely moving a muscle. James had worked his way up until the Fidelius Charm when Dumbledore gave a curt nod, ending their conversation.

"Well."

The room was silent as Dumbledore's utterance echoed around the round room. "So who betrayed James?" he asked.

All at once, the four stood up, each pointing a wand at each other. Peter's hand trembled as he moved his wand between Remus and Sirius, the quivering ensuring that Dumbledore would not be able to tell who exactly he was accusing. Indecisive… always indecisive…and so, so weak…

His tremulous hand suddenly became much shakier.

"PETER!" The voice erupted out of nowhere. Everyone swiveled on the spot, unable to believe such a horrible, powerful scream had come from the skeleton before them. All Sirius did was grin, his eyes glinting with unsuppressed glee. "I've got you. I've got you right where I want you. And I don't care if Dumbledore sees, I don't care if anybody sees. Because I can do what I've wanted to do for the past twelve years." A manic, fearsome look manifested itself on his face, rendering him more a beast than a man.

Peter's hand was not the only one shaking anymore.

"Sirius?" Even Dumbledore, the calmest of all men, seemed a little disquieted. "Please, refrain yourself—"

"No, God damn it, I won't!" Sirius screamed. "I won't let this murderer continue to live!" He lunged forward, and James and Remus both jumped, both attempting to get to Peter's side before Sirius could do anything.

Peter found the ragged, callused hand of Sirius at his throat, his wand pressed fiercely against his jaw. Sooner still was the dirty, matted hair in his face, suffocating him with the stench of the prison he had put Sirius in.

"I'm surprised you're still even alive, you know," Sirius whispered, his voice almost physically paining Peter. "After betraying your friends, and all. I would have thought you'd at least the decency for suicide."

Peter closed his eyes tightly.

"The guilt," Sirius hissed, and each syllable that fell from his lips formed daggers. Peter knew he was right. He wanted to shout that he knew that, he knew he should have killed himself, hadn't he thought of it before? Just don't talk anymore, Sirius, just stop talking to me about this, I know, I know, I don't need this…

"Let it go, Sirius," James said quietly and calmly, his hazel eyes flickering from Peter to his best friend. "Just let him go." The firm stance of his body and the set of his jaw led Sirius to perhaps sense a threat behind his words, and he slowly released Peter.

Dumbledore watched this without expression, although when he turned his head to watch the group return to their seats, Sirius could have sworn he saw a slight grimace on his lips. But in a moment, he was Dumbledore again, hands folded placidly in front of him.

"Well, this obviously isn't a good time for you all," he began lightly. "Perhaps you'd like to wait a while so as to… simmer down?" His gaze quickly flicked to Sirius. Before Sirius could respond with a retort, Dumbledore's clear watch had already moved on.

"For the time, we can offer you all a few extra rooms in the castle available to visitors. This is, of course, if you wish it…"

"Yes," James said bluntly, and Remus nodded his assent much to the Potter's disconcertment, as if the fact that he and the werewolf agreed was something indescribably heinous.

Peter was still somewhat stricken from his many attacks that day, and slowly nodded. This was the worst possible situation he'd ever been in. Worse than the murder of James? he thought suddenly. He remembered Sirius's anger earlier that day, such sorrow and desperateness in his violence. Worse, he remembered James's innocent defense of him. Him! Him, who had betrayed James, who killed his wife as well. It sent shivers up his spine, and guilt suddenly overwhelmed him. Yes, this was worse.

"Sirius?"

Sirius looked up, his eyes hidden within the shadows of his long, uncombed hair. The bags under his eyes seemed darker as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in an attempt to concentrate. "I… I…" He looked hopelessly around. It was clear he had no wish to stay here, but at the moment, he realized he had no other choice. "I suppose I must," he said quietly, tiredly leaning his thin face on his hand.

Everyone was silent as Sirius sat, Dumbledore gazing at Black with an intent expression. Eventually, he stood up and the group followed suit.

"Second floor, down the—"

"We know," James said, interrupting Dumbledore's directions. The old man did not appear unsettled as he simply nodded in understanding.

"I'll not keep you any longer. Please, take a rest. The house elves will bring you some food shortly. Tomorrow, I'll call on you as a continuation of sorts on this meeting. Feel free to roam about the grounds. I'm sure you all have a lot to talk about."

"A bit too much, I'm afraid," Remus said lightly.

Dumbledore gave a small smile, but it did not reach his eyes as the Marauders left, all merely shadows of who they were when they were younger.

-

Lily raced down the hallways, desperately looking for any sight of the Marauders. The fear she felt she had never experienced before. They were nothing to her, she assured herself. They were nothing… oh, but they were!

"Lily! Lily!" From behind the crowds she heard Lynda shrieking, and she also heard several people grunt as they were pushed aside. Yes, it was Lynda all right.

"I've been trying to catch up with you for the past… few minutes…" Lynda, her fair hair flying all about her head, leaned forward, breathing heavily. "Why'd you leave like that?"

Lily shrugged in a casual manner, but inside her mind, everything was a crazed whirlwind of thoughts. "I just… I felt like I had to find them. I feel like I have to find them," she corrected herself. Lynda turned her face to Lily from her hunched position and stared at her like she was insane.

"Them?" she asked incredulously. "Who cares about them? Since when have you been interested in them?"

"They have names you know," Lily said, slightly irritated.

"Whatever! They're just a whole bunch of stuck-up popular idiots! It's probably some prank Sirius pulled together." Lynda shrugged and, having resumed her regular breathing, stood upright once again. "It's stupid."

"I don't know… this sounds really, really different—"

Just then, a huge group of students walked by, consisting of several sixth-year boys who evidently thought they were the height of cool. One, who appeared younger than the others, looked rather excited, his black hair completely disarrayed and his face a pleasing red.

"'Ey, did you 'ear about that fing during McGonagall's class?" he began breathlessly.

"Of course," said another, hands put coolly into his pockets.

"I sawr 'em all, I did!" he cried, no longer able to contain his information. All the boys turned around, this tale evidently worth listening to.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," the boy articulated, taking precise pains to slow himself down, "that I sawr 'em all walking down the 'allway, goin' to the guestrooms over there." He pointed to the staircase leading to the second floor. "I wanted to say 'ello, but…"

All the other boys were too busy talking about the news to listen to the rest of his story. But Lily had heard enough and quickly headed to the staircase.

"Lily, we're going to be sooo late," Lynda moaned, but obediently followed her friend to the rooms. Apparently, the young boy had already told quite a few people, as the hallway leading to the spare rooms were absolutely packed. Students gossiped and pointed, but none had yet dared knock on one of the doors.

Lynda, seeing another friend in the midst of the crowd, began to wave happily, but in the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red get closer to the rooms. Oh God.

She tore after her friend, grabbing her right before Lily was able to turn the knob. "What are you doing?" she hissed angrily and started to pull her away, but Lily resisted.

"I need to talk to them! I need to find out if this is true or not!"

"It's not; it's stupid, I already told you! Now let's go!" Lynda pulled once again, but this time, Lily ripped her robe right out of her hands.

"No." The steeliness in her green eyes quickly and confidently cowed Lynda. "I need to know what's going on. You're Miss Outgoing, shouldn't you be right with me?"

Lynda rolled her pale blue eyes and quickly grabbed Lily's elbow, trying to usher her along. "Just because I like to talk doesn't mean I want to barge in on some psycho freak's door!" she explained impatiently, as if it were the most logical thing in the world.

Lily turned and crossed her arms across her chest. "I thought you said the whole thing was a fake. That there was absolutely no one there."

A bright red blush crept onto Lynda's cheeks. "I never said that," she muttered defensively. "I just said the Marauders weren't here, that's all."

"Well, if they're not, there's no harm in just knocking, is there?"

Lynda opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. For several seconds, she mentally wrestled herself with the issue, biting her lip and making ridiculously comical faces as Lily watched on in amusement. Finally, Lynda said curtly, "All right. Just one little knock, okay?"

"Okay." It was all she needed to hear. There were five different rooms, but she figured that she had a pretty good chance of reaching one with a Marauder inside. She already knew which door she was going to choose.

With Lynda covering her hands over her eyes, Lily marched smartly up to the room and gave a quick rap on the wood. The whole crowd stared, their mouths hanging open at her audacity. Several began to creep closer, craning their heads to see what would happen. Or what exactly would open the door.

Who would answer the door? The question was on the minds of everyone, most of all Lily's. Outwardly, her back was straight, eyes fiery and jaw set firmly in an expression of utmost pugnacity. But images of the Marauders raided her, images of what they would look like now. Sirius with a funny goatee, Peter having grown quite a large beer belly, Remus with his hair turned a distinguished grey, and James…

The whispers started getting louder and louder, but the door remained steadfastly closed. Lynda dared to peek out behind her fingers, and let out a sigh of relief. That was awfully close.

James. She couldn't picture him. Not in the least. Wouldn't he always be the same? That loathsome, childish grin, his eyes full of longing to be liked, for people to laugh at him, a sort of earnest innocence…

And at that moment, the door opened.