Author's note: Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites!
ohsosirius: The plan is to have some time jumps, but we'll still get to see Harry growing up.
I own nothing.
When his father had first given him the invisibility cloak, James had been thrilled. The cloak had been incredibly useful. He and his three friends had huddled under it and caused all kinds of mischief. But it hadn't taken long for the Marauders to outgrow the cloak. By the boys' sixth year, they could no longer all fit under it at the same time. They were forced to take it take it out two at a time.
Now, at the ages of 21 and 22, James and Sirius were using it once again. This was the second day that they had been in Dumbledore's safe house. James and Lily had gotten used to being in hiding, to entertaining themselves. Sirius, however, was not used to it. He had never been someone who had been content to sit still. He was used to doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
They really weren't supposed to be leaving the house. The Fidelius Charm only extended to a certain point. But Sirius was driving Lily crazy. She was used to him being around, but she had never spent so much time in his company at once. The only time that Sirius wasn't talking was when he transformed into Padfoot and gave Harry rides around the house.
I swear, James, if you don't take him and do something, I will murder him!
So, to save his best mate from his wife's wrath, James had decided to take a little walk with Sirius underneath his invisibility cloak.
He had asked for the cloak back from Dumbledore right before they moved to the new safe house. It was comforting to have its protection back. And hiding underneath it next to Sirius brought back fond memories of Hogwarts.
"Does this count as a romantic walk on the beach, Prongsie?" Sirius whispered, even though they were the only ones nearby.
Dumbledore's safe house was located on a secluded beach. There were no houses nearby, and they had not seen another person since arriving. It had been relaxing the first day, but now James could tell that Sirius was ready to leave and do something.
"We may be walking on the beach, Pads, but it's the exact opposite of romantic. The only reason we are doing this is so that Lily doesn't kill you in your sleep."
"Ah, she doesn't mean it. Evans loves me."
James rolled his eyes. "She's a Potter now, mate. And I think it's more that she tolerates you. Some of the time."
Sirius laughed. "It's just an act to mask her true feelings."
"True feelings?"
"Yep. She's madly in love with me."
"You do realize that this is my wife you are talking about, right?"
"Of course. She just married you to get close to me."
"That makes no sense."
"It does. You're just too blind to see it."
James felt some of the stress he had been experiencing for the past year dissipate. Finally, Sirius was returning to his normal self. This was the Sirius that James had always known. The boy- now man- who could make a joke at the most unlikely of times and about the most unlikely of things.
"Come on, then, Pads. Let's go back to the house and get Lily's opinion on the matter," James said, turning around and heading back in the direction of the safe house.
"Fine, but you'll regret it once she announces how she really feels. Things will be pretty awkward for you. Your wife being in love with your best friend, and all that." Sirius winked at him.
James laughed. If they hadn't been hiding under his invisibility cloak, he would've shoved Sirius. "Padfoot?"
"Yeah, mate?"
"Shut up."
Sirius' bark of a laugh rang out as the two drew closer towards their temporary home. They passed easily through the barrier on the Fidelius Charm, and James threw the cloak off of them and bundled it up under his arm. The back door to the cottage was open, and James could hear his wife muttering, seemingly to herself.
"Ouch!" James and Sirius stopped as a distinctly masculine voice exclaimed.
"Well, if you would hold still, maybe I could heal it and it wouldn't hurt!" Lily's voice propelled the two into motion.
As they entered the kitchen, they saw a man sitting with his back towards them. Lily was bending over in front of him, her hands on his face. In any other situation, James would be worried about his wife's safety, but he recognized the figure.
"Moony! You're back!" James shouted.
Lily huffed as Remus turned around to face the other two Marauders. James' and Sirius' mouths gaped open as they saw his face.
Remus' eye and cheek were swollen. A dark purple bruise had formed across the entire left side of his face. His nose was crooked and his lip was split. Suddenly, his exclamation of Ouch! made perfect sense.
"What happened?" Sirius demanded. Remus opened his mouth to talk, but he winced.
"Here. Let me heal you, and then you can tell us what happened," James said, moving forward. Remus nodded gratefully.
James quickly muttered the healing spells that he had learned over the years. Having a werewolf as a friend had inspired the Marauders to learn some of what Madam Pomfrey did to help Remus. James had been the most proficient with the healing spells, and this knowledge had come in handy. And not just after full moons. Between Quidditch accidents and slightly dangerous pranks, the Marauders had needed James to heal them more than once.
In just a matter of a few minutes, Remus' face was somewhat back to normal. There was still a slight bruise and some swelling, but he was now able to talk without grimacing in pain.
"Thanks," Remus muttered. His eyes moved to his hands and stayed there even after James and Sirius sat down next to him.
James had been both dreading and anticipating this moment for the past two days. On the one hand, he was so thankful that Remus had made it back in one piece. On the other hand, he knew that now the Marauders would need to have a difficult conversation about what had happened. James and Sirius had talked about this moment quite a bit lately, mostly about how they were going to go about apologizing to the friend they had doubted. But no amount of preparation prepared them for the awkwardness of the moment.
"So…" Lily began, setting a steaming mug of tea in front of Remus.
Remus looked up at her with a smile of appreciation. "So… I owe you an explanation, then?"
James and Sirius shared a look before nodding. Remus hadn't really explained much to them in Dumbledore's office. And even though they knew he was not the traitor, they still needed to hear what Remus had been doing.
Remus took a deep breath before beginning. "Dumbledore first asked me to spy on Greyback's pack around the time that Harry was born. I- well, I refused. I know the kinds of people that join the packs, and I didn't want to have anything to do with that. But I've always owed Dumbledore so much, and I was the perfect person for the job. So about a year ago, I agreed.
"At first, I wasn't with the pack day and night. I was trying to gain their trust and acceptance. Around a month ago, I moved to the pack full-time. I- I didn't tell you because I knew that if you told me not to go, I wouldn't do it. It was easier that way, or at least I thought it was." Remus met each of their eyes imploringly.
James nodded. He understood his friend's reasoning. He didn't like it, but he understood it.
"I wasn't incredibly successful, but I did gain the trust of some of the members of the pack. It was one of those members that told me about Greyback's meeting with Voldemort. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I was afraid that it had something to do with you. So I left the pack and went to find you."
"And we're so glad you did." Lily reached across the table and gripped Remus' hand.
"I am too," Remus replied softly.
"What happened when you went back to the pack? How did they respond to Voldemort being defeated?" Sirius asked.
Remus paused for a moment. "The pack had a mixed reaction. For the most part, the pack members didn't want a war, never wanted to fight. But Voldemort was promising so much to them. Freedom that the Ministry has never granted them. And some were quire upset that they would never see any of that freedom. A few of them began to get violent, so I decided it was time for me to leave. So, I… well, I got myself thrown out." Remus shrugged sheepishly while the other three looked at him in confusion.
"How do you get yourself thrown out of a werewolf pack? And why?" Sirius voiced the questions that were running through James' head. He knew that Remus hated to get into trouble, so he couldn't imagine him doing anything worthy of being thrown out of a pack.
"You get yourself thrown out by picking a fight with the third-in-command. Which explains this." Remus gestured to his face, and James winced as he thought about how Remus must've gotten the injuries. "As for why, well, I couldn't just leave. It would look suspicious if I ever need to go back. But if I do need to go back now, I can always… grovel or beg for forgiveness or something."
"Why would you need to go back?" James asked. Personally, he wasn't going to let Remus go back to the pack without a fight, and he couldn't think of a good reason as to why he would need to go back.
Remus met James' gaze. "Dumbledore seems to think that we haven't seen the last of Voldemort. If that's true and he does come back, he might recruit werewolves again." Remus shrugged. "I thought it would be a bad idea to burn that bridge completely. And it would be more suspicious of me to simply leave than to be kicked out."
James wasn't sure that he completely understood or agreed, but he nodded anyway. He didn't really want to talk about Voldemort at the moment. Instead, the Marauders needed to have a different conversation.
"Remus-" James began.
"Have you talked to Dumbledore?" Remus asked quickly, as though he knew what James was going to say.
James sighed and shook his head. "Not since coming here. Why?"
Remus looked hesitant for a moment. "The Aurors arrested Peter."