Title: Glass Hearts
Rating: PG-13
Summmary (for chapter): A Valentine's Day that will go down in infamy. When else do you see Lily in love with Sirius, Marlene McKinnon chasing after Hagrid, and Sirius proposing to Jewel?
--
Valentine's Day came up quickly. James felt his adrenaline pumping when they left their dormitory in the middle of the night to put the final stages of their prank into place. Valentine's Day was usually a day for couples to make out and singles to feel sorry for themselves, but this year would be the day the students and faculty of Hogwarts would never forget.
Once they were finished, they went back to their dorms, but none of them could get to sleep. They tried for about an hour, but finally Sirius got up and started playing around with the Marauders Map. James finally fell asleep around six, but he woke up two and a half hours later to catch the last of breakfast and rush to his first class.
He slid into the Transfiguration room, Peter behind him. There was a frenzied air in the classroom. James sat down behind Remus and Sirius. Sirius gave him a hidden thumbs-up, and motioned towards Alice Hodge and another Hufflepuff girl.
"I don't know what it is," the Hufflepuff girl was saying. "He's just so. . .dreamy."
"What has gotten into you?" Alice asked. "It's Professor Flitwick!"
The door to the classroom opened, and Lily and Mary walked in. "Oh, I just love it," James heard Lily say.
A small puff of smoke appeared over Lily's head; it looked a bit like Cupid. He shot an arrow at Lily. A few other people in the room noticed, but Lily was clueless. She glanced over at Sirius. There was a moment of the usual annoyance on her face, but then her expression changed. James stared in horror as Lily gave Sirius a warm smile. Sirius, realizing what had happened, burst out laughing.
Professor McGonagall gave them a suspicious look, but James didn't notice. He looked over at Lily, then at Sirius, who was banging his fist on the table. Who had come up with this stupid idea?
--
"What are you talking about?" Jewel asked her sister.
"Jewel, he told me how in love with you he is!" Juniper said.
Jewel glanced up when she heard a noise above Juniper's head. She saw a pink puff of smoke resembling Cupid shoot an arrow at Juniper. "Did you see that?" Jewel asked as it disappeared.
"See what?" Juniper asked, turning around to look over her shoulder. She saw Snape sitting at the Slytherin table. She looked back at Jewel, her eyes bright. "Have you ever thought about how. . .handsome Severus is?"
"What?" Jewel exclaimed. She slapped Juniper on the cheek lightly. "You're kidding, right?"
"Of course not!" Juniper said.
Jewel stared at her twin as though she had grown an extra head. She glanced around. Something was going on here. Something that smelled like the Marauders. She saw Sirius and his friends sitting at the Gryffindor table laughing. Well, except for James, who looked miserable. Jewel found out why when Lily sat by Sirius and began flirting with him.
"I'll be back," Jewel told Juniper, chuckling. "Tell me all about Snape later."
She walked over to the Gryffindor table. Lily was slightly leaning on Sirius, who was grinning at James. James looked like he was trying to burn a hole in Sirius's forehead. Jewel joined them. "How did you do it?" she asked.
"Do what?" Sirius asked, but he knew she already knew.
"It's everytime a person says l-"
James clapped his hand over Jewel's mouth. "Don't say it!" he said.
Jewel grinned, shaking her head. "How long does it last?" she asked.
"Just until sundown," Sirius replied.
"Will you marry me?" Jewel asked.
"Of course," Sirius said. "You've fallen in -"
James, Peter, and Remus dove across the table, but Sirius let the word slip. As soon as it was out, he swore. Cupid arrived, shooting him with an arrow. Jewel fleetingly wondered who exactly you fell in love with when the cupid shot you, but she soon found out it was the first person you looked at. (She hoped they had arranged the charms so it was the opposite sex, or they may have some interesting scenarios.) Sirius looked at her and smiled.
"Jewel, there's no one else I'd rather spend my life with," he said.
"What?" Lily asked, her green eyes widening. "You're in love with Jewel?"
"Of course," Sirius said. He reached for Jewel's hand. "We're going to get married."
Lily stared at him in horror. Jewel looked at James, smirking. "You're sure this is going to wear off by sundown?" she asked.
James shrugged. "We've never tried it before," he said.
Jewel shook her head. "It was nice knowing you," she said.
--
Alice seemed to be the only sane person left in Hogwarts. The professors didn't catch on until after lunchtime, and by that time, most of them were under the Cupid spell as well. Professor Dumbledore made sure the spells would wear off by sundown, gave the Marauders detention, and let them go free. Remus had made her swear she wouldn't tell anyone she saw them coming out of her office, though. They would have some angry people to face tomorrow. Violet Moss was only one of them, having just snogged a fifth year Hufflepuff named Carlyle Bickey. Alice wished someone would teach them the countercurses, especially since her best friend was waiting outside of Professor Flitwick's office.
"Hey, Alice," Frank said.
"Hi," she said, smiling. "How's it going?"
"Good," Frank said with a grin. "It's pretty crazy, though, isn't it?"
Alice nodded. "I was just headed to my room so nothing would happen to me," she said.
"How have you been?" Frank asked.
"Better," Alice replied. "I still miss them, but it's easier to think about other things. . .for the first few days, I could hardly think."
Frank nodded with a solemn look on his face. "Yeah," he said. "Have they found out anything about who it was?"
Alice shook her head sadly. "They don't leave behind a lot of clues," she said.
At the bottom of the staircase of which they had just stepped off, a second year was crying softly. Alice looked at her with a sad look on her face. "Poor girl," she said.
"So...are you going to Hogsmeade with anyone this weekend?" Frank asked.
Alice shook her head, giving him a smile. "Are you asking me to go with you?" she asked.
"Guilty as charged," Frank said.
"I'd -" she cut off before she said the trigger word. She didn't need to fall in love with Frank any more than she already was. "I'd be honored."
"Great," Frank said with a smile. They approached the Hufflepuff common room. "I hope you have a great Valentine's Day."
"I hope you don't get shot by Cupid," Alice said.
"What, you don't want to share me with anyone else?" Frank asked.
Alice just let out a soft laugh, not bothering to answer the question. It had been a little more than a month since he had broken up with Mary, but he and Alice hadn't gotten serious about anything. Alice just wasn't ready for anything. "I'll see you later," she said.
"Bye," Frank said.
She walked into the Hufflepuff common room. She found two first years sitting closely on one of the cushy couches. She shook her head, laughing quietly as the went up to her room. She would never forget this Valentine's Day.
--
Lily ignored the four of them the next day, but they expected it, especially after she had cried for an hour when she found out Sirius was in love with Jewel. James was still traumatized from having the love of his life head over heels for his best mate. Sirius would never have let it go if he hadn't fallen under the same spell.
"Let's never, ever do that again, okay?" Remus said as they walked to the Great Hall.
Throughout the week, they were faced with a number of death threats, nasty looks, and duels. It looked like there was fungus growing out of Sirius's ear for a few days after Rosier hexed him, but they all knew he enjoyed snogging a fifth year Gryffindor.
Marlene McKinnon hit Sirius over the head with his Beater's Bat once she found out it was him. "I spent the entire day following Hagrid around!" she yelled while he lay on the ground in pain.
Once the initial horror and embarrassment wore off, they were the heroes of the school. By the time the Hogsmeade trip rolled around, they were geniuses, the best thing to ever happen to Hogwarts.
"Oh ye of little faith," Sirius said, his arm around Katie Summers's waist.
"Lily still hasn't been won over," Remus said. "I don't think she's ever ignored me."
"Welcome to our world," James said wryly.
Mary MacDonald joined them at the Three Broomsticks, drinking one too many butterbeers once she saw Frank and Alice walking around holding hands. "She's not even that pretty," she said.
James gave Sirius a confused look. Since when did girls hang out with them and lament about their boyfriends? Mary was cool when she wasn't hung up on a guy. Sirius just rolled his eyes.
Remus was more than happy to get out of Hogwarts, and enjoyed the change of scenery and seeing new faces. He wondered how long it would be until it wasn't safe enough for them to go to Hogsmeade, and hoped it was after they had graduated. They explored different stores, walked around the Hogsmeade park, and dared Peter to ask Madam Rosmerta for a date.
They were walking down one of the roads. James picked up some snow and chucked it at Sirius. He started chasing after him. Peter and Remus looked at each other, grinning, and followed. James led them down a side road, yelling at Sirius to leave him alone. Remus saw ahead of them the Shrieking Shack and slowed down. He saw Candace, Debra, and Lily by the fence, looking at the abandoned building cautiously. A fourth person stood there; he looked a few years older than them, and he was telling stories with wide eyes.
Sirius and James took no notice of this. Sirius tackled James down and started shoving snow in his face. James yelled and kicked. The four bystanders stopped for a moment, looking over at the two of them.
Remus kept his distance from them. Lily rolled her eyes, looking away. Debra and Candace laughed at James's misfortune. "Oh, come on, leave him alone," Candace said after a moment.
Sirius looked up at Candace, grinning. "You think I should?" he asked.
"Yes, yes, listen to the blond girl," James said, panting.
"She has a name," Lily said.
James looked over at the sound of Lily's voice. "Yeah, I know," he said defiantly. "We've only been going to school together for five years."
Lily rolled her eyes again. "What were you saying, Davey?" she asked.
Remus now recognized him; he had been a few years over them, and had nearly lost an eye to the Whomping Willow after being dared by his friends to venture closer to the wild tree. "I personally think that someone's being tortured in there," the male said.
This statement made Sirius stand up. He walked over to them and crossed his arms. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
Lily gave him an annoyed look, but Davey was eager to tell his story. "This house is haunted," he said, his eyes widening. "We hear the most awful screams at night."
James walked over to them as well, his playful demeanor gone. Peter glanced at Remus with a worried look on his face, but Remus pretended not to notice. He wanted to leave very badly now. "I bet all of you are imagining it," James said harshly.
"Imagining it?" Davey repeated. "No way! Me and my brothers came here two weeks ago when the screams started at sundown. They're the most horrible things you've ever heard; makes your blood run cold."
Remus felt exposed, even though half of them didn't have any idea that he made those noises each month. He could see Sirius's harsh glare at the older boy. "My older brother went up to the door to knock on it, and then there was a sound on the other door like someone was pounding on it, like they were trying to get out," Davey said. He turned to look at Candace, who looked frightened. "They were locked in, you see."
"That's ridiculous," James said. "If someone's locked in there, wouldn't you hear it all the time?"
Davey paused, thinking this out in his head. "Well, maybe...maybe they're given a potion," he said. "Yeah, and it subdues them..."
"And maybe there's a basilisk in there, too," Sirius said sarcastically.
"I'm telling you," Davey snapped, "there's something in there. It doesn't even sound human."
Remus looked over his shoulder, wondering if anyone other than Peter would notice if he just walked away.
"It's like someone's being Cursed with the Cruciatus," Davey said.
"What the hell do you know?" Sirius snarled. "How could you have any idea what's in there? You're just saying some load of bullocks to impress these girls -"
James and Remus took this as their cue. Remus finally walked forward. He grabbed Sirius's arm and James grabbed the other. "Let's go," he said. He felt Lily looking at him. He avoided meeting her eyes, blushing.
"This idiot -" Sirius began.
"Nice story," James said.
"It's not a story," Davey said. "I swear it's true - ask anyone in the village -"
The boys ignored him, pulling Sirius away. Sirius pushed them off of him, and they continued walking away from the Shrieking Shack. Remus quickened his step, walking ahead of them. Nobody said anything, and the humiliation from the situation intensified. Remus fought back tears. He didn't cry often, but he walked to a tree a ways off the road and sat in the grass, sprinkled with snow, and put his head in his hands. He let his tears fall unto his palms, holding back too much emotion.
He didn't ask for this. He didn't want this burden on him; this secret beast that raged within him, this other half. If any of the students knew about this, he would never be accepted. He already saw the way Snape and his friends glared at him; he was sure Snape had told anyone he could have without Dumbledore finding out.
Worse than that, he didn't want his friends to know how vulnerable it made him. He tried to hold back his screams during transformation, but how could he not express the pain of his bones being wrenched apart and his nerves splitting and reforming? He couldn't imagine his friends seeing or hearing that, that part of him resurfacing as his humanity was ripped away.
His thoughts raced through his head, and he was having difficulty breathing.
"Remus?" he heard Lily's voice. "Is he all right?"
Remus tried to catch his breath, wiping his nose. He was at least fifteen feet off of the road, and they sounded far away, but he didn't want anyone to come over.
"His girlfriend dumped him," Sirius said.
"He doesn't have a girlfriend," Lily snapped.
"How do you know?" Sirius shot back. "He got one on Monday."
"Oh, when you cursed everyone?" Lily asked.
"It was a Charm, actually," James said.
"Get out of my way," Lily's voice said angrily, and Remus guessed Sirius or James was keeping her from walking over to him. He sniffled, wiping his face.
"Screw off," Sirius said. "You haven't talked to him for five days, why do you want to now?"
"How do you know I haven't talked to him for five days?" Lily asked.
"Remus tells us everything," Sirius replied.
"Right," Lily said.
It fell into silence as there were fading footsteps. Remus wiped his face again, closing his eyes. He just wanted to go to sleep now. He slowly stood up. James, Sirius, and Peter were waiting on the edge of the road. He walked over to them. "I think I'll go back early," he said, looking at the backs of the girls as they walked away.
Lily looked over her shoulder. She gave him a small smile, but Remus looked away.
"All right," James said.
There was a moment of silence. Remus nodded, and started walking up the road towards the carriages.
--
Outside of the castle, it was chilly, but not cold enough to defer the Marauders. James, Remus, and Peter were outside by the lake, sitting around and being bored. Gryffindor had won the game against Hufflepuff on Saturday, and they had a free afternoon. "I love not having homework and being top of Quidditch," James said. He glanced around. There weren't a lot of students outside; they were huddling in their common rooms or they were stuck in classes.
"Remus, I notice you don't have a book with you," James said. "Either you're feeling sick or you're having a mid-life crisis."
"Well, I've just finished one," Remus said. "And I left mine back in the common room when we left to go to Charms."
"Right – who are you and what have you done with Remus?" James asked. "You guys want to go flying?"
Remus cringed. "Er, no," he said.
"Come on, Remy, it's been ages since you've flown," James said.
"Two years, much too short," Remus said. He looked as though he really wished he had a book to bury his face in.
"Well, then just come and watch Peter and I," James said, standing up.
"Me?" Peter asked. He got to his feet. He didn't like flying very much, either, but he still tried.
"Come on," James said. He jogged towards the Quidditch pitch and, to his relief, found it completely empty. He got his broom out of his locker, where he had left it after Quidditch practice last night, and grabbed two for Peter and Remus. "Here, you two."
"Are you sure..." Peter trailed off.
"I thought I was just watching," Remus said, looking at the broom cautiously.
"Aww, just fly around a bit," James replied. He looked at Remus with his puppy-dog look. "You know you want to, Remy. You miss the wind through your hair, the exhilarating rush. Come on!"
He mounted his own broom and kicked off of the ground before he could reply. He soared into the air, whooping. He spun and did a few tricks, flying higher and higher. He went towards the goals, laughing and cheering some more. He turned and looked at Remus and Peter, who were two specks far away. Zooming down to meet them, he landed again and attempted to help them loosen up to fly.
Some time later, Peter had gone into the air, but James was still having trouble getting Remus unto the broom. "Look, you prat," James said. "Just do it and get it over with! It's worth it. You said it was last time."
"A Bludger nearly took off my head last time!" Remus said.
James held back a laugh, although Peter made no attempt to keep back his laugher. "Yeah, but Sirius isn't here now!" James exclaimed. "You sorry arse, get on the broom!"
Remus glared at James and James glared back at him. "All right," Remus said finally. "If it bothers you so much..."
Remus looked at the broom, then at James, then back at the broomstick. Swallowing, he lifted one leg and mounted the broomstick. He eased unto the Cushioning Charm and James rolled his eyes. Remus easily pushed off of the ground, his hands tightening on the wooden handle as he lifted into the air. He eased his broomstick up, cursing James and his flying hobbies. James cheered him on, mounting his broom, and for a good solid hour, the three boys were flying around the pitch. James taught Peter how to spin, though it did have some disastrous results, and Remus tossed around the Quaffle.
"Oi, you lot, what are you doing up there without me?"
Minutes later, Sirius had joined them, a twinkle in his dark eyes. The four of them flew and flew, laughing and cheering and teasing each other. "This is the longest I've ever seen Moony on a broomstick!" Sirius yelled over to James. He looked at Remus. "Been a while since you've had something nice and solid between your legs, huh, Remus?"
"That's not what I heard last night!" James shouted, grinning. He spun around a few times, hooting.
They flew until it was dark, and they nearly missed dinner. They ran into the Great Hall while it was nearly empty and had ten loud, obnoxious minutes at the dinner table, then James and Sirius stuffed all they could into their robes, though later they would regret the greasy chicken in their pockets.
"Well, good luck getting Peter back unto a broomstick," James said.
"Hey, I'll do it again!" Peter exclaimed. "I stayed kind of low most of the time, yeah, but it was fun still . . ."
"Even Lupin went higher than you," Sirius said. "And he's Lupin!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Remus asked.
Sirius hit him in the shoulder, pushing him into James. "You know what it means," he said. They passed Terence Parker, and Sirius watched him scratch his neck for a moment before grinning. He put his arm around Remus's shoulder. "Hey, Moony, I've got a brilliant idea..."
--
The next day, news of itching powder in Terence Parker's underpants spread quickly and the usual teachers found the students they looked for first when this sort of thing usually happened. "Now, I like you two, but you just can't continue this sort of behavior," Professor Slughorn was telling James and Sirius. "I'm not quite sure how you even got to Parker's underpants – I'm assuming there was a Slytherin also involved, hmm?"
"Horace, stop being so soft on them!" McGonagall swept over. "You two – double detention. Friday night at eleven in my office."
"Oh, McGonagall, we weren't the only ones!" James said, sounding like a six year old.
She raised her eyebrows. "I doubt even Mr. Pettigrew and Mr. Lupin would sink this low," she said.
"Well, you shouldn't!" James exclaimed. "Really, why do we always get in trouble? They go along with it all!"
A few moments later, McGonagall had given Peter and Remus detentions, also. "You said you wouldn't tell her I was involved," Remus said miserably. "I told you my prefect rights could be taken away."
"I didn't say anything!" Sirius said. He pointed at James. "It was all him."
"Aubrey won't shut up about it!" Remus said. "I told him I told the three of you off for it, but if he thinks I had a part in it –"
"You did the prank with us, Moony!" James said. "You didn't have a problem with it last night at four in the morning when we snuck into the Slytherin dungeons –"
"I'm Remus Lupin – I hate my life and I hate my friends!" Sirius threw himself unto the ground, moaning. "Woe is me! To be or not to be! That is the question! To live or die –"
"You've got it all wrong," Remus said. He fished through his trunk, then threw a copy of Hamlet at Sirius.
After an excruciatingly long Double Potions, in which Sirius would not stop harassing Severus Snape about writing in his book, Snape responded by throwing it at him after class, to which Sirius responded with a nasty hex, to which Slughorn responded with twenty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin and two more detentions for Sirius.
"He threw that book at me!" Sirius said viciously. His forehead was cut and bleeding. "What was I supposed to do, just laugh and walk away?" He scowled at a second year.
"Sirius, stop storming around," Remus said. He took Sirius's shoulder and turned him to face him. "Don't move."
"What are you doing?" Sirius asked, moving away from him.
Remus flicked his wand and Sirius's forehead healed.
"Oh, of course you can do magic without having to say the words with spells we haven't even learned yet," Peter said.
"Thanks," Sirius said gruffly. Then he continued storming down the corridors, ranting about Snape and Slughorn.
To James's enjoyment, Paul and Lily were spending less and less time together. Paul was caught up in Quidditch and homework was piling up before Easter break. Lily still regarded James will cool dislike, and James didn't see the necklace for a very long time.
--
A/N: I wish Valentine's Day in real life were that exciting haha. LazyBoyGilmore, Totally Crazy and Hyper, and pyscho-pyro-shrink: thanks for the reviews!
Next chapter: A haircut, a love-gone-dry, a few ice cubes down someone's robe, a friendly chat, and some more fun stuff.