Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. Harry Potter is owned the glorious J.K. Rowling. I do not intend to pass it off as mind. I can't afford do deal with lawyers (shudder). This has in no way approved by J.K. Rowling.
Author's Note: Almost finished with Haunted. Yeah boy! I can't believe. It seemed like just yesterday I started on Life as A Black. I am so excited to get to work on the third story. I remember the first time I read the Prisoner of Azkaban. I loved the Marauders storyline in the book. This story has been pleasure writing.
Ch. 18 Marauder Trial
The boys were doing Remus' favorite thing, homework. At least he agreed they good do it in their dorm room. The common room was nosy and Remus wanted a quiet place to study. They had just got back from dinner. Peter was having trouble writing because he was bitten by a plant in Herbology that day. Remus was deeply engrossed in writing a potions essay. Sirius glanced at his work hoping to get a good view of it. He was nearly finished with it and need some idea for a conclusion
"No" Remus said rolling up the parchment. Sirius glared at him. James sighed rolling up his essay. James hated writing essays. He didn't like potion either. He preferred charms or transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.
"I think I'll go to bed soon. I'm beat" James said yawning. He had well defined shadows under his eyes that rivaled Remus'.
"You haven't been sleeping well at all. I hear you move in your sleep" Remus said with concern. James' bed was near Remus' so it was not unusual. They claimed that Remus had the comfortable bed, which greatly annoyed them. Remus claimed he needed the bed for his back. Sirius knew he was lying.
"No I haven't. Sometimes I don't fall asleep at all. Last night was my third night in a row I didn't sleep" James sighed. Remus was livid.
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME, YOU HAVEN'T SLEEP FOR THREE DAYS AND YOU HAVEN'T WENT TO MADAM POLMFREY YET" Remus roared. He had thrown his book aside.
"Moons relax. There's nothing really she could give me. Besides I don't want to go to the hospital wing for ever little problem. I use to never have any problems but now it one thing after another" James said softly. Peter gave him a look of pity and patted him on the back.
"You broke a rule" Remus told James.
"No I haven't" James said scandalized. He greatly upheld the Marauder rules that they made up the previous year. So far only Remus and Peter had broke the rules. Which had reminded Sirius of something.
"You know you didn't punish Wormtail for breaking the Lying to fellow Marauders rule" Sirius told him. Peter sent him a look that clearly said traitor.
"Your right!" James said. He looked like he was thinking hard.
"You can't punish without trial" Remus said rolling his eyes. Remus' dad worked in wizard law. Sirius wondered why the Lupins were poor because it was a well paying job. Sirius suspected it had something to do with Remus being a werewolf.
"Fine then we'll have a trial. Peter, sit in the middle. Remus, you go sit next to Sirius. You two can be the juries also, Remus you can defend Peter, and Sirius and be the prosecutor. I am going to be the judge" James said bossily. They did as they were told. They knew it was better to humor James then to argue.
"Now, you all may address me as your honor or your Maraudership" James said. Remus rolled his eyes.
"Can I give the opening statement, your honor" Remus said rolling his eyes at the last part.
"Yes you may Counselor Lupin" He said with dignity.
"You're Maraudership. The defendant, Mr. Peter Thomas Pettigrew didn't knowingly break Marauder law. We didn't ask him if he had a brother, there for he didn't break rule number 1 of said rules." Remus said looking stern.
"I object your honor" Sirius thundered banging is fist on the ground. James was fighting not to crack a smile.
"Why is that Counselor Black" James asked.
"Peter did knowingly broke the rule, worse of all he didn't even say he was sorry. Besides how can you listen to a known rule breaker" Sirius added cheekily at Remus.
"Are there evidence to such a charge" James said seriously.
"Yes. A first year, by the name of Jack Smith" Sirius said.
"Yes I have a statement from Mr. Smith" James said holding up his essay.
"You do?" Peter said confused.
"No not really. Ok the jury will deliberate." James said pointing to Sirius and Remus.
"Ok know what is the jury's verdict." James said.
"GUILTY" Sirius boomed. Remus smirked.
"Alright, what is his sentence?" James asked.
"I say have him run around the castle ground stalkers" Sirius said hopefully. He wanted someone to do it. Nudity was always what Sirius suggested.
"NO" James, Remus, and Peter said together. Sirius was put out. They never went with his suggestions.
"I say have him sing, I'm a little tea pot in front of our potions class." Remus said. James liked the idea.
"And he was to wear a tutu" James said. Sirius nodded in agreement
"Tomorrow" Peter asked. They nodded. Peter's face went pink. Apparently the punishment was embarrassing enough.
"That will teacher you to respect the sacred ancient rules such as the Marauders' rules. " James said shaking his head vigorously. Sirius smirked. When James broke one of the rules there was going to be some definitely smugness. He knew that Remus personally would make sure the punishment will be embarrassing.
"Court dismissed" James said banging his potion book on the ground like a gavel. Sirius let out a hearty laugh. Leave it to James Potter to be dramatic.
An earsplitting scream woke him up. Sirius must have jumped feet into the air. There was thrashing on the opposite side of the room. It was James bed. Remus got to the bed before him.
"James, James" Remus said shaking him. Peter looked at the scene terrified. It looked like he was having some short of seizure. James eyes shot right open.
"What. What" He said confused.
"Were you having a nightmare?" Sirius asked.
"Yes. Ouch my side hurts" James said lifting up his shirt. There were three deep scratches on his side. They looked alarmingly fresh.
"Where did you get those?" Remus asked trying not to sound panicked.
"I don't know. I didn't have them when I went to sleep." James looked at the clock and eyes widen. "Blimey I only was asleep for thirty minutes." James groaned. He seemed unconcerned about the scratches that seemed to appear out of know where.
"James you got to go to Madam Pomfrey about you sleeping problems. Nothing is working. Maybe she could at least give you something to sleep. I also would get those scratches looked at they look infected" Remus told him.
"Nothing works. You're not my mother Remus, don't tell me what to do" James said irritably. Sirius was taken aback. James wasn't like this normally. He especially never snapped at Remus before like that.
"I'm going back to sleep after I clean up the bit of blood" James snapped. He got out of the four poster beds and stomped out of the room. Sirius and Remus looked at one another lost for words.
"Ok that wasn't right" Remus whispered to Sirius and Peter.
"He wasn't fazed with those scratches. They looked really painful." Peter said.
"They did look really nasty" Sirius agreed. They looked fresh and already infected. It didn't make sense because if he was scratched up like that he would at least make more of a fuss then James did.
"We got to take to someone about it. James is getting slightly worse. He is even having trouble breathing before I woke him up" Remus told them. Sirius suddenly had a strong appreciation for Remus's incredibly hearing.
"He needs help" Sirius agreed. Remus eyes suddenly wided.
"What's wrong?" Peter asked.
"Where is the map?" Remus asked panicked.
"On my side table" Sirius said. Remus grabbed the map.
"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good" Remus said quickly. He looked at the map.
"Come with me" Remus said. "Quickly" He added. He didn't answer the questioning look on his face. Peter and Sirius followed him. They found James passed out on the boy bathroom floor.
"James" Sirius said shaking him.
"Let go of me" James said suddenly pushing Sirius.
"James" Remus called
"Where is my cloak? I need my cloak. You took it from me and I want it back" James said looking murderously at Sirius.
"I don't have your cloak James. It's in your trunk" Sirius reminded him. There was something familiar about the look in James eyes. It wasn't the hatred in them, since James never looked at him like that before. He had a sudden idea about what was going on.
"I'm Harry. You sneaky prat" He said furious.
"Come on. We'll bring you to it." Sirius said helping him up. Out of know where James punched him. Sirius looked at his hand to see blood. He looked at himself in the mirror. His lip was bleeding.
"I'll take him" Remus said. He led James out of the room. Peter grabbed a napkin and gave it to Sirius.
"What is wrong with that boy?" Peter asked.
"I don't know but I'm beginning to think it's not ever getting better" Sirius told him.
James didn't remember anything. He was horrified to see Sirius's lip. It was still swollen from where James punched him. They went down to breakfast early. They were forcing James to go to the Hospital Wing afterward.
"Oh who did that to your lip Black? I want to send them a thank you card" Snape said nastily.
"Shut up Snivellus!" Sirius snapped. He wasn't in the mood. James looked really guilty.
"I have an idea" Remus said trying to lighten the mood.
"What?" James said taken a bit of toast. Sirius was relieved that he perked up. Trust Remus to cheer people up.
"What do we say we do our first school wide prank?" Remus asked them. Sirius was very excited about this.
"What do you have in mind?" James asked.
"I don't know. It has to be sometime during meals. Nothing to complicated, just something to entertain the student body." Remus told them.
"We could make it flood in the great hall." Peter suggested. James looked thoughtfully.
"I know a spell that could do it" James said. He flicked his want "redim lucid" He said. The pumpkin juice on the house table began to bubble. It took a while for each goblet full of pumpkin juice to start bubbling.
"what's going on" A Ravenclaw shouted.
"Let's leave before anyone notice. Don't look suspicious" James whispered to them. They got up slowly. From what they heard there was at least 7 inches of pumpkin juice on the floor before the teachers vanished it away. For good measure James made it rain in the Great Hall.
"That was so great!" Sirius said brightly.
"Everybody was soaked." Peter chuckled.
"It must have counted as Snape's monthly shower" James said holding his sides.
"His hair definitely looked less greasy" Sirius said.
"Hey, James did you go to the hospital wing?" Remus asked him sudden. James looked at him. It couldn't be plainer he wished the question wasn't asked.
"No" James said going pink. He gave Remus and apologetic look.
"And why not?" Remus asked.
"Because. I have an idea on how to make it all go away." James said.
"What's that" Peter asked.
"Well there is this ritual you do. It's kinda hard to explain. I'll have to ask Amber for help" James said.
"James I don't know if that's a good idea. Those old rituals were really intense." Remus him.
"What's the worst thing that can happen? If I don't do anything I might add up worse than before. I can't deal with this anymore. If you guys didn't find me I could have done something extremely stupid. I'm not myself. This might help me get back the old me" James told him.
"Amber isn't even taking Divination. How could see do such a complicated ritual" Sirius asked him.
"It's worth a shot" James said determinedly. Remus tied.
"Remus how did you know James was in trouble?" Peter asked. Remus looked him, in confusion.
"You mean last night?" Remus asked.
"Yeah. You got a panicked look on your face" Sirius remembered.
"Oh that. I had this weird feeling. I 'm not sure." Remus told them. That reminded Sirius of the time when Remus was kidnapped by their old Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher and all three of them knew Remus was somewhere on the ground. Sirius didn't think of it at the time.
"That's odd" James frowned.
"Must be some sort of intuition" Remus shrugged.
"We need to get Amber. I want to do it as soon the ritual as soon as possible" James said. They both knew it was best not to argue and went to go look for Amber.
Next Chapter: A ritual and the Quidditch final. Sirius' summer plans are put in jeopardy. Peter going into third year is also put into question.