The Untold Story

Chapter 9: The Marauder's Beginning… sort of

September 3, 1971

"Psst." James hissed from the top bunk.

"What do you want?" Sirius groaned before turning away.

"I've been thinking…." James started. "Oy! Don't fall asleep!" He chucked a pillow at the still form of his friend.

"Ugh…" Sirius glared at him from the bottom bunk. "What in Merlin's name was that for?"

"As I said, I've been thinking about what happened to Lily." Sirius raised his eyebrow.

"You woke me up to talk about Evans? Are you kidding?"

"Come on mate, be serious." James said.

"I am Sirius." Sirius said with a tired but charming grin.

"Shut up." James chuckled. "You know what I mean. But anyway, I was thinking: What if we prank Snape?" Sirius frowned.

"Why?"

"Because he obviously hurt Lily flower, and we can't have slimy gits like him trying to hurt one of us."

"You're just trying to get Evans to notice you. Don't worry, if you really want to ask her out, I'll help you. Andy says to not do anything desperate, girls don't like that." Sirius said before turning away.

"It's not about… nevermind." James sighed before trying again. "Come on! Please! It'll be fun!"James promised. Sirius grumbled internally. He had two options: get Severus mad or get James, his only friend other than Reggie, upset.

"On one condition. No one can know it was us." Sirius finally agreed.

"Okay." James nodded easily. "It's not like we want to get expelled during our first week anyway. Mom would murder me." Sirius smirked.

"Yeah? You're so unlucky." Sirius said sarcastically. James snorted before shaking his head, his messy hair looking even more disastrous than usual. "So what do you have in mind?"

"What if we hang him upside down?" James wondered.

"That's breaking our first condition." Sirius said monotonously.

"Fine. Oh, I got it. What if we dye his hair?" James asked. "Does that violate your code of ethics too?"

"What color?" Sirius asked as he pondered which spells he could use to change the color of someone's hair.

"Hot pink." James exclaimed.

"You know dying all the Slytherins hair to hot pink would be even better. Or Gryffindor colors." Sirius added. James's eyes lit up.

"Brilliant! I like the way you think!" He grinned. Sirius sighed internally. At least now Snape wouldn't be marginalized.

"Let's change their hair color to scarlet and gold. What do you say?" James asked.

"Okay... Now go to bed." Sirius said.

"What? But wait! We have to do it tonight!" James whined. Sirius stared at him irritably. James pouted.

"Yeah? And how do you suppose we'll sneak into the Slytherin common room at night?" Sirius asked.

"Well, your cousins are Slytherins, right? They must have told you the password at some point."

"They haven't."

"Okay, okay. Then we could just do it at breakfast tomorrow." James said.

"What a brilliant idea! I mean, it's not like that sort of magic isn't taught to first years at all!"

"Wow, has anyone told you that you get really sarcastic when you're cranky?"

"No, I'm too charming for someone to say anything mean to me." Sirius sighed as he watched his best friend pout. Groaning, Sirius rolled out of bed and started to rummage around his trunk.

"What are you doing?" James asked.

"Well, if we want to pull this off tomorrow, we're going to need a plan." Sirius said as he sat down with a piece of parchment and a quill. "Oh, and we might have to snag a charms or transfiguration textbook from one of the seniors."

James grinned. "I'm on it, captain!" He saluted Sirius before quietly running out of the room. Sirius sighed, if anyone figures out that it's them, they're going to be in big trouble.

A few hours later, the two boys irritably skimmed through another textbook. "I can't find anything!" James moaned. "And my back aches."

"Just remember this was your idea." Sirius gritted his teeth as he tried to ignore the dull ache in his back.

"We've been at this for hours." James stretched his back and closed his textbooks. Looking over at Sirius, he found the dark haired boy seriously scribbling something down onto the piece of parchment that was now covered with notes and indistinguishable symbols. "Sirius, let's try it again tomorrow okay?" Sirius looked up, the relief evident on his face.

"Thank Merlin." the older boy muttered before falling to his side and closing his eyes.

James blinked as his friend slept on the floor. He contemplated between waking his friend up to sleep in bed or letting him go to sleep on the floor. He'll be fine, James decided, gently taking away the textbook from his friend and draping a blanket over the still form of Sirius Black. "Good night." he whispered before running out of the room to return the textbooks to their rightful owners.

September 4, 1971

"Oi, James, Sirius." the two boys opened their eyes to find Remus looking at them with concern. "Are you two okay?" James nodded, while Sirius yawned.

"We… didn't… get… much sleep last night." Sirius said between his yawn.

"Which reminds me, we should probably go to the library." James said before grabbing Sirius's arm and dragging him off the bench.

Sirius protested and quickly snagged a piece of toast. "See you later!" James called as the two boys exited the Great Hall.

"What's up with those two?" Marlene asked quizzically.

"I wouldn't know." Remus said.

"And I don't want to know." Alice said as she sat down next to Lily.

"How are you feeling Lily? You seemed down yesterday." Remus asked kindly.

"I'm fine." Lily smiled before looking at him with concern. "You look really pale. Are you okay?"

Remus blinked, startled, before quickly composing himself. "Really? I should probably go to the Hospital Wing to get it checked out later. Now that you mention it, I've been feeling a little ill lately. Excuse me." he said before he too got up and left.

Meanwhile at the Slytherin table, Severus tried to catch Lily's eye and was being blatantly ignored by said redhead.

Of course she'd ignore me, Severus though glumly. She's got plenty of other friends, one person won't make such a difference in her life. At least she looks happy, Severus thought as he watched his friend interact with her peers.

"You look down." A cool voice said from behind Severus. Immediately, the first year's back straightened.

"I don't know what you mean." Severus replied calmly. Lucius slipped into the empty space next to him.

"Well, maybe things have turned out for the better." Lucius said thoughtfully.

"You think so?" Severus said, before realizing he had said that out loud. He mentally scolded himself for that slip up.

"Do you not?" Lucius's frigid tone warned Severus of the turbulent waters they'd just entered.

"Only time can tell."

"That's true but be cautious of who you reveal that fact to. Your situation is still a little precarious. Not to mention, you're display from yesterday caught the attention of some of the older students." The blonde scolded before elegantly spooning some porridge into his mouth.

"You offer me so much advice, I can't help but wonder why." Severus replied smoothly.

"That might change if you're not careful."

"Then help me."

"And why, pray tell, would I do that?" Lucius asked.

"I'll be in your debt, will I not? Surely, one day, I can help you as you have helped me." The two watched as the rest of the students went on with their morning routine. The rest of the world, it seemed, was ignorant of the political ties that were being made.

"You still have to pay me."

"For the advice you've given me? If I may, I'd like to point out that you gave those snippets of information of your own free will. Therefore, as of now, I do not owe you anything." At Severus's statement Lucius chuckled quietly.

"For a first year, you know how to play well. Alright then. I'll help you, but on one condition: you will obey me during your time here and afterward if I do call on you for your aid, no matter what it be, you will unquestioningly fulfill the task I give you." Lucius looked down at Severus. "Do you accept these terms?"

"During your time here, my time here, or our time here? And how many times would you call on me for aid?" Severus asked, quickly spotting the issues with the proposal.

"Well if you want to gain any semblance of influence within Slytherin, you will follow every direction that I give you within my time here. Afterward, you will, unquestioningly, answer my call for aid for a maximum of 3 times."

"Are those the terms of the condition then?"

"Perhaps."

"Answer the question clearly."

"Fine. You will follow my command while I attend school here, and then you owe me three favors. That is my proposal. Is that clear enough?"

"Crystal."

"If you break any of these terms…" Lucius chuckled dryly. "Trust me when I tell you I can make your life a living hell." The older boy slid off the bench. "Have a good day Severus."

The young boy started after the blond man, his onyx eyes darkened considerably. I wonder how long it'll take for me to pay that Severus wondered before he turned back to his unfinished breakfast. Deciding he no longer felt hungry, he stood and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Hurry up and get it!" Sirius groaned as he supported James on his shoulders.

"Stay still for a moment, you keep shaking, and I need to get a bit higher!" James protested as he stretched his hand towards the book they were trying to reach.

"Stop complaining. You try doing this." Sirius gritted his teeth as he tried not to fall over.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing!?" Sirius and James whipped their heads around, lost their balance, and fell. They lay there for a moment, before Sirius lifted his head up to spot his cousin looking at him furiously. "Je demande une explication (I demand an explanation)."

"Nous sommes tombés (We fell)." Sirius said sarcastically as he sat up and rubbed his head.

"Guys. English please. And someone please help me." James said from his spot on the floor.

Andy sighed before helping her cousin and James to their feet.

"We were trying to get a book." James started to explain before Andy cut him off.

"Wow, you read?" Andy asked sarcastically.

"You wound me cousin, truly." Sirius feigned a hurt expression. Finally, Andy looked up at the book and back at the boys.

"Use your heads. Are you wizards or not?" she asked. Both boys looked at each other before internally smacking themselves. Andy smiled, ruffled Sirius's hair, and walked away.

After fixing his hair, Sirius took out his wand and muttered "Wingardium Leviosa."

"It was more fun without the magic." James complained as the two boys went to sit down at a table.

"It was also a lot more painful." Sirius said as he opened the book.

"Details." James waved his hand as if that gestured explained everything. Sirius grinned at him before pointing at the book.

"Come on, otherwise we'll never get this done."

The rest of the day passed by rather peacefully: the boys still didn't find anything useful, Severus was still sulking, and Lily still felt a little hurt and confused. By dinner, everyone was ready to go to bed. They were all so exhausted that they didn't notice that a first year was missing.

"I can't take this anymore." Sirius let his head drop onto the textbook. This was their second day researching. "We've looked at every charms and transfiguration book."

"Well we did find those few spells." James pointed out as he leaned back tiredly.

"Yeah, but they all involved us revealing ourselves!"

"I know, but we'll use them as back up." James said

"In the worst case scenario, we could experiment with them a little and see what we can do."

"Hey guys!" The boys turned to see Peter running towards them. "Have you guys seen Remus anywhere?"

"No."

"Sorry."

"What are you guys doing?" Peter asked.

"Studying." the two replied smoothly.

"That reminds me, I have to find my potions textbook." Peter said. Sirius perked up. Potions, they'd never thought to look for potions. Sirius mentally hit himself. James seemed to be having the same thought process.

"Peter you're a genius my man!" James said before hugging Peter. Peter, who was a bit surprised, jumped and shot a terrified look at Sirius.

"Uhh… I am?" Peter squeaked uncertainty.

"Yes, you are. Thank you." James yelled as he ran out of the aisle. Sirius stood to go follow him.

"Don't mind him, he's crazy. As for Remus, have you checked the courtyard. The weather's nice, maybe he went out." Sirius told Peter.

"Oh, I'll do that. Thanks." Peter said before running out of the library.

Sirius smiled before walking over to James, who was pouring over a potions book. "How could we have been so stupid!" James said before pointing at a page. "I found it, a hair color changing potion."

"Great. Now we just have to change it to our needs. And I could easily slip it into the pumpkin juice a the Slytherin table." Sirius grinned.

"This is going to be brilliant." James said as the two quickly scanned the ingredients. "But some of these ingredients might be a bit hard to find."

"We can just steal some from Slughorn, I'm sure he won't notice." Sirius muttered.

James looked at Sirius. "I think I'm being a bad influence on you."

"Oh dear, think about what my mother will say when she finds out I've committed the biggest crime ever: stealing from a - gasp - teacher." Sirius mocked before laughing.

Severus walked around the castle aimlessly as he tried to think about what he'd say to Lily when he saw her. "Lily, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean anything I said. Will you forgive me?" Severus shook his head. No, that wouldn't do. Lily would never accept such a willy-washy excuse. Maybe he could do something else? Yeah, like what he thought to himself. Quickly he pushed his thoughts aside, he had to focus. "Lily, I'm so sorry. These past couple of days have been a bit rough for me. I'm sorry for taking it out on you. It'll never happen again, promise." Severus couldn't help but internally smile at the perfect apology. Turning the corner, he felt a blur of black crash into him before he fell.

"Hey! That…" he looked to his side to see a pair of familiar green eyes that looked a little shocked at the moment. Everything that he had planned on saying evaporated into smoke. "Uh… I… um…" Get it together Severus, he mentally scolded himself as he stood and offered Lily his hand. "I'm sorry." he said weakly, before internally smacking himself upside the head.

"Me too. Are you okay?" Lily asked as she took his hand.

"I'm fine." Severus mumbled as he pulled his best friend to her feet. "Hey… um… about the other day…" Lily interrupted him.

"Sorry, I have to go, if I'm late Alice and Marlene will kill me. See you later." Lily said as she quickly walked away.

Severus blinked, before turning on his heel. That went well Severus thought glumly as he headed towards the dungeons. This year is going to be the best he thought sarcastically as he remembered the promise he made Malfoy.

Meanwhile, as Lily walked away from her best friend her heart weighed heavily against her chest. In truth, she didn't have to go meet Alice or Marlene. She just didn't know what else to say. I'm so confused Lily thought as she tiredly rubbed her head. When did things get so awkward Lily asked herself as she headed towards the Gryffindor common room. "Hey!" Marlene greeted as she walked in.

"Hi." Lily waved weakly before taking the steps to the dorm. I'll sleep it off Lily decided. Everything will be better tomorrow, I can apologize and everything will go back to normal Lily thought as she drifted off into a restless sleep.

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