Disclaimer: See Prologue

A/N: Why, hello there. Long time, no see. I haven't had a lot of inspiration for this as I have barely seen my lovelies all summer, let alone taken pictures but we finally met up last Monday and took the "Where Dwell" photographs which (when they are finished, I will post a link to for anyone who's interested).

The awkward silence had descended. Harry winced but said nothing, choosing instead to flick through the box, pulling out a photograph of his father and Peter and staring intently at it, frowning.

"So, if he'd had more of a spine, I would have had a family."

"Your father had a perfectly good spine, Harry."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really? For someone with a perfectly good spine, he seemed to rely a lot on other people's opinions."

Alarm bells were starting to ring for Lupin who fiddled with the sleeves of his shirt. "Harry, I understand you're upset."

"I'm not upset."

"No," agreed Lupin. "You're angry; which leads to upset. I'm very sorry for jumping the gun, as it were."

He sounded like his teacher again and, much as Harry wanted to glare at him, he couldn't.

"I've said I'm sorry so many times that if I say it again, it'll lose all meaning. I really can't even tell you how I feel."

Harry nodded. "I know."

"And please don't think badly of him, Harry. He was trying to do his best for you."

"I know."

1978

"I know what'll cheer you up."

Lupin stared into his tea, stirring yet another cube of sugar into it. "Murdering Travers?"

James drummed his fingers against the cabinet. "Not quite. I was thinking maybe a night out with us or something. A night that doesn't end with scenes apt for a fourteenth century execution."

Lupin shook his head. "I haven't got any money, remember?"

"That's okay. We can go somewhere free."

Lupin took a sip of piping hot tea and James winced, wondering just how many taste buds his friend had burnt off.

"Where do you suggest then?"

James flashed him an odd smile. "I thought we might go orienteering. You know, wandering round the countryside looking for clues. I thought it might take your mind off things for a bit."

Lupin raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? And the fact that you have wanted us to do this every summer for the past six years has nothing to do with it whatsoever, does it?"

"Of course not. I'm just concerned about my best mate…and I'd like us to do it." James grinned. "Come on. You know you want to."

"Can we ask Travers?"

James sighed, exasperated. "Will you shut the fuck up about Travers?"

For the first time in weeks, Remus Lupin genuinely smiled. "No, come on. I want to murder him in the woods. Say, Travers, is it just me or do you hear a banjo on the other side of the river?"

James only raised an eyebrow. "Say, Lupin, is it just me or have you gone completely bonkers?"

"You've never seen 'Deliverance' then?"

"I'm not sure I want to."

Lupin sighed. "All right. Let's do it. Let's go orienteering. It can't be worse than sitting around moping."

James, having finally got his own way, was somewhat reluctant. "You know, Remus, maybe you're right. Maybe you need a little more time."

"No, I want to do it. Let's go."

James bit his lip. It was certainly true that Remus had perked up since this mystery girl from school had been to see him, but whether he was ready to be a Marauder again was another matter. Maybe he wasn't ready to laugh.

"Remus-"

"Yes, yes, and thrice yes. Let's do it. Wherever he is, Dad's pissed off that I'm not doing anything, so yes." He was almost panicked now and seemed on the verge of actually pushing James out of the back door and into the chicken coop.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

The door knocked.

"Remus?"

The familiar half-Worcestershire, half-Italian accent rang through the porch and into the kitchen.

"You are trying to get rid of me." James grinned. "Come in, Miss Costello, do." Turning to Lupin with a smug smile, he widened his eyes behind his spectacles. "Why didn't you tell me it was Costello?"

Lupin cleared his throat. "I didn't think you'd approve."

"No, funny that."

"Hello, James."

James took a deep breath and managed an icily polite, "Good afternoon."

Lupin groaned. This was not going to work out the way he had intended.

"North. Which way is north?"

James, dressed to the nines in half a Muggle camping shop, grinned. "Um…whichever way the compass is pointing, Wormy. It always points north."

Peter made somewhat disconcerting noises. "But it's…er…it's pointing north whichever direction I point it in."

"Oh, that's it." Sirius tightened his hood. "Lost out in the woods in the rain. Yes, James, fantastic idea. I don't know why we haven't done it before."

"Isn't the North Star the brightest in the sky?"

"No, that's Sirius."

Sirius grinned.

"Not you. Twat." James sighed. "Besides, Wormy. It doesn't matter which it is because to see them, it would have to be night, wouldn't it?"

Lupin rolled his eyes. "I'm not staying here at night. It's creepy enough in the afternoon."

Sirius made a face. "You might not have a choice."

Lupin sighed. "We can Apparate."

"Not if people can see us."

"Frankly, Peter, it's a risk I'm willing to take."

James immediately set off at a brisk pace, radiating confidence. He was shortly followed by Peter who had to trot to keep up.

"Oh, that's just fucking fantastic," snapped Sirius. "So not only has Potter obviously lost his mind, but Pettigrew's buggered off with the map. Happy days."

Lupin bit back his smile. "Hey, who were the best cartographers? We'll be all right. Come on. Buck up."

Sirius trudged after him, his worry that he was traipsing round the marshes with Mary Poppins only increasing as time went on. Best cartographers or no, he wanted to be back in James' back garden with his bike. He knew where he was with spanners. Compasses were a different matter entirely - which was irrelevant as Peter had decided to do a disappearing act with it.

"James?"

Lupin frowned. "Stop shouting. There might be mountain people about."

"Remus, this is the Lake District, not Alabama."

"Sirius?"

"James!"

James clambered out from amongst the bushes. "Thank Christ. Have we…are we just…I've seen this before, I'm sure of it."

Lupin rolled his eyes. "Right. So that's seventy-five percent of us alive and well."

Sirius frowned. "What happened to Peter? You two buggered off."

"Well, he said we had to go straight down and then he sort of half-ran-half-fell down a really muddy hill and you know, this coat is new."

"That's it. He's probably being made to squeal like a pig somewhere," said Lupin, dryly.

"Remus, I have no idea what the hell has got into you lately, but you've become quite sinister."

Sirius glared darkly. "You say that and you haven't spent the whole afternoon with him going on about toothless mountain dwellers and Kappas."

"Well, there's only one thing for it," said James. "We'll just have to wait for him to find us. There's no use us splitting up and wandering around looking for him."

Lupin sighed deeply. "James, that only works with children and the last place they saw you. Since Peter is not a child and God knows where you two parted company, there's little point. What's important is our lack of a crossbow."

Sirius shared a confused glance with his best friend. "What?"

"Well, if any mountain dwellers are about to make him squeal, we've just got to shoot them in the back. Was I the only one who researched to come?"

"Researched?" Sirius repeated. "What the fuck were you looking at? How did it get into the public domain?"

"It's a film," said Lupin, darkly. "Someone could be watching us right now."

"Don't be ridiculous, Remus."

James shivered and slowly turned to find a pair of eyes atop the nearest mountain. "Oh my fucking God! Okay, Moony, I'll do whatever you say."

Sirius frowned, staring back at it. Whatever it was, was clearly pleased they were there. Lupin was right. It was a mountain man. Or a hill-man seeing as they were still just out of Glenridding.

"Okay, Remus, if you want a crossbow, we'll make you a crossbow."

"Why? I can't fire one."

James scoffed. "At the end of the day, who is going to go near three blokes with a crossbow?"

Lupin peered out to the horizon. "Sodomising, toothless inbreds."

"Why didn't you tell me you had invited my parents?"

"Sirius, now really isn't the time."

Sirius smirked. "Maybe it's Travers. Did he RSVP, Moons? Maybe he's wondering why we didn't wait for him."

James ran his hands through his hair. "Will you stop going on about it? He's only been dragged out here to forget about fucking Travers!"

Lupin raised an eyebrow. "You needn't have gone to the trouble. I have never been inclined to do so."

"Very bloody funny, Moony. The fact remains that something or someone is watching us up there."

"Get your wands out then," said Lupin. "I do not believe that I am talking to two aspiring Aurors who when faced with danger, immediately want to fashion a crossbow and run."

"Shall we stun it?"

"What? All three of us? We'd kill it."

Lupin laughed. "Don't flatter yourself. You're not that good."

James raised his eyebrows and smirked. "I wouldn't worry about Moony, Pad. He's crabby with everyone. He's sexually frustrated, see."

"Prongs, he's been sexually frustrated since he was thirteen."

"Shut up."

"And you'll never guess who he's shagging."

This perked Sirius up. "Whoa. What? You have a love life and you didn't tell me?"

Lupin glared at James. "Well, look what happened last time." Sirius fell silent. "I'm not talking about you finding Mulciber banging the beejesus out of her in a closet. I'm talking about you making her life hell for seven years."

Sirius smirked. "She deserved it in the end. I was just better with my tea leaves than you were."

Lupin clicked his tongue and sighed (the closest to furious he ever really got without the aid of chewing gum). "Only because I didn't take the subject."

"What are you implying?"

"That Divination is the easiest subject to pass and you pair still managed to fail it."

"How's it easy?"

"You just bullshit your way through an exam, but you've got no sense of scale, have you? Everyone was apparently dead by the following day and we'd all been betrayed by our best friends and murdered in our beds."

"What would you have done then, oh wise one?"

James' mouth dropped open. "I hardly think that matters right now. Can we get back to the matter in hand please? I would quite like to go home to Lily in one piece and I'm sure Remus wants to keep a certain something for Costello."

"You're shagging Gemini?"

Lupin buried his face in his hands. "Look, she's underage so…"

"Paedophile."

"Piss off!"

James smirked. "You'd have to tell him some time."

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know what your problem is with her. I like her. And she's fucking hot." He pointed his wand at the large, brown blob above them. "Stupefy." It tumbled down the hillside. "I couldn't let him die. He's only eighteen, and dying in the Lake District having only ever shagged Fat Annie is a punishment I wouldn't even wish on Voldemort."

Lupin smirked. "Oh, shut it."

"And I don't know why you went back to her either, not when you had a very foxy lady wanting to jump you."

"Sirius, will you please shut up now? It was a relapse. She got me drunk."

Sirius froze, staring at the rolling body headed straight for him. "Peter?"

"You killed him," muttered James. "And we watched you do it. Moon, what does your source say to do?"

"Bury him in the river and weigh him down with rocks."

"Right. Brill."

"Sirius! It was sarcasm! You just stunned him."

"I want to go home."

Lupin turned to James. "If ever I hear the 'O' word pass your lips again, I'm going to skin you alive, okay? We've been orienteering. We know what it entails. Now let's never speak of it again."

CLICK!

"I just had to get that picture of Peter. You know…research purposes only."

James was horrified. "Well, don't leave me in it with him. He looks like a corpse."

Lupin faked innocence. "Too late now."

"All right, but not a word - or a photograph - to Lily."

Lupin smirked back. "Fair enough. Are you going to be nice to Gem?"

James sighed. "I'll try."

"Okay. Well, I'll try not to drop the photo in your living room then."

James clicked his tongue. "Whatever. Pick up Peter with me."