"What did the healers say?" Peter asked as they piled their rucksacks onto the overhead compartments. James sighed and fished out several of his school books and some parchment before grabbing an ink bottle and a quill.
"He has a case of Dragon Pox," James said.
Remus dropped his bag. "What?"
"He never had it as a kid and it's basically drained him," James sat down and stretched out his legs. "He sometimes handles stolen or repossessed goods and they have curses on them so that they are protected. The Healer thinks he got it from that. He'll take a few weeks to get over it."
Sirius found his way back to the carriage and slid the door shut angrily. The glass cracked in the frame.
"You alright Padfoot?" James asked as Remus waved his wand, fixing the glass.
"I am going to kill that little shit," Sirius said. He didn't sit down, he stood, visibly shaking in anger and curled his fists into tight balls.
"What happened?" Peter asked.
"Regulus. The little shit. That little shit." Sirius fumed. "My loving mother and father decided it would be okay to use him as leverage to drag me back to that hellhole."
James blinked. "Isn't Regulus one of the reasons that you left in the first place?"
"Yeah, they seem to have forgotten that major drawback." Sirius said. He flopped down on the chair and leaned back rubbing his eyes. "On the bright side, he likes my haircut. And I was eyed up by some very nice ladies on the way back."
"You have a girlfriend!" James sang opening his book.
"When has that ever stopped him?" Peter raised an eyebrow.
"Alas, my friend, you have a point…What homework did we have to do?" He glanced over at Remus.
"Oh no, not this year," Remus replied. "You forget what you have to do for homework, I'm not going to help you out,"
"Oh, seems Moony's finally grown a spine," Sirius said. "James, relax, your Quidditch Captain now, just explain to McGonagall that you were busy devising strategies all summer to win the cup."
"Actually Padfoot, that's not a bad idea," James said, pushing the books to the side.
"Oh come on," Remus said. "McGonagall is not going to buy that as an excuse."
"She might," James said.
Remus shook his head and leaned back on his chair as the pulled out of the station and began to pick up speed. James and Sirius nestled into their usual routine of playing games of Exploding Snap, showing off spells that they had learnt over the holidays. At one point almost catching Peter's shirt on fire and causing a patch of the seat to melt away completely. Peter had pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet and flicked through the pages quietly as Remus hummed a tune to himself.
"Do you think they would have repaired Hogsmede yet?" James asked.
"Fiendfyre is incredibly powerful. I doubt they could have waved their wands and simply repaired it." Sirius replied, turning the cards he held in his palm. "I'm more worried about Zonko's. And Madame Rosmerta's…"
"Trust you to think on your stomach and the pranks you pull." James laughed.
"Shut up,"
An hour or so later, Frank turned up accompanied by Alice and Mithradates. Alice and Frank were holding hands and announced that they had finally acknowledged how they felt about each other and wanted to give a relationship a try. Sirius remarked that he had no idea they even liked each other, let alone had ever seen the other speak in full sentences. This earned him a kick on the shin.
Mithradates and Remus set up a game of chess and became too involved in the game to even notice what was going on around them. They were well matched. Better than most at chess and certainly very tactical.
"So what do you think the Dress Robes are for?" Frank asked.
"I have no clue," Sirius said, scratching the back of his neck. "We thought maybe they were doing the TriWizard Tournament this year."
"They can't be," Alice said, curling her legs underneath her. "Right now they're pushing funds into the next Quidditch World Championships. That and repairing every goddamn city that the Death Eaters keep having a go at… The Ministry don't want to push money into Hogwarts for competitive and often violent dangerous games."
"Always the downer," James sighed.
"Besides why would you need dress robes for a TriWizard tournament?" Frank asked frowning.
"Not to wear in the games!" Sirius chortled. "They usually have a ball of some kind to celebrate the schools coming together as an act of peace."
"Oh," Frank fell back into his chair.
"What did you think you'd be facing dragons in sparkly purple robes?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I can see Dumbledore doing it, but not you Frank. And maybe Remus to an extent."
"Oi," Remus looked around.
"Do you even know what we're talking about?" Peter asked.
"No, but you know… I could tell it was an insult of some kind." Remus muttered.
"Your move," Mithradates said, drawing Remus back to the game.
"I'm looking forward to it," Alice said. "Whatever it is. I mean there's very little chance to have fun at Hogwarts."
"Well then you're not doing it right," James grinned. "There is plenty fun to be had in Hogwarts."
Alice opened her mouth to ask what they were talking about but Frank cut across with a very simple very stubborn; "No."
"Spoilsport," Alice fell back into her chair but giving a soft smile.
There was a tap at the window as the trolley lady appeared. James slid the door open and along with Peter purchased nearly everything except the liquorice wands. They flung the sweets into the middle encouraging everyone to help themselves.
"There are no liquorice wands," Sirius said looking through the sweets.
"No there are not," James said.
"Why?" Sirius said, cocking an eyebrow and looking dangerous.
"Because liquorice is the excrement of Satan," James replied.
"And suddenly I'm not hungry anymore," Alice said, putting her chocolate cupcake down.
"It is right up there with classic sweets!" Sirius cried.
"Yes and you are the only person who eats the stuff. Not in the carriage, not on the train, not just in Hogwarts, but everywhere. Everyone, everywhere, except you, Sirius, knows that liquorice should be exhumed from the planet."
"I like liquorice," Mithradates said as he lost his King to Remus.
James narrowed his eyes. "Remus please beat him in chess to make me feel better,"
"That's the general point of the game James," Remus said scratching his head and not looking around. "Until next time," He said, knocking down his queen and standing up, pinning his prefects badge to his jumper. "I'll be back in a little while." He promised.
"Where are you going?" Sirius asked.
"Prefects meeting," Remus said, pointing out of the carriage where Lily Evans stood with her arms folded and already in her school robes. James automatically went for his hair and ruffled it up slightly, causing Lily to roll her eyes. Remus gave them a small wave before leaving and the argument resumed over the liquorice wands.
"They are delicious,"
"That's what you said about Peter's cooking, doesn't mean it's true,"
"What's wrong with my cooking?"
The argument about liquorice sadly continued until they reached Hogwarts and they realised that they were not dressed appropriately. They shrugged their robes over their muggle clothing to avoid any real hassle and gathered their things falling out onto the platform. The Prefects held the doors open for the first years as the wandered past towards the massive figure at the end bellowing for them.
"Remember when we were that small?" Sirius sighed looking over at them. "Not a care in the world, young, brilliant and sparking with ideas. Of course Peter you were always small."
"Be nice," Remus said, appearing behind them, pulling on his robes.
"I thought you were only going to be gone for a little while." James said.
"It overran. There is something going on," Remus replied. "But Dumbledore has to make the official announcement."
"What?" James raised an eyebrow.
"You'll see." Remus replied as they made their way to the Horseless Carriages. Xeno was already sitting waiting to be joined by other people, but a few of the students were refusing to get on with him. James sighed and climbed up sitting opposite him and smiled.
"Hey man, how was your holiday?" He asked.
"Surprisingly unsurprising," Xeno replied.
"I hate sentence paradoxes," Remus muttered coarsely as he sat down opposite Peter.
Xeno didn't seem to hear Remus. The carriage moved along the beaten track and Hogsmede came into view from behind the trees. All of them leered, noticing that some of it had been rebuilt, but most of it still sat in ruin.
"Do you think the old passageways are still open?" Peter asked.
"I suspect so," Remus replied. "Or at least, I hope so." He gave a slight frown and then leaned forward peering through the dark to see the Shrieking Shack still standing majestically. He relaxed at once and sat back down.
There was a crack of thunder and the rain began to spurt from the clouds. They reached the gates and a cold feeling of dread washed over them. They looked around and saw huge cloaked black figures standing at posts. Withered hands poked from their sleeves and they turned, staring at the carriages. Their breaths froze in front of them and James felt his life and spirit drain from him and losing everyone he ever cared about. Sirius on the other hand remembered how it felt to be back at home with his family, every moment of their snide comments. Peter felt the crush of being insignificant, how he didn't compare up to his friends and his brothers. For Remus it was the reminder of every painful transformation that he had ever had, the fear of rejection he carried and the fear that one day he could hurt someone.
It was in that moment that they realised what the creatures that stood at every station were.
"Dementors," James hissed as they passed them, the feeling remained buried at the back of his head. He glanced over at his friends. Sirius was staring into what seemed to be empty space. Peter looked stricken and grey whilst Remus had buried his head in his hands.
Alice buried her head into Frank's shoulder, visibly shaken. The carriage had suddenly turned very quiet and very cold. Even Hogwarts with its warmth, lights, memories and food seemed dim and dark and dangerous. They weren't the only ones who seemed to have been affected. Nearly all the students were quiet, even when entering the Great Hall. The rumble of chatter had completely fallen away.
Sirius noticed that two extra tables had been added to the hall, he nudged James and pointed, James frowned and looked over at Remus, almost urging him to speak about what was going on, but McGonagall entered with the First Year Students with the Sorting hat in one hand and a large roll of parchment and a stool in the other. Once explaining the rules to the students, she placed the hat and the stool down. The Sorting Hat's song seemed sombre and reminded them for another year that it was essential that they worked together and stopped inner house feuds. And once again, James and Sirius took this with a pinch of salt, figuring that the Sorting Hat never had to spend an afternoon with Severus Snape in potions.
The First Years were taken forward one by one and allocated to their houses. Sirius got bored halfway through and began to use salt from the salt shaker to make delicate art on his table. James spotted it and handed him the pepper shaker so that he could add shading. Lily also spotted this from further up the table and glared angrily at them until Remus waved his hand and the salt and pepper returned back to their containers.
Sirius made a face at Remus.
Remus ignored the face until it got unbearably annoying and he made a face back.
Dumbledore stepped out in front of the students and raised his hands as the rest of the applause died down. He cleared his throat. "I'd like to say a very warm welcome to Hogwarts to the new students and a hearty hello to the older students. This year, there are going to be a few changes. And hopefully you will enjoy them as much as we have planning them."
James let a groan; this was not going to go well.
"Now, you may be wondering why Dress Robes were included in your school supply lists," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Well this is because this year, we will be playing host to students of The Salem Witches Institutes of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They will be joining us in our studies for some part of the year as we strengthen our bonds with the rest of the wizarding community. Think of it like student exchange. In the next couple of weeks a select dozen or so seventh years will be taking a trip west to join The Salem Witches Institution along with one of our members of staff."
"Does that mean the sixth years will rule the school?" Sirius hissed to James who shrugged in reply.
"Hence there shall be a huge celebration at Christmas with a ball in which your best behaviour is expected." Dumbledore said. "And there will be one again at the end of the school year in which we will say goodbye to our The Salem friends, hopefully with friendships that will last a lifetime."
There was a tentative applause, some unsure about the idea and others enthusiastic about it.
"The Salem Witches Institute?" Sirius sighed. "Why couldn't it be the Beuxbatons? I mean, I'd happily take French ladies over American's who can't make proper tea,"
"I don't know Padfoot," Remus said. "I think you'd get on rather well since you can't make proper tea youself."
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You're not a nice man at all are you? No, you're cruel man Remus John Lupin,"
"Middle naming me now? Sirius Orion Black?" Remus smiled.
Sirius muttered a swear word under his breath. They focused their attention back towards Dumbledore, who had drawn on a more solemn note.
"As you may have noticed, we have added protection this year in the shape of the Dementors." He said, the Great Hall went silent, everyone staring up at the headmaster. "This will only be until Christmas until we know that the grounds are secure and I must say that it was only on the Ministry's agreement that we have them. Exercise caution and they will not come near you."
A distant rumble of chattering erupted as students leaned over and whispered to each other. Dumbledore held out his hands to silence them once again and sighed. "I also advice that the Quidditch Captains train their teams only during daylight hours, if necessary, your House Head will grant you and your teammates time from class to train. As long as you cover all the work that is covered and you remain up-to-date on what you do in class,"
James made a pouting face as Dumbledore ended his speech, with the usual rambles about the Forbidden Forest being out of bounds to students and the corridor on the third floor was off-limits to anyone younger than a fourth year. He also introduced the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher; Professor Kilgorn.
Food appeared on the plate, and Sirius took literally no prisoners, devouring what he could get his hands on. It was quite impressive, but Lily was scorning at him already.
"It's like we didn't feed you," James muttered, cutting into his beef joint.
"Your mum made me cook," Sirius said, his mouth full of roast potato.
"You need life skills." Peter said. "Like cooking, cleaning and common muggle sense,"
"I don't need that." Sirius replied swallowing and reaching for his goblet of pumpkin juice. "I'll get a house-elf."
"How is a House-Elf going to help you pay the taxes on your home?" James asked.
"I'll buy my house and magic it up," Sirius replied.
James nodded and looked vaguely impressed.
"What are you going to buy your house with?" Remus asked. "Buttons? Oh, let me guess, charm and wit!"
Sirius opened his mouth and then closed it again. He swore loudly and sat very still for a moment. Then with a shrug and a head tilt, he began to eat again.
"Seriously, have you not thought this through?" James asked. "Mum and dad can't keep you hanging around forever."
"I'll work something out," Sirius muttered. "I have enough in Gringotts to rent myself a place in Diagon Alley for a few months…"
"So you're not even considering going back to your parents?" Peter asked.
"Never. I don't think I can."
"Wait," Lily interrupted, she had been listening to their conversation for a little while now. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and leaned forward. "Black, are you homeless?"
"I ran away from home," Sirius replied. "What does it matter to you?"
Lily frowned. "Why?"
"My family and their pure-blood mania really," Sirius shrugged. "Did you think it was a disagreement over inheritance or something?"
Lily gaped for a second. "No, I just never realised… How long have you been fighting that kind of thinking?"
Sirius counted back and then said with a ironic tone; "Well Evans since I could walk and talk."
Lily stared at him for a moment longer. "Then where are you living?"
"Currently homeless, but I have been staying with James' and his folks." Sirius pointed with his fork. "Are we done? Can I eat?"
Lily bit her lip and nodded before returning to her food. Sirius made a face at her.
Their feast ended with the usual wave goodbye from Dumbledore and the fifth years bellowing for order amongst the first years. Remus was almost glad that he didn't need to deal with them this year and he followed his friends up towards the common room and they talked excitedly of what the new year at Hogwarts held in store for them. With trepidation they hit the common room door before Remus pulled out a slip of paper and spoke the password.
The door creaked open and they climbed inside seeing that most of the seventh years and a few scattered sixth years were already nestling down amongst the chairs and catching up on the news that had occurred over the holidays. The four of them bounded up the stairs to their dormitory and found that as always their cases were in order.
James bounced over to his and clicked it open and raked in it for a moment before pulling out everything he owned.
"What are you doing?" Remus asked.
"Looking for my Dress Robes," James replied. "I want to make sure they don't look stupid."
"You didn't check when you packed your things?" Peter raised an eyebrow.
"I just sort of threw everything in," James said. "And I didn't open the package with the Dress Robes inside," He found said item and sat on his bed, snipping it open and pulling out the dark red robes. He stood up and moved towards the mirror, checking himself.
"I am not wearing these," James said, holding his dress robes up to himself and staring in the mirror in front of him. Sirius was unpacking his things and propped his small sneakoscope beside his bed, before beginning to store clothes in different drawers. He had immediately draped his scarf around his bed posts and was now trying to clear the debris he had left at the bottom of his trunk. He glanced around at James and raised an eyebrow.
"Why? What's wrong with them?" Sirius asked.
"I'll look like an idiot in them!" James replied, throwing them back into his trunk.
"Prongs, you look like an idiot already."
"Yeah, but the Salem Witches don't know that!" James whined, throwing himself onto the bed.
"How do you think they're getting here?" Remus asked, pulling off his robes and throwing them to the side.
"I don't know," James sighed. "Their American, for all we know they could be arriving by enchanted car."
"It's a bit odd, isn't it?" Peter said. "To invite the school to ours and have such horrible creatures acting as security,"
"Don't argue with the hand that feeds you," Sirius said belching loudly.
"But Dumbledore said it wasn't his idea, it was the Ministry's." Remus pointed out. "But yeah, you'd think they'd offer a more gracious welcome than those things,"
"Well I'm not scared of them," James said proudly, leaping up and balancing precariously on the edge of his mattress. "Not me."
"You were wetting your underwear too Potter, don't lie," Sirius said.
"Was not,"
"You were," Peter said.
"I was not!"
"If you meet a Salem Witch does that mean the attention will draw away from Lily?" Remus pondered out loud.
James stared at Remus with an incredulous look upon his face before he shook his head. "That will never be possible."
"Mm… And how is that 7 year plan going?"
"It's only been six years Moony and so far it's going as I suspected it would," He replied, now trying to use the edge of the mattress as a type-rope.
Remus shook his head and delved into his luggage before finding his chocolate and hoisting himself into bed. He fell asleep almost instantly.
James, Peter and Sirius followed suit, climbing into their beds and letting their heads hit their pillows. Peter, like Remus, fell asleep quite quickly. James and Sirius on the other hand, couldn't sleep, the excitement of being back at Hogwarts filled them up to the point that they didn't want to stay in bed any more.
With that, James grabbed his invisibility cloak and Sirius grabbed the Marauders Map and together they crept out of the dormitory and the common room.