Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Hagrid is introduced in this chapter. I can't figure out the way Hagrid talks, so I'm just going to have him talk normally in my story. Just use your imaginations for the correct way he talks in the book.
The Marauders Year 1
Chapter 18: Hogwarts Chaos by Marauders
The four boys who called themselves the Marauders stood in front of their Transfiguration professor, Minerva McGonagall, silently. Peter was looking very nervous; while the other three had their hands clasped behind their backs and were watching their teacher calmly. They had done nothing wrong, so they had no reason to be nervous.
McGonagall watched her students coolly. She noticed that Peter kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, nervously. Her other three students were their usually calm, cool selves.
"Professor, why have you called us here?" Remus asked bravely after a few minutes of their professor just watching them.
McGonagall smiled at the bravery. Most of her students would watch her nervously until she spoke. These three were never afraid of her, probably why they were Gryffindors. Even with their pranks, she did like Remus, Sirius, and James. They were all smart. She just wished they would just stop with the pranks. Peter still needed lots of improvement and study time. He was just barely passing his classes.
"In the past few weeks, I have noticed you four behaving. You haven't hexed anyone, pulled any pranks, misbehaved in any classes, and you have been on time to all of your classes. I was surprised to see this at first. I guess with all the detentions you have you have learned your lesson. I am very impressed by the sudden change in behavior." McGonagall said.
James and Sirius wanted to smirk so bad here, but knew they couldn't if they didn't want their professor to find out the truth. They would never behave like this, but Remus insisted on them behaving for a while, saying they had too many detentions stocked up. They should behave a little and get rid of the detentions they stocked up. All of them agreed since all the detentions and their workload was getting too much. They never had time for themselves anymore with all their homework and detentions.
"Because your behavior has improved so much recently, I have decided to allow you four out of detention a week early." McGonagall smiled at the boys.
The Marauders broke into grins. After three weeks of detention every night, the boys couldn't be happier about being out of detention. Three straight weeks of detention showed them just how torturous it truly is.
"Thanks Professor," Remus said happily.
McGonagall nodded her head. "Please try to refrain from getting any more detentions."
"Of course, Professor," Remus replied.
When the boys were out of McGonagall's office, Sirius sighed. "I hate detention. I think we should end that detention competition. I don't want any more detentions. I don't think I can handle getting more detentions."
"I agree!" Remus and Peter said almost immediately. They never wanted in the detention competition to begin with.
"That's for sure. Let's try not to get detention anymore." James said.
Sirius pouted. "But what about my pranks?"
James smirked. "We just have to not get caught anymore."
Three smirks were the reply he received.
As soon as they got back to their dorm, Sirius marched over to his trunk which was in the corner where he kicked it to a few weeks ago when they brought the common room couch, chair, and table into the room. Since the couch, chair and table were still in the room, he left it there. He started rummaging through his trunk until he found the detention competition parchment.
After grabbing it he marched back down to the common room with his friends following. They sat in front of the fire, on the floor since the couch and chair were still locked in their dorm (they were actually surprised no one thought of checking their room for them, but even if they tried to check it, they wouldn't be able to find out). Sirius ripped the parchment into tiny pieces and threw it into the fire and leaned back on his hands to watch the parchment burn.
"So, we're going to have to be sneakier with our pranks?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, I don't want another detention." James replied.
"This will probably be more fun anyway. Everyone will know we do the pranks, since we are the pranksters of this school, but they won't have any proof so they won't be able to punish us." Remus said, smiling as he gazed into the fire.
Sirius laughed. "Just think of how the professors will react. They won't be able to punish us and it will torture them."
James looked out the common room window. He saw a small light on the grounds. His eyes lit up mischievously. "Now that we are free of all detentions and it's the weekend, how about a trip to meet Hagrid?"
"No," Remus snapped immediately.
"Why not?" Sirius asked. "You said we could visit him."
Remus crossed his arms. "It's passed curfew. We just got out of trouble. I don't want to get back into trouble."
"That's why we aren't going to get caught." James replied.
"It's our first night free." Remus argued.
James pouted. "But it'll be fun."
"Yeah, sneaking out is always fun." Peter agreed.
Remus glowered at his friends. "We'll have to sneak out of the school to visit him. We aren't doing that. And besides, how do you know he won't turn us in for sneaking out of the school and going to visit him?"
"Come on, Remus, where is your sense of adventure? It'll be fun." James pleaded.
"No," Remus growled.
Sirius crossed his arms. "This new responsible you is boring. Change back to fun Remus."
Remus glared at Sirius. "I'm trying to keep us from getting expelled."
"You didn't care this much when we snuck into Zonko's or Honeydukes." Sirius retorted.
"We didn't have to go outside to get to those places. We snuck into them underground." Remus snarled.
"What about when we were running around Hogsmeade?" James asked.
"That's during the day. There are wizards and witches all around then. It's different than sneaking out at night." Remus replied. He subconsciously touched his werewolf bite.
Sirius raised a brow. "What would you know about sneaking out? You've never done it in your life, being the goody-two shoes that you are."
Remus glared at Sirius. Sirius could never understand. He wasn't the one who snuck out at night, when specifically told by his parents to stay inside, and got bitten by a werewolf.
"You're just trying to make up excuses because you're too much of a scaredy cat to sneak out." Sirius said, glaring at Remus.
Remus couldn't handle listening to Sirius mock him anymore. Sirius had no idea why Remus didn't want to sneak out. The last time he did, it ruined his life and his parents' lives. They lost all their friends because they had to move after he got bit. With one last glare at Sirius, Remus stood up and stomped up to their dorm.
James frowned. "Did you have to do that? He obviously has a reason that he doesn't want to sneak out. I'm guessing that he may have snuck out before and something bad may have happened to him."
"Then why didn't he just say that?" Sirius asked, raising a brow.
"Did you ever consider that he doesn't want to talk about? It's a moment in his life that he wants to forget." James replied.
Sirius frowned. "Should I apologize?"
James shrugged. "I would, but it's your choice to decide whether or not to apologize."
Sirius nodded his head and stood up. He walked up the steps to their dorm. He pushed the door open and found Remus lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling with one of his arms hanging over the edge of the couch, swinging back and forth. Quietly, Sirius walked over to the chair and sat down on it.
"Remus, can we talk?" Sirius asked.
Remus turned his head to look at him. "What is it, Sirius?"
Sirius sighed. He put his elbow on his knee and rested his cheek in his upturned hand. "Remus, I just wanted to say that…..I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I wasn't really thinking when I said those things. You must have a reason as to why you don't want to sneak out. I should have known that since you have been very mischievous these past few months. With all the rules we've broken together, I know that you aren't a goody-two shoes."
Smiling slightly, Remus nodded his head. "It's alright, Sirius. It wasn't really you who I was mad at. Something happened a few years ago after I snuck outside at night. I don't like sneaking out after dark anymore because of that."
"What happened when you snuck out?" Sirius asked curiously.
Pain flashed through Remus's eyes. "Please don't ask. I can't tell you and it's not a moment I want to relive."
Sirius flinched back. "Sorry, I knew I shouldn't have asked. At least you're not giving me a lie."
Remus winced. He hated having to lie to his friends. They already had suspicions that he was lying to them and Remus hated that. Remus knew he had to get better at lying if he was going to survive school. That or he would have to start sneaking away which would probably make his friends more suspicious of him. Why did everything have to be so difficult for him?
Sirius watched his friend confused and a little nervously. He saw Remus just staring at nothing with sad eyes. It was almost like Remus forgot that he was here. He looked so lost in his own thoughts. He hoped he didn't remind Remus of anything horrible from his past.
To break the uncomfortable silence that engulfed the room after the last thing that Sirius said, Sirius cleared his throat. "So, how about we go back to the common room? We can go visit Hagrid tomorrow since it's a Saturday. We can just focus on planning a prank now. You know that we have to perfect a prank for April Fool's Day so we should get started on it now. We only have three weeks left until that day."
Remus rolled his eyes.
Down in the common room, Sirius and Remus sat down next to their friends in front of the fire place.
"Well, according to Sirius, we are supposed to be planning a prank for April Fool's Day." Remus told the other two.
"But we have three weeks until April first." Peter said.
"We have to make this a perfect prank. There can't be any proof that we are the ones to pull it. We aren't trying to get detentions anymore. This has to be so perfect that everyone will know it was us, but they won't be able to prove that it us. This is going to take a lot of planning." Sirius explained.
The boys fell silent as they started to think of their next prank. This prank had to top all their other pranks. Each prank had to be better than their last one. They all had to be so good that no one would be able to top them.
After twenty minutes of silence, Sirius fell onto his back and groaned. "I can't think of anything. This prank is supposed to target the whole school, right?"
James looked up from staring into the fire. "Yeah. I don't have any idea of what to do either."
Peter nodded his head in agreement.
The fourth Marauder was the only one to keep silent. He kept staring into the fire with a thoughtful look on his face. He was smirking and had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Sirius raised his head off the ground to look at Remus when he didn't say anything. "Do you have an idea?" The young heir asked when he saw the smirk and mischievous twinkle.
Remus waved a hand at Sirius to shush him. He was working on an idea and needed silence to get the idea finished.
After a few more minutes of silence, where James, Sirius, and Peter were waiting in anticipation, Remus looked at his friends. "You guys, I think I have a plan."
"Well, don't hold out on us. Tell us." James urged his friend.
The next day after breakfast, the marauders were seen walking to the ground keeper's hut. No one bothered them. Most of the Gryffindors were still mad at them for losing all those house points. They all had to work extra hard to get the points back now.
All of the points that the four Marauders lost was something the four first year boys didn't like. They decided to start earning the points back. They wanted to win the House Cup. To the boys, if any house but Slytherin won the House Cup, it was a victory to them.
Remus knocked on the hut door and stepped back.
The door opened a few seconds later. Hagrid smiled at the boys. "Hello lads, what can I do for you?"
James grinned. "I'm James Potter. These are my friends Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew." James pointed to each of his friends as he said their name. Sirius grinned and waved at him. Remus smiled politely and Peter looked at Hagrid nervously. "We wanted to come meet you."
Hagrid smiled. "I know you four. You're the little troublemakers in first year that I've heard so much about from the professors. I've never seen anyone get as many detentions as you four in one year."
The boys laughed.
"We hope to never go to detention again." James laughed.
Hagrid stepped back. "Why don't you come in and have some tea?"
After getting the boys some tea, Hagrid sat at the table. "I'm surprised you four haven't been up to Dumbledore's office yet."
James and Sirius stared at each other. "Sirius, we have to make it to Dumbledore's office before the end of the school year. What kind of troublemakers would we be if we don't get sent to Headmaster's office in our first year?"
"Not very good ones." Sirius nodded his head in agreement.
Remus rolled his eyes. "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to allow ourselves to get into any more trouble."
"Well, yeah, but we have to go to the Headmaster's office at least once time each school year. I want to know where it is." Sirius eyes gleamed with excitement and mischief.
"It's behind a stone gargoyle." Remus said without thinking.
James and Sirius stared at their friend shocked.
"You've been to his office without us?" James looked at his friend appalled.
Remus just realized his mistake. He just inadvertently told his friends he's been to Dumbledore's office. How was he supposed to get out of this without revealing his secret? He was a goner! Remus let his head slip and slam onto the table.
"Why were you sent to his office?" Sirius demanded. He crossed his arms and looked at Remus with narrowed, but curious, eyes. "And why weren't we with you?"
The young werewolf lifted his head off the table and looked at his friends warily. He cleared his throat and looked away nervously. "Well," Remus pulled at the collar of his shirt to try to loosen it. "I was having family problems. You know that my mother is sick. It was the first day of classes, remember? I left you guys in the Great Hall. That was to talk to Professor Dumbledore about my mother."
The boys looked at each other anxiously. They knew Remus didn't want to talk about this. Talking about family was always a sensitive topic for him.
"Do you think you could get us into his office?" Peter asked to change the conversation. He really had no desire to go to the Headmaster's office.
James and Sirius glared at Peter. You don't say something like that in front of an adult.
Hagrid chuckled. "He can try, but the password has changed since he's been up to Dumbledore's office."
"Damn, guess we'll have to do this another way." James said. A thoughtful looked appeared on his face. "And I just might know how to do that. Thanks for the tea, Hagrid, but we have plans to make. We'll come visit another time."
James pulled Sirius and Remus out of their chairs, making Remus knocked the cups of tea off the table and break them. Remus started apologizing to Hagrid over and over again as James pushed him and Sirius out the door. Then James went back and grabbed Peter and pushed him out the door. Peter stumbled when he was pushed and fell onto Remus and Sirius.
Hagrid laughed as he watched the three boys be pushed back up to the castle by James. "Those boys sure make life interesting around here."
"James, where are we going?" Remus asked as he was dragged away from Sirius and Peter. As soon as the boys got inside, James dragged Sirius to a corner of the Entrance Hall and spoke quietly to him. When they came back to Remus and Peter, there was excitement in his eyes as he grabbed Peter's arm saying they had work to do and James grabbed Remus's arm.
"Don't ask questions." James said as he dragged Remus up the stairs. "We are on a mission to cause as much mayhem as possible today to be sent to Dumbledore's office." The bespectacled boy stopped talking as he saw McGonagall walking in the opposite direction of them. She gave them a suspicious look, but didn't stop to talk. When she was gone, James continued. "We thought it best to split us up. I took you and Sirius took Peter because I knew you wouldn't cause any mayhem and Sirius took Pete so he could help him."
Remus stopped walking and pulled his arm out of James's grip. "No, not going to happen. I'm not helping you. We just got out of trouble yesterday. I'm not going back to detention just because you want to be sent to Dumbledore's office, which doesn't make any sense to me, by the way."
James turned around. "Remus, you are a Marauder! We may get detention, but we are doing this so we can go to the Headmaster's office. We are troublemakers! It's our job to make as much chaos as possible. That is our goal while here at Hogwarts!"
"Just announce you're one of the Marauders in the Great Hall then. McGonagall will be happy enough to take you to the Headmaster's office then." Remus snapped.
"That's boring. We must do this in a fun way. Telling the school we are the Marauders is a great idea thought. Hmm." James turned back around and starting walking again, knowing that Remus was going to follow him.
Groaning, Remus chased after his friend. "You can't tell them we are the Marauders. We'll be in so much trouble if you do that."
James grinned. "That's why we are going to do it the last day of the school year."
Remus snorted. "Oh, wonderful idea. We can start our second year off with three months of detention. An absolutely brilliant idea!"
Remus stopped walking as a thought came to him. Was he even going to come back for his second year? He only promised his dad and Professor Dumbledore that he would attend one year of Hogwarts. Remus wasn't sure if he wanted to come back to continue his schooling with his father gone. His friends were already suspicious of him lying to them about where he went each month. It might just be best to not come back, no matter how much fun he was having at Hogwarts with his friends.
The young werewolf was snapped back to his senses when he felt someone shaking him. Remus looked at his shoulders to see a hand on each of them. He followed the arms to see James looking at him with a very concerned expression.
"What's wrong? Are you okay? You were just standing there for ten minutes with a blank expression on your face." James removed his hands from his friend's shoulders, but continued to stare at Remus, frowning.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking." Remus replied.
James nodded his head. "Come on, let's go. We still have to cause mayhem. Sirius and Peter are going to start their part in the plan soon."
"What plan?" Remus snorted. "You made it up in five minutes. There was no time to plan."
James grinned. "You're right. We're just winging it."
"You're unbelievable." Remus muttered. "What are Peter and Sirius doing?"
"What did I tell you? No questions. And they went to find Peeves." James replied.
Remus opened his mouth to ask why, but closed it at the glare from James.
"They are going to ask Peeves to help us cause a lot of mayhem today. It's all part of the plan." James explained, nodding his head.
"There is no plan!" Remus shouted, waving his hands in the air.
James chuckled. "Calm down, Remy. We are making it up as we go along. I just informed Sirius to find Peeves and to ask him for help."
"What makes you think that Peeves will help us?" Remus scoffed.
"He likes Sirius and me." James replied.
Remus rolled his eyes.
Two hours later found the four Marauders in Dumbledore's office. Remus had his arms crossed, was leaning back in his chair, and glaring at his friends for dragging him into this. Peter was fidgeting in his chair. James and Sirius were walking around the office and looking around at everything in there. McGonagall dragged them into Dumbledore's office ten minutes ago and left to find the Headmaster.
Remus sighed. "I can't believe you idiots dragged me into this."
James looked up from examining some of Dumbledore's trinkets and smirked. "Oh, come on, Remus, I know you had fun. Admit it!"
Remus didn't reply. He chose to look at the wall instead. This action made James grin. "Knew it."
The door to the office opened a few minutes later. Dumbledore walked in, his eyes twinkling, and sat behind his desk. McGonagall followed him and stood at the Headmaster's shoulder. While Dumbledore was smiling in amusement, McGonagall was frowning and looking at the boys sternly. Dumbledore motioned for Sirius and James to sit down.
"So, boys, Professor McGonagall has just informed me that you four have caused a lot of chaos today." Dumbledore started. He folded his hands and rested his elbows on the table with his folded hands in the air. "She has not informed me of what you have done. I was simply informed that four first year boys were in my office for causing a lot of chaos in the castle. Does someone care to explain?"
James and Sirius grinned.
"Well, you see, sir," James started and left off for Sirius to continue.
"We felt that the castle was too quiet today…."
"So, we felt that chaos was needed…..."
"Just some stuff for fun….."
"Nothing dangerous. We don't want to hurt anyone."
"It was all in good fun, but…."
"Minnie didn't appreciate it."
"Professor McGonagall." Dumbledore corrected.
"Right." James was smirking now.
McGonagall's nostrils flared. "I just let you four off the hook last night. It hasn't even been a full day and you already causing trouble again!"
Sirius grimaced and whispered to James. "It's like listening to Remus all over again!"
James nodded his head in agreement.
"Sir, these four joined with Peeves to cause a lot of mayhem today. They turned all the suits of armors in the school gold and red, turned all the stairs into slides, turned the hair of any Slytherin they met a different color, gave Peeves balloons filled with maple syrup, whip cream, melted chocolate, or something else to throw at any students he met, made rain clouds appear above students' head, and flooded all the bathrooms. They also put graffiti on the walls. They drew pictures of a lion, dragons, offending pictures of teachers and some students on the wall and wrote offended things and they did many other things." McGonagall told the Headmaster before looking at the Gryffindors.
Peter flinched back in his seat at the look that McGonagall sent at them. James and Sirius met her glare bravely, while Remus barely gave her a glance.
"I don't know what I was thinking when I let you four off the hook." McGonagall told them.
Remus was no longer listening at this point. His professor had just given him an idea. He didn't like this. Sirius and James were the ones who came up with the plans in their group, not him! Besides that, he didn't need to get in any more trouble. He wanted no more fun ideas!
A tugging at his sleeve brought Remus out of his thoughts. He blinked in confusion a few times when he saw James looking at him concerned.
"That's the second time today that you completely spaced out. Are you sure you are okay?" James asked.
"Just peachy," Remus mumbled.
James didn't look convinced, but let the matter drop for now as he dragged Remus out of Dumbledore's office. He gave Dumbledore and McGonagall a wave before closing the door and going down the stairs, dragging Remus all the way. They met Sirius and Peter in the corridor outside of Dumbledore's office.
"What is our punishment?" Remus asked.
"Fifty points from each of us, we have to work really hard to get those points back, double detention which will probably be cleaning the graffiti, and they are going to write letters to our parents." James grimaced at the last one. "I'm in so much trouble."
"Me too." The other three chorused.
The next day was utter chaos at breakfast. All of the Marauders were eating very little and kept watching for the owl post. They all knew they were going to get a letter from their parents. The rest of Gryffindors, well most of them, were glaring at or ignoring the Marauders. They were upset over all the points they lost.
By the time the owl post arrived, all the Marauders were extremely nervous. They were all able to look calm and unconcerned on the outside, except Peter, but were really nervous on the inside. Peter was fidgeting in his seat and his hand was shaking on the table.
Four owls landed in front of the Marauders, each carrying a red envelope. The boys glanced at each other.
"Let's open them together." James reached for his envelope.
Each boy opened their Howler at the same time.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO SOMETHING…..."
"REMUS JOHN LUPIN, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
"PETER PAUL PETTIGREW, I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE DISAPPOINTED IN YOU…"
"JAMES CHRYSANTHOS POTTER I KNOW WE RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS!"
All four boys had their ears plugged. One Howler was loud enough, but four going off at the same time was insane. No one could hear themselves think with this noise.
"WHERE ARE ALL THE MANNERS I TAUGHT YOU? DID YOU LOSE THOSE WHEN YOU JOINED THOSE MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS IN THAT WRETCHED HOUSE OF YOURS?"
"I KNOW I TAUGHT YOU TO BE MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN THIS! FIRST YOU ALMOST GET YOURSELF KILLED AT THAT SCHOOL, NOW THIS! JUST ONCE MORE REMUS JOHN! IF I GET ANOTHER LETTER, I'M PULLING YOU OUT OF THAT SCHOOL!"
"WHEN I SENT YOU TO HOGWARTS IT WAS TO LEARN MAGIC, NOT MAKE THINGS DIFFICULT FOR YOUR PROFESSORS!"
"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU? NO MORE PRANKS! I DON'T WANT ANOTHER LETTER FROM HOGWARTS, YOU HEAR ME YOUNG MAN! YOU WILL BE GROUNDED ALL SUMMER IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!"
"UNLESS YOU WANT PULLED OUT OF HOGWARTS AND SENT TO DURMSTRANG PULL YOUR ACT TOGHETER AND STOP DISGRACING THE BLACK FAMILY NAME MORE THAN YOU ALREADY HAVE!"
The Howlers burst into flames at different times. Remus was very pale. He looked at his friends who were staring at the ashes of their Howlers.
"Well, that could have been worse." Remus said weakly.
"Durmstrang? She wouldn't dare." Sirius hissed angrily. "That's a school that dark wizards go to. They learn dark magic there, not how to defend themselves from it."
James looked up from his ashes with fire in his eyes. "Our parents want us to change. They want us to be sticks in the mud, perfect little angels who never do anything wrong. We can't do that. We can't let them win. We can't just roll over and obey them like dogs. We are kids! We are the Marauders! It's our job to have fun!"
Sirius smirked. "I'll never listen to my mother in life or death." He turned to Remus. "Will your mother really pull you out of school if you get into more trouble?"
"Maybe, I'm not sure." Remus replied.
"Don't worry, Remmy. We won't be getting caught again. You won't be taken out of school." James replied.
Remus grinned. "Is your middle name really Chrysanthos?"
"Yeah, why?" James asked confused. He couldn't see what would be making Remus grin madly like that.
Remus snickered into his hand.
"What?" James asked angrily. "There is nothing wrong with it. It's a cool name. It's so unique!"
"Yeah, come on, Remus. Let us in on the joke!" Sirius said excitedly.
Remus laughed out loud and grabbed his stomach.
"WHAT?" James yelled, grabbing Remus's robes and shaking him.
After calming his laughter, Remus smirked at James. "Chrysanthos is Greek for golden flower."
Sirius and Peter burst out laughing, while James stared at Remus shocked. He dropped Remus on the ground where he started rolling around laughing with tears running down his face. Sirius dropped next to him a few seconds later.
"His name…..goes so well with…hehe hehe….E-Evans….T-they b-both have…..f-flower names now….J-James should be so h-happy to be a f-flower like…the l-love of…his l-life." Sirius had struggle saying this as he was laughing so much. Remus pounded his fists into the ground from his laughter.
James's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "Wh-what?" He stuttered. "I don't like Evans!"
None of the boys heard him. They were laughing too loudly.
"For their wedding…they should…have f-flowers all a-around. All types of f-flowers…and fl-flower rings." Remus laughed.
"I DON'T LOVE EVANS!" James yelled, eye twitching.
The students who were already watching the Marauders because of the three hysterical laughing boys, laughed at James.
James blushed, sent a glare at his friends, and marched out of the Great Hall with his face all red. He passed a red Lily Evans, whether she was red from anger or embarrassment, James didn't know.
A few days later, Remus woke up to an alarm blazing in his ear from his nightstand. Growling, Remus picked the clock up and chucked it against the wall, smashing it into pieces. With the annoying sound gone, Remus snuggled back into his blankets. More than anything, Remus didn't want to get up today. He wanted to spend the whole day in bed.
James stared at Remus in a daze. He wasn't expecting to see Remus smash his alarm clock against a wall the first thing in the morning.
The bathroom door opened and Sirius came out dressed, his hair done, and looking ready for the day. "What broke? I heard something slam into the wall."
"Remus threw his clock at the wall." James rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up.
Sirius raised a brow. He could expect that from him, Peter, or James, but not Remus. Remus always wanted to get to class. "That's not like him. Have you noticed that he's been acting differently the past few days?"
"So I'm not the only one who's seen it." James replied looking at Sirius worried. "I wonder what's wrong."
Shrugging, Sirius moved back towards the beds. "Remus, wake up! Wake up!
"Go away, Black! I'm sleeping." Remus's drowsy voice said.
"Remus, breakfast is over in thirty minutes and we have class." Sirius replied, shaking Remus's shoulder.
Remus lifted his head out of the blankets to glare at Sirius. "Go away; I'm not getting out of this bed for anything today."
Sirius blinked and looked at James, who just came out of the bathroom ready for the day. "He says he's going to stay in bed all day."
James sighed. He pulled Remus's blanket away from the boy and threw it onto the floor. Remus sent a glare at him.
James crossed his arms and sent a glare right back on back. "Get up. We have school today."
"You can't tell me what to do." Remus retorted before burying his face into his pillow.
The two black haired boys looked at each other and sighed. Remus was being more difficult in getting up in the morning than he usually was.
"Remus, is there some important reason for why you don't want to get up today?" James asked.
There was no reply from Remus, but from the way his body stiffened, James knew the answer was yes.
James narrowed his eyes. "Well, since there is no reason, get up now!"
"I don't want to!" Remus whined.
And now Remus was whining! This made James pause. Remus never whined. He was too mature to do so. Whining is something James would expect from Sirius and Peter, not Remus!
James stared at Remus. He was trying to figure out a way to get him out of bed. There was never this much trouble with getting him up before.
"Offer him some chocolate." A tired voice said.
James looked around to see Peter sitting in his bed, rubbing his eyes.
After twenty minutes of talking and seven chocolate frogs, all four of the Marauders were out of Gryffindor Tower and were running to class. James, Sirius, and Peter were glaring at Remus as they ran. He made them all miss breakfast and they were starving.
"What do you hate about today? James hissed at Remus as they sat down in class. His stomach was grumbling in hunger and James didn't like it.
Remus chose not to reply. This just made his friends want to know what was going on even more. All day they asked him the same question and all day Remus chose to ignore the question. Since he wouldn't answer that question, James, Sirius, and Peter resorted to taking guesses about what was wrong with the day. That is how Remus found himself trapped in his dorm with his three friends right now.
"Did someone you love die on this day?"
"Are you just feeling lazy today?"
"Are you mad at someone?"
"Do you have to go home for another family emergency?"
"Is your mom sick again?"
"Did your dog die?"
"Is today some holiday where you stay in bed all day?"
"Are you sick?"
"Is today your birthday?"
"Peter, are you daft? If it was his birthday, he would have told us and he wouldn't want to stay in bed all day on his birthday." Sirius said.
"Don't call me daft." Peter snapped. "And I was just asking. I don't know when his birthday is."
"It's….." Sirius stopped and blinked. "I don't know when it is either."
Peter smiled smugly.
"Remus," James turned away from Sirius and Peter to look at Remus, who was sitting on his bed with his homework laid out in front of him. "When is your birthday? None of us seem to know when it is which is weird since we all know when everyone else's is. Sirius's is November nineteenth, Peter's is October thirtieth and mine is March twenty-seventh. All of you remember that. My birthday is only seventeen days away. So, when is yours?"
Remus mumbled something behind the book he was reading.
"Sorry, what was that?" James asked.
Remus mumbled something again.
"Remus, I can't hear you when you mumble. Speak louder." James commanded.
"March tenth." Remus replied louder.
James blinked and looked at Remus shocked. "Why didn't you tell us today is your birthday?"
Remus rubbed his eyes tiredly. He sighed, closed his book, and laid down. His eyes stared at the ceiling, upset and pain in them. "My birthday is horrible. I never celebrate it any more…Every year on my birthday, I get seriously hurt. I hate my birthday."
"Remus, I think you are…"
"No, James, it's true. Ever since I was four, I get hurt on this day." Remus said. He sat up and looked at his friends. "When I was four, I fell out of a tree, landed on my head, and got a concussion. At five, I got a dog that bit my arm and tore it up. Good thing for magic. At six, I broke my hand by slamming it into a door. Seven: some muggle guy shot me with a gun. A gun is a muggle instrument used for killing. Eight: I fell off my broom and broke my leg, cut my chin, and broke two of my fingers. Nine: a bludger smashed into my head and knocked me out for two weeks when my dad asked me to do the commentary for the Quidditch game he and his friends were playing. At ten: I dropped a knife into my foot, don't ask how I did that. And last year, my dad accidentally hit me with a spell that blasted me through a wall."
Remus was met with blank stares from his friends when he finished.
After a few minutes, James snapped out of his trance. "Remus, you have to have the worst luck ever. But don't worry; we're going to fix that."
"How?" Remus asked skeptically.
"We're going to celebrate your birthday every year and you won't get hurt once when it's your birthday now that we are your friends." James was grinning at his friend now. Sirius and Peter were both grinning and nodded their heads in agreement.
Remus, on the other hand, was frowning. He didn't want to celebrate his birthday. He was going to get hurt again! His friends were going to be the end of him! Taking a few calming breathes, Remus shook his head. "No, we are not. I like living and not being hurt. We are never celebrating my birthday. We can celebrate yours, but leave mine alone. This day will never be mentioned as my birthday. Just forget about my birthday. I won't hold it against you guys."
Sirius shook his head. "Remus, what kind of Gryffindor are you? Afraid of your own birthday! Honestly! We shall break you of this fear of your birthday or die trying!"
"You will die, or at least I will if we celebrate my birthday! Not even my parents or cousins or uncle celebrate it after all the misfortunes I've had!" Remus said.
James sighed. "Honestly Remus, this is just sad!" He looked at his watch. "We still have seven hours before Remus's birthday is over. Let's start now on fixing this problem with Remus and his birthday!"
Remus looked at each of his friends' faces to see the excitement and amusement there. Taking a calming breath, Remus jumped off the beds and slowly inched towards the door while his friends were distracted with planning what they were going to do to celebrate his birthday tonight. He just reached the door when Sirius caught him moving.
"Where do you think you are going, Remus?" Sirius asked with his hands planted on his hips.
"Somewhere where you won't find me and get me killed!" Remus screamed fearfully before running out the door and down the dorm steps.
Sirius grinned. "I'll go catch Remus and keep him distracted. You have two hours before I get back with him."
Sirius cornered Remus in the Great Hall half an hour later. He had the boy pinned to the ground. Remus growled and was trying to get Sirius off of him.
"That was fun!" Sirius grinned. "We should have races more often."
"Sirius, I have an idea." Remus said, smiling innocently.
"What?" Sirius asked interested.
"GET OFF ME!" Remus yelled.
Sirius fell over shocked, allowing Remus to get up and run out of the Great Hall. Sirius cursed and ran after him. After running for twenty minutes through five corridors and up and down six staircases, Sirius caught up to and tackled Remus.
Remus groaned under Sirius's weight. "Stop doing that, Sirius."
"Stop running." Sirius huffed out.
"I will if you promise not to celebrate my birthday." Remus said.
"Not happening." Sirius replied.
"I hate you." Remus snarled.
"You can say that as many times as you want, but I know it's not true." Sirius retorted.
Remus struggled under Sirius's weight.
"Relax Remus, I just want to go outside." Sirius said.
Remus glared at him.
"Hey, it's either agree to go outside with me or I can sit on you all night." Sirius said.
"Fine." Remus huffed.
Grinning, Sirius stood up and held a hand out to Remus. Suspiciously, Remus took the hand offered to him. As soon as their hands touched, Remus knew he shouldn't have taken it. Sirius closed his hand around Remus's smaller hand and yanked him to his feet and proceeded to drag the smaller boy outside.
"Ah, it's such a nice night!" Sirius said when they were outside.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Why did you drag me out here?"
"Cause." Sirius replied.
"You have such a great vocabulary." Remus growled.
Sirius shook his head exasperatedly. "Remus, it is your birthday. Don't be like that!"
Remus threw his hands into the air. "I can't believe we are back to that!"
"I just can't believe all the accidents you had. It's kind of funny. I didn't think you were that clumsy. How do you drop a knife into your foot?" Sirius was laughing.
"Yeah, that's right! Laugh at my pain!" Remus pouted.
"Thanks for giving me permission." Sirius replied.
Remus sat down and crossed his arms. "Jerk."
Sirius fell to the ground next to Remus. "Sorry Remmy, but it is kind of surprising at all the injuries you've gotten. I guess it makes sense though."
"What does?" Remus asked, raising a brow.
"Well, you fell onto your head as a little kid. It explains all that is wrong with you." Sirius replied, grinning like a maniac.
"There's nothing wrong with me!" Remus said indignantly.
Sirius patted Remus's arm sympathetically. "Keep telling yourself that."
Remus tackled Sirius and started a wrestling match between them.
Both boys collapsed onto their backs a little while later, breathing heavily.
"That was fun." Sirius said.
"You think everything is fun." Remus replied. He looked at the sky to see the sun beginning to set. "Let's go inside. It'll be dark soon."
"Who cares about being out after dark?" Sirius asked. At a look from Remus, Sirius sighed. "Fine, let's go back to the common room. I'm sure you want to work on your homework, like the little nerd you are."
Sirius jumped to his feet and ran away after he said that. Remus stared at his retreating back in a stupor for a few seconds before chasing his friend.
"GET BACK HERE, BLACK!" Remus yelled, throwing his fist into the air angrily.
Sirius laughed and picked up his speed. He saw the Fat Lady Portrait ahead and grinned. "Moon Star, Moon Star, Moon Star, Moon star." He yelled.
The Fat Lady sighed. "Alright, alright, I heard you the first time." She swung opened to allow Sirius passage.
Remus growled and slid to a halt in front of the Fat Lady. "Moon Star."
The portrait swung forward to admit Remus. Remus ran into the common room and looked around. Sirius wasn't there, so that meant that he was in their dorm.
Remus pushed the dorm door opened and stared, gaping at what he saw. There was a big chocolate cake with chocolate icing on the table with goblets of chocolate milk next to it. On his bed was a pile of presents. His friends stood smirking at him.
"I…I….told you….not to." Remus said weakly, falling to his knees, defeated.
"Yeah, but we are your friends and wanted to celebrate." James replied. He pulled Remus into the room and looked out in the door to make sure nobody was around. He closed the door when the coast was clear and turned around, smiling. "Remus, I thought you said your mom, cousins, and uncle don't celebrate your birthday."
"They don't." Remus said confused.
James raised a brow. "Well, that's weird. Several different owls arrived here, each carrying a gift for you from your family. Three of the owls were carrying the largest gift in your pile."
Remus looked at his gifts. "I see. Where did the other three come from?"
"I made a quick trip to Hogsmeade while Peter was in the kitchen telling the house elves that we wanted a cake. Sirius and Peter told me what they wanted to get you before I left." James explained.
"How did you get the cake here without anyone seeing it?" Remus asked.
"Invisibility cloak, of course." James replied, smiling.
"Now that there aren't any more questions, let's eat this cake!" Sirius said.
After eating the cake, which was delicious, the boys watched Remus open gifts. Peter got him a packet of chocolate frogs, James got him a book about charms that they don't learn in school that could be helpful in pranks, and Sirius got him dung bombs and Frog Spawn Soap (which just came out). His mother sent him homemade cookies and his cousin, Selene, gave him a minor healing potion for cuts and scrapes with a note saying he should be more careful. His uncle Kaus gave Remus a note, saying he had a special gift to give Remus when he came home for summer. The last gift, which was the biggest, was from his other cousin, Jason. There was a note saying that Remus had better start practicing and that he had something to tell Remus when he came home for summer.
"Practice what?" James asked.
"Don't know." Remus replied as he opened the gift. He sighed when he saw it. "I know now."
James and Sirius looked at the gift and grinned. "I love your cousin."
"I can't believe he got you a Quidditch set. We have to break this out with the Gryffindor team at their next practice." Sirius was grinning like a maniac. "And Remus has to play because they are his."
Remus groaned.
"Come on, let's go ask them when their next practice is." James said enthusiastically.
James and Sirius ran out of the dorm and down the stairs with Remus running after them and telling them to not ask.
"Hey Shawn!" James yelled when they entered the common room.
Remus slammed into Sirius's back when he stopped suddenly.
Sirius grinned at Remus. "Pay more attention, Remus."
Remus rubbed his head. "Don't stop so suddenly next time."
"What?" Shawn asked.
"When is your next Quidditch practice?" James asked.
"Why?" Angel asked.
James grinned. "Well, Remus's cousin, his name is Jason, right Remus?"
"Jason is your cousin!" Shawn asked, grinning. "I remember him. He just graduated last year. He was one of the best beaters on our team. He was an awesome captain!"
"Well, he sent Remus a set of new Quidditch balls and Quidditch armor for his birthday today." James said.
"I didn't know it was your birthday. Happy birthday, Remus!" Angel smiled at the young boy.
"Thanks." Remus replied.
"Anyway, we want to break them out so we thought we'd play a game with you guys after your next practice." Sirius said.
Shawn grinned. "Well, you're in luck. Our next practice is tomorrow."
Sirius grinned. "Remus, you had nothing to worry about today. You didn't get a single injury."
Remus rolled his eyes. "There are still three more hours of my birthday left. I can still get hurt."
Just as Remus said this, a second year ran pass Remus as he was running away from his friend. The second year knocked into Remus, making the young werewolf fall backwards. His hand went flying backwards and into the fireplace.
Remus screamed in pain and pulled his hand out of the fire. He gave Sirius a see-what-happens-when-I-celebrate-my-birthday look.
Sirius and James just stared at Remus. "You have the worse luck ever. I really didn't want to believe it, Remus, but I think you are actually cursed to get hurt on every single birthday of yours."
"That's…what….I've…..been…trying…to…..tell…you." Remus said through the pain in his hand. He was holding his burned hand in his unburned hand to his chest.
"Angel, I know it's pass curfew, but can we take him to the Hospital Wing?" James asked.
Angel nodded her head. She wasn't going to stop someone who was hurt from going to the Hospital Wing even if it was after curfew.
"Worst luck ever." Sirius mumbled as he and James led Remus to the Hospital Wing.
A/N: Please review!