The Infamous Marauders

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in my story they belong to the queen that is J. K. Rowling.

Late September 1976

It took all of Sirius' skills to talk James out of storming out of Potions to set up a search party for Remus and Lily, he somehow managed to convince James nothing serious had happened saying that surely Dumbledore would have made an announcement if something terrible had occurred, despite this Sirius could feel his concern building it wasn't like those two to ever miss a lesson, also why were they both gone? Were they doing something together? Sirius scowled at that thought, surely not they weren't friends they only spoke to do their prefect rounds together. Wherever they were Sirius hoped they appeared soon for James' sake as he was sure he wasn't far off going berserk.

At lunch Remus and Lily finally made their way back up to the castle, Lily once again appeared strong and happy a pleasant smile graced her face, they entered the hall to a rather mixed reaction. There was instantly the stern glare from their head of house Professor McGonagall, then there were glares coming from Severus and surprisingly Sirius, James' face was by far the most expressive, there was shock, joy, confusion, and relief flashing back and forth across his features. As they approached the table Sirius loudly called out "So you have both returned, have you?" If Remus wasn't mistaken there was a snappish tone to his voice.

"Yes, we have Black not that it's any of your business" Lily retorted.

"I am so glad you are okay Lily!" James quickly cut in.

Lily turned her frown onto James and replied, "Such a lovely hairdo you have Potter"

James blanched, then his face suddenly changed into a deep crimson colour, it would seem in his worry for Lily and Remus' whereabouts he had completely forgotten about his current hair related predicament.

Sirius stood up to face Lily "You are such a bitch Evans, the guy only likes you, but you are too stuck up to give anyone the time of day with your perfect grades and your prefect badge, learn to have some fun without being so spiteful will you!"

Everyone at the table looked shocked at Sirius' outburst, Lily included and she quickly stormed right back out of the hall, James' face suddenly darkened he looked ready to explode at Sirius. However, it was Remus who reacted first whirling his full attention to Sirius and he wasn't happy in the slightest "How could you be so rude Padfoot?!"

"She started it Remus she intentionally ruined James' hair and embarrassed him"

"If I remember correctly you seemed to find it highly amusing this morning"

"Yeah well I just realised how horrid she actually is"

Remus and James wore matching looks of outrage at this, "That's my friend!" Remus exclaimed whilst James called "That's my future wife"

Sirius however did not back down "Well she is, she is always being horrid to Prongs and she has you in trouble today I don't even want to know how she got you to skip a lesson"

"For one you don't know if I skipped a lesson, two you have no proof it was because of her I didn't attend my lesson, and three even if it was its none of your business"

"Yeah well I don't see what's so important about Evans"

"I forgot the only thing you think important is Quidditch"

Sirius stood with his mouth agape, no quick comeback popped in his brain so he had to stand in silence as he watched Remus stride out of the hall. James quickly followed he couldn't believe Padfoot would be so harsh, he was annoyed about his hair but not annoyed enough to justify that outburst, he decided that now was his chance to show Evans how caring he was by finding her to make sure she was okay.

Sirius sat back down, the silence at the table was broken by Peter "To be fair James' hair is pretty funny I do think Evans knows how to have a laugh" Peter was quickly silenced from saying anymore from the glare he received from the remaining Marauder at the table.

James sped his pace up as he neared the entrance hall hoping to find and comfort Evans however instead of finding a distraught Lily he found Remus and Lily talking quietly to each other. They were stood far too close for acquaintances, then he recalled Remus shouting at Padfoot that Evans was his friend, he wasn't aware of any such friendship. Remus then began to gently rub Lily on the back, in James' opinion they looked very friendly then it dawned on him that Remus and Lily must have a secret relationship, he couldn't believe this, first Padfoot was horrible to the love of his life and now Remus had betrayed him and stole her?! He felt too heartbroken to be angry and darted up the stairs to run back to the common room.

Lily and Remus were unaware of James' presence as they spoke quietly to one another "Just ignore Sirius Lily he speaks before he thinks"

"I can handle Black by myself Remus it's okay"

"I know but you don't deserve to have someone call you names for no reason like that"

"Yeah? Well I am quite used to that Remus, the Slytherins find it amusing to call me a mudblood often enough"

Remus raised his hand and gently rubbed her back at that statement he didn't know what to say, if people knew he was a werewolf he would be called monster, Lily like himself could not help who she was, although Remus thought werewolves had earned the title of being monsters, he believed no one deserved to be put down for their parentage.

"Please don't say that word" Remus finally responded.

Lily smiled up at him "It's okay Remus, I'm Lily Evans you have seen what I did to James' hair this morning I can give as good as I get and I won't let Black or a few snakes put me down, I'm going to go apologise to Professor Slughorn for missing his lesson this morning would you like to come with me? Remus agreed and they both made their way down to the dungeons to find the Potions Professor before the lunch break ended.

The rest of the afternoon past by painfully slow, James was now missing from afternoon classes and the remaining Marauders sat in silence, Sirius spent most of his time glaring at Lily who, much to his annoyance, didn't seem to care in the slightest. Tea in the great hall was also tense with many of the students shooting glances to where the Marauders were seated, as with anything in Hogwarts, gossip spread like wildfire and the news of the argument at lunchtime was known by everyone.

All the boys eventually made their way back to their dormitory upon entering they found a pitiful looking James sat in his bed. James shot up as the door opened and cast his meanest glare at his supposed friends, Sirius also looked angry, Remus looked tired and Peter as per looked oblivious. Remus quickly made his way into the bathroom to have a shower and get ready for bed, he really wasn't in the mood for James or Sirius' immaturity tonight, he was irritable as it was because of the closeness of the full moon and he hadn't slept well the past few nights he just wanted to get ready and go straight to bed.

Unfortunately for Remus when he exited the bathroom the awkward silence did not meet him as he had expected, but instead he walked in to a full-blown argument, James was wildly brandishing his wand as he shouted at Padfoot, noticing Remus had re-entered the room he turned his anger to him "AND YOU! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!"

Remus was stumped, he had no idea why James would verbally attack him questioning his position as a friend he went to ask what it was he had done but was cut off before he could get a single word out.

"What has Moony ever done wrong to you eh?" Sirius bellowed, "You need to realise it's that girl who is the bad one, she has Moony in trouble for skipping classes and she constantly attacks you Prongs give it up already there's plenty of other nicer girls"

"I did not get in any trouble we spoke to Professor Slughorn" Remus hurriedly responded before turning to James "And what have I done wrong to you?"

James scoffed "What have you done wrong, what have you done, unbelievable, you betrayed me"

Sirius and Remus looked at James in confusion "I am sorry you're upset James but I really have no idea what it is you're talking about, how have I betrayed you?" Remus was beginning to worry he didn't want to lose his friend but he couldn't think of a single thing he had done that would anger James in such a way.

"You stole my beautiful flower from me" He wailed "Evans was meant to be my future wife, I was going to ask her to the first Hogsmeade weekend soon, but you, you traitor, you stole her from me, I know all about your secret relationship!"

Sirius turned to Remus in shock even Peter perked up at that statement, who up until that point had tried to remain invisible in the corner to try and avoid the rage of the others, Remus however looked the most confused "Why on earth would you think I've stolen Lily from you, I am not seeing Lily, I most certainly do not like her like that"

"Well I seen you both in the entrance hall at lunch, I followed you out of the hall to check Evans was okay but obviously, you made it there before me" James bitterly responded.

Realisation dawned on Remus, of course the way he and Lily were stood would have looked suspicious, he had kept his growing friendship with Lily quiet, they had bonded over his lycanthropy, he had kept his bad transformation from the others not wanting them to feel guilty and therefore couldn't really find a suitable explanation to his sudden friendship with Lily so he instead he kept it to himself. Remus did not feel that gave James the right to throw around accusations like that and it definitely did not justify his reaction "Prongs for one I cannot believe you think I would go out with Lily when I know how much you like her, however she is not your property and you can't go around shouting she is yours, if she likes somebody else that is none of your business, me and Lily are only friends and have been since last year, I was talking to her today as a friend as she was upset, the reasons why are also none of your business so do not ask as I respect her privacy"

James had the sense to look sheepish "I didn't mean you were a bad friend Remus I'm so stupid I should know better than to think you would do that to me" He paused for a moment looking thoughtful before continuing "You are right as well I don't own Evans and I don't have the right to get so upset if she likes someone else, she deserves to be happy with whoever she chooses, I'm sorry"

Remus smiled at James he had no intention of holding a grudge, he knew James was irrational when it came to Lily he had fancied her since the moment he had set eyes on her, he was happy that James realised his reaction was too controlling though Lily was her own person and James needed to learn how to respect her, he was still so immature though and Remus believe that was one of the main reasons Lily had such a problem with the boy. "It's okay James we all know you get a little bit emotional when it comes to Lily" One silly argument resolved, Remus turned to Padfoot "I think you have something to say Padfoot" prompting him to apologise.

"Yes, actually I do" Instead of the expected apology to James he glared at Remus "Why have you been hiding your friendship with Lily?"

"I don't think that's your business"

"Well I say it is, we are the Marauders we shouldn't have any secrets"

Thinking to himself he debated his choices, do I tell them and be honest, Padfoot is right it's not good to have secrets from your friends, but then again, he didn't want James, Sirius, and Peter to feel guilty about missing a transformation. Remus decided it would be better to tell them and explained all about how he had snuck out of the hospital wing the morning after the moon before the other boys woke up to see him in his bad state. He had wondered around the castle before bumping into Lily who had realised his problem and offered him a listening ear and support from there he explained how he and Lily had studied for their OWLs together and continued their friendship doing their prefect rounds together and keeping each other updated on their lives.

After the story, Sirius turned to James "Mate, I'm sorry I was wrong about Evans if she has been there for Moony like that and kept his secret then she must be a decent person, I just was getting sick of the way she treated you, you're by best friend and I want you to be happy"

James grinned at Sirius waving off his apology he put his arm round his shoulder and looked glassy eyed as he replied, "See I told you she was the one boys she's amazing"

Now all the ridiculousness of the day had been sorted the boys finally settled down to go to sleep.