The Infamous Marauders
Chapter Thirteen
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling.
Early November 1976
"Why? Why? Why?" Sirius moaned from beneath his covers, pain wrung through his head, James wrenched his curtains open laughing as he winced from the light "What has you so chipper Prongs?" he spat out, Sirius had by far drank the most out of the Marauders the previous night.
"It's Hogsmeade weekend this weekend"
"Ah, so todays the day you ask Lily out" Remus spoke as he emerged from the bathroom.
"Indeed Moony"
"Give us strength, I don't think I can deal with this today" Sirius yawned dragging himself up, he looked over at Remus flashing him a smile, however instead of an answering grin Moony just turned away. I mustn't be the only one with a monumental hangover he thought to himself.
As soon as the boys made it into the hall for breakfast a stern looking McGonagall began approaching them "Mr Potter, Mr Black I am very disappointed in you both, do you have anything you wish to tell me young men?"
Sirius and James stayed silent both sporting rather guilty faces, she knows about the party Remus thought in a panic, I'm going to lose my prefect badge.
"You went to visit Madam Pomfrey for boils yesterday?" She asked prompting the boys.
"Erm, well… you see the thing is that, erm…" Sirius answered rather ineloquently, his hangover rendering his acting skills useless.
"Well Mr Black that certainly was a very detailed explanation, I shall save you the hassle of concocting a lie, I am aware that you two did not go to the infirmary yesterday as instructed by your professor" James opened his mouth to respond, "I am also aware that you two intentionally skipped your lesson, so tell me where you were"
Silence answered her, McGonagall however did not look surprised at their lack of honesty she sighed "Very well I cannot let this slide, detention it is for both of you, and twenty points from Gryffindor each, I am afraid that this time I will be required to write home to your parents" Sirius visibly paled, from what he had told Remus he was already walking a fine line with his mother after the previous summer. "Your detention will be this Saturday"
"This Saturday?" James asked in disbelief "You can't its Hogsmeade weekend!"
"I am aware Mr Potter and I can, if you have no respect for school rules you will not be allowed to participate in activities deemed a privilege for students, you will be meeting Mr Filch at 10 o'clock Saturday morning in the entrance hall" With that she strode away out of the great hall.
James and Sirius slumped down next to Remus and Peter, James muttered about the injustice of it all. Feeling rather green around the gills Remus decided forgo breakfast instead he looked around the hall many students were sporting hangovers evident by their pale faces and dark bags, the Slytherins however were sneering with pleasure.
The next couple of days James and Sirius were rather subdued, James due to his missed opportunity to ask out Lily and Sirius due to the threat of his mother finding out he had yet again brought shame upon their family name.
Friday morning arrived and with it came postal owls, a majestic owl dropped an easily recognisable letter in front of Sirius, a howler. Students around him stared with rapt attention suddenly the howler jumped into life the distinct and harsh voice of Walburga Black screamed out towards him "Sirius Orion Black you are no son of mine you disgrace, you bring shame upon The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black" The tirade of abuse carried on for a further five minutes, Sirius stared ahead with a blank look upon his face. The Slytherins openly laughed, his brother Regulus looked over with disgust from the Slytherin table. Once it ended Remus tried to place a comforting hand on his arm which Sirius quickly shook off before standing up and striding out of the hall much the amusement of the students adorned in green and silver. Peter looked startled whilst James looked sorrowful, Sirius for all he pretends not to care would be deeply hurt by his mother's words.
The rest of Friday seemed to pass painfully slow, Sirius refused to talk about the Howler with any of the boys, he went up to the dormitory straight after lessons, closing his curtains, no sound emerged and Remus assumed he must have placed a silencing charm around them. A tense silence engulfed their room so Remus decided tonight would be as good as any other to go and research his strange behaviour on the last full moon in the library. As curfew approached Remus trudged up the stairs towards Gryffindor tower, his search for information had been unsuccessful, the only books in the library graphically described the dangers of werewolves and the most effective ways to trap and kill such beasts.
Saturday was a dreary day fitting the mood of the Marauders room perfectly, Sirius still in a sombre mood accompanied James down to the entrance hall to meet Filch, whilst Remus and Peter got ready for the Hogsmeade trip, Remus had offered to stay at the castle however James had insisted he go, begging him to keep an eye on Lily for him. It was becoming increasingly more dangerous in the world outside of Hogwarts as the maniac Voldemort gained more followers, the Prophet had begun reporting disappearances, causing wide spread fear.
Filch grinned menacingly at the boys "Thought you could skip lessons did you, well this will teach you, I've been instructed to take you up to first floor lavatories, been flooded they have and it's your job to tidy it up, without wands"
As the two sullen boys began mopping up the floor admired by Moaning Myrtle, Remus and Peter were setting off to Hogsmeade. Peter was enthusiastically telling Remus about a new food combination he had created, however Remus' mind was elsewhere, he was worried about Padfoot, he had a wall built up around him and refused to let anyone in. Remus knew all about keeping things bottled up, he was determined to cheer Sirius up even if he was unwilling to discuss his problems.
Once they arrived at Hogsmeade they went to Honeydukes per Peters insistence, Wormtail stocked up on sweets, and Remus treated himself to a single chocolate frog, he had managed to save himself a small amount of money over the summer by completing odd jobs around the neighbourhood. At lunchtime, they made their way over to the to the Three Broomsticks, butterbeer in hand they tried to find a table. "Remus" a voice shouted he span around, was that Marlene he looked over confused she began to wave at him beckoning him over.
"Hey Remus"
"Hello Marlene"
"Want to sit with us?"
"Erm, sure"
"You can sit by Lily" She said smirking, Remus smiled at Lily taking a seat, Marlene sure was acting odd, Peter seemed happy enough to be sitting with the girls a goofy grin plastered across his face.
"Lily was wanting to get some new quills, I'm sure she would enjoy the company"
"Oh. Well I'm here with Peter"
"He can stay with us" Marlene swiftly countered.
Remus turned to Lily "I can come with you if you like"
"That would be nice thank you" Lily answered glaring at Marlene.
Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop was surprisingly quite busy, Lily quickly made her purchases and they escaped back onto the street moving towards a less crowded alley "So Marlene was acting pretty odd" Remus enquired.
"I know" Lily sighed exasperatedly "She seems to think we would make a good couple"
Remus spluttered "Lily I, not to mean offence but I don't think that would be a good idea, you see"
"Merlin Remus stop" She laughed "I know I don't like you like that, we are just friends, she seems to think when I say we are revising that I'm actually going for illicit meetings in broom cupboards" Relief was evident on his face "Gosh I'm not that bad am I?"
"No Lily I just could not, have not actually, ever viewed you romantically"
"Well good, one Marauder hounding me is enough" She joked.
Meeting back up with the others, they decided to have one more butterbeer before the group headed back to Hogwarts.
Remus decided it would be best not to tell James about Marlene's eagerness to couple up himself with Lily, after the misunderstanding they had it might just make him moody, plus him and Sirius didn't look pleased at all when they returned from their detention.
As Remus lay in bed that night he racked his brain of ways to cheer Sirius up, none came and soon his tiredness overwhelmed him. Hours later in the pitch black dormitory Remus stirred, he had always been a light sleeper his sensitive hearing was alert even when he slumbered, he could hear the soft padding of feet before the dormitory door opened and gently closed. He quickly got up grabbing the chocolate frog from his nightstand and crept down to the common room, sat alone on one of the couches staring into the fire was Sirius.
"Can't sleep Padfoot?" Remus sat down beside him on the couch. "Want to talk about it?"
Sirius sighed and continued to stay silent "How about we share some chocolate, that always cheers me up"
Sirius looked up and smiled slightly "It's okay Remus I know chocolate is your favourite"
Remus pulled out his wand and sliced it in half pressing a piece into Sirius' hand.
"I don't want to talk Moony"
"That's okay, we can just sit"
"It's just difficult you know"
Remus once again placed a comforting hand on Sirius' arm, this time though it was not shaken off, Sirius took a bite of the chocolate. He gazed up at the concerned face of his friend "I feel guilty"
"Guilty? You have done nothing wrong Pads"
"I have though haven't I, I'm upset about what that cruel woman said to me, she's horrible Remus, she would be happy to see people like you dead on the floor whilst Purebloods like her were rewarded for the luck of being born into the right family, it's not fair"
"She is your mother Sirius no one would blame you for wanting her to love you"
"It disgusts me that her hatred of me actually hurts I should be glad that she shuns me, at least it proves I am not as dark and as evil as her"
Remus inched closer to Sirius "You are such a wonderful person Pads and she's a fool to not see what an honourable and smart son she has, I don't think she will ever change her opinion but you have a new family, the Marauders, the Gryffindor's, and I know the Potters love you, I know it's not the same as your proper family nobody could replace them but you should be proud of how different you are"
"You're right Remus, I'm sorry for being so distant with you all, I just know that its coming to the point where I will have to make the choice between them and all of you, I would never pick them and their ideals, I just don't want to say goodbye, I'm worried about Regulus most of all, he's going to end up a death eater I'm sure of it, I was meant to protect him and I failed"
"Regulus made his own choices Sirius, and if he ever changed his mind we will be there to support you and him"
"Thank you Moony it feels good to get this off my chest, but that's enough about that, I think I've wallowed enough, tell me about Hogsmeade did anything exciting happen?"
"Well actually I think I have found out that Marlene has lost the plot a bit"
"Go on?"
Remus and Sirius continued to talk laughing about Marlene's failed matchmaking, Sirius also entertained Remus with a story from his detention, he was adamant that Moaning Myrtle had a crush on James begging him to visit her again soon and complimenting his physique as he mopped. Sirius went to bed feeling much lighter than he had in days and it was all thanks to Remus, he would be treating his furry friend to some chocolate frogs to show his gratitude.