The Infamous Marauders
Chapter Sixteen
Author's Note: Happy New Years everyone all the best for 2018, please leave a review and let me know what you think of the story :)
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured in this story they belong to J. K. Rowling.
Mid-Late November 1976
The day for the sixth-year students to begin brewing the final submission of their potions in their groups had arrived, the professor had prepared the students to be able to work independently as this potion would contribute towards their final grade of the year. The boys woke up late as they had stayed up well into night discussing some prank ideas for Christmas, the group hurried down to hall to grab breakfast before their lessons started. As they approached the doors of the hall they were greeted with silence.
"Have we missed breakfast?" Peter asked worried.
Remus quickly cast tempus to check "No there is still fifteen minutes left"
"So why is everyone so quiet?" James mused.
"Only one way to find out isn't there" Sirius said as he flung open the door.
The sight that met the boys was confusing, there sat the entirety of the student body in silence with grim, worried, or pained expressions, except for the Slytherins who either sported expressions of indifference or barely masked glee. The marauders took their seats trying to figure out what could have happened to cause such a reaction, a Gryffindor at the table slid the Daily Prophet over to the boys splashed across the front page was the headline 'Muggle Massacre, Who Will Stop This Terror?'. Below was a detailed article describing how multiple family members of Muggleborns had been targeted, tortured, and killed, 27 people had been murdered in a single night. The boys looked sombre trying to process this horrific news, even Peter passed on breakfast, they like many others felt sick at what had happened, how could people perform such horrendous acts on other human beings, the reality of the threat dark wizards posed was becoming clear. It was then that the boys noticed some students they knew weren't present in the hall, the cause obvious, Remus felt a knot form in his stomach he swiftly scanned the table for Lily relieved when he saw her sat with her friends a look of grim determination and anger set on her face. Remus wished that the protection he and Lily were currently working on could already be available to protect those vulnerable to attacks, it was unfair that muggles did not have wards to keep their homes protected from such violent attacks.
Sirius meanwhile was searching for another face in the mass of students, his gaze was focused scanning the Slytherin table he rapidly sought out his brother the sight that met his eyes breaking his heart. There sat his brother looking pleased, to others his brother may have looked only bored, but Sirius could see the happy gleam to his eyes. His stomach churned, he rose from his chair exiting the hall unable to sit there knowing his brother had found some perverse pleasure at others suffering.
Remus glanced at James who nodded in response Remus rose to follow Sirius and speak with him, he caught up with him quickly "Sirius stop" Remus pleaded.
Sirius turned to look at Remus his eyes filled with despair "He was happy" He whispered.
Comprehension flashed across his eyes before Remus enveloped Sirius in a hug "I'm sorry Pads, I truly am I know you loved him"
"My own brother Remus, how could he? I think I'm going to be sick"
"I know Sirius, I know" Remus tried to soothe his best friend.
"I knew the day I had to choose between my family and my new life was approaching and this has made my decision for me, I will never go back to them after this, they have corrupted Regulus and turned him into some monster loyal to a cause that only seeks destruction and death" Sirius took a moment taking big gulps of air trying to suppress the feeling of nausea that had overtook him "The marauders are my only family now" He said with finality.
James and Peter appeared around the corner and Remus reluctantly let Sirius go so he could speak with the others.
"Dumbledore just made a speech, he said the morning lessons were cancelled" James told them.
"Can we go outside I don't feel like going to the common room"
"Come on Pads lets go for a walk to the lake" James had followed Sirius' eyes in the hall and had seen his disgust at Regulus, it had not taken long for James to figure out how his friend was feeling, he could not even begin to imagine how he wold feel if a member of his own family was affiliated with dark magic.
The afternoon arrived far too quickly, and many students were still in shock at the news the morning post owls had brought, the halls of Hogwarts were silent as the occupants made their way to their lessons.
Professor Slughorn a usually jovial man was subdued as he guided the students to begin their potions, for once James did not tease Lily and they worked together well in hushed tones as did many of the students.
Sirius guided Remus in the ingredient preparation as he focused on combining the elements in perfect timing in their cauldron "Make sure you use the flat side of your blade to squeeze the sopophorous beans Moony"
"The recipe says to cut them thought Pads?"
"I've been doing extra potion studies and I realised that there are some easier ways to prepare ingredients, trust me"
Remus nodded his head Potions was not his strong suit, so he would follow Sirius' lead on this one, he prepared the 12 beans the recipe called for and handed the juice over to Sirius who added it to the cauldron.
"I wonder if maybe an extra bean would improve this" Sirius mused aloud before continuing with the next step, best not to differ from the instructions too much he decided. After an hour their potion looked close to the description in the book, Slughorn came over and peeked into their cauldron an impressed expression lighting his face.
"Well done boys, I dare say a near perfect potion I have only seen it created better once by another student you should be very happy indeed"
"Probably by the hooked nose loser Snape" Sirius whispered maliciously to Remus.
Remus who usually scolded Sirius for his nasty comments held his tongue his anger towards certain members of Slytherin house were understandable today of all days.
From across the room James shot the boys some thumbs up signalling that his and Lily's potion the Enchanting Philtre had also been created without an issue, hopefully guaranteeing them all good marks, the potions were safely bottled and submitted before the end of the lesson.
Later that evening in the Gryffindor boy's dormitory the Marauders sat huddled together avidly discussing their new plans for Christmas, yes it was true they were prank extraordinaire, but their skills could be used for other purposes when necessary, and they were indeed necessary. Hogwarts had been engulfed in mourning and fear and the boys knew everyone needed something joyful and entertaining to remind them of the positive things in life, so it was decided instead of a Christmas prank the boys were going to make Christmas extra magical for the occupants of the castle. It was wrong for children to be walking around petrified, for students to be mourning the loss of family and friends, and for rage and pain to eat away at so many. The marauders knew they needed to try and help make a difference, no matter how small it was.