A/N: This longfic isn't a songfic (although it does include a lot of music). We also don't own Back in Black. AC/DC does.
November 2
4 pm
"BACK IN BLACK!" screamed Sirius.
"I hit the sack!" sang James.
"I've been too long, I'm glad to be back!" said Remus. Harry giggled. Once the song was over, they all flopped onto Sirius's sofa.
"Oh, it's been so long since we had so much fun!" said Sirius.
"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically.
"Wonder why that is," said Remus sadly.
"It's all HIS fault!" said James.
"Who, me, what - what did I do - Jamie! I thought we were BROTHERS FOREVER? What happened to the Marauder Pact of 1976-" spluttered Sirius.
"Not you," Remus rolled his eyes and pushed him over.
"OLDY VOLDY MOLDY!" said James furiously.
"Oooh!" said Sirius. "Let's do more!"
"Coldy Voldy," said Remus.
"Yeah, he could really use one of your sweaters, Moony," said James. "You have what, like twenty? Surely you could spare one for the Greater Good? You know, the new foundation - Keep the Oldy Coldy Voldy Warm?"
"Oldy Coldy Moldy Voldy," snorted Sirius.
"That sounds like something Peeves would come up with!" said Remus. Harry giggled again.
"Mini Prongs looks a bit sleepy," remarked Sirius.
"Oh yeah, I've got to go put him to bed now," said James, checking his watch. "Be back in a few." He disappeared into the Potters' room, carrying a sleepy Harry. The door snapped shut behind him with a quiet 'click!'.
"So," said Remus. He took a deep breath.
"What is it, Moony?" said Sirius, concerned.
"I-I'm really sorry…but Padfoot, I'll probably be down for the whole of tomorrow."
"Oh," said Sirius sympathetically, patting his friend on the back. "Full moon, right?"
"Yeah…I'm sorry, Sirius."
"It's not your fault!" said Sirius. "And you'll be here anyway, right?"
"What? But I have to go home to transform; I usually transform with the pack, but I'll have to do it at home-"
"Moony, are you mad? Do you think I'd let you transform alone? Or James, for that matter?" said Sirius incredulously.
"But where? And what about Harry?" asked Remus.
"He'll be fine! Look, I can come with you in the cellar, and James can stay upstairs to protect Harry and Lily as a stag! It all works!"
"Won't the howling wake him up?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Moony, ever heard of a Zonal Silencing charm?"
"But it's your birthday, I don't want you to stay up all night-"
"I'd be doing that anyway."
"Are you serious about this?"
"A hundred percent, both ways," said Sirius seriously.
"Thank you," said Remus, hugging Sirius.
"What do you think we became Animagi for?"
James walked in to see a large black dog with his front paws and head in Remus's lap. Remus was absent-mindedly stroking him.
"'Sup, Moony," he said.
Remus jumped slightly, and then relaxed. "Hi, James. Is Harry asleep, then?"
"Yeah." He snorted. "Took me a good twenty minutes!" He flopped down on the sofa next to Remus, and the dog shifted off of Remus and onto James instead.
"Merlin, Padfoot, you're heavy!" said James. "What have you been eating?"
The dog huffed in a very human-like way and returned to Remus.
"Knut for your thoughts, Moony?"
"Do you really not mind me being sick tomorrow? Like, actually?"
Sirius shifted back and sat between the two of them. "Oh, not this again. James, activate sequence 341: Brainless Werewolf."
James grinned. "With pleasure. Moony, every time you say that, I will hit you with a pillow. And if you say it again, two pillows, then four, and so on. Understood?"
"But-" protested Remus.
"Here you are, then. If you insist." Sirius whacked him in the face with one of the couch cushions.
"Ow!"
"Serves you right!" said Sirius.
James ruffled Remus's hair. "We knew what we were getting into when we befriended you. Although, I must say, I thought you would make it easier for us to help you, not harder."
Remus sighed. But it was a happy sigh. He had the best friends in the world.
James, Sirius and Remus stayed there for a while reminiscing about their Hogwarts days, Sirius alternating between his human and dog forms, listening to their favorite records at a considerably lower volume. After a bit, Sirius left to work on his motorbike, and James and Remus faced each other. Looking around furtively for Sirius, they cast a 'Muffliato'.
"So," whispered James. "Tomorrow."
"Right. What are our plans? Cake?" asked Remus.
"Yeah. What flavor?"
"Chocolate?" suggested Remus sheepishly.
James rolled his eyes. "Of course."
"He likes it, too!" said Remus defensively.
"Yeah, he does…"
"Alright. Okay, then, music?"
"AC/DC, Queen, Guns 'n Roses, you know," said James.
"Okay," said Remus pulling down all the records they had from those bands. "Are we ordering pizza?"
"Yeah…Pizza Hut. We'll order tomorrow midday; that way we can have pizza for the whole day!" said James happily.
"Okay. So…activities?"
"The crossword?"
"The crossword?"
"He does like it," said Remus.
"But, like, seriously, who does the crossword on their birthday?"
"Sirius does."
James rolled his eyes. "Oh, all right. Fine, I'll write that." He scribbled 'crossword' at the top of an empty piece of notepaper (Lily's idea - pencils and paper were so much easier to use than a quill, ink, and parchment).
"Okay, what else?"
"A dance off while we're transformed?" suggested James.
"A - a - what?" said Remus.
"A dance-off. You know, the Stag Stomp, the Dog Disco, the Wolf Wigg-"
"Wolves don't dance," said Remus shortly.
James wiggled his eyebrows. "How do we know that werewolves don't?"
"Well…well - I don't dance." Remus blushed. "So there!"
"You can't 'not dance', Moony. Everyone knows how to dance, it's a basic human instinct."
"Is it?" asked Remus dryly.
"Oh, stop acting like Sniv- er - I mean, Snape."
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Remus.
James said nothing.
Remus rolled his eyes. "Oh, alright. But only because it's Padfoot's birthday."
"YAY!" said James.
"Yes, yes…well, what else?"
"There'll be a lot of singing," said James.
"Okay."
"Oooh! We can do fake stargazing, you know, with an enchanted ceiling, like the one at Hogwarts, and we can annoy Pads by showing him all his family members!" said James.
"Regulus."
"Bellatrix."
"Orion."
"Arcturus."
"Walburga."
"Draco."
"Ah, Draco's still Harry's age. He could turn out alright, you know," said Remus.
"With Lucy as his dad? Not likely," snorted James.
"Well, Pads turned out alright, didn't he?"
"Point."
"Cygnus."
"Andromeda. No, he likes Andy," said James.
"Yeah, he does. We went 'round the other day. Have you met her daughter yet? She's a metamorphmagus," asked Remus.
"No. Nymphadora, isn't it?"
Remus grinned. "I wouldn't call her that, if I were you."
"Why not?"
"She doesn't really approve of her name. She's Tonks to you."
"Don't blame her…" muttered James. "Honestly, am I the only non-muggleborn with a normal name?"
"What counts as a not-normal name?"
"Sirius. Remus. Albus. Filius. Rubeus. Gellert. Severus. Minerva. Lucius. Ginevra. Xenophilus. Pandora. Horace. Literally anyone in Sirius's family. Argus. Merope. Morfin. Hepzibah-"
"You do have a point. But what about Frank and Alice?" said Remus.
"Well, they're the exception, then," admitted James
"Hmm…well, every time they ask us to name a bunch of stars and constellations, I just write a bunch of Sirius's family."
"Yeah, that was useful…"
Meanwhile, Lily, Severus, Frank, Alice and Dumbledore had finally gotten to work. They were sitting around a large round table in the basement with a large graph paper and several HB pencils, courtesy of Lily ("Really, Albus, you should use these at Hogwarts, they're so much better!" Alice had said). Hufflepuff's cup was safely stored in a box in a locked closet in the corner of the basement, with several security spells on it.
They hadn't drawn anything yet - they were still thinking about what to do.
"I believe," started Snape. "That if we combine spells to remove horcruxes, and add descriptors such as Maxima we will be able to create a hybrid."
"That would be the quickest path of action," agreed Dumbledore.
"Why not use the Avada Kedavra curse?" asked Frank.
"Because," Snape rolled his eyes, "Albus wants the soul intact. He believes that if we put it back into Voldemort (and Merlin knows how we'll do that), there might be a chance at saving Voldemort. Though, why he would do that…"
"Second chances, Severus," said Dumbledore, sadness flashing through his eyes for a moment. Snape fell silent. "And in addition, I think that several of these horcruxes are valuable historical objects. It would be a shame to destroy them."
"Alright," said Alice awkwardly. "So do we have any spell ideas?"
"Well, we'll have to have a removal spell, and a recombination one. And we can have one that detects whether there's anything left," suggested Lily. "Just in case."
"Right. Let's work out a list of spells for this," said Dumbledore. They got to work, bent over the paper.
Somewhere far away, Voldemort screamed in frustration. The cup was gone.
A/N: We may have to reduce story updates from twice a week (once a week for each story) to once a week (once every two weeks for each story). Thank you to those of you reading, following, reviewing and favoriting our stories! It means a lot.
DarkRavie: Thank you, and we hope you've enjoyed this chapter.
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