A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to the story!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The premise of this fanfic, too, does not belong to me. This was inspired by a wonderful fanfiction titled Eternal Bonds by LivingOnASquare. I highly recommend checking it out! It hasn't been updated since 2009 but it is definitely worth a read. I read it and couldn't help but be inspired to put my own spin on the concept. My fic is very different from that one, especially after the first chapter, but since the initial idea for the loyalty ritual came from LivingOnASquare, I wanted to make sure they got credit where it is due!
Four boys on the verge of adulthood gathered around a small table, their faces alight in the glow of a freshly enchanted piece of parchment. It was a solemn moment, or at least it would have been, in the presence of any other group of friends.
Sirius lifted his hand from the parchment, his face gleeful. "I was the first!" He shouted, like a schoolboy who has just won a game of tag. "I am officially the most loyal friend!"
"Says the one not casting all the spells," James rolled his eyes. He placed his palm on the parchment and pointed his wand at it nonchalantly, and whispered an incantation under his breath. The glow of the paper flashed brighter for a moment, then returned to the soft yellow glow again.
"I think I might just be more loyal than you," he told Sirius.
Sirius stuck his tongue out. "I'm more loyal than you any day, Prongs."
"Oh I'll show you who's more loyal, Padfoot!"
Remus cleared his throat, and gave them each a pointed look.
"I guess we're both loyal enough," James finally declared, and Sirius high fived him. "You're up next Wormtail!"
Peter, who had been attempting to shy away from them, took a deep breath and stepped forward. He hesitated, though, before placing his palm on the parchment.
"What are you, plotting to murder us in our sleep or something?" James joked, seeing his friend's reluctance.
Peter met James' eyes for a long second. He hadn't told his friends yet, what he was considering doing. A Slytherin had approached him a few days ago, him of all people! He had an invitation to join an elite group, and he could barely stop himself from saying yes on the spot! But the Death Eaters had a reputation for the evil acts some of their members were increasingly partaking in...Peter knew that his friends wouldn't be thrilled if they knew that he planned to join.
Peter set his hand determinedly on the parchment. It didn't matter whether or not he became a Death Eater. He would never let it get between him and the first friends who had ever accepted him.
James whispered the incantation, the parchment flashed, and it was Remus' turn.
"Don't tell me that you're scared, too!" James exclaimed as Remus took a step back.
"I'm not!" said Remus hotly. "It's just that I still don't think this is such a good idea."
"Why not?" Sirius asked incredulously.
Remus shook his head sadly. Sirius never did think things through before he leapt into them headfirst. "As I was trying to tell you earlier," Remus began, "why on Earth would you consider an ancient ritual involving debt and time travel to be perfectly safe?"
"You missed the most important parts," reminded James. "Loyalty and friendship!"
"I know, I know," said Remus. "But it's such a risk. What if it goes wrong?"
"Nothing's going to go wrong," said Sirius. "We're only doing this to prove that we're all serious about our friendship. There's no chance of us suddenly hating each other, so there's no risk!"
Remus stared at Sirius for a moment, hard. Then he shook his head, unable to keep from chuckling at his friend's rare smart moment, and set his hand on the parchment. The whole plan was dumb, sure, but Sirius and James were right: the what if was an impossibility with the Marauders.
James cheered, whispered the spell, and they all watched as the parchment flashed.
Remus removed his hand, but instead of letting it fall to his side, grabbed Peter's hand. Sirius took his other one. All around the circle they joined hands, as they had practiced before beginning the ritual.
Then, as one, they began to recite the words: "I, a Marauder, promise that my loyalty is absolute. Never will I act against a fellow Marauder, or wish their demise. If ever I hold a grudge - " Here they all met one another's eyes. This part was where the risk entered the picture, where even Sirius and James couldn't deny the weight - "I know that I will be taken back, to this era of life, until ammends are made and my loyalty is once again as strong as it is at this moment."
Below them the paper surged to an almost blinding glow. It faded after a moment, and they all released hands. On the parchment were the words they had just spoken, along with the overlapping outlines of four handprints. The glow slowly faded until it looked like nothing more than a simple piece of child's artwork.
"So…" James began, his voice low and solemn, "Are any of us from the future yet?"
Even Remus couldn't help but laugh. Sirius smiled. "See!" he said happily. "I told you wouldn't need to worry!"
"Technically it could still happen," argued Remus. "We said, this era, not exactly this moment."
James frowned. "Surely you don't think it will actually happen?"
Remus cracked a smile. "Of course not. Why would any of us ever wish demise on each other?" Now that the ritual was done, it seemed like nothing more than any one of their silly pranks, or silly late-night conversations that delved deep into the reaches of their friendship.
James rolled up the piece of parchment and set it on his bedside table, casually looking at his watch. "Time for bed now, anyone?"
A half hour later, as the four Marauders crawled into bed, there was no doubt in any of their minds that their friendship would stay intact, creepy ritual or no creepy ritual.
Sixteen incredibly, unbelievably hard years later, Sirius Black transformed from a dog back into a human, crouched low in the bushes at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He gazed up at the windows of Gryffindor Tower, his eyes hungry.
He knew it was safer to stay in dog form - those cursed dementors were guarding the gates here, too, and would surely sense him! And then there was the risk of someone in the castle recognizing him. He had overheard rumors suggesting that Moony was teaching there this year! But this moment was too monumental for a dog; Sirius had at long last reached the castle, after many days of madness-induced travel. Little sleep, less food, and haunting memories from Azkaban were his constant companions, along with one echoing mantra:
He's at Hogwarts.
Wormtail was here, in the dorm of a Weasley, living the life of a pampered pet. That ended tonight. Sirius was going to make him pay for all the lives he had taken.
Wormtail quivered, cocooned by soft white fabric but unable to feel safe. He hadn't felt safe in many months. He knew what was coming.
"There you are, Scabbers!" It was the voice of his 'owner,' Ron Weasley. He yanked the pillow off of Wormtail's rat form, eliciting a new round of quakes.
The redhead boy frowned. "Shaking again? Here, take your tonic."
A putrid liquid was forced down Wormtail's throat, worse than any potion from Madam Pomfrey back in his Hogwarts days. But at least the boy put the pillow back on top of him when he was done. Wormtail was back in his warm cocoon that did nothing to calm him.
Sirius Black, his one time friend who he had lost by making the worst mistake he could've ever made, was coming, and he knew it would only be a matter of time until he got him. Wormtail knew he would never be forgiven. He had given up on that a long time ago, now focusing on nothing but survival. He had resorted to horrible things he never thought himself capable of, the least of which was living as a rat for 12 years, for his own survival.
As he had done every night since the news of Sirius' escape came out, Wormtail hoped that some tragedy would befall his once-and-never-again-friend, simply to let Wormtail live another day.
Remus sat in his office, drumming his fingers on his desk in anxiety. A copy of The Daily Prophet was spread out in front of him.
Sirius Black had been spotted near Hogwarts.
Remus no longer felt any sort of affection for his friend of so long ago. All warm feelings had been trampled by a cold hatred and grieving betrayal thirteen years ago. Whenever a happy memory from their school days would resurface Remus would force himself to erase Padfoot from the scene, remembering only his two deceased friends in a good light.
He suddenly recalled that night when the four Marauders had made a promise, a ritual, a vow to their friendship. He had worried for a few weeks about the consequences, but after James and Peter died he knew the entire ritual must have been bogus the whole time. After all, how could no magic have stepped in to save the day before James and Lily were killed? How could Sirius' hatred for Wormatil not have set off the ancient ritual, the ancient promise? For all their promises of loyalty, Sirius must have been lying the whole time.
Remus forced himself to forget Sirius' involvement in the ritual. At least it could be salvaged as a memory of Moony, Prongs, and Wormtail goofing off with make-believe magic.
Padfoot, Remus spat the name in his mind, might as well have never existed. They all would have been better off for it.
The sky was falling dark tonight, and Remus abandoned his desk. He stood at the window, scanning the tree line as he had every night since the dreaded article had come out.
Somewhere out there was the man who had murdered Prongs and Wormtail, and Remus hoped bitterly that a horrible tragedy would befall him before he ever had to set eyes on that disgusting face again.
A night and a day and six hours had passed since the Marauders performed their ritual. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs sat in Transfiguration, luckily their last class of the day. Pranks and homework and classes had kept all of their time filled, and the ritual was no longer at the forefront of any of their minds. Sirius dozed, his head on his desk and beginning to snore. James doodles lazily on a piece of parchment, and Peter leaned over, eager to get a look at the quill-and-ink snitch. Remus leaned forward attentively as McGonagall demonstrated the perfect wand movement to wordlessly transfigure a person to look older.
Then, in one moment, an ordinary Transfiguration class was turned upside down.
Sirius jerked violently up from his desk, his eyes wide and terrified. Remus jerked back into his chair, as if he had taken a blow to his face. His quill went clattering to the floor, even while his hand tightened on his wand. Peter's head shot back and he hit James hard under the chin, causing James to yelp in pain.
"What was that for, Peter?" James exclaimed, rubbing his chin. Most of the students in the room turned to look at them. Professor McGonagall spared them a glance, evidently decided she didn't want to fight that battle today, and resumed teaching.
The Marauders barely noticed, though. Remus' head shot up, his eyes wide as he searched the faces of his once-and-current friends. Peter was shaking as he caught Remus' eye and then abruptly looked away. James looked between the three of them, perplexed. Remus made eye contact but James' eyes only showed confusion. Then Remus turned to Sirius. Their eyes locked for much, much longer.
In Remus, Sirius saw realization, quickly followed by pain. In Sirius, Remus saw the same haunted stare that had gazed at him from the front page of The Daily Prophet.
Both were about to react in some very loud way, but Peter provided a distraction enough to prevent any violence from occurring. His trembling hand shot into the air.
Professor McGonagall turned from her lesson. "Yes, Mister Pettigrew?"
"H-hospital wing," he stammered.
"Why must you go to the hospital wing in the middle of my class, exactly, Mister Pettigrew?"
Peter stammered something unintelligible, gesturing to the top of his head and whimpering.
"I would've thought that collision hurt Mister Potter worse than it hurt you," the professor said coolly. But she dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Go on, then. I'm sure your friends can catch you up later."
No one noticed the tension in Remus and Sirius' shoulders as Peter scampered out of the room.
Sirius looked deep in thought for a moment. Then, as if making a big decision, he stood from his desk, yanked his bag from the floor, and took off out of the classroom at a sprint.
"Now, Mister Black!" McGonagall shouted, but he was already gone.
She turned back to the remaining Marauders as if to ask what was going on. James just shrugged. Remus, on the other hand, was beginning to feel quite nauseous.
McGonagall had barely turned back to her demonstration when Remus' hand slowly raised.
"What is it this time, Mister Lupin?" the stern woman asked, quite flustered at this point.
"I'm….not feeling well," he said politely, but distantly.
The professor looked back and forth between him and a very confused James. "I hope that you four aren't up to anything."
"No prank, professor," promised Remus, who was beginning to turn yellow in the face.
She stared at him for another moment before nodding. "Go on to the hospital wing, Mister Lupin. You, I trust."
Remus nodded, gathered his things, and left the room.
McGonagall didn't resume teaching, instead stared at James. "I don't suppose that you'll tell me what they're up to?"
"I honestly have no idea," said James.
She stared at him for another moment as if deciding if she believed him. Then she sighed audibly and nodded at him. "I assume that you will want to follow them?"
James nodded without hesitation. McGonagall waved him away and resumed her lesson in peace.
James walked quickly toward the hospital wing, wondering what had happened to his friends. Were they pulling a prank on him? Had the Slytherins finally decided to get revenge and somehow missed him? Or was something else wrong, something much worse…?
A sense of panic was growing in his stomach. Something, a memory, was causing the fear, but it was lurking on the edges of his mind, too timid to reveal itself yet...he told himself to not worry. Surely everything would be fine.
His conviction was tested when he got to the hospital wing and none of his friends were inside.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I would love to know what you think in the comments. As those of you who read Even This know, I don't exactly keep to a consistent updating schedule, but I have a good bit of this story written already, so the next chapter will be arriving very shortly!
See you soon!