I just want to reiterate and say thank you again! Everyone still reading I'm so happy to keep bringing this story to life. I hope you liked that little Tonks cameo. Let me know if there's anyone else you're hoping to see. I know these last two chapters haven't been super plot-heavy, but I'm going to get back into it next time with the focus on the war as it develops over the Marauders' final summer.
The grim news of Leo's death infected the normally cheery atmosphere of Hogwarts like a cancer. The Marauders wandered the halls in a daze, all thoughts of pranking and earning back house points forgotten. Even Peeves, a creature spawned from mischief, seemed to know that this was the time to be subdued. His calls of "Loopy Lupin" still rang out when Remus walked past him in the halls, and he didn't slow his mission to plaster gum underneath every banister, even on the hidden staircases. However, he was far less aggressive than usual, at least making sure his victims weren't sniffling before claiming them.
An impromptu memorial had sprung up just outside the great hall, a picture of Leo Byrne at its center. It was covered in flowers, photos of past matches and the quidditch team, Leo's broad shoulders and ruddy complexion beaming at students as they walked by. There were also a number of letters left on the shrine, which McGonagall collected periodically to send to Leo's father who hadn't been at the festival with his son and wife. She thought some letters about his son's impact might be useful in the grieving process.
Remus was sicker than usual that month, the sting of loss and overall difficult atmosphere making it hard to find reasons to be cheerful as the physical pain of his transformation began to take its toll. He was throwing up in the marauders' toilet when James approached him from behind, rubbing his back without shame. Remus was too exhausted to care, and he looked up at James with hollow eyes.
"You alright, mate?"
"I will be." He replied.
"Okay." James left him alone, knowing all too well that the other boy hated to be pitied.
Sirius, meanwhile, was poring over a letter that he had received that morning by way of the window in Gryffindor tower. This was how he typically received his letters, as anyone writing Sirius knew he didn't love the pomp and circumstance of the mail delivery in the Great Hall especially after his first-year howler sullied the entire experience for him. He hadn't received a letter since his birthday; he was always addressed lovingly in the care packages sent to him and James of course, but there was something special about receiving a letter just for you. The letter in question was from Sirius' cousin Andromeda, and it read:
Dear Sirius,
I heard the news this evening, and I immediately thought of you. I imagined you knew the boy mentioned in the Prophet, as he was about your age and in Gryffindor, and I wanted to see how you're doing. I'm also so sorry I missed your birthday. And your seventeenth, honestly, I don't know how it slipped my mind. Well, I do know how.
Enclosed is a photo of your four-year old second cousin (once removed, I'm not sure), Nymphadora Vulpecula Tonks. She's been keeping Ted and I quite busy. I haven't felt safe to share her existence with almost anyone given the state of things, but I was checking in on you anyway and honestly, I've been longing to tell someone. Who better than family? As always, please don't share this information with our rather difficult relatives upon your return home. I don't want this getting back to them. I hope you're well.
Your cousin,
Andromeda
"What you got Padfoot?" James asked, taking a look over Sirius' shoulder.
The other boy, not one for secrets, handed the letter over.
"That's brilliant, she's a metamorphagus." James said as he looked at the picture of little Nymphadora in which she was smiling up at them and transforming spectacularly: hair adjusting to varying shades of pink and purple, nose rearranging itself to look like a pig's snout and a button, eyes popping between a warm brown like her mother and a vibrant shade of turquoise blue.
"Yeah," Sirius said, unable to take his eyes off his only true remaining family, "I think we had one in the family a couple generations back, so it makes sense."
"You gonna write back?" James asked.
"She's some of the only blood I've got left." Sirius said this first bit with some nerves, but James wasn't angry, if anything he was sympathetic to Sirius' loss, so he went on, "I've got to, don't I?"
He was relieved to see James light up with no malice in his eyes.
"Yeah, of course. We can pop over to visit this summer if you want?" He said.
"Yeah, I never did before because I was still with mum and dad, but maybe I'll ask."
Their conversation was cut short when Remus came out of the bathroom looking quite peaky. He let the others know that he was going to the hospital wing, and they made their usual excuses for him that day in classes, James making sure to take diligent notes.
Sirius pondered over what to write to Andromeda for the next few days, ruining three quills in the process with his nervous chewing.
"Honestly Padfoot, we're going to have to swap your name with Wormtail."
"Dogs are natural-born chewers Prongs, sod off!" He shouted, bringing the quill back to his teeth as he crumpled up his tenth draft over the last few days.
He didn't want to scare off one of the only people left in his family who didn't hate him. He had received a birthday letter from his Uncle Alphard as usual, along with an excellent pocket sneakoscope fresh off the market given the rise in dangerous individuals these days. Regulus, as expected, hadn't acknowledged it, but Sirius had found a pack of his favorite wizarding candy, fizzing whizbees, in his bag after he left it unattended for a few minutes to use the toilet. When Andromeda didn't write, Sirius wasn't surprised as she often got busy, and it wasn't as though they were particularly close. However, Sirius couldn't deny that receiving her letter after so many months had created a feeling of joy inside him that he hadn't felt since Christmas with the Potters. He wanted to make sure he got his reply perfect.
That evening, the night of the next full moon, he was staring nervously at a response that he thought was relatively tame. James snatched it from the common room table, and he read it over, folding it and shoving it in a spare envelope as Sirius protested.
"It's fine Padfoot, I'll send it off with Mercury tomorrow before you can change your mind again. Now, let's go grab Peter and meet Moony at the shack. His furry little problem isn't going to take care of itself." He said, a couple of younger Gryffindors having been listening in, hoping to learn how best to imitate the unparalleled success of the boys who had turned troublemaking at Hogwarts into an Olympic sport.
The boys made it to the shack as usual, Wormtail pressing the knot so Padfoot could coax Moony onto the lawn. He clambered up Prongs' leg to sit on his shoulder while they waited. They took a chance for this last transformation together until the fall, sneaking into Hogsmeade again by way of the forest. They ran through the empty village, only a couple lights on within quiet houses, and Moony's nose led them past the shrieking shack towards the mountain on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. They climbed together, Wormtail skittering in and out of little alcoves in the rock while Prongs galloped uphill, his antlers lit up with moonlight. Padfoot and Moony wrestled as they climbed, nipping each other affectionately, Moony being careful not to draw blood this time. They wandered into a small cave set within the mountainside, Padfoot, Wormtail and Moony cleaning themselves, while Prongs wandered off to chew on some nearby grass.
The group rested comfortably together, engaging in some more roughhousing as they made their way back towards the edge of Hogsmeade. They entered the Hogwarts grounds by way of the forest, avoiding the ministry guards still posted vigilantly at the gate especially after the most recent attack. Padfoot encouraged Moony to sneak back into the shack's hidden entrance, Wormtail eventually convincing him by acting as bait. Moony chased the rat through the entrance, Wormtail sneaking out through a crevice. When Moony tried to turn around to chase after him, Prongs was standing behind him, nudging him forward with his antlers. Moony whimpered, but obeyed, padding along the narrow tunnel, feeling a poke in his backside anytime he tried to turn around.
By the time they arrived at the entrance to the shrieking shack, the monster began to turn back into the man. A horrible cracking sound emitted from Moony's bones as they reshaped themselves into Remus Lupin's human form. He hugged his naked body, shaking from the cold of the dank cave, never touched by the warm spring sun. Prongs, the antlers that provided his name growing cumbersome now that Remus was no longer a threat, transformed back into his human form and slinked past him into the shack. He came back with Remus' robes, draping them over his still shivering form.
"Thanks Prongs," Remus said, quiet but grateful.
He dragged himself into the shack, collapsing on the dilapidated couch at the center of the sitting room. James joined him a few moments later, followed by Sirius and Peter who were close behind.
James put a tentative hand on Remus' shoulder as the boy, weary beyond his years, closed his exhausted eyes to shut out the world for but a moment.
"It'll be alright Moony." James said, not sure if he could keep the promise that whatever was in Remus' thoughts would truly be ok.
"I know." Remus responded anyway. "Just not looking forward to the summer." He said, elaborating on his more exhausted mood.
"You're not the only one," Peter said darkly, James noticing as if for the first time that he and Sirius had entered after them.
"Will you two stop moping about? The summer's gonna be brilliant," Sirius said, uncharacteristically peppy for the coming holiday.
"Yeah, for you two." Peter said, failing to hide his bitter tone. "Not all of us can run away and live with Prongs."
"I don't see why not. Start a little orphanage for all us blokes who can't stand our parents." Sirius said, glancing at James who smiled back. Sirius beamed.
"Not much of an orphanage with two parents present Padfoot." Remus said, wincing as he reached for the bar of chocolate he kept in his cloak pocket for particularly bad full moons.
"Besides I actually am quite fond of mine when they're not lecturing me." Remus said. "And I don't think Peter hates his mother so much as he doesn't want to live with her."
"Sunday tea wouldn't be too bad," Peter said in agreement with this assessment.
"Well, then, you'll both just have to visit." Sirius said, "We can get together, all four of us. It's not like we have anything else to do, and Moony I know your mum and dad are strict but we can all apparate now for Merlin's sake. Pop over anytime you need a break."
The boys sat together then, pondering over their perfect summer, their last summer. They were all talking over one another boisterously, but everyone's minds were occupied. James' mind was on Leo, as it had been for the past week and a half; specifically, this time he was still baffled with how concerned he'd been about a Quidditch match just a week before. Sirius was trying his best to keep thoughts of darker summers past from overtaking his mind, not having an attention span for more sinister things over a week gone. Peter was thinking about his own darkest summer, wondering if things might take a turn for the happier after two of the gloomiest breaks he'd experienced since starting at Hogwarts. And Remus was, of course, thinking of his dingy little cellar where he would be forced to change without the company of Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs for the first time in nine months.
They were interrupted from their collective brooding by the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Shit." All three boys shifted back into their animal forms, leaving Remus having to explain how exactly a stag and a dog had managed to get past the willow and into the shack the night before.
"Must have snuck through the tunnel, miss. I don't know." Remus said, as Wormtail snickered squeakily from his hiding place.
The sound of Padfoot's barks startled Pomfrey as the dog began chasing the rat around the hut, and at the sight of the "filthy creature" as she called it, she dragged Remus out of the shack as quickly as possible. She didn't get a chance to notice the distinctive markings around the deer's eyes which looked quite similar to James Potter's glasses, nor did she dare to approach the rat to notice a very familiar set of buck teeth protruding from its mouth below far-too-intelligent eyes.
As the Marauders slept off their nighttime adventure, Lily wandered down towards the Great Hall for a late breakfast. This was how she caught sight of a group of Slytherins, including Mulciber and Avery but fortunately not Snape, drawing mustaches on the pictures of Leo set up in memorial fashion outside of the hall.
"Having fun boys?" She said.
They turned to face her, lazily, not concerned by the sternness of her tone.
"Really Evans, picking fights again?" Avery said.
"Yeah, no one asked you here, mudblood!" One of the younger boys, no more than fourth year maybe even third, called out.
He was less confident than Avery, drunk on having a group to support him, trying to show off for the older boys. To be fair, it worked. The others jeered and began to speak up, shouting the cruel word at Lily as she stepped forward, not backing down.
"I'm still a prefect in case you've all forgotten. Detention for the lot of you."
"Ooh," they all hooted and hollered, Avery stepping forward, all the more confident after their last encounter.
"And who's gonna make us go Evans? You?"
Lily was standing on her tiptoes, eye to eye with Avery in her fury.
"Me or Dumbledore, take your pick."
Despite their disrespect in private, the powerful headmaster still struck a chord of fear in the hearts of the young wizards.
"Tattling seems beneath you, Evans, but I suppose nothing is beneath someone of your ilk." Avery leaned in so close she could smell his foul breath.
"You ask me, or hell, half of this school, Leo Byrne got what he deserved along with every other mudblood and muggle-lover at that fair. They should have stayed hidden in their little holes like the insects they are."
Lily pulled out her wand at that, a white-hot fury engulfing her very soul when she heard a voice speak up behind her.
"Hey, Avery! Something I can help you with?"
Lily looked back to see Marshall Fawley, a 7th year Gryffindor prefect with dark hair and eyes contrasting starkly with his pale skin, doing his best to act pleasant as he shot a warning glance at the boys preparing to back Avery in the approaching fight.
"Fawley," The slightly shorter boy said, stepping back from Lily and facing the new arrival.
"I asked you a question," Marshall said.
He was pureblood, and a moment of respect passed between him and Avery as they squared up to one another. Avery thought for about two more seconds, but he backed off. He was on thin enough ice as it was after paralyzing a Gryffindor prefect in the library, and he didn't think getting expelled for attacking that same prefect so soon, muggleborn or no, would bode well with his less-than-sympathetic father. He jerked his head, signaling to the others that it was time to leave.
"I expect to see all of you in detention Saturday Avery, or you'll have Slughorn to deal with!"
Lily called as they walked away, somewhat desperate to get in the last word. Avery raised a distinctive finger as they left. Lily stood there for a moment, feeling utterly defeated. She turned to the boy who had assisted her, feeling a strange combination of appreciative and annoyed.
"You alright?" Marshall asked, standing awkwardly, not knowing Lily all too well despite them both being prefects.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for your help." She said.
"Of course."
They both glanced at the pictures of Leo, Lily taking down the sullied ones and trying to fix them with a scourgify charm to no avail. Leo moved around the mustache cheekily, smiling up at Lily as if letting her know it was all ok.
"Leo was a good guy." Marshall said, trying to break the tension as Lily stuck the photos in a pocket of her robes.
"Yeah."
"I knew him quite well." Marshall said, a frown crossing his face as he looked at the other boy's smiling countenance forever immortalized but not ever to speak to him again.
Lily tried her best to understand, but Leo was two years her senior and she wasn't on the quidditch team. Marshall was only one year below him and their brothers had palled around, so he must be suffering worse than most Gryffindors had after this loss.
"You must be proud of him." She said, trying to make him feel even slightly better.
Marshall paused for a moment, considering just nodding, letting the comment roll of his back, but he spoke up.
"I'm quite angry to tell you the truth." He said.
"Why?" Lily asked, genuinely confused at his statement.
"It was so pointless, getting himself killed somewhere he had no reason to be, asking for trouble."
"What are you talking about?" Lily asked, trying not to let her fiery temper overtake her, trying to understand why Marshall thought Leo's sacrifice had been pointless.
"Leo's a wizard. What was he doing at a muggle fair, especially given the state of things. It's just putting a beacon in the sky telling the death eaters to come attack."
"We can't stop living our lives, Marshall." Lily said. "He was muggleborn; I bet he'd been to that fair loads of times with his mum. He was back for a visit and wanted to spend time with her."
Marshall consented to the point, backing off a bit.
"Either way, they should have let the aurors handle it, apparated right out of there," He finished, still staring somberly at the remaining photos.
"And leave the muggles to fend for themselves?" Lily said, her temper rising despite herself.
Marshall didn't know how to respond to that, looking a mixture of ashamed and uncertain.
"I don't know. Leo didn't have to die, that's all." He said.
"You're right. He didn't have to die." Lily said, looking back at the shrine. "But he did, and the least we can do is remember him, honor the choice he made to do something that made a difference."
"How much difference can any of us make really?" Marshall asked, tears arriving in his eyes.
"A great deal," Lily said, believing it with her whole heart.
The two Gryffindors, diametrically opposed but united under the banner of grief, stood together outside of the Great Hall until people started to trickle out from breakfast. They went their separate ways then, neither having convinced the other one bit, but no longer angry at the very least.
Lily returned to the Hall for dinner that evening, and she noticed that the damaged pictures of Leo had been replaced. She approached the Gryffindor table in high spirits, taking a seat next to Alice and piling some potatoes and chicken on her plate.
Hazel eyes kept flitting her way from across the table, working up their courage, when the mouth below them finally spoke up.
"Oi Evans, I heard about this morning. You alright?" James asked, looking concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Didn't get hexed or anything Potter."
"Well, thank Merlin for that." He said, and he seemed to really mean it.
Before they could continue the rarely pleasant conversation, the sound of a clearing throat caught their attention. The hall grew quiet, except for a few rowdy boys at the Slytherin table who preferred to go out of their way to cause trouble for their headmaster. Dumbledore continued anyway, not paying them any mind.
"I want to inform everyone that I have discussed things thoroughly with our professors and the board. Given the tragic circumstances facing you all, the distractions that these things bring, we think it is in everyone's best interest if we forgo final exams for this year."
The dour mood in the Great Hall perked up for the first time since Leo's death was reported, but only just.
"You will still be expected to work hard, pay attention, and demonstrate the practical portion of your studies. Don't think you can sit around and coast through to next year."
He looked strictly upon some of the more unruly students, including the Marauders although they always managed to perform well on exams.
"Unfortunately, this kindness cannot extend to government sanctioned NEWTS and OWLS, so those of you taking ministry exams this year, focus on those as much as you can. This is a difficult time. I'm sure our teachers will be lenient with your results given the circumstances, so please just do your absolute best."
The great hall erupted with chatter as everyone managed to find some joy in this new announcement, discussing how they were going to spend their free time now that they didn't have to focus on studying.
Over the next few days, the Gryffindor common room was abuzz with excitement about the coming summer. With no exams to keep them occupied, the group of harried teens managed to take just a moment's break from the overwhelming prospect of trying to finish out their studies in the shadow of a looming war.
Lily was playing a game of wizard's chess with Alice, losing spectacularly, when her attention was called by a voice that was becoming more and more familiar.
"Oi Evans!" Lily turned to see Sirius approaching her alone, not tagging along behind James to watch him crash and burn trying to ask her out for the hundredth time. This was becoming more common as well, Lily finding herself less repulsed by the Marauders with each passing day. Maybe it was just the maturity that came with age, but Lily suspected there was more to it than that. Loss changes people, some for the better and some for the worse. They had all experienced enough loss for a lifetime at seventeen, and they weren't even close to finished. The Marauders were the type of people that took that loss and turned it into action, morphed it into something better, becoming more introspective and realizing that there was more to life than bullying their classmates for a cheap laugh. In a time of such division, they couldn't afford to tear the world apart any further.
Sirius' easy-going smile didn't leave him, however. He was still a master at the Black family mask, despite having been burnt from its tree.
"Was wondering if you want to come 'round this summer?" He said, cool as can be.
"To your Muggle hating parents," Lily said, confused at why Sirius would even suggest the idea, "hard pass."
"Not my parents exactly;" Sirius said, not quite sure what to call the Potters, they were more of a family than his blood after all, "I'm crashing with Prongs at the moment."
Lily recalled some mention of having to "find a new place to live" if he stopped being friends with James far earlier that year, around the infamous Halloween fight Sirius had with Marlene. Lily glanced at James Potter, teasing Peter over his transfiguration essay with Remus' reluctant assistance. She felt something that she couldn't explain as she realized that this stupid, immature toerag had brought his best friend into his home, no questions asked. It went away again the moment James muttered an incendio spell, laughing as Peter had to run to the water jug to put out the fire that had engulfed his trousers. While he was gone, James managed to snatch up the papers to Peter's frustrated misfortune.
"Git," Lily said under her breath, Sirius glancing at the scene and calling upon his most austere Black training to keep himself from joining in.
He turned back to Lily, trying to make up for his friend's blunder as he said, "Look, no pressure or anything. It's just, Marlene's already planning on visiting, and I figured if things get dull with your sister you can come get some relief."
Lily felt her heart swell, picking up on the subtext. Sirius was worried about her. She didn't hesitate this time as she wrote down the address of Petunia's apartment in London where she would be staying that summer.
"Whatever, write me if you want, I'll think about stopping by." She said, noncommittal, but they both knew she would be waiting eagerly by the window for Sirius' owl.
He stood there stiffly, much like a dog who had been commanded to stay Lily noted. She felt great pleasure in holding the command before she took pity on the boy and said, "Go on," permitting him to join in the quest to take Peter's transfiguration papers.
"Thanks Evans," Sirius said, releasing a breath that Lily thought was quite dramatic given the circumstance.
James was cackling as he held Peter's unfinished transfiguration homework above his head, running around the common room playing one of his favorite games. Sirius was rarely carefree, running along with them, a few other Gryffindors from around the common room joining in… It wasn't a beach party in the great hall, but it was a game of keepaway at Peter's expense. It was innocence and children at play. It was just what the Gryffindors needed after losing one of their own, and it was what he would have wanted for them. Lily turned back to her chess game, mistaking the furrow of Alice's brow for concentration rather than distress.
Across the country, Andromeda Tonks had just received a letter from an unfamiliar yet not unwelcome owl.
Dear Andy,
How dare you forget the most important day of the year? That child of yours should have been covered in cake in the photo you sent. But a metamorphagus, that's wicked! At least you don't have to worry about old Druey figuring out the kid's yours.
Things are going well here. No hard feelings because I forgot to write and tell you that you are no longer the only Black sheep of the family. We should make T-shirts. I'm safe, living with a friend. School still feels more like home, but I'm getting used to the idea of letting other people care about me being woken up by the scent of pancakes rather than Kreacher's breath. Thanks for the letter. Maybe I can come visit sometime now I'm no longer stuck with mum and dad.
Sirius
PS: Show the baby this picture. She'll look much better.
Andromeda Tonks finished reading over the letter, beaming with delight. "Thank God Sirius got out," she thought. She had always had a soft spot for the rebellious little Gryffindor, having been in the early days of her exile when her younger cousin was sorted into the house that changed his life forever. She had noticed that he was different before then, of course, always getting himself into trouble, never taking much of a shine to the ambition their family so prized. He followed her around like an adorable puppy at family gatherings, and she snuck him extra sweets and taught him little bits of magic that he could try to master before he got his wand. Although seven years older, when Sirius wrote to her on a whim, miserable and terrified that he had been sorted into the house of the enemy, Andromeda had understood exactly what he was going through.
She had never felt like she belonged in Slytherin, preferring to spend her days sketching in the greenhouses to practicing curses in the corridors. Furthermore, to her mother and father's chagrin, she never liked any of the pureblood suitors they brought around, preferring to flirt with muggleborn Hufflepuff boys who showed her that everything she had been taught about "their lot" was a lie. And as Sirius was brooding over his sorting ceremony, Andromeda was preparing to leave everything behind with nothing but a note to her sisters to explain where she'd gone.
During that first year of their collective misery, she and Sirius wrote each other at least once a week complaining endlessly about their troubled family. The letters tapered off as they both became settled in their new lives, Andromeda becoming pregnant rather unexpectedly (although not unwelcomely), and Sirius getting into more and more trouble and adventures with his new chosen family.
In his most recent letter, Andromeda noticed that he had avoided her question about the dead Gryffindor boy, but that was the unfortunate reality of growing up in the Black family. You didn't express your emotions. If you were loved, you covered them up with malice, and if you weren't, you covered them up with humor. She walked over to her young daughter who was playing on the carpet with a barbie doll Ted's mother had bought her. She was focusing carefully on making it float up to the top of its dream house.
"Nymphadora," Andromeda said, her daughter's hair flaring bright red as the barbie dropped to the floor.
"Mummy, I said to call me Tonks." The precocious four-year-old said with the frown of someone who had been deeply disrespected.
"And I said it is a ridiculous thing for a mother to call her own daughter by her last name."
"Hmph," Tonks said, pouting as she pointedly stared at the wall.
"I have something to show you," Andromeda said.
The toddler immediately perked up. "What is it? Lemme see!" She called, offense forgotten, running over to her mother who held the letter above her head laughing.
"Alright slow down. It's a letter from your cousin Sirius."
"Sirius Black?" Tonks said, having heard the name spoken of fondly in a few of Andromeda's brief retellings of her family's history.
"That's the one." Andromeda said, leaning down and reading the letter out loud for Nymphadora to hear.
The girl smiled, pointing at a couple of words that she knew, grinning as her tiny tongue stumbled around metamorphagus, which her mother pointed out for her.
"What's this?" Tonks said, pointing at the photo peeking out from within the envelope.
Andromeda pulled it out and showed it to her, a photo of Sirius in Gryffindor attire, leaned up against a wall in Hogwarts, glancing casually at the photo's recipients, offering a sly smirk before turning back to stare at something out of frame.
Tonks grinned widely, her red hair falling into dark curls, pale grey eyes lighting up for the first time, a sharp aristocratic chin and nose replacing her typically heart-shaped face.
"How do I look mummy?" She asked.
Tears pricked Andromeda's eyes as she tried to ignore how much Tonks resembled her big sister. She thought about the paper, the sister she'd grown up laughing and playing hide and seek with striking children down just because they were born without magic, and she blinked the tears back as she pulled her little girl into her arms.
"I think you look perfect just the way you are Nymphadora."
"Mummmm call me Tonks!"
Andromeda laughed in spite of herself, falling back on her preferred method for pushing down pain.