By the next two full moons, the Marauders had learnt the Forbidden Forest like the backs of their hands. Full moons no longer filled Remus with the sort of terror that one relates with a visit to a dentist.
Rather, as he was surprised to discover in December, he found himself counting days till the next full moon. His friends had not only made his lycanthropy less painful, but also decidedly enjoyable.
Full moon in December was on the 25th.
"We'll stay at Hogwarts this time," said James, seeing the calendar.
"No, it's ok if you want to go home. I'll be fine—" began Remus.
"Haven't four years with us taught you anything? We're friends. We're the Marauders. We stick together, Moony," said Sirius.
Accordingly, on the 25th, the Marauders celebrated Christmas together at Hogwarts. Surprisingly Lily was staying back that year too.
As she was the only girl in Gryffindor who was staying back, she sat alone beside the fire on Christmas evening. Alice had gone to Frank's house.
"Come and join us, Evans!" said James eagerly.
"No, thanks." But Lily did not give her familiar glare at them. She looked rather subdued.
Remus went over and sat beside her.
"No one should be alone on Christmas, Lily," he said.
Lily smiled wanly. "I think I'll go up to bed now."
"And miss Christmas dinner? What's the matter with you?" asked Remus gently.
Lily regarded her fellow Prefect and the only Marauder she considered a friend.
"My sister didn't want me to go home for Christmas," she whispered, her crystal green eyes glassy.
"And your parents agreed to that?" said Remus indignantly.
"No, they went for a trip to Croatia. They wanted the two of us to stay together. But Petunia refused."
The common room was silent, and Lily realized suddenly that James, Sirius and Peter were listening too. Her face turned red, and she stood up hastily.
"I'll come down during the feast, Remus," said Lily and darted up to go to her dormitory, leaving a silence behind her.
"Poor Lily," said James, the most considerately his friends had ever seen him. "I had no idea she had such a bad situation back home."
"Snape is staying back, too," said Peter. "Shouldn't he be the one comforting her?"
James scowled.
"Their ideals don't match any more," said Remus grimly. "I think that's another thing on Lily's mind."
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During the feast, Remus persuaded Lily to sit beside him, while James, Sirius and Peter sat on his other side.
The three noisier Marauders were unusually nice that day, Lily thought, which meant that they kept silent.
Snape was sitting with Avery, Mulciber and some sixth years. Lily did not look over at the Slytherin table.
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After Lily had gone up, and Remus had gone out, the three Marauders went out with the Cloak to while away the time.
On the third floor, they came across portrait of a one-eyed witch.
"Look," said James suddenly, leaning forward. He traced a faint line running down the centre. "I saw in a book of Remus' that is one of the indications of a secret passage."
"Really?" asked Sirius and Peter, thrilled.
"There are several spells one can use to open it. I remember only one...'Disendium!'" James tapped the witch with his wand as he said the incantation.
None of them had actually expected anything to happen—but a passage appeared suddenly.
"Where does it lead to?" whispered Peter.
"Let's go!" said Sirius.
"No—it's nearly time to join Remus," said James at once. "We'll explore it tomorrow with him."
Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs explored the Hogwarts grounds that day.
Remus didn't hurt himself at all now. Even before his friends arrived, there was a human alertness inside his werewolf form, which had been unthinkable earlier.
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The very next day they sneaked away to the one-eyed witch.
It was a very long passage. Finally the passage ended and led vertically upwards.
Sirius was leading the way. "It's a cellar!" he cried suddenly.
"Shh!" said three voices.
They scrambled out, and looked around.
"It's the Honeydukes cellar." James' voice was a dramatic whisper.
The leading Marauders, James and Sirius, went out through a door and found themselves behind the counter of Honeydukes. The shopkeeper currently had his back towards them.
James quickly threw cloak over him. They sneaked out of the shop.
"Got any gold on you?" asked Sirius. "I haven't."
The other three had. They went back to Honeydukes, minus the cloak.
Back in the common room, they had a fine feast of Cauldron Cakes, Bertie Bott's, Sugar Quills and Ice Mice.
They also managed to sneak a Cockroach Cluster to a Slytherin second-year, who ate it and ran off, screaming.
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On New Year's Eve, the Marauders were lounging around in the common room.
James was studying a model of a Quiditch match that Sirius, Remus and Peter had given him. Remus was studying the Potions book. Peter was also trying to study Potions, but he kept glancing at the Quidditch model. Sirius was scribbling something on a spare bit of parchment.
"What're you doing, Padfoot?" asked Peter.
"I am thinking of a map," said Sirius thoughtfully. "We are discovering so many things...it seems a pity that we'll not be able to keep any record of our findings..."
"A Marauder's Map!" said James, catching on the idea.
"And we could use all sorts of magic to make it...alive," said Remus.
"Let's plan it properly," said Peter eagerly.
By the end of the day, the four of them had laid out a beautiful plan of the map, which would not only show every floor, grounds, secret passages and the forest, but would also have a tiny representative of every person, with his/her/its name inside the grounds.
"To the library tomorrow." Sirius grinned. "We're going to the make the best map ever."
YOU ARE READING
The Ghosts of the Past (The Marauders' Story)
Fanfiction"We're friends. We're the Marauders. We stick together, remember?" "Yes, Moony. I remember." One of them was mischievous and brave and had the perfect life. Another of them was reckless and loyal and desperate to leave behind his family name. The th...
