Lily could not get through the next few days without catching smouldering glares of hatred from Sirius.
She had patrolling duty with Remus two days later. She discovered that Remus, who usually waited for her on such nights, had already left.
"Hi, Remus," she said, when she found him.
"Hi," said Remus coldly. He did not speak a word more to her.
"We're friends, right, Remus?" asked Lily timidly, after an hour of total silence.
"No one who hurts my best friends is my friend, Lily," said Remus distinctly.
"Remus—I just—"
"He did not deserve that, Lily. I heard the entire thing. He did not do anything more than just ask you out."
"He's so—he's so annoying—" Lily knew Remus was right, but she did not think she had the courage to own it up.
"He doesn't seem so to me," said Remus coldly.
"That's because you're his friend...of course he will pretend in front of you—"
"I do not wish to discuss it anymore."
They lapsed back to silence again, and did not speak till the end of their duty hours.
--------------------
The day of the Hogsmeade visit in May dawned bright and clear. As usual, there was a sense of excitement in the students from the morning.
The Marauders, after a brief visit to Zonko's, headed for 'The Three Broomsticks'. They passed the group of Gryffindor girls of their year, but there was enough ill feeling on both sides for all of them to ignore the others.
After Lily's outburst on James, Sirius had been ruder than ever to Marlene, and even Alice had lost patience with him.
Madam Rosmerta, owner of 'The Three Broomsticks', came up to the Marauders, smiling warmly. They were her favourite customers, especially James and Sirius. She loved their wicked sense of humour, and she never hesitated to sell them anything even if they came when there was no Hogsmeade visit.
That day, they were talking about introducing a new feature into their Marauders' Map.
"It's a complex spell, but I think we can manage to transfer our opinion about certain people into the map," said Remus.
"And if he tries to open it—" said James.
"He's got to mention his name," added Remus.
"Then insults will appear for that person. Let's try it on Snivelly!" said James gleefully.
"If you think we are going to let that greasy git touch our map, Prongs, you are badly mistaken," said Sirius.
Suddenly a shrill scream came from outside.
"What's the matter?"
Frank and Edgar, who were closest to the door, opened it and peeked out. Hooded figures were appearing all over the streets of Hogsmeade.
"It's Death Eaters!" shouted Frank.
There were screams of fright inside the little inn. Madam Rosmerta, who was serving a group of third years, froze in her tracks and went pale.
"Evacuate the third years!" said Edgar, taking command. "James, Sirius, Remus—" He waved his hand at the children.
"Madam," said Sirius, standing up. "Open the back door, please."
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...
