INVISIBLE STRING, marauders era

CHAPTER TWO - James and Sirius' Sodas Explode, and then Remus Explodes

- 1975 -

September 1st 75' : Hogwarts Express - fifth year

"So, anyone want a drink?" Peter asked as soon as the door shut. "I brought some Fanta and Cola." He was instantly met with excited nods and murmurs of agreement from James and Sirius, both of which had never tried the muggle sodas Peter constantly raved about.

Peter began passing out cans, pausing when he got to James and Sirius. "Remember to shake the can before opening."

"Peter, you're a genius," Remus said, reaching for a can of Cola. "Thanks."

"Why would you shake it?" James questioned, nodding at Annabelle, "Belle didn't."

Annabelle laughed as she sipped her soda. "That's because this is a Fanta, and you guys chose Coke's. You have to shake them, otherwise the flavours don't mix".

Sirius didn't seem to share James' hesitation as he had begun shaking the can as soon as Peter passed it to him. "Just do it mate. How long should we shake it for?"

"A few seconds should do the trick," Peter supplied, and James shrugged before beginning to shake his own can.

"So, Anne, what was it you were going to show us?" Remus asked, moving the attention off Peter whose face was beginning to turn blotchy. He had a poker face like no other, but those red patches creeping up his neck and onto his cheeks always gave him away. Remus truly believed that Peter could get away with murder if only he found a way to control that blush.

Annabelle's smile grew as she pulled out a folded piece of parchment from her pocket, passing it to Remus. He grabbed the parchment in perfect timing, saving it from being sprayed in soda, just as Annabelle currently found herself.

Sirius and James had decided to crack open their cans at the same time, causing an explosion of fizzy liquid to erupt from the cans, dousing both themselves as well as Annabelle and Peter who had begun to regret sitting so close.

The compartment was silent for a moment. James was the first to laugh, and the rest soon caught on. It was hard not to laugh with James; the rich sound always filling her with warmth. Her irritation was quick to slip away as she looked at James, the boy so used to pranking others but yet never accustomed to being pranked. Her clothes would dry soon enough and seeing James' smile was worth her temporary discomfort.

"Anne, you drew this?" Remus' voice drew her back. "This is amazing."

She watched as Sirius and Peter leaned over to look at the parchment in Remus' hands, and she fought the urge to snatch it back. She should have done better. She suddenly wished she spent more time on it, perhaps then they would have really been impressed and they wouldn't have to fake admiration.

"I told you she's bloody brilliant." James flung his arm around Annabelle. "Now we just need to work out how to make it move."

"And what nicknames we want to use," Annabelle added. "I doubt we want to use our real names in case it's found, so I've kept the front free until we work it out."

The group had spent a great deal of their 4th year planning out what they coined the "marauders map". Over the years they had discovered countless of the castle's secrets, including hidden passageways and classrooms, both accidentally and purposely.

Previously they recorded each of these locations in the back of James' transfiguration textbook, until Peter, half asleep and highly intoxicated after celebrating Gryffindor's quidditch win, suggested merging the list into a map that only they could access. Somehow the idea escalated from just making a map to display the castles layout, to one that also tracked the movements of its inhabitants in real time.

It wasn't until morning when they each woke up with hangovers, that they came to the realisation that making such a map was impossible. Well, all except James who was adamant everything was possible using 'magic'.

It took him a month to convince the rest of the group to give the idea a chance, and it took an additional two months of planning for them to be equally as enthusiastic towards the idea, bringing them to the end of 4th year. Over the break Annabelle volunteered to sketch the designs and James swore he would perfect a tracking spell to make the map come to life before the break was over.

The rest of the boys offered to help, but soon gave up after James began bragging about his self-proclaimed title as the 'king of charms'. Sure, he was good at charms, and she had no doubt he could do it on his own, but Annabelle wondered if it would kill him to admit that a little help would be nice.

"Oi James, what do you mean we still need to work out how to make it move?", Remus teased. "So much for learning some 'miracle charm' before the end of break."

James, peculiarly, did not jump to defend his title, but rather made eye contact with Sirius. "So, about that," he began fiddling with his wand. "We began looking more into the Animagus idea instead."

Annabelle's heart dropped. We? She certainly couldn't have been included in that, because their research was new information for her.

"Wait, so those books Sirius sent were about Animagus?" Annabelle quired. She had originally assumed they were books on charms, hence why she never asked James about them, but now she was unsure.

When James looked back at her he looked guilty, and she felt annoyed by it. Sure, maybe she was a bit upset that he hadn't included her in their research, but it was not her he should be feeling guilty towards, but rather Remus.

"Yes. They were a collection Sirius found back home. Apparently Nashira collected them back in second year. He thought we should read them before making a final decision."

"No," Remus laughed, but there was no humour in it. "No. I thought we were over this. The idea is stupid. Dangerous and plain stupid. Seriously, how thick are you lot?"

"But it's not dangerous! I mean, it is of course a little dangerous, but definitely not as dangerous as you think. The books are pretty detailed about- "

Remus cut Sirius off. "Books? You think you're an expert because you've learned how to read a couple of books?" He stopped laughing, instead raising his voice. "Congratulations, you're not illiterate, you're just stupid. And you're an even bigger idiot if you think you could ever succeed."

"Remus-" Annabelle began, but she didn't get a chance to finish.

"Fine, I'll humour you. Let's say that by some fucken miracle you manage to successfully become Animagus. You don't even know what animal you would be. What if you're a fucken rat, huh? Then what?" Remus scoffed. "And even if you do somehow by sheer dumb luck turn into some massive bloody bear, you still don't have even the faintest idea what I am capable of. You could die. All of you will die."

Remus forcibly tugged down his trunk, narrowly missing Peters head, before storming out of the compartment. Annabelle grabbed his wrist, trying to stop him, but he only threw her off before slamming the door.

James grimaced as he watched Remus leave, "Well I believe that went swimmingly, don't you agree?"