THE WOLVES | R.L.

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World belongs to J.K. Rowling.

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Chapter 21

The mood in the Marauder's compartment was serious.

It had never been serious before—usually the mood was light and joking and fun.

But for once, all of the Marauders were silent as they faced each other, reliving the memories that they'd had at Hogwarts Castle, ever since they'd first attended—when they were all eleven year olds.

"Hey, let's not be so upset," Ardelle said softly, finally breaking the silence, "I mean, we've all got futures planned ahead of us—also, James, Rem is coming over to our place to visit after he says goodbye to his parents. Lils, Marls and Wormtail are coming over too, right?"

"Nah, I won't be there, sorry," Peter said with a shake of his head as he turned from where he was looking out the window.

"Why?" James asked, frowning.

"Because...um..." Peter shifted uncomfortably in his seat when all of them turned their gazes onto him, "...family issues."

"Right," Ardelle said, raising her eyebrows, as she waited for Peter to explain further, but Peter didn't say anything else.

"And of course I'll be there," Sirius added, breaking the silence and shifting the attention from Peter to Sirius, "It's not like I have anywhere else to go, anyway."

"Well, your parents don't know what they're missing out on," Remus said comfortingly as he put an arm around his friend.

Sirius barked a humourless laugh, "Oh, I think they do know what they're missing out on. They love that they're missing out; and they don't love their son."

"Oi, no sadness in this compartment," James said, "And yeah, Ardie, Lils is coming over. Padfoot, is Marlene coming over?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, a grin flitting across his face, "She is coming over."

"Where are Marlene and Lily, by the way?" Remus asked, directing the question mainly to Ardelle.

"They're with Alice, Mary and Dorcas," Ardelle explained, "Somewhere."

"Well, I do think it'll be helpful for us to all visit one place over the Summer, since we've all joined...the..." He lowered his voice, "you know...and..."

Peter furrowed his brows, "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," James said with a shrug. "Just Padfoot being all...serious, you know?"

Dumbledore had advised them not to tell anybody of the Order of the Phoenix—even their closest friends.

After they'd found out that Peter was not a part of the Order, they'd been even more careful about not slipping up in front of him and accidentally mentioning the Order.

They'd been confused as to why Dumbledore had not asked Peter to join the Order, but Dumbledore had just given them a vague answer (As he always did) and then told them to keep their mouths shut about

Peter just smiled, shrugged and said, "Okay, cool."

"Anyway," Ardelle said loudly, desperate to change the topic, "We'll have an awesome summer right?"

"Yeah," Sirius said, nodding, "When will we next see you, Wormtail?"

"I don't know," Peter said with a shrug, "But I'll write to you guys, whenever I can."

"Good. You better," James said jokingly, "You better, my dear Wormtail."

"Jamesie, I thought you were dating Lily Evans," Ardelle snickered.

Remus laughed, "Yeah, James. Who are you really dating?"

"And you two are engaged," James scoffed, "You can't talk."

Ardelle's eyes widened, "You noticed?"

James retorted, "Of course I did—I saw your rings. I'm not blind."

Remus pointed out, "I mean, you're pretty close to being blind." He pointed to James' glasses.

"Hang on—," Sirius tried to cut in, but he was cut off.

"Don't pick on me, Moony!" James exclaimed, pouting mockingly, "It's not nice!"

"What—," Sirius tried again, but again, he was cut off.

"Whatever, James," Ardelle said with a laugh, "I—,"

"Let me talk!" Sirius snapped, and it successfully quietened the others.

"Hmm, Padfoot?" Ardelle asked, raising her eyebrows, "Go ahead. Talk."

"You and Remus—you two got engaged, and nobody told me?" Sirius asked incredulously, "And I thought I was one of your best friends."

"You are," Remus said honestly, "But we didn't think it'd be necessary to tell you guys at this point in time. I mean, you're all missing Hogwarts and everything...and we just..."

"Whatever," Sirius said, irritated, "It doesn't matter what's going on, when something big like that happens, you tell Prongs and I, okay?"

"Right." Ardelle said with a wry smile, "But honestly, it's not that impor—,"

"Be quiet." James snapped, grinning, "It's important, alright. When's the wedding?"

"Yeah, we didn't want a massive ceremony," Remus explained, "I mean, we thought we'd just have a small wedding—,"

"Are we invited?" Peter asked, perking up, "Will there be cake?"

The five of them shared a good-natured laugh at that.

"Of course there will be," Ardelle said with a chortle, "And of course you guys are invited."

"Who will be the godparents of your child, or children?" Sirius asked with a smirk, "Me, right?"

Ardelle flushed, "I—let's not talk about that right now. Anyway, anybody want to come with me to find the Trolley Witch to buy candy?"

"ME!" Remus, Peter, James and Sirius all cried at the same time, like a bunch of little toddlers.

Ardelle snorted, "You guys are so embarrassing."

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Thanks for reading this chapter ;)

Check out my other works, which you can find on my profile.

As always, questions for you guys to answer in the comments:

1. Who is your favourite member of the Marauders at the moment?

2. Who would you like to see more of in future chapters?

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