A/N: Why did this chapter take so long?! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the inception of our favorite little gang :D
The end of term was fast approaching, but, rather than looking forward to their holiday, the five Gryffindor friends were becoming increasingly despondent. The last Quidditch match of the season would soon be upon them, and they dreaded viewing it from the sidelines.
Strangely enough, after a week of giving James, Sirius, and Branwen the cold shoulder, Kingsley turned around and was as genial as ever. He had let it be known that Edgar Bones would be coming back to take James' place as Chaser, Kaleb Newman would replace Sirius as Beater, and Bridget Latimer would fill the role of Seeker. Still, he continued to demand expect that the disqualified team members would participate in weekly practises and drove them even harder than before.
After the final practise of the month, Remus and Peter joined their friends in the locker room.
"I don't know why we're even here!" Sirius hurled his bat across the room. "It's bad enough we can't play – why does he have to rub it in by making us come to practise?"
"Hey, we're going to be on the team next year," James reminded him. "We might as well stay sharp."
"Not like we couldn't practise over the summer," Branwen grumbled. She had mostly been silent on the subject of their banishment, but she was seething inside at the thought of Bridget taking her place on the pitch.
"Let's just go get some dinner," Peter suggested. "You'll feel better after you've eaten."
Before they could leave though, they found themselves cornered by the Prewetts. "Come on, you lot," Fabian grinned. "We've got a surprise for you."
The friends exchanged raised brows and questioning glances, but none of them had a clue as to what the twins were up to.
Fabian and Gideon were uncharacteristically quiet as they led the other Gryffindors through the maze of the castle. They didn't pause until they reached a deserted corner of the seventh floor. It appeared to be a dead-end and apparently a convenient corner to hide a ridiculous tapestry of a wizard surrounded by trolls in tutus. It was in front of this tapestry that Fabian and Gideon finally stopped.
"This, my children," Fabian gestured grandly, "is Barnabas the Barmy."
"Barmy though he was, he is the guardian of this school's greatest secret!" Gideon continued.
"We've kept it to ourselves all these years, but now that we're about to leave for bigger and better things, we need to pass our knowledge on to those who are worthy."
"In exchange for a favour, of course," Gideon winked.
Nodding at each other, the brothers paced in front of the tapestry three times.
Distracted by the odd tapestry and the even odder behaviour of their teammates, the other five were caught off guard when the wall behind them began to rumble. The stone itself seemed to shiver before a small, innocuous wooden door materialised. "Ladies first," Fabian grinned and bowed dramatically.
Branwen found herself in a room hardly bigger than a broom cupboard. The walls were lined with shelf upon shelf, each of them sagging under the weight of various jars, bottles, and boxes of potion ingredients. Scribbled-in books, many of them scorched in the corners, littered every open surface. A boiling cauldron sat on a table in the centre of the room. Whatever was inside bubbled with the lethargy of swamp gas escaping into the humid air.
"This, lady and gents, is the Room of Requirement. It exists purely to become whatever you need. You only have to think of your desire, then pace three times in front of the tapestry and voila," Fabian snapped his fingers.
Sirius wrinkled his nose. "And what you needed was a nastier version of the Potions room?"
"Actually, yes," Gideon replied. "You see, this is the little treat we've been preparing for you ever since we heard about McGonagall's decision."
"Polyjuice potion?" Everyone turned to face Remus, who had edged closer to the pot to peer into its muddy substance.
"Ten points for Scarface!" Fabian crowed.
Branwen's hand closed tightly around her wand, bristling at the slur toward her friend. Peter gripped her wrist though and held her back.
James redirected the conversation. "You want us to take that?"
"You're going to take it if you want to play on Saturday."
"What are you on about?" Sirius folded his arms across his chest.
"Bones, Newman, and Latimer have agreed to let you pose as them during the match. You'll have to use the Polyjuice Potion to make it convincing though," Gideon told them.
"The match is this Saturday?" Branwen frowned.
Fabian raised a brow. "That's right."
Her eyes widened. "Excuse us a moment."
Branwen grabbed James' and Sirius' arms and dragged them to a corner of the small room, Remus and Peter following closely. When they were gathered around her, she spoke in a quiet whisper. "We can't possibly do this. Saturday is the next full moon. Our leaves have to be ready by then. If we use the Polyjuice Potion, who knows what will happen to them?"
James and Sirius grumbled, their eyes downcast, but neither could argue with her point.
"I think you should go for it," Remus surprised them all. "I know how much Quidditch means to all of you. I would hate for you to miss out because of something you're doing for me."
Sirius scoffed. "This is our decision to make, Remus. You don't have to be a martyr."
Remus rolled his eyes, but James snapped his fingers. "I've got it."
The little huddle broke apart as James turned to address the other boys in the room. "We'll take the potion and play –" Fabian and Gideon high-fived, "– if you can arrange for the match to happen on Sunday instead of Saturday." They groaned.
"Quidditch has never been played on a Sunday!" Fabian protested.
"McGonagall would never allow it," Gideon added.
Sirius winked at his friends, then shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, if it's too much of a challenge for you, we understand. It would take a lot of skill and planning, and of course it's never been done before...."
Fabian and Gideon grinned at each before answering in unison, "We'll do it!"
That Saturday was one of the most chaotic in Hogwarts history.
The Prewetts recruited both Peeves and Hagrid in their quest to delay Quidditch, Peeves starting the day off with a food fight in the Great Hall during breakfast. By the time Filch was able to break up the battle and the students managed to clean and sort themselves out, it was late in the morning.
In scattered clusters students began to make their way to the pitch, only to find on their arrival that the locker rooms had been barricaded by a wall of Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. The piles of rockets were "mysteriously" set off just as the teams approached. It took at least half-an-hour for the stacks of crackling, burning sparklers to play themselves out. They had, inexplicably it seemed, been charmed to be resistant to any attempt to stop them.
Once the teams were able to burrow into their locker rooms, coughing through the smoke from the fiery display, they realised that all of their jerseys and equipment had been moved to the shed where the antiquated brooms used for first-year flying lessons were kept.
Finally, as the long shadows of the afternoon began to stretch across the pitch, the teams took to the field. Before Madam Hooch could even raise the whistle to her lips though, a herd of hippogriffs thundered into the stadium. The enormous equine-avians crashed into goalposts and soared over the bleachers, their talons inches above the heads of students. It was nearly two hours before a seemingly unmotivated Hagrid rounded up the last rogue creature.
McGonagall watched the mayhem unfold from her office over tea with Dumbledore. As the headmaster sipped his Earl Grey, he murmured, "You know, it's the full moon tonight."
McGonagall's lips were as tight as ever. "I'm well aware of that, Albus. Have a biscuit."
He smiled and reached for the tartan tin on the professor's desk.
Branwen and the boys missed out on the pandemonium of the day (much to James' and Sirius' disappointment). They were too busy preparing for the night.
During the previous month, James had hit on what they all agreed was a genius idea. They would use the Shrieking Shack as the base for their Animagus effort. Branwen and Sirius had sneaked back into the Shack and stored a handful of phials in an attic window where they would "receive the pure rays of the moon." Then they sealed the door with an Imperturbable Charm. The small bottles wouldn't be retrieved until the setting of the next full moon, and the last thing they needed was an out-of-control werewolf destroying their precious crystal.
The May moon rose early in the evening. The friends had to creep to the Whomping Willow in pairs under the Invisibility Cloak to avoid being spotted by students still straggling back from the abandoned Quidditch match.
Once in the tunnel, they began their grim monthly routine. Remus ascended into the dilapidated building and in moments his screaming howls echoed through the twilight air. Below the house, his friends huddled together. They shared a blanket between the four of them, and Peter passed out cold sandwiches that none of them had the stomach to eat. Branwen laid her head on her brother's shoulder and tried to block out Remus' excruciating cries.
Even though it was summer according to the calendar, it was wintry cold in the dark, earthen cavern. Branwen snuggled deeper into Remus' jumper. No one knew when that part of their routine began. Remus would throw his clothes down the trapdoor to keep safe, then Branwen would dig out his jumper or cardigan or even his over-large shirt and tug it on. She would sleep or read and keep the scent of her friend close, a reminder of his humanity while the animal above ravaged his body.
It was nearing midnight when James reached into his bag and pulled out the map. He studied it with a frown.
"All right there, Prongs?" Sirius asked with a yawn.
"Prongs?" Peter raised a brow.
"Oh yeah, that's my new nickname for Jamie here. On account of...." he pointed at the tiny nubs still attached to his friend's head.
Peter and Branwen shared a snicker while James' face reddened. "You're the only one without a nickname now, mate. I can think of a few that would fit a dog like you."
"Oh, I know!" Branwen chirruped. "James and I used to have a dog we called Padfoot." She neglected to mention that Padfoot had been a fluffy little bitch.
"I don't want to be called after your pet!" Sirius groaned.
"I like it," Peter said.
"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Feathers – the Marauders!"
Branwen raised a brow at her brother. "The what?"
"Remember what Pomfrey and Dumbledore said? We're the Marauders."
She frowned. "I don't know....it sounds like we're pirates or something."
"What's wrong with that?" Sirius said.
She shrugged. "It's okay, I guess."
"Pft!" James scoffed. "Don't say it like that!"
Branwen smiled. "All right. Yay – Marauders!"
"Woohoo – Marauders!" The boys cheered. Their enthusiasm was echoed by the howls of the final member of their gang.
As the excitement died down though, James cleared his throat. "Uh, that still leaves us the problem with the map."
"What problem?" Sirius asked.
"Remember that room Fabian and Gideon showed us? The Room of Requirement?"
They all nodded.
"Well, I can't find it anywhere. Everything else is here, but not that."
"Maybe it's Unplottable," Peter suggested.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "All of Hogwarts is Unplottable, genius."
"No, he may have a point," James scratched his head with his wand. "If there's an Unplottable location inside of an Unplottable location, maybe that makes it super Unplottable."
"Or maybe it doesn't exist."
The boys looked at Branwen as though she had gone mad.
"I mean," she explained, "if it becomes whatever you need, maybe it doesn't exist until it's needed. It can't show up as a potions room if it's also a kitchen or a bedroom or a toilet."
"Do you really think it could be a toilet?" Peter wrinkled his nose.
She shrugged.
"Well, either way, I think this map still needs some modification," James continued. "We need to figure out how to conceal it from everyone first of all, maybe with a password or something."
"Good idea, mate." Sirius stretched and yawned. "But for now I need to catch a few winks. Got to be ready for that Quidditch match tomorrow."