Sirius Black
Saturday, 24th March 1973.
Hogwarts
Last night was another map mission. Since it was Friday, the Marauders spent almost the whole night mapping out the castle and searching its corridors for secret passageways and alcoves. It really became a routine. All of them knew that every Friday and Saturday night were reserved for mapping the castle. They even managed to do one or two short missions during the workdays.
But the map still wasn't finished.
Sirius could say that they were approximately third of the way done which wasn't that great because the term will end in three months. Since the walls of their dorm were now mostly filled with drawings of corridors, paintings and armors, there was this concern of how to move all that parchment to the Potter Manor when the term ends without messing the order of it and ruining the whole thing.
Sirius didn't even want to think about all the taped notes with corrected spelling of portrait names and arrows which indicated the wrong orientations of some tapestries, armors and other ancient decoration. Not to mention the different moving staircase drawings with marked rotations and sinking steps.
In conclusion, moving the map to the Potter Manor seemed impossible.
Yesterday, or more so very early today, when the Marauders came back from the map mission with another stack of parchment, it became quite clear that the solution will have to be found.
That was the main reason why they found themselves in the Hogwarts Library on the Saturday morning. Remus and Peter were already there for about an hour before Sirius and James arrived. The latter had an early Quidditch practice and, since Anthony was ninety-nine percent sure that the Gryffindor team will play in the finals, there was no skipping practices.
Sirius threw his half-empty bag on the desk occupied with numerous books about maps, shrinking charms, compact charms, moving spells, teleporting spells and duplicating. Needless to say, Remus and Peter looked a mess.
"Any luck?", James asked the two as he mirrored Sirius' action of placing his bag on the desk and throwing himself on one of the chairs.
Remus and Peter just gave them miserable looks, "I see.", James said awkwardly as he reached for one of the untouched books.
Sirius sighed dramatically before doing the same. He was their technician since he researched the art of map making back at the 12th Grimmauld Place during last summer. If he was being honest, that title didn't bring him any good. There was a separate stack of books only about maps waiting for him while others tried finding different approaches to the current problem.
It all seemed so easy to him back in summer. Granted, the final step really was easy, once all the pieces are assembled all you had to do was combine them with a spell. But Sirius didn't count on not having all pieces. All he knew was that it was possible to add small details to your map like a secret corridor or a passageway, but, apparently, it was impossible to add a whole new floor.
His current job was to find some temporary map-combination charm that could easily be reversed. But, like expected, not everyone really needed to unassemble their map once it was assembled. Quite the opposite, all the books concentrated on very permeant combination charms.
The time passed as slowly as possible. Sirius hadn't even been reading for an hour and his mind already started to wonder to other tasks they needed to do. Like...
"So, what are we doing for your guys' birthdays?", he asked in an attempt to distract everyone from their current research.
"You mean what are we doing for James' birthday?", Remus retorted. He didn't even lift his head to look at Sirius. His eyes were glued to the pages of the book in front of him.
"Uh-ah, Remus.", James wiggled his eyebrows. His concentration was about the same caliber as Sirius', maybe even less, "You are celebrating with me. That was the deal.", he said matter-of-factly.
That was enough to make Remus look away from the book, "But I already celebrated.", he whined to them, but that statement wasn't really true. Remus convinced them to wait with the actual celebration since James' birthday was the same month. He wanted for them to celebrate together, but as James' birthday actually neared, they all realized that Remus just wanted to avoid celebrating. Which, of course, wasn't happening.
"No, you didn't.", Peter added in a flat tone. He was the only one who was still doing the research, eyes glued to the book in front of him.
"Yes, I did.", Remus argued, but Sirius had already prepared a reply to this statement, "Opening some gifts and just singing happy birthday during meals doesn't really count as celebrating."
At least Remus told them what he wanted for this year so getting him presents was quite easy. All he wanted was Chocolate Frogs and a new book from some muggle author. Sirius, James and Peter thought that just those two things weren't enough for a birthday present, so they bought him a special, limited edition, Chocolate Frog collection. It was a huge box full of Chocolate Frogs filled with biscuits. Needless to say, the birthday boy loved it.
Remus scrunched up his nose in annoyance. He lifted his book again and hid behind its cover, "They were amazing gifts.", he mumbled from behind the book which made Sirius and James grin.
"Anyways, we have to work on the celebration ideas as well as this.", Sirius continued, "Maybe we can explore the castle—"
"Please no...", James whined, "I can't read the tiny portrait names in the dark on my birthday...", he dramatically dropped his head onto the desk with a loud thud.
"Shh!", Madam Pince hissed. It seemed as though James' statement that Madam Pince liked him now wasn't true since she gave all of them a disgusted look.
Sirius let out a big sigh, "Fine.", he stood up from the desk, "Then think of something. I have to clear my head before continuing this devil's research.", he threw a nasty glare at his stack of books.
The rest of the Marauders nodded so he stretched before taking a walk around the Library. One of the perks of being a map technician was that Sirius could take breaks since the books he was supposed to read were way more difficult and complex than the ones James, Remus and Peter were in charge of.
Since it was still early on a Saturday, the Library was mostly empty. Sirius walked along the rows filled with ceiling-high bookcases. Most of the books on them were dusty and old with worn out yellowish pages. Their spines were cracked and you could easily see that some even lacked pages. But there was also a lot of new books. They stood out in the sea of old and dusty, spines uncracked and pages crispy white.
Sirius didn't really like studying, but he liked to read. Or, more precisely, he liked researching. Hogwarts Library provided the Marauders with so many useful spells and charms in just these two years alone that they will be in its debt forever.
Just as he was about to round the corner and step into the next row, Sirius heard someone whisper-yelling. The sound was coming from the study desks near the windows which were right in front of him. Like it was a reflex, Sirius stepped into the intended row in an attempt to hide from whoever was fighting. He then leaned as much as possible towards the end of the bookcase so that he could hear what the fight was about. The voices sounded really familiar to him...
"I'm not friends with them!", someone whisper-yelled. It was a girly voice which Sirius knew... Lily Evans.
There was a huff, "Why are you walking to classes with them then?!"
Sirius' blood boiled at the realization that the next voice belonged to none other than his dear Slytherin friend, Snivellus.
"I— I'm not! Marlene is friends with Potter and Pettigrew. Helen also likes them so I... I just tag along.", Lily tried to justify and, if Sirius was being honest, her statement did sting a little.
He knew that she didn't like them at first, but he thought that maybe they have made some progress. After all, she now laughed at some of their jokes and didn't scowl at them all the time, just sometimes. Sirius thought that maybe they were okay with each other, but, apparently, he was wrong.
"Why would you even want to tag along with Potter and Black?!", Snape raised his voice a bit, but not enough to attract Madam Pince's attention from the other end of the Library.
Lily now sounded quite annoyed, "I don't! What do you want me to do?! Walk all by myself to classes and common room?!"
Oh. That made more sense. She tagged along because she didn't have anyone else, not because she started to like them.
"Better that than to walk with a bl—, brainless Potter and family disappointment.", Snape sneered at her and, if Sirius was in Evans' place, he would have already hit him with some spell.
"Severus! That's rude!"
"Shh!", Madam Pince finally heard them which made Lily huff in annoyance, "I'm going to the common room. We can study together when you decide to be nice.", and then Sirius heard the sound of the chairs moving.
"No! Lily! Wait, I didn't mean to—"
"Shh!"
At least Evans also scolded her friends, not just the Marauders. Sirius saw her leaving the Library with Snape right on her tail. Once Sirius was sure that the coast was clear, he peeked his head from his hiding spot to look at the abandoned desk. There was still one book there, so he neared it to take a better look.
It was their Potions textbook, Magical Drafts and Potions Vol2, but there was something suspicious about it. It was open right in the middle, on the revision of Wiggenweld Potion, which they already did back at the beginning of February and, from what Sirius knew, there wasn't any homework on it. Even more so, they had already done next two potions, so why was Snape studying this one?
Sirius withdrew his wand, "Revelio", he whispered as quietly as he could so that Madam Pince wouldn't catch him casting a spell on her precious books.
As soon as the spell hit the book, Sirius noticed another book underneath the first one. It was also opened so their Potions textbook combined with some camouflage spell provided a perfect hiding spot.
Carefully, Sirius moved the top book so that he could see what was Snape actually reading and, to no surprise, Sirius saw the book Rootedly Dark Hexes. The page was opened on a nasty hex that made someone's skin produce thorns.
Sirius squinted his eyes in irritation and then looked around himself. This part of the Library was still empty, so he quickly got ahold of the Rootedly Dark Hexes while making sure to put the Potions textbook perfectly back in place.
As soon as his heist was done, Sirius retreated back in between the bookcases. His plan was to hide the book, but where was the question. There was no point in returning it back to the Dark Arts or Hexes section. He needed some section where not a lot of students lured so that no one could find it and return it to its rightful place. Because of that, it was pointless to even consider Charms section, Jinxes section, Transfiguration section...
Maybe Magical Creatures section. Rarely any Slytherins took that class so Sirius' hiding place was decided. He strode to the mentioned section and towards the Underwater Creatures bookcase. The book blended in beautifully since it was one of the older books.
Satisfied with his work, Sirius turned to leave, but then the Dark Creatures bookcase caught his attention. Almost every book there was very old since there wasn't much research being done on Dark Creatures. Because of that fact, Sirius got quite curious when he noticed a new book with unbroken spine and white pages.
It was on the bottom shelf so he crouched to take a look, "In the Dark: Encyclopedia", he whispered to himself. The title didn't really give him any clue on what was exactly in this book, so Sirius turned it to look at the description.
In the Dark: Encyclopedia is a new, never before seen, book on Dark Magical Creatures. It provides completely objective and professional view on this topic. It includes a variety of most common Dark Creatures such as Acromantulas, Basilisks, Dementors, Werewolves and so much more...
"This is it.", Sirius whispered to himself. He finally found a book written from an objective perspective. Most of the books on the topic of werewolves were written by wizards who hated them, so majority of the time there wasn't anything useful to read.
Sirius sat down in front of the big bookcase. He leaned his back on the old, cracked spines and opened the encyclopedia. There was an index page that marked the chapter about werewolves, so he quickly turned to the page 573.
The first part was just about standard information he already knew. About how to recognize a werewolf, how a human actually becomes a werewolf, werewolf's weaknesses... and finally, there it was. A paragraph about transformations.
Sirius could swear that he never read faster in his life. His dark curls fell down his forehead, but he didn't care. Again, the beginning was just the basic information he already knew, but then...
A lot of werewolves have reported that living in a pack has helped them during transformations. They confirmed that the presence of the pack during a full moon helps with reducing scars and provides easier healing process. Since werewolves are only dangerous to humas and a human becomes an animal after the transformation, keeping such company during full moon doesn't put anyone in danger. Still, there are some safety protocols that need to be followed. It is recommended for the first night to be supervised by an educated Ministry of Magic's worker due to the pack choosing a leader. This common process can result in a lot of injuries, but, once it is done, most of the packs will have no more problems during the full moons.
Sirius finished reading. His heart was beating so fast. Did he just discover a way to help Remus? And even worse, did he just discover a way to help Remus that wasn't possible for them to accomplish?
He was so frustrated. It was like the answer slipped right through his fingers. Sirius was so close... so close to figuring it out and now... now he was back right at the beginning. He had nothing again.
Sirius threw the book on the floor next to him in frustration. The heels of his hands dug into the sockets of his eyes. He was so close...
But then something clicked. It was like a lightbulb appeared on top of his head. Sirius quickly reached for the encyclopedia and opened it again just to make sure that he read everything correctly.
Since werewolves are only dangerous to humas and a human becomes an animal after the transformation, keeping such company during full moon doesn't put anyone in danger, he read it to himself.
Sirius shook his head in an attempt to become more focused. Werewolves are only dangerous to humas, he read again, animal after the transformation, his eyes darted rapidly all over the paragraph, doesn't put anyone in danger...
"That's it.", he whispered breathlessly to himself in disbelief, "I found it."
A/N:
Hi everyone!I've updated the first seven chapters of this fic, but I saw that there is some problem with the paragraphs where I put comments on in word. If you come across something that doesn't make sense, it is probably because it got deleted due to me putting a comment on that sentence. If you see something like that, please let me know so that I can fix it :)The updates have nothing to do with the story, so you dont need to reread them. I just added more descriptions to some characters and places as well as switched the construction of some sentenses so that they sound better, but nothing major :)Also, would you like for me to update the chapters as I correct them or update them later, for example as we finish a each year at Hogwarts?
Thank you again for reading this <3