That April day they became the Marauders turned into one of those beautiful, shining days that lived on in memory. It started when James complained about not having proper piratical headgear since none of them could really figure out a good transfiguring spell until Peter eagerly made four paper pirate hats out of newspapers, a trick he had learned from his Muggle father. Remus turned them black then Sirius painted wicked looking skull and crossbones on all of them.
"A joint effort, me hearties!" James exclaimed, placing the biggest hat on his head.
"Joint? What part did you play, then?" Sirius asked.
James thought for a second as he put the hat at a jaunty angle. "Overseeing. It's what I'm good at."
They went outside into the brilliant spring sunshine, playing at being pirates around the lake, having sword fights with long sticks, then James tried to convince Sirius to jump into the lake which he nearly did until the giant squid nearly smacked him off the rock they all stood on. They all scrambled away, figuring exploring the edge of the lake would be a safer bet. They got rather near the forest and found a stream there with an old wooden bridge going across. Remus suggested they play Poohsticks then had to explain just what Poohsticks was.
"We all drop sticks in on the far side then we see which one comes out first the other." He dropped a twig in to demonstrate so they all ran around finding twigs. Remus changed them all colors so they could easily see who won (James scarlet, Sirius black, Peter yellow, Remus purple). They played twelve rounds until they got bored (Peter won with a total of four rounds, James in an annoyed last with two wins, Sirius and Remus tying with three each). That's when James got another long stick, announcing he knew where there was a dragon. Peter jumped back, terrified, while James explained it was in the forest.
"The Forbidden Forest is sorta forbidden," Remus pointed out.
"So's sneaking into the Great Hall in the middle of the night to hang up underwear," Sirius teased while Remus glowered.
"Come on, it's not far," James promised.
So Remus followed them into the woods, feeling nervous, wondering if Hagrid would appear to catch them. He kept glancing over his shoulder as the forest thickened until he couldn't really see the castle anymore. He was just about to say perhaps they should go back when James stopped, pointing with his stick towards a large bumpy rock that did look like a sleeping dragon curled up. Remus smiled. Of course.
"It's just a r--" Peter started and Sirius smacked him.
"It's a dragon," Sirius said. "A horrible dragon."
"Not just any dragon," Remus whispered, getting into the spirit. He hadn't really played pretend in a long time, and when he did he had been alone--having to pretend he had friends around him whenever he played in the garden or the woods behind his house. Now he had actual other people to adventure with. "That's a Hungarian horntail. The most dangerous, vicious dragon of them all!"
James's eyes sparkled. "Too true it is."
Sirius pulled out his wand. "Let's kill it."
They spent the next few minutes sending out as many offensive spells as they could think of, the spells bouncing harmlessly off the stone, until Sirius used the fire spell that actually left a mark on the rock. That's when he ran over, jumping on top, declaring himself the victor. The four of them flopped onto the dead dragon, rather tired now.
"Why's this place forbidden anyway?" James asked, picking up a small rock and chucking it into the trees. Then he turned to look at Remus. "You probably know, don't you?"
"It's dangerous," Remus answered. "Loads of dark creatures. Some we haven't even studied in Defense yet. Some we won't until years ahead of us."
"Like Hungarian horntails," Sirius said, patting the rock beneath them.
"Oh, be serious," James said.
Sirius grinned. "I mean. I'm always Siriu--" He broke off, rolling away as James tried to hit him. "You're the one who said it, not me!" he said from the other side of the rock.
"What kind of... creatures?" Peter asked, eyes darting around at the trees around them.
Remus began listing some of the more dangerous things that could be lurking around from the tiny doxie to the huge graphorn, though graphorn wasn't as likely since they preferred the actual mountains to the forest. "But they might come down here occasionally," Remus added. He leaned back against the sun-warmed rock. "There's rumors of acromantula too but that's impossible."
"Acrowhatchula?" Sirius asked. He and James were now throwing rocks at a tree, trying to hit a small knothole. It made Remus think of the way to get under the Whomping Willow. Pomfrey started getting him to throw rocks and despite his clumsiness he had gotten quite good. Well, decent. Well... okay. One out of ten times. That didn't seem too bad for someone who tripped over their own feet.
"Giant spiders. But they're native to parts of Asia so they can't be here. Probably someone used an engorgement charm on a spider and let it loose so that's what whoever started the rumor really saw."
Peter pulled up a piece of grass. "Giant spiders sounds scary." He put the grass between his thumbs and brought it to his mouth. He blew a couple times until a piercing sound came out. He kept making the annoying sound until Sirius pointed out some animal probably peed on the grass and Peter flung it away, wiping his hands off on his jeans.
James finally managed to hit the knothole. Remus half expected a secret tunnel to appear but of course nothing happened. "We should make a hideout here." Suddenly he sprang up, jumping up and down. "We should build one! A fort! Fort Dragon! We could do it, with sticking spells."
"Plus it's easy to get here," Sirius said, hands on hips as he surveyed the area. "Nice clearing too."
"Let's do it!" Peter exclaimed.
It was afternoon at that point so they drew straws (well, sticks) which James lost. So while the other three began gathering big sticks, James went to steal some food from the castle kitchens. He returned to find a pretty big pile of wood waiting, and the four of them took a break to eat. Once finished, Remus, James, and Peter would hold pieces together while Sirius did the sticking spell, something he was quite good at (though at one point he accidentally stuck a stick to Remus's hand and they spent quite a while doing a reversing spell to get it off of him; thank Merlin it wasn't the permanent sticking spell!). While they worked building a wall James suggested the coat the Slytherin benches in the Great Hall with the sticking spell.
"Yeah cause using anything like that went sooooo well for us before," Peter said, crinkling his nose.
"Least you were only stuck to the ground," Remus said. "I was stuck to Sirius." Sirius used the sticking spell, jamming his arm against Remus's arm. Remus looked at their arms then glared up at the grinning Sirius. "Why are you such an idiot?"
"Hereditary, in my opinion," he replied cheerfully.
James and Peter went back to holding up sticks while Sirius stuck them together and Remus worked on getting him unstuck from Sirius. Finally he managed then spent his time fetching more sticks. Soon they had a small wall that was as long as the dragon rock though only a couple feet high. Sirius stuck it to the ground before they began working on another wall, and then a third until Remus heard some crashing in the woods a bit aways. He froze, then the sound came close enough that the others heard it. That's when they decided to (quickly) head back to the castle; it was getting late anyway.
They still wore their pirate hats going into supper. Remus had started to take his off however when he noticed James and Sirius just marching right in with the blackened newspapers still on their heads he just kept his own on, as did Peter. Everyone gave them strange looks which they adamantly ignored.
"You going to study group tonight?" Sirius asked as they ate.
Remus considered it, then nodded. "Yeah. Exams are coming up--"
"Oh no, only six whole weeks to study!" James said in mock horror.
"--and I was supposed to be studying a lot today which didn't happen so I should at least go tonight," Remus finished, ignoring James.
"Bet you had more fun today though," Peter said with a big smile.
Remus promised he did which made Sirius pump a fist into the air, professing his joy that they were more fun than jamming text into your brain. Remus kicked him in the shin. "Barely," he said, holding his finger and thumb apart by only a tiny little squidge. "Like, this much." Sirius stuck out his tongue. Remus made his fingers go closer to together and Sirius gave him a kick as Remus laughed.
He finished supper fairly early to give himself time to run up to the tower, grabbing all his things. He glimpsed at himself in the mirror, debating what to do about the hat. Wearing it with the others was fine. Wearing it by himself... he didn't think he had the confidence to do that. He took the hat off, carefully setting it on his desk.
Down in the library he was second to arrive, Silverlocke already sitting there. The Slytherin glanced up, giving a small smile as Remus sat down. "Where's your hat?" he asked first thing.
Remus ducked his head, letting his hair fall across his face as he pulled his books out. "Didn't think I'd n--need it f-for studying."
Everyone else who came in commented on the hat too, causing him to become very embarrassed. Especially when Craft called the hats 'dumb'. Twycross also said they were 'childish'.
That struck a nerve. "We're twelve," he said rather snippily. "We are kids."
Twycross sniffled loudly, tossing her hair back. "Boys are just naturally less mature than girls so you have a point." Remus, Silverlocke, Craft, and Bones all looked annoyed at that. Twycross raised her eyebrows at their faces. "It's true, you know. We're more developed."
Bones snorted. "You don't look very developed to me," he said then began snickering.
Twycross went brilliantly red. "YOU--" Then she snapped her mouth shut, teeth clicking loudly, remembering she was in the library and couldn't yell. "How dare you, you--pervert!" Bones just kept laughing quietly behind his hand. Lily looked like she was suppressing laughter too.
Remus was a little lost as to what that exchange meant but if it annoyed Twycross it couldn't have been all that bad.
*
Sunday was spent trying to study but mostly being sucked into various games with his friends--the other Marauders, as they were definitely calling themselves now. In the early afternoon they worked on the Howler for Snape, disguising James's voice pretty darn well. They took it plus the package containing a small bottle of shampoo to the owlery where James attached them to two different school owls, giving them the instructions not to deliver until the next morning.
Needless to say at breakfast they were all really giggly, waiting for the owl post. After what felt like an eternity finally the owls came swooping in. James received a large package from his parents, Remus got a letter from his mother, and over at the Slytherin table Snape got a small box along with a scarlet envelope that immediately began pouring smoke. The kids around him went quiet which spread down the table then onto other tables as Snape nervously reached out, going very pale.
James's voice burst out, ringing across the Great Hall. It was very well disguised, sounding mostly like a girl. If you knew James well and listened very closely you could probably tell but Remus figured nobody could.
"THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING TO OUR SPECIAL SELF CARE COURSE. THE FIRST LESSON IS HAIR WASHING 101. INCLUDED IS A SMALL SAMPLE BOTTLE FOR YOU TO TRY OUT!" Snape's face flooded with color as the students began laughing. "STEP ONE IS ACTUALLY STEPPING INTO A SHOWER! IF YOU'RE STILL AT HOGWARTS, SHOWERS ARE PROVIDED FOR THE STUDENTS! STEP TWO--TURN ON THE WATER!"
James was hardly able to breathe, clutching his sides as tears silently rolled down his face. Sirius had his hands folded in front of his mouth, making odd noises as he wheezed. Peter was shaking from head to toe with his laughter. Remus had jammed his fist in his mouth, laughing around it.
"PLEASE RINSE YOUR HAIR IN THE WATER! GET HAIR COMPLETELY WET! PUT A DOLLOP OF SHAMPOO ON YOUR HANDS AND BEGIN MASSAGING INTO YOUR SCALP, MAKING YOUR WAY FROM THE ROOTS TO THE TIP!"
That's about the last thing anyone heard as Snape had grabbed the Howler and fled out of the Great Hall. There was a lot of laughter from all the tables except the teachers. They all looked very put out. Especially McGonagall whose eyes landed on James and Sirius. She wasn't the only one: Lily looked beyond furious. She got up from her seat, walking over in a strangely calm way though Remus could see her arms shaking a little.
"Yeeees?" James drew out when Lily approached them.
"Can I talk to you lot?" she asked through clenched teeth. "Privately?"
"Bit busy here, Evans," James said, wiping tears off his cheeks. Lily grabbed his arm, dragging him from his seat. "Whoa--hey--all right, geezoid!"
Sirius, Peter, and Remus really didn't have much of a choice except to follow. They didn't want to leave James to her wrath all alone. She kept pulling him along to one of the side corridors. There she finally let go.
"All right then, what's so impo--" James started then was cut off as Lily whalloped him across the face. She hit him so hard his glasses went flying. All four boys gasped out. Well, James's was more of a cry of pain.
"HOW--DARE--YOU?!" she screamed as he cringed back, clutching at his mouth "YOU ABSOLUTE TOERAG!" Then her eyes darted to Sirius and before he could do anything she hit him on the face too, though her fist mostly just clipped his chin. He did yelp in pain, clutching the spot. "YOU'RE BOTH COMPLETELY DESPICABLE! I can't beLIEVE you SOMEHOW managed to make my opinion of you even WORSE! But wow, you sure managed that! And you!" She spun around to look at Remus who took a step back, terrified she'd hit him too. "Did you have anything to do with this?! Tell me the truth!"
"I--d-d-d--didn't--do--any of--of it," he stammered out.
That didn't seem to help any. "But you knew they were doing it?!" He just looked down at the ground, shame filling him. "You knew, and you let them continue! You're just as much of a--a bully as they are, Remus Lupin!"
"L--Lily--"
"I don't want to even SEE YOU!" Her gaze swept past Peter who squeaked and dove behind Sirius but Lily just marched off.
"Holy jumping jarveys!" Sirius managed to get out. Peter continued to quiver behind Sirius while James was on his knees, searching for his glasses, blood smeared where she had busted his lip.
Remus stared after her then began running. "Lily--" He reached out, grabbing her arm. He had to apologize.
She whirled around, glaring at him with watery eyes. "Don't touch me, Remus! Don't even talk to me!" She wrenched her arm away. "I thought you were better but you're not!" She began running again then stopped to look back at him. "AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING TO THE LIBRARY TONIGHT!" Then she disappeared round the corner.
Remus stood still, watching her go, wanting to cry as well. He hadn't--he never--it wasn't-... It felt like someone had taken a scoop to his insides, just taking everything away. He felt... hollow. Numb. He knew it was a rather mean prank but he hadn't expected Lily to react like this... all right, truth be told, he hadn't even been thinking of her at all as they prepared the prank.
"I swear she's part troll or something," James grumbled as he finally found his glasses. "No little girl is that strong." He stood up, wiping the blood onto his robes sleeve.
"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "but did you see Snape's face? Absolutely priceless!"
"Well done, Mr. Black!"
"Same to you, Mr. Potter!" They solemnly shook hands then gave each other high fives.
Peter went over to Remus, lightly touching his arm. "Um, you all right?"
Remus still just stood there in a bit of a shock. "Y--yeah," he lied, finally being able to push himself to move, to respond. He wanted to go somewhere to be alone, hide out to deal with--with this. But he had class soon, so he couldn't. He followed the other three back to the Great Hall or at least in front of it, as McGonagall was waiting for them, white fury on her face. She accused James and Sirius of being behind the prank, demanding a confession.
James put on his most innocent face which didn't look so good with blood all over it. "Us, Professor?" he asked, eyebrows high. "Where would we get a Howler?"
"Ooh, can you get them somewhere in the school?" Sirius added, looking excited. "Or mail order them?"
"I have no idea how you two got your hands on a Howler however I know it was you. This--absolutely wicked ordeal has your names all over it."
James flashed a grin now. "Flatter us all you want, but we didn't do it. Terrific idea, though."
Remus thought McGonagall might just explode into smithereens right there from how enraged she looked, while James and Sirius radiated an aura of smugness. Suddenly Peter slipped his hand into Remus's, very afraid of what was going to happen next. Remus gave his hand a squeeze, trying to reassure him. He wasn't sure what McGonagall would do. The voice didn't sound enough like James, and the Howler would have turned to ash by now so there'd be no handwriting to compare. They were at a standstill.
"Ten points from Gryffindor," she finally said.
"For what?!" James demanded.
"Untidiness. And if I find out you were behind this, Mr. Potter, you will be very sorry. What you did to that boy was unspeakably awful." She turned and swept back into the Great Hall.
Once the doors shut James gave a two finger salute then began happily elbowing Sirius that they got away with it, the two of them snickering. "Untidiness," James snorted, wiping more blood off his mouth. "Stupid Evans."
Remus didn't feel hungry at all anymore. While his friends sat down he just grabbed his bag, mumbling something about heading to class early. Sirius narrowed his eyes, staring hard at Remus with suspicion. "You're not feeling guilty are you?" he asked softly. Remus fiddled with the strap on his bag, not sure how to answer. Partially yes, partially no. So he just shrugged. "Cause of Evans?" Now Remus nodded. Sirius got up, taking the few steps closer. "Did she get that mad at Snivellus? When he said those things about you in Potions? Called you those things?"
"Er, she was mad--"
"Did she punch him?"
"I d--don't think so--I really don't know what she did." He remembered James snapping at her, her saying she'd talk to him--then insisting he wasn't a git. He doubted she yelled at Snape like she yelled at Remus. A sort of wormy feeling filled his belly as he remembered Snape standing in Potions calling him disease-ridden and crazy. How Remus encouraged Lily to talk to Snape, to forgive him even though Snape refused to apologize to Remus. But it wasn't really the same thing... was it?
"Don't let her get to you," James said with a firm nod.
"I... guess..." The wormy feeling just got worse though. "I'm st--still going to class early." He left the hall, heading to Charms. Professor Flitwick was still at breakfast so Remus camped out across the hall, his nose in a book though he wasn't really reading. He felt too prickly and hot. I'll apologize to Lily, I'll just try again.
Except when she showed up with her female friends she marched past him with her nose in the air, going into the classroom ignoring him entirely. Colgate gave him a slightly pitying look but other than that he was left out in the cold. Right. He crept in, taking his usual seat, trying to pretend like it didn't upset him. She ignored him all day and did her best to avoid him. At lunch he didn't see her anywhere, nor did he see Snape. After Defense Remus tried to talk to Lily again but she shrugged him off, shooting him a glare.
"She's not worth it," Sirius said, clapping Remus on the back. "If she's not gonna hold Snape up to the same standards then she's just a bozo."
He had a point, but Remus wasn't going to admit it. James asked Remus if he felt bad about the Howler to which Remus replied no. He really didn't. He had tried to be nice to Snape (because of Lily) and Snape just insulted him, hexed him, plagued him, harassed him... No, he didn't have any regrets about the prank they pulled except for the fact Lily got all angry.
After an afternoon spent in the dorms and a supper that tasted like mush, Remus decided to go to the library. James and Sirius rolled their eyes but at least Peter wished him luck. He hung about outside the library until exactly 6 then went in, heading to their usual table. Pierce was beginning a discussion about Astronomy then stopped when she spotted Remus.
He went for his seat but then hesitated when Lily glared at him. "I told you not to show up."
"I th--thought this was a--a--an open--group," he muttered back.
"I can't deal with you right now, Remus. I just can't. Not with what happened."
Craft gave a snort while Silverlocke's brow furrowed. "I--err..." Remus didn't know what to say. "C--can we talk?"
"No," she said, turning back to her books. There was red creeping across her neck. "I don't want to. Go back to your bullying friends."
Heat flared up inside of him as well as the wolf. He felt it stirring, waking up, stretching its paws with the claws flicking out. "My bullying friends?" he asked stiffly. She looked back up. "S'not like Snape's innocent."
"Don't talk about him--"
The wolf reared up, clawing at him, begging him to be let loose; he struggled to fight back however was also far too angry to easily do so. "He's a jerk!" Remus snarled. Everyone at the table seemed quite interested in what he was saying except for Silverlocke who just seemed upset, and Lily's jaw hung open. "I've t-tr--t-tried to be n--nice t-t-t-to him and he insults me! He c-c-calls me Loo--Loopy and--and-and-and he lied to you, he did--did follow me around in-in here wh--when I had th-th-that de-d-d-de-detention putting bo--books in the-the wr--wrong spots then he c-c-cursed my tongue!"
Lily stood up, the red covering most her face now. "He wouldn't--"
"He did! He t-t-t-t-t-told me he'd rather d-dr-drink poison r--rather than sit with me when I w--was try--trying to b--be--be n-nn--nice to him!" His body shook and his nose itched. He fought hard against the tears, determined not to cry in front of the rest of study group who were all watching with huge eyes. "And wh--when Slughorn t--told us we had to be partners he c---called me diseased and crazy! So don't you c-c-c-call my friends b--bullying when you're d--defending one!"
As the last word fell out of his mouth it felt like he just couldn't anymore. He was so hot, sweat soaking his armpits, and he wanted to cry so much. He took a few steps back then turned and stormed out of the library. He couldn't believe he said all of that to her. To Lily. His first real friend. His pinky promised friend!
At that thought the tears finally came and he ran back to his dorm with tears dripping down his face.