Marauders, Mischief and Mudbloods

[Annelise Westerhof]

Another Marauders era fanfic I'm writing... I've actually been writing this one longer than Broken Mirror. Non-slash =P

The clouds over the lake were dark, and the water itself was eerily calm. A breeze caused the leaves on the trees to move. Most students were put off being outside due to the impending storm, but Remus Lupin stared out a nearby window with a look of longing. Nobody paid him much attention, especially since he was fully aware that two corridors over, James Potter and Sirius Black were performing beginning-of-the-term pranks. Peter Pettigrew was no doubt hanging about, or keeping an eye out for Professors or Prefects. Remus, on the other hand, had no desire to take part on the second day of term. September the first was always hectic, and although it was now Remus’ last year at Hogwarts, his first night back was always sleepless. Every year he panicked about someone finally discovering where he truly went once a month. It was torture enough to him that Severus Snape had found out last year, although in the back of his mind, he blamed Sirius for Snape finding out. He hated to do so, but realistically Sirius was the one who alerted Snape about the passageway under the Whomping Willow. It took ages for Remus to forgive his mate, although deep down he still somewhat resented him for it. It was one thing for his closest friends to discover he was a werewolf, but it was another for someone he didn’t particularly like to find out. Ever since Snape found out, he relentlessly teased Remus about it. Sirius, James and Peter defended him when they could, but they couldn’t possibly be around at all times.

Remus’ brown eyes automatically scanned the Forbidden Forest’s tree-line, making sure nothing had changed since last year. However, as he scanned the tree-line, he distinctly saw something move. He squinted his eyes to try to see better, but it was pointless because seconds later, a voice broke out, and then hands grasped his shoulders.

“Moony!” Sirius’ characteristically loud voice shouted out. Remus cringed. He disliked being called ‘Moony’ in front of others. It wasn’t like he didn’t like his nickname, it was just he didn’t want others to hear in case they put two and two together and figure out the signs. “Where’ve you been? We might want to get out of here, though… just set up a prank for Snivelly, and Wormtail said that he was coming around the corner.”

Sirius began to lead Remus away from the window before Remus could protest.

“Did you see – did you see who was by the Forest?” Remus asked, quickly.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at Remus. “No. I didn’t look out the window – why?”

“Nothing,” he replied, simply. “So what did you set up for Snape?”

“The usual,” Sirius answered, waving a hand dismissively as he steered the two of them behind a tapestry and into one of the many secret short cuts. They didn’t follow the short cut, but merely stood there. “Dungbombs, minor fireworks, and so on.”

Within moments, Peter stumbled through the tapestry; his chubby cheeks pink with excitement. His beady eyes were shining, and he was just a touch too wheezy to speak. With Peter now in their midst, Remus had to take a half a step back. Although Remus wasn’t participating in the prank, he knew Sirius’ motivation of getting him away. If any of the Marauders were spotted in the vicinity of a prank, they would no doubt be blamed, or at least questioned.

Not long after Peter entered, James followed. His black hair was messier than usual, and his glasses were slightly askew. He readjusted them, and then ran his hand through his hair, making it no better than before. His hazel eyes were shining. Peter went to open his mouth to speak, but James shh’d him impatiently. James clearly wasn’t left disappointed, for seconds later an extremely loud yell rang through the corridors. The person was clearly very disgruntled.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention the goo,” Sirius added.

Remus felt himself grin. “Forcing him to wash his hair, are you?”

“You know us too well,” James replied.

“BLACK! POTTER!” Snape’s voice shouted. Very sticky sounding foot falls followed. “You and your nasty little friends won’t get away with this!”

The four had to stifle their laughs, for they could hear the fact Snape was close-by. Snape was practically growling with rage. Remus’ quite laughs ended first. Ever since Snape found out about Remus’ condition, Remus tried to ease up on him, mainly due to the fact that he was paranoid that Snape would go against his oath of secrecy with Dumbledore.

A moment of silence soon followed. Remus had an amusing mental image of Snape standing just past the tapestry, sniffing the air like a dog. Peeves, however, did not seem to think that Snape was embarrassed enough. According to the vulgar shouts that ensued, Peeves had begun to drop paper and ink on Severus.

“Oh, Peevsie,” Sirius mumbled, fondly. “Always there when we need him.”

Remus did not comment, however, for only at the end of last term, Sirius was cursing at the top of his lungs at Peeves for spilling ink into his hair in front of a bunch of Hufflepuff girls. Apparently Sirius was an easy forgiver. From the sounds outside, Snape had stormed off. James pushed back the tapestry a little bit, and the other three stood on tip-toe to look out. Luckily, they could still see him covered head to toe in green goo, paper and black ink. Also luckily, his back was to them as he walked away. The four of them decided it was safe to burst out laughing as they continued the short cut. They exited on the floor the entrance to the Gryffindor tower was on. Sirius exited first, and ran straight into a blonde girl. He helped her regain her balance as the other three exited. Remus recognized her as Anne; a seventh year Ravenclaw girl. Her brown eyes took in each Marauder in turn, and she smiled.

“So I see why Snape was carrying on down on the third floor,” Anne commented with a grin.

She pushed her glasses up her nose. She wore glasses, although like James, they didn’t distract from her face. Remus had to admit she was pretty, and while James and Peter were looking at Anne’s smile, Sirius was busy ogling her bare long legs, which were under a uniform skirt.

“Won’t admit to anything,” Sirius replied as he grinned back at her. Of course he’d be the first to reply. Although not his typical type, for she didn’t make her skirt short and she wasn’t super giggly; she was a girl, and she was talking to him. “You could be a spy for the other team.”

“Really?” she said, raising an eyebrow, but the smile on her face was not faltering. “Then why didn’t I give you and your friends away to Snape when I noticed you hide behind the tapestry? Really, though, poor choice in hiding places. Even a git like Snape knew about that short cut.”

“Oh? And how did you see us do such a thing?” James interjected.

“Yeah? Gazing me from afar, were you?” Sirius added.

Peter chuckled, but didn’t say anything. He was always shy around girls. Remus, however, enjoyed the banter. He doubted very much if Sirius even knew her name. Remus knew her, for he always had an eye for details and remembering people. She was noticeably smart, but with a bit of a smart mouth as well, which distracted from her intelligence. She also played Beater for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. He knew this for he remembered James complaining that she had hit a Bludger at him three times in a single match. Peter would probably know who she was, for she teased him on a regular basis in Potions class. Nothing rude or harmful, though.

“Oh, Black, have me figured out, do you? Damn, I didn’t know I was that easy to read,” Anne replied, sarcastically. She glanced at Remus and grinned. He could have sworn she winked at him.

“Maybe I could read you better later? Say Saturday, I’ll pick you up in the Entrance Hall?” Sirius suggested, looking absolutely excited.

“Fine,” she agreed, although she didn’t look as excited as most girls when they were asked on a date by Sirius Black. She didn’t look bemused either, though. It was almost like she was intrigued. “I need to meet my sister in the library though. Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Sirius said, inclining his head politely.

Anne gave one, final smile before heading off.

“You’re good,” was all Peter managed to comment.

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[Remus John Lupin]

Haha, this made me laugh and smile.
I like angst, but I love chapters like this as well - easy-going Marauders, yay.

[Sirius Black!]

CHAPTER TWO

Before anyone knew it, Saturday arrived. Remus was not surprised to see that Sirius had neglected to dress up for his “date.” Then again, Sirius didn’t have to in order to look better than anyone else in the room. His black hair was shaggy, but perfectly in place at the same time, and his grey eyes stood out as usual. His clothes fit him as if they had been designed for him, and he looked like the definition of confidence. Remus, James and Peter decided to walk him to the staircase of the entrance hall as they were all treated to a rambling of how ‘good’ he was for getting a date with a girl he had only spoken to once. Remus was tempted to point out that Anne was in many of their classes, and that Sirius had talked to her loads of times, but resisted. He didn’t want to ruin the somewhat trance Sirius was in.

The Marauders paused as they got to a corridor around the corner from the staircase. It was late enough that most of the students were in their common rooms or libraries, but not late enough that Sirius and Anne would get in trouble. The sun was still out, but gradually setting and getting cooler by the minute. It was all a part of Sirius’ master plan, Remus knew. Sirius would take her out by the lake, and the two would watch the sun set at the horizon. When it grew chilly, he would wrap an arm around her and hold her close until he thought it was the perfect opportunity to kiss her. It never failed. Remus chanced a glance around the corner to see that Anne had a jumper folded over one arm. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey Sirius, you know Anne is already down there, right?” Remus said as he turned back to his friends.

“Really? Well, isn’t someone excited?” Sirius replied, looking smug.

Suddenly, Remus wished that Anne had been late. He grinned along with his other friends, although he didn’t know why. Wasn’t it merely polite to be on time? In fact, Sirius was running late.

James glanced around the corner, and then said to Sirius, “Yeah, it looks like it’s you.”

Sirius made an obscene hand gesture just as Lily Evans and a short, brunette Hufflepuff walked by. Lily’s emerald green eyes narrowed as she walked over. Remus knew the brunette with her as Anne’s sister. She had long, brown hair and brown eyes. Her name was Lynne, and she was more shapely than her sister, but not to the point of being chubby. He also knew her to constantly study, which was rewarded with good marks. Lynne kept her eyes rather downcast, until Remus spoke to her.

“Aren’t you supposed to have graduated by now?” Remus asked, for he knew that she was a year older than Anne.

“Yes,” she said, sounding a little taken aback at the abrupt question. “I decided to come back to finish some extra classes.”

Remus shrugged, and was about to continue when Lily interrupted.

“What are you all doing here, skulking in the corridor?” she demanded.

Remus really thought it was an unfair question, for they were all just standing there. In fact, they looked less suspicious than usual.

“We were not skulking,” Sirius replied, indignantly, as he puffed out his chest somewhat.

“Yeah, Sirius has a date waiting for him in the entrance hall,” James added, feeling it necessary to point in the direction of where Anne was waiting. “Could make it a double date if you’d like.”

Lily didn’t look amused. “As much as you know how I’d love to do such a thing,” she said, rather sarcastically. “Lynne and I have studying to do for Defence Against the Dark Arts. You’d do well to follow suit.”

“Well, as tempting as that sounds, I’d rather go on my date,” Sirius said.

“You know the essay is due on Monday?” Lily asked.

“I do. You know today s only Saturday?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Come on, Lynne.”

The two girls departed, and Remus frowned. He himself had yet to start the essay.

“Hey! Wait!” he called out. Lily and Lynne paused, and looked back. “I think I’ll tag along with you two. I should probably get started as well.” Remus turned to Sirius. “Best of luck on your date.”

He bade farewell to his mates, and then rushed to catch up with the girls. He was the only Marauder who was actually on good terms with Lily. He wasn’t sure if he’d put them on the level of good friends, but they did get along, mainly due to the fact that when they were Prefects, they would do rounds together, and consequently get to know each other. On occasion, they would even study together. James badgered him on a regular basis on whether Lily spoke about him, but Remus kept his mouth shut. She did in fact speak of him regularly, but it was rarely nice. It wasn’t rude either, it was quite neutral. By the end of the last school year, however, she had begun to be on speaking terms with James; mainly due to the fact that his arrogance and pranks had gone down. It had been a nice change, and for a while he worried that James had only changed to get on Lily’s nice side, but Remus had been proven wrong. In fact, James had been made Head Boy, just like Lily had been made Head Girl. It was why Remus was quite surprised that she had been so quick-tempered with them.

The trio made their way into the library, where they found a seat, and Lily quickly left in search of a book.

“She’s in a bad mood,” Lynne said, simply. “I guess… I guess she feels as if Potter wasn’t the proper guy to be appointed Head Boy.”

Remus fell silent momentarily in order to process his thoughts before speaking. Had he himself second-guessed Dumbledore’s decision in appointing James Head Boy? Admittedly, a little bit. He had been proud of his mate regardless.

“Well,” started Remus, leaning forward across the table so he could keep his voice low. “Who did she believe to be the ‘proper guy’?”

“You,” Lynne answered.

Remus distinctly felt his cheeks go red and he looked away briefly. He noticed Lily still flitting through the shelves, examining the spines of the books.

“Well, that’s awfully kind of her,” Remus said, slowly. “But she hasn’t really given James much of a chance at the job yet, has she? It’s been less than a week.”

Lynne shrugged. “They had gone on rounds together already. She hasn’t said much about it, but she still seemed annoyed that he was the one to get the position.”

Remus was about to retort when Lynne gave him a knowing look. He glanced over to see Lily returning with an armful of books, slamming them down on the table. She looked like she broke a sweat carrying all of them.

“Ready to get this essay written?” she asked as she took a seat next to Lynne and retrieved a piece of parchment from her rucksack. “So, how long is this essay supposed to be, again? Fourteen inches?”

“Sixteen,” Remus corrected her.

The three worked in silence for a while, speaking only to make small talk or discuss the essay. They only stopped working when the librarian kicked them out so she could close up. All three of them had practically finished anyways. Lily flicked her wrist irritably as they went to walk Lynne to the basement.

“Those essays can really be a pain,” she commented as they got to the entrance of the basement and Lynne disappeared. Lily and Remus left to head up to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

The two complained about the essay until they reached the staircase, when Lily fell silent mid-rant. Severus Snape was descending, and when he decided to take his black eyes off his feet, they landed immediately on Remus. A sneer appeared on his face, but then his focus was taken by Lily. As he passed, he tutted; obviously about Lily’s choice of companion.

Remus’ cheeks went pink, and Lily noticed.

“Oh, ignore him,” she said, kindly. “You know, at times I wonder how I ever saw him in a different way than James did.”

A silence followed in which Remus didn’t know what to say. Not only had Lily called James by his first name, but in a way, she was admitting that he had somewhat been in the right. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, said the password, and then entered. Lily went to walk away, but Remus touched her wrist to hold her back.

“If you had been wrong about Snape, does that not mean you could be wrong about James, too?” he asked.

Lily broke out into a smile. "Oh no, I think I'm quite right about him."

Her smile didn’t falter until she turned around and disappeared up the stairs to the girls’ dormitories, leaving Remus quite confused.

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[Remus John Lupin]

'Remus chanced a glance around the corner to see that Anne had a jumper folded over one arm. He couldn’t help but smile.'

Loved that bit xD

[Sirius Black!]

CHAPTER THREE

It was well past curfew by the time Sirius walked into the boys’ dormitory. Remus was the only one awake, like usual. He was typically the last to sleep and the first to wake. Being a werewolf wasn’t his only curse; insomnia haunted him as well. Remus closed his book and put it on his bedside table, expecting a story. Sirius kicked off his shoes and changed in silence before sitting on the edge of his bed closest to Remus.

“So how’d it go?” Remus asked, a bit surprised that Sirius hadn’t initiated the conversation.

“She wouldn’t kiss me,” Sirius replied with a tone of surprise in his voice. “Everything went to plan except for that. I went for it countless times, only for her to turn away. What seventeen-year-old girl doesn’t want to snog me?”

Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius’ arrogance. Or was confidence a better word? Arrogance was typically those who thought highly about themselves for an untrue reason, or because they thought that they were better than they were. Sirius was known to be the most attractive boy at Hogwarts, and could (nearly) always get the girl. So maybe confidence was indeed a better word.

“Maybe Anne’s not the type to kiss on a first date,” Remus suggested with a shrug, but Sirius didn’t seem convinced.

“I’ve gotten many girls who didn’t usually kiss on first date to snog me on our first date,” Sirius said.

He was obviously very troubled by this, for his face was screwed up in concentration. He was frowning, but even with such an expression he was good looking. Remus looked away and to the other boys in their beds, making sure that their conversation hadn’t woken any of them. Like usual, they hadn’t. Sirius and Remus regularly had late night conversations, whereas during the day, Sirius went to James. He went to Peter in classes or when neither Remus nor James were immediately around. It was like he had a routine. Lately, however, Remus couldn’t help but notice Sirius coming to him more often than usual. Had living with the Potters taken away James’ novelty for him? Remus didn’t care to ask.

Suddenly, Sirius shrugged and laid back in his bed.

“Oh well. I guess I can tell when a broad’s not interested,” he said, obviously trying to sound offhand. Sirius closed his eyes and said, “G’night Remus.”

“’Night, Padfoot.”

Remus closed the curtains on his four-poster. Sirius was the only one who didn’t do such a thing. Apparently he didn’t mind if he was exposed, or if he drooled in his sleep, or anything of the like. Remus laid his head on his pillow and pulled his blankets up to his chin. Sirius’ snores soon filled the room. Remus was occasionally envious of Sirius’ confidence, or his lack of caring about trivial things. He sometimes wondered what he would be like if he hadn’t been a werewolf. Would he share the confidence his best mates did? Would he be less paranoid? They were all questions asked in vain, he realized as he rolled over. He would never know, especially since there was no cure for what he was.

Morning found Remus before everyone else, like usual. Without worrying about anyone seeing his scar-riddled skin, he changed in the middle of the dormitory. It was barely daybreak; everyone else would still be sleeping for hours. He grabbed the books he’d need for the homework he’d finish that day, stuffed them into his rucksack and then disappeared down the stairs. He was surprised to see he wasn’t alone in the common room. Sitting at one of the tables with her head down with open books surrounding her, and black hair everywhere, Remus recognized a girl in his year. He paused at the entrance of the common room, and then went over to where she was. It didn’t take a genius to realize that she was sleeping.

“Bianca?” he asked, uncertainly. He didn’t make a move to touch her in case it scared her. “Are you awake?”

Suddenly, Bianca jumped up and out of her seat as if startled. She began to frantically push her black hair out of her face, and then smooth it down. Her eyes were still half-shut. “Wassama’er?”

“It’s dawn. You must have fallen asleep doing homework,” Remus explained, gently.

Bianca looked confused. She merely stood there for several moments in silence. “Am I late for class? Oh no, I’m going to be exhausted all day…”

Remus chuckled as he walked over to her table and began helping her pack all her books, parchment, quills and ink away. “You know its Sunday. You can go back to bed and sleep all day if you’d like.”

Bianca looked immensely relieved at his words. “Look at me. It’s only the first weekend of the school year and I’m already losing track of the days!”

Her voice seemed happy-sounding enough, despite the fact she looked as if she was about to topple over from exhaustion. Remus stepped over and put an arm around her shoulders to balance her, and then walked her to the spiralling staircase that he knew led to the girls’ dormitories.

“Happens to the best of us,” he said, trying to now allow their small-talk turn into a conversation. He was sure she would pass out if she tried to do such a thing. He handed her the rucksack and she began to climb the stairs, almost like a zombie.

With a grin on his face, Remus turned back to the entrance of the common room. However, halfway up the stairs, Bianca paused and said, “Good night, Remus!”

He laughed as he bade her good night as well, despite the fact it was morning. He was finally able to leave Gryffindor tower. The corridors were eerily empty, but Remus was used to it by this point. In fact, he actually enjoyed this little bit of alone time. Remus descended down the entrance hall stairs, and then entered the great hall. The only food on the table was toast with butter and marmalade, along with pumpkin juice. He took a seat at the Gryffindor table, and pulled out his Potions book to work on his assignment for Slughorn. He began working with no distractions, other than when he’d take a nibble of toast or a sip of pumpkin juice.

“It’s actually two eye of newt,” a voice said close to Remus’ ear, causing him to jump.

A girl laughed at his jumpiness, and he turned to see Anne standing there. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail, and she was wearing a white tank top with black trousers and runners. She also had a white towel around her shoulders as if she had been exercising, but then he noticed the broomstick she had leaned against the Gryffindor table. She had no doubt been practising, although it seemed a bit early, even for Quidditch. James had yet to get up before six am for training, even if he was training by himself.

“What?” Remus asked, feeling a bit confused.

Anne stood next to where Remus sat and pointed down at his parchment. “You wrote that the potion required only one eye of newt – it requires two. I finished the assignment yesterday.”

Remus frowned. “I thought you were on a date with Sirius yesterday.”

Anne took a seat next to him without being invited to. She grabbed a piece of toast, and then smiled at Remus. “Yes… but I had all day beforehand to do homework.”

Remus felt admittedly impressed. Although Anne was in Ravenclaw, her study habits had never been known for being the greatest. In fact, she was known for getting distracted and socializing; along with her renowned Quidditch skills. Remus had heard James give Anne a bit of a back-handed compliment when it came to her Quidditch skills. He had told her it was a pity that she wasn’t in Gryffindor, for them maybe she’d know what it felt like to win the Quidditch Cup. In the past six years, Gryffindor won the four previous times, where Slytherin had won when James first joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team in his second year, and Ravenclaw had won the year before that when Anne was in her first year and was too young to join. It really was a shame, as well. Ravenclaw’s Quidditch Captain, Gideon Fairbanks, seemed to choose his players mainly based on looks or popularity. Fairbanks chose players that were both when he could. Although Anne wasn’t necessarily the prettiest or the most popular girl at Hogwarts, she seemed to have enough of both to have stayed on the team after their previous Captain left. Fairbanks sacked the majority of the other plays in favour of the more ‘desirable.’ Rumour had it that the only reason why he had sacked Jenics as the other Beater and replaced him with Vanessa Lainsworth was because in the past year, Lainsworth had become one of the prettiest girls at school. As likable as the girl was, however, no one could deny that she was absolutely rubbish at Quidditch, leaving Anne to do the work of two. She never complained, however, probably due to the fact that Lainsworth was her friend. Realistically, though, everyone was Vanessa’s friend.

“I see,” Remus replied, simply, as he scratched out ‘one’ and wrote ‘two’ on top. Even though he wasn’t a part of Slughorn’s infamous ‘Slug Club’ (Potions had never really been Remus’ strong point), Slughorn still seemed to like Remus enough, and Remus doubted that Slughorn would deduct marks for the barely-noticeable scribble. He glanced to the girl next to him and knew that she was in the Club (although her attendance to the dinners and the like was atrocious) and couldn’t help but wonder if it was due to her grades in his class, or because of her Quidditch skills. He wasn’t even sure how great she did in Potions, and didn’t want to assume Anne was great at it just because Remus knew that her sister Lynne was. He kept his ponderings to himself, however.

“So… how was your date with Sirius, if it’s not too forward of me to ask?” Remus said, with a great grin on his face.

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