Remus Lupin made his way over the grass and weeds of the quiet little cemetery and stopped before two white marble tombstones which read: “James Potter� and “Lily Evans-Potter�. The grass seemed to be fresher there, and the area about the two graves seemed well cared for.

He sat down before the two graves and bowed his head. A moment of silence.

You and I
Can share the silence
Finding comfort together
The way old friends do.

He tilted back his head to face the weak rays of sunlight. It was only eight or nine in the morning. People would think that he was crazy to go to the cemetery so early in the morning, but he didn’t care what they think.

He stared at James’s tombstone. The picture on the tombstone was of a young carefree man with glasses and messy black hair. He was smiling heartily.

Remus remembered when those eyes weren’t so happy looking, when his mouth wasn’t smiling at all.

It was fifth year, and Remus had been made prefect. The Marauders were hiding behind a moth eaten curtain just to hex Snape. Remus, as usual, was dragged along in this bout of mischief. He was protesting.

“Snape didn’t do much to you guys,� he said. “You should stop disturbing him.�

“He does much to us by existing,� said Sirius, and James laughed quietly.

“That’s not a reason to hex him, you have to be—�

“Shut your trap, Moony, here comes Snivelly,� hissed James as a greasy-haired teen rounded the corner with his hooked nose buried deep in an ominous looking book.

Remus grinded his teeth. He was going to do what he had done since first year. Watch his friends torture Severus Snape. Only this time he couldn’t let that happen. Just as Sirius opened his mouth to whisper a hex, Remus whispered a charm.

“Silencio.�

Sirius tried to no avail to say the Bat Bogey Hex. Peter and James stared at him in genuine confusion, and Remus stared in fake confusion.

When Snape had rounded the corner, a storm of furious whispers broke out behind the moth hidden curtain.

“Why didn’t you say anything, Padfoot?!� demanded James.

Sirius tried to answer, however nothing came out of his throat.

“He’s been Silenced,� announced Peter.

All three of them turned to face Remus.

“Well?� said James.

“What?� said Remus, trying and succeeding to look innocent. To bad his innocent look could only fool teachers and students, but not the Marauders.

“Why did you do that?� demanded James.

“I told you, it’s not fair to him, he’s not done anything to us since last week—�

“Are you or not a Marauder, Remus?� said James angrily. “Just because you’re a bloody Prefect doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. Do you even want to be a Marauder anymore? I’m not sure.� He took out his invisibility cloak from the floor and said to Sirius and Peter, “C’mon, guys, let’s go.�

The three of them disappeared under the cloak and Remus felt them leave. He was now alone in the corridor.

He sank to the floor slowly. He knew it was most un-Marauder-ish, what he had done. He hated doing that. He hated being a bloody Prefect. He knew Dumbledore had made him one to control his friends from breaking too many rules. He had just done that tonight, but he didn’t like it. He had a weakness, and it was to be liked.

He knew what he was going to do. He stepped out cautiously from behind the curtains and headed back to Gryffindor common room as quickly as he could. When he entered his dormitory, he found his three fellow Marauders talking to each other and pointedly ignoring him. Sighing softly, he waited until nobody was talking, and then addressed them.

“James, Sirius, Peter,� he began. “I Silenced Sirius because I had to do my duty as a Prefect. It’s a really hard thing to do. I have to be good, and I have to behave Marauder-ishly. Tonight I chose to be good. The consequences were bad. Friends are more important than a couple of rules, I guess. More important than a bloody Prefect Badge.�

He unpinned his badge and threw it on his bed.

The rest stared. Then Peter started, “Well… It wasn’t your fault that you were picked to be Prefect.�

“You were just doing your duty. Even if it got into our way,� said Sirius, grinning slightly.

Finally James spoke. “You can be a Prefect and a Marauder, Remus… When we’re doing something really illegal, just look the other way and hum a tune.� Then he reached over to Remus’s bed to pick up his Prefect Badge, and pinned it onto Remus’s robes.

And after fights
And words of violence
We make up with
Each other
The way old friends do

Remus sighed. Hogwarts… it was all a dream now. A long ago dream, a fantasy…

It was their sixth year, the final Quidditch match of the year. There was a loud roar in the stadium as James scored a goal just before the seeker Lorraine Nelson caught the snitch. They had won the Quidditch Cup for the fifth year running. Lorraine passed the silver cup to James. He held it in one hand and gripped his broom with the other, then rushed towards the stands where the Marauders were sitting and cheering for him. He got off his broom and the four boys hugged each other, all too full of emotions to say anything.

It was when the four boys were in their seventh year. James had just received a letter saying that his parents were found dead. He was sobbing uncontrollably under an old tree by the lake side. Three other boys surrounded him, one laying a hand on his shoulder, the others just standing there. Just silence. Silence was enough. Their presence was enough.

Times of joy
And times of sorrow
We will always
See it through
Oh I don’t care
What comes tomorrow
We can face it together
The way old friends do

A Christmas party. The four and Lily were laughing together, joking. Then there was a sudden noise in the backyard that made the voices and laughter stop. They sat looking at each other, then stood up silently. They crept together, watching out for anything—

A mass of hooded people started Apparating. In just a matter of seconds, the five were dueling for their lives. They were overwhelmed, and they had no choice but to Disapparate back to St. Mungo’s.

James was badly injured. The Healers rushed him into the operating room. Hours later, he was put into the Critical Condition ward. The four others filed into the ward quietly. Remus took the chair beside the bed. He looked into his friend’s pale face and found himself thinking, He will not die. He will not die.

A week or two later, the same four friends were sitting around their injured friend. This time, the injured young man was sitting up already and was chatting animatedly to his amused friends.

James had lived and survived. They were together again, and without fear or worry.

We can face it together
The way old friends do

It was already ten thirty. Remus stood up and looked once more at those two graves. Then before leaving, he laid a bouquet of lilies on Lily’s grave, and on James’s grave he left a tarnished Prefect’s Badge.

A/N: Tell me what you think about it please!