“Wormy, relax,” said Remus. “You’re an Animagus. There’s bound to be a question on Human Transfiguration.”
“Just don’t show off in the practical!” snorted Sirius. “Anyway, there’s a more pressing problem than today’s exam.”
“Mmm,” agreed James. “Regaining those house points. We need a good plan. Strategy, men; we need a strategy!”
“No, not that,” said Remus, catching Sirius’ eye. “We still have no idea where you went last night and who you were with.”
They jostled James companionably up the stairs.
“Mary?” guessed Sirius.
“No,” James replied.
“Phyllida?” fired Remus.
“Merlin, no! Ancient history and I don’t fancy a repeat!” countered James
“Sonia?” whispered Peter, with a worried look at Sirius.
“Look there was no one,” said James, hoping they’d shut up soon.
It was, however, a forlorn hope.
Sirius was staring at him intently. He opened his mouth to say something, closed it, smiled to himself then said nonchalantly, “Rose.”
“Who?” replied James.
“Rose Gleason. Hufflepuff fourth year.”
“Still no idea. Who are you talking about?”
“Dark hair, pale skin and that tiny mole above her left eye,” explained Sirius.
“Hmm, not sure.” James put on a bemused face.
“You know. She’s got a lisp, which given her name is a tragedy!”
“Oh, Rothe Gleathon! Nah, not her, but Thiriuth, you theem to know a lot about her and her ‘tiny mole’. Are you interethted?” James mocked.
Thus having diverted attention away from himself, James sprinted back to their room, laughing all the way.
The theory exam was due to start at ten, so to kill time they sat in their room playing Gobstones. Remus, alone of the four, was making his bed. He pulled up his blanket when something dropped on the floor.
“What’s that?” said Peter, who was facing that way.
Remus picked it up.
“It’s Snape’s wand. I picked it up yesterday.”
Sirius swivelled round. “His wand! Brilliant, chuck it over.”
“Why?” said Remus suspiciously, holding the wand firmly away from Sirius’ outstretched hand.
“Oh come on, Moony. We’ll never get this opportunity again. It’s Snivelly’s wand.” He emphasised his words as though he were speaking to a five-year-old.
“No,” said Remus. “It’s not ours. I meant to give it back last night. I just got distracted.”
Peter looked from one to the other. What was happening? Moony was never this assertive.
“Moony,” said Sirius, a touch threateningly. “Hand it over.”
“No!” said Remus tight-lipped.
“Prongs!” snapped Sirius. “You agree with me don’t you?”
“Err, leave me out of this,” James said warily.
Sirius turned round staring at him.
“Prongs, this is Snivelly’s wand! Do-you-understand?”
“Yes I understand. I’m just not sure about this.”
“He scarred you, cost us house points and insulted Lily. How many more reasons do you need?” exploded Sirius.
James took in the words. It would be the perfect prank”the perfect revenge. They could mess with the wand and screw up Snape’s chances in Transfiguration. It was so tempting. He held out his hand to Remus.
However, it wasn’t his friend, Moony, he saw before him. It was an authoritative Remus Lupin who stood there. Remus held Snape’s wand in one hand and his own in the other.
‘Was it worth the fight’? thought James. He knew instinctively that to Remus standing up to his friends was suddenly of vital importance “ but Snape had insulted her!
”Padfoot,” he said slowly. “Let Moony decide.” Then looking directly at Remus he continued, “Just one thing, I want to know what that spell was. Let me try something?”
“What are you planning?” said Remus warily.
“Trust me,” said James looking into his friend’s eyes.
Remus looked into the hazel eyes, not mocking, not laughing, but totally sincere. He placed Snape’s wand on the floor.
Sirius jerked his hand towards it then stopped.
James touched its tip with the tip of his own wand. “Priori Incantato!”
They stood back and watched as a grey silvery mist shot from the trembling wand. They heard the hiss of a spell from Snape (“Sectumsempra!”) then saw a grey image of James with blood splattering his face and robes.
“Deletrius!” whispered James. Snape’s wand lay lifeless on the floor.
It seemed more sinister watching the spell again. The Marauders were silent. They despised Snape for his obsession with the Dark Arts and laughed at his greasy hair, but this was shocking. There had been a real hatred behind Snape’s actions.
“That’s what you’re up against, James,” urged Sirius. “We shouldn’t just tamper with the wand, we should smash it!”
Peter and Remus started. Breaking another’s wand was a violation.
James shuddered. It was horrifying to think he’d caused that much hate. He felt revulsion for the thing on the floor. He kicked it towards Remus.
“No, give it back to him.” His hand moved to his cheek, which had started to throb again. He felt sick and fled from the room.
It was Sirius who found him retching in the toilets. James felt vaguely surprised, because Sirius didn’t “do” emotions. He thought Peter would have come along, but was glad to see his best friend.
“All right, mate?” said Sirius awkwardly,
James nodded. “I will be. Where are the others?”
“Gone to give the wand back.”
“Did you…Did you do anything to it?” James hardly dared to ask.
Sirius looked him straight in the eye. “No.”
Some colour had returned to James’ cheeks. “Why not? I thought you were all for breaking it.”
“Yeah, well, maybe you three are right and I’m totally wrong.” He sounded doubtful. “He hates us, James, and he hates you the most. That spell was dark magic and he’s very good at it.”
“But he’s alone, Sirius. Even the Slytherins think he’s an oddball whereas I’ve got Messrs. Moony, Wormtail and Padfoot watching my back.” He spoke with certainty.
“Anyway,” he continued, laughing, “I’m used to hatred”Evans has loathed me for years,” he joked.
“You sure about that?” said Sirius cryptically.
James’ head shot up.
“She couldn’t take her eyes off you at breakfast.”
“I was practically duelling with McLaggen. Everyone was watching us.”
“Everyone else was watching the both of you. But the lovely Lily was watching you alone,” corrected Sirius.
Even after all these years, James couldn’t tell when Sirius was joking. It was probably another prank “ he told himself sternly. However, he couldn’t stop his heart from leaping in his chest.
Remus and Peter walked down to the Great Hall to meet up with the other fifth years. Remus was scouring the hall, looking for Snape.
“That’s not your wand!” accused someone behind them.
They turned round. It was Lily.
“Why have you got that wand?” she demanded.
“It’s Snape’s,” said Peter. “He dropped it yesterday, after he called you a…” he trailed off.
Lily flushed. “So why have you got it? Potter hex it or something?”
“No,” explained Remus patiently. “We haven’t done anything to it, although…”
“Potter wanted to, but you two stopped him, all by yourselves?” she interrupted sarcastically.
“You always think the worst of him, don’t you?” blurted out Peter.
She switched her attention from the wand to him. “And you always think the best of him, don’t you?”
Remus stepped between them. As a fellow prefect, he alone of the four got on well with her. “Lily, for your information, it was Sirius who wanted to tamper with the wand, but James stopped him. Now if you don’t mind we’re trying to find Snape.”
“Oh,” she said quietly, and then cleared her throat. “Well, he’s over there.”
They turned. Snape was watching the three of them closely. He looked worried. The loss of his wand made him feel even more isolated. He would fail this exam and be forced to retake next year. Would his mum even buy him a new wand? Or would he be forced to use this second hand one that Slughorn had lent him that morning? He couldn’t bear it. He saw Remus and Peter approaching and stiffened. He was vulnerable to attack.
“Your wand,” said Remus simply, and held it out to him.
Cautiously, Snape took it. “What have you done to it?”
“Nothing at all,” they chimed together.
“Black and Potter have sent you two to do their dirty work then? Can’t face me?”
“No, Severus,” said Remus gently. “No one has sent us. I found your wand and now I am returning it to you.”
Snape glared at him. Remus using his first name, instead of that loathsome nickname, had momentarily silenced him. His black eyes bored into Remus’ brown ones.
“I know what you are,” Snape whispered. “A filthy half-breed!”
Remus flinched as if he’d been hexed. Peter pulled out his wand.
“Take that back!” he yelled.
“Well I could, or I could tell the whole school why you’re attempting, rather pathetically, to duel me,” sneered Snape.
Remus could see Professors Slughorn and McGonagall approaching. He pulled Peter’s wand down. Peter, remembering yesterday’s scolding, tried to merge into the background.
“I might have known it!” she said, testily. “Fighting again, Black, Potter…” she stopped, suddenly realising that they weren’t the culprits. “Oh, it’s you.”
“We’re not fighting, Professor,” said Remus, quickly. “I was returning Snape’s wand”that’s all.”
Snape glared at the duo, but did not dispute Remus’ words.
“Well, that is splendid news,” said Professor Slughorn, beaming. “Poor Severus was quite beside himself with its loss. He was out half the night looking for it, so he tells me. Five points to Gryffindor for such sportsmanlike behaviour. Now come along boys; the exam is about to start.”
There was a small scuffle at the back of the queue as Sirius and James pushed their way through to join them.
“What did we miss?” said Sirius excitedly.
“Snivelly, being Snivelly again,” dismissed Remus. “He refuses to believe we haven’t hexed his wand.”
“Does he now?” pondered Sirius. “Well, that is excellent news. He’ll now be so concerned about his wand that he’ll cock it all up anyway. And the best part is that we haven’t had to do a thing!”
Remus tried to look as though he disapproved, but failed.
Three hours later, they streamed out of the examination hall and went to grab a quick lunch. Sirius and James expressed a preference for whiling away the remainder of time in the grounds again, but Peter begged them for help.
“Please, I need to practise. You know I’m weak on switching spells.”
“Look Wormy,” said James. “In all honesty, how much difference is it going to make?”
“You’d be better off trying to relax,” put in Sirius. “Same place as yesterday, beech tree in the shade, and you can have a nap. James will lull you to sleep by telling you all about his amazing Quidditch season. ‘Goals I nearly scored!’” he laughed.
Remus snorted. He dearly wanted to cool down by the lake but he could see how scared Peter was.
“C’mon lads”it won’t hurt any of us to practise will it? Especially Vanishing spells. They’re bound to come up and, Padfoot, you got careless last time we did them. You left part of that Kneazle showing.”
“That, dear Moony,” said Sirius, airily, “wasn’t carelessness. It was deliberate. That Kneazle had the biggest set of bollocks I’d ever seen!”
He laughed at the memory. Lily, being Lily, had barely raised a smile whereas her partner, Sonia Slattery, had succumbed to hysterics. Shortly after that he’d asked her out. He looked at Peter; he’d barely heard a word of their exchange. He looked green. Sirius faltered.
“Oh, come on then. Let’s find an empty classroom.”
They practised intensely for just under an hour, taking Peter through the basic permutations of Switching and Vanishing spells. Because he knew they had very little patience, Remus did most of the tutoring, with Sirius and James occasionally correcting Peter’s wand grip or refining his moves.
“It’s more of a jab,” said James, demonstrating a perfect tail switch on one of McGonagall’s class rats.
Finally, at a quarter to two, they went back to the Great Hall. The students went in four at a time in alphabetical order. Sirius winked at them as he was called, head held high, tossing his hair out of his eyes. His only worry was that he’d get Griselda Marchbanks again, who had already examined him in Charms and D.A.D.A. He’d found her gaze unnerving, as though she were assessing him personally and not his performance. Perhaps it was the Black family name”it didn’t engender much trust.
Remus went in with Mary, who was obsessively twirling her wand like a baton, occasionally sending out the odd blue spark.
“Calm down,” he whispered. “You’ll be fine.”
She smiled gratefully and stopped twirling.
“O’Flanaghan, Pettigrew, Potter and Quintus,” called Professor McGonagall.
She watched as James, her most brilliant student, walked past. She wondered if she should wish him luck, but decided it might put him off his stride. She noted the fierce concentration on his face and thanked Merlin for it. He had the ability to get an ‘O’, to be top in his year, but occasionally he got too cocky and distracted by Black.
James glanced at her as he went past. She looks nervous, he thought. He smiled at her and got a small, half smile in return. He entered the hall, then squeezing Peter on the shoulder; he made his way to his examiner.
Great! I’ve got Mum’s friend, Griselda.
The practical exam over and Peter’s relief was palpable. He saw James grinning broadly at him.
‘It’s great to have friends,’ Peter thought. ‘It’s great to be free of exams. It’s great to be us!’
They walked out together. Sirius and Remus were waiting for them by the door.
“Last one in is a rotten Snargaluff,” yelled Sirius as he raced towards the lake ripping his robes off as he ran. Remus followed in hot pursuit.
Peter looked at James, “Come on, Prongs, what are we waiting for?”
They ran to the waters edge. Sirius and Remus were already in so James and Peter pulled off their robes, shoes, socks and trousers then ran in to splash in the shallows
Sirius was an excellent swimmer, moving sleekly through the water. Peter, too, moved easily although he lacked the athletic grace of Sirius. Remus, exuberantly splashing, was at his happiest in the water. It reminded him of better times, with his dad teaching him to swim, before his life had been marred. James watched them with amusement but although he splashed and crashed as much as they, he kept to the shallower water.
And if Sirius noticed his unease he didn’t comment on it.
In their second year at Hogwarts James and Sirius had been exploring one night. It was before they’d discovered Remus’ secret so they’d been on the prowl trying to find out where he’d gone. Not waking Peter, they’d found themselves in a disused classroom. There had been an old cupboard in the corner from which they had heard strange bumps.
“Wow!” James had breathed, excitedly. “Do you reckon there’s a Boggart in there?”
“Could be?” Sirius had said. “I’ve seen them before. My mum had one in one of the wardrobes, I think she wanted to keep it as a pet- or perhaps it was a discipline method. Can never quite tell with my old ma!”
He had spoken lightly but James had frowned. His own parents, who rarely refused him anything, had not let him see the one Boggart they’d found.
James had walked over to the door of the cupboard and wrenched it open. He’d had a vague idea that Boggarts turned into something scary but he couldn’t think of anything he was remotely frightened of.
The Boggart had slipped out and faced James. Immediately it had assumed the form of James, trapped underwater. The Boggart James had been choking in weeds, desperately trying not to suck in the murky water and he had seen creatures below holding him to the floor. His white face had seen a green face dying, and then he’d panicked.
“N-ooooooo!” he’d screeched.
Sirius had leapt forward and pushed James out of the way. Instantly the Boggart changed. James saw the form of Walburger Black materialise then her face became Sirius’ face. Sirius held out his wand, concentrated hard and screamed “Riddikulus!” Instantly the figure had changed into a Sirius Black laughing. Sirius had charged at the Boggart and by doubling his laughter he’d made it disappear.
James had thought that Sirius would mock him and tell others but he’d been mistaken.
“I know my fear,” Sirius had said grimly. “Given my family, I’m terrified I’ll turn out like them. You have a fear of drowning; you just need to work out how to make it amusing to defeat the Boggart. More pressingly, mate, you need to learn how to stay afloat.”
The next few nights they’d broken into the Prefects bathroom and Sirius, showing surprising patience had taught him how to swim. Two years later, in Defence against the Dark Arts, James had defeated his Boggart by casting a bubblehead charm around the Boggart's face, and he’d dealt with it so quickly that most of the class thought him scared of garrotting gas.
But despite the lessons from his friend, James was still uncomfortable being out of his depth.
Severus Snape walked out into the Hogwarts grounds. Although his wand had worked perfectly he was annoyed. Normally he would have Vanished his Chihuahua to at least ‘Exceeds Expectation’ level if not, in his opinion, ‘Outstanding’ but his hesitancy coupled with hearing that awful Slattery girl’s nervous giggle caused it’s whiskers to flicker rather than Vanish. He walked into the sunshine keeping a firm hold of his wand and looking around for the Marauders.
He saw them larking around in the lake. He would have loved to have stripped off and dived into its icy depths but the memory of yesterday was seared into his brain. Besides, Lily was there with a gaggle of girls and he couldn’t bear her scorn again. He watched as they all edged closer to the water, no doubt enjoying the sight of Black who, by now, had discarded his T-shirt. He spat bitterly into the ground.
‘Blood Traitors!’ he thought viciously. ‘Potter and Black have the one thing I can never have; pureblood, yet they treat it as if it’s nothing.’
A sudden splash! Mary had joined the boys, ducking Remus underwater. He emerged laughing. Snape watched to see if Lily would join in but she stayed on the bank with Sonia and Phyllida. Lily, he remembered, was an excellent swimmer. She’d taught him one summer, long ago, in the river by Spinner’s End. Sudden hot tears filled his eyes as he watched her and remembered their past. Merlin! Would she ever forgive him?
But it was an empty prayer. The word he’d used was irrevocable and her answer unequivocal. He’d lost her and, he surmised it was all Potter’s fault. For although in the past he’d felt re-assured by her pronouncements that the Marauders were idiotic and arrogant, he had noticed a subtle change in her attitude of late, a change she had not noticed.
There had been a wizard in the 1600’s, he remembered, who had lived amongst Muggles and given them marvellous magical words in the form of plays and poetry. English language had never been the same again and Severus, a boy who appreciated beauty in written words because he had none, thought of one of his lines now
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,"* he recited sadly under his breath.
He shot a venomous look at Potter- the boy who had cost him everything. He itched to hex him right there, but something made him stop. James Potter looked distinctly uneasy in the water.
“Salazar be praised! The great James Potter is afraid of water!”
Tired of the lake, Sirius emerged from the water and joined the girls.
‘Sonia is looking enchanting,’ he thought. She looked at him from beneath her impossibly long lashes as he stood there and he felt his stomach swoop. She giggled. ‘Nah, he thought, that laugh still grates.’
He sat down next to Lily, shaking his shoulder length black hair.
“Sirius, for Godric’s sake dry off on someone else,” she snapped.
“Lily Evans, will you relax? Exams are over. We’re sixteen not sixty!” He lay on his robes next to her, basking in the sun.
“Some of us still have responsibilities, and aren’t you supposed to be working on a way to get the House Cup for Gryffindor?”
He ignored her.
“We all heard James’ argument with Preston and you told Frank you’d get us the Cup,” said Phyllida. “So, Sirius, if you need an added incentive…”
Sirius looked at her. He’d never realised quite how blue her eyes were.
‘Like forget-me-nots in a woodland glade’, he thought, poetically. ‘Shame about the squint though.’
“What incentive?” he said, unsure where to focus.
“A wager?” said Phyllida simply.
He pondered her words then looked over to the water.
“Prongs,” he shouted. “The Gee-Gees have a challenge for us.”
“Gee-Gees?” questioned Phyllida.
“Gryffindor Girls. G. G,” laughed Sirius. “Surely you knew our nickname for you, Phyllida. I thought you knew everything about us?”
“Don’t sell tickets on yourself, Black!” she declared haughtily. “You’re not so special.”
James got out of the water and dripped over to them, followed by Peter.
“What challenge?” he asked.
“We think you need an incentive, so if you get the house points back and we win the cup then we…” Phyllida pointed to herself, Sonia, Lily and Mary who was still in the water, “will become Marauder handmaidens!”
“W-what?” stammered James. Perhaps he had water in his ears and couldn’t hear properly. Despite the reputation they liked to put about the Marauders had never been very lucky with girls.
“We’ll wait on you and do your bidding on the Hogwarts Express.”
James gasped, “You’ll do our bidding? Whatever we want?” He tried to stop his eyes from drifting across to Lily, but failed.
“Down boy,” smirked Sonia. “Within reason.”
“For all of us?” put in Peter, eagerly.
Sonia looked at him. “Yes,” she sighed. “I suppose so.”
Sirius frowned. “Let me get this straight. When we win the House Cup you four will wait on us, hand and foot, on the journey home?”
“Uh-huh,” agreed Phyllida. “If it’s you four who win it for us, obviously.”
“Even Lily?” he asked, noticing she hadn’t involved herself in this conversation at all.
Lily jerked her head up at the mention of her name. She saw them all staring at her. She hadn’t agreed to anything yet. It was Phyllida’s plan and the other two, Mary and Sonia, had acquiesced readily for they adored Frank and wanted him to have a great end to his year. However Lily didn’t think she’d be able to stand a whole train journey back with the loathsome Potter, until Mary reminded her that as a prefect she wouldn’t have to spend too much time in the carriage. They needed Lily on side, they’d argued, to ensnare James. If James agreed then the others would follow.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sev watching her. She felt a lump in her throat. The loss of him was like a death to her. He’d been her refuge when Petunia’s taunts had become vicious. But he’d called her ‘filthy Mudblood’ and she could no longer ignore his prejudice. She understood at last how deeply involved he was with Mulciber and Avery. He’d chosen his path and now she had to find a new one. Perhaps the Marauders weren’t as bad as she’d always thought. Besides, they’d never do it in time and even if they did she could easily avoid Potter.
“Yes, I’m in,” she said clearly.
“Hold on,” said James suspiciously. “What if we fail?”
“Fail?” said Lily. “I didn’t think you understood the word, Potter?”
“If you fail,” interrupted Sonia before Lily’s tone threatened to ruin the light-hearted banter, “then you become our handmaidens. Or rather our house- elves.”
The idea was so preposterous that Sirius fell about laughing.
“One last thing, though,” put in Phyllida. “If you ever call us the ‘Gee-Gees’ again. I, personally, will slip Bobutuber Pus into your pumpkin juice!”
Sirius looked at her. 'Actually, that squint is quite endearing,' he thought.
“Deal!” he barked. He turned back to the lake. “Moony, put that girl down! We’ve got work to do.”