Bohemian Rhapsody

moment seventeen: into the wilderness (December 11, 1975.)

Molly looked around the Burrow, seeing stacked boxes and cartons of belongings. Her married life, her family, was in the end, reduced to a series of possessions, to be packed up and carted away. It somehow didn't seem right.

Arthur was outside with officials from the Ministry, discussing their travel arrangements. They would move via a blindingly complex system of Portkeys , all the while changing direction and distance, trying to throw any potential...oh, what was the right word? Spy? That didn't sound quite right. Traitor? Perhaps. Although anyone who was gathering information on their movements was certain to be a traitor. Since the attack on the Ministry just under a week ago, the order had gone out to go to ground. The Ministry itself had devolved, filling cramped office space across the country - one section in Glasgow, another in Carlisle, another in bloody Tunbridge Wells for all she knew. Families sent to live in safe houses while their husbands or wives worked away, only coming home for weekends, and then not possibly that.

And now it was their turn. She and Charlie and Bill would be sent away to live in Manchester, Muggle Manchester, with the hope that all the surrounding Muggles would hide their presence and make them less of a target. She should feel lucky, Molly knew, that Arthur had not been injured or killed in that first opening battle of what they were now referring to in whispers as "the War", but there was only a terrible sadness for having to leave everything she had built behind.

She felt a gently tug at her skirt, and smiled, looking down. Perhaps not everything. Little Charlie was standing there, five years old, and his face still smeared with breakfast. Kneeling down to keep him still, she reached for a tissue from one of the open boxes, and wiped his face. "We're going on a holiday, love," she said, softly, making sure he was clean. "Do you like the sound of that?"

Charlie wriggled under her grasp, trying to inch away from the scrubbing. "Yes," he said, just as softly. "Will we be on hol'day for long?"

Molly forced a smile, and held his shoulders in her arms, letting her hands run down the sleeves of his top to grasp his small hands. "I don't know, dear. That's part of the adventure."

Taking him in hand, she wandered through her house, one last time, and found Bill in his room, looking at the boxes on the bed. "C'mon Bill love," she said brightly, and held out her hand. "We've got to go. I'm sure the movers will take care of all your stuff." Bill scowled with the patent fury of a seven year old, but gripped on tightly, and followed her from the room.

---

moment eighteen: with a little help from my friends (April 20, 1976).

James sauntered through the corridors, trailing behind the mass of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students who had just attended fifth year Divination. His robes stunk of the incense Professor Trelawney used, and he wrinkled his nose in distaste. One of the reasons he'd even continued the subject was that he presumed it would be easy - all his friends had dropped it after fourth year - but even James Potter had found it difficult to come up with a constant stream of bullshit and vague prophecy to keep the weird old woman happy. He figured that Trelawney was ultimately harmless, despite an annoying tendency to ask for a new star chart every week; if nothing else, she always prophesised that James would settle down with his loved one, have many children, and live a long and happy life.

James suddenly felt himself pulled grabbed by the scruff of his robes, and hauled into a darkened side corridor. Before he could do anything more then widen his eyes in surprise, soft lips were descending to cover his own, and firm arms were wrapping themselves around his waist, drawing him closer to a distinctly male form.

After a few moments, James pushed off, startled, and inwardly pleased at the sight before him. "Luce?", he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Lucius Malfoy leant against the wall and chuckled, raising an eyebrow in wry inquiry. "What, I can't visit my boyfriend now?" He looked down his nails, and then up at James, still trying to form words, and laughed again, curling one arm around James' torso to bring him in again. It was not the first time that Lucius Malfoy has turned up on campus to visit one James Potter, and it would probably not be the last. Their relationship was the best kept secret in the school, which meant that everyone knew about it.

"I'm certainly glad to see you, but what if you get caught?" James pointed out, kissing the older man on the cheek, his Prefect status lending his at least a veneer of common sense. He reached up with his own arm, leaning against Lucius' taller frame, absently rubbing his back.

"You are looking at the newest member of the Board of Governors for Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Jamie my boy," Lucius assured him, eyes bright. "And the youngest appointed to the Board in near a century too," he added demurely. "It will be made official, next week, apparently."

James blinked. "Congratulations."

"I'm allowed to inspect the school now, any time I see fit - and converse with any of the student or staff body if I believe they could aid me in raising the educational standard here." Lucius' lips quirked into a smirk. "Can you imagine the possibilities?"

James grinned back at his boyfriend. "Oh, I think I can."

Lucius moved slightly closer, his tongue emerging to flick against the curve of James' ear, causing the stockier man to shudder slightly. "Despite my busy schedule, I think I could fit you in tonight, if you want. You know we both like it when I manage to fit you in."

"I can't, Luce." James' expression was pained, conflicting with his obvious interest. "I have...stuff to do, with Sirius and Peter. It's a special research project of ours." Which was entirely true, he inwardly reflected. In fact, he was already late - Sirius and Peter would have probably gone through the ritual by now.

"Oh." Lucius stepped back, trying to maintain his composure, unused to the brush-off. "Well, I guess as Governor of your school, I can't very well interfere in your study, now can I?"

The younger man moved forward, capturing Lucius' face in his hands and kissed him soundly, until Lucius melted against him. "I love you," James affirmed, breaking the kiss. "And if it were anything else...I'd be in bed with you right now."

Lucius snorted in response. "Remind me to hate your friends, then," he proffered lightly, reaching inside his suit to pull out a bundle wrapped in brown paper and string, handing it to James. James looked at it, bewildered.

"Don't unwrap it now," Lucius cautioned him, "and keep it secret. Keep it safe."

"What is it?", James asked, raising his eyes from the bundle to his lover's face.

"Our fifth month anniversary present," Lucius said, blushing slightly. "It's an old Malfoy family heirloom - an invisibility cloak."

James nearly dropped it. "An invisibility cloak?! Do you have any idea how much these things cost?"

Lucius laughed, low and rich and deep. "Probably a better idea than you, love. I wanted to give it to you - because although my arse is covered if I visit you, you might need to scarper quickly, and avoid that odious man Filch."

James nodded, still coming to terms with the present. "I could never pay you back for anything like this."

"James, you pay me back just by living. Now, go off to that study of yours. I'd hate to think your grades are declining, now," Lucius murmured, softly mocking.

James grinned, and tucked the parcel inside his robes. "Yes Luce," he chorused fondly, and with a quick kiss on the cheek, ran back into the main corridor, and after gaining his bearings, scooted off into the distance. Lucius watched him go.

James raced through the corridors, making breakneck turns and skidding several times and nearly falling over, so desperate was he in his haste. For all his status as a Prefect, he was still remembered as James Potter, back in the old days when he and Sirius used to spend most of their time running from the people they'd played pranks on, so most of his fellow students gave him a cheery grin or wave as they scrambled out of his way. James tore across the courtyard, hearing some Professor call out his name in protest as he ran towards the glasshouses. Oh well; he could deal with it when they got back to the dorms. He wanted to get there as soon as possible so they could get back to the safety of Gryffindor Tower as soon as possible. All their families had written them about the recent attacks on isolated wizard houses in the countryside, and the curfew that the Ministry had enforced in rural Britain to combat them.

James darted from side to side, leaping over ditches and small mounds, seeing the dilapidated hut in sight. It was similar to the place of the groundskeeper, Hagrid, except used for storage, and located out past the greenhouses. Finally slowing down, he felt the air burn in his chest from all that sprinting, and took a few moments outside the door to both recover himself and make sure no-one was watching. Panting, and quickly realising he was no longer as fit as he used to be, James knocked three times on the wooden door.

He was greeted by a familiar shape with scruffy hair, reduced to a tall silhouette by the fire inside the hut. "You're late," Sirius grunted, and stepped aside.

"Sorry," James panted, entering. "Got distracted."

Sirius shut the door behind him. "Did this distraction have blond hair, pointy face and an abysmally small dick?," he asked, clearly pissed off.

James wasn't sure if it was just this lateness till he saw the prone form of Peter laid out on the floor near the fire, and raced over to it, his own face wide with shock. "What the fuck happened?", he demanded to know, gently slapping Peter's wrist in an attempt to raise him.

Sirius shrugged. "We went through the ritual, just as we did for each other. Ancient Germanic text, predatory act, blah blah blah...He collapsed before he could transform."

James peered at Peter's face, which was all screwed up, and continued the prodding. "It's possible we didn't give him enough time to get ready. He's always been a bit slow at Transfiguration."

The slow person in question took this moment to open his mouth and groan loudly, causing the other two to jump back. Peter groggily hauled himself to a sitting position, rubbing at his forehead. "You remember the Yule Ball in fourth year?", he asked weakly, not pausing to see if the other two did. "You sneaked in some real alcohol and got plastered. Well, now I finally understand how you felt the morning after." He felt back onto the floor with another groan. "Does it always hurt like that?"

Sirius was acidly bitter. "Well, there was some amount of pain for both James and I, yes. It got better as we became used to the transformation. However, considering it didn't even work in your case, I have no idea!"

Peter rolled onto his side to glare at the taller man. "Perhaps you should have thought of that before dragging me into this insane quest of yours on six months notice!"

"It is not an insane quest!" Sirius hissed back. "We're doing this for Remus!"

"You might be doing this for Remus," replied Peter, just as angry, "but the rest of us don't want to go through this kind of pain every bloody month just because you want to be fucked by a werewolf!"

Sirius growled then, a lot like the canine Animagi form James had seen him assume, and he quickly wrapped his arms around Sirius, restraining him in case things got nasty. "Look," he said to both of them. "I don't know why Peter couldn't make it: it probably was our fault for not letting him in on the plan two years ago-"

"Thankyou", said Peter, with a definite nod of his head. "It's good to see some people trust me."

James held tight to Sirius, keeping him in his chair as the other man bucked once to get free, turning his gaze to Peter. "That still doesn't allow you to make unwarranted personal attacks. I don't know what you meant by that comment about fucking, and I don't care to know-"

Peter butted in again, incredulous. "You mean you haven't realised?" he gasped, turning his gaze on Sirius, who was stony faced during the exchange. A glint came into Peter's eyes, and his mouth grew cruel. "Well, I guess that shows just how much trust you have for your best friend, Sirius. Do you want to tell him, or shall I?"

Sirius glowered, but eventually gave in. "I love Remus," he whispered softly, the words falling from his lips. "We're not lovers, but I love him."

James scratched his head. "Ah."

Sirius gave them both a pointed look. "And I can't see him go through that every month without wanting to do something. We should all feel that way: we are all his friends. I mean, Peter, you virtually passed Transfiguration and DADA because of him. Can't you feel grateful?"

Peter blushed. "Of course I do. I just think doing an illegal and risky procedure is going a bit too far. Especially as it seems it doesn't work for me!"

James shushed them both. "I think I have a way to make it work."

The other men turned to him, startled into passivity. "You do?"

James nodded. "When I was researching, I found references to an old incantation that hasn't been used for ages. The full spell's in one of the books in the restricted section."

Sirius bit his lip. "We can't go back to the Restricted Section," he cautioned after a pause. "Filch nearly caught you last time."

James, triumphant, fished the brown paper and twine parcel from his coat, dumping it on his knees. "Remember the man with the very small dick? - which is so not true, by the way - he gave me this today. An invisibility cloak. Should be able to get past Filch and find out whatever we want, now."

The taller boy raised an eyebrow, and looked at James. "Hmmm. Maybe I misjudged this 'boyfriend' of yours."

"Maybe you did." James retorted, smiling.

Peter sat up, clutching his head at the sudden movement. "What does this spell do anyway?" he asked, a faint note of whining in his voice. "Please tell me it removes headaches."

James laughed. "No, not quite. Basically it's an incantation that allows a group of wizards or witches to join their energies, allowing a pooling of talents and abilities. I figure since Sirius and I are already Animagi, it might be enough to push you over. That's if you'll do it, of course."

Peter waved the concern away. "Of course I'll do it. I'd hate to deprive Sirius of his happy ending, now," he finished, levelling a mocking grin at the other teenager, which Sirius returned with a glower.

James slapped his hands together. "Good. I'll go to the Restricted Section tonight: it should take us about a week to get all the stuff together, so we'll perform the spell and then try the Animagi transformation on Peter again." He stood, reaching down to lend a hand to Peter, and helping him up.

"James?", Peter asked, a curious expression coming across his face. "If this spell sounds so cool, why is it in the Restricted Section?"

James shuffled from foot to foot. "Uh, it's been kind of....bannedforawhile," he finished in a rush.

"Banned?!" Peter giggled, nervously. "And you want us to try it?"

"Well, from what I read, the side effects aren't...bad, just weird and long-lasting. It creates a bond between the wizards in the group, but it's nothing you can feel or affect. Rather, you only feel the bond when it breaks."

Sirius looked at him. "And what causes that?"

James' response was simple. "Nothing, except when one member causes the death of another."