In the Beginning: The Marauder's Story

A stream of clothing flew past Remus Lupin´s shoulder, as he dug frantically through his chest in the Ravenclaw dormitory. A small line of boys had formed behind Remus, as his fellow Ravenclaws anxiously waited for a break in the barrage of projectile clothing so they could get through to the door. Ignoring his dorm mates´ angry glares as they moved past him, Remus continued on his search.

"What could I have possibly done with it? I know it´s here somewhere..."

"Come on, Remus, if you don´t hurry up, you´re going to miss breakfast. What are you looking for, anyway?"

Remus sensed someone standing at his shoulder, but, instead of looking up, gave his muffled reply from somewhere within the hidden depths of his trunk.

"I don´t care about breakfast... and I´m looking for my stone."

"A stone?"

"Yes, my Black Heart Stone that I bought at the trade fair a few weeks ago. It has... sentimental value."

The Ravenclaw boy shrugged and said, "Well, I haven´t seen it. Er, good luck on your search, Remus."

Gradually, everyone filtered out of the boy´s dormitory, and Remus was left alone. He scoured every nook, every cranny; every place that was capable of holding solid matter before sighing dejectedly and beginning to walk towards the Great Hall. Remus yawned as he hurried down one of the enchanted staircases. They were more temperamental than ever this year, and almost always changed at the most inopportune times. This was one of those times.

Remus lurched forward as the staircase gave a sudden jolt, and began rotating in the complete opposite direction of the Great Hall. Remus held onto the hand rail nervously until the staircase grinded to a halt. Remus quickly climbed off the staircase to the landing it had taken him to. He hated being on the staircases when they changed, for some reason, he just didn´t trust them. Remus stood for a moment and tried to determine what area of the castle he had ended up in. Figuring that he was somewhere near the Slytherin tower, Remus began heading on the quickest route he knew to the Great Hall.

The deep shadows of the Slytherin tower engulfed the Ravenclaw boy´s small form. Everything in this area of the castle possessed a certain kind of eeriness, and filled all who traversed its hallways with a sense of suspicion and foreboding. The eyes in the portraits clinging to the walls were especially shifty, and the few torches lighting the way were especially dim. This all created the ideal atmosphere for scheming and wrongdoings, two practices Slytherins had always been known for.

Hoping to escape the musty smelling, cob web covered corridors as soon as possible, Remus quickened his pace. "No wonder Slytherin house produces so many bad wizards... I´d probably lose it too if I lived here for seven years."

Remus had almost reached the Great Hall when he saw a group of Slytherins huddled together and whispering excitedly. Letting his Marauder´s tendencies take hold, Remus ducked into an empty closest, and listened curiously to what he could make of their conversation.

"Finally, he´s gained enough power, and that potion you made can be put to good use, Snape."

Lucius Malfoy's velvety, blood red voice could be heard slightly above the rest.

"So, it will be on Halloween? That´s tomorrow, right?"

Severus Snape´s slender, black form stood next to Lucius. Snape´s pale face was even more sullen than usual, and contorted as though he was in great thought. Lucius glanced over at the meek figure beside him, and gave the coldest, iciest stare he could. Snape looked up, and could almost feel the frigid malevolence pouring from Lucius´ piercing gray eyes.

"You´re not having second thoughts about this, are you, Snape?"

Snape then felt all the eyes in the group staring at him. In an attempt to reassure both himself, and the group of Slytherins, Snape straightened his form, and pulled his black cloak dramatically about himself.

"No, I´m not having second thoughts; it´s just that there are a few more things I must do to the potion before it will be completely ready."

This answer appeared to be satisfactory, for the entire group removed their eyes from Snape, and once again became engrossed in their own conversations. Lucius raised his falcon-like head above the group, and glanced quickly around the hallways.

"All right, we should probably be going. This meeting is adjourned."

Remus´s eyes lingered on where the large group had once stood, and watched as each one slowly went their own way. He couldn´t believe what he had just heard. Everything was far worse than Remus could have ever imagined, for Remus was sure that the "he" the Slytherins had been referring to wasn´t just any "he." It was Voldemort.

~*~*~

By the time Remus finally reached the Great Hall, breakfast was all but over. James and Sirius were just walking away from the Gryffindor table, with Peter close at their heels. Remus walked quickly towards them, eager to share the news he overhead in the hallways.

"Hey Remus," Sirius grinned quizzically as his friend approached. "We were wondering what became of you. Someone said you were searching for a Sorcerer´s Stone, or something?"

Remus suddenly remembered his distress over not being able to find his stone. He had completely forgotten about it in all of his excitement.

"No, I was looking for my Black Heart stone that I bought at the Trade Fair. Remember, James?"

"Sure," said James, shrugging slightly.

"Anyway," Remus continued, "that´s not important right now. I was coming to the Great Hall when the staircase changed on me, and..."

The four boys walked at an unusually slow pace to some undetermined destination while Remus recounted his experience in Slytherin Tower to them. James and Sirius´s typically light-hearted looks changed to ones of grave concern, where as Peter´s face contorted into a look of absolute terror. His beady eyes widened slightly, and his blond hair became matted against the paling, perspiring skin of his forehead.

"S-So, you think that Voldemort has some kind of rally planned for Halloween?" Peter´s voice quivered slightly as he spoke.

Remus shook his head slowly, his brow furrowed in thought. "I really don´t know what´s going to happen, but it is definitely on Halloween."

"Do... Do you think, maybe we should tell someone? Dumbledore perhaps?"

"No," Sirius interjected. "Something tells me that Dumbledore knows already."

James sighed. "I guess we´ll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out what happens."

The four Marauders stood there in a concerned silence, each consumed with their own thoughts and apprehensions of what was to come.

Sirius shoved his hands into his pockets, and felt his hand brush against a piece of parchment. His face lit up with realization. He pulled out the parchment, which was the lunar chart from that morning´s edition of the Daily Prophet, and handed it to Remus.

"Sorry, Remus, but you have even more to worry about. It´s a full moon tonight."

Remus stared angrily at the chart Sirius handed him, a veritable whirlpool of emotions churning up behind his normally placid brown eyes.

"So it is." Remus´s hands trembled as he let the parchment slip from his fingers and drift down to the floor.

"I was supposed to see Holly tonight... Sirius, weren´t you going to see Evelyn?"

Sirius looked up from the spot he had been staring at on the floor.

"I was planning on it. Why?"

"Would you go into Hogsmeade and tell Holly that I´m sick, and I can`t make it tonight?"

"You mean, she doesn´t know?" Peter´s eyes twitched with sympathy at Remus´s unfortunate turn of events.

"Yeah, I-I´ll be sure to do that for you."

Sirius shuffled his feet slightly, and resumed staring at the ground.

Remus looked at James, Sirius, and Peter, who all looked as though they were searching for something supportive to say.

"Would you all quit acting like my new puppy died, or something? It´s not like I haven´t done this before."

Remus stared determinedly at his friends. James then smiled slightly, reassured by Remus´s words.

"Do you want Prongs to come tonight?"

Remus shook his head. "No, I think I´ll do this one alone, but thanks anyway." Remus gave one last feeble smile before continuing, "I should probably go. There are things I need to do."

Remus hurried off, leaving his three friends staring after him.

Peter then shoved his hands into his pockets and said, "Well, I need to go, too. I have tons of work to do this weekend."

Peter tottered off towards the library, leaving Sirius and James to themselves.

Sirius shook his head sadly.

"I hate all of this serious stuff, because then everything I say is just considered rude and obnoxious. I really can´t take much more of it, James!"

James welcomed the grin that slowly crept across his face, and he patted Sirius heartily on the back.

"Oh, you poor, poor thing. You just have such a terrible life, don´t you?"

Sirius and James continued walking down the hallway, and discussed their plans for going into Hogsmeade that night.

"So, I´ll go into Hogsmeade and find Holly, and you can go get your girl, and meet us at the Three Broomsticks."

"Sounds like a plan..."

Their conversation faded as the two companions moved further and further down the hallway. It was a crisp autumn day: the sun was shining across the impenetrable blue sky, which was flecked by scattered puffs of clouds, and the leaves of the many trees on the Hogwarts grounds were already beginning to turn to the brilliant oranges, golds, and reds, of fall. The sun of this beautifully clear day shone through the large archways lining the hallway, and stretched into the shadows underneath a stone bench. A slight glimmer of this renegade beam of sunlight reflected off a small pair of gleaming red eyes, which had been following every step Sirius and James took.

"Hey, did you see that?"

"See what?"

Sirius glanced underneath a bench, where he could have sworn he´d seen something glowing. Only, when he looked, there was nothing there. Sirius´s blue eyes, which outshone even the sky, scanned the area suspiciously.

"Did I see what?" James asked again, with a hint of agitation in his voice.

"Oh, nothing, never mind. I must have just been hallucinating again."

Sirius shrugged as James gave him a look, and both boys continued on their way.

~*~*~

Evelyn Everheart sat in front of her fire pit, reading Voyages with Vampires. Although it was still early, the sun already had begun to dip towards the western side of the horizon, and cast the sky into a glowing pink. Evelyn picked up a leaf that drifted down from the large tree next to her hut, placed it in the book to mark her page, and slammed the crimson covers shut.

"Sirius was right, Percy, that Lockhart character really is a stupid git."

Upon Hearing Evie´s comment, the large picture of Gilderoy Lockhart on the cover of the book, stopped preening his golden, gossamer hair long enough to give Evelyn an angry scowl. Gilderoy then caught sight of himself in the mirror, and began frantically inspecting his blindingly white smile for an imagined piece of broccoli caught in his teeth. With a wave of his sage green robes, Gilderoy vanished from sight to continue his grooming in private.

In spite of herself, Evelyn gave a small chuckle. It had been weeks since she´d seen Sirius last, and although they had been communicating through Owl post everyday, she still -Even though she hated to admit it- missed him terribly.

Evelyn wrapped her arms around her legs, and placed her head on her knees. She stayed in this position, while her eyes watched the gentle transition of color in the sky fade from a brilliant pink, to orange, and finally, to an almost blue. In the shadows of the late evening sky, Evelyn thought she saw the shadow of a huge dog bounding towards her. The small girl silently scolded herself for seeing what she believed to be merely an illusion.

"This is it, Evie; you´ve gone completely dodgy for a silly boy. Now you´re even having hallucinations that he´s running right towards you!"

Evie continued idly staring at the sky, as the far from imagined Padfoot continued bounding steadily towards her. Only when Evie felt the warm, sloppy, dog´s tongue licking her face did she finally accept the fact the Padfoot she had seen was indeed real. Evie´s face lit up joyously as she playfully tried to push the beast away from her.

"Get off, you big furry oaf!"

Padfoot gave Evelyn his signature smile before trotting off behind the hut and emerging as Sirius Black. Sirius had an equally happy look on his face as Evelyn, although he was desperately trying to restrain it. Evie stood up, folded her arms across her chest, and forced her face to give Sirius its best angry look.

"Well, if it isn´t Sirius Black, who has finally decided to grace me with his presence."

Sirius only continued grinning, and grabbed Evelyn around her waist before she said anything else. Sirius moved his face forward, until his gaze was only an inch away from Evie´s blue eyes, which in spite of her forced "angry face," were still shining brightly.

"You´re damn right," Sirius said in a mock growl.

"You should consider yourself lucky, few get to experience the rare privilege of Sirius Black showing up at their doorstep."

"Who ever said it was a privilege?"

Unable, and also unwilling to think of a biting come back, Sirius kissed Evie on the tip of her nose. Within seconds, Evelyn found herself being pulled towards Hogsmeade, her hand within Sirius´s. Her bare feet pounded against the cool grass, desperately trying to accelerate to the fast pace Sirius set for them. Behind the couple, then sun´s last lingering rays of light sunlight surrendered to the onslaught of time, and sank beneath the horizon.

"Um, Sirius, if you don´t mind me asking," Evelyn paused for a moment to catch her breath, "just where exactly are we going?"

"You´ll find out when we get there."

"That´s good enough for me."

Sirius glanced over at Evelyn, who smiled at him. He felt Evie´s grip tighten around his hand, as she slowly gained speed, and began pulling Sirius behind her.

"This has never happened before!" Sirius thought gleefully.

Sirius began to slow his pace and said, "How ´bout we walk from here?"

Evelyn didn´t need to be told twice. She immediately slowed her furious pace to an amiable stroll at Sirius´s side. Evelyn took a deep breath before saying, "You know, it´s an awful lot of work to stay one step ahead of you."

Sirius nodded, filled with admiration for the girl walking beside him.

"Yes, but not everyone can do it."

Evelyn raised her head slightly higher, as a new sort of happiness filled her. The two small figures of Sirius and Evie became silhouetted against the ever nearing lights of Hogsmeade, which gleamed more brightly with every step they took.

~*~*~

James Potter glanced down at the piece of parchment in his hand, covered with directions quickly scrawled in his untidy writing. He then looked back up at the quaint, brown cottage he stood in front of.

"I guess this is the place," James muttered, rapping his knuckles three times against the door. James stood and listened to what sounded like a crash, and other assorted racket. After what sounded like a great deal of trouble, a small woman with auburn hair pulled into a messy braid, answered the door. She wore a small red apron, stained with substances James could only begin to imagine as to what they might be. The woman gave a small smile, and James asked, "Er, is Holly Gollightly here?"

The woman nodded earnestly. "Oh yes, hold on just a minute. Holly! Someone´s here for you!"

Holly anxiously darted forward from somewhere within one of the back rooms of the cottage. When she reached the front door, the large smile which had been spread across her face noticeably fell. James cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Sorry that I´m not who you were expecting, but Remus sent me to tell you why he couldn´t be here tonight. Would you like to come to the Three Broomsticks so I can explain things a bit better?"

Holly looked over at her mother, who nodded slightly, before saying quietly, "Yeah, sure."

Holly kept up with James´s long strides in silence, intimidated by the almost-man´s commanding presence. Unable to stand the silence, James decided to formally introduce himself to Holly, hoping to put her more at ease.

"By the way, Holly, my name´s James."

"I know, you were with Remus at the trade fair."

Impressed by the girl´s memory, James held open the door of the Three Broomsticks for her. James stepped on the creaky, wooden floors of the restaurant, and led Holly to his and Lily´s favorite table, which sat near one of the giant windows to the right side of the door. The Three Broomsticks was as warm and comforting as the Butterbeer it served, and Holly instantly began to feel herself relax in the familiar atmosphere. James ordered four Butterbeers, and caught Holly giving him a questioning look.

"The other two are for Sirius and his girl friend type thing, who are supposed to be meeting us here. But, with Sirius, you never know, so we might be having a second round."

Almost on cue, James saw Sirius and a girl with curly black hair streak by the Three Broomsticks. After they zoomed out of sight, James gave a small chuckle and said, "I´m glad to see that Sirius has finally met someone who doesn´t mind his sudden changes of direction."

Holly also stared out the window.

"So, are they not coming now?"

James nodded at the waiter who carried over a platter with four mugs brimming with Butterbeer, and handed one to Holly.

"I wouldn´t worry about it. He´ll find his way over here eventually."

James raised his mug to Holly, who cautiously clinked her mug to his, and offered James her first tiny smile of the night.

~*~*~

Sirius and Evelyn had nearly reached the entrance of the Three Broomsticks, when something so curiously wonderful caught Sirius´s eye, he couldn´t stop himself from running over to check it out. Holly allowed Sirius to drag her over to the left side of the Three Broomsticks, where a man with bushy red hair and glasses was folding up a "For Sale" sign. Behind the man stood the strangest contraption Evie had ever seen. Its large, rubber tires, handle bars, and bright, silver chrome gleamed in the light of the full moon.

"What is that thing?"

"It´s what Muggles call a motorcycle."

Evelyn felt herself start as the red-headed man unexpectedly answered her question.

"It essentially works just like their cars, but for some reason, it only has two wheels."

Evelyn looked at Sirius, whose face emitted a glorious happiness she had never seen before. Sirius lightly ran his fingertips across the sleek, black leather of the seat.

"Why would you ever want to sell this," he breathed.

The man shook his head sadly.

"I don´t want to, really. See, I´ve bewitched it so it can fly, which is completely illegal, and my fiancee, Molly, said she wouldn´t marry me unless I got rid of it."

Evelyn gave the man a look of sympathy, and held out her hand, as Sirius stood, still transfixed by the sight of the motorcycle.

"What´s your name, if you don´t mind me asking? I´m Evelyn Everheart."

The man smiled, and shook Evie´s hand earnestly.

"I don´t mind you asking at all, and I´m Arthur Weasley."

Turning around suddenly, Sirius asked, "Arthur, how much are you selling this for?"

Arthur rubbed his chin in thought.

"Well, I was asking about 1,500 galleons for it."

Obviously softened by the look of absolute disappointment and dejection on Sirius´s face, Arthur added, "But I´d give it to you for 1,000."

Sirius sighed, but then contorted his face into a look of sheer determination.

"Sir, I will somehow manage to get a hold of 1,000 galleons, and I will buy that motorcycle from you."

Arthur smiled slightly and nodded.

"Good luck to you, I´ll be out here just about every day until it´s gone, so you´ll know where to find me when you scrounge up 1,000 galleons. Now, I should probably be going. I don`t even want to think about what Molly will do to me if I`m late for dinner again."

Arthur gave a wave before tucking the "For Sale" sign underneath his arm, and wheeling the motorcycle down the street.

Sirius just stood there, his eyes following Arthur and his beloved bike as they slowly made their way down the road. Evie tugged gently at the sleeve of Sirius´s robe and whispered, "We should probably be heading inside now, your friend has been waiting for awhile."

Sirius nodded meekly, and this time allowed Evelyn to lead him by the hand into the Three Broomsticks. Just as Evie and Sirius walked through the large, oak doorway, Sirius heard James saying, "...That´s why he wasn´t able to come tonight. I´m sure he will tell you eventually, but it´s kind of a difficult thing for him to talk about. The only reason I told you was because I figured it would be better than making up some excuse."

Sirius sat down at the table with James and Holly, his eyes widened, and his motorcycle dilemma temporarily forgotten. Evie sat down next to Sirius, looking mildly confused.

"You actually told her?" Sirius asked in shock.

James shrugged.

"Holly´s a good person, and I figured she should know. And besides, I´m not nearly as skilled at lying as you are."

Sirius nodded. "Yes, this is true, that last part especially."

Evelyn´s gaze shifted from Sirius to James, then back again.

"Is there some important piece of information I´m missing here?"

Sirius gave Evie a discerning stare. "I´ll tell you eventually, after you meet Remus for the first time."

"Oh, speaking of meeting," James turned to Holly, "this is Evelyn, Sirius´s, dare I say girlfriend? And Evelyn, this is Holly."

Evelyn smiled warmly at Holly and James.

"It´s nice to meet you, Holly. And you too, James. All I hear about practically is the hell you and Sirius raise at that school..."

"And actually," Sirius interjected, "she isn´t exactly my girlfriend. She´s more like a mortal enemy that kisses me sometimes."

Without faltering, Evie continued, "...And don´t worry about calling me Evelyn, you can just call me Evie."

Then, turning to face Sirius she said smoothly, "If you weren´t so cute, I´d kill you."

"Sirius, I think you´ve finally met your match," laughed James.

Sirius, James, and Evie continued in friendly conversation, but Holly for some reason, could not bring herself to join them. Her thoughts focused entirely on Remus, who was most likely undergoing a transformation more painful than anything than she could ever imagine at this very moment. Holly´s eyes terror, and sadness, as her mind was bombarded by Remus´s screams of agony.

Evie looked at Holly, who stood up very quickly, with tears threatening to spill over her eyes.

"I... I should probably be going now." Holly fought to maintain a steady voice. She looked down at Sirius, James, and Evie, who were all giving her looks of concern. Before she would have to say anything else, Holly gave a small wave, and escaped from the three sets of eyes as quickly as possible.

The group left sitting at the table gave a slight grumble of concern, before cautiously continuing with their conversation, which turned to progressively darker matters.

"So who´s behind all of the Ministry killings?"

"Voldemort, they think," Said Sirius gravely. "Have you heard of him?"

Even though Evie denied any knowledge of Voldemort, her face darkened with a knowing hatred, which was a look far more frightening than Sirius was accustomed to seeing on Evelyn´s face.

James suddenly stood up from the table, and let out a loud yawn. "Well, it´s getting kind of late, so we should probably be going now. Even though Sirius heard him, he did not follow James´s lead. Instead, Sirius stared into Evie´s eyes, which held much more troubling stories than he knew.

"Are you sure you´re okay?"

Evelyn only nodded, staring into some distant point, some distant time, that Sirius could not see. Completely unconvinced, Sirius dubiously stood up from the table, and pulled Evie into his arms. Her small arms clung to him more tightly than usual.

Sirius stared down at her abundance of curly tendrils and said, "If you need anything, just send me a letter; I´ll come as soon as I have the chance. Okay?"

Evie nodded her head slightly, which was still pressed against Sirius´s shoulder. Sirius felt her small frame tremble slightly, as Evelyn tried to contain a shaky sob. She had already been upset, and Sirius´s caring words, although they were a great comfort, only upset her even more. Evie was so unused to such concern for her well being, that Sirius´s kind words touched her deeply enough to push her over the emotional edge. Evelyn kept her head firmly planted against Sirius´s shoulder. She absolutely hated it when people saw her cry, for she hated to reveal her weaknesses, especially in front of people she hardly knew. Only when Evie successfully dammed up her tears, did she look back up at Sirius.

"Don´t worry about me, Mr. Sirius Black. I´ll be all right. And besides, there are the others back at Hogwarts to whom you must bestow the privilege of gracing them with your presence."

Sirius stared at Evelyn worriedly, but gave her one final embrace, and exited the Three Broomsticks with James.

Evie stood there for a moment, wiping the remnants of her salty tears on the sleeve of her robe, before also disappearing into the night.

~*~*~

James and Sirius hurried along the familiar secret passage from Honey Dukes back to Hogwarts. As the two boys neared the school, they heard the faint cries and crashes of a werewolf traveling from the passage that led to the Whomping Willow.

"Remus," James said sadly.

Sirius began moving through the tunnel more quickly, in an attempt to outrun the cries. When he and James reached the entrance back into Hogwarts, they quickly climbed through, not even bothering to come up with a story as to why they were roaming about the halls so late.

As Sirius and James traveled down the torch-lit hallways towards the Gryffindor tower, James´s stomach turned cold, with a portentous feeling of dread. He puzzled over what this feeling meant all the way to the Fat Lady´s portrait entrance. Only then did James remember.

"Halloween."

"E Pluribus... what? What about Halloween?"

"Voldemort, remember? Whatever he and all those Slytherins were planning is happening on Halloween."

The Fat Lady, who this time was not conveniently engrossed in a romance novel eyed Sirius and James suspiciously.

"E Pluribus Unum," Sirius said quickly.

The Fat Lady, eager to hear the juicy details of this conversation, gave Sirius a dirty look before swinging herself open. As Sirius and James climbed through the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, Sirius commented, "And I thought this year would be boring..."