The Marauders; A Generation

The Marauders; A generation

Chapter 2

It was two days after Remus had left Hogwarts, and he still had not returned. James, Sirius and Peter were beginning to get quite worried about his mysterious leave, but did not talk about it to anyone except each other.

The Gryffindor first-years had just finished attending Transfiguration with the Slytherins, a class in which their own Head of House taught, and were collectively heading down towards the Great Hall for lunch. When they got there, they sat down and waited whilst the rest of the student body filed in, teachers amongst. When Professor Dumbledore arrived, James stood up.

"I'll be back in a minute," he said, and walked up to talk to the headmaster.

"Professor?" he asked when he'd gotten near enough. Dumbledore turned around, and his face crinkled into a smile when he saw him.

"Hello Mr. Potter, what can I do for you today?" he asked.

"Well sir, you see, I was just wondering whether you'd heard how Remus' mum's doing?" he asked nervously. Dumbledore regarded him with mild surprise for a moment before answering.

"I have been in touch with young Mr. Lupin, and the situation appears to be under control, he should be back at Hogwarts by tomorrow." Dumbledore placed his words carefully. James smiled in relief.

"Thank you sir."

"That's not a problem, have a good lunch Mr. Potter," and with that, Dumbledore made his way up to the teachers table. James walked back over to the Gryffindor table and sat down in between Sirius and Peter.

"What was that all about?" Sirius asked him in a low voice. James looked around, making sure no one was listening.

"Remus is coming back tomorrow, everything's fine I think," he said. Peter tried to crane his neck around to hear, but was unsuccessful in his attempt.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"We'll tell you later, let's not discuss it here," he replied, but mouthed the word 'Remus' to him, and Peter understood. The friendship that had formed between the four boys was quite a tight-knit one. James and Sirius were of course already best friends, and had been for as long as each could remember, and they had both immediately allowed Remus to enter their close circle. The three of them all liked Peter, he was quite an unusual sort of boy, for example, he really excelled in some subjects, where in others, he failed miserably. They had also let Peter into their group, but with not as much enthusiasm as they'd had for Remus; they were still a bit unsure of him, but James was adamant about not leaving anyone out.

The Gryffindor first-year girl's had just sat down and they'd all begun digging into their food. James was seated exactly opposite Lily, and was alarmed to see that her eyes were slightly red, and she looked absolutely miserable. He looked around to make sure that everyone else was engaged in their own conversations before nudging her underneath the table with his foot. She looked up and they locked eyes.

"Are you okay?" he mouthed silently. Lily looked like she was about to burst into tears again and shook her head. James nodded towards the door. Taking his message, she nodded in agreement and stood up to leave. She hadn't spoken yet, and James got the impression that she would probably have not been able to get any words out if she tried. Lily walked quickly out of the Great Hall. Chelsea looked up in surprise.

"Oh no," she said, and started to get up. James stood up as well.

"No it's ok Chelsea, let me," he said. Chelsea looked at him for a moment, torn between going after her friend and letting James go after her, as she'd already tried to talk to Lily about why she was so upset. After a few moments of contemplation, she nodded.

"Okay. Good luck," she said, and James took off. Sirius and Peter looked up in confusion.

"What was that all about?" they asked in surprise.

"Lily's really upset, she won't tell anyone what's wrong ... I thought maybe James could get it out of her," Chelsea replied. Sirius looked after them, still in slight confusion, but also in curiosity.

"We'll find out later," he told Peter, and they went back to their meal.

***

Once James had exited the huge doors of the Great Hall, he looked around, trying to catch of glimpse of Lily's auburn hair. He saw her leaning against the entrance into the outer grounds of Hogwarts, head turned up to the sky. James hurried over to her.

"Lil', what's wrong?" he asked. His expression showed one of extreme concern.

Lily turned around to face him, and clenched her jaw. She closed her eyes for a moment, as more tears fell and then opened them again.

"I-I, I just found out what a mudblood was. Arvan Lestrange called me one the other day, and now all the Slytherin's have been whispering it to me the whole day. Oh James, it's just been awful!" she cried, and he immediately extended his arms to engage her in a warm hug.

"I had no idea, I'm so sorry. That's just the worst kind of thing to call someone, I'm so sorry Lily, you shouldn't have to put up with them, it's completely unfair," he said. His words just made Lily cry harder. He pushed her back gently and looked at her.

"Lily, I don't know if you've already heard this, but the Slytherin's tend to think that because they're all from pureblood families, they're better then everyone else, and anyone who's not ... is beneath them," he said seriously.

"I know that, but I just don't understand why! James, you're from a pureblood family, and you don't think that," she said searchingly.

"That's because some pureblood families are different. Sirius is from one as well, there are a lot of Gryffindors that are, but we've been brought up differently, and so we treat everyone the same." There was a pause as Lily took this in. After a few moments, she looked back up at James, her eyes having cleared.

"Why do you hate Lucius Malfoy so much James?" she asked. From the moment the words had left her mouth, she knew she'd said the wrong thing. The expression on James' face almost made her want to cry again.

"I'm sorry, it's none of my business, you don't have to tell me," she said quickly, trying to read him. James shook his head.

"I will tell you, but now is not the time. I promise you, one day I will," he said, giving her a small smile.

"Thanks for coming out James, you've made me feel a lot better," she said as they began to walk back through the Entrance Hall. Just as they had reached the doors, they opened.

"What's this? Potter's found himself a girlfriend!" It wasn't Malfoy this time; it was his friend, Darmon Macnair.

"Shut up Macnair, you don't know what you're talking about," James spat back. Malfoy walked up behind them and clapped his friend on the back.

"What do we have here Darmon? Oh! A pureblood and a mudblood, what an unusual mix, but what else can we expect from Gryffindor," he said. His words were venomously scathing, and the look on his face was a mixture of anger, resentment and hate. Lily walked up to him and slapped him hard on the face.

"Don't call me a mudblood Malfoy and DON'T insult my house!" she yelled as Lucius stumbled back in shock.

James hurriedly pulled Lily back and pushed her behind him as Macnair and Avery started to advance on them, Malfoy still in too much shock to react.

"You'll pay for that you-"

"WHAT, is going on here?" a stern voice said.

The five of them all looked up in surprise to see Professor McGonagall watching them with hawk-like eyes. She looked back and forth between the Slytherin's and Gryffindor's trying to assess the situation.

"Nothing, Professor," James said quickly. She narrowed her eyes.

"It doesn't look like nothing to me Potter. If I see any of you in this compromising situation again, there WILL be trouble, do you understand?" she said sternly. They all nodded, glad that no points were taken.

"All right. Potter, Evans, back inside the Hall. Avery, Malfoy, Macnair, off you go, back to your dorms. NOW boys," she said even more sternly when they tried to object. The five of them moved off in their separate directions and McGonagall walked off. Once James and Lily were safely back inside the Hall, they sighed in relief and sat down at their table.

"Are you feeling better Lil'?" Melissa asked her. Lily caught James' eye for a moment and nodded back with a smile.

"Much."

~**********************************************************~

That night, James was awoken suddenly by the sound of a painful wolf's howl. He'd never heard anything like it before; it was so agonizing ... he felt sorry for the poor animal. He looked around the room to see if anyone else had been woken up by it ... they hadn't. James' eyes fell on Remus' empty bed, and he starting thinking about the things that had been plaguing his mind for days now. He wanted to talk to Remus when he got back, he wanted to let him know that he was there if he needed a friend ... he didn't know if it would help though. Remus seemed like a very closed sort of person who dealt with problems on his own.

Unable to get back to sleep, James got up and decided to go downstairs to the common room and sit by the fire to warm himself up and think. He'd had so many ideas when he'd come to Hogwarts, and now that he'd settled in, he felt like it was time to start working on them. James had always been a smart boy, and his talent showed through the classes he was taking here at school. Although they were not at the very top, James and Sirius were both at the top of their form. Their mischievous minds made it possible for them to pull well thought out and masterminded plots that no normal first year would have even dreamed of. And right now, James was thinking that they needed some way to be able to get around Hogwarts undetected.

When James' father, Harry had died, his will had stated that James was to receive some of his most prized possessions. Amongst these, was his treasured invisibility cloak, which had been part of the reason for his greatness as an Auror. James planned to use this cloak to its fullest advantage.

Another piercing howl broke through the air and James winced. He'd never felt sympathy towards werewolves before, but he started to now. He clambered back up the stairs to his room and climbed back into bed.

"James? That you?" a sleepy voice said from his left. It was Sirius.

"Yeah, don't worry mate, go back to sleep, I'll see you in the morning," he replied, and they both fell back into the realms of slumber.

~****************************************************************~

The next day they were sitting in Potions class with the Slytherin's when Remus stumbled in, looking absolutely awful. The Gryffindor girls gasped quietly when they saw him, and the boys looked at each other worriedly.

"Remus!" James exclaimed, concernedly.

"Mr. Lupin, I don't appreciate lateness, that will be five points from Gryffindor," Professor Lestrange said sternly. Remus coughed, and headed up to the front of the class, handing her a note. She read it briefly, a deep scowl marring her face.

"Very well, sit down," she growled, and continued with her lesson. Remus headed over to where his friends were sitting and sat down next to James. Thinking that talking would not be a good idea in this class, James quickly scrawled a note onto a piece of parchment and slid it to him underneath the table. It read;

What's the go? Are you okay? You look like death warmed over mate!

Remus took the parchment and read it. He picked up his quill, taking a quick glance in the direction of the professor, and scribbled something back.

I'm okay; I'll talk to you about it later, just a bit of trouble getting back, that's all.

Remus passed him back the note and then stared straight ahead, not looking at anyone. James looked at him for a few moments, but realizing he wasn't going to say anymore just then, decided to pay attention to the rest of the lesson. They got into pairs for the practical part of the lesson, and James paired up with Sirius as usual, while Remus paired up with Peter.

"Did you ask him?" Sirius said once they were out of anyone's earshot.

"Yeah but I don't think he wants to talk about it, so I don't want to push it," he replied, and Sirius got the message as well, nodding.

"Mate, what's with you and Lily?" Sirius asked him curiously. James blushed slightly.

"Nothing, we're just good friends, that's all, I don't see why everyone has a problem with it," he said hotly. Sirius patted his friend's shoulder.

"Hey I was just asking, no harm, I believe you," and they got back to their Potion. A few minutes later, James looked up and saw Remus reach across the table he was working at, to obtain one of their ingredients. James almost gasped aloud when he saw the angry red scratch that marred his otherwise unharmed skin. As if he could sense his gaze, Remus looked up suddenly. Seeing where James' eyes were, he pulled his sleeve back down and they stared at each other in shock for a few moments. James was first to break the gaze as he looked down, trying to comprehend what he'd just seen. When he looked back up again, Remus had turned back to his own work.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, seeing his friend's expression. James looked around the room, realizing that no one else had seen what he'd seen.

"N-nothing, I just uh, caught a whiff of this potion, it's disgusting," he replied convincingly. Sirius bent forward slightly and sniffed their concoction. The horrified look on his face was almost comical. James fought back a nervous laugh.

"Too right."

~**************************************************************~

Their afternoon class was double Transfiguration with the Slytherin's. Professor McGonagall had put them in pairs to try and transfigure a beetle into a nail. The pairs that she had chosen were extremely arguable, and at the present moment, there was a lot of arguing going on. James Potter had been paired with Igor Karkaroff, something which managed to completely clear his mind off of what he'd seen on Remus, Sirius was with Marcus Avery, Remus with Rosetta Parkinson, a Slytherin girl, and the list went on. Each pair had both a Gryffindor and Slytherin in it, and everyone was treading extremely warily. The most unfortunate pair happened to be Lily Evans and Lucius Malfoy. James stayed on his guard, ready to battle the moment that Malfoy stepped out of line. Currently though, they were talking, and no big dramas seemed to be occurring.

"Well, do it then," Malfoy demanded. Lily glared at him.

"This is suppose to be a team effort you stupid idiot, I'm not supposed to do it on my own," she bit out angrily. Malfoy's eyes flashed.

"Don't talk to me like that you filthy inbred, and stop hanging around with the purebloods, you're not one of us and you never will be," he whispered scathingly into her ear. Lily dropped the beetle she'd been holding in shock. Angrily, she took a step back and pointed her wand at him.

"Locomotor Mortis!" she cried. But Malfoy had seen her coming. Just as she cried these words, he yelled out the disarming curse, wand pointed. The result was horrifying. Lily's wand flew out of her hand all right, but she flew back six feet high and ten feet back, hitting the wall behind her with a thud, and fell to the floor, unconscious.

"LILY!" Chelsea screamed, and the Gryffindor's immediately ran over to her in hysterics.

"Mr. Malfoy!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. He tried to run, but she pointed her wand at him and magically bound him, then disarmed all of the Slytherin's so that they wouldn't try to help him. After doing this, she rushed over to Lily, gently pushing back some of the Gryffindor's so she could see the damage. James Potter was kneeling next to her, cradling her head in his lap. A large bruise was beginning to form on the side of her face, and she still hadn't shown any signs of waking. Professor McGonagall did a quick assessment of her before stalking over to her fireplace. She threw in some powder and lit up the connection after muttering the word 'Incendio', calling for the Headmaster. Professor Dumbledore's head appeared in the dancing green flames.

"What is it Minerva? Is everything alright?" he asked worriedly when he saw the crowd around Lily.

"I'm afraid it's not Albus, I need you or one of the other teachers to come down here immediately and watch Mr. Malfoy, whilst I accompany Ms. Evans to the hospital wing," she replied, her voice shaking slightly. Dumbledore nodded.

"I'll be there in a minute," he said before disappearing again. True to his word, less then a minute later, he came striding through the door to the Transfiguration classroom and walked straight over to Lily.

"Do you want to take her, or should I?" he asked Professor McGonagall. She looked at Malfoy for a minute.

"You take her, and I shall take care of him," she replied, giving the Slytherin's a stern look. Dumbledore nodded and conjured up a floating stretcher, transporting Lily onto it.

"I'm afraid I can't let all of you come, maybe two at the most," he said to the Gryffindors. They looked around at each other, trying to decide when Chelsea stepped forward.

"James and I will go, but we really need to tell Narcissa, she'll be devastated if she finds out she didn't know," she said. Dumbledore nodded and gestured for them to follow them. Just as he reached the door he turned back.

"Mr. Black, would you kindly go down to the Greenhouses and tell Professor Sprout you have my permission to accompany Ms. Delacroix to the hospital wing. It would probably be best if you told her what has happened before you arrive ... but try not to shock her too much," he said gravely, and they turned around and headed out. Sirius jumped up and headed down towards the Greenhouses.

Back in the Transfiguration room, Professor McGonagall had taken the bind of Malfoy and was towering over him menacingly.

"What did you think you were playing at Mr. Malfoy?" she said angrily. He got up and looked at her innocently.

"I didn't mean for that to happen! She attacked first, I was just trying to protect myself!" he exclaimed. Professor McGonagall's expression turned even sterner.

"That is not the way a normal disarming spell works Mr. Malfoy. You have obviously been playing around with the Dark Arts; do you know what kind of trouble you could get into for that? I'm going to send you to Dumbledore for your punishment, but for now, I'm taking thirty points off from Slytherin, and don't argue, I heard what you said to Ms. Evans to provoke her into an attack." Malfoy looked ashamed for a single moment before his face turned into a scowl.

"Can I have my wand back?" he asked insolently. Professor McGonagall was still carrying the Slytherin's wands in her hand, but she'd given Lily's to Dumbledore before he left.

"The others may, but you may not until the situation has been dealt with. Now GO!" she exclaimed after she'd handed the rest of the Slytherin's wands back. They scurried out quickly. She turned to the Gryffindor's.

"I'm sure Ms. Evans will be quite fine, Madam Pomfrey is quite capable of rectifying these sort of situations. I give you my permission to go back to your common room for the rest of the day until supper. Oh, and if you are going to visit Ms. Evans, please try to do so in small groups, Poppy won't be pleased if the lot of you stampede up there," she said, and the Gryffindor's chorused a thank you before heading off.

***

After Sirius had left the Transfiguration classroom, he'd sped down to Greenhouse 2 immediately, and rapped on the door. Professor Sprout waved at him to come in.

"Professor Sprout, Professor Dumbledore's asked for me to take Narcissa Delacroix out of this class. There's been a bit of an accident," he said. Professor Sprout nodded and gestured at Narcissa to follow him.

"I hope everything is alright," the Professor said as they walked out. Narcissa's expression was full of worry as they made their way up to the hospital wing.

"What's wrong Sirius? What's happened?" she asked nervously. Sirius stopped her, and they stood on the stairs for a moment whilst he told her what had happened.

"Oh my gosh! Lily! Where is she?" she cried.

"It's okay, I'm taking you up to the hospital wing now. James, Chelsea and Dumbledore are already there," he replied, trying to soothe her. They hurried up to the wing and when they entered, Narcissa ran over to Lily's bedside, her eyes glistening.

"Is she okay?" she asked Dumbledore.

"Poppy's just giving her some potion, she'll be fine in no time, just had a bit of a hit to the head," he told her in a calm voice.

"Don't worry darling, we'll be able to get rid of that bruise on her face as well," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly. Narcissa wiped her eyes and placed her hand over Lily's. She looked up to see James and Chelsea standing on the other side of the bed.

"We'll leave you to it then," Dumbledore said after the nurse had tipped the Potion into Lily's parted mouth. She was still unconscious, but her breathing seemed to be normal and regular, so the worst phase was over. They adults walked away, talking, leaving the first years alone.

"I was so worried," Narcissa said, shaking her head. Sirius put an arm around her.

"So were we. I just can't believe Malfoy, where did he learn to do that?" he asked incredulously. James took his eyes off Lily for the first time.

"I don't know, but when I get my hands on him ..." the look on James' face was one of pure anger.

"Maybe we should leave her to rest," Chelsea speculated. They agreed to this, and told Lily, even in her unconscious state, that they would be back to check on her. They four of them headed out of the hospital wing.

"Do you want to come back to Gryffindor tower with us Narcissa? Professor McGonagall said she was going to have a few words with us, and I think she would want you to be there as well," Chelsea said. Sirius' eyes brightened.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," he said, then looked at Narcissa for agreement.

"Okay, lead the way," she answered, and they all headed up to Gryffindor tower. Once they reached the picture of the Fat Lady, James said the password: 'Aurora Rose' and they stepped in. The rest of the Gryffindor first years were sitting around the fire, talking, and a couple of students from other years were also milling around, wondering what was going on.

"Hi Narcissa," Melissa said when she joined them. Narcissa had sat at the Gryffindor table a number of times during meals, just as Lily had sat at the Ravenclaw table, and so, most of the Gryffindor's knew her.

"How is she?" Remus asked. James and Sirius went over to fill him in. After a few minutes, the portrait hole opened again and Professor McGonagall strode in.

"Good, you're all here, ah yes, Ms. Delacroix. I would like to inform you all, that Ms. Evans will be fine. She awoke briefly, but she is sleeping now as Madam Pomfrey has instructed. Professor Dumbledore however, has seen Mr. Malfoy. In addition to the thirty house points I took off him, the Headmaster as taken a further twenty for the practice of Dark Arts, and will be speaking to his father tomorrow." Although the news of Malfoy's demise was a source of satisfaction amongst the Gryffindor's, it was hard to be excited about it, when Lily was in such a fragile state.

"I'll see you all at supper then, if anybody needs to talk to someone about what happened today, please find me, and I shall arrange it for you, thank you," she said efficiently and strode back out of the portrait hole.

"Thank god she's ok," James said. He'd been quiet since the incident, filled with worry.

"I know, and on the bright side, Slytherin lost fifty points!" Sirius said. The Gryffindor first-year's and Narcissa, all smiled at this.

"I hope he doesn't think he's going to get away with just loosing points though," Narcissa said, narrowing her eyes. They all agreed to this. She glanced up at the grandfather clock hanging on the sandstone wall next to the fireplace.

"It's getting late, I'd better get back to my dorm before we head down to the Hall. Do you want to go and visit Lily after supper?" she directed this question at James and Chelsea.

"We'll meet you at the entrance to the Great Hall after we've finished," Sirius replied instead. She smiled at him, nodding, and then waved goodbye before heading out.

~****************************************************************~

Lucius Malfoy wasn't there at supper that evening, much to the dismay/relief of the Gryffindors. It was obvious that he was too embarrassed to show his face. Instead, Arvan Lestrange was making sure to talk the incident up as loudly as he could, trying to rile up the rest of the school. Over the din of the students, but out of earshot of the teachers, he made same falsely sincere comments.

"It's such a shame about that little mud-, oh dear, of course I mean, that little Gryffindor first-year," he said, as the rest of Slytherin tittered.

"I really must find Lucius and shake his hand, what a marvelous job, he does have potential doesn't he," he went on to say. Arvan was flanked on either side, by the fourth year Slytherin Beaters Rosier and Wilkes, and they all slapped each other a high five. Suddenly, Professor Lestrange swept down their side of the Slytherin table, and whispered something into Arvan's ear. He nodded at her, and they shared an evil smile before she glided back up to the teacher's table. Arvan got up.

"Excuse me, I have something to attend to," and he strode confidently out of the hall.

Back at the Gryffindor table, Sirius, James and Chelsea ate as quickly as they could, and joined Narcissa at the entrance doors.

"Ready?" she asked them. They nodded.

"Let's go," Sirius said. They headed up to the hospital wing together. When they got there, Lily was just propping herself up on a pillow. She smiled when they walked in.

"Hey! I'm so glad you guys are here," she said. Narcissa and Chelsea hugged her.

"We were so worried about you Lil'!" they replied. The boys both nodded in strong agreement.

"What's happening to Malfoy?" she asked darkly.

"He got fifty points taken from Slytherin, and Dumbledore's called his dad down to school tomorrow," James told her.

"So it wasn't for nothing then. I wish I'd got him in that leg-locker curse," she mused.

"Yes, but we're just glad you're okay. When can you come back to the dorm?" Chelsea asked.

"She can go now if she wants, she's completely healed," Madam Pomfrey said, walking up to them.

"Good, we'll help you," and together, the four of them got her things and helped her back up to Gryffindor tower.

"I better go, it'll be after hours soon, I don't want Filch to catch me!" Narcissa said.

"Will you be alright Lily? I'll come see you tomorrow, we have Charms together in the morning as well," she told her. Lily nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, see you tomorrow Ciss," and the rest of them chorused a goodbye before they entered through the portrait hole.

"Lily!" Melissa cried when she came in. They went to sit down by the fire. Immediately, the first year girls and even some from older years started talking about what had happened. Sirius, James, Remus and Peter all headed up to their dorm after saying good night.

"Gosh, what a day," Sirius said, falling back onto his bed.

"Too right," James agreed, lying down.

"What about you Remus? Is everything okay?" he asked carefully after a while. But Remus was already fast asleep, still dressed. James shrugged.

"I think he's okay. When you guys went to see Lily, he said he was knackered, but his mum's fine now, although he might have to make regular trips back to see her, Dumbledore's cleared it," Peter told them.

"Oh okay, he really looked awful when he came in this morning," Sirius mused. The others nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure he'll feel better tomorrow, he lives pretty far away, that was probably it," Peter said.

"Good night lads," James said yawning. The others said good night and they lay down to sleep. On the bed next to the window, Remus lay, still awake, but turned away from them, thinking. It was so hard hiding his secret, but he'd been dealing with prejudice his whole life, he didn't think it would be any different here. He thought about it though, James, Sirius and Peter had become close to him, and they didn't seem to be people that would judge him for what he had become. He sighed in frustration, it was so hard trying to decide who was allowed to know, and who wasn't. He lay back on his bed, listening to the quiet snores that were beginning to rise from the other three beds in the room.

"I'll tell them," he whispered to himself.

"One day, I'll tell them."

~****************************************************************~

Hey guys, this is my first message to you guys! Yeah, I was just hoping some of you might review my story, because I'm not really sure if it's what people want, and I'm open to suggestions! So hit me up with some! Ciao!