For Our Parents Willed So

For Our Parents Willed So

*

Fly High, Fall Hard

*

Remus grinned in delight as he leant forward on his broom, accelerating to get to the little, golden ball just ahead of him. Exactly at the right moment, he reached out his hand, his fingers closing around the Snitch. A broad grin lit up his face as he lowered his broom to the ground, the small wings fluttering uselessly against his hand.

Peter was waiting for him, an equally broad grin on his face as well. "That was brilliant, Remie!" he praised, embracing his fiancé tightly as soon as Remus stepped off his broom. "I bet you'll make it to the team!"

"Let's hope so," Remus said in response, eyeing carefully the approaching members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They were all much bigger than him, after Peter had grown during the summer, he was now the smallest of the second years - and first years, as well. Remus Lupin, the tiniest of the school. Small, slim, fast, and accurate, practically a dream Seeker to any team. "Well?" the werewolf questioned shyly, glancing warily at the team captain, Hannibal Wood.

"Welcome to the team, Lupin," Wood laughed, slamming his hand on Remus's shoulder almost heavily enough to make the tiny boy fall down. "Nobody could ever make a better Seeker than you. You beat all the others any day!"

"Thanks," Remus muttered quietly, handing the little Snitch back to the captain. "But I'm not that good, not really."

"Oh, but you are," their Keeper, a sixth-yea girl named Suzanne Wells, said, smiling at him. "When you were in the air, you were like a bird - you're born to fly, just like Potter." She nodded towards James, who stood some way away from them, grasping his broom in his hand and grinning like a madman. No surprise - he'd just become a Chaser. "And especially in chasing the snitch - honestly, I don't think that even an eagle chasing its prey could be better!"

Flushing slightly, Remus gladly accepted Peter's hand as it slipped into his, squeezing comfortingly. That was just what he felt when he was chasing the Snitch - he let his predatory side free, the only situation where he could do that. All his instincts, all his senses, his whole being was directed to catching his prey, the Golden Snitch. He just couldn't stop before he'd caught it. Peter knew this, as well as he knew how uneasy Remus felt about it once he'd come to the ground, no matter how free and right he'd felt in the air. Therefore, he needed just what kind of comfort his friend and fiancé needed.

And for that, Remus was more grateful than anything.

The Marauders, like they were calling themselves, departed from the pitch after Remus and James had been told the training schelude. Sirius vowed to try out for a Beater as soon as the two who were in the position, fifth-years both, would graduate. Of course, Peter didn't say anything - he wasterrified of heights - but he was genuinely happy for his two friends who had just made it to the Quidditch team.

As soon as they got to the Common Room, Sirius grinned wickedly. "Who wants to throw our new Seeker into the air?" he yelled, grapping Remus's hand and lifting it up, clearly indicating who he was talking about.

"Lupin made it to the Seeker?" laughed Jeremy Potter, James's second cousin from sixth year. "Aye, congratulations, little one - and I do mean it!" At this, the whole Common Room bursted into laughter, Remus flushing fiercely.

"Let him be," Peter said, rolling his eyes. "It's not Remie's fault that he's small!"

"Better keep quiet, Pettigrew," grinned Thomas Olson from fifth year, grasping the fair-headed boy from the waist and lifting him up with ease, causing Peter to cry out in surprise. "You're not that big yourself!"

"Stop teasing them," Lily Evans snapped from the corner, and Olson let the grumbling Peter back to the floor. Even though she was only the boys' age, Lily was brilliant in Charms, and nobody wanted harms with her. Being a Muggleborn, she'd at first been terrified to find out that all the Marauders had been engaged for almost their whole lives - and to men, no less - but eventually, she'd come to accept the wizarding customs. She'd actually formed a kind of friendship with Remus and Peter, who weren't quite as loud and wild as their two darkhaired friends, even though they pulled their own fair share of pranks.

"You forgot something, prat," James said, nudging Sirius on the ribs. "Remus's not the only one who got to the team!"

"What, you, too, baby boy?" the older Potter laughed, but with no malice behind his words. "The day's truly full of surprises!"

"What do you mean?" asked Remus curiously, soon forgetting the teasing, like he always did. "Has something else happened?"

"You bet," said Jeremy, his eyes twinkling. "Do you remember Lucius Malfoy? He was in Slytherin, graduated last year."

"I wish I could forget," grumbled Sirius under his breath, clearly still hateful towards his fiancé, but then nodded along with the other boys.

"Well, he's going to be back," continued the older boy, seemingly not noticing Sirius's quiet words. "As a Potions assistant, if I recall correctly. To complete some sort of a test or something."

"The Potions Master's test," supplied Jenna Alonso from Jeremy's year. "And after he's done that, he'll probably start teaching Potions alone."

At this, Sirius's jaw fell open in shock. Then he let out a little, strangled cry, turned around on his heels, and rushed out of the room.

"What's wrong with him?" Olson wondered. "He's usually not that shocked about anything!"

"If I may remind you, Sirius is engaged to the Malfoy guy," James said dryly as he walked after his friend. "They definitely don't get along well, and now you just informed him that he's not getting rid of the Slytherin for even a couple of years."

"Oh." Jeremy's face fell in genuine compassion. "Tell him that I'm sorry for him, okay? Malfoy's an arrogant snob at best, and usually, he's even worse than that."

"I don't think Sirius needs to be reminded about that," Remus snapped, then he and Peter followed James to their dormitory.

When the three got there, they found Sirius sitting on his bed, staring down to his slightly trembling hands. James sat down next to him, putting a comforting arm over his shoulder. Peter and Remus sat on Peter's bed opposite to Sirius's, watching their two friends.

"Calm down, Sirius," James said quietly. "It can't be that bad, mate. I mean, at least you don't have to do anything but stand him until you hit sixteen!"

"Don't remind me about that," Sirius groaned in desperation. "It's bad enough to know that he'll be looming around for my whole schooltime. Knowing that I'm supposed to get intimate with him in less than four years is enough to make me want to throw up!"

Remus's fingers tangled gently with Peter's. "James is right, Siri," he said soothingly. "As long as you're under sixteen, he's just like any other teacher to you. There's no need to panic. Instead, you could see this as an opportunity to try and get to at least some kind of understanding with him!"

"That's actually a good idea," Peter agreed. "Besides, most probably he doesn't want you any more than you want him. Maybe he'll let you in peace even when you're older."

"Or maybe he has some kink for younger guys," Sirius muttered angrily. "And don't forget that our parents are expecting us to be already together during the Christmas holiday on my sixth year. We'll have to hold hands, cuddle, kiss, and sleep in the same room - preferably in the same bed!"

"You're not a sissy, Sirius, you can handle that," Remus said jovially. "Surely you won't let that make you depressed, at least not years beforehand? And you should concider yourself lucky, nobody in their right mind could say that Malfoy isn't quite a looker."

"Thanks for that, Remus," James said, glaring at his sandy-haired friend. "Do you absolutely have to remind me of my own excuse-of-a-human fiancé?" It hadn't taken the others more than a couple of days in the beginning of their first year to comprehend that James was engaged to Severus Snape. Even less time they'd needed to understand that the two did indeed hate each other with a deep passion.

Now, however, Remus frowned. "You aren't fair, James," he said seriously. "Snape isn't that bad looking, actually. I mean, of course he's not a stunner, but if you could look past your attitude you would see that he's not bad. At the very least, your future kids won't start crying at the sight of their father."

As he said this, James grimaced with a pained expression. "Was that really necessary?" he asked with an almost pleading tone. "It's bad enough to know that we'll have to be married, so don't even mention any possible kids."

"Speaking of which, do you two plan having children?" hasted Sirius to ask, noticing his best friend's irritated mood.

Peter and Remus glanced at each other, then shrugged. "That'd be nice, I guess," said the werewolf. "Besides, dad'd go berserk if he he didn't get an heir. Yes, I think we will, if only certain... aspects... of the issue are taken care of."

James and Sirius both nodded in understanding. They'd found out about Remus's Lycanthropy in the end of their first year, and to the tiny boy's great surprise, they didn't mind it. But, they were also aware that Remus was terribly afraid of infecting somebody with his curse, and especially terrified he was by the thought of his children inheriting it. It could be prevented, of course, but they couple would need to be careful when having children.

Just as the silence was becoming pressuring, Remus yawned loudly. As the others chuckled, he gave them a sheepish grin. "I couldn't prevent it," he mumbled, "the full moon is just a day ahead... And after the try-outs, I'm tired."

Peter merely smiled, then pushed Remus backwards on the bed until he was lying down. Completely ignoring his fiancé's half-hearted protests, he summoned an extra blanket from Remus's bed and covered the other boy. Soon, Remus was asleep, and Peter was sitting next to him, concentrated on his Transfiguration book, his left hand slightly stroking the sleeping boy's hair.

The two darkhaired boys glanced at each other, a bit envious to their friends. Even though they were best friends, more like brothers even, they knew they'd never achieve such closeness and understanding as they now saw before them. And, they'd definitely never experience anything like that with their supposed-to-be spouses.

Sighing quietly in unison, they stood up, departing silently to leave the two smaller boys alone.