A Different Fate, Part I: The Marauders' Story

Warm sunlight poured through a large bay window whose ivory curtains had been pulled back. The soft twittering of birds flowed in with the cool breeze through the bay window which had been slightly opened. The room this window belonged to was large, yet simple, and filled with various pieces of mahogany furniture. The Cream-colored walls were adorned with pictures of friends and family, posters of various Quidditch teams and musical groups, both Muggle and magical. A dresser with a mirror sat across from the bay window with various toiletries; such as a toothbrush, deodorant, a bar of soap, and a few other things scattered about. Occupying the wall adjacent to the window was a tall bookcase, whose shelves were filled with muggle classics, school and children's books, Muggle and magical alike, and various wizard trinkets and novelties. At the very top, in a glass orb, rested a golden snitch. A burgundy rug had been placed in the center of the room, blanketing the pine floor. Clothes, quills, parchment, a spilled bottle of ink, and a box of stale Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans were scattered about the room, most of which were on the floor. Lined up against the wall, between the dresser and the bay window, were three full sized beds, each occupied by a sleeping body.

Sirius Black opened his eyes and immediately squinted as the sunlight made contact with them. He sat up, yawned, and looked at his two best friends sleeping in the two beds on either side of him. To his right was his partner in crime, his brother from another mother, the infamous James Harry Potter. He was a very handsome boy with jet black hair that was always unruly and, it did not help that he was always running his hands through it to make it look windswept. A pair of black, round-rimmed glasses, which normally sat on his long, thin nose in front of a pair of hazel eyes, sat on a bed side table. He was tall and muscular, and his skin had a slight tan. James was into the preppy look while Sirius was totally opposite. Straight black hair fell elegantly around his head and into his deep blue eyes. A charming, yet mischievous smile was nearly always plastered across his handsome face. He was taller than James, but not by much, standing at about 6'3, while James was an even six feet tall. Sirius was also more muscular. His taste in clothing was more relaxed and comfortable; he enjoyed worn looking jeans and loose fitting t-shirts. James enjoyed his cleaned-up demeanor.

James moaned and rolled out of bed, landing on the floor with a loud thud.

"Bugger," he uttered in a raspy voice. Sirius let out a string of bark-like laughs, ignoring the glares James was sending him. James grasped his comforter and pulled it down to the floor, wrapping it around himself. Rolling out of bed wearing merely a pair of blue and white boxers made him feel quite chilly. All this commotion triggered the awakening of the last boy in the room. Remus Lupin sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. James and Sirius looked over, suddenly feeling guilty. Remus was a werewolf and had undergone a transformation just two nights ago. The changes left him weak, tired, and in pain for a week every month.

"Sorry Moony-we didn't mean to wake you. We know you're tired," Sirius said sincerely. Remus just waved his hand nonchalantly.

"It's quite alright, P-P-Padfoot. I never sleep much anyway," he said stifling a yawn. Remus Lupin had brown hair that was usually messy, but unlike James, was from a lack of caring. Warm brown eyes and a charming smile rested on his tired, yet handsome, face. He was the shortest between the three of them standing at 5'10. He was slim and muscular and was pale most of the time. The only physical feature he was proud of was a five o' clock shadow that gave him a somewhat rugged appearance. Due to his "furry little problem", as his friends liked to call it, he had begun to grow facial hair at a much younger age than his friends. He was the first and only Marauder so far to grow facial hair, something James and Sirius were openly jealous about. His style was much like Sirius', perhaps a bit more grungy though, which was also a result of just not caring.

Remus pulled a face before asking, "Why is Prongs on the floor? Did he sleep there?" Sirius began to snicker, receiving death glares from James.

"Jamsie-poo here is just feeling a tad bit clumsy this morning. Isn't that right, sunshine?" Sirius batted his eyelashes at his best friend, sending Remus into a fit of uncharacteristic giggles. James just ignored his best mates and stood up, but, as he went to take a step, tripped over his comforter and fell face first, sending Remus and Sirius into fits of hysterical laughter.

"Will you two prats shut the bloody hell up?" James yelled in frustration. He was feeling rather nettled at the moment. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. His mind had been focused on Lily Evans, the one girl at Hogwarts he could not have, and as it just so happened, was the only girl he had ever really wanted. Was life always this ironic and cruel?

"Easy, darling, PMSing is Moony's job." As soon as he said that, Sirius felt a pillow collide with the side of his face.

"You're going to regret that, Moony!" Sirius laughed jovially as he grabbed his pillow and thrust it at Remus. The three of them ended up engaging in a pillow fight, which quickly turned into a wrestling match with Sirius as the winner. Afterwards, they quickly got dressed and headed outside for an early morning walk in the forest behind Potter Manor.

Not too far was a small clearing in which a babbling brook passed through. The area was nicely shaded from the sun and made a great place or them to come and run around, shouting and laughing without a care in the world, when they were younger. James laid himself down by the brook while Remus settled himself under a tall birch tree and Sirius sat in a small patch of grass- their usual spots.

"You know, these are the last days of summer, and normally I'd be excited to go back to Hogwarts, but this year it feels different." James gave Sirius a quizzical look.

"How so, Padfoot?"

"Well, it's our last year, mate. Our last year. In just ten short months we're going to graduate and be thrown into the real world to fend for ourselves without a clue as to what we'll be facing. I won't say I'm not afraid because I am. We're not kids anymore. We're no longer the ignorant little boys who used to run about this forest without a care. No longer can we be the little boys who thought drinking Firewhisky was cool, or who found pulling childish pranks on innocent students and having belching contests was entertaining. We have to be men now because time is moving fast and will not apologize. This is it. This is truly the end of our child hood. We used to always dream for this day to come and felt it could never come fast enough. But now, it feels like it came too fast." He had an uncharacteristic serious look on his face as he turned to look at his friends. "We can never go back."

Remus spoke in a solemn voice when he responded. "We always knew that one day the pranks and childish ways would have to end, Padfoot, but no matter what, we are always going to be friends. At least we won't have to do it alone. Sure it's intimidating because we have no idea how things are going to play out. All we can do is hope things go smoothly and, even though hope is not always enough, we still have to have it. You just have to hope for the best, Sirius."

"Yeah..." Sirius trailed off quietly. They sat in silence for a few minutes. James was the first to break the silence.

"Do you blokes regret anything?" he asked. "Like, if you had the chance to go back and change something, would you?"

"Now that I think about it," Sirius answered first, "I regret the way I treated girls. I really regret never getting to know any of them. I regret breaking so many hearts and not even attempting to have a real relationship. I regret not finding someone that I could love." He paused and then added as an afterthought, "I wish I would have had better table manners too."

"You believe in true love, Pads?" James asked shocked.

"Surprising, isn't it? But, yes, I do very much. I want to get married and have lots of kids that I can spoil and smother with love that I never received from my own family. I want to find a partner, but I don't want just anyone. I want some one who is going to love me for me. I know I'm far from perfect; my table manners are very poor, I scratch in public, eat when I'm bored, and I can be a tremendous git, but I want someone who is going to love me regardless of all that. Someone who is going to accept my flaws and love me for me, someone who will smile at me every morning instead of just frowning and rolling over to go back to sleep. I want to find a soul mate."

"Who would have thought Sirius to be a true Romeo searching for his Juliet," Remus said grinning. "How about you, Prongs?" he redirected the question. "Anything you regret?"

"Yeah, I regret asking Lily out everyday since first year. I had thought, that, with persistence she would cave, but she is much more strong-willed then I gave her credit for. I regret strutting around Hogwarts like I was the big shit because it only pushed her away. I also regret not being more cautious when hexing Snivellus. She always managed to be somewhere near, ready to scream in my face, slap me, or call me a pig-headed arrogant prat. How those words sting." He gave a weak laugh.

"Those did seem pretty painful," Sirius agreed, touching the side of his face.

James turned his attention to Moony. "Do you regret anything, Remy?" he asked curiously.

Sirius answered for him, "Of course he doesn't. Remus always did everything right. He's like Mister Right or something."

Remus grinned softly at his friend's musings. "Actually-" he lay down to stare up at the clear blue sky, "I regret everything." Before his friends could question him he continued. "Remus Lupin. A Marauder, yes, but not a real one. I never pulled any pranks; instead I was the brains behind them. I've only ever had one girlfriend who ended up cheating on me. I've always followed school rules and handed in my homework without one question blank. I always took notes in History of Magic instead of doing what I really wanted to do and go to sleep. I always limited myself to certain things because I felt becoming too involved or social would somehow result in my secret being exposed. I always felt as though everyone could see that I'm a monster, and I pretty much lived in paranoia because of it. I never let people really get to know who I am for fear of them discovering what I am. I wish I would have allowed myself to really enjoy Hogwarts in its entirety and not just focus on the academic part. I regret watching everyone play in the snow while I had my nose in a bloody book studying or something. I regret being such a coward. However, if there is one thing that I do not regret, it's forming the Marauders and making the few close friends I have. I never thought in my wildest imagination that I would have friends like you because of what I am, but you blokes accepted me. I wouldn't change being a Marauder for the world."

"You're right- we are pretty fantastic," Sirius said with his winning smile.

"Oh, shut up."

James looked at Remus and spoke to him, "So, Moony, are you still head over heels for that Emily Airheart girl from Hufflepuff?"

"More like Emily Airhead," Sirius chimed in.

Remus just grinned and shook his head. He pretended to flip his hair and let out a shrill giggle. "As if!" he uttered in a stereotypical blonde voice.

James and Sirius went into balls of laughter. Remus joined them. After a few minutes, James caught his breath and wiped away a tear.

"I swear, Moony, you can be so funny at times," he said.

"I try," Remus replied.

"But seriously, Moony, are you into anyone?" Sirius eyed his friend curiously.

"Why do you care?"

"That's most definitely a yes. What's her name?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Why not?"

"Well, not now at least. I'll tell you mates some other time."

"You're no fun, Moony," Sirius replied, sticking out his tongue.

"Very mature, Padfoot."

"I know."

A comfortable silence followed, the three pondering their own thoughts.

"You know," James spoke up, "we should make a check list of goals for our seventh year."

"Really? And how should we go about forming this list?" Remus questioned, sounding interested.

"Simple- we'll write down on a piece of parchment" - he pulled a wrinkly piece of parchment out his pocket- "the things we want to achieve during our last year at Hogwarts based on what we regret from the previous six years. By the end of the year, each thing should be checked off. If not then whoever did not reach his goal will have to sport pink hair for a week. After all, it is our last year at Hogwarts, so why don't we make it the best of them all. The Marauders are not going to leave without a bang. "

"Well, it sounds like a challenge. I'm all for it. What do you say, Padfoot?"

"Definitely." The boys then proceeded to make up this list. When finished, in curvy gold and maroon letters, this is what it said:

The Marauders' List

James

1. Win Lily's heart at all costs.

2. Cut down on hexing the Slytherins (with the exception of Snape).

3. Be a gentleman around Lily.

Sirius

1. Find true love.

2. Practice better table manners.

3. Do not snog random girls.

Remus

1. Let people in, especially those close to you.

2. Take a chance.

3. Follow your heart, not your logic.

Once they were satisfied with this list, they charmed it so no one else may be able to read it.

Sirius cocked his head and asked, "Do you think we should let Peter in on this? He definitely could use some goals."

"I don't think so," James responded. "Peter has been really weird since the end of last year. He has become so distant, and I only received one letter from him all summer. I don't know what's up with him, but I think the four of us need to have a little chat once we return to school. Until then I don't think we should let him in on much of anything. He seems to have forgotten we're his friends."

James sounded just the smallest bit hurt. They didn't blame him. In their first year, it had been James who had taken pity on the small round boy who was always in the corner by himself reading or eating chocolates his mum had sent him. James felt sorry for him and invited him to join the Marauders. Up until then, Peter had been a no body without any friends. It was selfish of him to suddenly be so cold to them.

"Okay, Prongs, you call the shots," Sirius replied while stretching.

"Come on, I'm starving and we still have to go to Diagon Alley to get some things from the joke shop before my parents get home." James stood up and his friends followed suit.

"Hey, Prongs, is it alright if Patch comes over and stays for the last couple of days? She just got kicked out," Sirius asked tentatively.

"Of course she can. Tell her to floo over as soon as possible. She can have breakfast and come to Diagon Alley with us."

Aurora Dahlia Black, better known to the Marauders as "Patch" or "Patchie," was Sirius Black's twin sister. The two had a bond stronger than most siblings as they had the same beliefs, causing them both to be shunned by their family. When they were sorted into Gryffindor, they had both been burned off the family tapestry- not that they were too disappointed about it. If it hadn't been for her, Sirius felt he would have gone insane in that house. The two were so close that from the time that they were seven years old, a connection had formed in their minds and they were able to communicate mentally, no matter how far away the other was. Sometimes, if they focused hard enough, they had the ability to read each other's thoughts. When Sirius had run away from Grimmauld Place, the only reason Aurora had stayed behind was because of Regulus, their younger brother. She always had hoped that he would turn out better then the rest of the Blacks. Sirius tried to reason with her and tell her that he would never change. He had tried so hard to convince her to accompany him, but she was too stubborn.

"Thanks a lot, Prongs. I really appreciate it," Sirius said gratefully.

"Anytime, Pads, I love Patchie, she's like a sister to me."

The three friends headed back together silently. When they reached the path back to Potter Manor, Remus looked back.

"Did you fellows notice how quiet the brook was today?" James and Sirius nodded in response.

"It seems the one day we choose to listen, she has nothing to say." Remus sighed sadly. He turned and began walking again, his friends in tow.

Together, they left behind the last piece of their childhood.