Into the Pensieve: The Marauders's Past

Chapter One: Wormtail's New Friends

"Hurry up, Prongs!" Sirius Black yelled out of an open window near the back of the scarlet steam engine that was pulled into Platform 9¾ at King's Cross.

"I'm coming!" James Potter shouted back over the heads of other students that were hurriedly boarding the Hogwarts Express. James shook his jet-black hair out of his blue eyes and struggled to get a better grip on his heavy trunk that he was trying to haul up the steps of the train. The train whistle began to blow shrilly, signaling that the Express was about to leave the platform.

"Need some help?" a slightly hoarse voice said at his shoulder.

James smiled as he recognized the voice. "Please and thank you, Moony," he said, stepping over the trunk onto the train.

Remus Lupin bent down and in one deft move he picked up the trunk with ease and walked onto the train, following James, who was leading him to a compartment near the back of the engine.

As the train began to move, slowly at first then faster, James and Remus came to a compartment that was occupied by three people.

There were two boys and one girl in the small room. The girl was pretty and had long, thick crimson hair and astonishingly green eyes. Across from her was a short, squat boy with small, watery eyes and a pointed nose. The other boy was tall and muscular. He had dark hair that casually fell into his chocolate eyes and was very good-looking.

The girl smiled at James, whose stomach did a flip-flop. "Hi," she said sweetly. She scooted over on the seat to make room for him, and then went back to reading a thick, dragon-skin-bound book.

James sat down next to her. "Hi," he said dreamily. Then he turned to the short boy. "Hi, Peter...how are you?"

"Fine," Peter squeaked back quietly.

James turned to the handsome boy. "Hey, Sirius. How was your summer?"

"Oh, you know, the usual; it was horrible, excruciatingly boring and uneventful, and my soul was repeatedly tormented," he said, grimacing and closing his eyes in mock pain.

"Oh, stop being such a melodramatic Prima Dona," the girl said without looking up from her book.

"Awww, is ickle widdle Lilykins feeling a teensy bit cwanky?" Sirius said sarcastically.

Lily scowled at him but didn't say anything. She began reading again, which made James curious as to what was so interesting in that book.

"What are you reading, Lils?" he asked curiously.

"It's the newest. Revised edition of Hogwarts, a History," she answered without looking up.

"Oh...How was your summer?" James said, attempting to engage in conversation with her.

"Oh, it was wonderful!" Lily said enthusiastically. "I vacationed in Sweden and learned about some ancient Muggle history there.

"Wow, that sounds fun."

"Yeah, it was."

"Hey, who are the prefects this year?" Sirius asked randomly, smiling. "We need to see which brown-noses we get to push around this year!"

"I'm one of the prefects," Lily snarled. Her green eyes flashed dangerously.

"And me," Remus said. His face was very red from either anger or embarrassment.

Far from looking abashed, Sirius broke into a triumphant smile. "This is GREAT!" he said ecstatically, causing everyone to stare at him.

"'Great'?" Lily said. Her eyebrows rose.

"Yeah, don't you see?" Nobody said anything, which seemed to answer Sirius's question. "With you guys as the Gryffindor prefects, we can get away with loads of stuff!"

"Now hold on one minute! You are not going to take advantage of Remus and me!" Lily said angrily. She stood up suddenly, causing her book to fall to the floor.

James hurriedly bent to pick it up as Sirius opened his mouth to protest.

"We wouldn't take advantage of you, we would just...slide out of trouble easier," Sirius said, grinning slyly.

"If you think that we're just going to let you off because you're our friend-"

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry I mentioned it. I promise we won't get into trouble. I promise." But it was obvious that Sirius wasn't going to keep that promise.

* * *

The rest of the train ride was uneventful. Finally, as the sky began to grow dark and overcast, the train shuddered to a stop at the Hogsmeade station.

Peter exited the train first, followed by James and Lily, who were holding hands, Sirius, and Remus brought up the rear. The Marauders quickly found a carriage and began to board it.

James and Lily sat together and gazed out the window together, Lily having put away her book.

Peter sat by Sirius across from them. There was a pause before Remus came in and shut the door.

"What took you, Moony?" Sirius said absently.

Remus hesitated before answering, as though he were deciding whether to tell them or not. He ran his hands through his light brown hair and his matching eyes looked down at the tattered red carpet. "I was encouraging the Thestral that is pulling our carriage to try and get to the castle before it rain," he said at last, indicating the dark clouds that were threatening to pour sheets of water down on them. Everyone must have looked puzzled because he continued. "Well, I have a feeling this carriage will leak, you see."

"You can...I m-mean," Peter stammered quietly, his small eyes darting around, looking for eavesdroppers. "Y-you can, well...er, you can s-see them?"

Remus nodded, still looking at the floor.

"Who did you see die?" Sirius asked. "OUCH!"

Lily had kicked him in the shins.

"What was that for?" he asked angrily, rubbing where she had kicked him.

Lily just glared furiously at him.

"My, um...my brother. He was killed by a Death-eater," Remus said bitterly, staring determinedly at the floor.

The group sat in an uncomfortable silence the rest of the way to the castle.

The carriage finally rumbled to a stop when they reached the looming gray castle. Remus got out first this time, then Sirius, then Lily and James. Peter came out last.

Sirius bounded happily up the castle steps and stopped halfway, sniffing the air in an almost dog-like manner. "Smell that?" he shouted happily over the heads of other students that were making their way to the Great Hall. "Dinner!"

Lily and James, however, were waiting for Remus, who was pulling a burr out of the (to most onlookers) invisible Thestral's mane. "You coming, Moony?" James said uncertainly, exchanging an uneasy look with Lily as Remus patted the Thestral on his head.

"Yeah," Remus said, abandoning the animal and following James and Lily through the crowd to Sirius. Sirius was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet in anticipation. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" he said anxiously.

"You haven't changed since last year at all: you still have a heart attack over food!" Lily laughed.

"Oh, my heart!" Sirius joked, grabbing his chest and grimacing in mock pain.

Everyone laughed, even Remus smiled appreciatively. As they walked into the Great Hall, however, James's smile disappeared as he realized someone was missing. Why didn't I notice before, he asked himself. Probably because he is so quiet, he answered himself. "Hey, Sirius, where's Wormtail?"

"I thought he was with you," Sirius said in a genuinely perplexed voice.

"Nope," James said.

"Hmmm...I definitely saw him get out of the carriage," Lily said ponderingly as they all sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Well, better save a spot for him. Will you do the honors, Moony?"

"Happy to, Prongs," Remus said absently. James sat down between Sirius and Lily, with Remus on Sirius's left. Remus appeared to be looking for someone, when suddenly he tapped Sirius's shoulder. "Found him."

"Who?" James said, leaning around Sirius to talk to Remus.

"Who else? A certain Peter Pettigrew," Remus said calmly, still staring at one spot across the hall.

"Where?" James, Sirius, and Lily said in unison.

"There with...Snape. And the other Slytherins," Remus said as he pointed across the room to the farthest table.

Sure enough, Peter walked out from the middle of a crowd of Slytherins with a fifth year who had chin-length, greasy black hair and a hooked nose.

"Snivellus?" Sirius said in an astonished voice.

"Yep."

Severus Snape escorted Peter half of the way to the Gryffindor table, then returned to his own. Peter sat down in the seat that Remus had saved, oblivious to the fact that his friends were all staring at him fixedly at him.

"What?" he squeeked when he finally notices their looks.

"Why were you over there?" James said suspiciously.

"With Snape, of all people?" Sirius added accusingly.

"I-I was...er, I was j-just-"

Right then, though, Professor McGonagall came into the Great Hall, leading a gaggle of nervous-looking first years. McGonagall set a three-legged stool down on the floor and placed a tattered black wizard's hat on it. Everyone in the Hall stared at the hat, which opened a rip in its brim wide like a mouth and began to sing:

"Oh, I'm a hat of the sorting sort;

I used to reside in the founders' court.

Put me on and I think you'll find

That you cannot hide from me your mind.

I can hear your thoughts easily,

Nothing you think can be missed by me.

Modest though I may not be,

Your past and future I can see.

In Gryffindor you will stay

If you are brave of heart every day.

Or perhaps in Ravenclaw you will lie

If you use your mind more than by-and-by.

In Hufflepuff you shall fit

If you always work hard, bit-by-bit.

Maybe in Slytherin you will reign

But only if pure blood you do not feign.

So don't be afraid; put me on!

(I assure you that I am never wrong.)

I apologize, I know it wasn't long,

But this is the end of my song."

The Hall burst into roaring applause and the hat inclined its tip in a sort of bow. McGonagall stood up once more and shouted to the Great Hall, "Let the Sorting begin!" She looked down at her list and began to read off the names.

"Allercon, Levonia!"

A short girl with a very round face and long, dark braids walked up and sat on the stool. McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on the girl's head.

There was a pause, then:

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table next to Gryffindor's exploded with applause and whistles. The girl smiled and sat down at the table.

"Baker, Acteona!"

A pale girl with short, thick sandy-blonde hair and wide brown eyes walked up to the front. She didn't look nervous at all, which was more than James could say for most of her quivering peers.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James clapped and cheered with the rest of the table as the girl sat down near the front.

McGonagall began to read the next name but James suddenly became aware that Sirius and Remus were talking in hushed voices and leaned closer to join in.

"...doesn't make any sense, Padfoot, none at all," Remus was saying quietly. "Why would Peter be in contact with Snape? And all summer? It doesn't add up."

"Well, my...um, my sources," Sirius whispered the last word as if it was a bitter-tasting poison. "say that Snape, Avery, Lestrange and themselves have been sending and receiving letters from him."

"Are your sources reliable?" Remus asked, frowning.

"Well, er...not all the time...but this time I'm sure they're telling the truth!" he added quickly at the look on Remus's face.

"Who are your informants?" James asked, looking around to see if anyone was listening.

Sirius bit his lip and his eyebrows furrowed. He looked uncomfortably apprehensive. He obviously didn't want to say.

"You can trust us, Padfoot. We won't tell anyone," Remus assured him as James nodded in agreement.

Sirius still looked uneasy, but he decided to confess to them.

"Bellatrix and Narcissa," he said, so quietly that his friends had to lean in to hear him properly.

"When did you see them over the summer?" Remus asked quietly.

"At a, um...at a family reunion," Sirius said uncertainly.

James was startled. "B-but I thought you said it's a coincidence that their surname is Black!"

"Sh, sh," Sirius hushed him. "I lied, so sue me! I didn't want anyone to know I was related to them...them and their pure-blood nonsense...evil gits, they are," he added angrily.

"We won't tell anyone, don't worry," Remus said.

"Yeah, we promise," James agreed.

"Okay," Sirius said, and with that they watched as the last person was sorted.

It was a small boy with short, dark hair, freckles, and blue eyes.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuff table applauded, and then quieted as Professor Dumbledore stood up, sweeping his long white hair and beard out of the way. He gazed at them all, his blue eyes twinkling over the rims of his gold, half-moon spectacles. "I am so glad you have all come to Hogwarts. I am going to make sure that my speech is short, so you can fill all of your audibly rumbling stomachs with the delicious food that has been prepared for you. But first, I must tell all the first years, and remind all of my older students," his eyes twinkled in Sirius and James's direction. "that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to all those who do not wish to be trampled by a Thestral or centaur, or gored by a unicorn. Or," he added as an afterthought. "turned into a werewolf."

James, Sirius, and Remus grinned sheepishly at one another.

"So, with that out of the way," Dumbledore continued. "Let the feast begin."

To the astonishment of the first years, all of the gold plates and trays that had a second before been empty magically filled themselves with all different types of food. James, who suddenly felt ravenous, helped himself to a little bit of everything.

"Finally!" Sirius said happily, cutting up his steak. Suddenly he felt eyes on his face and looked around for the culprit. His gaze fell on a first year with short, sandy-blonde hair. Her large brown eyes widened when she saw that he had seen her staring at him, and she turned away quickly. "Hey, Prongs, did you catch any of the sorting?"

"Yeah, why?" James said, his mouth full of food.

"Who's that girl right there?" he pointed with his fork.

James looked and recognized the familiar little girl. "I think her name was Acteona something-or-other."

"Hmmm..."

"Why do you ask?"

"She was staring at me and I was just wondering who she was."

"Oh, is that all? She probably fancies you or something."

"What? Don't be a prat, Prongs! I don't even know her, and she certainly doesn't know me!"

"Okay, whatever you say, Padfoot. Pass the pudding."

Sirius obliged and continued eating. He thought no more of Acteona for a while.

After dinner was over Lily and Remus stood up to lead the first years to their dormitories.

"First years follow us, please!" Lily shouted to the table, beckoning to them all.

James, Peter, and Sirius hurried to the front with Remus. Suddenly the hairs on Sirius's neck stood on end; someone was looking at him again. Sirius turned in every direction until he saw Acteona. This time she didn't look away when he caught her staring, but she did turn a bright pink color.

Sirius nudged James in the ribs with his elbow.

"What?" James answered promptly.

"Look, that Acteona girl is watching me again," Sirius whispered in James's ear without taking his eyes of her.

James looked around, saw her, and frowned. "Looks like she fancies you to me," he said calmly.

"Well, Prongs, what exactly do you propose I do about it?"

"Just ignore her...she'll get the message soon enough."

"Fine," Sirius agreed. He turned away from the girl and followed the others up the stairs.

At last they reached a painting of a very fat lady in a pink, silk dress. "Password?" she said haughtily.

"Black Annis," Lily said, loudly enough for everyone to hear her.

With that the painting swung open to reveal a hole in which everyone began to scramble through to get into the Gryffindor Common Room.

The Marauders and Lily took seats in several large, overstuffed armchairs beside the fire.

Sirius was uncharacteristically silent for a bit and the others were starting to enjoy it when Acteona came up to Sirius and sat in an armchair beside him. She stared at him for a few minutes before speaking.

"What's your name?" She said. Her voice was very bouncy and light and happy. She seemed very carefree.

Sirius glanced at James long enough to mouth, "Just ignore her, she'll get the message soon enough!" before turning back to Acteona. "Uh, Sirius...Sirius Black," he said apprehensively.

"Oh. Hello, Sirius Black. I'm Acteona Baker. I'm a first year. I never knew I was a witch, because I'm Muggle-born. What about you?" she said very fast.

"Uh, I'm a pure-blood, myself. Fifth year," he said hesitantly with another quick glance at James, who smirked.

Suddenly Remus coughed. Acteona looked over at them as if she just realized they were there, even though they had been staring fixedly at the pair the whole time. "And what are your names?" she asked them with the air of someone who was talking to small children.

"I'm Remus Lupin."

"P-peter Pettigrew."

"James Potter, at your service."

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans. I'm a Muggle-born too."

"You are?" Acteona said, suddenly interested. "Professor Flitwick speaks most highly of you. Everyone says that if you need help on Charms homework, turn to Lily Evans. And James Potter," she continued, turning to him. "you are a transfiguration idol. Everyone in first year has heard of you. Is true that by the end of first year you could turn an owl into a quill?"

"Oh, well, yes. I could do that," James said, blushing slightly.

"And Peter Pettigrew, huh? Well, Professor Sprout seems to like you. You're very good in Herbology."

Peter squeaked his delight that she'd heard of him.

"And I know you as well, Remus Lupin. You are good in Defense Against the Dark Arts, are you not? Professor Weston always sets you as an example. 'Just look at Remus Lupin, he was able to ward off Grindylows and deal with boggarts at the age of 11.'" Acteona said, mimicking the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor perfectly.

Remus looked down, embarrassed. "Only because my mum used to teach it and she taught me," he replied modestly.

"The teachers also speak of you quite often, Sirius Black," she said.

Sirius smiled and crossed his arms, obviously expecting a compliment.

"Today, this boy in my class, Davey Lenelli, 'accidently' lit his match (that he was supposed to be turning into a needle) on fire and it set off a load of Filibuster Fireworks that he just happened to carrying in his backpack," Acteona said without taking a breath. "Well, after the fireworks were put out, Professor McGonagall said 'Oh, great; another Sirius Black.' I'd say you've pulled a few pranks before?"

Sirius smiled and shrugged. "What can I say? Sometimes the classes need some livening up!"

"McGonagall said you'd be an absolute genius if you didn't use your intellect to pull jokes and jests. Mind, she also said that you," she looked directly at James. "are a troublemaker as well. You just don't seem to be going for the 'Most Detentions Ever Gotten at Hogwarts' record."

Everyone laughed. This girl wasn't so bad. She certainly was at ease with students much older than herself.

"Well, I must be getting to bed," she said, standing up. "Good night. Nice to meet you all."

"Good night," the Marauders chorused.

"Nice to meet you too," Lily called.

After Acteona had gone up to bed, the others began to get back into conversation.

"She's very outgoing, isn't she?" James said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, she's not shy at all!" Remus said in a highly amused tone.

"Well, Sirius, she obviously likes you," Lily said as James gave Sirius an I-told-you-so look.

Sirius gave Lily his most arrogant smile that showed off his perfectly straight, dazzlingly white teeth.

"Of course she does. Who could resist me?"

Lily rolled her eyes and scowled, trying (but not entirely successfully) to hide her smile. She turned to James. "How can you possibly be friends with such a conceited rat?"

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Peter protested jokingly.

"Forgive me, Peter, what I meant to say was: How can you be friends with such a conceited mutt?"

Sirius had a look of mock hurt on his face a he grimaced as if in pain. "I am appalled! Excuse me, milady, but I happen to be a purebred pedigree!" He grinned mischievously at her, his eyes twinkling.

"Purebred what? Chihuahua?" Lily kidded, laughing.

Sirius laughed good-naturedly. "Well, what exactly would you be if you were an animagus?" he said quietly so no one would overhear. "A tomato?" Sirius pointed to her dark red hair.

"No, I'd probably be a-"

"Cat?" Remus interjected.

"I'd chase her!" Sirius chuckled.

"No-"

"Nah, I suppose you wouldn't be a cat, would you?" Sirius said, his eyes gleaming happily. "Cats are known for their balance and you are known for your-"

"Grace?" Lily said hopefully, knowing that there was no way Sirius was complimenting her.

"Lack of it, more like," Remus said playfully.

"Moony, you're being far too generous. Clumsiness-"

"Klutziness-"

"I get it! Fine, not a cat...I'd be a-"

"Orangutan?"

"Green-eyed tree frog?"

"Maybe if you mated those last two..."

"Fine! I give up! I admit that I have been defeated by you guys, okay?" Lily said exasperatedly.

Sirius stood up. "Presenting the champions: the only boys," he paused and looked at Lily. "who have ever defeated Lily Evans in an argument. We have Remus Lupin! And, drum roll please, Sirius Black! Yeah! Go us!"

"Shhhh!" half of the Common Room chorused and went back to their homework.

Peter yawned and got up. He was halfway to the dormitories when Sirius said, "Where're you going, Wormtail?"

"T-to...erm...to bed, yes! To bed!! I'm just going to bed," Peter stammered nervously. James saw his eyes dart to the portrait hole and back.

"So soon, P-p-peter?" James said, trying in vain to stifle a yawn.

"Y-yes...I-er-I'm rather tired and I'd, well...I'd better go to bed," Peter stuttered in reply. With that he turned around and waddled quickly up to the room he shared with Remus, Sirius, and James.

Lily frowned after him. "He's been acting quite strangely lately, hasn't he?"

There was a moment of silence. Suddenly a dormitory door opened and closed. They all turned but saw no one.

"That's odd," James commented quietly.

"Yes," Remus said, standing up. "Well, I'm also off to bed. Coming, Sirius?" He gave Sirius a meaningful glance. Sirius didn't get the hint. "I'm not tired yet," he protested.

"Come on, Sirius!" Remus said, pulling Sirius to his feet and dragging him off to the dormitory.

As they disappeared up the stairs Lily stood up and walked to the foot of the girls' dormitory stairs and looked back at James, who followed.

"Well-er-goodnight, then," James said awkwardly.

"Goodnight," Lily said. Suddenly, very quickly, she kissed him on the lips. The kiss only lasted for a second but when it was done James felt his ears grow hot and knew he must be blushing furiously.

Lily left to go to sleep and James walked, dazed, back to his dormitory. He hesitated at the door when he heard Sirius and Remus's voices from inside. He didn't hear Peter.

James opened the door and came inside to see Sirius and Remus sitting on Peter's conspicuously empty bed. James must have still had a dazed look on his face from the kiss because Sirius's face broke into a smile. "Did you guys snog?"

James felt his already warm cheeks grow hot and knew he probably looked like a tomato. "N-no!" he said a little too quickly.

Sirius's grin grew wider. "Liar," he said simply.

"No, er...really," James said unconvincingly.

"You did!" Sirius said triumphantly, pumping a fist in the air.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Really, we-"

"Did!"

"Not!"

"Yes, so!"

"QUIET!" Remus shouted, silencing them both. " We have more important matters at hand! Besides, by the shade of red James's face is blushing, it's pretty obvious that they snogged." Remus grinned mischievously.

James ignored the last comment and said, "What 'more important matters?' Where's Peter?"

"You have answered your first question with your last. To the latter I have no idea," Remus said philosophically. "But he took the Marauders' Map."

"Are you serious?" James said disbelievingly.

"No, I am," Sirius joked, laughing at his own lame joke. Remus and James just stared at him. "What?" Sirius said.

"Padfoot, only you would still find that amusing," James said exasperatedly.

"It never gets old," Sirius sighed happily.

"Yeah, it does," Remus retorted, scowling. "Now, let's decide what to do...where could Wormtail have been so eager to without us and with the map?"

"Dunno, but I know how we can find out," James said. He began to rummage through his trunk.

"How?" Sirius asked curiously.

"With...my...cloak," James said and he stood up again, frowning and looking bewildered. "But...it's gone!"