In a universe where Voldemort never became powerful enough to terrify people for decades after the first Wizarding War, Peter didn't betray his friends, and Remus Lupin fell in love with his best friend's twin sister.
Marauders era
Remus Lupin × fem...
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Summer 1975
The trip to the zoo was not that long but the kids complained the whole time. Four of them in the back of the car and the twins bickering about how one was crushing the other's bones. The usual.
When they arrived, the purebloods were unexpectedly silent, watching the zoo's gates carefully while Lyall and Hope left to get the entry tickets, trusting their son with his friends.
"Are you guys alright?" Remus asked, looking between them.
"It's my first time in a place with so many Muggles." Juliet grinned, watching the humans come in and out of the place, cameras in hand. "Look, James, they have cameras too!"
"Ah, yeah, but theirs is quite different." The tall scarred boy led them to a poster on the wall and pointed at it silently.
The girl and two boys stared at it, wondering what it was there to see, until Peter finally exclaimed "the picture! It's not moving!"
Some people passing by turned to give him a strange glance before continuing their route.
"Shhh, Wormy, for them it's not supposed to!" James brought his finger to his lips.
"That is so weird! It looks like it's frozen in time." The brunette girl touched the poster.
"Kids! Come on, let's go!" They heard Lyall yell and ran over to the parents.
The wizards and witch were staring at the stripped animal with the curious eyes.
"Are those scars? Was it scratched like you?" Juliet looked over at Remus and he couldn't help but smile at the innocent question.
"Black scars exist?" James frowned at Peter who shrugged.
"Those aren't scars. They're stripes. That's a zebra."
"It looks like a horse."
"It's because it's from the same family. Equidae." He then turned to them. "You guys can feed it you know."
"Oh I'll go first!"
Juliet, Peter and Remus watched as James went over to a manager standing there, exchanged a few words and was given herbs to feed the animal with. He approached the barrier and tried to pet the closest zebra to him.
The stripped animal spit into his hand, walking away with an attitude. Juliet could've sworn she heard the zebra say "the bastard thinks he can fool me with his disgusting leaves."
Walking back to the group, James had an annoyed look on, his lips pouting. Peter patted his back in an attempt to comfort him as Hope gave him a tissue.
"It's alright mate, maybe he wasn't hungry." The blonde said.
"It's a she. And she just doesn't like James." Juliet giggled, walking to the lions.
They had a great time at the zoo. Juliet and James ran in every direction, not able to contain their excitement, to the point where Hope was holding their arms firmly so they wouldn't run away and cry because they got lost. Peter kept reading the informations given on the brochure and asking why rats weren't part of the zoo animals. And Remus, he just was having fun watching his friends dealing with the unfamiliar environment.
But the happy hours came to an end. The group were leaving the zoo, deciding it was getting late and it was time to go home. Correction, Hope and Remus were dragging the twins and Peter out of there while they were sulking.
"Come on guys, I'm sure we will have other occasions to go back to a zoo. Or perhaps next time we'll go to the movies!" Remus tried to cheer them up.
"What's that?" Juliet asked.
"It's like a theatre. But the film is projected on the wall in a room, and people sit and watch."
While the tall boy was explaining what the movie theatre was, Juliet's attention wandered to a few blocks away, where people were running away from something in the street. And then her eyes widened once she saw the black hues swiftly going from left to right, causing the people to fall inert.
When the boys and the parents realised one of the kids was missing, they looked back to see a scared Juliet. Following her gaze they saw the horror they were all unconsciously dreading.
There it was, the Dark Mark hovering over all of them, a greenish hue surrounding it. The threat suddenly felt real and their happy moments, far far away.
They could hear the sound of the spells hitting the people's bodies. They could hear the screams of the scared Muggles, who couldn't possible make a rational explanation out of the scene before them. And they could hear the Death Eaters' maniacally laughing.
"Juliet!" James ran to his twin and pulled her to them, as they hid behind the car, taking glimpses from their spot. "We need to do something!"
"What!?" Peter exclaimed, immediately being shushed by everyone. They did not need to attract You-Know-Who's followers right then.
"Are you out of your mind, James!?" Juliet agreed with Pettigrew.
"We can't just let them die! They're defenseless!" He frowned.
"So are we! I don't have my wand, do you?" She turned to the others. Peter shook his head but Remus pulled out his.
"Well I do! And I'm gonna use it!" He said, about to get up, but being stopped by his sister's hand.
"We're not allowed to use magic in front of Muggles." Lyall reminded them.
"Which ones, the dead, or those who are running away?" The boy with glasses spoke bitterly, before yanking his arm away and running to the scene, taking his wand out.
A horrified expression took over her face and the Potter girl ran after him. It was stupid, really, she was wandless. And she was starting to think this weirdly seemed to happen everytime she was risking her life and she actually needed it.
She couldn't even transform in her animagus form in front of all these people so she could help them evacuate. Instead, she mentally prepared herself to use wandlless magic.
She practiced it many times before. Was doing it before it was even time for her to go to Hogwarts. She was now going to confront Death Eaters in order to help her idiotic brother. Without a wand. She should be alright. Right?
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It's been a month! God! I'm sorry for the wait, I'll try to update more often.
