Ten Galleons To McGonagall

Along The Final Journey

The night of August 31st had been a full moon. The Marauders didn't spend the night with Remus over the summer because they were illegal Anamagi and their presence would have been hard to explain to Remus's parents. When Sirius and James spotted Remus on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters he looked exhausted but very happy. Together, the three of them searched for the final member of their group, finally finding Peter already in their compartment.

The Marauders always rode to and from Hogwarts in the same compartment that James and Sirius had shared on their first ever journey. It was tradition now and sitting in any other compartment would have felt wrong.

They sat down, James next to Peter and Sirius and Remus across from them. Sirius immediately launched into an overview of the best prank ever with the others nodding along and adding in their ideas. He could tell Remus was exhausted though, and about an hour into the journey he fell asleep on Sirius's shoulder. Sirius curled his arms around the sleeping boy protectively. Peter took this as a perfect opportunity to get up and use the bathroom or get snacks and left the compartment. James was watching Sirius curiously.

Although James hadn't said anything about Sirius's sexuality other than to ask why he brought it up at 2:31 in the morning, Sirius knew he thought about it. James watched Sirius absentmindedly playing with Remus's hair for a while before he said "You fancy Remus, don't you?"

Sirius twitched nervously before nodding his head yes.

"I knew it!" James shouted as a very confused Peter entered the compartment asking what James knew.

"Nothing, forget about it," Sirius responded.

They shared the snacks that Peter brought and joked around quietly until Remus woke up around lunchtime.

Remus wiggled his way out of Sirius's arms and rubbed his eyes. "Have we eaten lunch yet?" He asked the other Marauders.

No one answered because at that moment the food trolley stopped outside of their door. The four hungry teenaged boys got a lot of food and began eating. Remus's werewolf transformations made him incredibly tired and hungry so he wolfishly devoured his food for several minutes before turning towards the other Marauders.

"So Sirius, I've been thinking about that prank idea you had and I think if we did it a little differently it could be even better," he said and then began elaborating on this new idea. This topic carried them all the way to Hogwarts.

When they arrived in Hogsmeade, they boarded the horseless carriage together. Ahead of them they heard a commotion as Mitchell Downs, a Sixth Year Ravenclaw, was looking at the carriages and yelling about winged horses.

"What on Earth-" James began but was interrupted by Peter.

"They must be thestrals pulling the carriages! I heard they were at Hogwarts but I've never seen them!"

"Of course you've never seen them, Peter they're invisible." James said indignantly. "Downs must have seen someone die over holiday."

"Of course he did," Remus said "didn't you read the Daily Prophet? His grandfather was murdered by You Know Who's followers. It was all over the news. Downs must have been hidden though or they would have got him too."

This grim reminder of the war outside hung with them as they made their way to the castle. It seemed that everyone had lost someone but was too afraid to fight back. Of course there were rumors about a secret organization that was fighting back but no one knew if these were true. That was probably for the best because if Voldemort found out about the resistance he would eliminate it instantly and then there really wouldn't be any hope left.

In this somber mood, they arrived at the castle, ready to begin their final year of school together.

Remus sat watching the Sorting without really paying attention to it. Sirius had been hugging him while he was asleep! This made Remus very excited. Maybe Sirius fancied him too. But Remus knew that was unlikely if not impossible. Sirius was kissing a new girl every week, there was no way he would be interested in guys. So Remus tried to forget the way Sirius's warm arms wrapped around Remus's body making him feel safe and the way Sirius's breath moved in and out moving Remus's head up and down almost imperceptibly. He tried to keep his imagination from dwelling on scenarios where Sirius would have to touch him again and attempted to focus on the sorting instead. After all, he wouldn't see another.