The Marauders' Era (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

Part 1

Mudblood. Mudblood. Mudblood.

The insult echoed over and over again in the vacant room. Sobs came from the darkest corner of the room. A young girl of fifteen pushed herself against the cold wall and sniffed.

She was a beauty, as most people (and boys) would admit, even in her dusty, wrinkled robes, stained with tears. Her dark red locks, usually straight and silky, were tangled and frizzy. Lily Evans was clearly in distress.

"Lily?" A gentle voice called out from the other side of the door.

"Are you in there, Lily?"

She took a deep breath and stumbled over to open the door.

"How'd you know I was here, Remus?"

The sandy-haired boy frowned. "You're a mess."

"Yeah, I know." She gave another great sniff.

"Let's go back to the common room," her friend suggested, "no one's there last time I checked."

"Sure." She said in a small, muffled voice.

Remus slammed the door shut behind them. "Here," he offered her a handkerchief.

"Thanks." She blew her nose with it rather soundly.

They strolled slowly past a dozen moving portraits, a shifting staircase, and several other things that they would have been familiar with.

Of course, how silly of me not to explain. Lily, Remus, as well as many other people in the world, were magical--meaning that they had rather, er, different lives. Currently they attended Hogwarts, the British school of magic, with hundreds of students from the age of eleven to seventeen.

The duo stopped in front of a portrait of a fat woman, in a frilly pink dress.

"Gillyweed," said Remus. The portrait swung forward to reveal a circular, spacious room, decorated with red and gold, the colors of the Gryffindor or house. The room was warmly lit by a fireplace, crowded with comfortable armchairs.

They sat down on two of them. Rubbing his hands together, Remus asked her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." As good as when your childhood best friend insulted you and threw your broken friendship in your face. "I'm fine."

Remus did not look convinced. "You know you can talk to us, right? We are your friends. We'll help you. What happened with Severus--" she flinched at the use of the name "--was his own fault. He made his decision."

"I know," she choked out, "but I still feel... hurt. Did you know he was the one who told me I was a witch?" She could still remember that day. Him telling her that she was a witch, and she refusing to believe it... she shook it out of her head. "He was my best friend--other than Petunia--and we exchanged secrets and everything." She paused, thinking of when Petunia had called her a freak and he had comforted her. "And he said being muggle-born made no difference whatsoever." Her parents had been muggles, or non-magical people, and she had been so afraid of coming. "Funny how things turned out, hmm?" She laughed humorlessly.

"On the train, he told me Slytherin was the best house." Slytherin was another of the four houses at Hogwarts, rival to Gryffindor, and one she had learned to never trust upon. "Then, of course, I was sorted into Gryffindor, and he Slytherin. We started drifting apart after that."

"It was only small things at first. He never wanted his house mates to see him with me. I let it go, though, thinking he just needed some time. He hanged out with them more and more often."

"But when Mulciber called Mary a Mudblood," she spat out the word, "I realized who he really was buddies with. Two days later, Mary showed up at the hospital wing, hexed and all shaken up."

"I remember I begged him to stop being friends with them," she smiled sadly, "but he got angry at me for 'interfering with other people's business.' And so I let it slide, not wanting to start a fight."

"And then one day, after that ballet prank," Remus flushed, knowing she meant one of his friends' pranks on Severus Snape. "He said he hated Potter and Black. And I know he meant it, because his eyes were glittering with hatred." She shuddered. "I didn't even know he was capable of hate that intense--I know I don't, though I do despise your annoying friends. That moment I didn't feel like I knew him... it was scary, really, to watch your best friend turn into someone completely different."

"I think a part of me always knew that he was going to drift away some day... I just pretended not to. He supports that dark wizard, Voldemort, and I know he wants to become a Death Eater, so it was not all that surprising when he called me a Mudblood . I guess I just... didn't expect him to turn his back on me this quick."

"Lily," Remus said softly, "you're right. To be honest, we all thought he would turn into a nasty little git as soon as he's sorted into Slytherin. It almost surprised me that he held up so long. He made his own choice; he decided to be that dark, lonely person. So go to bed, and forget about him. Eventually you'll get over it. He's not really worth it."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," said Lily. "Well, you better get some sleep as well." She yawned as she climbed up the stairs to the girls' dorms.

"Good night, Remus."

"Night to you, too."

"And, um, Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks a lot."

"No problem."