Falling, Fallen || Remus Lupin

Chapter Five

Content Warning: In this chapter, there will be mentions of unpleasant graphic imagery and mature language as some of the Marauders will be facing their Boggarts. Rosemary's might be the toughest to read for some, so I will put this symbol "♦♦♦" before and after all the parts. Also if you wish to skip to the end of the chapter to know what their Boggarts were in a briefer less detailed way out of curiosity, I'll sum them up in a shorter way at the end of the chapter.

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It had already been a couple of days since the fight broke out in front of the Black Lake and the entire school had already heard about what had happened. It was very hard not to notice that on just the second day of school this term, 2/5th's of the Marauders, plus a very shocking Lily Evans, had already costed the Gryffindor house a monstrous 150 house points.

Remus would joke at his friends, saying how it must have been some kind of special record in all of Hogwarts history, while also wondering to himself how exactly those two managed to tangle up Lily Evans in their mischief in the first place.

"You've officially corrupted the most innocent girl in school, Potter." Sirius would joke, thinking it would push his buttons, but instead it just made James smirk even wider.

"How does it feel Evans, finally being a Marauder like us?" James would regularly ask her all week, sending a cheeky grin. She always rolled her eyes huffing in annoyance at him, taking the book in her hands and thumping him roughly on his arm in response. If she didn't have a book presently, she would make sure to find one.

"I think she's warming up to you." Rosemary would remark sarcastically making Remus chuckle every time.

Whenever James and Rosemary would walk anywhere in the corridors or in their common room, murmurs and whispers of unpleasant names would go around in their direction. That didn't phase them one bit, though. They both knew their group of friends had all collectively done far worse things over the years which made this circumstance seem like just any other day, really. Besides, in at least a week everyone would probably forget about it by now, she reminded herself.

The only time these rumors or harsh words would sting, especially for James, was when it was directed at Lily. If he ever heard anyone saying anything remotely harsh or judgmental about the girl, he'd make sure to warn them to not mutter another word about her and to drop the subject instantly or he'd hex them into oblivion.

Lily never let it show to James, but when she'd be relaxing in her dorm with Rosemary and the other girls, she would blurt out to them sometimes about how she appreciated James' intentions to lighten the load of guilt off her. This was the first time she ever got herself in trouble at all and was uncomfortable with the sudden attention from the other students. James made sure to fix that problem. Despite still thinking he was a complete arse at times, his kind gesture hadn't gone unnoticed by the girl.

"Why did you take the fall, then? You did absolutely nothing wrong that day, Lil." Rosemary asked the girl gently once when the two girls were alone in their dorm together.

Lily looked up at Rosemary who she had gotten closer to over the past few days, "I guess, I don't really know why. Merlin knows I'm regretting it now. Maybe it was something about Potter taking the fall for Black that got me... inspired?" She said sheepishly, shyly tucking a strand of her long ginger hair behind her ear.

"Or maybe you just couldn't resist spending a whole month's detention with the charming lad." Rosemary said teasingly, already knowing what was going to happen next and ducking her head.

As she suspected, Lily had thrown her pillow roughly in her direction, almost hitting Rosemary across the cheek. Both girls suddenly burst into a fit of giggles.