Archive of Our Own ^beta

Before he even opened his eyes, the first thing James was aware of was a throbbing ache pounding against his skull. When he opened them at last, the morning light was so bright, he felt like he might pass out. He squeezed his eyes shut again and heard a groan somewhere to his left. 

“Is this what death feels like?” wailed Peter, followed by the small thud of his pillow being tossed off of his bed. 

“Probably,” James replied. His voice was gravelly and he cleared his throat. “I don’t even remember getting in last night.”

“Neither do I,” came Remus’s hoarse response from across the room. 

“Merlin, those Ravenclaws must have gotten us completely sloshed. I don’t remember anything after…Dorcas played that song Padfoot hates,” Peter said.

James lifted his head from his pillow and squinted against the blinding sun rays infiltrating their dorm room. “Speaking of which, where is Padfoot?”

Peter and Remus’s heads emerged from beneath their blankets and turned to Sirius’s bed. It was unmade, a pile of clothes shoved to the side. The only thing out of the ordinary was that his dark hair wasn’t peeking out from under the covers. 

“Bloody miracle that he woke up before any of us. Must have gone down to the Great Hall already,” Remus said around a yawn. 

It certainly didn’t sound like Sirius. He was always the last Marauder to wake up, especially on a Saturday. But James shrugged and stood to dress himself. 

Sirius had always been the unpredictable type, though he didn’t usually succeed in surprising the Marauders. They’d spent too many years together for that. But Sirius had been more mercurial than ever since they’d returned for their seventh year at Hogwarts. James had seen him in the corridors, chasing down Slytherins just for a laugh. Sirius had even planned a few minor pranks without the rest of the Marauders. He seemed to have more steam to blow off than usual. 

When James, Peter, and Remus entered the Great Hall, Sirius wasn’t in his usual seat at the Gryffindor table. 

“Must be off on his own again,” Remus murmured as they sat down. “We can look for him after breakfast. I’m not missing a meal.”

A loud grumble from James’s stomach sang its agreement and he served himself a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. 

James was gulping down his third goblet of pumpkin juice when they heard Professor Fernbank, the Herbology professor, stomping toward them. 

“Something tells me the three of you visited my greenhouse last night,” she told them, her hands settled on her hips expectantly. When they all gaped at her in confusion, she rolled her eyes. “I know it was you and Mister Black. It looks like some fireworks went wrong in there. Come on. We best start the clean-up now if I want to be able to teach on Monday.”

James had no memory of leaving the party in the Ravenclaw common room or going to the greenhouse of all places. But there was something about a stern older woman’s scolding that always made him stand at attention and comply. The Marauders all scrambled to follow after their angry professor. 

They shared a look behind her back as they trailed after her. James wasn’t sure if he was relieved or unnerved that his friends looked as confused as he felt.

When they stepped inside, the boys let out simultaneous gasps of horror. The greenhouse was a charred mess. Rows of what used to be Venomous Tentaculas sat in pots of ash. Several other plants were damaged, leaves torn or altogether gone. The glass pane walls of the greenhouse were shattered in several places. 

“I don’t—I don’t think we did this, Professor,” James protested once he took in his surroundings. The Marauders had pulled their fair share of pranks but this was blatant vandalism, there wasn’t a punchline in sight.

“I know you have detention with Professor Slughorn next week, Mister Pettigrew. If you three help clean up, I’ll talk to him about excusing it,” Professor Fernbank said. 

Peter faced James and Remus imploringly and they mumbled their agreement. 

“Maybe he ended up spending the night in the Ravenclaw common room,” Peter suggested as he repaired bits of shattered glass. 

Remus shrugged, vanishing errant rubbish that had fallen to the ground. “It’s possible, but it doesn’t explain why he wasn’t in the Great Hall.”

James sent a bag of soil levitating over the pots that would need to be replanted. “It makes sense though. Not like we have a clue where else to look. May as well ask around there.”

“Oh Peter!” Dorcas greeted him with a hug before giving a shy nod to James and Remus. “Last night was so fun! We’ve got to do it again soon! All the other Ravenclaws loved having you!”

“Wow, that’s really nice to hear,” Remus said. 

She glanced at Remus as though she’d forgotten he was there before turning her attention back to Peter. “Ronald Lattermore won’t stop talking about how hilarious you were while you two played chess together.”

Peter’s cheeks grew pink and he glanced at the other boys self-consciously. “Er, thanks. By the way, Sirius was with us last night, right?”

Dorcas’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Of course. You lot are always together. You were all drinking and dancing and singing the whole night. Well, at least until—“ She cut herself off, looking sheepish. 

“Until?” James pressed. 

“You ran off with Gilderoy Lockhart. He was bragging that he’d perfected a recipe for Polyjuice Potion that took twenty-four hours to brew rather than a month. Said he used special ingredients he grew in the greenhouse. Remus seemed especially keen to see.”

Remus scrunched up his nose in disgust. “That doesn’t sound like me at all.”

Dorcas’s mouth twisted into a sad smile. “Yeah, you were saying you’d find where he grows the gillyweed he keeps trying to sell to younger students. Said you’d destroy it because it’s a disgrace to accept money for something so low quality.”

Remus’s face fell, but he mumbled. “Yeah, that sounds more like me.”

“He came back to the common room a few minutes later saying he’d been attacked,” Dorcas said, lowering her voice. 

The Marauders glanced at each other warily. “Er, thanks, Dorcas. And if you see Sirius, tell him we’re looking for him,” James said, turning on his heel to lead them back out of the common room. 

“I seriously doubt you attacked Lockhart, Moony. He had to have been exaggerating. Or just mistaken,” James assured Remus. 

They were sitting in the clock courtyard, Remus’s head in his hands while Peter and James attempted to calm him. 

“We don’t know that,” Remus said, suddenly lifting his head, his eyes wide. “What are the chances I transformed? Or—half-transformed since it wasn’t a full moon? I’ve never done that before but—it’s possible I have and I just don’t have memory of it. Maybe it’s happened loads of times when I’m not at Hogwarts. It would explain why I don’t remember anything from last night.”

“But Peter and I don’t remember anything either,” James reminded him. “And you know everything there is to know about your transformations. You could write a book on them if you wanted.”

Remus blinked and his expression seemed to clear. “Yeah…you’re right. Sorry.” Remus could easily spiral when he thought of all his regrets and perceived shortcomings, but at least he could usually be talked out of it with logical reasoning. Always the sensible one, that Moony. 

“Besides, mate, I don’t think we destroyed the greenhouse either. Someone else must have been in there when we came with Lockhart,” Peter reasoned. 

“Do you think whoever it was took Sirius?” Remus asked, a slight tremble in his voice. 

His question was only met with silence. James didn’t even want to think about it. 

“Wait—“ Peter said suddenly. His hands were in his coat pocket and he pulled out what looked like a folded napkin. “I wore this coat last night and…look at this!”

Remus and James leaned over to see the blue scrap, emblazoned in the corner with a seal of a fish. 

“Oi, that’s from The Pisces! That pub in Aranshire! It’s just a little ways past Hogsmeade,” James exclaimed, taking the napkin from Peter’s grasp. 

“We left Hogwarts last night? While we were so smashed none of us can remember anything?” Remus asked, shaking his head at the idea of it. 

James shrugged. “It’s the best clue we’ve got, let’s check it out.”

The Pisces was a modest little pub. Surprisingly, there were several patrons seated at tables inside, speaking to each other in low voices, even in the early afternoon. 

They were approaching the front of the bar when the bartender, a blonde witch who looked to be in her early 20s, looked up and exclaimed. “Peter! You’re back!”

Remus and James eyed Peter curiously as his cheeks reddened under her attention. 

“Er, hi,” Peter responded feebly, his eyes darting to James in slight panic. 

“Any chance you saw who we were with last night?” James piped up, a bit too impatient to watch Peter’s bumbling when facing a flirty girl again. Though he couldn’t help but make a mental note that Peter must have an immense augmentation in charisma when blackout drunk. 

“Of course,” she replied, looking irritated at the memory. “Took us ages to clean up the mess after your group took off, thanks for asking.”

“Sorry, but we don’t remember the night very well,” James said. “What mess?”

“Well, isn’t that convenient?” The bartender asked with a sniff. “You three were here with four other boys who looked about your age. Had a stupid little wand-measuring contest until your brave friend put a stop to it.” She gestured to Peter with a nod of her head. 

Four people? So Sirius and…who could the other three have been? Hundreds of possibilities rushed into James’s mind, though none made sense. 

“What did they look like?” Remus asked. 

She shrugged. “Like schoolboys, I don’t know. Two of them had long, dark hair, just above their shoulders. The other two looked like typical teenage troublemakers.”

Peter, Remus, and James exchanged a look. 

“Could it be Regulus?” Remus said, his eyebrows raised. “And what are those friends of his called?”

“Crouch and Rosier,” Peter supplied. 

“Guess we’re heading back to the dungeons of Hogwarts,” James said with a sigh. 

Peter groaned and the bartender let out a tinkling laugh as though she was familiar with the fact that this reaction to more walking was typical of Peter. And for all James knew, maybe she was. 

“Oh, by the way! I nearly forgot!” she said suddenly. “You asked me to give you this and it slipped my mind last night.” The bartender disappeared into the back room for a moment before she emerged holding a small, red vial and handing it to Peter. 

He examined the label. “Pepper-up Potion? Why?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “Just said you’d need it today.”

“Maybe Sirius and Regulus worked something out? I know Sirius is gutted that they’re not as close as they were when they were younger,” Remus suggested. 

“Not a chance,” Peter said with a shake of his head. “They’ve got too much animosity for it to have been resolved in one drunken night.”

“That’s surprisingly insightful, Pete,” James replied. “But if Sirius is in the Slytherin common room, it’s either really good or really bad.”

“How are we even going to get in?” Remus asked. 

“Do you even have to ask? Moony, I’m dating a prefect.”

“Absolutely not,” was Lily’s swift refusal when they’d found her studying in the library. 

“But—Lily, we’re pretty certain Padfoot’s in the Slytherin common room! Who knows what he’s going through as we speak!” James pleaded. 

Lily looked torn, at least. “I would help, but things were really bad all over the place last night. First Fernbank’s greenhouse was destroyed. Then Filch found a dog wandering in the castle. And a group of dunderheaded Hogwarts students were seen dueling at a pub near Hogsmeade. McGonnagall’s really on edge. The consequences if you get caught are going to be severe.”

“Filch found a dog?” 

“That’s all you heard?” Lily shook her head in amused disbelief. “Yeah, it was wandering in the corridors last night. It’s locked up in his office right now.”

“Thank you!” James exclaimed, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing back out, Remus and Peter following closely behind him. 

The black dog gave a surprised yelp the moment they opened the door to Filch’s office. He was sitting in a cage in the corner of the room, but he started to excitedly pace in what little space he had when he saw them. 

“Padfoot, I’m going to kill you,” Remus grumbled, waving his wand to open the padlock to the cage. 

The dog bounded out and transformed back into Sirius once he had enough room to do so. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you all! I was starting to worry I’d be locked away forever.” He wrapped his arms around each boy before he chuckled against Peter. “Is that a rocket in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

Peter blanched. “It’s a Pepper-up Potion.”

“Well if you don’t mind, I would love some right now. I’m freezing from being in this dank office for hours.” Sirius replied, holding out his hand expectantly. 

Shrugging, Peter handed him the vial and Sirius downed the whole thing in one gulp. 

There were little spouts of steam coming from his ears when Sirius shook his hair out and sighed, “Ah, that’s better. Thanks, Pete.” He clapped his shoulder. 

“So is there…any chance you remember what happened last night?” James asked. 

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “It’s all pretty hazy. I remember chasing down Regulus and his friends after we caught them destroying the greenhouse.”

James turned to Remus with a grin, “See? Told you that wasn’t us!”

“Filch nearly caught me after I took Reg to his dorm so I panicked and—“ he gestured to the cage. “Thought I could avoid punishment.”

“You had the right idea. But Filch loves punishment too much. Even if it’s a dog.” Remus said with a chuckle. 

“Oh yeah! And Wormtail snogged the bartender!”

James and Remus burst into delighted laughter while Peter looked like he wanted to sink into the floor. 

“Well, if we’re all done here,” Peter said, clearing his throat, “I should be going anyway. I was supposed to be meeting my study group for Divination today. Don’t know why they insist on meeting in the bloody cold dungeons but—“

“Do you think that’s why you wanted the Pepper-up Potion? For the study group?” Remus interrupted. 

Peter slapped a palm to his forehead. “Of course!”

“Sorry, Wormtail. I owe you one then,” Sirius said, grinning.