Work Text:
Part Three - 2
Confrontation
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Confrontation
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Becoming a Marauder wasn't exactly what Remus had thought it would be. Or, perhaps, it wasn't what Remus had hoped it would be. He had already become fast friends with Peter, because the weird must stick together, but becoming friends with James and Sirius was much different. It was like eating too many candies and then going on a very fast rollercoaster and then instead of throwing up everywhere you just have that feeling in your stomach like you might at any moment but it never actually happens so you just walk around that way and can't enjoy any of the other rides because you stupidly went on the big scary one first.
It was like that.
Of course, Remus had never eaten too many sweets and been on a very fast rollercoaster, so the only thing he could think to link the feeling to was the thought, "Oh god, oh god, oh god," and then a little later, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die."
Those sentiments would become the epitome of every thought about every prank, trick, vaguely (or not so vaguely) illegal stunt, and bit of mischief that The Marauders ever pulled.
But this was all skipping ahead. Before Initiation, there was first Confrontation.
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"Well I'll take this one, then," Sirius was already moving his trunk from the bed he had been assigned (near the window), to closer to the door, "Wouldn't want to wake all of you up, what with my midnight returns and all." He seemed so smug and sure of himself, "I'll be out with the ladies, if you know what I mean." Even the way he waggled his eyebrows and quirked the corner of his mouth seemed too smug for an eleven year old. But Sirius had a lot to be smug about; he was the first Black to be placed in Gryffindor, and nothing would knock him off that high horse.
However, this comment prompted a hearty laugh from James, whom shook his head and crawled atop his own bed, directly opposite Sirius', "Right, like you'd even know what to do with a lady." Giving a good bounce to the bed, James sprawled out, exhaling deeply and making a mock snow angel in the sheets. He was glad to be here, too. They all were, really.
And then, with clear want to be included and the severe misunderstanding that having the 'cool kids' bunk with you meant you were also a cool kid, Peter piped up, "I saw a naked lady once! In my father's magazine! She blew a kiss at me!" Which was, sadly, the completely wrong thing to say to Sirius and James. The two burst into a fit of laughter, and then pretended to be naked ladies blowing kisses at Peter for the remainder of the evening. Poor Peter was embarrassed and tried his hardest just to laugh it off, but it was clear he'd been injured. Peter never had many friends. Come to think of it now, of the four of them only James had ever had many friends before Hogwarts.
"Don't mind them," Remus had said quietly to Peter once they were alone, "They're just idiots. I bet they've neither of them seen a naked lady." A reassuring pat was placed to Peter's shoulder, and they moved out to the commons in order to be spared the unruly boys that were currently and in vain trying to have a poke at Remus as well. Being called Peter's 'girlfriend' was hardly enough to make Remus upset, and he merely shrugged the comments and kissy noises off, sure that if he gave some sort of upset response it would only make the torment worse.
And thinking now back to that time, it was quite true. Remus had seen first hand over the years that James and Sirius grew bored quite easily when someone didn't rise to the occasion of their torment. All they wanted was a scream, or a giggle, or some form of attention.
Sirius wanted it because he'd been neglected his entire life.
James wanted it because he'd always had it.
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It was two in the morning when Remus awoke to a startled cry from across the room, and it made him sit bolt upright with wide eyes. Peter was at the head of his own bed, fumbling for his wand and looking quite petrified of a large snake making its way up his bed-sheets. Sirius and James were laughing from their respective beds, positively howling at poor Peter's fright. Within a quick moment Remus had grabbed up his wand and was over the foot of his own bed, about to try every spell he knew in order to banish the thing.
None came to mind.
As the snake was about to quite literally swallow Peter whole, it suddenly and dramatically deflated and became the jinxed tube-sock that it actually was. James and Sirius were still crying in their laughter, and poor Peter was having a heart attack, and angry Remus was not pleased with any of this. They wanted to play games, did they? Clearly Peter was the weakest between the two of them, but Remus was sure that if this went on any longer, he would be the next target.
And thus began Confrontation.
It took a bit of doing, an entire week in fact, but Remus managed to get James and Sirius back. He found a potion scrawled in his used Potions book that would nearly immediately produce a severe itching sensation throughout the entire body. It was significantly easy to get a bit into some treats baited for the pranksters, provided that the treacle tarts were left on Peter's bedside table. Thieves, they had proved themselves, by nicking a bit of chocolate left on Remus' bed in a very lovely box given to him by his mother before he'd left for Hogwarts.
So really, baiting them was easy.
And perhaps Remus was a bit sour that two of his chocolates were missing. They were his comfort after all, but this was a different memory to be gone over later.
By dinner time Sirius and James were scratching at themselves like mad and making quite the scene. They were escorted up to the infirmary by McGonagall herself, but not before seeing Remus pointing them out to Peter, and the two of them sharing a private laugh at the dinner table. Sirius even caught Remus' eyes, to which Remus just gave his own smug smirk and little shrug. It was hardly a challenge, but Remus didn't want to appear as if he were afraid of being reimbursed in some horrible way. He was, of course, very afraid.
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"That was quite the trick," Sirius acknowledged as Remus and Peter came through the portrait, late from staying in the library. They had hopes that James and Sirius would be asleep by the time they returned, but apparently there was no such luck. "Had me 'n James thinkin' we'd got fleas, you know," Sirius didn't seem angry though, and for that matter neither did James.
In fact there was an excitement to their eyes that Remus wasn't quite sure he liked. They were curious, the pair of them, in both himself and Peter. There was a danger there, too. Both Sirius and James' looks just screamed to Remus, "Danger! Turn away! Do not give into the dark side!" But there was a part of Remus that wanted, very badly, to have friends other than just Peter Pettigrew.
"Well, you know," Remus just shrugged a little, attempting to play it cool, as if it weren't any big deal, when in fact it was quite the large ordeal for little Remus Lupin, "I didn't want to end up with your dirty undergarments trying to eat me in the middle of the night."
"You see that, Sirius?" James grinned broadly and looked to his wild companion, "Act before... acted against, or something. That's a thing, isn't it?"
"It sure is a thing if ever I heard one," Sirius rolled his eyes, but the pair were still deeply amused and it showed.
"We want you," James informed with a nod, extending out his hand to Remus now, "To be one of us. A Marauder." His grin was nothing but warm and sincere, and Sirius nodded somewhat enthusiastically in agreement. They wanted him. They wanted Remus J. Lupin to be a Marauder. Whatever the hell that was.
"A Marauder?" Remus didn't take James' hand, not yet, though eyed it suspiciously. Any number of tricks could be up that sleeve, and Remus definitely did not trust the two boys that, in just the first week, had gotten detention twice and got Gryffindor marked down ten points for House Cup. No, trusting these boys was not a wise idea just yet. Or ever, really. It had never become a wise idea to trust in the schemes of Sirius and James, and yet over time Remus had done just that. But not yet, not in this moment.
"Part of the club," Sirius supplemented, smirking a bit (or perhaps it was just the natural curl of his lips, really. Remus had never figured out whether Sirius smirked that often or whether his mouth just shaped that way), "You're either with us or you're against us, but we could definitely use your 'a good offense makes the best defense' attitude."
Ah, there it was. A Boys Club. Remus was being offered admission into a boys club, which consisted of two very unruly, though quite charming and undoubtedly smart, boys. As far as Remus knew at the time, a boys club contained the following:
1. A fancy name, a la "The Marauders"
2. Secret handshakes and/or passwords
3. Friendship, which Remus was more desperate for than he would have liked to admit
4. Doing boy things in a group, like boys do when they are in a boys club
The list wasn't very good, but Remus didn't have a whole lot of time to think about it, what with James and Sirius staring expectantly at him, and Peter undoubtedly staring at the two of them. James still had his hand out, unwavering in its want for a shake.
"Only if Peter can be in, too," Remus gave a nod to the quiet blonde boy behind him, but kept his eyes upon James. He outstretched his hand, but didn't make the final purge into shaking territory.
A moment of hesitation, James' hand dropped a little, his tongue poked at his cheek as he looked towards Sirius. They seemed to confer without words, and Remus wasn't exactly sure what went on in their heads for the few moments that they just sort of stared at one another. It was like a secret code of blinks and lip twitches, but Remus hadn't any idea what it meant nor how to speak this secret boy's club language himself. Perhaps once he was in the club, then he would be fluent in these silent conversations.
"Fine," James agreed, and took up Remus' outstretched hand and gave a firm pump, "But you two have to go through initiation. Sirius and I did, so it's only fair." He didn't let go of Remus' hand, forcing the poor boy to answer immediately in the affirmative.
With that settled, with Remus over the moon with excitement at the prospect of new friends and being in his first boys club (and Peter not far behind in that excursion over said moon), the four of them began to hash out the negotiations of Initiation.