The Truth Beneath It All
Chapter 1
-by SilverWolf-Ryuki
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Full Summary: MaraudersMWPP fic Another story of the lovely four, and their school life. Triwizard Tournie, Bickers and Butterbeers, Pranks and Prefects... best of all, Romance among the chaos. The Triwizard Tournament is different... with the whole world competing, for a bigger prize and a bigger contest... with what promises to be a very interesting sixth year. Read to find out.
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Scanning the crowd of platform 9 ¾ for his two best friends, Remus Lupin and James Potter, a certain handsome teen's eyes narrowed with annoyance. Oh, and, of course, Peter, who, in Sirius's opinion, was a tagalong.
Sighing, Sirius sat himself down on a nearby bench. His stuff was piled hastily onto a trolley beside him. He continued to look around, ignoring the group of girls that giggled noticeably behind him, apparently interested.
Sirius Black was a bit taller than average, with a strong built. He had a handsome face, with dark hair and light blue-grey eyes. He was a wizard, and in his sixth year at Hogwarts. In the modest way possible, Sirius truly felt he was one of the most popular and brightest students in his year. Not to mention how many girls were after him (which became normal after the third year).
It's not like he works for the attention, he just naturally gets it.
"Hey Padfoot,"
Sirius turned, knowing who it was. The familiar voice was too recognizable, and only his best friends called him by his nickname. His face broke into a grin, seeing James waving and hastily rushing over, banging his feet on his trolley. Cursing, James hobbled the rest of the way. Sirius laughed uncontrollably.
"Great first impression, Prongs." Sirius commented, chuckling.
James's most extinguishable characteristic was his hair, black and untidy. His eyes were hazel, behind round glasses.
"Oh, stuff it." James sat down beside him. "So, any sign of Mooney?"
"Hey guys," Remus came up while the two weren't paying attention, causing both to snap their head back with surprised expressions.
"Oh, hey Mooney," James said, his hand flying to his hair to ruffle it – an unconscious habit.
Remus Lupin was a somewhat sick looking teen, with light brown hair. Except today, his face looked somewhat healthy (or as healthy as it gets for him). He gave a weak smile. "Let's go up now." He suggested. "Get a compartment…"
"Even if we can't…" Sirius gave a smirk. "We can always force –"
"I can't let you do that…" Remus's smile widened. "I'm a prefect, remember?"
James pretended to clutch his heart in pain. "Ah yes, the letter you got…such a horrible nightmare…"
"Even though we are disappointed in you…" Sirius shook his head in mock sincerity, "we'll let it go this time. But don't expect a next."
"Aw, that's so generous of you." Remus played along and pretended to wipe away a tear. "Though, you two realize that I've been a prefect for a year already?"
"Really," Sirius pretended to be surprised. "Why, Remus, why didn't you tell us? I'm heartbroken… don't you trust us?" Then he proceeded to pretend to cry.
James laughed as the three headed towards the train. They reached the end compartment, the one they usually sat at, and found that Peter Pettigrew was already there.
Peter was a short, stocky boy with a sharp nose and mousy hair. It suited him.
"Hi guys!" Peter's voice rang out, squeaky as always.
"Hey Peter." James replied without paying much attention to the little guy.
Sirius sat down with his back against the windows and put his hands behind his head. One of his legs was casually bent and the other was tangling off the seat.
"So, Prongs, you claim you went to the US…"
---
"China, ugh, I'm so jealous! You went to China!"
Lily Evans exclaimed to one of her best friends, Vivian Grant as they sat themselves down in one of the only compartments left near the end. Her almond green eyes sparkled at the mention of a country she has not visited. She had thick red hair that fell down to her shoulders.
Vivian had a grin on her face. Her long black hair was tied in a pony tail. Even then, it fell to her waist. She had light brown eyes and was slightly shorter than average. "I got a guitar from China; it's one of the instruments the muggles play. I've gotten quite good at it." Vivian's parents had magical powers, but it's different… elemental, almost. They had to summon it. But they were still qualified wizards, pure-blooded, which made her slightly unique.
"A gut-what?" Courtney Ambrose asked. She had reasonably thin gold hair that fell slightly past her shoulders. Her eyes were pure blue. She was the typical girl that everyone was jealous of, until they realized that she was as nice as it gets. Though slightly air-headed, she was still a great friend. She had wizard parents and was slightly clueless of muggle type things. "What are those?"
Vivian shook her head. "I just told you, a muggle instrument. They have 6 strings that you strum, pluck or pick. You should take up Muggle Studies."
Courtney looked lost.
Vivian sighed and grinned. "Good thing I brought my guitar," She announced and walked up to where her luggage was.
Courtney walked up to sit across from Vivian and looked at the instruments with interest.
"Yep, it's my acoustic guitar." Vivian announced proudly, reading both Courtney's and Lily's awed expression. Her left hand pressed certain strings on different spots, and her right hand brushed the strings, causing an amazing string of notes. "It's a Fender, one of the best there are."
"Now I'm even more jealous." Lily pouted. "You get to go to China AND get a guitar." Lily was muggle-born and knew about guitars. In fact, she was going to learn one, if she had gone to the muggle school instead of Hogwarts.
Vivian started moving her left hand and playing different tunes.
"That's such a nice sound…" Courtney commented dreamily.
"I can play certain songs." Vivian's smile widened in pride. "But I'm still learning."
"Play us one!" Courtney nearly hopped up and down.
"I only know muggle songs…" Vivian informed her.
"That's okay." Lily grinned. "Play hurt, by Nine Inch Nails. That was my parents' favourite song as teens."
Biting her lips, Vivian nodded and started topick the strings.
"I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all the away
But I remember everything…"
She started a slow strum; her voice rose.
"What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away, in the end
And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you…hurt…"
Her voice lowered once again, and her fingers returned to picking the stings…
---
"Do you hear that?"
The four quieted down to hear a distant voice singing to a beautiful sounding instrument. Sirius slid the door of the compartment open and the 4 went out to the hall. The sound came from the compartment next to theirs. James stepped up and slid the door quietly open to reveal his long time crush, Lily Evans, and her friends.
The music stopped, and Vivian, who was singing, glared at them.
"What do you guys want?" Vivian asked, irritated for the interruption.
"I really don't want to have a fight now…" Courtney said softly. "That song was just…"
"Lovely, yet depressing," Lily finished.
"Where'd you learn to play like that?" Sirius asked, amazed that the girl could produce decent music. In his opinion, she was more of a thing than a musician.
"Places," Vivian said coolly, as she noticed, once again, he ignored Courtney completely. She was also slightly pissed that he interrupted her song. Courtney had a crush on Sirius, and so did almost all of the girls in her year. What also annoyed her was the fact that Sirius has asked practically everyone out except Courtney. But that also served as a good thing, because nine out of ten people Sirius asks out, he ignores and never really goes out with.
"Guys, the train's going to start going soon." Remus told the others. "I have to get up front." Lily nodded and followed him – she was a prefect as well.
"Later, mate," Sirius called as Remus walked away. Peter squealed and hopped off after Remus. No one knew why, because he wasn't a prefect. No one paid attention. He turned his attention to Vivian. "Who knew you could sing?"
"Apparently not you," She retorted. Since the end of last year, Vivian started hating Sirius. They got along fine before. It's because of the whole Courtney thing, and Sirius being a jackass.
"One could never tell, from looking at you, that you had a nice voice." Sirius continued. James was busy staring after Lily until she disappeared out of sight.
"Nope, it's just you. After all, your eyes are fine; it's your brain that can't process that information." Vivian replied sharply, standing up to meet Sirius's glare. She did not do much, for she was nearly half a head shorter than him. But still, she stood tall.
"Says the b–"
The train suddenly gave a large heave and started moving. Vivian lost balance and nearly toppled.
Sirius reached out and caught her by her…
SLAP
"Is that what you do to thank everyone who saves you from falling?" Sirius asked, rubbing the stinging patch on his face.
"I'd like to thank you, if you didn't catch me by my…!" Vivian flushed and fumed.
By then, James had sat himself down in Vivian's spot, and him and Courtney were watching with great interest. If there was popcorn, they would be shovelling it into their mouths unconsciously.
"Well, I'm sorry, I thought that you'd rather be caught there than fall!" Sirius argued back.
"Well I DON'T!" Vivian spat.
"Fine, next time, I'll let you fall!" Sirius shot back.
"FINE, you do that!" Vivian crossed her arms and shooed James out of her spot. She sat down, huffing, offended.
Sirius walked out, fuming, mumbling something about Vivian that made her glare daggers at him.
James sighed and followed his best friend out.
After the two were gone, Courtney stood up and slowly closed the compartment door. It was silent for a few minutes.
"You know…" She began, but Vivian glared at her, knowing that she was likely to say something that would be surprisingly wise, yet annoying. There was nothing but silence for a few seconds.
"It he caught me there, I wouldn't mind…" Courtney said thoughtfully. "He has those beautiful eyes, and his hair is so…graceful. And he's tall… Gorgeous…" Courtney sighed. "In the least, you shouldn't feel angry…"
"Well, I'm sorry, but I am not interested in a guy who breaks people's hearts like pencils. He's so cocky and ignorant, and disgustingly annoying." Vivian put down, and with that, she indicated that the subject of Sirius Black has been dropped.
---
"I win, again." Sirius declared as he and James played their 3rd game of exploding snaps. "That's two games out of three." He sighed, and his expression suddenly darkened. "Stupid exploding snaps…"
Jamesopened his mouth to protest, but frowned.
"Padfoot, something you want to talk about?" James punched his best friend lightly. Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his nearly black locks and closed his eyes.
"I'm not…" Sirius mumbled. "Nothings the matter…"
"Is it about your mum?" James asked. He knew his friends too well. He stood to lock the compartment so that no one could come in. He sat himself back down. "What did she do this time?"
"She's just so…" Sirius groaned. "She stuck a portrait of herself with a permanent sticking charm in our living room two years ago. Every day, both of her screams like mad. She's such a hag…"
"Wow…" James sighed. "I suppose you're coming to my house again? Sorry, mate, my folks really wanted to visit the US, you could have came with us, but it was such a short notice and everything…"
"It's okay." Sirius mumbled. "God, I don't think she even notices when I'm gone…"
James closed his eyes and ruffled his hair.
They stayed in silence for a while, and suddenly, James looked around. "Where's Peter?"
"Hell, but I shouldn't get my hopes up…" Sirius muttered.
"Sirius…" James began, but a string of knocking came from the door.
James strode over to the door and slid it open. Peter was standing there.
"Hi guys. Sorry…I had to go to the washroom…" Peter strode in.
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "For that long…?"
Peter's complexion reddened slightly. "Yeah, and I had to…send an owl to my mum…you know how she is…"
James nodded and plopped himself down once again. Sirius remained suspicious, but shook his head. Peter was too shallow to try anything suspicious that he could not afford to not know.
---
The few hours went by fairly fast after the first hour or so. People from different compartments started visiting each other, but Sirius and James kept themselves busy designing a new device. Before they knew it, Remus was back.
"Maybe a bug, really small, that stays on the person and all we have to do is say a few words and we'll be able to know where they are." James suggested.
"Or maybe we can have a piece of parchment that tells us where every bug is." Sirius tapped his chin.
"A map," Remus pitched in. "Of Hogwarts that tracks everyone we want…"
James and Sirius turned to Remus with bright expressions.
"Have we ever told you, Mooney, that you're brilliant?" James slammed Remus in the back. Remus smiled weakly.
"The Marauder's Map…" Sirius grinned. "We can put on it the secret passages we've worked so hard to find… and the hidden rooms…"
"But it has to be private, so that only we can read it…" James said.
"Or other trouble makers…" Sirius pointed out, "future generations of law-breakers."
"Like us," James said proudly.
"How about an oath," Remus suggested, "That acts like a spell."
Sirius walked up to Remus and narrowed his eyes. "Where do you get your ideas?"
"Brain," Remus told him.
---
"Anything off the trolley, dear?" A plump woman with a kind face slid the compartment open.
Lily grinned and grabbed a handful of coins from her money bag. Within a few moments, the compartment seat was piled with Cauldron Cakes, Every Flavoured Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and other unique sweets.
"Dumbledore…" Vivian mumbled as she threw down the card. She took a bite out of the chocolate frog that was about to jump away. Immediately, it became still, and behaved as a normal chocolate frog would.
"Nicholas Gold-eye…" Vivian announced after a few moments.
"Professor Gold-eye is a card?" Lily asked with amazement. Their DADA teacher was definitely noble and extremely brainy, but a card?
"Hey, I don't have him." She tucked the card into her bag. "Who wants the actual frog? Too much chocolate for me…" She took a drink of pumpkin juice.
Lily chuckled at Vivian's habit of taking only the cards. She took the frog and bewitched it to stay still. Then, she threw it back into the pile of foods. Courtney took the frog right after Lily threw it back into the pile and took a bite.
After a few hours, a few games of exploding snaps, visits from James, Peter and Remus, announcements from the prefects to put on their robes, playing games of self-shuffling cards, gobstones, and other entertaining activities, they finally arrived.
"Hogwarts…" Lily whispered. "We're back."
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Author's Note: whoop! I'm done my first chapter! Well, I don't care of these people are out of character. Also, for the disclaimer, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters that you might recognize, because chances are, they belong to Joanne Rowling. As for Sirius's eyes, they never said what colour it is, except grey, but that was years later, and it did say that his eyes were much darker than before. So I assumed they were light grey (and for flavour), light blue-grey. They never said what colour Remus's eyes were either, nor Peter's. Yeah…R+R!