#marauders origin

[lightbulbshineon]

One thing I've always wondered is:

HOW (how) does one get into the mauraders??

Is there like a fic that I could read that everyone treats like canon? Or does one just read a lot of fics until one gets it?

I tried reading Jegulus, because it's all over my dashboard but: Who are these people? I just get so confused because I don't know anything about idk: Marlene, Dorcas or well, actually anyone? And there's no canon I could start out with? I don't think so at least?

So yeah, that's just what I've been wondering: if there is this ONE fic everyone knows and references or if it's something you just learn over time

EDIT:

I guess I’ll reread the HP books because I don’t remember this many mentions (I last read them in 2019). But I was also wondering more about the Marauder-adjacent characters than the actual Marauders 🙈

[thestralsofspinnersend]

Death, and Other Origin Stories

Chapter 28: A Potion for Joy

He didn’t remember falling into the dark and quiet of sleep, but suddenly his three mates were cheering loudly as the clock struck midnight above the mantle, yanking him from the deep pool of a sickly unconsciousness, his mouth tasting like saw dust and stale tea. Another blanket had been tucked haphazardly around him.

Bleary eyed, he sat up with baffled incredulity to see a half-dressed James slinging an uncoordinated arm around Peter and wetly kissing his ruddy face. Remus was just wiping his mouth from where he’d been drooling on the arm of the sofa when James was suddenly grabbing him.

“What the—” was all Remus managed in his exhausted stupor before James screamed “ Happy New Year ” at full volume and pressed his spiced mouth onto his, Sirius wolf whistling loudly. His shirt was unbuttoned and his face was flushed and his smile was big and bright. He smelled of cinnamon, vanilla and star anise. Like his skin might taste of it.

“I am not drunk enough to let you snog me, Potter!” Sirius shouted in warning, pointing the empty bottle of rum at James with one wavering hand and reaching for a cushion with the other.

“ What —” Remus repeated, dazed and confused in his exhaustion, wiping his mouth of the lingering bitterness of the spirit, realising just how sloshed his friends had gotten during his unintended nap.

Grumpy and tired and annoyed, he was suddenly feeling both isolated in his sobriety and somehow betrayed by their drunkenness.

“It’s New Years!” James was yelling in justification, launching himself at Sirius. In his inebriated foolishness, he miscalculated the distance and the force with which he lept and the two of them tumbled off the winged back chair with a loud thud and near hysterical laughter.

“C’mon, Lupin,” Peter was saying with a lopsided smile, swaying where he stood, his hand outstretched. Remus whinged and grimaced as Peter pulled too hard in helping him up, his hip aching something awful.

Sirius managed to worm his way out from under James and stumbled in an inelegant attempt to run to the stairs, James in hot pursuit, socks slipping comically on the wooden floor, shouting the benefits of platonic kissing.

Slowly, with aching bones, Remus shuffled his way to the stairs, listening to James yell dire threats of intimacy to the cackling admonishments of Sirius.

Remus toppled into bed with a graceless exhaustion, pulling his duvet tightly around his chilled body. Another wrestling match had commenced and James could be heard making exaggerated smooching sounds over the wheezing, cataplectic laughter of both Sirius and Peter.

And Remus, much against his will, felt an endeared smile break through his maudlin irritation as Sirius finally admitted defeat. James had whooped in victory before grabbing Sirius’s grimacing face and performing, what could only be described as, the least desirous snog Remus could possibly imagine.

@houseofhebrideanblacks

[thestralsofspinnersend]

Chapter 18: Some Things, Sacrificed

“As the weeks wore on, barrelling quickly towards the end of their third year at Hogwarts, Sirius, in his charismatic and distracting ways, had convinced them to put a hold on researching ways to break his unbreakable vow, and rather focus their clever skills and keen minds to something that seemed much less depressing and much more rewarding in the ways of mischief-making and nonsense.

The four of them had begun to compile a rough index for all of the hidden tunnels and secret recesses of the castle that they had discovered over their three years of getting up to no good, after nearly getting caught out after dark again and stumbling into a new corridor on the third floor. They were heckled by a portrait of three fair maidens, tending to a large cauldron over a fire, one of them threatening to call for Filch, brandishing her wooden spoon, and another telling them which rooms in the passage were unlocked with a wink and a smile.

“Just imagine how many secret places this place has,” James had whispered excitedly, climbing back up to the dorm at near 3am, “we need to figure out as many as we can before we leave.”

They all stayed up that night until the sun rose, all huddled onto Sirius’s bed, writing lists and drawing diagrams, consumed with the idea of uncovering the castle’s secrets. They only stopped when they heard the sounds of students heading towards breakfast, and blearily they dressed and raced out the door, eager to fuel up on strong tea and crispy bacon to get them through the day.

And, over the weeks the wall of their dorm room had become more and more occluded with spelled bits of parchment, poorly drawn diagrams of tunnels and niches in walls, brass thumb tacks holding strings between odd names for entrances they had found, and portraits with information.”

[thestralsofspinnersend]

Lupus Crescente

Death, and Other Origin Stories by @spinnersendslytherin and @thestralhouseofblack

Chapter 8

Madam Pomfrey kept her promise and met Remus the next evening after the fuller moon had set on the horizon. When they emerged from the tunnel, the grounds were bathed in a deep gold from the sun hanging low on the horizon. As they traversed the rolling laws, the sounds of cheering and jeering reached their ears from the Quidditch pitch, where a high intensity pick-up practice game of quidditch between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff was taking place in preparation for tomorrow’s Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game.

Remus’s thumb swept the new gashes on his inner wrist as his eyes sought out Sirius and James. Sirius was easy to find, his black hair streaking behind him, a bat held high above his head as he brought it swiftly across the path of an approaching bludger, sending it with great force towards the Hufflepuff seeker, who dove spectacularly out of the way at the last second. He couldn’t see James, but he soon realised why.

“Remus!” James shouted from up ahead, startling him.

Madam Pomfrey, clearly not wanting to give Remus any grief or have him deal with unnecessary questions, winked at him and kept walking towards the castle.

Remus smiled, hands in his pockets, and waited for James, ladened in his squeaking Quidditch gear, to catch up.

“Why aren’t you at practice?”

“Pete’s got dragonpox.” James grimaced.

“Oh, no, not him too.”

“Yeah, he started turning green last night. I had a hell of a time persuading him to go to the hospital wing. Took me the last forty minutes to get him there, whinging as he was. Made me late.” James looked worried and irritated in equal measure. “But, I can’t afford to get sick! The game is tomorrow, and I can nearly taste the victory!”

He was practically vibrating in his shin guards, and Remus couldn’t help but smile. James was always kind, always going out of his way to help his friends, even if it meant being late to Quidditch practice.

They fell into step, heading towards the ruckus on the pitch.

“How was last night?” He asked quietly.

Remus shrugged. “Poppy sent me on my own, but it was fine.”

James nodded. “I was wondering where you were when I took Peter, he was hoping you’d keep him company.”

Remus shrugged again. The knot in his stomach twisting unpleasantly, but he wasn’t sure why.

It was only after James swatted his hands away from his face that he realised he was picking an old scar by his ear.

“Must you?” James asked, irritation lacing his worry.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “I didn’t notice.”

“If you do it again, I’m making you hold my hand, and it will be embarrassing.” He warned.

Remus barked a startled, disbelieving laugh.

Later, a cheerful Hufflepuff team left the field after being brutally decimated 345 to 6 and Gideon laughed loudly about how they could remain so upbeat in the face of such embarrassing circumstances.

Remus fell behind the clamouring team, in step with Marlene whom he’d also become quite fond of, and that Hufflepuff with the black hair, Patricia, and her nasally wheeze. Marlene was exuberant and joyful, laughing loudly and touching Remus’s arm often. His eyes found Sirius who had James on his back, yelling “Charge!” as he ran full speed around the group of students, cackling madly.

He returned his attention back to Patricia, who was telling them her plans to vacation in Iceland with her family over the summer holiday. “The traditional magical system in Iceland is really very fascinating, my gran told me half of all magic folk don’t use wands or go to formal school—”

“Remus!” James was suddenly very close, blocking his way, sounding accusatory and scandalised.

“What?” He asked, startled, stopped in his tracks.

“What the bloody hell did I tell you about that?” He scolded, pulling Remus’s hand away from his chin, congealed blood under his thumbnail.

His cheeks burned in embarrassment as Marlene, Patricia, and a few others close by watched the exchange closely.

“Shit, I wasn’t paying attention,” Remus said sheepishly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Oh, no no!” James said, grabbing Remus’s arm and trying to yank his hand towards him. “I told you the punishment for this transgression—”

“Oh my god, James, no— get out of here—” He pleaded, pulling free and ducking behind Marlene, using her as a barrier.

“No! Get over here and hold my hand!” James shouted, causing several people to whistle and laugh.

“Oi!” Sirius yelled, materialising out of nowhere. “Whose hand are we holding?”

“No one! We’re not holding anyone’s hand!” Remus yelled, winding through people, dodging a determined and mad eyed looking James.

“Sirius!” James yelled, “We have to hold Remus’s hands so he stops picking! Get him!”

“No!” Remus yelled, half laughing, half mortified as he began to run in circles around his curious classmates. James and Sirius stalked him in an unnerving, practised unison.

Sirius crowed in joy at the prospect of a challenge. “Mr Loopy Lupin! You can run, but you can’t hide!”

“Oh my god— I swear, I’ll stop! Go away!” Remus pleaded, his face splitting in a reluctant grin as he tried to use a third year Hufflepuff as a human shield. He had missed this nonsense, aggravating though it was.

“That’s not how this works, Remus!” James preened, looking positively feral as he crouched low, ready to pounce. “How else will you learn?!”

Remus had no chance. He wasn’t hardened by a year of Quidditch practice, and he was tired from the full moon. As they closed in, he tried to dart away, to run as fast as he could, but after only four steps he was tackled into the ground, James and Sirius laughing maniacally.

“Ouf! You oafs!” He complained, an elbow in his back, but they weren’t listening. They dragged him off the ground and each gripped one of his hands in theirs, the Quidditch leathers sweaty against his palms.

Remus moaned and hung his head as the group of students around them broke out in laughter and giggling at his expense. “I hate you both.”

“No, you don’t.” James said, unconcernedly. “What do you think, Sirius?”

“Hmm?”

James dropped his voice and whispered conspiratorially, ignoring Remus’s squawks of indignation. “You reckon we can publicly humiliate our dear wolf child every time he picks his scars?”

“I certainly do, old boy!” Sirius answered with a wink, squeezing Remus’s hand harder as he tried to wriggle free. They were just so strong, and Remus was so tired.

He groaned louder as he was led to and through the castle, his head hung low in his walk of shame. They wouldn’t let go of his hands until they were all the way back in the Gryffindor common room, where Sirius dropped it and made a smooth segue to leaning on an armchair, reaching out to tuck a curl behind the ear of a girl two years his senior, making her blush and lean in closer.

“So, there you go.” James turned to him with a kind smile, squeezing his hand tightly one last time for emphasis. “Stop picking.”

Remus shook his head and turned towards the stairs, his palms sweaty from the attention and leather gloves. “You’re unbelievable!”

“We love you!” James shouted back. The knot in Remus’s stomach relaxed a bit at the thought.

[thestralsofspinnersend]

Death, and Other Origin Stories

Chapter 24: The Seer

“The Inner Eye was cluttered and poorly organised. It gave the feel that one’s eccentric aunt could live there with several equally bizarre members of her coven. The floor was crowded with small, round cafe tables covered in mismatched cloth and surrounded by odd collections of unlikely chairs.  

The walls were lined with shelves and cabinets packed with oddities and books on divination and rituals, giving the whole place the feel of a neglected library or forgotten potions shop. 

There were a multitude of jars, some with liquids, others with herbs or sticks, bundles of bones, and a few that looked suspiciously full of teeth. Crystal balls sat on carved wooden stands and statues of idols and unknown creatures stood along the tops of the bookcases, watching the room with their still eyes. Herbs were tied in tight bundles by rough cords and hung from the ceiling or stacked in large basins that sat scattered around the floor.  

There were cards for all uses, teas for any mood or spell, effigies for hexing your ex and, and candles in every smell and colour.

And, if any of them were hoping for a quiet moment to process Sirius’s captivity under a highly illegal spell, subsequent kidnapping, and any possible plans for escape, they were sorely mistaken. For Madam Trewlaney, of knockturn alley fame, lady of the misted orb, reader of cards and woman adorned in the shroud of fate, as she eventually introduced herself, had no less than five different devastating destinies to break to them. 

“Oh my sweet, sweet child,” Sybill declared with a grimace, her hand across her forehead as she fearfully looked into the swirling remnants of Remus’s finished and cold dregs of tea, “you’ve much sadness and loneliness in your path. Much loneliness indeed. You’ll need to cultivate far greater inner reserves to survive it, I’m afraid.” She paused, her eyes huge behind her gigantic, circular lenses, “You’ll teach though, so there’s always that.” 

She smiled at it. There was pink lipstick on her teeth.

To which all Remus could think to say in return was, “thanks?” with narrowed eyes. 

Sirius discovered, as he removed his cufflinks, standing off to the side behind Remus’s chair, that he should never gamble, lest he fancied losing his feet to his debtors. 

James, chair angled to watch out the front window, was told he was at risk for poisoning, owing to his rising moon’s position in the heavens this year. Peter, sat in a floral armchair just beyond Sybill in the corner of the room, was given a rousing rendition of all the ways he could die in the next twenty odd years. His was the most detailed reading of the lot, and he leaned in to every word, brow furrowed at the many mentions of heartache, cowardice and betrayal. 

Sybill, seemingly having exhausted every foul fate she could muster, dumped the last of the tea leaves from her pewter canister into Peter’s cup, necessitating her to go scrabble amongst the shelves to find more, muttering to herself all the while.”

[hogwartsedu-universe]

Sirius Chapter One

She was a very pretty girl with long straight blonde hair that she had let lay against her back, bouncing as she ran and jumped around with a group of seven or eight other girls that had come from all around the neighborhood. Sirius was not really aware what game they were playing, he could not hear a word of what they were saying, but a sense of longing had overcome him ever since he had decided to look out the window. They appeared to be laughing and shouting and smiling, everyone of them. Sirius was using all of his self-control not to burst through his window to join them. Sirius felt guilty for this and even the thought made him turn around swiftly to check that no one was looking at him through his door. He made sure the door was still bolted and went back to the window to keep watching their game.

           Sirius knew he was forbidden to talk to any of his neighbors. His mother and father had could be seen as quite brutal when they wanted to be. He could not say that he was exactly scared of his parents, but the thought of them discovering him in here looking at muggles made his stomach hurt and gave him the urge to hide in the closet. It was the first rule he could remember, never talk to the neighbors. The muggles scared Regulus. One day a little over a year ago when the whole family had taken a walk in London, they had been blocked by a gang of muggles who had mocked our parents for their long cloaks on such a warm day. They had followed us for over a block, shouting things at my mother in particular. Regulus had cried and sobbed in fright over what they might do to us. Our father talked often about how muggles kill each other just for sport and riot in the streets. Dad had been angry. Very angry. Dad never liked anyone who challenged his authority.

           Sirius could not think them all bad though. These kids playing in the street seemed nice enough. He wondered what it would be like to play with them. He imagined himself out there with them, the center of the party. Telling them jokes he had learned. They would all laugh at them, and no one would suspect a thing. How could they ever find out that he was really a wizard? The whole thing would be so easy, and he was convinced it would be easy fun. He had no one around here he could play with. Regulus would just cry anytime Sirius tried to play with him, and his cousins never wanted to be around him. They were older though and very popular. They hardly even came around on holidays anymore, and when they did, they seemed to cool to talk to Sirius. Sirius wanted to play with kids his own age more than anything.

           He turned around, cursing himself for not having the guts to sneak out there, and cursing himself for even imagining himself out there. He had heard his mother talk about the other members of the family who had done those kinds of things. He knew what was at stake. He went over to his bed and picked up his new wand, fresh from Ollivander’s. He had picked it up just last week with all of his other school supplies. That was a silver lining, he supposed. At Hogwarts, he would finally be around kids his own age. He would be away from his parents and Regulus and free to fly on his own. Bellatrix had already graduated so he wouldn’t have to worry about her.

Bellatrix seemed to really hate Sirius and Regulus. She wasted no time at any party torturing the two boys. Threatening them with hexes and jinxes and blaming everything on them. One time she had used some kind of curse on an unsuspecting Kreacher that caused the whole dinner he was cooking to catch on fire. When all was said and done, Bellatrix had been seen as the hero who saved the day while Kreacher walked on hot coals for hours and Sirius had taken an even more brutal punishment from his mother and father when perfect Bellatrix had told them how he had tripped Kreacher, causing him to dip his cloth in the open flame and start the fire. It was a bitter memory, and Sirius still had the scar across his back so he wouldn’t soon forget it.

Yes, it seemed even Hogwarts would be little sanctuary for Sirius. Narcissa and Andromeda would both still be there. They were much less outwardly cruel than Bellatrix, but he would not forget all the times when he was embarrassed or in pain, the howls and shrieks of laughter he had heard from them. Narcissa was even a prefect in Slytherin house, meaning she would have control over him the second he entered the doors. His mother and father often boasted about how no Black had ever been sorted into another house in living memory. This left Sirius with little hope that he might escape his family even in the walls with Hogwarts. The thought filled Sirius with a recklessness he could not explain, and he put down his copy of A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration and hopped off his bed and out the door.

He closed the door carefully behind him and crept down the hall and down the stairs. Regulus was making no noise in his room and his mother was shut away in her room, probably asleep. He knew his father wouldn’t be home for hours and Kreacher would undoubtedly be in the kitchen. This gave him the opportunity to sneak right out of the house without anyone noticing. The Black house did not have any windows in it except for the one in his own room, a lucky chance. It was highly likely, in Sirius’ mind at least, that no one would ever need to know he had left his house.

He met no one on the stairs, in the landing or at the door. The portraits on the wall could always be counted on to be quiet whenever Sirius moved by them, although one or two would hiss at him that was betraying the family legacy. The house elf heads had long since proven that they could no longer see or hear anything. Before Sirius knew it. he was outside, blinking in the bright midday sun.

He paused for a moment on his doorstep, unsure what he should do next. The kids did not seem to notice him, they were all wrapped up in a game with a quaffle sized red ball that they seemed to be kicking around. Sirius couldn’t find any rhyme or reason to the game, but the kids seemed to know what to do. All seven of them were running around chasing it until one of them kicked it away, then they would chase it again, all in a swarm. Sirius watched from the outside for several minutes. He had moved away from his front step and was taking a few slow steps toward the group, unsure how he should introduce himself. Acutely aware that he could turn back now before he did anything truly damning.

It was then by chance that a particularly wild and erratic muggle kicked the ball with all his might, so it soared right over all their heads and landed a few feet from Sirius. It continued to bounce until it was quite close to him. Sirius looked at it, a little bewildered by the way the ball had been bouncing. This was surely nothing like a quaffle.

“Hey, a little help?” the blonde girl had called out to him. She was quite pretty with bright blue eyes. It was quite striking how the look she gave him almost made him shudder. It was a hard and blazing look. She was sweaty and breathing deeply from the effort of the game. Sirius was unsure of what she meant until she pointed at the ball and Sirius realized. He looked at the ball, and feeling stupid the whole time, aimed a kick at it. The ball soared right to a boy with wire rimmed glasses who caught it effortlessly. Sirius thought his toe might be broken. He could not imagine such a light ball hurting so much. He winced in pain causing the group to laugh. Sirius felt his face grow red. This was already not going well. He was starting to feel that his father might have been right, and she should go inside when the blonde girl ran up to him, still laughing.

“You don’t know much about football, do you?” She asked, still smiling brightly at him, showing very white teeth. She had mercifully stopped laughing for the moment.

Sirius, despite the embarrassment felt himself smile too. “Nope.” He said in what he hoped was a casual and lighthearted voice.

“Well, first rule, you’re supposed to kick it with the side of your foot, so you don’t break anything.” She said with a giggle. “I’m Aria. C’mon over, we need a fourth for our team. We’re getting beat badly.” And she ran off. Sirius followed.

It was quite fun really. Sirius had no idea how long he had been playing but he was getting very sweaty running around chasing the ball and trying, with increasing success, to kick the ball through to the other side where an imaginary goal was being protected. Finally, several of the kids said they needed to be home for dinner and the game gradually broke apart until it was just Sirius and Aria laughing along together at the better moments of the game.

“What’s your name anyway?” She asked him in a lull in the laughter as they sat cross legged on a small patch of grass on the other side of the street.

“Sirius.” He told her.

“That’s very serious. My name’s Aria. My mother named me after a type of song. She said I’m as beautiful as an Aria. I guess your mother had a different idea for you.” She laughed, and he joined in, all embarrassment forgotten. This truly was wonderful. It was the most fun he had in his whole life. The first time he did not need to worry about impressing anyone. This just came naturally to him. They talked until the sun had really begun to set over London and night really began.

“I really should be going for dinner. Mom will be worried. Come out again tomorrow, maybe we can get you better at football.” Aria said as he stood up, grass stains on her shorts.

“Yeah, maybe.” Sirius said, sad that the day had finally ended, and hopeful that he would have another chance to come out tomorrow. He stood up too.

“So, see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, definitely!” Sirius said knowing that he would try again and again to hang out with these kids. Muggles didn’t seem so bad after all. Then she came over and gave him a swift peck on his cheek. This took Sirius completely by surprise. She smelled fruity, like a fruit punch. He was stunned and before he could think of something to say she had run off.

Sirius stood there for a few moments before he regained control of his legs, and with an extra little jump in his step, he made his way back to his house. When he entered the front door, the happy feeling he had inside him went out with a gust of wind. His mother and father were at the door. His dad had his wand out and Sirius had never seen him looking so angry before in his life. His mother looked close to tears. She was slightly behind his father. Sirius also noticed that just behind her was Kreacher the house elf, looking proud of himself.