Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

                                    

                                          
     They stood side by side on the altar dressed in black. Their father was a few feet ahead, hopelessly greeting mourning guests. Next to them, their mother's casket had been placed and opened to reveal the most beautiful woman that they had ever known. An organ played solemnly in the distance.
     Remus watched as his father shook hands with Fleamont Potter and put his arms around a sniffling Euphemia. James stood behind them, blank faced as he and his friend made eye contact. He approached the altar to gaze momentarily upon the unfortunate corpse. He quickly shook hands with Remus before attempting to hug a glassy eyed Silvia. Her limp body leaned against his as he awkwardly put his arms around her. She almost fell as he let go.
     "I'm sorry." He wiped a tear from his face. "I truly am."
     "Thank you," Remus nodded. He turned to Silvia hopefully. However, she remained silent, staring straight ahead. "She hasn't spoken since the night it happened," he told James quietly. James nodded in understanding before walking away.
     She could barely see past the black veil that covered her eyes. It was the only thing that hid her from her surroundings. Remus offered it to her as a way to hide. She had taken it graciously and returned to him a curt nod as a thank you.
     Sienna was there, somewhere beyond the veil. She was saying something, probably condolences. Then, Silvia was moved against her will as arms wrapped themselves around her. Sienna pulled away to hug Remus and offer more condolences.
     "I'll always be here for both of you," she promised as she planted a kiss on his cheek.
     They hugged for a long time. He cried on her shoulder.
     Silvia could hear Uncle Gustav's thick German accent. He looked down pitifully at Hope's casket and moved on, neglecting to say anything to Silvia or Remus.
     Aunt Lita hugged Silvia for a long time, sobbing. She wasn't sure what upset Lita more, Hope's death or Silvia's sudden dissociation from reality. "I should have been there for her when I had a chance. She was a better mother than I, a better wife, a better person."
     Blaire also hugged them each and attempted to make conversation with Silvia. Silvia sniffed and Blaire decided it was best to leave the two alone.
     Calypso, Pandora, Thaddeus, and Dixie had appeared with their families to pay respects. Everyone walked by like a blur, embracing Silvia awkwardly and moving on quickly. Every Clydesdale had shown up. Alana had even arrived with her husband, Andrew Monroe and their two young sons. Being in the presence of children hardly boosted Silvia's spirits. It only brought her into longing for her childhood. Longing for her mother.
     Lydia had stopped by, accompanied by Eileen and Severus Snape. For the first time ever, no snide remarks were made, no pranks were pulled. The world was silent, as if in prayer.

                          
     Peter hid in a corner with James. They were eating cookies from the desert room, bored out of their minds. Silvia's eyes suddenly opened for the first time all day just as Sirius and Regulus had walked through the doors. They went to Lyall first, shaking his hand and offering condolences. Lyall smiled halfheartedly as they moved on.
     She saw them. Regulus had a thoughtful gleam in his eye. They had both become so incredibly attractive, almost nothing like the two Black family boys that Silvia had met nearly two years ago.
     Suddenly, Regulus's arms were around her. She made a quick sound from her throat as he pulled her close. Remus quickly turned at the sound of her voice to investigate. He was disappointed to see her, limp as a rag doll in Regulus's arms.
     He moved on and Sirius quickly took his place before Silvia could fall over.
     "I'll always be with you and Remus," he whispered in her ear. "I promise you that. There's nothing anyone can ever do to take me away from the two of you. I love you, you know that?"
     She didn't respond. A tear slid unconsciously down her cheek.
     He pulled away, holding her up by the shoulders. "Silvia," he repeated. "I love you. We all love you. Please, say something."
     Silvia continued to stare blankly forward, past Sirius. He adjusted her and moved on to embrace Remus.
     "Don't take it to heart, Sirius. She won't talk to me either," he explained.
     "I understand. This is a lot to handle."
     Remus sniffed and wiped a tear. "Of course."
     "Listen," Sirius put his arms on Remus's shoulders. "We have a surprise for you, a little 'get well soon' type of gift. The boys and I had it custom made just for you." He motioned for James and Peter. They approached, wheeling along a trunk.
     "We know you've always wanted to be a professor at Hogwarts," Peter explained.
     James pushed the trunk forward. On the side in gold lettering read the words "Professor R.J. Lupin."
     Remus smiled and wiped a sudden tear from his face.
     "Go live your dream," James said with a weak smile on his face.
     He opened his arms to let his friends join in a hug and began to sob. "Thank you so much," he wept. "You three are all the greatest friends that I could ever wish for."
     "We finally did it," James explained. "We've successfully become animagi. It's taken Peter and I years, but Sirius knocked it out so quickly. He was dedicated. It was pretty humorous when Sirius could only transform his legs. He had funny little padded feet."
     "I bet it wasn't as funny as the time Peter couldn't get rid of his tail before class. People thought he had a worm in his trousers," Remus reminisced.
     Peter snorted. "Or when James started growing prongs in the middle of class."
     They chuckled and continued to embrace in silence.
     When they finally pulled away, Silvia was staring at them. The four stood in shock as her eyes darted from one boy to another. They waited for her to speak. Her mouth moved suddenly, but no words came out. She looked down at the gold lettering on the trunk, admiring it's craftsmanship.
     "At least Remus has a dream," she said weakly before falling into sobs. Sirius quickly embraced her. She held on and shook violently as fat tears fell from her face and loud cries flew from her throat. It was beautiful to see that Remus had friends who supported him until the end.
     Silvia was thankful for them as well.
                          
Their fifth and sixth years began. Wounds still fresh, hearts still aching.
     The train ride was painstakingly silent. The Great Hall and the common room had lost their child-like excitement. Remus now spent most of his time enchanting parchments. It was the one thing that kept him motivated.
     A clock ticked.
     "What exactly is it that you're doing?" Silvia asked one day.
     With his wand pointed to a scrap of parchment, Remus looked up to respond. "My friends and I are trying to enchant this map we've been planning for years."
     "Years?"
     "Yep." He pulled a large, folded piece of parchment from his pocket. "We also finally came up with nicknames in case Snavely or that new guy Filch ever finds it."
     Silvia grabbed the parchment. "Filch has been following you boys all week." She looked down and carefully began unfolding the parchment. "You've been working on this for years?" she asked.
     "Of course. Why'd you ask?"
     She showed Remus the parchment. "It's blank."
     Remus grinned and placed the tip of his wand to the center of the paper. "Watch this," he said. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Ink blotches appeared on the paper. Words began to form. "Check it out, now."
     "Wow," Silvia sighed. "Remus, this is genius." She studied the cover of the parchment. "Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, are proud to present The Marauder's Map." She set the map down. "That's truly amazing. Who's who?"
     Remus was baffled. "What do you mean, who's who?"
     "I mean which one is Moony? I suppose you're Padfoot, or possibly Sirius is. James is gross, like a worm, he must be Wormtail. Who is Prongs? Are you using prongs and setting fires? Remus, you know arson is a crime."
     "Silvia. Think about this for a second. Moony. Moon-y."
     "Yes, I see. Full moon. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Prongs?"
     "James is Prongs." He rolled his eyes in annoyance.
     "Oh, I see. Wormtail, like a rat's tail."
     "Yes."
     "Okay," Silvia agreed. "What does this map do?" She opened it up to reveal detailed illustrations of various rooms and corridors. She gasped. "Oh, Remus! This is Hogwarts!"
     "That's right. Watch this." He placed his wand once more on the parchment and muttered a spell under his breath. Names began to appear across the map. "We're working on making that feature permanent and automatic when the map is opened. For now, it's manual. We still need to work on the kinks."
     "This is amazing!" Silvia disregarded his statement about kinks. "Look! There we are. Here comes Peter!"
     Peter walked into the common room holding a block on cheese. "Hey, you're showing her the map?"
     "I love it!" Silvia replied.
     Remus looked at him, concerned. "Wormtail?" he asked cautiously.
     "Yes?" Peter replied through a mouthful of cheese.
     "Why are you eating a block of cheese?"
     Peter nodded and suddenly acknowledged the cheese in his hand. "Oh, yeah, the cheese, well, this whole 'rat' thing suddenly has me turned onto eating cheese. I'm lactose intolerant, but I'll manage." He pointed the cheese to the map. "Mischief managed."
     The map didn't manage it's mischief.
     "Oh!" Peter stuffed the cheese in his pocket and pulled out his wand. "Mischief managed," he repeated. "Lydia and Sienna are coming. I had to turn the map off so they wouldn't see."
     As promised, Lydia and Sienna stepped into the common room, talking about Charms. Sienna sat down next to Remus and quickly kissed him. Lydia rolled her eyes.
     "I'm glad you and Sirius aren't like that," she whispered. "All lovey dovey. It makes me sick."
     Silvia laughed. "Let's go study for that Charms exam somewhere else then."