dedicated to my lovely friend hoteldenouement who just graduated uni, give her some love :)

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6th Year of Hogwarts
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WITH MIRTH Peter, James, Sirius and Eloise returned to their common room. They were covered in ash, smelled of smoke and had wild hair. Eloise was slung over James' shoulder like a rag doll, a castaway look in her eyes and dazed smile on her lips. Meanwhile Peter and Sirius were both hauling the other one along resulting in both boys slowly descending towards the floor whilst tripping over the other's feet.

It appeared that after all James was the only one who could truly hold his liquor although he did seem to be close to stumbling on more than a few occasions. Eloise however was blissfully unaware from her position on his shoulder and she let out quiet giggles as they walked which would be interrupted by Eloise shouting profanities at England, the queen and the royal family.

Remus, who had not joined his friends' shenanigans due to being tired from the impending full moon, found himself on a couch in his pyjamas when his friends burst in. Sirius and Peter finally making contact with the floor. The sandy haired boy raised a brow at James. "I'm not even going to ask," He muttered as James carefully lifted a foot to step over the two Marauders on the floor who were giggling. Had standing on one foot always been that difficult?

Finally James managed to step over the two and manoeuvred to the couch where he intended to drop Eloise. Despite James looking capable, Remus took no chances and rose to his feet slightly to help James put Eloise on the couch before he sat down again. Eloise however wasted no time in draping herself across Remus' lap with a cheeky grin.

"Mooooooooooooonneyyyyyy," She cried, a hand reaching up to pinch his cheek. Carefully Remus tried to pry her fingers off his cheek to no avail as Eloise kept shaking his cheek. The brunette turned her head, making her dizzy, and focused on James who had dropped head first into a pillow on another couch. "Pstt, Prongs, he's a cute one," Elosie all but screamed, pointing at Remus as obviously as she could.

In reply James raised a week thumbs up while still hiding in his pillow.

Eloise turned back to Remus. "Do you have a girlfriend?" She hiccuped, making Remus blink down at her.

The brunet nodded, making the Welsh on his lap pout. "What did you lot do?" Remus demanded as Peter disentangled himself from Sirius.

The blond boy staggered to his feet, only to drop down onto James' legs, making the older boy curse at Peter. Remus looked from his friends to his pouting girlfriend on his lap and shook his head. With some effort Remus got up before using a charm to lift Eloise in the air, making her gag. Before moving to walk up the stairs, Remus put some blankets on his friends.

Arriving in the Marauders and Frank Longbottom's dormitory, Remus laid Eloise on the edge of his bed. Her feet dangled off the side and Remus carefully worked on getting her chunky heels off.

"Who's your girlfriend?" Eloise asked not so quietly.

Remus looked up at her and couldn't help but laugh, he was never going to let her live that down. Eloise had always been louder and wilder whilst drunk, but Remus had never seen a sappy drunk Eloise before. Come to think of it he hadn't seen a sappy Eloise often, he had seen her cry when she found out about her parents' murder and he had seen her in the depths of despair the month following their death. Remus had noticed Eloise's lingering looks when she saw a picture or painting of her parents. He remembered seeing Eloise and her siblings mourning their parents during Fabian and Valentina's wedding. Finally he had seen her distraught state after the wedding and during his and Eloise's first kiss. But Remus had never seen Eloise been so open without being in distress.

Opting to see how much he could tease her, Remus grinned as he swung Eloise's legs onto his bed. "She's really pretty, quite loud too," Eloise was blinking at him lazily as he spoke. "She's very funny, caring, loyal. Oh, she's a pretty shitty looser."

"She sounds terrible," Eloise stated with a huff. "I'm not a shitty looser," Remus bit his lip to stop his laugh at the outright lie. At the Quidditch World Cup when the Irish lost, Eloise had kicked a stone so hard she ended up with a broken toe that never did fully heal. "Fucking Aurora only noticed you days ago," Eloise continued, making Remus frown slightly as he took his slippers off. "Meanwhile I'v fancied you for years now, but go ahead and pick the prissy twat."

Pulling the covers over himself and Eloise, Remus gently tugged Eloise so she would look at him. "Elo," She hummed at the sound of her nickname, eyes already shut. "You are my girlfriend remember?"

Immediately Eloise's eyes flew open, her unfocused gaze focused on Remus. "Ey, that's nice. At least I don't have to marry Prongsie," Eloise mumbled and closed her eyes, shuffling closer to Remus and wrapping an arm around him.

☆——⍟——☆

The new morning came with lots of sun, making Eloise cry out for someone to close the curtains. Sadly for her no one did. The brunette brought up her hand to rub her eyes and when she retracted her hand she noticed it was covered in ash.

Memories from the previous night came rushing back and sure enough Eloise was dressed in last night's clothes and was sleeping in Remus' bed. Speaking of Remus she twisted her head despite the hangover to look at him.

It was a common sight to see Remus in agony near and during the full moon, but that didn't make it easier for any of the Maurauders. It was also no surprise that Eloise's heart shattered a bit at the sight of Remus, his brows were furrowed tightly, sweat covered his skin and he was clutching his blankets and pillows in a knuckle white grip.

Eloise gently massaged the place between his brows, easing the frown away without waking him up. Promptly after Eloise stumbled out of the bed and towards the bathroom, nicking one of James' shirts on the way.

After a much needed shower and some left over hangover cure potion, Eloise reentered the Marauders' room and noted that Frank had already left. James' shirt was a comfortable dress on Eloise and thus she didn't bother with any trousers and hopped onto Remus' bed.

Gently she brushed her fingers over the side of Remus' face, causing the sandy haired boy's eyes to flutter open. "Good morning."

Eloise offered Remus a lopsided grin. "Good morning."

☆——⍟——☆

At breakfast another students ran out of the main hall in tears as they read about the demise of their friend's family. Those days the Daily Prophet rarely brought good news, the front page always seemed to showcase the skull symbol of the Death Eaters. At the same time more and more students at Hogwarts covered their left arms.

Peter dropped the paper he had been reading and shook his head, his droopy eyes looking around for the coffee. It was Marlene who passed the blond a cup, her tight black curls bouncing as she did.

James snuck a peek at the exposed tattoo on Eloise's right wrist, the quaffle was due to morph into a moon soon enough. The older boy kicked Peter's legs and Peter pouted before noticing the state of Eloise's tattoo. Without any other protest the boy rose to his feet, grabbing a last croissant as he did, and walked out of the great hall.

The Marauders and Lily continued about their breakfast without batting an eye while Dorcas and Marlene shared a frown.

"Evans," Sirius started, earning the attention of his friends. "Hypothetically how many galleons would I have to give you for you to do this assignment for me?" He flashed her a signature Black grin.

However the redhead wasn't amused and pursed her lips. "Not even your whole family's fortune," She fired back within a beat as she wiggled out of James' grip to grab her bag.

As Sirius whined, James tilted his head to peer up at Lily who rose from her seat. "Where are you off too?"

Lily pressed a kiss too James' forehead. "Mary wanted some help with a bird she likes."

"Still offended she never asks for my advice anymore," Marlene huffed as she munched on a crumpet.

"I know the feeling! And we actually like girls, we are the perfect people to give girl advice!" Eloise exclaimed, waving her hand around which caused some of her tea to fall on Sirius. The black haired boy screeched at the hotness, but sighed in relief as James flicked his wand and evaporated the tea.

The standing Gryffindor's eyebrows knit together. "Last time you two gave her advice, you told her to ignore the girl," The girl rested her hands on her hips, green gaze flickering between Eloise and Marlene. "And now she's single."

The Prewett girl shrugged innocently. "Worked for me and Moony."

Instantly all the friends let out a snort accompanied with a 'no it didn't'.

"If it had worked, you wouldn't have planned how to," Dorcas made quotation marks as she spoke. "'Accidentally' kill Buckthorn with a quaffle." In reply Eloise flourished her middle finger and stuck out her tongue.

The Potter boy's lips twitched. "I would have covered for you, she was a bitch," It earned him a whack up the head by Lily who said she really had to go and rushed off. "I'm not wrong," James huffed, rubbing the back of his head.

"That's precisely why Siri's matchmaking rights have been revoked," Marlene mused, head tilted and resting on her palm.

The boy in question eyes narrowed into tiny furious slits. "My matchmaking skills are extraordinary, I'll have you know." Sirius flicked his head over his shoulder.

"You've clearly lost the plot Black," Dorcas laughed, earning a bright red glare from Sirius.

Eloise rose from her seat with a groan, patted James on the back before trailing out of the great hall, her heels echoing through the corridors of the castle a harsh breeze greeted her outside. The hairs on Eloise's naked arms rose and the brunette rubbed her arm as she made her way to the whomping willow.

Sure enough the branches were already frozen and casting one last look around Eloise made sure no one was watching. Satisfied the teen dropped into the hole between the branches. Since the last full moon some spiderwebs had accumulated at the entrance, and Eloise continued to curse the bloody things as she picked spiderwebs out of her hair.

Grumbling Eloise stalked through the tunnel for a few minutes until wooden planks started to replace the earth of the tunnel. The stairs up to the Shrieking Shack creaked under Eloise's platform heels.

"Wormsyiekins," Eloise sang as she reached the top, expecting her best friend to be waiting for her. "Hey git!" Eloise called out, but still there was no answer. The brunette took her wand out of her belt and trailed further into the shack. "Idiotttt?"

Sunlight trickled into the building through the broken blinds and cracks on the wall, the light cast long patterns on the ground which illuminated the dust which was scattered around. Claw marks littered the floors and walls. Eloise entered the room in which Remus would usually transform, the bloodstains on the wooden planks never failing to make Eloise's breath hitch.

Faint sniffles could be heard from the room next to her. Eloise turned and bent down to crawl through a hole in the thin wall.

"Little little pathetic Peter," James spat with a sinister laugh. Beside him stood Sirius, Remus and another Eloise. Peter had curled up into a weeping and shaking mess at their feet.

"We just felt bad for you that day on the train," Sirius spat, his eyes gleaming with uncharacteristic anger.

Fake Eloise crouched down so she was on eye level with Peter. "You little fat git, can't believe we allowed you to be our friend for so long." Remus at her side opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud smack from behind them.

The fake Marauders spun around to come face to face with the real Eloise. Within a blink they morphed into Judy and Percival's corpses. Their cold dead eyes stared up at Eloise, who's wand hand wavered.

The boggart shifted again, the dead bodies of her siblings greeted her next, then her nephews got their turns, even little unborn George and Fred. The boggart started to morph again, Eloise only saw how James' unruly hair started to appear before she flicked her wand. "Ridikulus."

James' corpse faded away and instead Peter and Eloise were greeted by a summersaulting James Potter. However no laughs fell from the two friends as Eloise's dark eyes stayed trained on the ground where her dead family had been moments before. Not giving the creature any more time to attack either of them, Peter preformed the banishing spell and summersaulting James disappeared.

"I thought they were real," Peter whispered as he dropped his arm by his side, wand dangling between his fingers.

Eloise looked away from the floor. "That's absurd," She stepped over where the dead bodies had been. "Your worst fear is utter bollocks Wormtail." The rest of her sentence remained unsaid but Peter still heard it.

The two friends shared a hug and Eloise deeply inhaled Peter's smell. Her confidence faltering as her fingers gripped his t-shirt too tightly.

☆——⍟——☆

Half and hour after the boggart encounter four of the Marauders were huddled under James' invisibility cloak, with all of them being transformed except for James. As soon as Madame Pomfrey left, they threw the cloak off of them and rushed to Remus' side as he sat in the middle of the room with a blanket around his body.

The sun still shone as a stag, a dog, a rat and a fox watched how a boy's bones snapped and grew, his skin tearing and stretching. The process had never been easy to witness, and time did not ease the pain his friends felt as they watched him transform.

Once a wolf took the place of the boy, Foxtail trodded up to him carefully and pressed her snout against his. Moony blinked lazily, his morphed eyes focusing on the tiny fox before him. He turned to the rest of his friends. A loud howl tore from Padfoot's throat, Foxtail and Moony joining in whilst Prongs and Wormtail shared a look at their canine friends.

Taking the lead, the black dog sprinted out of the room, the rest not too far behind. Wormtail's small form was scooped up by Prongs' antlers and the rat held on for dear life.

The Forbidden Forest though scary had always been beautiful at night. The full moon reflecting off of the ponds they jumped over. Ever so often one of them would nip at someone's tails, or Prongs' antlers would prick one of his friends.

Whenever Moony's claws would dig into his own skin one of the others would jump him, distracting the wolf into another wrestling game. Even Wormtail would wrestle with Moony, although the rest would keep a close eye.

Tired the group had dropped down to catch their breaths. Moony rested his head on his paws as he laid curled up under a large tree, Wormtail was resting atop the wolf's head. Meanwhile Foxtail, Prongs and Padfoot had spread out around their two friends.

The sound of voices approaching however made the friends perk up. They shared a few glances before Foxtail rolled onto her paws and walked over to where the voices were coming from. The fox found a bunch of students clad in dark robes.

The rest of the Marauders crowded around Foxtail and the fox whipped her head around to usher Moony away, but she was too late. The wolf spotted and smelled the humans and his instincts started to take over, all he could see was red.

Not wasting any time, Prongs tackled Moony which caused the wolf to cry out and trash against the stag. As Foxtail and Padfoot jumped to help Prongs, Wormtail hopped into the bushes.

The combined strength of the three Marauders was not enough as Moony threw them off, one of his claws grazing Foxtail's ear. Moony ran over the bushes and beelined for the students. However a few adults clad in black stepped forward, wands at the ready.

Various spells smacked into Moony and he flew backwards. The rest of the Marauders were just regaining themselves when they spotted the person who was standing amidst all the students. None of them would ever forget the burning red eyes of the figure with the molten looking skin.

The man who's name no one dared to utter took a step forward and he raised his hand in which he effortlessly held his wand. A spell started to form and most of the Marauders scrambled to get away, the exception was Prongs who glanced at his friends and at the Dark Lord.

With a brave heart Prongs charged forward, before the Dark Lord's spell could be released, Prongs' antlers embedded into the pale man's frame. Quickly Prongs shook the wizard off of him and rushed after his friends.

That was the first time James Fleamont Potter defied the Dark Lord.

☆——⍟——☆

The brunette Prewett hissed as she tried another healing spell on her split ear. She stood in the bathroom of her dorm room, a few bloodied rags in the sink. Whilst the girl definitely needed to see Madam Pomfrey, she didn't dare to go in fear of being caught as an illegal animagus. After all wounds inflicted by werewolves were very recognisable and therefore the Marauders only went to Madam Pomfrey in dire situations when it concerned full moon wounds.

"What are you doing?"

Eloise turned to find Lily standing in the doorway with a concerned look adorning her face. With a defeated sigh Eloise showed off her ear, worsening Lily's look. The ginger approached the brunette, inspecting the wound carefully.

"Did Remus do this?" Lily carefully wiped away some of the blood to get a better look at the wound.

The shorter girl winced. "Moony did, yeah," She hissed as Lily continued to handle her ear. From what the inexperienced healer could tell Eloise would be fine although the tip of her ear would never grow back. Luckily the flesh and exposed cartilage didn't appear to be infected and thus she brandished her wand. A few spells later Eloise's ear wasn't healed, but was at least a lot less tender. "Thanks," Eloise murmured, brushing her brown curls to cover then injury.

"What happened last night?" Lily questioned as the two girls entered their dorm, which was desolated.

The two walked towards the hospital wing and Eloise kept looking around nervously. "We saw him," Lily quirked a brow, unsure of who Eloise meant. In return Eloise's gaze became grave. "Him," She repeated, this time slower as she widened her eyes.

Sadly Lily still didn't get it and her brows were knit together tightly. "Him?"

With a disgruntled groan Eloise pulled Lily into a nook of the corridor. The brunette stuck her head out of the corridor. After making sure it was indeed clear she looked back at the utterly confused Lily Evans. "He-who-must-not-be-named."

From confusion to utter shock and fear, Lily's eyes widened to the size of golfballs. "What?!?! How--" Before any more question flitted out of Lily's mouth, Eloise clamped her hand over Lily's lips.

"Shhhhhhhh!" Eloise glared at Lily who only jerked her head, urging her question. Eloise shook her head, letting her shoulders sag. "We were running through the woods when we found him," The Prewett's brown eyes flickered down the hallway. "He had students with him."

Lily screwed her eyes shut and before recomposing herself. "We have to tell Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore, it's bad enough this war is brewing out there," Lily spoke as she rubbed her hand over her forehead, wincing when she brushed over a painful pimple. "But now it's seeping through. We can't have another James and-" Lily's breath hitched. "Snape incident."

Memories of what had happened at the Santos-Prewett wedding resurfaced. The harsh red scars that covered James' tan and muscular upper body. Fabian's coma and how he was still working on his recovery came to mind. The screams and nightmares they had all experienced after the events, nightmares that still plagued some of them.

"It's not like they can do much," Eloise grumbled. "This has been brewing since forever," The two girls got out of the nook and continued their way to the hospital wing. "But if I recognise anyone from there, I'll curse them and then hex their ghosts."

The two arrived at the hospital wing to find the boys. Upon arrival, Lily rushed to James' side and threw her arms around him. Sensing her fear, James pressed her tightly against him. His dark eyes met Eloise's and he understood what happened. Gently the Potter's fingers trailed over Lily's back.

Eloise stole Peter's chocolate frog and popped it in her mouth before the boy could do anything about it. It earned her a badly aimed jinx.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Sirius uttered, holding his wand against he Marauder's Map. The map came to life, causing Lily to stare at it in wonder. The past few months had not ben enough to ease her amazement of the object or the fact that five of her friends made it.

The Black boy peered down at the map. "Oie, dungeons are clear." He looked up with a giddy smile and tilt of his head. Some of his black strands flopping over his head to gather on one side. His steel gaze found Remus' brown one.

Remus gave a tired smile from his hospital bed. "Go on," He nodded to the door. "Set the plan in motion." Not having to be told twice, Eloise, Sirius and Peter jumped up and ran for the door.

"Unbelievable," James groaned before quirking a brow at Remus. "You sure, mate?" Remus nodded and so James pressed a kiss to Lily's forehead before rushing after the rest. Lily gently took a seat by Remus' bed and produced a game of uno.

☆——⍟——☆

"MISS PREWETT, MISTER BLACK, MISTER POTTER AND MISTER PETTIGREW!" The four teens came to a halt at the screaming voice of Filch. The Gryffindors turned around to face the furious caretaker. The man scowled at the teens. "You'll pay for this, you'll bloody pay for this. I'll hang ye up by your ears!!" The man started to march towards them.

Taking a step back Eloise rested a hand on Sirius and James' shoulders. "Lads, commence plan H12." The boys nodded.

Within a beat Peter and Sirius took off running in one direction as Eloise and James in the other. Filch cursed them and started running after Peter and Sirius, calling for Mrs Norris to follow him.

"Come on Foxy!" James hollered back as he ran down the hallway.

"Shut up you tall git!" Eloise snapped back.

The two continued to run and as they did, Peeves unscrewed the chandelier with a wink. The crash called Filch's attention to them and his screaming became audible as the duo reached the stairs.

The black haired boy cast a look over his shoulder to ensure Filch wasn't too close behind. The two Marauders sprinted up the steps and James didn't notice the stairs rotating. Were it not for Eloise grabbing a fist full of James' grey uniform jumper, the boy would have surely fallen to his death.

"Whoa whoa, careful there Prongsy," Eloise called as she pulled him back, causing her muscles to strain and bulge under her uniform blouse. "I would rather not tell Lily you became deer pancake."

With the initial shock gone James grinned and hopped onto some passing stairs, hauling Eloise along with him. He spread his arms out a bit. "I'll never die Foxtail," James threw an arm around Eloise and pulled her close to him despite her slap against his chest. "I'm simply invincible."

"Precisely why I will laugh and dance on your grave you twat." Despite her harsh words, Eloise chuckled and jumped up to ruffle the wild mop of hair on James' head. In return James narrowed his eyes at her.

"Fucker."

"Good morning to you too." The two Marauders turned to find Marlene standing a few steps from them. An afro pick in one hand and a purse in other. Contrary to her two fellow Gryffindors, Marlene wasn't dressed in her uniform, instead the girl wore a lime green, hot pink and sunset orange dress with bell sleeves that reminded Eloise of various psychedelic experiences.

"Where you off to McKinnon?"

The girl sauntered past James. "None of your business Potter," A smirk dangled on her lips and she tossed her afro pick to Eloise who caught it. "Isn't really a place for the tied dow people," She turned to Eloise. "Would you mind putting that in our room."

Eloise shook her head. "Don't do I anything I wouldn't do Lene!" Eloise laughed. "And definitely don't do anything I would do! I'm not cleaning up your puke." The Prewett girl received a middle finger from Marlene.

With Marlene gone, a silence settled on the two teens before James sighed and rested his hands on his hips. "Anyway, we should get going to the astronomy tower." He made eye contact with Eloise and the two stared at each other with a glint in their eyes. Upon noticing no one was nearby for even the paintings were fussing over the broken chandelier down the stairs, Eloise smirked.

In a blink a fox took the place of the brunette and took off. "OIE THAT'S NOT FAIR. MERLIN'S BLOODY STINKY BALLS, FOXTAIL!" James  ran after the fox quickly, his arms outstretched to catch the red furred animal. However four legs were faster than two. "DAMN YOU!"

Foxtail continuously looked back to the sprinting James. A mischievous twinkle in her beady eyes. The duo sped by Therese who's eyes narrowed at the fox, who she thought to recognise.

It didn't take long for the two teens to reach the tower and when they did. Foxtail quite literally leaped into Sirius' arms before transforming back causing the two to take a tumble. Eloise pinned Sirius down.

Peter barley looked up from the scene and looked back at the breathtaking view from the tower where they were not allowed to be. The rolling green Scottish hills, peppered in trees and lining the Black Lake, or Loch Black depending on who you asked, the quidditch pitch shone in the light of the setting sun.

The chubby boy took a seat by the window and took out a cigarette and lit it up, he blissfully ignored his arguing friends. The blond inhaled before dispelling the smoke, he watched closely as the smoke drifted away in the wind and blew to join the setting sun.

Peter perked up as three other Marauders took seats beside him. Eloise stole Peter's cigarette and took a drag, her head gravitating towards Peter's shoulder. The group of four sat with James and Peter on either side and Sirius and Eloise in the middle.

As Eloise passed the cigarette to Sirius, James cleaned his glassed with his tie before speaking up. "Maybe we shouldn't go into the Forbidden Forest anymore," James said with a tone that never failed to put his friends in check and help them realise when a situation was serious.

"Fucking Death Eaters and their stupid lord," Sirius mumbled with a tense jaw. His frown and scowl combined with his eyeliner made the creases in his skin deeper and caused him to appear older.

"Stupid blood supremacists," Eloise added, her eyes fluttered shut as she enjoyed the last rays of the warm summer sun.

Peter squeezed Eloise's elbow. "I agree, we can go back to how we used to do it."

"How we used to do it sucked!" Sirius quipped back harshly. "Moony got more hurt as did we. I'd rather face a million Death Eaters and their prissy lord than go back to that." Sirius clasped his hands together, his eyes finding a mostly faded scar of his first full moon as an animagus.

"Mate," James started, a warm hand resting on the spot where Sirius' neck and shoulder conjoined. "It wasn't as nice, but I'd rather be alive and locked up than dead and out in the forest."

Sirius scoffed and shook his head. "Can't say I agree." The two black haired boys looked at Peter and Eloise with questioning looks.

"I have no issue facing those gits," A sadness passed over Eloise's face. "I wouldn't mind giving them some revenge." A silence filled with unspoken condolence enveloped the group. The three boys exchanged a look and Sirius gently took Eloise's hand in his own.

It was Peter who broke the silence, suggesting they let Remus decide wether they would still go out or not. The Lupin boy ultimately they declared they would stay inside for the last full moon of their sixth school year.

a/n:
my babies deserve so much better. this was the last chapter of their 6th school year. we'll have a
handful of summer chapters before we move on to their 7th year, which will be very eventful.
we are over halfway done with act 1. and act 2 is going to hurt because then my babies get
involved in the war, and we all know what happens there :((

sad/sweet post

*new canon*

date published: 8 august 2022
word count: 5014