[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Fancy Yourself a Miracle Worker


“PLATFORM 9¾ - I BLOODY LOVE YOU!” shouted Sirius, waving his arms about as he spun the trolley at King’s Cross Station. He grinned as Bubo squawked from her cage, balancing on top of Sirius and James’s trunks on the trolley cart.

“Careful for that owl!” cried Dora Potter, “Don’t go tipping her over…”

Remus was pushing along his and Peter’s trunks on their own trolley and shaking his head at Sirius’s shouting as James took over the pushing of the trolley, per his mum’s signal as Sirius ran ahead ‘round the bend to where he could see the scarlet steam engine. “HOGWARTS EXPRESS - I BLOODY LOVE YOU!!” Several students looked up from their chore of pushing their own trolleys along and glared at Sirius’s noisiness. “ANNOYED HOGWARTS STUDENTS - I EVEN BLOODY LOVE YOU LOT!”

Remus pushed his cart up alongside Sirius. “You know, all this love you’re giving out - a boyfriend might get jealous.”

“REMUS JOHN LUPIN -- I LOV--” Sirius started, but Remus cut him off, covering his mouth.

“Oi. Shut it, you git,” he said, but he was smiling even as he did it and Sirius froliced onward along the platform, his face aglow.

It was 1 September and the students of Hogwarts were, once again, boarding the train, getting ready for a term. Other than Sirius, however, Platform 9¾ was fairly quiet, the usual hubbub and chaos was far more refined than it had ever been before and James looked around uneasily. Many of the younger kids were clinging to their mums and dads, looking more terrified than they normally would, while parents were sticking closer to their older kids, looking around suspiciously, whispering adamant instructions to behave and stay out of trouble this term. Stay alert, they whispered, Tell somebody if you see anything suspicious. Just because Dumbledore’s back doesn’t mean everything is perfect. The Minister’s still got a lot of work to do before we’re safe from You Know Who.

When James had said good-bye to Dora and she’d waved and left sloppy wet kisses all over his cheeks, he walked up to where Remus was waiting to drop off his trolley to have the luggage stowed, wiping his face as he went on his Gryffindor sweater vest. His shirt was half untucked. Sirius and Peter were already on the train, running along to their compartment and Peter had his face pressed to the glass as Sirius gave him rabbit ears with his fingers over his oblivious head.

The Marauders’ fun was standing out in the somber attitude around them.

“Blimey,” James whispered, looking over at Remus, “Everyone’s bloody terrified, aren’t they?”

“I mean You Know Who killed the Minister for Magic over the summer, didn’t he?” Remus whispered back. “The Minister’s supposed to be somewhat invincible. The whole Ministry is. It showed how powerful You Know Who is. Spooked’em.”

James frowned. “It’s eerie.”

“Yeah,” Remus said, “It is.”

They moved through the crowd until they’d reached the train doors and handed off the trunks. James carried Bubo through the threshold. James paused when he realized Remus wasn’t following. “Rey, you coming?” he asked.

“Can’t,” Remus replied, “I’ve got to go sit with the Prefects, don’t I?”

James looked disappointed, “Oh yeah. Right, I forgot.” He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well… I guess we’ll see you at some point. Come visit us if you can. I’ll get you a couple chocolate frogs from the trolley.”

“Yeah, I will. Thanks.” Remus smiled.

James nodded. “Have a good ride.”

“You too.”

They went separate ways, Remus walking nervously toward the front of the train alone and James off to the usual compartment, Bubo squawking away from her cage as they went. James pushed open the compartment door, shoving Bubo through first and up onto the overhead luggage rack.

“Where is Moony?” Sirius demanded, laying across the bench he’d claimed for himself and Remus.

“Prefect compartment,” James answered and he threw his robes over Bubo to shut her up and sat in the seat beside Peter, who was already nibbling at the bag of crackers he’d brought along for the ride.

Sirius scowled, “Well fuck. I forgot about that.” He sighed unhappily and sat up, slumping in his seat by the window, his forehead against the glass. “This is going to be a stupid long boring ride; all the way to Hogwarts, all alone.”

“Sorry, what are we, invisible?” Peter asked, eyebrow raised.

James grinned, “We could be.”

Sirius sighed. “I mean without Moony.”

“Well blimey,” James said, “I guess you and I cease to exist without Remus, ‘ey Pete?”

“Guess so,” Peter laughed. “We’re like sea monkeys, I reckon. Just add water. Or in our case just add Remus.”

Sirius looked interested, “Sea monkeys?”

“They’re microscopic Grindylows,” said James, “Muggles don’t know that’s what they are. Dunno why they call them monkeys. They don’t look like monkeys. Muggles keep them as pets.”

Sirius made a face, “Who in hell would want a microscopic grindylow for a pet? That’s just weird.”

James laughed, “I didn’t say it made sense, I said it’s what they do.”

“Well it’s ruddy stupid,” Sirius said and he sat back with his arms crossed over his chest, a sour expression on his face.

“Oi, don’t you go sulking now just because you haven’t got your boyfriend about,” James said.

“Yeah,” Peter agreed heartily.

Sirius murmured, “I’m not.” But he was.

And he continued to.

Long after the Hogwarts Express had pulled away from Platform 9¾, Sirius was still acting all grumpy and sour. He refused anything from the sweets trolley and didn’t join in with James and Peter’s conversation, even when it turned to mocking Severus Snape, which was one of Sirius Black’s favorite hobbies.

Finally, James could take no more of it.

“You knew this was coming, him being prefect and all. And you better get used to it, it’s going to be all term long. He’s going to be busy keeping everyone in line when they get up to no good and ---” James stopped himself mid-sentence as a most evil sort of smile trembled it’s way across Sirius Black’s mouth. “Why are you grinning? Whatever it is you’re grinning for, you ought to stop it right this instant because there’s no way that it’s anything but evil.”

Peter nodded, “Yeah… no way it’s any good. Look at him…”

Sirius said, “It’s just that, as you said, the prefects will be busy taking care of everyone who’s up to no good.” And with that, Sirius got up and slipped out of the compartment, pausing for but a moment in the doorway to look back at them with as angelic an expression as his features were capable of making. “And I do solemnly swear that I am up to no good…”

When the compartment door closed behind him, James looked at Peter.

“Poor Remus,” murmured Peter.

“Well bloody hell, we can’t just leave him to it,” James said, and he got up and hurried after Sirius.

Peter looked around the empty compartment. “I’ll just… save the compartment for us, then…” he murmured.




Remus was very, very glad that Lily Evans was a prefect, too. It made the whole business of being separated from the other Marauders much easier. They sat in a dinner car on the Express, around a booth table with a bowl of crisps and small sandwiches and bottles of pumpkin juice about it. Lily and Remus shoulder-to-shoulder, the Head Boy and Girl of Gryffindor across from them and on either end of the booth was the sixth year prefects - Jackson Maw and Annalee McKinnon, who was painting her fingernails while she sat there. Other tables held the Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw prefects and Head Boys and Girls.

Horace Slughorn, who was named to be the staff member overseeing the official meetings held by prefects and head boys and girls. He sat snoozing in a velvet chair, a box of candied pineapple balanced on his lap. Remus watched as the box teetered dangerously close to tipping off his leg to the floor before the Head Boy of Hufflepuff noticed it, too, and levitated the box onto the table beside ol’ Sluggy.

“It’s really an important job, being prefect” the newly named Head Boy for Gryffindor, a seventh year named Landon Farrow, was saying. “Fifth Year prefects will be in charge of seeing to it that our youngest students make it safely about the castle. They’re in charge of showing the first years to their dormitories, teaching them about important things like the moving staircase and telling them about the ghosts.”

The Gryffindor Head Girl, Olivia Duquette, nodded, scooping up some of the dip with her crisp. “Our first year, the prefects were just awful,” she said. “It took me nearly the whole term to find all my classes on time. I got loads of detention. And it was all because my prefects never taught me about the staircases properly! I was always just so lost… That’s why Dumbledore made me prefect, he said once. Because he knew I’d take care of the ickle ones the way they needed.” She threw the crisp in her mouth.

Landon looked them over, “Why do you lot reckon you were chosen?”

“Necessity,” Lily replied.

“Because I can control Sirius Black,” muttered Remus.

Lily actually laughed. “Fancy yourself a miracle worker, then, do you?”

“Sirius really isn’t as horrid as you think he is,” Remus said, turning to look at her, “He’s really quite matured over the summer. You’ll see, he’ll be perfectly ---”

Suddenly, there was a great deal of shrieking from out in the hallway, followed by an all too recognizable voice shouting, “WOOOOOOOOO HOOO!!!”

“Whoa,” cried one of the Hufflepuff prefects, running over to the door to look out the window, “Was that Sirius Black -- on a broomstick -- on the train?”

Lily looked at Remus. “You were saying?”

Remus turned scarlet red and shook his head.