The Tales of Marauders After Dark

17.3.1967

The sky above London was a dark and foreboding shade of gray, with swirling clouds moving quickly across the sky. Rain was pelting down heavily, drenching everything in sight and making the cobblestone streets slippery. And there in a dark house on Grimmauld Place 12, an adult woman was scolding her two sons. She was a woman none like others. She wasn't afraid to stand and speak up and if you didn't know the family, you would think she was the heir of the house. 

Her hair was dark like a waterfall of midnight, framing her face and emphasizing her striking features. A perfect woman, someone might say. But not quite. She was one of those strict women who would more likely beat you up than call you a sweetheart. 

But still, she, just like her whole family, was a child of an Angel. 

Raziel, to be specific.

And yet, not a single soul that knew her would ever say she was the child of an Angel. Especially not her oldest son. 

Her name was Walburga, and she wanted all the demons to meet their end.

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was a family that held Angel blood. A family whose every single member was destined to hunt demons, and protect mundanes.

In the Noble House of Black, the shadowhunter training began once a child had turned five years old. The training was cruel but it was necessary for survival. 

Walburga did not wait until her son was five. She began the training when he was three. Slowly poisoning her son so his body would be immune and leaves him no time to play and be the child he should have been. 

Sirius. 

The brightest star in the sky and the name of Walburgas oldest son. 

The son that hated her the most out of all 

But maybe, if Walburga hadn't been as cruel to Sirius's younger brother, the boy wouldn't have hated her so much. 

The bond between Sirius and his brother Regulus was strong. Stronger than any other. 

And on a special stormy night, after especially rough training, the two brothers sat down by the window in the small library and watched the raindrops roll down the glass.  

"Hey Siri... promise we will always stay together? Promise... you will always be my brother?" Regulus asked, his voice slightly shaky. Was he cold? The library was dark and there was no fire in the fireplace. 

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was always cold. 

"What had gotten into you? Of course, I will always be your brother. I promise you, that we will always stay together!" The older boy put on a bright smile. the one only he was capable of making. 

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise!"

Sirius was the only one capable of smiling that way. Because that smile was for his younger brother. That smile had to be perfect. That smile was important reassurance. It didn't matter that Sirius's eyes weren't smiling. Because his lips were. 

And that was enough for the small Regulus that couldn't tell the difference between a real smile and a fake one. 

Sirius also didn't know the difference

Because he had never smiled truly out of heart. 

***

Ten years later.

***

11.6.1977

"The next station is, New York Penn Station"

There were many people on the train, most of the people just on their way home as the sun had already settled a while ago. But the most interesting people were the two boys, that sat across from each other in the small, cramped space of the train carriage. Both were fully clothed in black, the exact same shade of black as their hair. 

One of them had long hair, resting on his shoulders, a lot of rings on his fingers, and a mischievous smirk on his face while the other had short hair only one single ring with a snake wrapped around a green gem and a dead serious face. 

Their features were very similar and it wouldn't be hard to guess they were siblings. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" The one with shorter hair asked. 

"I'm not looking at you."

"You are. Why"

"No reason." 

But the man knew damn well there was a reason. Later that morning, he had glued a sticker of a pink unicorn with a rainbow horn to his brother's hair. Seems the boy hadn't noticed the sticker yet. 

"Sirius, I swear to God if you won't stop staring at me-"

"Hey hey hey, I will stop you right there..." he took a deep breath and continued, ignoring how his brother was looking at him as if he had just fallen off a tree, "no swearing to God, my brother, no no no. That's not nice of you. Mother would be disappointed!" He mocked a disappointed face. 

Regulus, on the other hand, seemed more like he was done with his brother's shenanigans. 

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, jolting the entire train carriage wildly back and forth. It wasn't an earthquake even though it seemed like one. The train stopped on the place, not moving an inch. The two boys instantly tensed up and looked around. 

They had been training for this since they were just small children. In a quick movement, they stood up, pulled out their steles, and carefully focused on their surroundings. 

"I will go to the front, you take the back," Regulus ordered. For some reason, the younger boy was always hissing out commands. That was something he had after their mother. 

"As you wish, Reggie," Sirius responded, drawing a rune on his wrist. 

Sirius's stele was sliding on his skin like melted butter. Nicely and warmly. The rune he had drawn was the one of "Heightened speed"  

Sirius used that rune quite a lot in many fights. He even used that rune to run away from his mother when she was being too mean. It was also Sirius's favorite rune out of all. He didn't know exactly why, but it was. 

He made his way through the train, making sure to look around carefully in case of finding a demon. He hoped the demon would be on his side. Regulus was skilled as well that was for sure, but Sirius would either way much rather fight with a demon on his own than have his little brother fight on his own. 

People on the train were scared, some children were crying and the lights looked on the edge of fading. 

In the complete dark, it wouldn't be a problem for Sirius, he was used to such situations after all, but the mundanes would freak out and it could potentially lead to unnecessary deaths.

After a few more minutes, the lights went out, and people were desperately trying to calm down their children. 

Sirius had to use another rune, "Vision" Since the train was now darker than the night sky itself. Looking around, trying to find the demon that had caused all of this. 

Sirius was most of the time joking around and not taking anything too seriously, but once it came to missions, he was ready to be the most sirius person in the place. 

The train began shaking once more, this time a little longer and rougher. It was a good sign. Sirius was closer to the demon than Regulus was. His little brother was safe. The young shadowhunter made his way to the back of the train, where the shaking was coming from. 

From behind the very last door, Sirius could see it. The demon was huge, not one he would recognize from any codex. The demon's eyes glowed a deep red, and its fangs gleamed menacingly. He was not any human-kind shape, rather, he looked like a huge toad with chicken legs and a small dragon wing on his head. Sirius wasn't easily scared, and this monster will not change that. 

Sirius took a deep breath, swung his sword, and kicked into the door, it smashed and took all the attention of the demon focused on Sirius. 

"Hey there, buddy... Just came here to say hi and chat a bit, what do you think?" The demon growled, his claws prepared to slice a throat or two.

"No? Don't wanna talk? Okay... I guess I should have seen that coming... ehm... anyway, how did your day go? I bet it was full of... killing... never mind. But you know what? You don't need to kill anymore! HA! Have you thought of that? It's a really nice thing to not kill anyone ya know? I mean, who would enjoy killing anyway, right-" 

As much as Sirius enjoyed talking to annoy, he hated to be interrupted. Especially if he was interrupted by something that couldn't even talk. The demon growled and ran after the young shadowhunter. Sirius did not feel like talking in that situation. 

"Whoa! Slow down there!" He yelled at the monster, swung his sword, and attacked. One hit. Two hits. Three. And four. The demon's skin was thick and almost unable to cut through. On the other hand, the creature didn't seem to have any special powers other than just being a huge ugly thing. 

Sirius jumped onto one of the train seats and aimed at the demon's head. Or, at least what looked like a head. 

It took a few more hits and the demon was twisting from side to side in pain, screaming, and violently shaking. Right after, the demon had died. Sirius had fought worse things than this one. 

From far away, there were quick running footsteps getting closer and closer. Sirius turned around to see, who those footsteps belonged to. A strange boy was running towards him. The boy's hair dirty blond and wavy, his eyes blue like a summer sky, and he was a little chubby. Panting, the boy came to Sirius and looked up at him.

"I'm so sorry! Where is the demon? I came- to... h-help!" The poor boy was struggling to catch his breath.

"Hey, calm down, I already took care of the demon. You... are a shadowhunter too?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow. The smaller boy was dressed in black as well, but his physique was... not really fitting. 

The boy nodded quickly, "Yeah... yeah I am. Ugh... I almost passed out."

But that information was one of the most useless things ever. Sirius could clearly see, "You should sit down and take a rest. Oh! By the way, my name is Sirius Black."

The boy sat down on one of the seats and smiled, "Peter Pettigrew. It's nice to meet you."

Sirius smirked and fixed his hair with one of his hands, "Oh for sure, I am so charming! It would be a crime if someone wouldn't be happy to meet me!" It was supposed to be a joke. Simple sarcastic remark. Sirius obviously was a little narcissistic but not to the point where his ego would shoot up higher than the clouds. Tho... the poor boy did not seem to realize Sirius's remark was a joke and so, he looked at him a little nervously and confused as well. 

It was nice to see a reaction from a different person than just Sirius's family. They all mostly had the same reaction - rolling their eyes and leaving. 

Only Sirius's cousin, Andromeda, always laughed at his jokes. 

"Hahaha... yeah... ehm... Are you new here? I don't think I saw you in our institute." Peter asked, rubbing his hands.

"The New York Institute? Yeah, you could say so." Sirius sighed and looked around. The demon must have cut through some electricity. 

Peter narrowed his eyes, "Where do you come from?"

"London."

The chubby boy nodded, "Well uhm... Welcome to New York then!"

Sirius smiled at him, "Thanks, buddy."

Peter stood up from his seat, but right when he was about to speak up, his eyes went blank and he fell back down with an arrow sticking out from his shoulder. The demon Sirius defeated wasn't the only one on the train. The other demon was in contrast, outside. Probably on the roof. 

Sirius knelt down to the chubby boy and checked his pulse. He was still alive but unconscious. Who knows what the arrow had in itself? But now was no time to deal with that. A bang on the roof of the train. The demon wasn't there alone. Sirius quickly broke the glass of a window and climbed out, onto the train. 

The scene in front of him was pretty absurd. 

But as a shadowhunter, nothing can be called absurd. 

The demon had a more human-like form, four limbs, tall, but three heads, horns, and a bow with arrows in his hand firing up at a young shadowhunter in front of him, who happened to be, Regulus. Fighting the demon, and sometimes losing, sometimes winning. Sirius had to help him. 

"Need a hand, Reggie?" 

Sirius swung his sword and attacked the demon. The beast easily dodges his attack. 

"I was handling it just fine by myself, brother," Regulus spoke through gritted teeth. Regulus' weapon was also a bow and arrows. Regulus always preferred to attack from afar, but his bow was useless in such a situation as this one. 

The demon focused his attention on Sirius rather than Regulus. He probably saw him as a bigger problem. 

"Watch out Sirius! We don't know what his attacks can do to you!" Regulus shouted as he fired an arrow and hit the demon's shoulder. The demon growled, being hit like that was not exactly a tickle was it? It was also a nice way to confuse the demon, making him not being able to decide which way to go. 

However, instead of just staying in place or picking a person to go fight against, the demon splits himself into two halves of a whole. And now, there are two exactly the same demons, one for each. They better hurry up, or else the demon might do some bad things. 

Sirius, using his stele, activated another few runes, ready to kill the monster in front of him. 

With his next moves, he was able to dodge arrows flying towards him and he also hit the monster a few times. This demon's skin was much more fragile and easier to cut. Then, he hit the demon a few more times until his head was cut off and Sirius was sure that this half of the whole thing was dead.

Sirius attention was now turned to help his little brother. Regulus was skilled with any fighting technique, using a bow was just his personal preference. Dodging the flying arrows and trying to hit the demon with a pocket knife. Sirius ran to that creature from behind, swinging his sword and attacking right away. Demon's head fell off and just in the next few seconds, he vanished. 

Regulus composed himself and cleared his throat before speaking up.

"Thanks."

Yeah, that one word was a lot, "No problem-"

"However..." Regulus cut Sirius's sentence off. Oh, how Sirius hated to be interrupted. "I could easily kill him on my own."

"Yeah sure, with that small pocket knife right?"

Regulus rolled his eyes and sighed. There was a deadly silence between them now. It felt uncomfortable to both. Most of the time it was Sirius who spoke up first, Regulus did so only if it was something important. 

"No one was killed. That demon hadn't killed anyone," he took a deep breath, "But... I got a letter from mother almost right after we split up. She told me to leave you here and meet her right away."

Sirius scanned his brother from head to toe. 

"What does she want?"

"Family meeting."

"Without me?"

"As if you ever cared about our family meetings."

That was true. Sirius never cared. But having a family meeting right after they arrived in New York City before even going to the institute, was straight-up weird. 

"I may not care but I am always there as well."

"Not this time. Mother wanted to talk to me, Cissy, and Bella specifically."

Yeah alright, now that situation screamed - run as far as you can - 

Sirius had no intentions of seeing his two perfect cousins, and besides, someone had to check on the people on the train. The older boy sighed, "Fine, go then, but make sure to let me know once the meeting is over."

Regulus nodded and right away, he jumped off the train roof and ran off somewhere into the dark. Sirius wasn't happy to leave his brother like that. What if a demon comes and attacks him? What if something bad happens to him? Regulus was strong and skilled. He can do it on his own. Sirius will keep his fingers crossed for him. 

He jumped off the train roof as well and jumped inside of the train through the broken window, which... he himself broke. Peter was there, still lying on a seat, his eyes now closed and the arrow sticking out of his body. People around were composing one another slowly, but some children kept crying. No one seemed to be hurt. That was when the door to each train carriage opened and a group of people walked in, all dressed in black, with weird tattoos all around their bodies. Shadowhunters. The New York Institute must have recognized a demon activity around and sent their members to hunt. 

According to Sirius, it was quite a slow reaction. A lot of people would have been killed if he and Regulus weren't there.

One of the people that came in, a boy around Sirius's and Peter's age, with tanned skin, round glasses, black hair, and a strange spark in his eyes, turned to them and once his eyes landed on Peter, a look of horror showed on his face. The boy instantly came close and knelt down to the chubby boy. 

"Pete!!!" He shook with Peter's body and looked horrified at the sight of the arrow. 

"A demon did that..." Sirius answered the unspoken question in the other boy's eyes.

"Where... where is the demon now?" 

"Dead. I killed it." 

The boy nodded in understanding, "Hold on... how did you get here sooner than us?"

"I was in the train before the attack happened." 

The boy with glasses raised an eyebrow, skeptical, "Where are you from?"

Again, the same question. It would be better if they focused on Peter than the introduction but if the glasses decided that new friends are better than saving the life of an old one, Sirius wasn't the one to say otherwise. 

"London."

The boy with glasses smiled. Whoa. Such a bright smile. It almost reminded Sirius of a sun.

"Welcome to New York! My name's James Potter!"

Sirius gave him a small smile. How could that boy be able to smile so brightly? "Sirius Black, Nice to meet you and all, but I think this boy right here needs a little help." He pointed at Peter and James shivered as if he just remembered that Peter was there too. 

"Oh, right!"

James picked Peter up, bridal style which was so shocking to Sirius that he felt like passing out. James was much stronger than he looked. Sirius was sure he would struggle to pick up such a chubby boy. But James picked him up like it was nothing. He had to be using a rune for sure. 

That was the only logical explanation. 

James, with Peter in his arms, led Sirius through the streets, all the way to the Institute leaving the train behind. Other Shadowhunters called the police, firemen, and ambulance to make sure people on the train were all right. Turned out Peter was the only one who had been hit with an arrow from that demon. 

But the train wasn't able to move anymore. 

Walking their way to the institute was the quickest way. 

Through the walk, James talked about nearly everything that got under his sight. And that smile on James's face? 

Now Sirius was sure that was what a true smile looked like.