Cat and Mouse

Even throughout peaceful rest in between missions, James Potter still couldn’t shake the images from the last job out of his head. How easily the Fracture burrowed into his thoughts and made him think unreal things sat in unrest with all of the things the hallucinations forced him to do. He attacked them, seriously hurt Remus, nearly hurt Lily, distracted Sirius and Peter from getting to the Fracture, and yet the others still insist that there is nothing to apologise for. Doesn’t stop his imagination from running wild, though. Speaking of Remus, he was recovering quite well from the wound received from James’ arrow spell, having it wrapped and treated by Marlene and Dorcas once returning to the Sanctuary. Dumbledore theorised that there would be a minimum 3 day rest before another Fracture got out of control, so they’d benefit from healing up the best they could before that happened. They were going to take that advice and use it to their advantage. 

The poor werewolf looked shitty at the beginning of the third day, however, for it seemed the exhaustion of working against the rifts in time and the coming of the Full Moon had been beating on his physical form like a musician would a drum. The Marauders were used to this but it only got this bad usually before or on the same day of the event, not nine days before. They could only imagine what it would be like in the future. Remus joined James and Lily on the couch, resting a hand on his temple. Potter rubbed his friend’s back.

“Need something made up for you?” James asked, earning a strange look from Remus. “Moody had put himself to use by forming a brewing station of sorts. It had already been there and the old goat decided to spruce it up a bit. He might be able to help.” Alastor had asked them to find stuff while they were on missions to help with the creation of tunics and potions that might help them in the future, including a possible Wolfsbane for Remus when the time came. This was the first the werewolf was hearing about it, probably because he’s spent the last two days with his wife. Remus gave a small nod.

“That would be nice… as much as I hate to admit it, the headache accompanied by the thrum in my shoulder isn’t making much of a pleasant combo. Feels like I’ve been trampled by a rhinoceros,” Lupin admitted. Lily patted him on the knee, giving a sympathised smile as she stood up from the couch.

“I’ll go let him know. Be right back,” She said, walking off to where Moody was looking over the holographic table. The two remaining turned to observe where Sirius and Peter were partaking in a training session, unlike the one that had happened before though. Padfoot was teaching his friend better ways to defend himself and spells that would come in handy in tough situations, such as the blasting curse and the three different types of flipendo, and Peter had been learning quite quickly from what they were seeing. 

“It’s good to see that they’re no longer feuding,” Remus pointed out, a small smile appearing on his face. James chuckled.

“To be honest, Peter wasn’t really fighting back. Another thing to teach him,” Prongs joked lightly. Remus simply exhaled, shaking his head as they watched Peter just barely deflect a stupefy charm from Sirius. Wormtail seemed proud of himself, for he was never truly that good at wand duels. Fear had been a very good motivator for most of the battles he went through, including the single moment where the four of them faced Sirius in the middle of a forest, so it should have been somewhat obvious when he had the out of nowhere courage to do things during the First Wizarding War that he was never able to do before. They just thought he had courage, maybe it’s another thing they could help him through.

“Peter is catching on quick,” Tonks’ voice came as she approached them. Remus softened, shifting over to allow the metamorphmagus to sit beside him. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thought I would come in, check on how you guys were doing.”

“Thanks for that, Tonks, as well as making sure Moony behaved himself when we were gone. Heard he wouldn’t have been able to do much without you,” James said, poking fun his friend’s way. Lupin rolled his eyes while Tonks let out a sharp laugh.

“I can assure you, there had been no short stance for humour. Once a Marauder, always a Marauder.”

“I thought you were helping the two Prewitt brothers in whatever Dumbledore has them doing,” Remus said and Tonks shrugged her shoulders.

“They said they were good from that point on. Gideon and Fabian were almost done anyways, and said that they would come by once it was complete,” Nymphadora told them. James raised an eyebrow.

“When what was complete?” 

“That would be telling, now wouldn’t it.” James huffed out of annoyance, Remus chuckling as Lily approached them again, a small vial full of a strange liquid in her hand. The red head handed it to Remus.

“Moody says that it won’t help with the werewolf things but it should help with your shoulder,” She told him. Lupin swirled it around in its container, James leaning it but quickly ducking away from the smell.

“Phew Moony, I don’t envy you,” Potter giggled, watching with glee as the werewolf downed the entire thing in one go. Sirius and Peter came up to the group, Padfoot wiping his forehead with a dry cloth and laughing as Remus’ face scrunched up in disgust.

“You took that like we were at Hogsmeade again, Remus,” Sirius joked.

“Definitely didn’t enjoy it as much as I would if that were true, Sirius. Moody never really got the flavour aspect of potions down, even during the war. Never knew where he got his skills from,” Remus responded, placing the small vial aside. Even though the taste was despicable, it soon cleared up the pain in his shoulder, thus allowing more movement than had been possible before. It even cleared up a bit of his headache, but most of that was because of the ailment he suffered from. 

“Things look like they’re going well, then. I’ll leave you all to it,” Tonks told them, standing from her seat beside her husband. Remus swooned.

“Do you have to, things were starting to become tolerable,” Lupin said. Peter made an ogling expression at his expense and James and Sirius laughed, although Lily gave Prongs a sharp smack on the back of the head. Tonks leaned down and kissed him, placing her forehead against his. 

“I have more things I need to do. You lot aren’t the only ones risking their necks, you know. Behave while I’m gone, alright?” She begged, giving the back of his hand a soft rub as she turned to the rest of the group, giving them quick goodbyes before walking away. Sirius snorted.

“She really does complete you,” He said. It was true that the other members of the order have been pretty absent from the Sanctuary’s main room, off doing things that had suited their needs. Fabian and Gideon were working on something that only Tonks knew about-- with her working with them, it was kinda hard to keep that a secret-- and Dorcas was busy getting things tidy in their makeshift hospital, with some assistance from Marlene and Nymphadora. Tonks was everywhere, not having a single qualification that overwhelmed the other. That’s what made Lupin love her so much, such a qualified and talented witch. Moody and Dumbledore focused their attention at learning more about that table while keeping their attention fixated on noticing any new Fractures becoming unstable, although Moody has already proven his skills in making potions to help those around him. Perhaps Mad-Eye isn’t that bad of a person. 

“You had someone at one point, didn’t you, Sirius?” Peter asked, shoving his taller friend lightly on the shoulder. James snickered.

“Just one person? I swear you slept with the entire younger year that one semester just because McGonagall said you couldn’t find someone that liked your turbulent personality,” Prongs said, ducking as Sirius chucked his cloth at him. 

“You all are incapable of growing up, it seems,” Remus said, bemused at his friend’s childish capabilities. 

“Aww, you love us, Moony! Admit it, come on, yes you do!” Peter joked. His friend said nothing, however, too focused on Gideon and Fabian rushing towards them. The two of them were very similar to Fred and George in a way, not afraid to make jokes and play pranks and still very capable wizards. It took five Death Eaters-- one of them being Dolohov-- to take just the two of them down, and they ended up taking a few of their friends with them.

“Cheers mates, good to see you enjoying life,” Fabian said smiling, a fresh line of sweat beading down the side of his face. His curly hair stuck to his forehead and Gideon was in the same boat, although his brother appeared to have some soot dashed around his eyes. 

“Greetings Gideon, Fabian, what’ve you two lads been up to?” James asked, resting his elbows on his knees as he adjusted the glasses resting on his face. Gideon leaned against his brother, throwing an arm over his shoulder, pinching the end of his glorious moustache. 

“We’ve been working on something specifically for you, my good Remus,” Fabian responded, seeming very proud of their accomplishment. Lupin straightened slightly, a tad bit shocked that the two made something for him.

“Well, come on! It’s something us and Tonks have been working on for a few days now!” Gideon excitedly said, nudging Sirius on the shoulder as the two started to walk back in the direction they came from, stopping briefly to wait for the Marauders to join them. Remus looked to Lily, who only gave a small shrug, and the werewolf cracked. The group proceeded to follow the two Prewitt brothers down and past the quarters they had haphazardly put together the first day they arrived there, getting to a corner of the Sanctuary which they hadn’t really explored up until now only to find a door that hadn’t been there before. A small padlock the side of a cannonball sat on the entrance keeping it locked, and a set of runes have been etched into the metal bar.

“Ta-da!” Fabian smiled, placing his hands on his hips. Remus tilted his head as the Prewitt continued to speak. “We made this for those times where you can’t really control yourself, so you wouldn’t feel like you’d have to go elsewhere for the night.” Remus pursed his lips. The idea that someone would spend their free time taking care of him still baffled the young man, that mindset of loneliness remaining from his time wandering without his best friends after the first war. 

“I… Thank you, both of you. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do anyways. It still seemed so far away,” Moony admitted. James patted his friend on the back, a large smile on his face.

“We would have figured something out even if they didn’t. To be honest, it’s good that they were the ones to come up with it. We’ve never been good at thinking things through,” Prongs joked, causing the group to share a small laugh. Gideon shrugged his shoulders, arms crossed as he watched the Marauders look over their craftsmanship.

“Had extra time on our hands so we decided to make use of it. Your wife caught us a few days ago and decided to help, agreed to keep this a secret ‘til it was done. There are tons of safety measures on it, too,” Gideon told them. Sirius walked up to the padlock, taking it in hand before examining it.

“Is there something special about this lock? Seems like a normal lock to me,” Padfoot said and Fabian laughed. Gideon rolled his eyes, walking up beside the wizard as he took out his wand. Whispering the alohomora charm, the group was amazed to find that the lock remained unbothered by it. The runes on the object shimmered orange, the thing vibrating in Sirius’ hand, extremely upset by the incorrect method to unlock it. 

“We thought ahead. Doing a bit of research, it seemed as if spells and stuff were a little different here than in the Wizarding World. Certain spells could be combined with phrases or code words to better secure a door or a secret entrance, such as the entrance to the Sanctuary itself. We did the same thing to this lock,” Fabian explained as his brother returned to his side. Remus sheepishly looked away.

“You didn’t have to go through this much effort, I’m sure I would have survived outside of the Sanctuary for a night or two,” Lupin said but Gideon waved him off.

“Nonsense! You’re our friend, it’s the least we can do for the things you did for us,” The younger Prewitt brother told him. “This is the page that has all the important words on it. Memorize them and burn it, or keep it somewhere extremely safe. You will have the only copy to this.”

“Don’t trust Dumbledore?” Sirius scoffed. Fabian exhaled.

“That twat led us to our death, I have no kindness left in my heart for that man,” The goateed man told them. Looking back on that night, it was quite obvious that everything Dumbledore had told them to do appeared sketchy in some way, shape, or form. 

“We were good at what we did but not without knowledge that we would be fighting people. Surprised ourselves by how well things were looking. The scouting gave you what you needed, and we don’t regret that, we just regret leaving Molly alone to raise her children,” Gideon admitted. 

“Molly grieved you in ways that none of us could. She separated herself from us, refused to even send howlers or letters, and for a long time refused her family from interacting with us. She almost refused to allow them to learn Magic,” Lily revealed, tucking her arms underneath her armpits as the memories of the Weasley Mother’s sadness poured into her mind. 

“It would have done her a lot of good. Ended up losing one of her sons to Voldemort’s army,” Remus muttered, running a hand through his hair. The Prewitt brothers looked heartbroken.

“Which… which one?” Fabian asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

“Fred, she lost Fred,” Lupin responded. Gideon bowed his head while his brother simply rubbed his face. What else had she lost since their deaths? Why did they have to be heroes?

“Gideon, Fabian, if we’re here, there’s a chance for him to! The boy could be out there somewhere,” James pointed out, grabbing the older brother by the shoulders. Fabian studied himself, letting out a sharp breath as his head nodded slowly. 

“You’re right, of course. It’s a good thing that Molly is still alive and we should be looking forward to possibly reuniting her with her son. We have more pressing things at hand.” It wasn’t really what James was hoping for but it was better than the alternative.

“What do you two remember from that mission to the Death Eater camp?” Peter asked, trying his best to change the subject. Fabian thought for a moment, placing a hand on his chin.

“I’m not really sure… I remember coming upon it and being really surprised to see people, that’s for sure,” The ex-order member quipped, letting out an uncomfortable laugh.

“We made it to the main tent and found what we were supposed to, that part is clear as day. I had set the chart on fire and went to move to the next area when something went wrong, the big guy hadn’t moved like Dumbledore said he would,” Gideon said.

“I got ambushed from my spot on the other side of camp, like they were waiting for something to happen, and that’s when we sent the flare that things had gone tits up,” Fabian told them. 

“Last thing I remember is extreme pain shooting up my back and the face of Antonin Dolohov staring down at me. I think I was first to go,” Gideon recalled, shooting his brother an apologetic look. 

“That couldn’t have been easy, watching your brother fall,” Sirius sympathised and Fabian nodded.

“I kinda lost my shit, if I will admit that. Took a few of those snake-lovers with me before I got caught between a rock and a hornets nest. I guess you found us in an abandoned camp with a single tent burning?” The moustached wizard asked and Remus nodded.

“If it makes you feel better, we gave you a proper ceremony with your wands buried with you,” Lily smiled, Gideon giving her a smile of his own. 

“We appreciate it, thank you very much.” As their conversations continue, a strange sound hits Remus’ ears. With the coming of that time of the month, his senses tend to heighten the faster the days go by. Tilting his head, the wizard focused on the noises he was hearing, coming to the conclusion that something was outside of the Sanctuary. Gideon noticed this very quickly.

“Lupin, you good?” The ginger asked, catching everyone’s attention. Remus nodded, closing his eyes.

“There’s something out there, making noise. I can hear it,” The werewolf admitted, turning towards where the wall was. James’ eyes widened.

“You can hear that?” Prongs asked and his friend made a noise of affirmation. 

“It sounds like it’s eating something,” Remus revealed.

“I hope it’s not one of ours,” Lily told them as the group of seven quickly moved around the corner. 

“I hope whatever it is, it isn’t hostile,” Peter groaned, cautiously taking his wand out of his pocket. James rolled his eyes.

“When has our luck ever been that good?” He asked, but received no response back. Fabian opened the Sanctuary door, the bunch stepping out swiftly to face whatever it was that had encroached on their space. Expecting it to be humanoid, they were absolutely floored when they came face to face with a creature that looks like it would fit in Hagrid’s flock; a Hippogriff. The mythical beast had been distracted with a discarded piece of the Flipside, however when the seven removed themselves from the safety of their temporary home, its attention quickly shifted their way. Fabian’s eyes widened.

“By the Fat Lady’s Ghost,” He whispered, slowly pointing his wand out. Remus put his arm out, twisting his body to the side.

“Be quiet, we haven’t disturbed it yet,” He told them. As if the gods themselves scorned against them having a moment's rest, the Hippogriff snapped its attention towards them. The beaked creature narrowed it’s eyes at them, feathers standing on end as it extended its wings. James swore.

“Good job, Moony, you just fucking jinxed us,” Prongs growled, taking a step back towards the Sanctuary. It turned fully towards them, hunching down as if protecting something, claws in full view scratching the white floor beneath it. Lily looked behind them.

“We should retreat, get some back-up,” She suggested but Peter shook his head.

“We can’t go back now, it’ll just wait by the Sanctuary door,” He pointed out. Lily cursed, realising that he was right, leaving them exactly where they were moments before. Sirius looked around, seeing how wide open the Flipside version of Platform 9 ¾ was and taking note of the multitude of randomly placed staircases and hallways off to the distance.

“We should split up, get it away from the others and try and find out why it’s here,” Sirius advised, sticking closer towards Fabian. Gideon nodded.

“Good idea, it’ll buy the others more time if it decides to chase after one of our groups,” The ginger said. 

“What happens if one of us needs help?” Remus asked, genuinely concerned about their current situation. The Hippogriff hasn’t let up its stoic gaze on them and the werewolf almost felt like it was protecting something, but James only shoved Moony closer to him.

“Then we try our best not to die, understood?” Prongs asked back. Remus nodded, although he could say for certain that he didn’t like the idea of being on his own if they were caught in a dire situation. 

“Alright, here’s the plan then,” Sirius piped up, a small wobble to his voice. “James, Remus, and Gideon go left. Peter and Lily, you go right. Fabian, you’re with me and we’ll go right up the middle, but make sure not to move until the others have. it’ll give us an opening.” 

“I’ll forgive you just this once for separating me and Fabian up, but we’re with you,” Gideon responded and that was all the dejected Black needed to hear. 

“On the count of three. One, two, three!” The groups immediately split up and Fabian followed Sirius’ orders, sticking close to him until the two wizards saw the Hippogriff move just enough for them to slip by. The magical creature screeched, reeling onto it’s back legs before walking in a circle. “Now Fabian,” Sirius told him, the two jumping on the opening the creature gave them as they ran right by. It didn’t go unnoticed, however, for the Hippogriff immediately rushed after them, wasting no time in beginning the chase. The adventure was on, and the Marauders plus the Prewitt brothers were not very keen on being this thing's next meal. But then again, the Cat and Mouse game had never truly been in favour of the smaller creatures.