Dealing With The Marauders

Depart As Equals

A/N: please be careful on what you place in the comments for this chapter. I don't care what you decide to say for any other chapter, and never have I deleted a single comment in any of my books, you guys are free to think and say whatever you want, but not on this chapter. I want this chapter to be soft and innocent. No inappropriate comments. This chapter means a lot to me. Please do not destroy this for me.

Chapter 27: Depart As Equals

Life was nice. I spent most of my time with the guys, sometimes Lily, and on rare occasions, with Tom. I exchanged numerous owls with Regulus, Lucius, and Severus. Andrew and Sebastian visited me most nights.

Life was lovely at the moment.

September neared, coming closer and closer, and with that, an anxious feel for school to begin followed soon after. The boys and I spent every possible moment together, trying to have as much fun as possible. We knew that when school started, it wouldn't be as easy as it was now. Deaths in the Wizarding community steadily increased, pretending to be a muggle over summer break was the safest thing to do.

-

Bex Dumbledore was the first to enter the gated area that marked the Potter family's property. James Potter followed right behind her, talking loudly with Sirius Black. Peter Pettigrew smiled softly, walking next to Bex. And Remus Lupin was the last to enter, making sure to latch the gate behind him.

The first clue was the unlatched gate when they had neared the grounds. But they had ignored that.

The second clue was the open door. Mrs. Potter didn't leave the door open. They became suspicious.

And the last clue was the quietness upon entering the house.

Not a thing was out of place. In fact, everything seemed too clean, too neat. It felt wrong. James frowned, "mum? Dad?" His voice echoed throughout the silent house.

Sirius moved away from the group, stepping towards the kitchen, which was empty. He called towards the rest upon noticing the half-made lunch.

The group continued to search the house, failing to find any sign of the old Potter couple. They almost gave up, believing that the pair must have left in a hurry to go do something.

And they were resolved with that decision. It made sense, and what else were they to think?

Until they noticed one last clue, pointing towards the hiding spot that contained Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

Mr. Potter never kept his study door open. Never, that is, unless he was inside. When leaving the room, even if only for a moment, he always pulled the door closed behind himself and locked it with a key he kept on his person at all times. If inside, however, he mostly kept the door open. Unless working on highly confidential pieces from work.

But, with the silence settled in the house, and the study door cracked, it was clear something was wrong. So they inched closer, and Bex, being closest, pushed open the door.

There was nothing at first, but then there they were. Sitting on the floor in the corner of the office, Mr. and Mrs. Potter were looking at nothing in particular. Their eyes were glassy and their posture stiff and rigid.

James fell to his knees, throat clenched and eyes clouded with tears. Bex was speachless. Sirius clasped James sholder, a sob raking through his body. A grimace passed over Remus' face as he glanced away from the adults. Peter fled the room, rushing to the bathroom and releasing all of the contents of his stomach.

-

Bex never really liked being forced to wear one thing, uniforms for example. Generally, she would have been happy to wear black, she didn't like bright colors, but today it had a bittersweet feel to it. Forcing someone to wear black was like forcing someone think a certain way; you closed off their entire way of thinking by making them do something.