What if they all lived?

Chapter 28

First year- Revision and confesion

Athena Black

James's birthday came a few weeks later, although their peers seemed to have less tolerance for another round of the marauder's rowdy antics, no one could begrudge Gryffindor's golden boy a bit of a birthday celebration. 

His cheery confidence and reputation as de facto leader of the marauders had already made Potter something of a celebrity to the first years, and even amongst the older students he was well-liked for his sense of humor and impressive knack with magic.

With anyone else, the popularity might have gone to their head.

 But although James certainly had an ego (she wouldn't have been friends with someone who didn't), its growth seemed only to bolster his acute sense of right and wrong; what he lacked in humility he made up for with genuine kindness and an eagerness to help others. 

So, they still managed to get most of the dining hall singing during their repeated renditions of "Happy Birthday," and Sirius finagled an hour on the quidditch pitch with some of the current Gryffindor team members. James was so thrilled, you'd've thought he'd been invited to play in the League itself. She'd gone with them only to humor James but she only played for a bit. She had gifted him with Quiddicht through the ages; it might as well have been the only book the boy had ever wanted to read.

She couldnt understand why the girls she shared a room with, did not really want to celebrate their birthdays. It was awsome. She wouldnt get to celebrate Marlenes birthday since it was in June and so was Marys, but Lilys had been in January and she had refused the girls to even mention it.

The letter had been tearing at her. A lot of time has passed since she first read it, but since then she kept it under her pillow. She reads it before going to sleep. The words danced in her mind while she ate, drank, was in class, breathed... it was getting hard to pretend she wasn't breaking which never happened before and was making her mad.

She wanted so desperately to talk to her friends, to Marlene, but her mother's words echoed in her mind.

Nothing matters and if nothing matters, nothing hurts

It was true, she's always stuck with the piece of advice (she never did listen to her mother but this particular line stuck with her)

Sirius Black

As March drew to a close, Sirius found himself occupied with something much duller than party planning: exams. The entire school whipped into a frenzy, and you couldn't find a single corner of the castle where there weren't students frantically revising.

James threw himself into revision with the steady determination and Sirius did too since the competition between the boys was still very much alive.

Remus tagged along for their study but to actually study he went with Thena and Evans.

Peter was under quite a bit of pressure. Since his sister had run off to muggle college—a scandal of epic proportions in the wizarding community—it was apparently up to him to carry on the family legacy. From what Sirius understood, Peter's parents were social climbers who felt strongly that their blood status should count for more than it did—although they would of course never say so directly.

Unfortunately, what the Pettigrews boasted in blood purity they lacked in power, which often left them on the fringes of high society.

Sirius might have felt bad for him, except that he thought the scrambling of social climbers in wizarding circles was ridiculous, and he didn't understand why Peter tried so hard to please his parents.