In a universe where Voldemort never became powerful enough to terrify people for decades after the first Wizarding War, Peter didn't betray his friends, and Remus Lupin fell in love with his best friend's twin sister.
Marauders era
Remus Lupin × fem...
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December 1975
And so, the day of the departure came. Lots of students were obviously happy to go home to their families, but still many were anxious to leave their safe place.
But really, nowhere was safe anymore.
"Gosh, finally an empty compartment." Remus sighed as Peter and Sirius helped him sit on the bench.
He was still wounded and needed support when walking. At least he was no longer groaning when barely shifting his position, which his friends saw as progress. Considering the state he was in barely a day ago.
"Hey, where's James?" Juliet frowned. She hadn't seen him since morning and expected him to join them on the train.
"Uh... He wasn't there when I woke up." Sirius shrugged.
"You woke up, what, thirty minutes ago? That's not a reliable answer." The girl taunted.
"I need my beauty sleep." The eldest Black boy argued.
"What for? You still look like a piece of shit."
Peter and Remus couldn't help but snicker at the comment while Sirius was pulling an extremely offended face. He then glared at his best friends.
"Oh, yeah, haha, very funny. At least I don't look like I just had a rough night trying to escape an angry bee."
Juliet rolled her eyes, but was taken by surprise when the Hogwarts Express started to move. They were so busy bickering that they hadn't noticed the train whistle.
"Um... Guys?" Peter nervously looked outside.
The three others turned to him with curious eyes.
"I... Don't think Prongs is on the train."
"He did say something about visiting Lily before leaving but surely, he didn't miss the train. Don't worry Pete, surely he made it in time." Remus reassured the blonde.
"No, he didn't."
"What makes you say that, Wormy?" Sirius frowned.
"Because I can see him running behind the train." He pointed.
"WHAT!?" The three exclaimed in sync, all rushing to the window to see what Peter was pointing at.
Indeed, James Fleamont Potter was sprinting after the locomotive, distraught eyes blinking furiously behind his glasses that were struggling to stand still on the bridge of his nose.
His twin sister and three best friends were watching with a mix of shock and amusement, and though he could not see them, he kept reaching out his hand as if they would grab it and pull him into the compartment with them.
"What do we do?" The blonde boy watched helplessly.
"Nothing we can do, they won't stop the train unless there's an emergency." Remus shook his head.
"Isn't that an emergency?"
"Nope. An attack is." Sirius shrugged.
"It's okay, Prongs will be fine. He'll just need to tell Dumbledore and he'll find a way to bring him home." The werewolf reassured, sitting back on the bench, holding his wounded area.
"James will not think about that, he's going to cry until someone comes to pick him up."
Juliet facepalmed, watching her own prediction take place, as her out of breath brother stopped running and watched the train go like an abandoned puppy.
"Well, shit."
The four in the compartment immediately decided they would inform the station the second they made it to London, and their parents, and hopefully they would be able to solve the issue.
"Wait, where were his stuff?" Remus frowned, not remembering his best friend with a luggage in hand.
"I brought them with me." Peter nodded towards the suitcase above his head.
"No way in hell." Juliet gasped, her eyes were still glued on the window, the worry turning into surprise. "You've got to be kidding me. Tell me he didn't."
Sirius curiously peeked at the direction she was staring at, blocking Peter's view while doing so.
"Oh, he did!" A huge grin appeared on his face before he bursted into fits of laughter.
Peter pushed Padfoot away, causing him to fall on the compartment's floor, still laughing. Then the blonde scooted closer to the glass, his eyes widening and chuckles of disbelief escaping him.
Meanwhile, Remus nudged his girlfriend with a look that was asking what happening and she leaned back so he would be able to see the scene without moving much.
And it took him a moment to realise what was happening. But soon enough a gasp left his mouth when he noticed it. And the it in question, before his eyes, was a stag, galloping in the snowy forest alongside the Hogwarts Express, sending what seemed to be panicked expressions towards the train.
Laughing, he murmured something in Juliet's ear, which had her frown in confusion before she obeyed and stood up to get his camera from his suitcase quickly.
Handing it to him, she sat at his side, watching him click on a few buttons before holding it up and filming the scene.
"See? This is something you'll want to remember." He told her, referring to a previous conversation they've had on video cameras.
He could already picture all of them in the future, gathered around a TV, laughing at the memory.
James would pout but laugh along, Sirius would be in the same state he was now, Peter would shake his head and smile upon remembering everything. Lily would probably be there too, and wish she could've seen it with her own eyes.
And Remus, would be cuddled with Juliet, teasing and mockery that would snatch a giggle from her, his heart swelling at the sound yet again.
All of them happily reminiscing the last of their happiest days.
Heavy thoughts were lifted at the touch of his girlfriend. She had subtly grabbed his free hand, intertwining his fingers with her own while mocking her twin.
They were happy now. It was all that mattered.
But how long would it last?
* * *
I quite like this chapter
yes the stag part was inspired by that one tiktok by @ lilys.bookss
