Marauders & their Evans

Fifth Year 1976

Chapter Forty One

The next morning was awkward to say the least. None of what had happened yesterday was mentioned again. There was a silence looming over the five of us as we all ate our breakfast, and every so often there was a slight wince, a hiss, or a groan of pain coming from Sirius. All of us  pretended not to notice.

Eventually the tension was too much, Peter stood up from the table announcing he had to go back home, Remus and I followed. We all just said our goodbyes and told each other we will talk once we're back at Hogwarts.

When I made it back home Remus walked me all the way inside. "Prim, is that you?" My mother asked, walking into the living room. "Yes mum." She looked at us. "Honey, Lily said you left in such a rush this morning. What happened?" Lily's excuse seemed to work fine, but the fact that I was still in my pj's and my face looked like I had been crying all night was difficult to explain. I couldn't exactly lie to her so what was I supposed to tell her? Thankfully Remus answered.

"She was with me. It was an emergency. My uh... nan died." I turned to look at Remus eyebrows furrowed. "Oh Remus darling I'm sorry." My mother said. "Is okay she's in a better place now." He gave her a tight lipped smile. "Well if you need anything you tell me okay?" He nodded. "Will do Mrs. Evans."

When she left Remus turned to look at me. "How about you change and then we'll talk about it okay?" I only nodded and he gave my shoulder a big squeeze before leaving as well. Walking up to my room I was met with an extremely curious Lily.

Ignoring her, I walked straight past her to my closet to pick out some clothes. "Prim, thank Merlin! What happened, where were you? You just can't leave like that in the middle of the night!" She yelled. "Lilly, please stop." I said turning back. "What do you mean stop? Do you have any idea how reckless you were? Honestly Prim it's like you have no sense of self preservation." She said exasperated. "Look Lily I'm not in the mood to argue okay? So just leave it." I didn't give her the chance to say anything else as I left the room.

Once I had a shower and changed my clothes, I met Remus in my backyard. We walked in complete silence to our usual spot in the forest. We just sat there until Remus finally asked. "What happened last night?" "I don't know." I said barely above a whisper. "What do you mean you don't know Prim, you were there."

I slowly felt anger rising in me. Did he honestly believe I wouldn't have done something if I knew Sirius would show up all bloody at James's doorstep? "I don't know Remus!" I yelled at him standing up. "I went there, everything was fine, we were having fun, all things considered and then I left." I felt all the air leave my lungs. I left. "God I should've known she would hurt him. I should've stayed even if that meant I would be in danger, then maybe he would've been safe."

I sank down to the floor, hyperventilating, feeling like all air was suddenly gone and my heart was trying to jump out of my chests. The guilt of leaving him behind felt so heavy. Suddenly I felt two hands on my shoulders, and gentle words slowly bringing me back to reality. Remus was looking at me straight in the eyes. "You couldn't have possibly known." He stated. We stayed like that for a little while longer before we went back home.

***
Back at Hogwarts the boys had gained a lot of popularity by now. Not only were they four out of the five famous 'Marauders', but they had also become the resident heartthrobs. James Potter; Gryffindor's golden boy and head over heels for one of the Evans twins, Remus Lupin; the shy and mysterious one, Peter Pettigrew; the boy next door every girl would take home to meet their parents, and finally Sirius Black; the rebel, black sheep of the family, the bad boy.

James couldn't care less about the flirty looks and smiles sent his way, he only had eyes for his Lily Flower, Remus was just painfully oblivious, Peter kind of enjoyed the attention but always got so nervous, and Sirius relished in it.