The Marauders: Year Three | #Wattys2016

The Hogshead Pub

The Hogshead Pub

Sirius was laying on his back in the dormitory, his head hanging off the end of his bed, watching his record spin on the player, the sound of Smoke on the Water filled the room. He smiled and closed his eyes, using his wand as though it were a guitar, making faces as he raised his pelvis about, dancing laying down to the sound of the music.

Remus burst through the door, breathless, "Professor Veigler's in trouble and we gotta help him!" he shouted. He ran to his bed and threw himself to the floor, reaching under his mattress for the Marauder's Map.

Sirius sat up, dropping his wand onto the bed. "What?" he shouted over the music.

"VEIGLER IS IN TROUBLE!" Remus answered.

Sirius pulled the needle away from the record, stopping Deep Purple from singing. He looked over at Remus in concern, "Trouble? How's he in trouble?"

"I dunno," Remus answered. He had thrown the map across Peter's empty bed and flipped it open. Now he was searching the castle, his eyes flickering over every dot across it. "He can't have gone too far yet..." he murmured, desperately, "Help me find him!"

Sirius threw himself over James's bed, tumbling to the floor between James's and Peter's and stood up, looking over the map for the dot labelled Veigler. "Where was he last?"

"His office," Remus said, "We were talking about -- about -- well about you and suddenly he said 'it's not the one I thought' - he said something about the Boy - and then he had to go and see Dumbledore. He said it was imperative. Then he said goodbye. Like he wasn't ever coming back." Remus was frantic. "Sirius, I think there's something terrible going to happen to him tomorrow. I think Greyback's gonna try to kill him."

"What?" Sirius looked surprised, "Wait. Slow down. You were talking to him about me?"

"Yes," Remus said, "And then he had to go --"

"What about me?"

"We were talking about the Alpha and Omega and Beta stuff," he explained, "And I - I dunno, I wanted to know more about Beta wolves and Veigler knows everything and he's not gonna tell our secret to anyone. He's trustworthy --"

"You git!" Sirius said, "You told him about me being an animagus?"

Remus looked up in surprise at the angry tone to Sirius's voice. "I - I mean, I -"

"He knows how to make people believe he's trustworthy even if he's not! He could've used the falsum fidelum on you!"

"No, he didn't," Remus said, "Sirius, he's an alright guy --"

"You hated him for half the year and now you decide you like him suddenly?" Sirius asked skeptically. "Doesn't that sound like the falsum fidelus to you?"

Remus said, "I didn't like him because he smelled like Greyback, it got my suspicions up. But my instincts were wrong about Veigler. He's an alright guy. He's a great guy, even. I've really got close with him the last month, Sirius. He's like - he's like a brother. And right now I'm really, really scared that Fenrir Greyback's coming to get him."

"Why?"

"I told you, he said goodbye. Like a real goodbye," Remus said, panicked, "Like the kinda goodbye you say when you don't think you're ever going to see somebody again."

Sirius stared at Remus and it was so very clear that Remus was truly terrified. Sirius had never seen him hold so much fear in his eyes - other than, perhaps, the night of the dream.