One of us - Marauders Era

7

"I see you marauders are actually on time," McGonagall comments, glancing up for a second from her marking as the four students enter the room for detention.

"Marauders?" Sirius asks the teacher,

"Trouble-makers, it seemed fitting"

"I like it," Josie adds, and the others agree.

"That's enough talking. Remember, this is a punishment. Now, you four shall copy from the textbook from pages 44 to 60. I will check on you so if I catch any of you talking there will be consequences."

McGonagall leaves the room and they sigh.

"What if we called ourselves the marauders?" Josie suggests randomly,

"A name would be convenient," Remus adds,

"Sounds good, guess we're the marauders now," Sirius says.

"Wait, do I not get a say in this?" James asks. They just shrug in response and start writing.

After an hour Josie is in a daze as she writes, she starts quietly singing and humming to herself. The three boys exchange looks as they listen, they had never heard her sing properly before.

"Woah" Sirius finally says causing Josie to snap back into reality, her hair turning a light pink along with her cheeks. She doesn't say anything, hoping they will ignore it, and to her relief they do.

After a few hours, McGonagall returns to the room and dismisses them.

"We'll meet you back in the common room, alright?" Remus whispers, giving her a quick hug. Josie nods and slowly approaches the teacher at her desk.

"How can I help you, Miss Harper?"

Josie bites her lip nervously and tells her everything. 

"Hey Siri, what you got there?" Josie asks, walking down the stairs. It was pretty late but she couldn't sleep. They were the only people in the common room and Sirius was sitting in front of the fireplace holding what looked like a letter. He wipes his face and clears his throat as she approaches him.

"Oh hey Josie," he replies folding up the letter, "Uh it's nothing. Why are you still up?"

"Not tired yet," she lies, "wait a sec, I'll be right back."

Josie runs out the portrait door to the kitchens, it was past curfew so she tried to stay quiet and cautious.

She returns with two mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows. Sirius chuckles and takes his mug, thanking her. She sits down next to him and he wraps an arm around her.

"What's wrong?" she asks, sensing his sadness. He sighs and rubs his temple.

"Just my parents being themselves, don't worry about it."

"You can talk about it you know," Josie replies, snuggling into him to stay warm.

"You really wanna listen to me rant about family issues," he asks amused,

"I would love nothing more," she laughs.

"If you say so," Sirius says, putting down his mug, "my family motto is 'Toujours Pur', which means 'Always Pure' in French. They consider themselves royalty and pride themselves in being Slytherin purebloods."

"Like the Slytherins yesterday?" Josie asks,

"Yep, my cousin, the Lestrange family, are the same along with some others. Anyway, that letter was just them expressing their hate towards me and threatening to disown me again."

"Because you were sorted into Gryffindor and are friends with non-pureblood people," she says, catching on. Sirius makes a 'ding' sound, signalling she was correct. She frowns, the thought of him having to deal with a family like that upsets her.

"I have a brother, Regulus, a year younger than me. He's naive enough to believe all of it, making him a much better son than I am, my parents being sadistic freaks enjoy telling me that while they beat the living hell outta me for not sharing their views."

Josie's eyes widen and she takes in the boy next to her. Sirius was leant forward with his head in his hands. She gently pulls him back and hugs him. He rests his head on her shoulder, and after a few minutes she pulls away slightly.

"It's only a few weeks until Autumn break, what are you gonna do?" she asks, he just shrugs in response.

"Not sure if they want me there or not, either way, can't avoid them forever."

"You can try," she urges. He laughs but shakes his head,

"Well whatever you decide, you have all the marauders' addresses so write to us or come visit if it gets too bad,"

He smiles and pulls her closer to him, mumbling,

"I love you, Josie"

"Love you too Siri"