The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

Owl, Rat, Stag

Minerva McGonagall was sitting on the porch of her little house in Hogsmeade Village, listening to the sound of Elphinstone Urquart just inside, singing as he did whatever it was he was working on in there... Elphinstone was at Minnie's every opportunity he got, usually under the guise of doing some home improvement project, but she knew better.

Elphinstone always mysteriously made the job he was doing last just long enough that she was often compelled to invite him to dinner (that was the proper thing to do after all), and he would eagerly sit across from her at the dinner table after helping her cook, and they would talk until the hours got small and he would kiss her goodnight, though she felt quite improper about it whenever he did. The secret Minnie kept was that as red as her cheeks burned with Elphinstone's kisses, she loved them and thought about each one for every moment between them.

She received an owl, then, whom she tipped with a knut from her pocket before he flew away, and she opened it to find the parchment was from James Potter. Her heart tightened for she missed James a very good deal already, though it had been only a little under a month since they'd seen each other last.

Dearest Minnie,

the letter read,

I am writing to give you a change of plans on a prior invitation that you might have received from one, Sirius Black. While Remus Lupin continues to suffer Sirius's - shall we call them "bridal whims" - there has been a change of plans with which we wished to include you...

McGonagall continued on reading the letter, smiling at the plans that James had written out for her, and she shook her head, sweeping the trace of a tear from the very corner of her eye.

"What is it, Minerva, dear?" Elphinstone asked, coming onto the porch, wand in hand, a bit sweaty about the forehead. He sat in the chair beside hers.

"Just a letter from James Potter," she replied, folding it and holding it out to Elphinstone. "Only the Marauders."

Elphinstone read the letter over, a smile growing on his face. "Well," he said, handing the letter back when he'd finished, "I daresay from what I know of him - Sirius Black will be quite pleased."

Minerva nodded, "Indeed."

Peter Pettigrew woke, curled up in his rat form inside his own ruck sack, which he had stuffed beneath a bench in St. James park. It took him a moment to recall all of this, as he blinked his eyes and peered about, his nose twitching. He moved, nibbled a bit on the food he had packed, and then curled deeper into the clothes in his sack, hugging his own long, wormy tail...

The night before - the night of the full moon - he had eagerly packed his bag. He had sat in the Pettigrew's living room, facing the window, staring out, waiting; he had been certain that one of them (probably James) would come and get him. But as the afternoon turned into early evening, he started to realize that no one was coming.

"What are you doing?" his father snapped, coming into the room as outside was beginning to turn golden dusk. "What's that bag for? Have you finally decided to move out?" The tone was rough.

Peter turned 'round to find his father glaring at him. His parents had been rowing like mad in the kitchen just moments before and his father's face was still red with frustration. They'd been rowing over how long Peter would be allowed to stay on with them, how long they would let him live at home before kicking him out.

"I'm waiting for my mates... We were going to go camping."

"Camping!" Mr. Pettigrew sat down, rolling his eyes, as though the idea of Peter camping was one of the most ridiculous he'd ever heard.