Marauders AU

[firsttogo]

Characters: Mingle
Warnings: Gen to mature, smut warning?
Timeline: Fluid, this is an AU post, anything from Hogwarts to distant future
Preferences: AU'd characters. Feel free to use this as a mingle, post your top levels. And if someone out there plays James, I'd love to see you in this post too! Multiple versions of characters welcome and pile-up threads encouraged. So don't be shy to thread jack or start your own things.

WHAT IF JAMES AND LILY HAD LIVED
It's as simple as that. Maybe they picked Remus as their secret keeper after all and managed to mount an attack against Voldemort otherwise. This is just a silly what if scenario, go as wild with it as you like. I'll give some prompt suggestions below but feel free to invent your own, too.

1. ALL FAMILY FUN - PARTY AT THE POTTERS
Spending together family holidays or Harry's first day in Hogwarts. Maybe James and Lily didn't have time to take him to the train and instead the duty fell onto the godfather, or maybe Remus will help Lily to organize a birthday party, the whole million of Weasley kids are of course invited. What if Harry and Ron knew each other since they were babies? What about life changing things like first girlfriends or oh no, potions teacher who Harry can't stand? Sirius practically lives at the Potters, surely, is he begging treats from the breakfast table or teaching Harry how to cast jellylegs jinx even before he's allowed to use spells on his own?

2. SERIOUS BUSINESS - THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
Now, what really happened? Did they change the secret keeper? Was Peter not the traitor after all? Maybe he deserted Voldemort's ranks before taking the dark mark. Maybe they're fighting a long, long war against Voldemort still years later and the kids will grow up to be warriors at childhood. Maybe they are on a run and Voldemort has taken over the wizarding world. Or maybe they managed to defeat him together. Have your own horcrux hunt?

3. WILD CARD - YOUR SCENARIO
????? Be the change!

Comments

James Potter & You

[firsttogo]

[ ooc: Feel free to thread jack unless otherwise indicated. ]

1. FAMILY TIME
A. Dad of the year
Whether Harry is 3 or 13, James is the most embarrassing dad ever. He'll hug his son whenever possible, under the noses of his school buddies? Check. When his mother is yelling to him? Check. When godfather is showing him that cook trick with a wand? Check, check. You might also find him guarding over Harry's sleep or throwing sand at the sandbox at least as excitedly as his offspring.

B. Not the best husband, maybe
Ever seen a drunk deer in a house? It can happen if you're James Potter. Playing with Sirius as if he were a regular dog? Also happens. Might be disturbing for others to watch, though. Ever gotten a fire-call from a drunk deer at the asscrack of the morning? He's trying to convey his message through wild eyes. Until you realize that his antlers have been stuck in the fireplace. Avoiding home when annoying relatives are about? Check. Also yelling to said relatives? Also check. He probably has shrunk Vernon Dursley to the size of a mouse at least a few times. Sorry, Lily, he will not fire-call Snape every time he hears about those potion classes Harry goes through.

C. Kind of your best mate, though
So, it's completely normal for Sirius to sleep with him and Lily. As a dog at least. He doesn't much see a difference there, though. Sirius could be buttnaked, too. Remus might check in to sleep on their couch for a week without much more than opening his eyes to eat something. Totally okay, too. Sometimes if Lily can't make it, Sirius might be with James in the parental meetings. And of course, he needs alone time with his mates every now and then. They can take Harry to flying on their brooms or leave Harry with Lily and grab a few beers. (Like every Friday, maybe.)

2. THERE'S WAR TO BE FOUGHT
A. The Order
He's an active member obviously. Horcrux hunt? Dueling deat eaters? Check and check. But he would also be eager to help people out of Voldemort's grasps. So, death eaters who want to turn their jackets or dark beasts that need a helping hand.

1C for great justice

[lykeios]

Remus is at home reading. It's a weeknight (it's a day ending in Y) of course he's at home reading. He's just made himself a fresh cup of tea and everything, it's right here, steaming cheerfully. All in all, he's having a nice evening and doesn't deserve the green flash of fire in his fireplace, followed by a hollow mournful honk that has him dropping his book from startled fingers.

There is a deer's head in his fireplace. Lying there staring up at him, in some kind of exquisite emotional agony, although that's the way they often look naturally. At least that's the way this one often looks naturally. "Prongs," he begins, then frowns. "Are you trying to firecall me as a stag?"

The question doesn't make a lot of sense, given that even if James tries to answer, Remus couldn't understand him anyway.

so unfair

[firsttogo]

Indeed. It's James. Honestly, how many other stags out there would firecall Remus in the dead of the night? How many other stags would ever firecall Remus? Exactly, zero.

James sounds and looks dreadful. His jaw is resting against the ground and his round eyes looking at Remus pleadingly. Life hasn't been this unfair for him in ages.

Sirius is probably somewhere behind him, taking pictures. And that doesn't make this any better.

At least his wife is a decent human being and is petting his ass instead of slapping him.

He makes a sorrowful sound at the back of his throat. Please, you should understand, right? He came to you thinking you might be able to help, Remus. Only you. Mate, he is so ready to spill his heart. Except it's hard when he can't really produce words.

He didn't think this through very profoundly.

you started this??

[lykeios]

Clearly this isn't a problem that can be solved if Moony remains comfortably in his chair. He'll get up, but only because Prongs looks so desperately unhappy, and because he knows how big Prongs is, and that cannot be comfortable. He gets up, kneels in front of the fireplace, hands braced on his thighs.

"I think this might go better if you weren't stagged-out right now," he says, reasonably, he thinks. But he does reach into the fire to scritch Prongs at the base of his antlers, because really. This is just sad. "James. Mate. Back to human, d'you think?"

I will take blame!

[firsttogo]

Remus, Remus, always so reasonable, Remus. James lifts his big head enough to place his nose on Remus' thigh and sighs, his eyes drooping when Remus reaches out to scratch him. It definitely makes everything a little easier to bear. Mate, you're the best.

He's just so tired. What was it that you said just now? Was it something important. James kind of missed it in the comfortable roar of the fire.

He honks again, morosely, full of grief.

[lykeios]

Yes, yes. What a lovely and sad and tragic figure of a stag he makes in Remus' fireplace. What must this look like from the other side, that's what Remus would like to know, and also who is over there and has allowed this to happen?

"This isn't funny," he calls to Sirius the unknown villains, "what if he gets stuck? Have you let him drink and transform again? You know that never turns out."

And he turns his attention back to Prongs, momentarily at a loss. James can fit through any fireplace you like, but Prongs? Prongs is massive. Will he even make it through if Remus tries to bring him the rest of the way? And if he won't, is he going to let Remus back him out of the fireplace and into his own home, and hopefully the loving arms of his loving wife, who is probably also over there watching this?

"Forward or back, that's the question," he murmurs, still antler-scratching.

[firsttogo]

Those antler-scratches are the best, mate. Keep them coming. James is about to pass out, though. His head is lolling down onto Remus' lap, his eyes closing. At the other end his legs are going jelly, and he's sort of slumping back onto the coals.

Remus' sudden urging has him blinking his big eyes open again and in a moment of clarity he decides to finally go back to human form, slinking into the wild haired young man they all love and respect. He comes through the fireplace in a hurry, slumping into a sort of front-weighted mess with his ass still high in air and his face in Remus' lap.

"Moony," he croons, reaching over to wrap his arms around Remus' middle. "You're the best."

idek what number okay

[brighteyedsacrifice]

A drunk James in the form of a deer might've been the hardest she's laughed in a long time, and that's truly saying something, considering she all but lives with James and Sirius. After laughing so hard she'd begun to cry (nearly peed herself, honestly), she'd sat down beside his miserable furry body and patted his rump in some attempt to offer comfort while Sirius took photos.

With that fiasco far enough behind them, peace returns to the Potter house. It's a lazy Sunday morning, the sort where sleeping in is necessary to recover from weekly and nightly festivities. (That would be drinking and the like, as Lily refuses to ever do anything sexy with James when Sirius is there, thank you very much.) Sirius stayed the night, and as Sirius is prone to do, he'd turned into a dog, ducked under the comforter, and wiggled between both she and James just as they'd begun to settle for sleep. At least initially, she'd rolled over and begun spooning the massive dog, absently rubbing his belly as she dozed off.

Now, however, they'd all drifted apart in bed, her curled with her back to both James and Sirius, and her head hidden under her pillow to shield her from the sunlight. Perhaps as a defensive mechanism from many instances prior, she avoids using the blanket to shield her face. There's no telling what smells may be lurking beneath the covers...

"Srs, stoppppp," she groans when an all too familiar twitching tugs her closer to consciousness.

there is no number

[thedogfather]

What a good night. James makes a habit of making a fool of himself most days, but he'd really outdone himself - drunk and stumbling, with his antlers stuck in the fireplace? It was brilliant, he couldn't have planned it better, and James had done it all by himself. Sirius will cherish these photographs for a long, long time. Forever. It'll never stop being absolutely hysterical.

He'd not been keen on going home to an empty flat that night, however, so he'd done as he often does, he'd shifted and climbed right into James and Lily's bed like it's his own, flopped right between them with his paws all over James. At the mercy of Lily's belly rubs, however, he'd fallen asleep almost instantly and slept like a log all night and into the morning.

He's dreaming now. Flat on his back with all four big paws in the air, Sirius begins to move, his lips twitching, furry legs jerking, his back foot kicking James right in the hip. Not long after he begins to whimper and growl. He's gonna catch that squirrel, just you watch!!

[firsttogo]

Humiliating and awful, that was what it had been. James had had a long silent conversation with Moony on the other end before Remus had managed to convince him that turning back to human was the way to go. James couldn't remember at that point why he didn't want to in the first place.

James went to sleep with his back poignantly at both of them. For reasons that he isn't sure of by the time they're all under the blanket and about to fall asleep. He'll think about it more in the morning. There definitely is a reason why he's feeling so unappreciated.

However, James is a snuggler and whatever happens to be in the bed with him, will get squeezed within his arms. This time it's Sirius. It's not hard to kick him at all because he has turned in his sleep and buried his face in Sirius' fur, his arm wrapped around both Sirius and Lily.

"Pads," he mutters weakly when the bed begins to shake. "Pads, it's just a dream. Stop it, mate."

[brighteyedsacrifice]

Oh James, you're more appreciated than you'll ever know. What's not appreciated is feeling the bed, so springy to begin with, begin vibrating in time with the gusto of Sirius' movements. Once, she'd watched him while he dreamt as a dog, laughing at the wiggling nose, twitching whiskers, and the manic sort of wiggle in his legs. She doesn't look at him now, but she can imagine it all the same.

Too bad she's much too tired to find the image cute this morning.

Lily tries ignoring it. It doesn't stop, though. Then James begins mumbling, and it still doesn't stop. So, with an incoherent grumble, she rolls onto her stomach in the hopes that if she's not right next to him, maybe she won't feel it as much. Which, of course, results in her half hanging off the mattress because the two of them are bed hogs and she's nothing more than an innocent bystander in this abuse. The absolute worst of the worst, they are. Wankers.

It's not the nicest of thoughts to have first thing in the morning, but she's also not a morning person. With a huff, she sits up, pushes her mane of red hair out of her face, and promptly smacks them both with her pillow. Right in the faces.

[thedogfather]

This squirrel is fast. Fast, and cranky, and it has James' voice saying Pads, Pads and Sirius doesn't understand why, but he's chasing it nonetheless, because that fluffy tail is twitchy and irresistible and he just has to have it!!

He's nearly barking soon enough, chuffing low in his chest, lips twitching wildly, and his legs begin moving a bit more in earnest, kicking hard into the air - he's nearly there, he's almost got it!

- but then the ground is flying up suddenly, smacking him right in the face, and Sirius jerks awake with a sharp yip, flipping onto his side and climbing right into James' arms. Save him!!

[firsttogo]

This is too cruel. Too cruel. Sirius is barking right next to James' ear and he's groaning, reaching up blindly to try and grasp that snout and pull it down to his face so he can talk some sense into the dog brain.

But he manages to get his hand between Sirius and a pillow, then it's his face that gets smacked.

Right after Sirius is practically climbing onto him and James would cry, he really would, because Sirius is heavy and he's not feeling so hot. But he feels like he might be sick right onto the bed if he lets himself sob so freely.

"You... this is not fair. Lily, baby, please..."

And if he sounds miserable, it's because he is, face buried right in Sirius' fur, try to avoid the next smack from the pillow.

Remus Lupin & you!

[lupine314]

I. At Potters
Uncle Moony is often really tired. He also crashes on James' couch pretty often. But he's very convenient, too. Because you can just drop a baby Harry on him and go back to sleep. Or when Harry gets older, he's nice enough not to make a fuss when Harry bounces on him those mornings he hasn't woken up yet. Even when you're a strapping teenager, Harry, he still is good to have around in the mornings. Usually you get off eating chocolate for breakfast when Moony is cooking.

He also has the most fascinating muggle gifts to bring with him. What is a Gameboy you ask? Well, lets find out...

But he also comes with good muggle music and an old record player. For those nights that you might want to dance and play around. Drink a glass of wine and jump around to Sex Pistols.

II. The order
Remus is actively involved with pretty much all order business. He stays in the safe houses until late and likes to organize. He also takes on dangerous missions and runs on Dumbledore's business as much as he can. Which usually makes him tired and threadbare. But he needs to help, he needs to apply himself. Let's make a difference together.

[ ooc: Pile up threads would be lovely! I'd also love love love to thread with Harry/Ron/Hermione/friends of Harrys. He still will end up teaching at Hogwarts. ]

II

[grayblack]

He probably should have died.

Almost certainly he should have died in that cave, as the last of the light dimmed across the whispering water. He'd found the necklace, he'd gotten to the necklace, surely death was the only punishment for such a transgression. Surely it was only what he deserved?

But the Dark Lord had overlooked several small factors, little things, only loyalty and fealty, and they added up to a house-elf's Apparition and Regulus Arcturus Black dropped alone on a doorstep at his parched, whispered request, the only doorstep he could think of that might admit him inside, and leave him alive.

One hand clung to the doorknob. The other hammered against the wood, over and over, heedless of the way the object clutched in his fingers, far from splintering, caught at the skin and made them crack and bleed.

Remus. Remus, Remus, Remus had never minded him, Remus had spared him a smile sometimes, Remus tucked himself into books, Remus might listen.

[lupine314]

Remus' flat is in muggle London. It's easier to hide his condition in middle of people who don't know anything about werewolves and most of them don't believe they exist. The whole business with Voldemort has kept him busy enough that the apartment has become more of a restocking center rather than a home.

It's lucky that he is in tonight. A rare night off duty. He's spent most of it curled up in the corner of his sofa with a hot cup of tea and a book. He doesn't have time for fiction, but reviewing curse marks and transfigured tattoo work - he sees your efforts with the dark mark, Voldemort - is enough of downtime when compared to the high risk missions that Dumbledore has had him on lately.

He stirs with a gasp from his sofa where he passed out with the book still open on his lap when someone bangs on the door. A knock that urgent doesn't herald pleasant things, so he slips his wand into his hand and dashes at the door, yanking it open in a hurry. His eyes go wide at the stage of Regulus, his nostrils wide as he breathes in the metallic tint of blood. He catches the younger wizard in his arms before he crashes to the floor. He still hasn't let his guard down, however, wand at a ready, eyeballing the shadowy hallway beyond Regulus.

"Regulus?" he asks, finally dragging him into the foyer and slamming the door close behind him. "What're you doing here?" There's a wand tip placed somewhere under Regulus' chin as Remus regards him quietly. They all know who the Black family side with. Regulus included. "What do you want?"

Something about this doesn't add up, though.

[grayblack]

Someone with an Order member's wand pressed to their throat shouldn't be grinning as widely as Regulus. The thirst inside him from that wretched potion feels like it's drying him from the inside out, like he's actually growing lighter, fading with every breath, but he has to tell someone, he has to tell Remus, and he holds up a battered hand and lets the red-streaked necklace dangle from his fingers.

"I got it," he says through parched lips, "I got it, it's his and I got it, Remus, I got it." Then his eyes widen, the quick transition from giddy excitement to still and serious almost frightening. "It needs to be killed. Remus. This is important. We need to kill it."

And that's as far as he can get before he's wracked with coughing, rough and bloody at the back of his throat. "W...ater," he croaks as his knees finally give out, but not before he claps the necklace back between both hands, white-knuckled. If he dies like this, it will take an effort to pry it out. Safe, he'll keep it safe.

[lupine314]

Remus doesn't know what to make of that grin, or the words that seem to make no sense to him what-so-ever. But he pulls back his wand as it seems that Regulus is most likely to keel over himself than mean any harm to Remus. And then he does crumble over and Remus hurries to catch him mid-fall so they can both fall over in a much more controlled way that doesn't possibly result with Regulus cracking his head on the corner of a phone table.

"Hang on," he mutters when he finally is kneeling on the floor with Regulus somehow propped up half against him and half against the wall. With a quickly snapped spell, a hat sitting on the phone table is transfigured into a water goblet and then he taps the side of it with his wand with a quick Aquamenti before helping the goblet to Regulus' lips.

"I don't know what you mean, Regulus," he says while the littlest Black gulps down the water. Remus is casting spells on him already, some of them really quiet, some of them really complex. "I need you to explain me what's happening to you so I can help. The locket can wait."

[grayblack]

It's hard to focus. It's hard to think of anything except the water. But as he drinks it, a coolness spreads out from his stomach and finally reaches up into his mind, washing over it as if he's poured the water directly over his seething brain. It's enough for him to fight through it and listen to Remus—calm, patient Remus, Remus who never minded him—and open his eyes again.

"Potion." His voice still sounds raw and dried out around the edges, but it's lost that edge of hysteria. "Had to drink it. He set the trap that way. The protection." He holds the necklace up again, forgetting that Remus both won't recognize it as Slytherin's locket and won't know why it's important that they destroy it as thoroughly as they can.

He feels better, he realizes, better even than the water alone should have done, and he realizes the cuts and scrapes from the Cave are fading. Healing spells. The kindness extends beyond just water, and the magnitude of the realization settles into him that by coming to Remus he'd made the right choice for perhaps the first time in his life.

sirius black

[thedogfather]

i; the potters

Sirius is here more or less all the time, if he's not off hanging about with Remus. He's got an active hand in helping with Harry, of course, spoils the boy endlessly, terrorizes the neighborhood as the giant dog that all the kids love, and generally makes a lovable nuisance of himself. Every party, gathering, anything at all, he's there. Always happy to help with the mundane things like grocery shopping and spring cleaning. And yes, of course, happily begging for treats and teaching Harry all sorts of things he shouldn't, fun time flying motorbike rides for all, and general lazing about.

ii; the order SIRIUS BUSINESS

For all he likes to act like a great big arse about most things, Sirius is quite austere when it comes to matters of dark wizardry. He doesn't screw around, and he spends quite a lot of time brooding, being angry, and in dark moods; nothing ticks him off more than pureblood mania, after all, and he's usually the first to leap up to respond to any threat, or sign himself up for dangerous, reckless missions. He's fiercely protective of those around him, and, unsurprisingly, hates feeling like he can't be of use in any way.

So you can catch him on any mission, skulking worriedly about headquarters waiting for someone to return, or spending three days awake, highly caffeinated, trying to crack the whereabouts of a target.

fer dem boys

[firsttogo]

i. Pottering

James was left behind when Lily took Harry to meet her sister and his cousin. It wouldn't have been the first time when James turned Vernon into a rat or made Petunia's mustache grow exponentially. He hated those people. And they hated him. They'd be much happier pretending he didn't exist. However, he is rather disappointed in himself for letting his son face that rubbish on his own.

However, temptingly, this banishment comes with a side of his best mates and pints in the Three Broomsticks.

They have a table at the back. It has their names on it. Literally. Just one seat remains empty as they crowd around it and James raises his hand at the barkeep, lifting three fingers up and gets a nod as a return. He sits down and unbuttons his coat, wiping his misty glasses quickly to the sleeve of his shirt.

"So, gentlemen, how are we going to entertain ourselves tonight?"

reporting for duty

[lykeios]

"I know that code." Remus stays in his coat, still chilly from the outdoors, but he does start unwinding his long scarf, already resigned to being the Reasonable One whose Intelligent Opinions will be Overruled. "If you'll let me translate, 'what trouble are we going to get ourselves into tonight?', isn't that right?"

And so, expectantly, as he drops his scarf onto the unoccupied chair—it's going to stay that way, after all, might as well make use of it like they aren't going to notice its looming presence—he turns to Sirius. "What trouble are you going to get yourselves into tonight?"

IM AN IDIOT WHO FORGETS TO TRACK THINGS DON'T MIND ME

[thedogfather]

Sirius Loves Lily and Harry, truly, deeply, they are as much family to him as his fellow marauders. It's nice, though, to have this sort of private time together as well. Nostalgic, in a way, like being foolish young boys again, before family and responsibility and adulthood crashed into their lives.

So Sirius is quite happy to drape himself across his favorite chair, tipped on its back legs, his leather jacket flung over the back of it. James asks the age old question, and Remus looks toward him and, what, excuse me he is the most innocent demure of people why would you look to him for this answer?? He flashes an easy grin.

"You say that like you're not going to be a willing participant, Moons."

BUT HERE AT LAST AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS

[firsttogo]

"Moony, please," James says with a smile that is hardly as innocent as it looks. "When have we ever...?"

Besides, how many times has it been Remus who comes up with the wretched things they've been involved in? He has a brilliant head on those scrawny shoulders of his and James thinks school years would have easily been far more boring without that brilliant head.

Don't even try to act all innocent, mate.

Except it's good to have someone with an actually believable face for the claim of innocence in their circle of gentlemen. Definitely. Has gotten them out of trouble many times and over.

"You worry too much, Remus. You need to relax. We're your mates, we would never do something heinous."

[lykeios]

"I still find it truly amazing you can say something like that with a straight face, James." Amazing, impressive, whatever adjective you'd like. But the general consensus is that Remus has the most innocent face, on average, and all right, sometimes he likes to pretend at long-suffering innocence before hatching schemes. Someone needs to balance out the ruffians that make up his best friends, right?

Resisting the urge to tap Sirius' chair just enough to unbalance it, Remus commences an examination of the other patrons of the bar. "Shabby pickings," he murmurs. "Oh, school days, school days, where's a table full of Slytherins when you need one?"