hanabiaki

Hogwarts, 1976. Chaos had always had a four-man limit - until now. The world knew little of the Marauders, and how they met an unlikely accomplice in their seventh year. In this fifth Marauder, they find a new side to the little box they have gotten so comfortable within. One of them finds salvation, another finds a comrade, one finds competition and finally, one of them finds a love he never, ever dreamt of.

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Chapter 3: Catalyst

We're involving Lily.

A fresh message still warm from the ink, shimmered into existence on Serena’s notebook, mirroring the latest inspiration scribbled by Sirius on his personal copy. After their last meeting at the potion classroom, they had burned through countless ideas and experiments, but the lack of progress loomed over them ahead of the next full moon.

Serena was easily on the same page as Sirius. Lily was second only to Snape in Potions and the choice was clear. While Snape honoured keeping Remus’s condition a secret, his lingering resentment toward the Marauders made obtaining his help an unfavorable gamble. 

“We shall meet. Same place at nine tonight.”

Lily arrived at the designated time and place, flanked by James and Sirius. Serena should have known better by now. James and Sirius had been joined at the hip since first year and asking Lily for help simply meant there was no longer any excuse to leave James out of the equation.

“Woah, so herein lies the secret lair Sirius has been talking about all week,” James commented dryly as he appraised the potion classroom. Serena wheeled around to glare at Sirius reproachfully, which he shrugged off casually. 

“There are no secrets between James and me.”

Lily who was more than eager to start with their proper business pulled Serena away from the boys and with her trademark curiosity, started asking all the questions, “You were given Slughorn’s full discretion to use this potion classroom? And have access to all the materials in here?”

“Yes, and yes,” Serena attempted to match her energy, “Professor Dumbledore and Professor Slughorn have given me their blessing and support to attempt this, though I am wary of asking for more.”

“And now additional forces have arrived!” Sirius interjected, tilting his chair towards Serena. “Brains and brawns - invaluable competencies of the Marauders are now yours to command.”

Lily swept over Sirius’s grand declaration, her gaze fixed instead on Serena with genuine admiration. “You don’t understand the privileges we have here, Sirius! There are materials locked away in Hogwarts vaults so rare that people would trade their souls for a peek.”

Catching onto Lily’s enthusiasm, Serena spoke with newfound animation. “There was this one time, I was sorely tempted to ask for the Night-Blooming Cereus. But its price was astronomical—hardly practical for a potion that needs to be brewed every month.”

Lily gasped, “They have that here?! That’s a real pity, but you made the right call. We need something more sustainable.”

“So I’ve turned to working with Lily of the Valley, but given its high toxicity it’s been really tricky—” Serena cut Sirius off before he could interject with a joke, “—it’s a herb, Sirius, not a person.”

“And you are the Lily of my heart,” James crooned, leaning in for a kiss, only to be unceremoniously smacked on the cheek by his girlfriend.

Watching them, Serena had a rude awakening to the reality of why James and Sirius were such mutual enablers of the Marauders' signature chaos. And Lily was one of the few people in Hogwarts capable of keeping those two in line. Serena knew her assistance was proving ever more valuable now. 

Lily pressed on, unconcerned with James’ sulking, “It’s daunting, I know. We need to find a stabilizing agent to neutralise the toxicity. I’ll start researching but time is running out fast. We have less than a week until the next full moon, don’t we? Right after Remus’s birthday this weekend.”

“Unfortunately, you are right. Time is running out fast,” Sirius interjected once more, feeling thoroughly left out of the discussion. He sat up straighter and turned to Serena. “So, what is your assignment for Padfoot?”

She bit her lip and picked at her calloused fingers, after a moment of hesitation she shook her head casually, “There isn’t one yet.” 

James and Lily soon headed off to their Prefect rounds, Sirius caught up to Serena and fell into step beside her for the long walk back to Ravenclaw Tower.

“You’re hiding something, Rena,” Sirius murmured next to her ear and she froze mid-step. 

He stepped back, shoulders squared and hands tucked deep into his trouser pockets, watching her with radiant rapture. When he continued, his voice was entirely stripped of its usual edge and mischief. “I meant all that I said before. You are not doing this on your own. Not anymore. Even if you’re brewing a scheme that breaks every wizarding law, you’d better rope me in. That’s what I signed up for.”

Serena stared at him for a long time, her eyes widening. “How did you know?”

“You are a terrible liar, that's how I know,” Sirius' eyes glinted in amusement. “Besides, a few days ago you were confidently waving a blade and demanding a lock of my fur.” Serena whipped around, looking scandalized, “You were perfectly cool with that!”

He chuckled and laughter resounded through the hallway, “And I’d be perfectly cool with whatever this is that you are too afraid to ask. So. Ask away, my lady.”

​Serena weighed her options, her gaze studying his expression, finally she relented. “I read just the other day about the Luna Lotus Petals which are found predominantly in Asia, and I think it would work as a stabilizing agent for the potion. But Sirius, it’s only found in black markets and incredibly rare—”

​“Consider it done!” Sirius was already bounding up the stairway. He paused, spinning around to face her with a wide and expectant grin. “Well? Aren’t you coming?”

Serena felt a tug on the corners of her lip as she followed Sirius up the stairway. Moonlight poured in and stretched the arched hallways endlessly while they strolled in companionable silence.

​”You know,” he said as they approached the Ravenclaw common room. “I spent years with the Marauders getting into mischief for the thrill. But this?” His eyes found Serena’s and his gaze uncharacteristically earnest. “This is the first time I’ve felt purpose in me, like I could do something more besides mischief and mayhem.”

Serena felt a heat bloom behind her ears under his steady gaze. Her mind raced for a clever quip to toss back at him, something to hide how completely he rattled her. Before she knew it, they reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room and she stood like a guileless lamb, humiliatingly tongue-tied.

“Goodnight Serena." 

......

The new plans had kept them busy over the next few days: James was assigned to keep Remus busy with every prefect duty he could come up with while the rest fully exploited the distraction to dive headfirst into research.

Outside the high, leaded windows of their secret workspace, the night hung heavy and suffocating. An almost-full moon rode low in the sky, casting a silver-white mist across the castle grounds and bathing the stone floor in an eerie, restless luminescence. It was a silent, looming reminder of the clock ticking down to midnight. 

Inside, however, the atmosphere was far less poetic.

The last attempt at the potion using the freshly obtained prized Luna Lotus Petals ended in utter disaster. Hours after the pilot, Sirius was hunched over a basin, regretting every muffin he’d eaten and clutching his abdomen in agonizing pain. James was afoot on a frantic infirmary heist, Serena stood beside Sirius pressing a cold sponge to his forehead in practised, sympathetic calming strokes.

“Breathe in, and breathe out,” Serena deadpanned, peering down at him with a suppressed smirk. “You’re doing wonderfully Sirius. Just a few more contractions and we’ll welcome the nausea into the world.”

Sirius let out a low, pathetic groan, his head resting against the cool edge of the stone sink. He wheezed and clutched Serena’s hand, “Promise me… promise me you’d name it Luna.” 

Once everyone survived the night, the grim gravity of their circumstances set in, and they knew there was no time left to waste. Sirius, Serena and Lily swiftly returned to the library the next day undeterred. A weakened, dehydrated Sirius was slumped on the floor surrounded by towers of books. Every so often, Lily magicked another book to join the discarded pile.

Serena was tinkering with a pair of handheld mirrors, desperate for some other form of breakthrough while Sirius built a precarious tower of books from Lily’s discarded pile. One wrong flick of his wand sent the tower crashing down loudly, immediately drawing a sharp, disapproving glare from Madam Pince. Lily, displeased by the distraction, shot a warning look in their direction.

Serena narrowed her eyes at Sirius as he handed her a book titled Magical Drafts and Potions amidst the debris. She was about to clear away the scattered books when something caught her eye. Next to the books, she picked up an envelope from the floor addressed to Sirius signed lovingly by an exquisite Andromeda.

“You dropped this, Black.”

Sirius’s head snapped up at the cold sound of his last name, his hand paused in the midst of putting away the mess he created.

Serena stacked the books unhurriedly and averted her gaze. “I really hope the recent bout of potion poisoning hasn’t put a dent on your date plans for this coming Hogsmeade weekend, I know how awful that must be.”

Sirius sensed he may have done something, and it had nothing to do with books tumbling down in the quietest corner in Hogwarts. He ran a hand through his wavy locks and shook his head, “Nah, I didn't make any plans. We can always continue with this potion business. Unless… you have a Hogsmeade date?” Sirius finished uncertainly and awaited Serena’s reply.

“Don’t you have a date with Miss Andromeda?”

Andromeda? Sirius suddenly connected the dots to the envelope he had just tucked away, and a wicked gleam broke across his face.

He huddled closer to Serena until their shoulders were almost touching. “Sweet Andromeda,” he continued with a smirk, “is my dearest cousin, a fellow rebel from the Black family who recently married a Muggle. And we have her to thank for the lotus petals that you asked for.”

Serena’s eyes widened and her ears turned pink around the edges. Sirius quickly brandished a photo from the envelope. Inside the animated frame, a fumbling toddler giggled and changed her hair color from bubblegum pink to a bright, defiant blue. Serena watched with delight as he spoke fondly of Andromeda’s daughter as a proud uncle should.

“Oh, she’s precious!” Serena gushed gleefully as she took in the photo of little Tonks.

“And I called her a fool for not naming her ‘Asphodel’,” Sirius grumbled. “What kind of name is that? Nymphadora Tonks? The enunciation alone is diabolical! That name will send any sensible suitors running for the hill!”

“You wanted to name your niece after a flower that heavily hints of the underworld?” Serena shook her head in disbelief, “And this is for the sake of her love life?”

“Why yes! Everyone who reads Magical Drafts and Potions would know the name! Andromeda asked me for a name that was unlike every other on the Black Family Tree, so—voila!”

Serena was about to point out why Andromeda probably would not want a name with such connotations but a memory cut her off. When was it that they learnt about Asphodel, was it in their first year? She snatched the textbook Sirius had been waving about and flipped the pages impatiently with ink-stained fingers until she found the exact paragraph on Sleeping Draughts. Still indignant over Andromeda’s poor name choices, Sirius opened his mouth to complain further, but she cut him off by furiously tugging at his sleeve.

“Oi, woman. I’m listening already! Would you please stop-”

“It’s in the Asphodel’s root, Sirius! The sun never reaches it, so it keeps the essence trapped within. This is what we need for the potion!”

Just then Sirius caught sight of Lily glowering at them from a distance and he could hardly blame her, Serena was becoming increasingly unmoored as she expounded on her discovery. 

“We can use it like the infusing root for a sleeping draught, to induce a death-like slumber and neutralise the toxicity. Sirius, I’m most certain this will work!” Serena started shaking him violently by the shoulders.

“Uh, oh. Head girl incoming,” Sirius spat out between the shakes and flailing black hair, watching a furious Lily march toward them menacingly from the far end of the aisle. 

“We have to tell Lily!” Serena gasped, entirely oblivious to the approaching storm in the form of Lily.

Everything flew by in a blur. Before Sirius could warn Serena who was on the verge of seizing Lily by the shoulders next, the trio were curtly marched out of the library by Madam Pince. This development didn’t faze Serena in the slightest. Anticipation pulsed through her veins, for she felt it in every fibre of her being that they were finally only one moon away from bottling a successful brew for Remus.

And they owed it all to the brilliance of Asphodel.

Story: Our Chemical Romance

Chapter 2: Brewing Trouble

“Good morning!” Sirius announced, plonking himself onto the bench next to Serena.

Serena watched him with a baffled expression, “Black, you’re sitting at the wrong table.” 

Without missing a beat, Sirius reached over, plucked a blueberry straight from Serena’s cereal bowl, and popped it into his mouth. “And that was my blueberry.”

Sirius smirked, clearly relishing her annoyance. "Oh, don't be such a scrooge."

Serena sighed, shooting a pointed look toward Remus, who was watching from afar at the Gryffindor table. "Remus is going to have so many questions for you later. You know that, right?"

“Well, I can handle that just fine,” Sirius replied breezily. “I’m his dutiful wingman merely fulfilling social obligations by mingling with his other new best friend. It’s the natural pecking order of our society.”

By the time Sirius conveyed his worldly view on friendship and social order, the Ravenclaw table was buzzing with chatter. A cluster of girls seated further down had abandoned their breakfast, casting eager winks and fluttering their eyelashes in Sirius’s direction.

“Morning, ladies. Like what you're seeing?” Sirius mocked a casual flex of his biceps, eliciting a chorus of muffled shrieks.

Serena rolled her eyes as she watched the girls coo and giggle at Sirius’s antics. Deciding she had seen enough, she leaned closer and whispered impatiently, “Alright, alright! Time to go, Black.” 

Sirius blew an exaggerated, invisible kiss toward his fans before turning back to her with a low murmur. "Just came to tell you—I’m in on your plan.”

With dramatic flourish, he stood and straightened his cloak before departing with a flirtatious wink that left the table buzzing.

Back at the Gryffindor table, Remus was already waiting with a dark scowl. "What do you think you’re doing, Black?"

Sirius sighed dramatically as he dropped into his seat. “Is this really how you address your best mate so early in the morning? It’s a hard life being your best mate, just so you know. You're doing your utmost to remain ‘just friends’ with Serena, and now fallen on me is my solemn duty to nurture your friendship. After all, I am often the social glue that keeps everything intact. If anything, she should be loving this golden ticket into the Marauders’ circle.”

Remus narrowed his eyes. "If only James was here to listen to you. So you woke up one morning and decided to take on this grand mission while getting dressed? Do you actually think she fancies a golden ticket of that sort? You don't know her at all." 

Peter was watching the rising commotion with rapt attention, shivering with anticipation if the boys would start a real row. Sirius continued buttering his toast, indifferent to Remus’ brewing temper. "Well, today’s today. Tomorrow’s tomorrow. And who really knows where life takes us to in another month?"

Remus' voice dropped an octave and his tone hardened, "Whatever you do, Sirius, promise me you will not hurt Serena."

"Trust me," Sirius muttered quietly in a voice barely audible. "Our fair lady is the one holding the knife."

Remus looked up at Sirius curiously, “What did you say?”

“I said let the man eat his toast in peace,” Sirius glazed over quickly before taking a bite of his bread.

......

The next morning, James and Lily had rejoined the Marauders at the breakfast table. After a long and exhausting week, Hogwarts was restored to its former pristine, toad-free state under the watchful eyes of the Head Boy and Head Girl. James had a good laugh with Sirius over the prank. But Lily, having spent days fielding endless complaints from a furious Alice and others, had been watching Sirius like a hawk. Despite her best efforts at peace keeping, breakfast kicked off with Lily thoroughly berating James and Sirius for their latest shenanigan involving a puking pastry gifted directly to the Slytherin Quidditch captain, Amos Vane. 

“Seriously, James! My hands are full just managing Sirius and his antics. Dumbledore entrusted you with the badge, and you should know better by now than to incapacitate your own Quidditch opponents with meagre petty sabotages!”

Morning mail soon arrived and owls of all shapes and sizes were swooping into the hall. An unfamiliar looking collared owlet landed before Sirius to deliver a small parcel. He caught it deftly while taking a sip of his coffee.

“Another admirer! Another lucky day!” James quipped, eagerly clapping Sirius on the back in a not-so-subtle attempt to redirect Lily’s rising ire away from the muffled retching sounds drifting from the Slytherin table. The enthusiasm of the blow caused Sirius’s coffee to splatter across the table and over Lily’s parchments recording the prefect’s schedules.

“James!” Lily chided, already waving her wand to clean up the mess with a practiced spell while shooting him a withering look.

Sirius had gone completely still amidst the surrounding chaos. He was staring down at a tiny, handwritten memo attached to the parcel, entirely deaf to the surrounding racket.

“Did you get another one of those nasty letters from that un-frog-turnate incident, Padfoot?” Remus peered curiously over Sirius’s shoulder.

Sirius blinked hard, snapping out of it. With practiced speed, he shoved both the parcel and the memo deep into his pocket, wearing a carefully neutral mask. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just a token from old Reg. You know how he pretends we live on different continents and can only communicate via owl mail.”

It was an open secret that anything involving his brother Regulus was a landmine for Sirius. The teasing evaporated instantly, the group settling back into breakfast without further fanfare. No one at the table would have guessed that the "token from Reg" was actually a messaging apparatus from Sirius’s secret co-conspirator, sent right under Remus's nose.

......

“Your charming notebook is working perfectly,” Sirius drawled, leaning lazily against the wooden doorframe of a dimly lit and almost empty potions classroom.

Serena remained hunched over a simmering cauldron, which seemed to be pulsing a faint, ominous red. “A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do,” she replied without looking up. “You, mister, have a penchant for attracting attention while we need to remain inconspicuous for this mission. Those charmed notebooks are a safe way for us to correspond without drawing eyes."

“I must say, I never took you for someone who plots secret rendezvous with boys past curfew hours,” Sirius teased, pushing off the doorframe to approach the cauldron. His face twisted; clearly he did not appreciate the aroma wafting from the brew. 

“You pick up a skill or two from dating a Marauder,” Serena deadpanned. She whipped around and fixed him with an appraising stare. 

“So, let me just get this out of the way—if you’re Padfoot the dog, I’m guessing James as Prongs is... what, an elk? Please tell me Peter doesn't transform into an actual worm?”

Sirius chuckled, genuinely impressed. Having recovered from the initial shock of their secret being dismantled so easily by the Ravenclaw witch, he now found the rhythm of Serena’s mind a refreshing contrast to the simpering girls that tailed behind the Marauders. 

“Ten points to Ravenclaw! Though James is actually a stag, and Wormtail is a rat, definitely not a worm. Blimey, what in the devil’s snare did you add to this brew?” Sirius waved his hand in a futile attempt to dismiss the stench.

“Sorry about the smell, this potion still requires some work. I was just deciding if I should add in a dash of animal fur before you showed up.” 

Sirius arched an eyebrow at the mention of ‘animal fur’. “I hate to sound skeptical and almighty, but do you know what you are doing here?” 

Serena let out an exasperated sigh and dropped the ladle with a sharp clang. If she were being completely honest with herself, she was terrified of how little certainty she had. 

“I wish I could say I do. I may well be reaching for the impossible. Werewolves have always been shunned and suppressed through the ages, the potion stagnated in its volatile state for decades and nobody ever perfected the formula. I really want to make it right for Remus, so here I am, wooing Lady Luck!”

Sirius felt the anguish in her reveal, but he felt even more strongly for the fierce, defiant spark in her eyes. It spoke of a silent truth: Serena was set to go to the ends of the earth just to brew a successful Wolfsbane Potion for Remus. Sirius was only too familiar with how petty people could be when a temporary fling fizzled, but that was not the case for Serena. Watching Serena throw herself body and soul into such an impossibly dangerous endeavor felt as natural as the next reckless, loyal piece of puzzle that held the Marauders together.

He stepped closer to the cauldron with a scrunching grimace, ignoring the stench to pick up the discarded ladle and jabbed at the frothing potion warily. “You don't have to woo Lady Luck all by yourself, you know. Besides, you’ve got the top Transfiguration student in your corner now—not to mention the most suave and handsome Marauder of the lot. Even Minnie would be proud of you. Just watch me—it'll be a masterpiece.” 

Serena couldn't hold back a burst of infectious laughter at his bold proclamation, and Sirius turned to meet her eyes with a surge of pride.

“I take it that you’d be willing to contribute some animal fur for the potion, all in the name of research and Lady Luck?” Serena finished off with a playful wink and Sirius noticed that the rings around her eyes looked a shade darker.

“Fine, harvest my soft, velvety fur if you must! But you have to promise me you will not freak out when I transform,” Sirius said, stepping away from the cauldron to wave his wand and seal the room with wards against unwanted intrusions. 

As he strolled toward a dark corner, his silhouette blurred, stretching and shifting in the wavering shadows until a massive, shaggy black dog materialized.

Serena could not turn away even if she tried, this was the first time she had seen an Animagus transform in the flesh and worked to commit every detail to memory. Where Sirius had stood, there was now a handsome black dog whose dark coat shimmered even in dim light. She approached the newly transformed Padfoot cautiously, her heart pounding.

“May I?” Serena reached her hands out apprehensively and Padfoot nodded.

Her fingers sank into the thick, velvet fur along his spine as she methodically studied the hard shift of muscle beneath. With a mixture of fascination and curiosity, she traced the outline of the snout all the way to the back of the pointed ears, curiously studying how quickly it took for the human face to shapeshift during the transfiguration process. Padfoot tensed under her administration, his breathing hitching. 

Feeling guilty for what she was about to do, she traced calming strokes along the top of his head and offered her most assuring smile. With her other hand, she deftly conjured a small pair of silver scissors and carefully snipped a clean lock of dark fur. 

​As Serena made her way back to the cauldron, Padfoot slipped back into the corner, shifting smoothly back into human form. He brushed off his robes elaborately and stumbled into a chair near the door, his ears burned a bright, incriminating scarlet. It wasn’t flirtation and there was no batting of eyelashes or coy giggles. It was the quiet, attentive focus in her eyes, and the way she was deliberately memorizing his silhouette that spoke a strange, silent language he was entirely unequipped to read. 

What in Merlin's name happened?

Completely oblivious to his internal crisis and confusion, Serena dropped the freshly obtained lock of fur into the glowing red mixture and resumed multi-tasking between stirring fervently and scribbling notes into her brown leather book.

A few moments later, a thick plume of black smoke erupted from the pot with a violent hiss, signaling yet another catastrophic failure. Both of them coughed violently in its aftermath.

Also available on wattpad or read chapter two

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Our Chemical Romance 

Chapter 1 - The first experiment

This is a story long forgotten, years and years ago before the Wizarding World saw through its darkest days, a girl fell in love.

Everyone says love, dazzling and blazing, is the golden snitch everyone seeks. 

It was a late winter night, a deafening storm of snow and wind hailed against the long castle windows. That very same night, the girl who was once promised love, learnt that love may not always be enough.

“Serena, I don’t want to do this either. But it’s a thorny path, and the risk—if anything were to happen to you... I can't live with that.”

Serena blinked her tears away while he paced in winding circles.

“In no way are you to blame yourself, really! This mess is all on me, I’m the idiot who should have known better.”

The boy who should have known better was Remus Lupin, one of the kindest boys Serena had come to be friends with, and that friendship bloomed into something more over time. Their relationship was a secret known only by their closest friends, and Remus had chosen to be honest of his ‘condition’ with Serena right from the start. 

He was, after all, a Marauder with a somber secret and that had been his greatest suffering. She had counted his scars as they multiplied and looked on helplessly as each lunar cycle tormented his mind. Yet all she could do was watch.  

And now they were met with an inevitable ending. She knew he had turned this situation over in his head at least a hundred times, every ending imagined proving ever more dire. The boy thought himself cruel, yet she alone knew he was doing all he could to protect her.

She understood what he could not put into words, so she stood up to face him.

"You’re right Remus, we had given it our best shot, didn’t we?" She shrugged off the ache and offered Remus a steady hand as if the conversation they just had was about the bad weather blazing outside. 

"I’d agree to your terms, in exchange, would you agree to continue being my friend?" She added with a taunting grin, "You still have friends, don’t you?"

Remus’s face contorted in unspeakable pain as he let out a dry, jagged laugh. Finally looking up with a broken smile, he met her eyes with a little more confidence. "Deal. Best friends, it is."

And they shook on it.

......

“Right, so you guys are no longer dating, and would willingly remain as best friends? Blimey, how do you stay friends with a girl you chucked?” 

Remus took a measured sip of his morning coffee before delivering a sharp retort. “That’s what a mature relationship looks like, Sirius. Though I'd be surprised if you ever were able to do that instead with girls." 

Sirius shot Remus a dirty look and threw his breakfast toast at him. Amidst the Great Hall humming with chatter as students eagerly feasted on breakfast and gossip, the toast simply rebounded off Remus and landed soundlessly on the table.

“What’s that supposed to mean?! I’d have you know I am equally capable of doing just that! And I can have deep conversations with girls. Or, well—a girl. Like Lily!”

Lily scoffed into her tea at the mention of her name. It was becoming a regular affair to find the Marauders holding court at breakfast alongside Hogwarts' most competent Head Girl, ever since James had exultantly won her fair hand. It had been seven years in the making, and the rest of the Marauders had often likened the entire courtship to watching a baby fawn learn to walk—painfully agonizing and entirely lacking in grace. Needless to say, the moment Lily decided that James was indeed more dateable than the Giant Squid, the Marauders went into a full month of merrymaking, complete with honorary pranks to celebrate the historic milestone.

Lily suddenly sat up straighter, rummaging for her planner as if recalling critical intel. James watched his girlfriend, bemused; he knew by now that this was perfectly normal for Lily.

“Valentine’s day is next week!” Lily gasped after confirming her hunch via her planner. “Remus, you planned it all didn’t you? Knowing how much more invested Serena would be if you were together for the day and it would only get harder to part after? Aww that’s really sweet of you!” Lily gushed.

James and Sirius whipped their heads around to stare at Remus, who blushed a shade redder and began tending to his coffee cup with immense focus.

“Well, I don’t really care much for celebrating Valentine’s Day anyway,” Remus attempted an offhanded comeback. 

“Blimey!” Sirius rubbed his temples dramatically and retrieved his forsaken toast. “This school could use a laugh on Valentine’s Day.”

And true to form, Sirius made good on that promise come Valentine’s Day.

By sunrise on the fateful day, the castle was thoroughly invaded by bloated, speckled toads, each one tailored in a miniature corset bearing the embroidered word 'CUPID'. The amphibian intruders could be found everywhere from classrooms to broom closets and even the lavatories.   They didn’t just croak aggressively to disrupt classes and confessions; every once in a while a toad would go launching itself from suits of armor to ambush unsuspecting couples. 

This was the very misfortune that struck Alice and Frank. Right as Alice was leaning in for a tender, long-awaited kiss with Frank, a particularly ambitious, wart-covered toad came between them and darted a sticky pink tongue straight across the gap and onto Alice’s pouting lips. Alice let out a blood-curdling shriek, burst into tears, and bolted down the stairs with a helpless Frank trailing behind.

Peeves, the resident poltergeist who thoroughly enjoyed the pure pandemonium set into motion by Sirius, had chanced upon the scene of a runaway Alice shrieking away. Peeves cackled with utter delight, and within the hour, immortalized the scene into a taunting new tune ringing through the corridors to sing about Alice’s misfortune:

Oh, little Alice lost her head,

Away from the toad prince she fled!

Frankie’s loss of true love’s kiss,

And all the future they shall miss!

The very next day, a wizard hunt for a certain Marauder named Sirius Black began and Alice was the leader of the pack.

......

“Black, may I have a word with you?”

Sirius glanced around him sleepily, almost doubting his ears. The classroom was almost empty aside from the voice which spoke. Sirius had finally managed to dodge the livid mob of frog-traumatized girls and when he finally found an empty classroom on the seventh floor, he passed out in exhaustion. 

Sirius found himself looking up at a girl with dark long raven hair framing a petite porcelain face, her equally dark eyes with long lashes radiating a sharp focus locked onto Sirius. There was also a smidge of darkened rings around her eyes.

Right. The girl Remus dumped. What was her name again? Celes? Stacey?

Sirius stretched lazily with a long yawn and sat a little straighter, “Oh, sure. Is this about good old Remus or the cupid toads?”

Serena shook her head, “Neither. Though I did catch a glimpse of Alice storming over to the Quidditch field on my way over here.”

Sirius lifted his eyebrows, instantly looking around his surroundings with wild-eyed paranoia for a blood-thirsty Alice.

“Mad toads aside, I have a favour to ask and you’re the only one I can ask for this favour." Serena continued.

Sirius scratched his head absent-mindedly, wondering where they were going with this, "Right. Oh if you’re looking for a revenge arc to get back at Remus, I happen to have this other prank up my sleeves and we can use it on-”

“Black, am I right to say that you are an unregistered Animagus?" Serena interjected impatiently when Sirius started to ramble.

Sirius choked on thin air, dropping his bag and his jaw in shock. The Marauders may have always had a penchant for pranks, but their Animagus secret had been a sole non-negotiable conviction for all four of them. Sirius never would believe any one of his friends would let slip.

“Remus never said a thing about your lot being Animagus when we were dating,” Serena added hastily on seeing the shock on his face, “I figured it all out on my own. Well it really wasn’t that hard if you learned to read the patterns. The four of you vanish from meals during every full moon. James and you were asking Professor McGonagall all those questions on becoming an Animagus that one year. And lastly, the Marauders’ nicknames were rather telling." 

“R-right," Sirius managed only to stutter as he tried to keep up with the revelation. “One only has to read the patterns, I guess.”

“So.. if you’re really an Animagus, would you allow me to run an experiment on you?”

Oooh, you’re trouble, Sirius thought, a slow smirk spreading across his face. But this was someone who used to date Remus- someone who most likely enjoyed cracking puzzles and crimes in her free time. No doubt this was leading to something far more consequential yet unveiled.

"Oh Merlin! Are you trying to slip Remus a love potion?” Sirius backed away and narrowed his eyes at Serena, for he couldn’t decide whether her stash of intel made her a friend or a foe.

Serena rolled her eyes at the insinuation and crossed her arms indignantly.

“Not a love potion, though you’re right on the money that a potion is involved. The potion I am speaking of, is an improved variation of the wolfsbane potion. If I can get it to work, it would be the perfect remedy for those pesky symptoms Remus has to endure every full moon. I’m sure you’re well familiar with what that’s like.”

Serena stepped closer to Sirius as if daring him to look away, "There’s only one problem, Black.” Sirius actually lost his footing, falling back into the chair he had been dozing in moments before.

“I need a method to prove that it will work for Remus. But of course, our ever prudent Remus would never go along with my plan, so- I’m looking for another volunteer to take his place and test the potion.” Serena looked poignantly at Sirius.

"Hmmm, so this is your plan? Most interesting…” Sirius mocked a thoughtful look as a wild grin spread across his face. 

“And I know remembering a girl’s name can be tricky, but the name’s Serena. And here, take this book, it contains all of my research which ought to dispel any suspicions that the crazy ex-girlfriend is trying to slip a shoddy love potion into your friend’s morning coffee. Don’t take too long with your decision though; we’re nearing the next full moon soon.”

And in the manner of someone whose patience had been entirely consumed, Serena turned and marched out of the classroom leaving Sirius all alone to reel in all that had happened.

Sirius gazed at Serena’s receding figure with renewed interest. Somewhere out on the Quidditch grounds, an angry mob of outraged lasses was probably hunting him down with metaphorical pitchforks, but he barely registered it. He looked down at the leather-bound notebook in his hand; Serena had just handed him an entirely new form of mischief. In all his years, no other girl had ever offered him a blueprint for chaos. Looking at her now, he wasn’t just looking at a clever Ravenclaw—he was looking at a fellow troublemaker. And beneath the sudden thrill of it all hummed the dangerous, intoxicating promise of a brand-new adventure.

And Serena was the girl holding the pen to that brand-new story.

..

Author's note:

First of, thank you for completing the chapter. That is all an author can hope for.

Next intent is to pen a few thoughts on this first chapter which introduces an OC who had no role in the original Potter-verse. But that is part of the story to be told, what if there was always a hidden element that could piece together the fragmented narration we got instead of the Marauders. What if you look a little closer, you could see the connecting thread between the original fiction and the fan's version? Well, that may be my wishful thinking but I did hide a few canon easter eggs in this piece. Hope you found them all.