Story: Ties That Bind

Summary: Failing to defeat the Marauders in any other way, Slytherins hatch an insidious plot to turn James and Sirius against each other. They say that even the strongest of friendships have their weak links…

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money from the writing of this fic.

"Have you ever believed in someone with all your heart? Sometimes it takes more courage to believe in someone than to fight them."

-Alan Shizard 'Vision of Escaflowne'

"Well, well…if it's the notorious Marauders…"

Remus Lupin did not even look up from the charms essay he was rereading. "Go away, Malfoy…I don't have time to deal with you right now."

Despite their feud with the Marauders, Lucius Malfoy and his gang rarely, if ever bothered Remus and Peter; their quarrel was mainly with James and Sirius.

Lucius Malfoy smirked nastily. "But where are the other two, Lupin? Potter and Black…"

Remus glanced at him. "Why are you so interested in those two all of a sudden?"

"Oh nothing," Malfoy said lazily. "It would be a real shame if anything were to happen to them, you know…being your best buds and all…"

Remus slammed his book shut. "What have you done?"

Regulus Black smiled craftily. "I hope you enjoyed these years, Marauders because I have a strange feeling Potter and Black won't want to be in the same room as each other soon…"

Lupin looked at him suspiciously. "What?"

Regulus looked positively gleeful. "It's a shame to ruin such a great friendship, really…"

Lupin smiled defiantly. "Nothing you prats could do would break up James and Sirius's friendship."

Regulas grinned. "Oh I don't know…a couple of Grengles might just do the trick…"

Remus paled. "Grengles? You sent Grengles after them? How? Grengles are banned from Hogwarts!"

Regulus laughed mockingly. "It's not that difficult, really, if you have the right connections…"

Remus did not waste any more time talking. He grabbed Peter and sprinted towards their dormitory.

"Where are we going?" panted Peter.

"We are going to get the Map," Remus said sharply. "We have to find those two."

Remus was so intent on reaching the dormitory quickly that he did not see where he was going and bumped into someone, both of them falling down in a heap. Lily Evans cursed, glaring at him.

"What's with you, Lupin? Been with those hooligans too long?"

Remus jumped to his feet and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Lily, grengles….in the castle…after James and Sirius…"

He was still too out of breath to form complete sentences but Lily seemed to understand. She nodded sharply. "I'll inform professor McGonagall."

She took off in the direction of the professor's office. Remus caught hold of Peter and ran towards the dorm again. Peter looked at him inquiringly.

"Why? What are Grengles?"

Remus's lips had tightened.

"Grengles are…

…the foulest of magical creature, they were used by wizards to spread discord and resentment in the enemy camp. Grengles will use a person's most well guarded secret, his innermost insecurities to turn a friend against a friend, a brother against brother…

"I read it in one of the reference books."

Peter frowned. "But I don't get it…if everyone knows what Grengles are…why would they still pay attention to what they say?"

Remus clucked his tongue impatiently. "Aurors all know what they are. Normal people, however don't know about them which is why they're used so effectively by people who want to – to turn friends against each other."

He scowled. "Those two would have had warning too if they just paid attention to homework like I told them…"

Peter didn't look convinced. "Hey, maybe it won't work, you know? I mean those two are practically twins!"

Remus's jaw had tightened. "If the victim doesn't know about them, there is practically no chance of Grengles failing, Peter. As far as I have read, there have been no such cases."

In another part of the castle, Professor McGonagall burst into Headmaster Dumbledore's office.

"Professor! I just got the news! Grengles…two of them…someone smuggled them into the school…we have to hurry!"

Dumbledore turned around sharply. "Where, Minerva? "

"I don't know how they managed it." McGonagall said miserably. "Why would anyone want do that and I've heard they were supposed to go after Potter and Black!"

Dumbledore froze and then visibly relaxed. "James and Sirius? Are you sure? No one else?"

McGonagall looked at him oddly. "Yes that's what Lily told me. Why?"

Dumbledore sat back down in his chair, smiling pleasantly. "Well, there's no hurry then."

McGonagall looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "Dumbledore! I know those two are troublemakers but do you really think they deserve to have their friendship destroyed like this?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, I know it may be a bit harsh but I think we'll let those two suffer for a while."

McGonagall looked at him as if she'd never seen him before. "But you have always said that Grengles are one of the most dangerous weapons to be used against an enemy! And they're just boys, Albus! How could you?"

Dumbledore settled back comfortably in his chair. "Well, Minerva, I can't help but think they've been getting away with too much."

McGonagall was crestfallen. "But Dumbledore-"

Dumbledore continued to smile. "May I offer you a lemon drop, Minerva?"

James Potter was cheerfully walking strolling down the corridor, on his way back from detention. That was when he was attacked. By something small. And green. James was thrown onto the floor, arms fixed to his sides. He tried to get up but could not. There was something green and ugly looking at him gleefully.

"Hello, James Potter," it cackled gleefully.

"Hi," said James carefully, wondering who had the nerve to pull off something like this.

"What are you and who sent you?"

The thing cackled again. "I was sent by a…friend…to warn you."

James blinked. "Warn me? And it's necessary to tie me up, is it?"

The green thing looked regretful, face comically sad. "Yes, unfortunately. Otherwise you would not have listened."

James was curious. "Listened to what?"

The green thing looked at him carefully. "You have a traitor in your midst."

James cocked his head to his side. "Traitor? What do you mean?"

The grengle took it's time answering. "Sirius Black."

James laughed. "Sirius?" he asked incredulously. "Balls!"

The grengle nodded understandingly. "It is…difficult to believe, I am sure…but it is my job to warn you, James Potter before it's too late."

James raised an eyebrow. "Too late?"

The grengle nodded. "If you do not…you will lose something very precious to you…"

"What's that?"

The grengle shook its head. "I cannot tell you. You must…understand on your own."

"How?" asked James.

The grengle avoided his gaze. "By recognizing Sirius Black for who he is…"

James had had enough. He snarled. "Don't you dare say anything about Sirius. I don't want to hear it."

The grengle looked sad. "Oh he is clever, that one…he has the loyalty…of one such as you…when he himself…"

He trailed off. James looked at him impatiently. "Don't you fucking dare try to turn me against Sirius! He would never do anything against the marauders!"

"Against the marauders?" the grengle asked incredulously. "Sirius Black cares nothing for the Marauders. Sirius Black cares nothing for anyone except himself."

James fought the binds furiously. "Shut up! Just shut up, alright? I won't hear it. I mean, yeah Padfoot can be a bit full of himself sometimes but-"

The grengle looked at him closely. "Sometimes? Why he is plain arrogant! You, who have such a trusting nature-" It gave James a sympathetic look. "-you are blinded by friendship and cannot see…what is right in front of you; callous Sirius who can talk his way out of anything…did you never think, James Potter, if he cares nothing to hurt others to get his way, when it suits his purpose, would he not turn against you someday…"

"No!" shouted James, "Sirius would never do anything to hurt us! He's always been there for us whenever we needed him…"

The grengle nodded slowly. "Yes whenever you needed him, he was there with his false mask of friendship, hiding so well the cunning and guile…"

Sirius, meanwhile was in a similar situation- tied up in another corridor.

"Shut up!" he shouted, "James is my best mate! You can't turn me against him!"

"James Potter…his trust in you was lost when you betrayed Remus…"

"I did not betray Remus! It was not like that!"

The grengle nodded slowly. "Yes, but Gryffindor James does not see it that way. For James will not forgive betrayal. Gryffindors don't make mistakes in friendship…"

James was struggling more than ever. "You can bloody well say whatever the hell you want…Sirius Black is my friend! Marauders don't betray each other-"

The grengle laughed. "But he already has! Did you not know? All this time, pretending to help you, all the while helping himself…"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" James scowled. "Help me with what?"

The grengle looked at him slyly and whispered. "Lily Evans…"

James stopped struggling, mouth open in shock.

Meanwhile with Sirius-

"You little snot…when I get out of here you'll be sorry…"

The grengle looked at him carefully. "If only James cared as much for your friendship, Sirius Black…"

Sirius made a face. "What the hell are you talking about? Of course he does!"

"James's anger after the Snape incident…do you not remember?"

"Of course I remember! He almost hexed me into the next century! But I deserved it…and now it's all forgotten…"

The grengle gave him a pitying look. "That is what you think…"

An expression of fear and pain flashed on Sirius's face for a moment.

With James-

"Lily? What has she got to do with anything?"

"Did you never think Sirius is too…friendly with her?"

James laughed shakily. "That's because he's trying to help me win her!"

"No," the grengle said, "It's because he is trying to win her himself…"

"Sirius and Lily! Oh please! He doesn't even like her!"

"But did you never find that strange? Lily Evans is a beautiful woman-"

A dreamy smile came on James's face. "Yeah…"

"Notorious ladies man, Sirius Black does not like her…do you really think that is likely?"

James frowned. "I never really thought of it like that…but then why would he say he doesn't like her?"

"To cover his tracks, of course!" exclaimed the Grengle. "You never noticed because it would not occur to a person like you but the way he talks to her, the way he touches her…"

James shook his head vigorously. He would rather die than even admit the tiniest possibility of something like that but-

That morning, after breakfast-

James had been trying, as usual to talk to (ask out) Lily and Lily, eyes narrowed was on the verge of hexing him…as usual. Sirius had appeared out of no where and thrown an arm around her shoulders. "Lily, my girl! And just how are you, this fine morning?"

Lily had been too shocked to respond and taking advantage of that, Sirius had dragged her away, whispering something in her ears which cause her to throw his arm off and stomp away…

Sirius had said that he was trying to save James's ass. But now that he thought about it, had she really been shocked or really…pleased? What exactly had Sirius said to her?

James's jaw tightened involuntarily. "Th-that's not true! Sirius…Sirius would never do that to me!"

The grengle looked at him sympathetically. "Then why do you think Lily Evans has rejected your advances for so long, James Potter? Because Sirius Black has charmed her…"

James looked disbelieving and a little scared. "Charmed her? Lily hates Sirius!"

The grengle gave him a look. "Yes, the mutual hatred between a beautiful woman and the playboy of Hogwarts…"

Something changed in James's eyes…

With Sirius-

"That's not true! If James really hadn't forgiven me, he would have said so! Why would he still be friends with me?"

"Friends…no, James Potter does not consider you a friend…James Potter cares about the Marauders…his reputation…James does not want a friend...James wants followers…"

Sirius scoffed at that. "Followers? I've never been James's follower! Peter maybe but-"

The grengle nodded. "Precisely. Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin are nowhere in the same league as James when it comes to magic… James's friends are only those who will go along with everything he says without asking questions…you, Sirius Black, are as talented as he is, if not more…it is said that you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer…"

Sirius shook his head violently. "No! That's not true! Why would I be James's enemy?"

"No, you're not…but do you know what would happen if you were? James would lose his position as the coolest, most popular student at Hogwarts…ace quiddich player, brilliant student…don't you see that you, Sirius Black, are the only one who can be a challenge to him?"

James was enraged. His best friend had betrayed him. If there was one thing he really hated, it was a person who betrayed their friend. That was one of the reasons why he hated the Dark Arts –there was no honor among them. And what was worse, Sirius had known all this…

"That…that bastard! How could he… all this time I was thinking…how could he?"

The grengle inwardly smirked in satisfaction. "I am glad you understand."

James tried to get up and found out that he could.

"I have to talk to him…"

"If I may say so," the grengle suggested carefully, "You have forgiven him once already. Sirius Black would sacrifice Remus Lupin's life for the sake of his fun…"

James's hands were clenched into fists at his side.

"Perhaps the time for talking is now past…"

James's eyes hardened. "Yes…yes you're right…"

Sirius still looked undecided. "But he's-"

"Sirius Black, you sacrificed your home, your family for him, for your friends…James Potter would abandon you the moment you went against him…James gave you a lie to hold on to; the lie of friendship…you hated your family for their deception and intrigues but they, at least were honest enough to let you know exactly what they wanted…James Potter pretended to be on your side when really, he was the greatest betrayer of all…"

Sirius's hands were shaking. "James…could he really…"

"James told Dumbledore…about your prank on Snape…James Potter cares more about Gryffindor morals than his supposed best friend… would you have done that to him, Sirius?"

For the first time, Sirius's eyes turned cold. He got up slowly and straightened up. From the haughty tilt of his chin to the disdain in his eyes, he was every inch an aristocrat.

"James Potter…you have fooled everyone for long enough…"

Remus and Peter stopped in their tracks as James and Sirius came from opposite directions of the corridor and stopped facing each other.

"James…" Sirius's voice was dark and low, filled with a brooding anger that was so characteristic of him. Remus had only heard Sirius's voice like that once before but never against his friends.

James was also glaring at Sirius, a scowl on his face, eyes burning. Remus felt something clench in his chest at the sight of the two inseparable friends staring at each other in such hate.

"Get ready," James said coldly, putting a hand on his wand.

Sirius laughed seemingly carelessly. "Don't give me your gryffindor bullshit James. I am more than a match for you…any time…"

Remus ran forward but was stopped by an invisible barrier. "NO! James, Sirius what are you doing? Don't listen to them, you two!"

James glanced at the third marauder. "But it's not because of them, Remus. He's right. Whatever he said was true."

Remus made a despairing noise and turned to Sirius. "Sirius! Sirius, don't do it! Sirius, this is James. Please don't do it!"

Sirius was still smirking. "Stay out of this, Remus. This doesn't concern you. I should have done this long ago." He reached for his wand.

The grengles unobtrusively slipped together to one side, satisfied at the outcome.

Remus punched the barrier. "Dammit! Stop this! Stop it, you two or you will regret it more than you know."

James and Sirius paid no attention to him. Peter was standing quietly on the side, for some reason inwardly glad. Maybe if these two were no longer best friends then maybe he stood a chance….

James and Sirius now had their wands in their hands. Remus clenched his fists, staring helplessly at the two once best friends looking like they were ready to kill each other.

They raised their wands.

Remus felt tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. "James…Sirius…no…."

Peter had a small smile on his face.

James and Sirius raised their wands and pointed them in each other's faces.

Their eyes met –James's burning gaze meeting Sirius's cold one.

Remus felt his world come crashing down around him…

…And then they turned as one and pointed their wands at the grengles and shouted together. "Stupefy!"

Then Padfoot and Prongs grinned at each other and exchanged hi-fives.

Remus's mouth dropped open. He felt stupefied too.

After a long moment, he finally got his mouth working after a few ineffectual tries.

"You-you both…all this time…it was an act?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Obviously." James nodded. Then he turned to the grengle and lifted the spell. Then he materialized some rope and tied them up together. He wanted them to be able to speak.

"So, you were saying? Sirius Black does not belong in gryffindor…"

The grengles were scowling. "But how? How is that possible? What I said…what we discussed it was all true! Sirius black did betray you!"

James strode over and punched it. "You little twit. Sirius would never betray us. He made a mistake…that happens…he never betrayed us…he would never…"

The grengle was staring at him in hatred. "I don't see any difference…"

James looked at it coolly then raised an eyebrow at Sirius. Sirius nodded. Then he walked over and punched him on the other cheek.

"The difference, moron, is that I did it not because I don't love Moony but because I hate Snape. And like he said, it was a mistake. Over and done with. They forgive me."

The grengle looked up at him craftily. "And you forgive yourself too?"

Sirius looked at James and Remus and smiled softly, a hint of regret still shining in his eyes. They gave him knowing smiles. "Yes."

The grengles glared, looking from one to the other. This really didn't fit in with gryffindor characteristics. As far as they had known, gryffindors forgive others but never themselves.

Remus looked at James. James's eyes were dancing with mischief.

"Hey padfoot…this good fellow seems to think you hit on Lily."

Sirius looked at the grengle incredulously and burst out laughing. "Me and Lily?" he demanded. "Are you out of your freakin' mind?"

The grengle was looking sulky. "Well, why the hell not? She's pretty. Just your type."

Sirius glanced at it derisively. "No girl of James is my type."

He grinned and threw an arm around James's shoulder. "Bros before hoes and all that shit."

In her hiding place being a gargoyle, Lily Evans smiled. Maybe Potter and Black were not such bastards after all. Quietly and unobtrusively, she left.

The grengles glared at them both. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you have normal human feelings? You know, jealousy and the like?"

James raised an eyebrow. "Jealous of whom?"

The grengles were quiet for a moment. There had to be some way they could still do damage. Their eyes landed on Peter who was standing quietly all this while. They grinned inwardly.

"Well, I don't know...say…Peter?"

James and Sirius looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Jealous of Peter? Oh god that's hilarious!"

For a moment, hurt flashed in Peter's eyes. He looked down miserably, then after a moment of hesitation, he turned and silently left. Padfoot and prongs were oblivious. The grengles smirked in satisfaction.

Sirius grinned at James. "They also seemed to think you were jealous of me."

James laughed even harder. He looked at the grengle in amazement.

"Jealous of Sirius? Why the hell would I be jealous of Sirius?"

The Grengle cackled. Ooooh wrong thing to say.

Sirius blinked. "Yeah why would he be jealous of me?"

The grengle seethed. What! Are these two really that daft?

Sirius looked around. "Hey where's wormtail? Wasn't he here a minute ago?"

Remus cleared his throat. "He left, James. You were a bit…insensitive."

James turned to Remus with a frown. "What? What'd I say?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "You laughed at the idea of you being jealous of him."

James didn't get it. "So?"

Remus sighed. "You hurt his feelings, James. It sounds like you think you're too good to be jealous of him, that he's not good enough to be jealous of"

James snorted. "That's stupid."

Remus had to admit it sounded stupid when he said it out loud.

"Besides," James told him. "Sirius didn't feel hurt or any such crap when I said the same thing to him."

Remus sighed. "That's because you two are as thick as a troll's skull."

James and Sirius looked at each other and grinned. "Thanks, Moony!"

Remus shook his head. "See?"

Meanwhile in Dumbledore's office-

Minerva McGonagall was fidgeting restlessly, glancing every few seconds at the seemingly carefree headmaster. It had been a long time now. James and Sirius...they were as close as brothers. Since when did Dumbledore hate trouble makers so much? Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Headmaster, we should really go and look for the boys."

To her surprise Dumbledore smiled and stood up. "Yes, they've suffered enough, don't you think? It's time we go and rescue them."

Professor McGonagall stood up as well. "Where do we start looking."

Dumbledore was still smiling serenely as he headed for the door. "Oh, no need for that. I think I know exactly where they are."

Mystified, she followed him mutely.

When they reached the place, the sight that greeted her took a few seconds to register. James and Sirius were standing, wands drawn over two…yellow creature? She stared at them for a while and then realized that they were Grengles. Whoever had heard of yellow grengle?

Dumbledore and McGonagall approached them. The grengles had been tied together back to back and were almost foaming at the mouth, trying to get away. Professor McGonagall looked carefully at James and Sirius. They had their usual identical devilish grins on their faces and did not seem to dislike each other.

Dumbledore came forward. "Boys!" he beamed. "Well done! 200 points to gryffindor each-" James and Sirius grinned and exchanged hi-fives. "- for accomplishing a near-impossible task – grengles' poisonous words are not easy to withstand if one doesn't know about them." His eyes twinkled. "And I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you boys did not play such close attention in Care of Magical Creatures."

Neither of them looked in the least bit ashamed.

"Wait a minute," interrupted Professor McGonagall, still not entirely recovered from the shock. "So Albus, when you said you wanted to let those two suffer for a while, you were-"

Dumbledore blinked. "-talking about the grengles, of course. I must say that I was not inclined to rescue them immediately. After what they attempted to do with these two, I think the injured party has some right to met out just punishment."

He looked amusedly at the yellow color of their skin. "A grengle's green color is a source of it's pride. It is not easy to change the color of their skin - it is quite resistant to magic."

James nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, the normal color change spells didn't work so we had to modify them."

Dumbledore nodded his approval. "Well done."

McGonagall, face red, rounded on Dumbledore. "You let me worry all this while thinking you would allow their friendship to be destroyed!"

Dumbledore gave her a piercing look. "Perhaps you should have had more faith in friendship, Minerva."

McGonagall waved this away. "It is not a question of faith, Albus. It is a matter of practicality. No one has ever managed to win against grengles, especially if they didn't know about them."

Dumbledore smiled, a faraway look in his eyes. "Oh I wouldn't say it's never been done before, Minerva…"

McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "Why were you so sure that they wouldn't be affected?"

"Because," said Dumbledore, "Some friendships never die."

Because, he thought, a deep sadness in his eyes, the only other people to have accomplished this were Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindlewald.

Regulas Black and Lucius Malfoy fought over whose fault it was that the plan failed. Their gang split and the two never spoke to each other again.

James and Sirius were heroes in the gryffindor house that night for earning 400 points to gryffindor. The gryffindors threw them a party which every gryffindor attended. And that was the day when Lily Evans asked James Potter out.

A/N: Tell me what you think. ^.^