A/N:
Don't get used to it, but I'm back with another update relatively soon after the previous one. Yay me!
It was the morning after their arrival in Cokeworth, and for once the Marauders were up with the sun. Well, when Rose said up, she meant that at least they were awake. Awake and still lazing around in her bedroom. Sirius and James were reclining in the hammocks they'd insisted on (because apparently beds were too boring for them), mocking the efforts of the Daily Prophet reporters together. Remus remained snuggled under his duvet, snacking on some Honeydukes Best while absently nodding along to whatever comments James and Sirius tossed his way - Remus was amazingly agreeable during the five minutes every morning when he got his first chocolate fix of the day (it was how they all got him to agree to their more ridiculous prank ideas). Unsurprisingly, Peter had claimed Rose's desk, busy writing a letter to his mother explaining their change in circumstances. Marlene and Lily still slumbered in their respective beds, and Rose was finishing off French plaiting her hair while tuning the wireless to the WWN.
"Anything useful in there, James?" Remus asked, swallowing down the last mouthful of his morning bar.
"Nah, same rubbish as usual" James reported, tossing the paper over towards Marlene's bed. Sirius still had hold of his copy, making a headstart on the daily crossword puzzle. "Did you get five down yet, Pads?"
"Niffler" Sirius drawled, mischief lighting up his voice. "Wonder if old Grimhorn's found our parting gift yet."
"You can count on it" James smirked, the two reaching across to high-five one another. Unfortunately, James didn't count on Sirius using the proximity to push him out of his hammock. James popped up like a vengeful, bespectacled jack-in-the-box, glaring murderously at his best mate. "Prick."
"Git" Sirius replied cheerfully, nodding towards the emerging head of James's one true ladylove.
"Ugh, why do you have so many pictures of David Bowie in here, Rosie?" Lily groaned, pushing her hair out of her face.
"Because I can" Rose replied, not going to take any crap from a girl whose chosen pinups had been Roger Moore, Mick Jagger, and Des O-bloody-Connor. When Lily got taste, then she could talk.
"It's far too early for Marauder reasoning" Marlene groaned, half-sitting up in bed. "Or, if it's not too early, then I'm definitely not drunk enough."
"Words to live by" James conceded, grinning at Lily like the lovestruck loon he was.
"What time are the in-laws coming?" Lily wondered, turning to Rose for her answer.
"Far too soon for anyone's liking" Rose replied, hiding a shudder. Their aunt - Fiona - was almost Petunia incarnate; horsey, shrewish, and nosy enough to Olympic medal in being a busybody. Her husband - Alfred - was normal and decent, and their children (twins Eleanor and Thomas, both seventeen) could pass as human (unlike Petunia). The real bummer of the day was, naturally, soon to be related to them. "I think the Walrus will get here first though."
"Walrus?" Peter squeaked, taking them literally. "Why is a walrus-"
"Not a walrus, Pete" Rose explained patiently. "The Walrus. Tuney's awful, incredibly boring fiance." She did not miss James and Sirius looking to one another with identical mischief-making smirks.
"Really?" Sirius drawled, sounding as if all his Christmases had come at once. "How delightful."
"Oh no" Lily spoke up, glaring at the unrepentant duo. "You will be on your best behaviours. You will not start anything. You will be the models of decorum and politeness. Rosie and I will have to spend Chris dinners with that oaf in the future. You will not make it harder for us."
"Hear that, Padfoot?" Peter smirked, leaning back against the desk. "You're going to have to spend Christmas dinners with him. So be nice."
Sirius barely even spared him a glance. "Piss off, Wormy."
"Right you are, Padfoot."
Violet offered a sad smile as the Hogwarts students trooped into the kitchen. It was about half past nine, and they'd just finished a rather boring stroll around the local park. "You got the milk?" Violet checked, sounding surprised.
"Of course we got the milk, Mrs E" Marlene replied swiftly. "Lily and I went, while those five raided the sweet shop."
"It's not my fault that Rem promised Dumbledore Sherbet Lemons" Rose protested, watching the slight smile form on her mother's face.
"Vernon's on his way from the station now" Petunia announced, standing in the entrance to the kitchen like the very angry horse-faced shrew she was. "Mummy, please tell them to keep their freakishness to themselves."
"We will if he will, Tuney" Rose sang, smiling angelically at her eldest sister.
"Be nice to your sisters, girls" Violet chided, drifting away to answer the phone.
Petunia watched her leave, then turned to Rose and Lily with a venomous hiss. "If you Freaks drive him away-"
"Godric, Tuney. He's marrying you. The bloke must be either epically desperate, criminally cretinous, or so incredibly without standards that nothing we can do will change his pea-sized mind" Rose snapped, tired of Petunia's vitriol. "Given that I've met him, it's probably all three." Petunia's face twisted into a scowl that did nothing for her horsey looks. Her eyes darted down to Rose's bare arms, something ugly dancing in their depths.
"Say something" James all but purred, danger a clear undercurrent in his voice. "I dare you."
"She's not worth it" Petunia replied icily. "Just don't ruin everything with your unnatural freakishness." James stepped forward, Petunia storming from the room as if they were all beneath her. Rose traced the ridges of the scars on her arm, smiling tremulously.
"Well, clearly this dress was a bad idea" she said, trying for a levity she didn't feel. "I'll be back in a sec."
Ten minutes later, Rose had changed into her normal attire (flannel shirt, purple cords, and platform boots for a bit of Marauder confidence), and was back sitting around the kitchen table with the magically inclined occupants of the house. Petunia was in the front room, nose pushed against the glass so she could be the first to know when the most boring domesticated walrus in England (possibly the entire world) arrived. Jim had even reluctantly left the Haven of his garage to come and join them in their final few moments of freedom. Rose's father had taken one look at her boots, grinned at Lily, then handed a crisp fiver over to Sirius. Rose decided that she really didn't need to know what that was for, and pinched a biscuit (ginger newt - Lily had sent them home) from the plate on the table.
"You guys can do your magic if you have to in Rosie's room" Jim announced, breaking the comfortable silence. "But, if anything War related happens, I don't care what you do. If you have to, do whatever you have to. Understand?"
"Crystal clearly, Jim" Sirius replied, inclining his head. James backed him up with a solemn nod.
"It's highly unlikely that anything will happen, Jim" Remus assured him, only momentarily stumbling over Jim's name. "But, if we're needed, we'll try and keep it away from the rest of your family."
"They're not my relatives, they're Violet's" Jim said, smiling tightly. "But I appreciate it all the same." Whatever reply Remus would have made to that was drowned out by a shrill voice screaming at them from the living room.
"Vernon's here!"
"Let joy be unconfined" Sirius muttered sarcastically, Jim coughing to hide his snort.
"How bad can this bloke really be?" James wondered, turning to Rose in query. Rose tapped her fingers in the table, trying to find the words to describe how bad Vernon was.
"You know Snivellus?"
"Yes" James frowned, a spark of mischief dancing behind the frames of his glasses.
"I definitely would rather spend an hour with him than Vermin."
"Oh goody" James smirked, glee dripping from his voice. He literally rubbed his hands together. "This is going to be so fun." Lily dropped her head into her hands and groaned.
"I hate you, Potter."
"The feeling is definitely not mutual, Evans" James replied brightly, gallantly offering his hand to help her to her feet.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "You are such a berk, Prongs."
"Your praise warms my heart, Pads" James smiled, in a suspiciously good mood given the circumstances. Marlene flicked her gaze from the Marauders to Lily, already resigned to chaos ensuing.
"This is going to be a disaster, Merlin's beard."
Rose emerged into the hallway fortuitously (note the sarcasm) in time to see Petunia finish snogging the metaphorical mustache off her fiance. Jim cleared his throat, walking forward to shake Vernon's hand. If Rose was pushed to describe her future brother in-law (and the mere notion of that still made bile rise up in her throat), she would say that Vernon was not very tall, and definitely not very muscled. He had the figure of a man who enjoyed a good meal (and the good meals of everyone in his immediate vicinity), and would probably let himself go a little in later life. But what immediately sprang to mind about Vernon was the frankly spectacular lip ferret he adorned his upper lip with, and the incredible sense of boredom that permeated the air around him. He also wore a sweater vest. It was orange. Rose would say no more than that. Jim, in the true spirit of sharing misery, turned Vernon's attention to them.
"You remember, my other daughters. Lily and Rose, and Lily's friend Marlene."
"Yes" Vernon replied, his expression unnaturally close to Narcissa Black's perpetual dung-under-nose look. "My condolences."
"Thank you, Vernon" Lily replied, as ever the more diplomatic one. She trodded pointedly on Rose's foot, glaring out of the corner of her eye.
"Yes, thank you" Rose echoed, insincerity plain in her voice. Vernon nodded at that, ignoring the twins in favour of asserting his authority over the Marauders.
"I'm Vernon Dursley, I'm an under executive at Grunnings. We make drills."
"How delightful" James smiled, shaking Vernon's proffered hand. "I'm James Potter, my parents are filthy rich." 1 - 0 Marauders.
"Remus Lupin, Rose's friend" Remus added, smiling pleasantly even though his brief glare at James had clearly announced how much of a moron he thought he was.
"Peter Pettigrew" Peter spoke up, accepting Vernon's handshake without wincing. "I like rats. Don't you think they're unexpectedly adaptable?" Sirius shook his head obviously enough for even Vernon to notice.
"Sorry about Pete, he gets nervous in stressful social situations" Sirius drawled, pretending not to notice Vernon proffering his hand. "I'm Rose's boyfriend, Sirius Black." His demeanour screamed his aristocratic pureblood upbringing. "I'm independently rich. It's such a shame we have to meet under such unhappy circumstances. Rose says Petunia speaks very highly of you." He inclined his head at Petunia. "You are a very lucky man." He winked again and turned on his heel, striding up the stairs with the others following gobsmacked in his wake.
"Since when can you be charming?" Marlene demanded, glaring at Sirius in utter disbelief.
"Since birth, I'm naturally gifted."
"And independently rich" Remus glowered, rubbing his forehead in a futile attempt to alleviate his headache. "Did you really have to tell him that?"
"Yes!" James and Sirius agreed emphatically.
"He thought he was better than us" James clarified, crossing his arms. "Nobody is better than us. We're the Marauders for Godric's sake!"
"I just don't get you five" Marlene announced, flopping onto her bed with the latest issue of Witch Weekly.
The Marauders shared a look, grinning as one. "Thank you!"
Ten minutes later, Petunia and Vernon were out (because apparently they couldn't spend five minutes together without finding something imperative to do for their Merlin-foresaken wedding), and the rest of the household was again gathered in the kitchen waiting for the final set of arrivals. "So" Jim offered, breaking the tentative silence. "Ready for some more fun?"
"Eternally" James nodded, rising to his feet as the doorbell rang. "Let's go meet the rest of the family, shall we?" Rose grinned, leaping to her feet - which was honestly quite an accomplishment in her boots. She bounced to the front door, adopted a more suitably sad demeanour (which wasn't hard), and opened the front door.
"Hello, Auntie Fiona, Uncle David. Mum's upstairs, and Dad is in the kitchen." Fiona huffed at her and nodded, relieving them all by going upstairs to Violet. David (once handsome and blonde) offered a slight smile and vanished in the direction of the kitchen. That left Rose with their two children and the copious amounts of luggage Aunt Fiona insisted on travelling with. Fortunately, her cousins were on the normal end of the spectrum. Eleanor (blonde and unfairly beautiful as Marlene) hugged her tightly in greeting.
"Hiya, Rosie" she smiled, picking up on the tension in the house. "I'm glad you and Lily could make it down from Scotland."
"The Headmaster insisted" Rose replied easily. "How was the train from London?"
"Long and boring, just like the conversation with Mum on the way" Thomas sighed, shouldering his way into the house. Like his sister, Thomas was blonde and blue eyed, and objectively quite handsome. "So, what's the news with you and Lily? We haven't heard so much as a peep since the Shrew announced her engagement."
"Same old, same old" Rose grinned, winking at her cousins. "Though, there's some people you might like to meet." She held up her hand and grinned. "Oi! You lot! Come make yourselves useful for a change!"
"You wound us, my lady" James called, loping around the corner with his familiar stride.
"On purpose noble sir" Rose replied instantly, smiling at the sight of the others joining them. "These are my cousins, Eleanor and Thomas Williams. Thomas, Eleanor, my friends James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black, and Lily's friend Marlene McKinnon."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet the Marauders in the flesh" Eleanor grinned, leaving the luggage for her brother to deal with. Sirius and James gallantly helped him with it. "But now that you're all here, you can finally tell us all about this mysterious school you all go to."
"We could" Sirius agreed, sharing a rather worrying smirk with James and Thomas. "Or we could prank the living daylights out of Petunia."
Thomas shared a quick glance with Eleanor, both twins inclining their heads in agreement. It was Thomas - the natural speaker - that replied to that notion.
"Anything to get our minds off actually attending another funeral tomorrow." Rose glanced away guiltily. In all the excitement of the day, she had completely forgotten that tomorrow they were burying their final grandparent.
"At least tomorrow the worst will be over" Eleanor sympathised, understanding in her eyes. "Mum will be back to being distant and unpleasant, Dad will go back to hiding in the shed every minute under the sun, I can go back to school and try to convince Mum that I can and will get a career, and Thomas can go back to his-"
"Studies!" Thomas all but yelled, cutting over his sister. Rose just leaned back on her bed, content to watch her Marauders (and Marlene) bond with the only decent family they had outside of Jim and Violet. It was just a pity that they would only be there for one more night.
Once again, thank you all for reading.
Next chapter, although unwritten, will probably gloss straight over the funeral and deal with something more cheerful. Apparently plot and I just aren't on the same page at the moment.
Nonetheless, reviews are always welcome.