Backstage Marauders

Backstage Murderers

Author: Jill Rocca

Disc: I wished I owned all, but Harry Potter would be a very different place ... I also don't own The Zombies.

Fandom: Harry Potter, MWPP era, but in 2006-2007 America. Very AU.
Pairings/Characters: Remus/Sirius central with James/Lily because I love them too. I have a plan for Peter, and it'll be apart of relationship development, and he will be in I-want-to-kill-him Peter Pettigrew style, but it won't last more than 2 chapters if that.

A/N: I know I said I'd update this weekly, but I've really been so busy with school and general family drama that I didn't really find much time, but thankfully the testing is almost over and the real part of summer is almost here. Didn't help that I started this chapter three times and my computer broke down, but I have a new computer now, so all should be well.

Chapter 2: School Supplies

"Here Sirius," Came Sirius's father's voice in dark tones as if he were prepared for the worst, and out of his son no less the only one in the house who didn't like to control people, but this morning as the family was finishing their breakfast of fluffy waffles, fruit, potatoes, oatmeal, and orange juice, Mr. Black had assumed they were switching roles even though Sirius wasn't about to stoop to his mother's manipulative level that she seemed to inflict on the entire house; she had already corrupted Dad and Regulus. Sirius's father passed two hundred dollars to his son, which Sirius didn't take easily.

He said, "What's the deal?" This was odd. Recently, Mr. Black was getting quite fond of giving things to his eldest son.

"There is no deal," Said Mr. Black in low tones placing the money next to Sirius's orange juice glass.

Sirius sat back into his chair, and rolled his eyes, he had trained himself to expect nothing less of his parents.

"What do you want?" Sirius asked in a hard voice. "Look, I can't ask James
to give Reg' a ride somewhere, it's against Mr. and Mrs. Potter's rules for driving."

"Sirius!" Mrs. Black shrieked sounding quite indignant. Regulus, Sirius's freshman punk of a brother, also stared at Sirius looking annoyed.

"What?" Sirius pounded his hands onto the table, "They gave him a car." He hinted.

Sirius had his license, but his parents didn't trust him with a car, if he had a car, he'd be out of there anyway. But what was this money for? A bribe? And for what?

"Sirius! I will not have this incompetence out of you!" His mother shrieked again.

"Too bad! This is how I came out of you! You two make me sick." This was how it always was, especially when he was a little kid, he didn't really know how to handle it when he was smaller, but he had taught himself. The most of the family was screwed, a bunch of undiagnosed narcissists, but he knew better than to lash out. He kept his voice level, but sarcastic so they knew he wasn't going to have any of their crap. Sirius started to push his chair out and get up to go upstairs and brush his teeth before James came around to pick him up and take him to school.

Sirius's father grabbed his shirtsleeve. Sirius looked down at his dad as Mr. Black said, "It's not bribery, Sirius. You've needed new soccer cleats for about a year now, and just last week, you ripped one of them, right?"

Sirius stared at his father bemused.

"You're off from practice since you won your last game right?"

"Y-Yeah ... but!"

"Go buy some this weekend then, and didn't you make plans to see your friends for dinner this evening before going to the football game?"

"M-Maybe ... how did-have you been-wait," Sirius began, getting more and more confused all the while.

Sirius looked over at his mother who was across the table from him. She was staring at her husband at the head of the table in a look of astonishment. So she hadn't put him up to this act. Dad? He used to be just like her ... what the hell? Sirius thought to himself.

Mr. Black released Sirius from his grip and smiled like a little boy who knows he's done a good job on something and will be rewarded for it. "Good, Sirius, you can stay out until midnight this weekend, just please remember to take your cell phone with you." He said, the corners of his eyes crinkling a little.

Sirius gave a slight frown and said, "Okay, thanks." Sirius took the money and raced into his bathroom where he brushed his teeth, then picked up his things and went out the door without a word to anyone else.

James was waiting for him outside in his car about to press his hand to the horn when he saw Sirius coming out of the door. James waved even though he noticed his friend was looking down at the ground evidently in deep thought.

As he walked down the steps to get into James's car, Sirius realized something. He propped himself with his elbow on the roof of James's car. He smiled in the window. James pressed the control to roll with window down. He leaned over the seat and said, "Are you going to get in or are you going to smile like a complete idiot all day?"

"Okay, okay, sorry." Sirius said smiling broadly still. He opened the door to the car and got in as James slid over back into his seat.

"Did something happen in there?" James asked firing up the engine.

"Yeah, my dad gave me, like, two hundred bucks to have a good time this weekend."

Sirius explained throwing his bag in the back seat and making the seat lean back. He put the palms of his hands on the back of his head and stared up at the ceiling of the car thinking.

"Does he have a stash?" James asked jokingly while chuckling.

"I have no idea, but whatever, he said it's not a bribe." So weird. "He's been acting soweird lately, it's like he actually wants to get into my good graces and get to know me better. It's just such a late change in him."

"Well, he did get you that laptop and printer for your birthday," James said, "Kind of nice though, I mean, I'm happy about it because you sound happy about it, this is good."

This was true. Sirius could remember that time in August when Mr. Black had taken him and Regulus out school supply shopping. The first time he had noticed a real and drastic change in his father. He was acting more fatherly by the minute. Not saying that giving your sons very expensive tablet PC's was fatherly, but his father never got him anything besides maybe clothes,
a roof, and food. He had just started trying to talk to Sirius and ask him about his day at school and what he was up to, and how were his friends. So weird.

Over the summer, James and his parents had invited Sirius to go school shopping with them to save him from the temporary insanity and narcissism that would come with shopping since Mrs. Black usually took Sirius school shopping and Sirius usually never got what he wanted and would have to shop again with his own money. On this occasion, however, Mr. Black said that he would take his sons shopping, but yes, Sirius could go clothes shopping with James and his other friends at the mall later that afternoon. So Sirius was pouting in the office
supply store about having to suffer Regulus all morning, when his Dad started acting very strange. As Regulus gathered his supplies, Mr. Black turned to Sirius and said he could go get whatever he wanted. Although not what he was expecting, Sirius obeyed. Sirius was just starting to pull down some 1/2 inch binders when his father objected to it.

Sirius thought, Here we go ... thinking that his father would make some ridiculous inquiry about how small binders made you look like you had a small brain and that would lead to an insult on Sirius's character which would then lead to an argument, was how it usually went with his mother, but what happened with his father was completely different. Instead of forcing him to get overlarge binders and make him look like a dumbass at school, his father actually negotiated it with him and actually listened to why Sirius insisted on saving the environment with using minimal paper and why one 2-inch binder that could fit all his subjects would kill his reputation and trees.

"Dad, it'll be a waste of money," He twisted his baseball cap around his head, "I never take really lengthy notes unless it'll help me, I really don't need all that much binder space.

"So what are you going to do if you need to put worksheets in it or tests or notes your teachers give you."

"Well, worksheets and tests are only useful for about a week, and then I let the recycling guys pick 'em up." Sirius explained simply.

"Right, but can't you just get the one-inch binders and put two subjects in them instead?" His father suggested. "To save more space I mean ... and the trees of course."

Sirius thought about it for a second. He said, "Uh, yeah. Okay, that's a good idea," and he put two one-inch binders in his basket, since he only needed a binder for AP History, Chem, English, and Math. There were only six periods in the day the usual required classes were there and the others were electives. German and AP Psychology were his only electives.

Sirius was feeling content that he was getting all the school supplies he had wanted, but his father wasn't done. He asked Sirius if they could look at the computers next and Sirius consented, so they did. Sirius ended up drooling over one of the Tablet PCs-the twelve-inch one that had the swivel screen to better write on.

His father came up right behind him and asked, "Do you like this one?"
"Well, yeah, it's a tablet." Sirius said still tinkering on the computer. He could just see himself working on it in his room; it even had a wireless Internet connection. He even had the perfect place to hide it in his closet from Reg', but he had to stop fantasizing: his father would never buy it for him, just because he got to pick his own school supplies did not mean that he
could already be in good position for college and he wouldn't buy it himself, because he was saving his allowances for a greater expenditure.

A salesman came around to asking the party if they needed help or not. Mr. Black asked both his sons to leave him and the salesman and look for more supplies to get. They were suspicious, but consented to it and left him to the salesman.

Sirius moved away from his brother to get pens or whatever he still needed. He sighed trying not to get his hopes up, but his father was moving suspiciously. He was probably just asking a question about his own computer or something. As Sirius aimed for a pack of pens another hand was inching it's way to the same pack, only Sirius didn't take note of it until a little spark ignited between the two fingers causing them both to jerk their hands back and shake them trying to get rid of the stinging sensation.

"Ow!" Both of them said. It hurt to be shocked, especially when a little white spark was clearly visible between the two hands. "Sorry." They both said to the other looking up to finally note whom they were apologizing to.

"Oh, hi," Sirius said to Remus Lupin who was standing next to him and smiling.

"Hi Sirius," Remus said very friendly.

There was nothing to say after that. The pair just stood there awkwardly trying to decide what to do with themselves next. The shock of meeting someone you saw from time to time, but didn't really know was a little nerve-racking for Sirius when it came to Remus. Usually he was quite pleasant with strangers he could piece a name with the face at school, but that was usually because they were in awe of being in the presence of Sirius Black the dubbed "School Bad-ass"
and they always treated him, and James, like a celebrity, especially since those two were much nicer than Lucius Malfoy and his cronies. The fans were always berating him with questions, especially the girls, although their conversation didn't flow as well as the awe-struck guys he ran into. Girls, especially the single ones, were more inclined to break the conversation off for bits at
a time and Sirius could practically see the gear working in their brain as they thought, "What do I say next?"

But Remus was different from all the rest, which made Sirius feel a little awkward. This was the first time his popularity wasn't a staple for someone else to admire. Remus was just carrying on as he usually did, pleasant to all, but also seemingly very shy.

Remus grabbed a pack of pens, smiled at Sirius and said, "I'll see you at school I guess!" as he walked away to rejoin his parents with Sirius staring at his back and mumbling, "Yeah ..."

Weird. Sirius never mumbled. On Remus's way out of the aisle, he walked past Mr. Black and Regulus who were coming to find Sirius.

"Everything is all ready, are you done looking for school supplies?" Mr. Black asked.

Sirius nodded still feeling awkward after his encounter with Remus.

Mr. Black said, "Okay, let's go pay for everything then." And with that the three of them left together for the cash register. At the register already were two large brown boxes and a computer program and one of those Tablet PC pens all stacked up neatly with the biggest boxes on the bottom.

"Dad, what's all this?" Sirius asked.

Mr. Black turned to his oldest, smiled and said very simply, "Your birthday present."

"Dad! You can't be serious!" It wasn't Sirius who spoke first, but Regulus who made the exclamation and it came out like a whine.

"Well, your brother needs a computer for when he goes to college and since you commandeered the family one and put it in your room it's hard for him to get his own work done." Mr. Black said calmly. The salesman finished scanning the items and what this must have looked for him was embarrassing to Sirius. Not to mention Remus Lupin was in the store, what would he think of him and his family?
The Salesman put all the items onto the adjacent counter towards the exit and waited patiently for Mr. Black to pay him, which Mr. Black did obligingly to Regulus's protests.

Regulus was going, "But Dad, since when does he get whatever he wants? And he's not going to college for two years!"

"Now Regulus," Mr. Black said calmly, "Your brother does have a name, and I don't see a problem with all this. It's Sirius's birthday."

"But Dad!" Regulus whined, "That was like over a week ago!" His voice cracked which made Sirius give a chuckle, even though he was just as confused at Reg' was, but for many different reasons, though his little brother was right about one thing: since when did he get whatever he wanted just like that?

"I'm glad you even remembered." Sirius joked.

Regulus glared at his older brother and said, "I can't stand you!"

"And can't stand that you're a spoiled bastard, but you don't see me complaining like a little dumbass about you to mom and dad everyday."

"Boys! That's enough out of both of you!" Mr. Black said sharply taking his receipt and muttering an apology to the cashier. "We're leaving." He said sternly and he motioned to the boys to gather their bags and boxes, they obeyed and left the store.

They put all the things into the trunk and Mr. Black sped away from the store. As Sirius was deep in thought about what could be going through Remus Lupin's mind at the moment because of that whole show put on by his family and if Remus even saw any of it, Sirius remembered that he should probably thank his father for buying him all that expensive stuff. Sirius huffed feeling a little paranoid about why his dad bought him the stuff in the first place, but he had another feeling that he should just let the paranoia go and that there was no point in it. He didn't know why, but it was a funny feeling, like he could trust that his father wasn't going to be cruel and make him do a lot of things to compensate for the purchase, like guilt him into working at his company or something else.

"Thanks Dad," Sirius said softly, looking at the floor of the car, he slumped a little in the passenger seat.

Mr. Black put a hand on Sirius's head and said, "You're welcome." He removed his hand as they pulled into the mall's parking lot.

And that was the end of it. He had gone to the mall and told James all about it while being rejoined by their other friends.

* * *

As James and Sirius rode into school, there seemed to be a big staple of the football teams' in the parking lot. It was a morning pep rally sponsored by the students with no permission from the school. Every football player was there including most of the cheerleaders. The players didn't do this every game, because they always got into trouble for it by Vice
Principal McGonagall.

She was actually tearing across the parking lot towards the "pep rally" as James and Sirius got out of James's car. McGonagall would be such a bitch for also handing out punishments to James and Sirius in the past, if she hadn't just told Lucius Malfoy, the obvious leader of this brigade, that he wouldn't play that night.

James and Sirius burst out laughing, the only ones in the crowd full of people. Malfoy turned to the pair of them and gave them a death glare. Like they cared, anything he came at them with, they would get back at him ten-fold, but they couldn't use the pictures again this time. Damn.

When they could finally get inside, they parted, each other's lockers being in the opposite direction. Sirius walked in the direction of his locker. He opened his locker, noticing out of the corner of his eye Remus Lupin was also at his locker just a few doors down and Remus couldn't get his locker open. He kept turning the dial, and re-turning the dial. He was moving the handle up and down, but the locker wouldn't budge.

Sirius stared.

What fascinated him the most was that Remus was moving his entire body aggressively with the way he was pulling at the door. The door went rut, rut, rut, which caused Remus to grunt for about two minutes before he gave up and tried to redo his combination once more. Remus was red in the face with frustration and Sirius was also red in the face, but not for the same reason.

His cheeks were burning. A rush of impure thoughts swam into Sirius's mind. He kept thinking about how he'd have Remus pressed against the lockers, rut, rut, rutting up against the other boy. And then of course, they'd both be naked.

Damn! Sirius thought to himself. Without even thinking about his German book, he sped down the hallway, not stopping until he reached the German classroom, where most of the class was already piled in and chatting, when Sirius came in, the chatter continued as Sirius clutched at his face to hide his embarrassment, which by contrast, was actually more embarrassing, but he slunk into the empty seat next to James, who was staring at him looking confused.

James said, "Dude what's wrong? Another fan-girl show off her rack again?"

He said nothing was wrong and that he was fine. His face had lost its vibrance, finally, but James wasn't satisfied. He stared at his best friend with a look that said, "I know something's up, and I don't know why, but you're not telling me ... why?"

Sirius looked back at James trying to foster an innocent look on his face. James still wasn't fooled.

"What's wrong?" James asked slowly.

"Nothing. Ah, shit, I left my German book." Sirius said, he went to go get a spare from the shelves hoping that when he got back from this short trip, James would have stopped asking him questions. He knew James was probably staring at his back still not convinced, but he couldn't just come right out and say to James in front of the class or not, "I started having erotic fantasies about a boy, not just any boy, but Remus Lupin, who was rutting against his locker very aggressively, and I think I liked the thought of substituting the roles with him being said locker, and me banging up against him. Oh, and we were naked."

Good God no.

Unfortunately for Sirius, however, the shelves where the books were placed was also by the door and as Sirius was taking down a book from the shelf, none other than Remus Lupin walked into the room. Sirius started blushing. He cursed his cheeks and his imagination under his breath. Remus looked over at Sirius, after a few seconds he began to look concerned.

Remus said, "Sirius, are you okay? Your face is all red."

Damn that boy for being so nice! This only made Sirius blush harder, he could imagine Remus calling out his name as they ...

Rut, rut, rut!

Dammit! For some reason the song, "Time of the Season" decided to pop into his head as he kept thinking of taking Remus's face in his hands and just kissing his lips, which he noticed as he looked at Remus and by now he must be rivaling a tomato, very soft looking. If he could just touch them, he'd know for sure. Yes, he just needed to lift his hand to feel.

"Sirius?" Remus said slowly.

Sirius hadn't said anything for a while and Remus was looking back and forth between Sirius's red face and James Potter, was this some kind of joke? Before he had a chance to even attempt to deduce what the hell was going on and what Sirius was trying to do, a voice spoke from behind him.

"Uh, Remus, you're blocking the doorway." Remus turned around, it was Lily, who was looking pretty angry. Remus hastily apologized, "Sorry!" As he tried to move through the doorway, he ran straight into Sirius, who still hadn't said anything and beginning to look like a complete fool. By now, the whole class was watching the procession silently looking for good topics to gossip about.

Fortunately, James had come up behind Sirius and caught him before the other two boys could fall over because of Sirius's stupidity. James immediately grabbed Sirius's hand from behind and put it down forcibly. He let go of Sirius's hand and began to make up an excuse for Sirius's behavior.

"I'm sorry on behalf of Sirius; he must have come down with something to make him act like such an idiot."

"Right," Sirius said, his voice was cracking and he was staring wide-eyed at Remus, and feeling like his head was going to pop off from all the heat.

James grabbed on side of Sirius's head to hold it as he drove two of his knuckles into the other side, not a punch, just a push to try to put some sense into his friend. "Idiot!" He said, "You're not supposed to agree!"

"Right." Sirius said, not fully registering the pain. He felt like such an idiot, and like he had no control over his body, what was he about to do to Remus? Damn!

James only glared at his friend for a moment before turning back to a very confused Remus and Lily and smiling. He said cheerily, "Excuse me, while I try to slap some sense into Sirius here."

With that, he swept past them, dragging Sirius along and closing the door behind him and he slammed Sirius against a locker and hissed, "What the hell is your problem?"

"My ... problem? I ... I don't ... " Sirius looked at the ground, feeling seriously confused.

James looked at Sirius with a sarcastic look on his face, but he felt more concerned. "Sirius, are you okay? This is really unlike you, I mean, sure, sometimes you put up a front, but-"

"A front?! When have I ever ... Oh." That was sort of true; he had liked to play games.

People were always saying things about him, and girls were always coming onto him. In real life he never gave into any of it, but in the school's alternate universe, people liked to imagine all sorts of things, and Sirius didn't usually clear it up, because then that usually lead to more gossip, so last year he reached the stage of fronting that some of the stuff was true, but now he was at the stage where he really didn't give a fuck what people thought of him.

"Rather talk later?"

"Yes please."

They walked back into German as the bell rang. They could tell, as they sat back down that everyone was talking about them and what had just happened. Sirius didn't care and neither did James. Whatever, nothing was wrong, they could just write it off as a prank gone bad or something. But only if they felt like it.

Rut, rut, rut!

Shut up!

TBC!!! Sorry that took so long, I ended up starting it, and restarting it, but now it's finally done! Hope you have enjoyed it. Some of that stuff was supposed to be italicized, but text format doesn't support it ... ugh.