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Prologue

Summary:

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro Patria Mori
-Wilfred Owen, (1893-1918)

Long fic from pre-Hogwarts to the end of the First Wizarding War. It is loosely canon compliant (that is to say, it’s written so you can’t say that it isn’t true, as far as the canon books go). Key canon ‘deviaters’: Remus’ parents are separated, James is half-Desi, Reggie is trans-masc.

Not centred around a specific ship, I’ve tried to include as many perspectives as possible. There will be a lot of slow burn.

Notes:

[THIS FIC IS A BIT INACTIVE-I GO SLOW AND SWEET]

I do not endorse JKR

This is the prologue, so a precursor to the main story. I’ve done side-character povs here (mostly women) bcos the marauders fandom has a critical lack of female rep lmao

The values of the characters are all quite era-compliant (so general fic tw’s for homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism/toxic masculinity, abuse/dv, substance abuse, underage substance abuse; i will flag these and other triggers at the beginning of relevant chapters)

credit for the title/poem to wilfred owen, a ww1 poet/soldier who died just a week before armistice. he was only 25. the name of his poem is Dulce et Decorum est. i recommend checking out his other work, too.

Chapter 1: O Fortuna (Prologue)

Notes:

this is a prologue to the prologue
in future, I’ll put (non-spoiler) tw’s here

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text


velut luna statu variabilis,
semper crescis, aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem,
potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem

O FORTUNA ⛌

Note this. It is important,

1: Fortuna brings them together, just to pull them back apart. 

Like children picking doomed flies off the pavement, only to rip off their wings and throw them down to the dirt. They are momentarily airborne, raised above their fates—but it is a swift detour, a bashing, before they are flung back down to their rightful places in the muck. Goodbye, fly. Goodbye. 

And forgotten just as fast, trampled under the worn-rubber sole of a sparkly pink trainer. Their purpose is met, and they are discarded.

Their purpose. Yes, that is another important thing to note,

2: They have a purpose. They all do. 

A fool, you would have to be, to think that a prophecy starts with One. That it names One, dooms One, chooses only One. Nothing comes from nothing. Something comes from something. Somewhere comes from somewhere, also.

That Chosen One came from somewhere, and that somewhere came from somewhere else. So, in one prophecy, is tied together the whole fabric of being. Every act, every useless sacrifice, every wayward smote of dust splitting the universe fractally; all leading down to that final prophesied Happening. 

But another important thing to note,

3: It would be dull to write of dust. 

So we will start the story in 1959, instead.

 

Notes:

i’ll put translations/explanations/credits here :)

credit for the idea of having music/poetry at the beginning of the chapters to atyd, i hundred percent copied from there

excuse the overbearing king lear motifs, i have my shakespeare final in three weeks

the poem is o fortuna from the carmina burana. translation:

O Fortune,
like the moon you are changeable,
ever waxing, ever waning;
hateful life
first oppresses and then soothes
playing with mental clarity;
poverty
and power
it melts them like ice.

the rest of this fic is not this fancy lol