James' Job/Dark Mark/ Sirius' Job

[jojosrs24]

No: HPFGUIDX 59350

Hello, I'm new here, so I apologise if this has already been brought 
up. 

I've been rereading GOF lately, of course, and been wondering about  
James' and Sirius' professions. (I refuse to call them Marauders 
since we have no evidence that they ever called themselves that; the 
map said The Marauder's Map, as in singular, and I always thought it 
was for whoever was using the map) I've heard from several people 
that they think that Sirius was an Auror, but I think this is highly 
improbable. I think it would have been a much bigger deal if an Auror 
was found guilty of being Voldemort's "right hand man" and betraying 
his friends. Also, Sirius didn't have a clue as to what Karkaroff was 
showing Snape on his arm, which I would think that the fact that all 
DEs have the Mark on their arm would be common knowledge. Of course, 
it may not be, because all the Ministry would have to do is check the 
suspect's arm to see if they were a Death Eater or not. So did the 
Mark truly fade when Voldemort was away? All I remember is that 
Karkaroff was saying the Mark had been getting clearer all year (GOF; 
don't have my book, so I don't remember the exact place).

Sorry for getting off track. I think it is a possibility that James 
was an Auror, since Sirius seemed to know some things about them 
(Aurors given the okay to use Unforgivables on Death Eaters, them 
killing Rosier and Wilkes). Now, I know that also may be common 
knowledge, but I could see James telling Sirius these things if he 
was an Auror. How much does an Auror pay, since we know that James 
didn't need a high paying job?

I apologise for the rambling of this post, but I just had so many new 
things that came into my mind while typing.

Joanna