The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind

Chapter Six: Rivalries

September 1, 1971

"So this is our room," Sirius said as he walked into the room he shared with four other boys. Leon followed suit.

"At least it's big," James added, walking over to his bed and flopping down on his back, looking up at the red drapes that hung around his four poster bed.

Sirius sat down on his bed, right next to James. "Wonder what are the other two will be like..."

James started to answer when they heard a 'sorry!' and a thud and next thing they knew, a short stubby boy had stumbled into the room, looking very red in the face, nearly falling on James' trunk. James and Sirius just looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

James looked up at the ceiling. "Watch it," James said shortly, only caring about his trunk. He pulled out a tiny ball from his pocket and began tossing it up in the air, catching it with ease.

Sirius just smirked and rolled over onto his stomach, looking over at James. "Figures, doesn't it."

James looked over and smirked back. "Of course."

Leon, however, walked over to Peter. "Come on, up you go." He hauled Peter to his feet.

Peter smiled, brushing off his pants. "Thanks." He looked over at James. "Sorry about that."

James just ignored him and continued to toss the ball up and catch it. Sirius was hanging off the side of his bed, shoving a box under his bed.

Peter looked abashed at James' attitude and looked back at Leon. Leon just smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about James," Leon said. "He's always cheeky at first." He laughed. "Actually, he's still a bit of a prat every now and then."

"I heard that," James said, lifting his head to mock glare at Leon.

"So? You were supposed to," Leon retorted, smirking.

James just laughed and threw the ball at Leon, who caught it and threw it back at James, laughing.

Peter watched James catch the ball with ease, wishing he had that much coordination. He moved away from Leon and stepped over to his trunk, crouching in front and unlocking it. Pulling out his pajamas, he made to get dressed, ignoring the laughter of the three boys, as one of them had obviously just told a joke or something along the lines.

"Just ignore them," a voice said and Peter looked up to see Remus standing by him, a caged owl in his hands.

Peter stood up, facing his friend, feeling a lot better now that Remus was there. He looked up at the taller boy. "It's hard not to when you're in the same room as them."

Remus gave him a small smile. "You'll be alright. I'm here for you."

Peter smiled. "Thanks, Remus."

Remus nodded. "Sure." He walked to his bed, setting the cage on his bedside table by the window. Changing into pajamas, he climbed into his bed and fell instantly asleep. Peter followed suit, falling into a restless sleep.

James, Sirius and Leon, however, remained awake, though now in their pajamas. James was still lying on his bed and Leon had taken a seat on Sirius'. Sirius was stretched out on his stomach, flipping the pages of Quidditch Today.

"Those two are real winners," James snickered, glancing over at Sirius and Leon.

"One is a complete bampot, the other is a loner. Not much of a prize winning combo, I'd say," Sirius added.

"Give them a chance, I'm sure they can't be all bad," Leon said, standing. He walked over to his bed, crawling in and going to sleep.

"The only thing I'd give them is lives," James smirked, crawling under his blankets.

Sirius snickered as he followed suit, setting the magazine down on his bed side table. "Surprised you'd even give them that."

"What can I say, I'm a nice guy."

Sirius laughed. "Only to those you like."

"Of course." They both laughed.

"Night, James."

"Night, Sirius."

~***~

September 2, 1971

"Shoe?? Oh shoe. .where are you?"

James rolled his eyes and, having Sirius' shoe in his hand, he threw it at Sirius, hitting the other boy in the forehead.

"Hey! I found my shoe!" He grinned at James, who just shook his head and pulled on his own shoes.

"Are you that daft, Sirius?" James asked, chuckling as he stood, taking his robe and pulling it on.

"No. I know that the time is... 8:30." Sirius smirked.

James just froze. "8:30? Bloody hell, Sirius! We're late!"

"Late? Late? Bugger, and here I thought we'd start the year off with a bang." Sirius pulled on his robe, hoping around trying to put on his shoe.

"Oh we will, running in late for class."

"What do we have first?" Sirius had succeeded in putting on his shoe and was now primping, running his fingers through his hair, letting the locks fall down, just right.

James glanced around and then spotted their schedules lying on their bedside tables. Since they had missed breakfast, the schedules must have been sent there. He picked them up, scanning. "Potions."

"With who?"

"Slytherin."

"Brilliant," Sirius said sarcastically. Then he looked around. "Oy... where's Leon?"

James had his bag over his shoulder and was heading towards the door. He handed Sirius his schedule, who tucked it away into his robe pocket. "I don't know. I thought he'd wake us up."

"You would think." Sirius followed James out, through the empty common room. "Blimey, we must really be late. There's no one here."

"Obviously, Sirius."

They ran down the corridors, skidding around corners. "Do you have any idea where we're going?" James asked as they ran.

"No clue! This way!" Sirius turned another corner and ran down a flight of stairs, skidding to a halt in front of the Potions door. "Well, look at that, I found it." He grinned at James.

"You got lucky." James laughed and opened the door... to find an empty classroom. The floor was slanted, so each desk had a bench and the back of the bench was the next level's desk.

Their grins faded and were replaced with confused looks.

"I thought you said we had Potions first."

"We do."

Sirius pulled out his schedule and indeed, they did. "Odd."

"Can I help you boys?" a pleasant voice said and they turned to see Professor Sharaff standing by the door to her office. She wore simple black robes, her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and a hint of a smile on her face.

"Um...Professor, why isn't anyone here yet?" James asked.

Professor Sharaff chuckled softly. "That would most likely be because most students would be at breakfast now."

James and Sirius looked at each other and then James laughed. "Oh, of course. I knew that," James said, waving it off with a hand. "We were just testing you."

"We were?" Sirius asked in an undertone to James.

"Yes." James elbowed Sirius, who rubbed his arm, looking back at the professor.

"Well, either way," Professor Sharaff said, smiling, "class starts in a half an hour. And since you missed breakfast, I'm sure you're hungry."

Sirius' stomach growled and they all laughed. "Yes, Professor."

"Then you're in luck. Here." She tossed them an apple each. "I had these extra."

"Thank you, Professor," they both said.

James and Sirius looked at each other and grinned. "Looks like this class isn't going to be too bad," Sirius said, taking a bite of his apple.

"Not at all," James responded. They walked towards one of the back tables, passing the Slytherin side. Sirius glanced to make sure Professor Sharaff had retreated to her office, and then casually put a spell on the long benches to make the Slytherins fall through when they sat down. It would only happen when they first sat down, after that, they'd be whole again.

Sirius flashed a mischievous grin at James and slid into his seat. "Good work," James said, leaning back and putting his feet up on the long desk, eating his apple.

"I know."

Sirius propped his feet up next to James, getting as comfortable as he could in the wooden benches.

"Would you look at that, they are alive," a voice said and James and Sirius both looked over to see Leon standing at the end of their row, grinning.

James and Sirius grinned. "Well, you know, we just had to start the day with something interesting," James chuckled.

"You two would," Leon said, laughing. He walked over, taking a seat on the other side of Sirius. "Would being here early have anything to do with a prank?"

James and Sirius looked at Leon with large innocent eyes. "Us? Prank?" Sirius gasped, placing a hand over his heart in mock horror. "How could you accuse us of that?" Then all three burst out laughing.

At that moment, the rest of the class wandered in and James and Sirius watched as the Slytherins sat down, only to fall straight through their seats. James and Sirius bit back snickers and grinned at Leon.

"Told you," Leon said, laughing.

The Slytherins were red faced but a certain individual more or less: Severus Snape. He looked at the three laughing Gryffindors with a glare that could kill the dead. Standing and sitting down on the now whole bench, he pulled out his books, burying his face in them to read.

"I think those dog ears looked good on him, he should have kept them," Sirius said, loud enough for Snape to hear. That made the surrounding Gryffindors erupt into laughter.

Severus kept his face buried in his book to hide his embarrassment. If there wasn't a teacher present and the looming fact that he would get expelled, he would have cursed Sirius right then and there.

"Ignore him," Christina said, nudging Severus.

"I'll get them back," was his reply.

Erica walked in and, though she really wanted to sit with the Slytherins, she took a seat up front on the Gryffindor side, as far away from them as she could. Lily, however, spotted her sitting by herself and walked down.

"Mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is taken." Lily gave her a friendly smile. Erica just ignored her, though Lily didn't seem fazed. "Potions should be interesting. I mean, Professor Sharaff is a really good professor I hear from when she taught at Beauxbatons and -"

"Do you ever know when to shut up?" Erica snapped, glaring at Lily.

Lily stared, her mouth shutting. "Lils, what are you doing trying to make friends with a prat like that?" Jaina asked, coming up behind her. "You'll no more do that then you'd befriend a griffin. Come on." Jaina took Lily's arm, leading her up a few rows and sitting down.

"Alright class, as it seems everyone has arrived, let's begin, shall we?" Professor Sharaff smiled and tapped her wand to the chalkboard, where a list of ingredients appeared. "We'll begin with a simple spot clearing potion. After you've finished, we can test it on these scraps I have. For your homework, I'd like you to read from page ten to page fifty for Thursday and write an essay summary over what you read. A foot long. As you're making your potions, if you have any questions, just raise your hand and I'll come by."

The rest of the class went by smoothly, if it wasn't counted that Peter's potion backfired onto him and a few other Gryffindors, and Lily didn't act like she knew it all trying to help Peter, and that James and Sirius "accidentally" dropped a few pieces of root into Evan Rosier's cauldron, causing it to explode all over the Slytherins.

"She thinks she knows everything, that Evans," James rolled his eyes as they walked to Charms later that day. "Did you see the way she acted? Had to give her opinion on everything and she was never wrong. Even after I said that you're not supposed to add dittany until after you've heated it, she said I didn't know what I was talking about and she had it right. Then that smug look she gave me after her potion worked! Gah! She's annoying."

Sirius just looked at James. His best friend had been rambling on and on about Lily Evans for the better part of the morning and he was about to tell his friend it was enough when Leon put a hand over James' mouth.

"Mate, shut up, okay?" Leon said, giving him a smile to show no harm meant.

"But -"

"James, you've been going on and on about Evans since Potions and that was hours ago. We've had enough," Sirius said. "Just show her up in Charms and call it even."

They entered the Charms classroom and took their seats up in the third row. James was glad when Lily sat in the front, far away from him. "Oh I will, don't you worry about that," James said as he looked at her.

Professor Flitwick climbed up onto his tower of books and looked around at the class. He cleared his throat, more of a squeaking noise, and spoke, "Welcome, class, to Charms, today -"

James tuned out the rest of what Flitwick was saying as he plotted a scheme to get back at Lily, but when Sirius nudged him, passing him a note that read, So what's our plans for Snivellus tonight? James' thoughts flipped to Snape and he turned to Sirius as they quietly began plotting.

When class let out, James, Sirius, and Leon headed down the corridor and Remus and Peter headed the other way.

"I just don't get this," Peter sighed as they walked. "How am I supposed to write a foot long essay? I'm no good at writing."

Remus smiled. "I'll help you tonight, okay?"

"Really?" Peter's eyes brightened.

"Yes." Peter wasn't so bad and Remus was glad that at least someone seemed to like him. It didn't mean he trusted him, he could trust no one except his mother. But thinking of that made his stomach twist in knots. Romulus. He wouldn't tell, would he? If he did... Remus didn't know what he'd do. He wouldn't be able to stay at Hogwarts, that's for sure.

"Remus? Are you alright?"

Peter's voice broke Remus out of his thoughts and he looked at the worried boy. "I'm fine, thanks," Remus said, giving him a little smile.

"If you say so." But Peter didn't look convinced.

"Remus!" Remus turned to see Lily running towards him. "Hi! How are you doing?"

"Good." Remus looked at her curiously, wondering why she had run over to him.

"Well, I was wondering -"

"Look at what we have here," a snide voice said. They looked to see Romulus walking down the corridor, flanked by three other Slytherins. "The know-it-all Mudblood and a couple of pathetic Gryffindors. You make a good group; maybe the know-it-all can teach you how to get a life."

"Romulus, go pick on people who care," Remus said calmly, just staring down his brother.

Romulus just smirked, his arms crossed. "Oh, but by the looks of things, your chubby little friend there is shaking in his shoes."

"Just leave Peter out of this," Remus said coldly.

"Oh, is my brother making friends? How extraordinary. I would never have guess it possible," Romulus sneered.

"He didn't do anything to you, why don't you just leave him alone," Lily said, walking up to Romulus, who was nearly a foot taller than her.

"Got girls protecting you now, Remus? Just wait." Romulus smirked and walked off.

Remus glared after his twin and then turned, walking down the corridor. "Remus! Wait!" Peter scampered after Remus and Lily just stood there, watching.

"Just wait for what?" she whispered. She finally turned and walked back to where her group of friends waited and they walked off.

~***~

Late September, 1971

The days turned into weeks and soon it was nearly October. James, Sirius, and Leon had played more than enough pranks to give them a reputation of being the school's top pranksters, but as they sat down one night, James made a statement that the other's weren't too sure off. "We need more people," James said simply.

"What?" Sirius asked, looking over at him. He had been reading a Quidditch magazine when James had spoken. He shifted his legs from the armrest of the chair to the floor, facing James. "We don't need more."

"I'll agree with Sirius, James. Why do we need more people?" Leon asked.

James sighed, leaning forward on his knees, glancing around to make sure no one else overheard them. "I want to end this half with a bang. Right before Christmas holidays. It'd be perfect, but we'll need more people. At least one other or it won't work."

"James, it'll be fine with the three of us," Sirius said. "We can more than handle it."

"But we need someone that's in good with the professors and though we may be the top, our track record of detentions doesn't help much," James pointed out.

"Fine, but I don't know where you're going to find this mystery person. There's no one here half as qualified as us for pranking," Sirius said, sitting back.

"Well, we'll just have to find one."

"And how do you propose that?" Leon asked.

"We'll worry about it later. Right now we need to plan, then we'll find someone."

"How can you be so sure?" Sirius asked.

James just gave him a look. "Sirius, I know, just trust me."

Sirius shrugged. "You know I do." He smiled. "So what's the plan?"

James motioned for him and Leon to lean in close as he explained.

~***~

"Those three are down right trouble makers," Frank chuckled as he sat back in a chair, glancing over at the three first-years.

"Like you're innocent of that," Alex teased, laughing. Frank just threw a pillow at him. Though he could throw on his game-face when dealing with the Slytherins and misdemeanors; that was all it was, a game face. He and Frank had been best friends since before they had come to Hogwarts and though they were two years apart, they still remained close.

"So, off the wall question," Frank said, looking at Alex. "Have you had much trouble with the Blacks in Slytherin?"

Alex shrugged. "The oldest is quiet, or so it seems at least. She doesn't make trouble, though some of the people she hangs out with like that Lestrange do."

"Slytherin's Quidditch Captain or the younger one?"

"The captain. Jeff isn't too happy with him either. It seems Slytherin always keeps pulling their dirty tricks and this is the sixth time Slytherin has claimed the Cup. Jeff really wants this for his final year here and I'd hate to disappoint him, but," Alex sighed, "I don't know what exactly we can do."

"Play the best we can," Frank pointed out. "It's not just Quidditch that's bothering you, Alex. What's up?"

"Just some problems at home."

"You can tell me, mate. We're best friends." Frank leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees, looking at Alex seriously. "Is it with your father's business?" he asked softly. Alex's parents both worked in the Department of Mysteries within the Ministry of Magic.

"Has your dad said anything about the attacks that have happened recently?" Alex asked, equally as soft.

"He's always away with meetings. I know something's up, but he won't tell me anything. I think my mum knows stuff but she says I'm too young." Frank rolled his eyes slightly. "I'm fourteen; I think I'm old enough to know, especially since I'm going to do a two-week program with the Aurors next summer."

"That's the summer before your sixth year, right? You mentioned that earlier I think, congrats," Alex smiled a little, though still caught up in his problems.

"Thanks. But seriously, what's wrong? You're never this quiet."

"The attacks."

"You don't think -" Frank looked at him curiously.

"I do." Alex sighed. "But who's going to listen to a sixteen year old? Sometimes I don't even think my parents know I exist. Especially my dad, he won't ever tell me anything."

"Well, with his work, he can't."

"But he doesn't even do anything with me anymore. And he used to. Before he got the job."

"Maybe it's just taking up a lot of his time."

"Maybe." Alex stood. "I'm going to get to bed. Quidditch practice starts bright and early tomorrow."

"Good luck."

"Thanks." Alex smiled at Frank and then headed upstairs before checking the common room. He spoke a few words to Lucille Stover, the other sixth-year Prefect. Then he disappeared up the stairs. Frank watched him for a few moments before Fabian came over and they began talking.

~***~

October, 1971

Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of James and Sirius' favorite classes. As well as Remus'. Peter, he was hopelessly lost, as usual. His only skills were at Charms and Herbology, and even those weren't that great.

Professor Moody was brilliant when it came to the Dark Arts and the defenses against them. A few of the older students had said that he was the best DADA professor they had had in years. They were just going over the basics, nothing too intense, but even Sirius didn't fall asleep in this class.

Currently, they were working on dragons and the various different kinds. "Can anyone name me the ten kinds of dragons?" Professor Moody asked, looking around. He had an empty chalkboard behind him. Remus raised his hand and the professor nodded to him. "Mr. Lupin."

"Know-it-all," James muttered and Sirius snickered. Leon just smiled a little, quiet. It was true that Remus always seemed to be the one raising his hand to answer questions. They thought he was a bit bookish, with how he was always absorbed in a book and didn't talk to many people except Peter.

"The ten kinds of dragons are the Antipodean Opaleye, Chinese Fireball, Welsh Green, Hebridean Black," Remus began.

"Hey, that dragon has your name," James snickered, nudging Sirius who smirked.

"Aggressive and territorial, sounds like my family," Sirius said, which made a few of the Gryffindors around them laugh. Professor Moody glanced at them but then looked back at Remus, who seemed to have ignored the laughter.

"The Hungarian Horntail, Norwegian Ridgeback, Peruvian Vipertooth, Romanian Longhorn, Swedish Short-snout and the Ukrainian Ironbelly," Remus finished.

"Thank you, Mr. Lupin. Twenty points to Gryffindor." The Gryffindors grinned at this and the Hufflepuffs didn't say much. "Now, there's a project I'd like you to have done by next week. I will split you into groups of four and I will assign two dragons to each of your groups. You will write up two feet about all the dragons and then I'd like a foot extra on the two dragons you're assigned to. By no means should one person do all the writing. This is a group project after all. You will also create a picture to go along with this and present it next week. Now, to your team project assignments." Professor Moody began reading off the list.

Sirius and James, meanwhile, were drawing pictures of stick figures getting chased by dragons and with James riding one. Sirius snickered as James drew a Snape stick figure with his pants on fire.

" - Lupin, Sirius Black, and James Potter."

Sirius and James both looked up as they heard their names. They looked at each other, confused. Then James raised his hand.

Professor Moody paused, looking at James. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Professor, I thought you just said Lupin was in our group."

"That's right."

"I don't want to work with someone like that."

Remus bristled at the comment but didn't speak. He doesn't mean werewolf, there's no way he could know.

"Mr. Potter, you'll work with who you're assigned. Mr. Lupin is very knowledgeable, perhaps he can teach you two a few things."

James sat back, his arms crossed, none too happy. He glanced over at Remus, rolled his eyes and began talking in undertones to Sirius.

"I enforce on you now, the grade you receive will depend on your entire group's participation. If one person does not contribute, they will no receive a good grade and it will hurt your group's overall grade. Class dismissed."

The first-years stood, exiting the classroom. "Who else are we working with?" Sirius asked as they walked.

James shrugged. "I don't know."

"Erica Baddock," Remus said, overhearing them.

James just looked at him coolly. "Did I ask you? No." He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sirius." They brushed past Remus, James bumping into him and continuing walking.

"Baddock? Brilliant," Sirius said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as they walked away.

"You alright?" Leon asked, stopping by Remus, who had fallen to the floor when James had bumped him.

"Fine." Remus gathered his books, not looking at the boy.

"You sure?" Leon held out a hand, and Remus took it.

"Yes, I'm sure." Remus glanced at Leon and gave him a little smile. "Thanks though."

"James can be a prat, just ignore him."

"It'll be hard; I have to work with him."

Leon shrugged. "They may goof off and all that, but they're smart. They won't leave you to do all the work. Especially if James thinks he can impress everyone with his smarts."

"Oy! Remus!" They looked over to see Peter running up. "It's too bad we're not in the same group." Peter looked worried. "I need your help, Remus! I'm with these boys that won't even talk to me! What am I supposed to do?"

Remus placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Looks like we're in the same situation here. Don't worry, I'll help you."

"I can't get a bad grade on this!"

"You won't."

Leon watched them, smiling. "Taking care of each other, we need more of that. I'd better go, James and Sirius will be waiting." He waved at them and hurried through the crowd of students.

"He's nice," Peter said.

"He is," Remus agreed. "Well, let's head to the library. I can help you with the Potions assignment for tomorrow."

"Thanks!" Peter smiled and they walked out.