Balanced

Soon they got onto defence against werewolves. Verdied was annoyed to find that none of them knew anything about this sort of thing ('What would you do if you ran into one?').

'Wolfsbane is the best way to get rid of them, although it's currently being experimented on as it seems to be the best cure, despite its poisonous properties. Silver is also particularly harmful to them, so if you go out on a full moon try and take something silver, preferably a dagger. You can buy them in certain shops.' Something about the way he said "certain" made James realise he was probably talking about Knockturn Alley.

'Werewolves also don't like vampires,' he continued. 'But I do, of course, realise that it is not always practical to have a vampire with you wherever you go.' James put up his hand. 'Yes, Potter.'

'Does that mean if you're a werewolf you can't get bitten by a vampire?'

'Yes, vampires and werewolves avoid each other, but that doesn't mean any of you should strive to become either one of the two, to avoid being bitten or killed by the other.' James couldn't imagine anyone wanting to be a werewolf or a vampire, it was said to be really painful, and he didn't think he could stand it - not being able to get a decent job and being avoided by everyone. 'Less well known methods of protection include the bark of an ash tree; if you get chased by a werewolf, climb an ash tree - it doesn't harm them, but they don't like the smell and it keeps them away unless they are really hungry. Rye grain has a similar effect.'

'Aren't there any magical methods?' asked Severus. 'Ways that work properly, I mean.'

'Nothing yet, Snape,' replied Verdied. 'The Ministry is researching this, although as I'm sure you can imagine, it is not that high on their list of priorities.'

Sirius, Remus and Peter all had similar Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons on werewolves. It was actually fairly interesting to do, which made a nice change. They also got back into their regular pattern of setting off Dungbombs and generally being as annoying as possible.

James noticed that it didn't take a lot before people were blaming them for everything that went wrong: when some second year Gryffindor girls found their hair had been dyed a bright green overnight, the blame went to the four of them. No matter how many times James tried to tell McGonagall that they would never do such a stupid and unoriginal thing, she was convinced of their guilt. Peter's History of Magic essay, that compared various different famous Dark Wizards from history, stated: 'I suspect that none of these who I have studied were as bad as people believe; it does not take long for someone's reputation to build up, and after that any other copycat crimes will be blamed on them.' Most unfortunately, Binns didn't notice this.

Remus became ill again in late January, and was quarantined in the hospital wing; Madam Pomfrey said she didn't want half the students catching it so she wouldn't let the other three visit, although she let Remus out very soon and he was still looking ill. James was careful not to catch it, as it didn't look nice.

Another Quidditch match was quickly approaching: Gryffindor would be playing Hufflepuff. James wasn't sure if he would bother to go, neither team were his house and neither team would cheat to win. That promised a very boring match. Most of the Slytherins wouldn't go for the sole reason that they didn't want either team to win.

He went in the end: Sirius asked him to come and he didn't want to lie and say he couldn't, or tell him the truth and say he didn't want to. It wasn't all that bad, apart from the fact that it was raining lightly and they all got thoroughly soaked. Hufflepuff won. They had a really good Seeker who dived down and caught the snitch when it was only inches off the ground, barely missing a Bludger to the head. Sirius and James (who was supporting Gryffindor) both booed loudly.

*

'I can't believe we lost!' moaned Sirius for the fiftieth time that day. They were sitting outside the school waiting for dinner-time. Peter had reminded them only just in time that they should sit on their coats because it was rather wet and muddy.

'The Hufflepuff team are good though,' said Remus, reasonably. 'They beat us.'

'Remus, don't forget that the Ravenclaw team are terrible this year,' put in James. 'I'm sure even the Gryffindors can beat you.' His reward for that comment was an evil glare from both Sirius and Remus. Peter just smiled.

'Slipping up a bit, aren't you, Jamesy?' he said. 'Didn't manage to insult the Hufflepuffs in that sentence.'

'I'll let you have a bit of glory once in a while,' said James reasonably. 'That Seeker's the only decent player Hufflepuff will have in a long time so I'm willing to ignore him.'

'Exactly,' agreed Sirius. 'That's why it's so hard to believe. Slytherin is always supposed to win because they cheat. Gryffindor is supposed to come second and win once in a while when they have good players. Ravenclaw is supposed to come third and Hufflepuff is supposed to lose graciously. That's what my dad told me.'

'My dad told me I should come here to enjoy myself and learn something,' said Peter. All four boys glanced at each other and simultaneously burst out laughing.

'My mum told me not to give them any reason to expel me and to not forget to visit her,' said Remus.

'If you don't want to be expelled then it was a mistake going around with us,' said Sirius and the other two nodded in agreement.

'My father told me, from a very early age, that if I ended up in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff then he'd ram his wand up someplace where the sun don't shine and

then curse me,' said James, pleasantly. The other three winced slightly.

'That's nice,' said Sirius hesitantly. 'No offence, mate, but I'm rather glad I never met your father.'

'He had the temper of a Gryffindor. Similar to Sev, when he's in a mood - only he might grow out of it, Father never did.'

'Did you ever tell him that? About the Gryffindor temper I mean?'

'Yes, unfortunately,' said James, grimacing slightly. 'I was four and didn't know any better, but he was always going on about the different houses and how calm and controlled Slytherins were. Then I kind of put a Dungbomb under his pillow and he got into a really bad mood about it.'

'Typical adult,' added Remus.

'Yes, well, then I told him he had the temper of a Gryffindor and he locked me in the dungeons under our house for three hours. Well, it would have been longer, but I escaped.'

'That's horrible!' gasped Peter. 'Shouldn't he get in trouble with the law for something like that?'

'Not really, he was just acting as most fathers would. Never been sent to your bedroom, I suppose, Pete? That's what it compares to.' Peter looked bemused by what seemed like a terrible punishment.

'How many dungeons does your house have?' asked Sirius, eagerly.

'They go down several floors and expand way beyond the walls of the house.'

'Amazing, we could lock Snape down there sometime,' said Sirius dreamily.

'Sirius, when you get that really dreamy look on your face and start talking about Sev, I start to get worried.'

'Well when you start calling him cute little pet names like "Sev", I start to get worried.'

'Only worried that your boyfriend is cheating on you with me.'

'Eurgh! How can you say something that horrible, that revolting, that... that... yuck!'

'Children, children,' said Peter. 'I doubt Snape is the sort to mind a threesome if that's what you want.'

'Start running, Peter,' said Sirius. 'I'll be after you when I've finished with him,' he gestured toward James.

'Finished in what sense?' asked Remus.

'You're after Peter,' Sirius told him threateningly and turned back to James. 'You die, Potter.'

Contrary to popular belief; James was not stupid. He ducked, and ran after Remus and Peter who had backed away quickly after Sirius' threat.

Needless to say, by the time they headed back to the castle for dinner, they were all very muddy. Severus gave James a revolted look when he sat down across the table from him.

'Don't you ever wash?' he asked witheringly.

'Not if I can help it,' replied James and began his dinner.

*

James, Remus and Peter hadn't forgotten Sirius' Christmas present, but Sirius seemed to have done so, as he didn't seem to be at all worried that they would retaliate.

'We ought to do something Muggle,' suggested Remus one day while they were waiting for him in the library. 'He's Pure and he knows nothing about Muggle tricks, except Muggle Dungbombs, we could get him with something he wouldn't expect and certainly wouldn't understand.'

'What? Like the old-fashioned cover him in glue then in feathers?' suggested Peter. 'Only we can adapt it magically so it works better.'

'We could make the feathers flash different colours,' suggested Remus. 'Or maybe whenever he moves they play music.'

'We could use them to make him fly,' said James, drawing a rather quick and ugly sketch of Sirius covered in singing, different coloured feathers, flying fifty feet above the ground yelling swear words at the top of his voice.

'The flying could be done with an adapted levitation spell,' said Peter. 'The charm for colours is quite tricky, but is in our text books. What would you want them to sing? Because that would affect what charm we used as some are better suited than others.'

'Something loud,' said James, with certainty.

'How about some form of Muggle opera?' asked Peter. 'Really loud and in some sort of foreign language.'

'Get it to sing: "I love Severus Snape" in German,' offered Remus. Sirius entered seconds afterwards, and James calmly covered his clearly labeled sketch with his Potions text book as he searched for the page.

'Took you a while, mate,' he said.

'McGonagall held me up on suspicion of a Dungbomb in the third year girls dormitory.'

'Was it you?'

'What do you take me for?' asked Sirius, in an offended tone. 'Of course it was me. But she didn't have proof.'

*

James sighed. The bloody elf had just come out of another classroom. At least it was slowly heading downwards. It was the last time he would let Remus and Peter take charge of something. While Peter was researching the charms needed and Remus was practising them to get them right (he was going to be doing them), James had been told to go find glue and ordinary white feathers. They'd decided the kitchen would be the best place so he'd been trailing a House Elf for the past hour, hoping it would, eventually, lead him there.

He'd watched it go in and out of classrooms, offices and down corridors and it had not been to the kitchen once. Fortunately it now seemed to be heading downwards, which was supposedly where the kitchens were. The elf avoided the Entrance Hall, presumably working under the rule: "Elves should be neither heard not seen", which was annoying when you wanted to find one, but useful when you didn't want to be seen by a teacher.

He turned a corner and saw the elf jump up and stroke what appeared to be a picture, before disappearing through the hole that opened in the wall. James walked up and looked at the picture, it was rather ugly and cheap looking: he could have painted better at age five. It was a rather strange experience to be stroking a picture - they usually asked for passwords - but he had to find the right area.

In the end, he stroked the blotchy, out of proportion and mouldy looking pear and was allowed to enter.

He had to admit that he was impressed; there were about a hundred elves, all hard at work in the large kitchens. There were also tables corresponding exactly with those in the Great Hall, and James guessed the elves would put food on those and magic it up.

'Sir, can we help you, sir?' asked a small voice from below. James looked down to see the tiny elf. It had large ears that flapped as it spoke and a very small nose, as well as bright blue eyes. It was even dressed fairly well, in a tea towel with the Hogwarts crest.

'Hello,' said James, politely. With Dumbledore as a boss he didn't want to discourage these elves from helping him by acting like a spoiled Slytherin. The House Elves at his house had been used to that. 'I wanted to say what a great job you were doing down here, it's really appreciated.' The elf beamed.

'Thank-you greatly, sir, we tries our best!' it squeaked. 'Can we get you anything to eat, sir? Or to drink, sir?'

'No thank-you, but I have a rather odd request of you.'

'Name it, sir, we shall do our best to help.'

'I'm looking for lots of white feathers, and a bucket of glue.'

'An odd request indeed, sir, if you don't mind us saying, but we shall see what we can do. Please sit down while you wait, sir.' The elf gestured for James to sit at one of the tables and promptly disappeared.

Not wanting to appear rude, James accepted a few of the things offered to him by various elves going past. They didn't seem in the slightest bit surprised to see him, they were probably used to seeing students.

'We is sorry, sir, but we has no glue. We does have feathers though!' squeaked the elf. 'How many does you want?'

'How many does you, I mean do you have?' asked James.

'Come and see, sir.' James was surprised to find they actually had a small storeroom full of feathers, he dreaded to think what the elves actually used them for. He held a large fabric bag open and showed the elf.

'If it's alright, you could fill the bag.'

'Certainly, sir.' The elf did what appeared to be a mass levitation charm and almost completely filled the bag. James closed it at the top and tied it up.

'Thank you,' he said to the elf. 'Perhaps I'll visit you again, I could bring my friends.'

'That would be an honor, sir,' squeaked the elf. 'But I must get back to my work now.' James nodded understandingly and left the kitchens. He made his way to the disused classroom where Remus and Peter were hiding from Sirius and working on the spells involved.

'No glue, I'm afraid,' he told them. 'Loads of feathers though.'

'It's OK, I've found this simple recipe for what could be used as glue in a book,' said Peter. 'A sticky, non-corrosive and otherwise pointless potion, not to mention very easy to make.'

'I'm going to find Sirius, he's probably wondering where we are,' said James. 'How long will it take for you guys to sort the rest of the stuff out?'

'And you aren't going to help?' muttered Remus. 'It won't take too long, lazy.' James chose to ignore Remus' comment and he left the two of them alone.

James avoided them for the next few days lest they try and get him to help with the preparation. Sirius didn't seem to suspect a thing, but, for all James knew, he could be working on his own plot. Peter found him and Sirius in the library.

Thankfully, Sirius didn't notice Peter who was hiding behind a bookcase gesturing for James to come.

'Excuse me, Oh Gryffindor, I won't be a minute.' James got to his feet and walked behind the bookcase, over to the library door, and out of it, allowing Peter just enough room to follow. 'What now? Something gone wrong? I don't need to tail some other form of domestic servant do I?'

'I would have hoped you'd have a higher opinion of our abilities than that, James. Nothing's gone wrong, we need your help again. We're doing it outside so McGonagall or some other random teacher can't yell at us for messing up the corridors. You need to get Sirius outside, preferably today. We'll be waiting just outside the door, but we won't strike for a bit, until you're well clear of the castle.'

'You could give me a bit more warning, you know?'

'I suppose you're right, but you need to practice doing things on the spur of the moment. Get going. Give us at least five minutes.' Muttering under his breath about Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, James went back into the library. Sirius was still sitting there, giving James' homework an evil look.

'Victimizing innocent pieces of parchment now, are you mate?'

'Yes, it's evil.'

'Great, what's it done wrong?'

'Been written on by a Slytherin, above all else, but is also covered in incomprehensible handwriting.' James grinned.

'Want to come outside for a bit? I'm bored with this rubbish.' Sirius peered at his essay and to anyone looking at them, he would appear to be contemplating the idea, possibly considering remaining and finishing his work. James knew better. Sirius was more than likely trying to will his parchment to fill with words so that he wouldn't have to write them.

'Let's go then,' he said. This was too easy, decided James, maybe he was just not suspecting anything, or maybe he had something planned. Leaving their books and work on the desk, hoping the other students would be merciful should they wish to use the space; the two boys made their way out of the castle.

James made sure to keep a few feet away from Sirius once they were out, and the two made their way around the castle. It wasn't long before James noticed the shadow of the bucket of glue (being levitated by Remus or Peter). Sirius noticed too.

'What the-?' It tipped and James jumped back. 'Argh!' yelled Sirius as he was almost completely covered in the potion Peter had made. The feathers followed soon. James was backing away slowly, laughing as Sirius yelled. Remus and Peter had been walking behind them and now Remus waved his wand, called out an incantation, and the feathers began to flash; another spell and they began to sing in German opera, and the third spell made Sirius rise steadily upwards, yelling similar swear words to the ones that James had predicted.

'I'll get all three of you!' he yelled, and Remus took several photographs.

He was only floating for about three minutes before the noise quietened, the flashing stopped and he began to sink back to the ground.

'I'll kill you!' he yelled, landing roughly, falling then pulling himself to his feet. They backed away and Remus took another photo as he came closer. Then all three began to run.