The Marauders: Year 2

"I've got to go get my trunk, see you in the Great Hall, Trixie," Peter said and hurried off towards their compartment.

"You go, James, I ought to give Sirius some time to clear out if I don't want to be hexed into next century," Remus chuckled. James bid the two farewell and left in the direction Peter had gone off in.

"Why is Sirius sporting that lovely rain cloud?" Trixie asked him, trying to haul her trunk off the luggage rack above her head.

"You're going to get hurt," Remus said, pushing her gently aside and quickly pulling the trunk down.

"Oh my," she said. Following her finger, Remus could clearly see James and Peter cackling madly as they walked along a fair distance from Sirius to try and keep clear of the rain and lightening. "Mad, you're all mad." She smiled slightly and then looked up at him quite seriously, "Stay mad, alright Remus? Everyone needs a good chuckle sometimes."

Remus glanced down at her. Over the summer he'd grown just enough so that he was now slightly taller than she was. "I think your right. The world does need a little madness."

Her smile grew just a bit as she heaved her trunk towards the door, "See you in the Great Hall, Remus Lupin."

Remus watched her deftly tug her trunk out onto the station platform and then headed to pull of his own luggage. Peter showed up a few minutes later and grabbed one side of the trunk.

"Even stevens, now," he grinned.

"Huh?" Remus asked.

"Muggle phrase, I guess. But you helped me with my trunk, now I've helped you with yours. Even stevens," Peter shrugged.

Remus nodded, "It's a good concept." He glanced over to Sirius, "I see he's only slightly tinged blue now. That spell faded quickly."

"Yea, well. Didn't really want him to be sporting Ravenclaw colors for the Sorting, now did I?" Peter grinned impishly.

Remus chuckled, once again amazed at how well Peter could diffuse a situation. Undoubtedly, Sirius would have some foul revenge planned, but after that the 'war' was over, as far as Remus was concerned.

Peter pointed with one hand ahead of them and made a face, "That git."

Remus immediately recognized the greasy hair and precise gait of Severus Snape a few feet in front of them. "You know, Pete, this had the promise to be a very good year," Remus commented as he saw Sirius whirl around and cast a small spell to trip Snape, which sent him flying into a couple of Fourth Year Hufflepuff girls, causing them to scream shrilly and Snape to turn bright red.

~~*~~

The Sorting is really rather dull when you're not the one up there, Sirius thought as he glanced at the slowly diminishing lines of First Years. Although that Madison Bell is one cute First Year, wouldn't fancy informing her older brother of that thought though. He glanced down the table to the tall, slim boy who'd been Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team for the past five years. Sirius was sure he'd be chosen as captain this year. I sure hope I get that spot as Beater. I'm not bad, but... there could be others who are better. I'll have to haul James, Remus and Peter out there for some practice before the actual try-outs. Then he glared over at Remus, who just raised his eyebrows in response and put on a very innocent look. Definitely, that spell will work like a charm then we'll be even. Maybe. Bloody rain cloud, I really think that McGonagall was trying not to laugh when she undid that incantation. Where does he find the time to learn all these things? He looked back over at the First Years and grinned happily when Professor McGonagall called out Zigtwith, Harvey, who was sorted into Ravenclaw. Yes, time for some grub! I didn't even get to eat on the train, I was going to nick some of Pete's sweets, but the bloke didn't come back until the end of the trip and he had the nerve to laugh at me sitting there sopping wet. Well, showed him, didn't I? Chuckling at the thought of Peter as the small rat he'd transfigured him into, Sirius glanced over at his friend who scowled back at him in return. This time Sirius grinned innocently, inwardly laughing at the fantastic resemblance Peter had had to Bob for the short time he'd managed to hold the charm.

He leaned had completely tuned out Dumbledore's commencement of term speech in favor of staring blankly at the members of his House, well, not quite all the members, more often the female ones. Well hello Marlene McKinnon, he thought happily. You sure did loose some weight this summer. I wonder what the odds of a Second Year and a Sixth Year... probably not good. He shrugged which earned him an odd look from James. Emmaline Vance, sad to see your acne is apparently never going to clear up. Catriona...well look at that smile, you could go blind if you stare at it for too long. His eyes moved back in the direction of Madison and Peter Bell, stopping this time to take in Margaret. Looks like all that summer Quidditch playing definitely paid off. If she's looking for a broomstick to ride...his thoughts trailed off and he had to fight the urge to laugh. He was well aware that the other three Marauders weren't thinking in quite the same range that he was yet and he wondered what their response to that last thought of his would be. For Merlin's sake, what is it about women? Even if they're not all that great looking technically, they're beautiful. How do they pull that off? Eyes widening, he took in the sight that was now Doris Crockford. Only a year above him, she and James often competed against one another in Wizard Chess. Last year she hadn't been all that noticeable, but sometime over the summer good old Mother Nature, to whom Sirius just addressed a prayer of extreme thanks, kicked in and good old Doris was now sporting one wickedly tight Gryffindor sweater. Sweet Merlin, I'm in love. He sighed and dropped his head into his arms to stare at her better. In doing so he managed to sink his elbow into a butter dish just as it appeared out of nowhere, announcing the start of the feast.

~~*~~

"What are you doing?"

Jumping guiltily and grinning madly, Sirius Black put the pillow back onto Remus's bed.

"Absolutely nothing at all, Pete. Where are the others?"

Peter crossed the room and glanced down at Remus's pillow. "Why don't I trust you?" he asked.

"Because you know me too well?" Sirius pulled on his pajama's and crawled into bed. "Really though, where are the others?"

"James is down in the Common Room talking to Bell about when Quidditch try-outs are going to be. McGonagall made him captain, you know. And Melissa dragged Remus off for a bit, well, she didn't exactly have to drag him," Peter said chuckling.

"Mel dragged him off?" Sirius said, sitting straight up in bed.

"Mmhmmm," Peter assented, digging in his trunk for his own pajamas. "I figured I'd just turn in. I'm pretty beat anyway. This morning was complete bedlam at my house."

Peter climbed into his bed. Sirius propped himself up on his elbows and looked over at his chubby friend. The others had all seemed to grow a bit over the summer, but Peter had somehow not gained an inch. "So how about that Madison Bell, eh Pete?"

Groaning, Peter looked over at his friend. "You're starting with that nonsense already? We've got so many more important things to do than worry about girls."

Sirius chuckled, "I'm not worrying at all. I just need a plan."

Groaning more softly this time, Peter rolled over muttering something along the lines of, "the relationship guru rides again, bloody fantastic" and pulled shut his curtains.

Just as he was reaching for his own, Sirius hesitated upon hearing the pounding of feet running up the steps. James came into the room a moment later grinning widely.

"Try outs are next Sunday afternoon. I was thinking the four of us could go practice a bit on Saturday, you up to it?" he said to Sirius as he pulled on his pajama pants, so excited he was hopping around, which caused him to trip and fall onto his bed.

"Am I up to it? Of all the insults, James Potter," Sirius began.

"Right, fantastic," James said, cutting him off. "I've got to write to my mum. Tell her I'm safe and all... you know, I think she expects a raging hippogriff to charge the Hogwarts Express each year... lunacy."

While James settled himself down at his desk and Sirius readjusted his pillows, Remus slipped quietly into the room and crossed to his own bed. He pulled off his robes, but didn't bother with his uniform and just climbed into bed.

A startled cry alerted James and Sirius to his presence. James jumped up to go help his friend, but Sirius had his hands firmly clamped over his mouth to keep from laughing.

"What the bloody hell... I really don't need this now... what the..." Remus was sitting straight up in bed poking at his pillow. James was standing next to him when a look of comprehension crossed his face and then a scowl. "Well, Black, are we even now?" he yelled over at Sirius's bed.

Laughter met his shout and a muffled, "Even," was his reply.

"Well what is this and how do I undo it?" Remus asked irritably, holding his pillow gingerly.

"Go ask McGonagall," Sirius guffawed. "She had to undo that bloody rain cloud of yours."

"I don't want to hunt down McGonagall, I just want to sleep, it's been an absolutely horrible kind day," Remus huffed glaring at his pillow.

"What do you mean it's been a horrible day? It hasn't been bad at all," James asked.

"What happened with Melissa then, Remus?" Sirius cackled.

Remus grabbed his wand and jumped out of bed. He crossed the room and pointed it at Sirius's head, "Undo whatever you did to this pillow or help me Merlin, I'll hex you into next Tuesday."

The mood in the room changed immediately from humor to anger, "What's the matter Remus, can't take a taste of your own medicine?"

"You know darn well that I can, but I just can't tonight, ok? Okay?" his voice rose a bit hysterically at the end and the mood took a drastic change from one of anger to one of concern in an instant.

Sirius reached for his wand and tapped the pillow, "Finite Incantatem." Then he looked up at Remus. "That's all there is to it. I transfigured the feathers into needles."

Remus stalked back across the room. "Bloody brilliant, pea brain," he muttered.

"Pea brain?" Sirius asked as James asked, "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Remus replied, getting back into bed and checking his pillow before lying back down on it

"What happened to your arm? That's a really nasty burn," James said, peering at a small burn on Remus's forearm.

"Nothing," Remus said, glaring at him. Then he reached for the curtains and pulled them down right in James face.

"Well, this is going to be a lovely start of term, thank you Sirius," James said as he walked back over to his desk.

Sirius opened his mouth to protest and then closed it. Clearly now was not the time to get anyone riled up. Instead he just pulled his own curtains shut and drifted off to sleep.

~~*~~

"Are they fighting again?" Peter asked James at breakfast the following morning.

"I don't think so," James said. "I think they're both just in mutual bad moods this morning."

Sirius was sitting down at the end of the table with the Bells, talking Quidditch. He'd arrived well after James and Peter. Remus still had not made an appearance.

"Smashing," Peter muttered and looked up in time to see Remus appear in the doorway of the Great Hall talking with Trixie McGonagall. The two went their separate ways as Trixie sat down at the Ravenclaw table and Remus walked towards the two Marauders.

"Are the two of them...?" Peter trailed off.

"I thought he fancied Melissa," James said shrugging. "Who knows?"

Remus slid into his seat then and pulled a bowl of porridge towards him. "Morning."

"How come you can handle talking to Trixie first thing in the morning, but never us?" Peter asked.

"Intelligent conversation," Remus muttered.

"Yeah but... she never shuts up," Peter said.

"That's not exactly true anymore," Remus replied, glancing over at the quiet girl sitting at the Ravenclaw table. "Actually she doesn't talk much at all anymore..."

Remus slid over as Sirius sat down next to him. "Pass the jam, Remus," Sirius said. "Right, so the four of us are going to go out to the Quidditch pitch on Saturday afternoon around two, Bell said it would be okay to go then."

James took a piece of parchment that was passed his way and glanced at it. After doing a double take, he shot a mouthful of pumpkin juice out of his mouth, drenching Remus.

"What was that, Potter?" Remus replied angrily, trying to wipe off the orangey drink.

"We have potions with the Hufflepuffs!" He exclaimed and then repeated it even louder. "We have potions with the Hufflepuffs!"

"No way," Sirius said, grabbing at his paper. "My mum said that Gryffindors and Slytherins always have potions together, it's like some sort of unwritten law!"

All four boys were studying their papers now.

"We don't have Care of Magical Creatures anymore, I wonder why?" Remus observed.

"Did Kettleburn get sacked?" Peter asked, wriggling around in his seat.

"No, he's up at the teachers table..." James said.

Strolling up to the table, Frank Longbottom leaned over by the Marauders and said, "Any of you lot have Care of Magical Creatures on your schedule?"

"No, you too, huh? Think it's just Gryffindor or all the houses?" James asked.

"I'm going to go find out," Frank said, crossing over to speak with Rob Davis at the Hufflepuff table who was already in conversation with Rob Cage from Ravenclaw.

"Oh man, I kinda liked Care of Magical Creatures," Sirius moaned as he stuffed his schedule into his book bag.

"Well, if you ask me, no Care of Magical Creature and potions with the Hufflepuffs seems like the greatest year ever to me," Remus said grinning.

"I'm with you about the potions," Peter agreed.

"Speaking of which, we've got our first lesson in it in about ten minutes. Ready for another year of good old Nackle?" James stood up and swung his book bag over his shoulder. "Last one to the dungeons is a pickled pig's foot!"

"Is he literal about that?" Peter asked, and then realized the other two were already gone. Quickly he reached down, grabbed his bag and headed after them into the dungeons.

~~*~~

"Who here thinks Nackle is not happy about the potions switch, say aye?" Remus muttered from the corner where he was working on a four foot parchment about antidotes. A four foot parchment would've been cruel enough, but whenever Nackle says the word 'antidote' every student knows to listen up, since someone will probably be poisoned.

"Double aye," Peter groaned. "I'm going to be poisoned, I know it. He just loves poisoning me."

"This is not a fun way to spend our first night back," Sirius complained. "Have I mentioned I hate you, Jamesy boy? Because I really do."

James had slipped away to the library at lunch to begin his essay and had finished it nearly an hour earlier. Now finished with all his other work, James was preparing to head out to the library to do a little research. He refused to elaborate on what type of research.

Suddenly Peter looked up at the others and put a hand to his neck.

"Aright then, Pete?" James asked nervously, worried that something was wrong with his scars.

"I'm fine... just... where's my medal?" Peter asked.

"Medal? Are you sure your alright, Pete? You've never received a medal," Sirius said.

"No, no. It's some saint thing, my mum got it for me after... well, you know. My parents believe in all that saint business. I don't usually take it off, the clasp must've slipped," Peter said, getting up to look around. "Could you guys help me? I know I had it on earlier. It's just a plain old chain with a small medal charm."

The Marauders spread out across the Common Room and began searching. About five minutes later, James let out a small whoop of triumph.

"Remmy, catch!" he yelled as he chucked the small medallion at Remus, who was stationed halfway between James and Peter.

Remus instinctively reached out his hands to grab the necklace. However, the instant it touched his skin, he howled in pain and dropped it. Peter rushed over and picked it up. He redid the clasp around his neck and looked at Remus oddly.

"Are you alright?" Peter asked.

"Fine. Just... arm cramp. Hurts. I'm going to bed," Remus muttered, quickly gathering his stuff and heading up the staircase.

"Well that was bloody odd," Sirius said. James and Peter nodded in reply.

"Can I see, Pete?" James said, leaning towards his friend who obligingly pulled the chain out from his shirt.

"It was actually my grandfather's," Peter said somewhat proudly. "Most are gold, but he was allergic, so this one's silver."

"Nice," James said and grabbed his book bag. "Well, I'm off to the library." Slipping through the hole, he tossed a rather mischievous look over his should at the other two and then disappeared.

~~*~~

"And what are you two up to?" Sirius asked Peter and James a week later. The two grinned back at him wickedly.

"Absolutely nothing," James chuckled.

Peter's eyes lit up, "But it would be a huge help if you might be able to provide us with a rather long length of rope."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at the request but merely said, "How long?"

The two Marauders bent their heads together while Sirius stood patiently above them. "About three hundred meters?"

"Give me an hour," Sirius said and slipped away quietly. James and Peter put their heads back together and continued to plot uninterrupted for a few minutes.

"You know, that's never a reassuring sight," Remus mumbled as he lowered himself onto the couch.

"Remmy, you look..." Peter began.

"Horrible," James finished. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," the thin boy offered up wanly.

"Maybe you should go to the Hospital Wing," James suggested.

Remus made a face, "I hate the Hospital Wing."

"Really?" Peter asked. "You spend so much time there, I figured you thought of it as a second home."

Remus glared at him, "How many people do you know that actually enjoy the Hospital Wing?"

Peter looked down at his shoes, "It was just an observation."

"Yea, well... stop observing," Remus replied as he gingerly pulled himself off the couch and headed for the portrait hole.

"Oi, he gets weirder the longer I know him," Peter muttered still looking at his shoes.

"Ah, forget about it, Pete. He'll get over it, whatever it is," James said. "Now you go down to the kitchens and start bringing up all those peanuts. We can hide them over in that corner. People only go there to snog. I doubt anyone has ever read a single book from those bookshelves. After that, go find as much rubber cement as you can. I bet there are a few other Muggleborns who have some, too. I'll figure out a way to get a bottle of Sleekeazy hair potion gunk or whatever it's called."

"Alright," Peter agreed, scurrying towards the portrait hole.

James snuck a glance over at Melissa and Rebecca chatting in the corner. Not his first choice for girls to ask about Hair Potion, but there just might be a chance that they could procure him some. An evening late last term when the Gryffindor five had shown up for dinner looking like knock-outs stuck in his mind.

"Hello there, oh fair maidens of the Gryffindor tower," James said pompously as he slid across the room to them.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow and Melissa mouthed 'oh fair maidens' at her, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Out with it Potter, what do you want?" Becca demanded.

Thinking quick, James gestured to his hair and dropped the act. He offered what he thought to be his most charming little boy grin and began, "It's this stupid hair of mine. I was thinking that that hair gook you girls use, Sleekeazy is it called? It might help me tame it... but clearly I don't exactly want it getting all around the Common Room that I'm using a girl's hair potions and all. I was hoping you might be of some help."

Melissa burst into laughter and gestured at Rebecca's long, straight hair that was pulled up in a simple ponytail and her mass of frizzy, unruly curls. "Does it look like either of us use hair potions, James?"

"Well... er," James had a feeling this was a bit of a trick question. Then he beamed, "With natural beauty like yours, who needs hair potion. I was just hoping you might be able to tell me from whom I might procure a bottle."

Rebecca shook her head disbelievingly and Melissa quirked an eyebrow at that. But Becca then just shrugged, "Tessa's your girl if you want any sort of beauty products. She's got everything under the sun."

James put on a rather sad face, "But isn't Tessa upstairs? We both know I can't get up there."

Melissa narrowed her eyes at him, "You know, Becca, I suspect ulterior motives here..."

Rebecca just grinned, "Just leave me out of it, Potter. I'll go see if she'll lend you a bottle, you whacko." She hopped up and headed for the girls dormitories.

"Did she just call me a whacko?" James asked, an amused grin playing on his lips.

Melissa just rolled her eyes and gestured for him to sit. "So what are you up to?"

"That would spoil all the fun, Mel," James replied taking his seat.

"And where are the other three?"

"Remus wandered off, to the infirmary I believe. Peter is off nicking food from the kitchens and... Sirius, well, in all honesty, I don't know exactly what he's doing," James said. "What've the other Gryffindor four been up to?"

"Oh, you know Lily. She's already slave driving us about homework. Becca and I escaped from the dorm before she got too bad. Can you believe she's already started on us about O.W.L.s? We've got nearly four years... the lunatic," Melissa said, muttering the last two words.

"Well, I'm with you on that one. Lily Evans is definitely not my favorite person," James conceded.

Suddenly a mass was dropped on his lap and he looked up to see Sirius sauntering back towards the boys dormitory.

"What on Earth?" Melissa asked staring at the bundle James was cradling.

"Umm... rope," James grinned. A moment later the portrait hole swung open and Peter stumbled in, his arms grasping a huge bag, and headed for a distant corner.

Melissa held up her hands in a gesture of surrender, "I don't even want to know." She stood up and headed for the girls dormitory as Becca appeared at the bottom step.

"Potter," she yelled as she chucked a bottle at James. He easily caught it and grinned back at her.

"Thanks," he yelled back.

"She said try not to use it all," Becca called back as she turned to ascend the steps with Melissa.

James got up and walked over to the corner holding three huge bags of peanuts and added the length of rope and bottle of hair potion. Tonight was going to be a lot of fun.