The Marauders: Year 2

"Sure you guys don't need help?" Sirius asked as he climbed into bed.

"Help? Oh Merlin, what are you lot up to?" Frank mumbled groggily.

"Don't worry about it, Frank, just get some sleep," James assured him and gave Sirius an appraising look. "Well, Seer, if you think you can keep up with us..."

"You think I'd have trouble keeping up with a Potter and a Pettigrew? Don't make me laugh, James, really," Sirius said, scrambling back out of bed and tucking his wand into the waistband of his pajamas. "So what are we up to?"

James motioned to Sirius to follow him out the door, "We have to catch up with Peter in the Common Room, come on."

Frank groaned loudly at the sight of them hurrying to the door and rolled over.

"Pete?" James called quietly into the now deserted Common Room.

"Over here, James," Peter called out from the slightly hidden corner. "Sirius?"

"So what're we doing?" Sirius asked, rubbing his hands together gleefully.

"Waiting," Peter replied. "Lily and Alice just went up. I think to be safe we've got at least an hour to kill."

"An hour? What're we going to do for an hour?" Sirius moaned.

Peter shook his head, "That's why Remus would've been so much better for this prank. He's got patience at least."

"We've got patience, right Jamesy?" Sirius said, settling into an armchair by Peter. "So, what's going on in the gossip mill these days? And where is Remus exactly? Don't tell me he's back in the Hospital Wing again."

"Actually, Seer..." Peter nodded.

"That lad is unbelievable. You know, I think there's really something wrong with him," Sirius reiterated.

"We know you think that," Peter groaned. "And you need to stop thinking that since all it does is cause fights between you two."

"Can I help it if old Remmy is in denial about... whatever it is that keeps dragging his carcass back into the Hospital Wing?" Sirius said and then looked at James. "You're being abnormally silent. Kneazle got your tongue?"

James shook his head, opened his mouth and then closed it again.

"What?" Peter asked. "Come on, we've got nearly an hour to kill James."

"What's on your mind, Potter?" Sirius prompted.

"Nothing, Black. Get off my case," James replied with an odd look on his face.

"'Get off my case'? Now you sound like Remus, my friend, and as much as I do truly adore one Remus Lupin, two would be one too many to handle," Sirius retorted. "What's your take on old Remmy's medical issues?"

"My take is that they're none of my business and maybe we just don't understand," James shot back quickly.

"Well if he told us, maybe we could understand," Sirius said.

"Maybe it's not exactly something most people would be very receptive to," James replied very softly, gazing out the window.

"But we're not people," Peter complained. "We're us. Whatever happened to no secrets between Marauders?"

"I think that was Sirius's grand idea that caused that huge fight, wasn't it Seer?" James asked, trying to change the subject.

"What's Remus's secret, James?" Sirius said peering at him intently.

"I'm not sure," James replied slowly, stretching out each word. "But even if I do have an idea... it's not my secret to share."

The other two glared at him but James just shrugged and glanced at his wristwatch. "Look at the time, I think we can start now."

He hitched the rope of over his shoulder and started towards the girls dormitory staircase. When he got there he unraveled the rope and split it in two, taking both ends and making small lassos. Then he curled up one rope and left the other unfurled at his feet. "Well, are you prats coming or what?"

"So, exactly what are we doing, James?" Sirius asked, crossing the room to where his friend was awaiting him.

"Just a little harmless torture," James grinned as he tossed the rope up the steps, lassoing as torch bracket several feet into the stairway.

"I don't understand this part James, why is the rope necessary?" Peter asked.

James grinned, "Trust me, we'll get nowhere without this rope." James tugged it a bit, testing to make sure it could hold his weight and stepped onto the girl's dormitory staircase. The steps promptly slid together creating a large slide and James tightened his grip and pulled himself up even with the torch bracket, where he then lassoed the next one up. "Meet you in the Second Year girls dorm and for Merlin's sake, be quiet."

Sirius and Peter glanced at one another. The two boys then raced to the staircase to begin pulling themselves up into the girls dormitory.

~~*~~

Early the next morning, residents of Gryffindor Tower awoke to several angry shouts. Many of the boys (James, Sirius and Peter included) rushed down into the Common Room to see what was the matter.

Standing in the Common Room were five very angry Second Year girls. Also, from various spots on the staircase people were shouting to for help, claiming to be stuck.

"You," Alice Longbottom, usually sweet and relatively quiet, growled at Peter.

Margaret Bell stormed up to James and Sirius, "You changed my clock. I slept through the Quidditch meeting!"

"There are peanuts all over our dormitory," Lily sputtered angrily.

"You rubber cemented the railing. Rubber cement!" Tessa yelled shrilly. "There are five different people stuck to the bloody thing right now!"

"Which one of you beyond the pale gits changed all the feathers in our pillows to needles? It was not appreciated," Rebecca said quietly, glaring at the three Marauders.

Melissa appeared rather dazed and nowhere near as angry as the others, but quickly added in a sleep muddled and somewhat shocked tone, "I slid off the toilet. Did you grease the toilet seats? Bloody hell, I slid off the toilet."

The majority of people now gathered in the Common Room were chuckling at the expense of the Second Years. Sounds could be heard from the staircase indicating that other Gryffindors were attempting to help out the girls stuck to the railing.

Peter, James and Sirius stood amongst the boys attempting to bite back their laughter as Melissa and Tessa slowly retreated back towards the dormitory, Melissa still mumbling about 'sliding off the toilet' and Tessa cautioning her not to touch the railing.

Alice, Rebecca and Lily remained as the Common Room thinned out.

"So that's what the Sleekeazy potion was for, huh James?" Rebecca glared at him.

"You're going to pay for this," Lily said, glowering at the three boys. "Oh, are you ever. Come on girls." She started up the stairs and the other three followed her.

"Wicked," James murmured and headed back up to the boys dormitory. "Well, we've still got a few hours until the Quidditch try outs. Let's get some sleep."

~~*~~

"Rebecca?" Sirius asked in a surprised tone. "What're you doing here?"

"Don't tell me you don't think girls can play Quidditch, Black?" Rebecca Longbottom glared at him.

James smirked and called over his shoulder as he began to run the rest of the way to the pitch, "Well, I certainly didn't!"

Chuckling, Sirius ran off after him amidst Rebecca's outraged cry of, "Boys!"

As they reached the pitch James slowed down and glanced around. Several other Gryffindors, more than there were open spots on the team, were clustered around the middle of the pitch, waiting for the last three stragglers to catch up. In the middle of the cluster were Peter and Margaret Bell and Alan Beamish, the remainders of the team from last year.

"Right then, all here?" Peter bellowed to the group. "Everyone going out for Chaser, over to that bench. Beaters, over to that bench and Keepers head down towards that goal area. One of us will be down to speak with each group and warm you up before the real tryouts begin. Just so you're aware, this is my final year and I have every intention of winning that Quidditch Cup, understand? If you make the team, you will eat, breathe and sleep Quidditch until May. If that doesn't sound like something you're up for, then I suggest that you head back up to Gryffindor Tower right now, we'll see you in the stands." He looked around at the group of eager, nervous faces staring back at him. "Right then. Meg, take the Chasers over there. Al, you warm up the Beaters and I'll take anyone going out for Keeper." He strode off towards the goal posts.

"Well, I guess I'll catch you on the flipside, eh Sirius?" James grinned cockily and shouldered his broomstick.

"Right," Sirius replied with a similar grin, following after Alan Beamish.

James turned and headed towards Margaret Bell, he noticed that it was only himself and Rebecca heading over there. He shot a grin at her and she scowled back at him in return.

"Just the two of you, then?" Margaret asked, grinning. "Well, come on, let's stretch." She dropped lithely to the ground, stretched out her legs and started stretching towards her toes. James and Rebecca followed suit.

"You know there's only one spot open, Becca, don't you?" James muttered to her as they stretched.

Rebecca just glared at him, but Margaret spoke up, "That's debatable actually. Alan's been dying to go out for Keeper since Second Year, but no one would've been able to take Harvey Wood's place. The man was unstoppable. His brother Henry is trying out today, I think." Margaret paused to look around the field and then gestured towards where the Beaters were warming up. "But he's nothing compared to Harvey. Anyway, there's a chance you could both make the team. If not, well, there's always the reserves, isn't there, and that's not such a bad place to start." She picked up her broom. "Come on, lets do some warm up laps."

As James glanced down at the field below him, he saw Sirius and three others tossing around a Quaffle and four different people trying to block Peter's goals down in the goal area. After two laps, Margaret returned to the ground and grabbed a Quaffle. "Time for some fun, ladies and gentlemen," she shouted to them as she lobbed the ball at Rebecca.

~~*~~

James and Sirius shuffled into the Common Room sweaty, dirty and thoroughly disheveled.

"So how'd it go?" Remus asked, looking up from one of his books.

"Nice to see you're back in the land of the living," Sirius commented. "I need a shower. Yell if they post the list, eh James?"

"Not on your life, Black. I'm going to be right in the stall next to you," James groaned as he hauled himself slowly up the stairs. "Yell for us if they post it, Remus, will you?"

Remus nodded and bent his head back into his book. A few moments later he noticed the two Bells and Alan Beamish make their way through the portrait hole and into a nearby corner. Both were smattered with dirt and talking excitedly, carrying a piece of parchment. They sat down for a few moments and then Peter got up and, with a quick sticking spell, posted a piece of parchment on the announcements board.

Feeling that James and Sirius both needed their showers, Remus decided not to yell but to go over and check for himself. Posted in a prime spot on the center of the board, Remus easily read:

Gryffindor Lion's Quidditch Team

Captain and Seeker

Bell, P.

Keeper

Beamish, A.

McDonald, N. (Reserve)

Chasers

Bell, M.

Longbottom, R.

Potter, J.

Beaters

McKinnon, M.

Vance, E.

Wood, H. (Reserve)

Remus winced. Well, I'm definitely not hunting down Sirius now, he thought. At least James made it, apparently Rebecca did, too. A second later he was jostled out of the way by all the Gryffindors who had tried out. He saw Emmaline Vance and Marlene McKinnon high five each other and grin widely. Settling back down onto the couch with his book, he noticed two very wet blurs shoot past him. The one with very messy hair yelped and shot his hand up into the air in a gesture of victory, then turned to glance at the other boy.

Sirius just shrugged his shoulders and then offered James a small grin. "Way to go, James. I'm sure I'll make it when Em and Marlene graduate. That's only two more years."

Remus saw James wince. "Maybe you can make reserve next year, Wood is graduating this year," he offered.

"Yea, maybe," Sirius started towards the stairs. "I'm going to go dry off."

James wandered over to Remus, still dripping water all over his robes.

"I see congratulations are in order," Remus grinned at him.

James scowled, "Sirius was better than Vance and McKinnon. I bet Em only made the team because Pete likes her."

Remus raised an eyebrow, "I wouldn't go around projecting that opinion if you want to live to thirteen, James."

His shoulders fell, "I know. I really do know, just... it was supposed to be me and Sirius... now it's just not as good."

"You still made the team, and it's not even as though you beat him out of his own position," Remus replied. "He'll be happy for you once he gets over it, and you were right, he can always try out next year."

James offered Remus a small smile. "Thanks. You're gonna come to the games, right?"

"Well someone needs to keep Sirius in check. Really, the boy is like a puppy that needs constant watching sometimes," Remus replied reopening his book.

James's grin widened and he slapped his friend on the back, "Thanks. I'd better go dry off." And with that, James sprinted up the steps.

~~*~~

The next month passed rather uneventfully. James headed off to Quidditch practice every morning before the crack of dawn, Sirius plotted different pranks to torture students and staff alike, Peter wandered the corridors looking for new hallways and hidden passages, and Remus spent another weekend in the infirmary.

"Oof."

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Not, it's entirely my- Evans?"

"Potter?"

James shook his head as he watched the short red head whirl on her heel and stalk away from him, muttering foul things that could even make Sirius's eyes widen in surprise under her breath.

"What was that about?"

Looking up, James saw Peter standing a few feet away. Peter walked forward, picked up James's broom and handed it to him.

"Evans," James growled slightly, then chuckled, "I think she's still a bit bitter about getting stuck to the railing in September."

Peter joined in laughing. "Well, we certainly did manage to alienate all of the Gryffindor five with that one. Lily's only just begun to speak to Remus again and he wasn't even there that night."

"Ah, that's right. I'd forgotten Remus missed out on that," James said, shouldering his broomstick.

"He was in the infirmary again then, wasn't he? And he just got back from another stint in there last evening. I really am beginning to think Sirius may be on to something," Peter said as he began to shuffle along next to James.

Attempting to change the subject, James looked his friend over, "What are you doing up and around at this hour?"

"Following a broom closet," Peter replied as though it were a most normal thing to be doing at quarter after seven in the morning.

"Ah, of course," James replied, saddling Peter with an odd look. "Following a broom closet, perfectly normal that is."

Peter blushed at his friend's teasing, "Actually... yes. You see, it moves."

"The broom closet moves?"

"Didn't I just say that?"

"Well... most don't, you know."

"Of course I know. I am Muggle born and raised. Our broom closets certainly don't move."

"And you're following this one because..."

"It's the only one that seems to actually... move. And at random too. I've almost got the timing down, but it'll move even if something... say, a person, is in it. I don't know how to chart it though, I'm trying to figure out if there's some sort of pattern."

"And you do this at seven in the morning?"

"Actually, I began at about quarter of six."

James stared at him, mouth agape. "Quarter of six? That's only about fifteen minutes after I leave. And, as I recall, you're not exactly one for waking early, Pete."

Peter shrugged. "The castle is quiet and no one cares if you're up early as long as you're not out late... something to keep in mind for future pranks."

"But is a broom closet really that important?"

Peter slowly turned very red and glanced down at the floor, "I can find the broom closet."

"That makes absolutely no sense, Pete."

Peter stopped walking and looked up at James. He hesitated for a moment and then shrugged, "You and Sirius and Remus, you lot... you're all so smart and everyone wonders why you spend any time with me... like I'm not good enough to hang out with you."

James opened his mouth to interrupt but Peter shook his head and held up his hand, "No, no. I know I'm good enough to hang out with, I mean... you all must see something. And that stupid map, well... I can plot it. I really can. I've got this strange sense of direction. I mean, to make the map do everything Sirius wants it to do, there will be so many complicated spells and such... I might not be able to do them... but this, doing something like chasing a broom closet so I can plot it right, I can do that."

Peter paused to catch his breath after that tirade and then shrugged once more, grinning a self-effaced grin, "Even if it does meaning waking up before the bloody crack of dawn."

James stared at his shorter, chubbier friend and then shook his head in what appeared to be amazement, "You're something else, Pete. You're a bloody lunatic, but you're something else."

Peter laughed as James slapped him on the back and called out, "Race you to the Tower."

Peter groaned as the muddy shape of his best friend shot past him in the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room.