The Tameness Of A Wolf

The next day, Sirius slept in and showed up late for breakfast. The usual sparkle was back in his eyes, and he seemed to have completely forgotten all about his fight with Snape. Remus had not, however, and he was relieved to learn that they didn't have any classes with the Slytherins until after lunch. Luckily Sirius managed to control himself throughout the lesson, meeting Snape's belligerent stares with cold civility and mercifully keeping his temper in check.

That evening, the four boys gathered in the Gryffindor common room to develop their prank.

Sirius surveyed the small, crowded room in exasperation. "We'll never find a quiet place to work here!" he exclaimed.

His companions nodded slowly - it seemed as though the entire house was sprawled in the cozy red armchairs or clustered around the tables to laugh, talk, or pore over homework with friends. There wasn't a single quiet corner where the four boys could plot their revenge in peace.

James sighed. "Perhaps we could work up in the dorm?" he suggested. But his friends were prevented from responding as Alice Perkins appeared, Julie-Ann Ferris at her heels.

"Hey, Sirius," Alice said, smiling sweetly. "Mind if I take a look at your Potions notes?"

"Not at all," Sirius replied, flashing her a quick grin and bending down to rummage in his book bag. He straightened a moment later, holding a roll of parchment. Catching his friends' gazes, he rolled his eyes briefly before turning to Alice.

"Keep them as long as you like - I'm done with my essay."

Alice nodded absent-mindedly, scanning the parchment. After a moment, she frowned. "You're done with the essay? Oh, would you mind helping me? I'm afraid this has got me so confused - " She indicated a paragraph on the scroll.

"That? That's easy, you just - " Sirius launched into a lengthy explanation of one of the basic principles of potion-brewing. Next to Remus, Peter sighed.

"We'll never get to work on our - our project at this rate!" he whispered.

Julie-Ann gazed at Sirius, pale eyes clouded with confusion. "I still don't understand," she complained. "Sirius, won't you help? You're so good in Potions . . . "

Sirius glanced at his friends, eyes filled with desperation. But James seemed to have abandoned their prank in favor of this opportunity to make his friend miserable; to Sirius' chagrin, James winked.

"Go on, Sirius, help the girls. It's only fair."

"Yeah, go on," Peter chimed in.

"Don't you want to be a chivalrous gentleman?" Remus added.

"It'll only take a moment." Alice tilted her head to one side and smiled again. "You wouldn't want us to fail Potions, would you?"

"All right," Sirius agreed. He seemed cheerful enough, but all three boys noticed the half-desperate, half-resigned look in his eyes as he turned and followed Alice and Julie-Ann to the table where they'd been working.

"He was really looking forward to getting revenge on Snape," Peter observed as Sirius walked away. "Do you think we should've told Alice and Julie-Ann that he was helping us or something instead?"

James shook his head, still smiling. "No - he'll live, I'm sure."

"But I do wish we could work on the prank tonight," Peter replied.

Remus nodded. "We'll be able to work on it tomorrow evening - but I don't know if I can stand another day of Sirius and Snape shooting glares at each other throughout all our classes." Suddenly his eyes widened. "Here's an idea! Peter, you might just be able to plan a prank tonight after all . . . "

Peter's eyes widened. "Really? Who on?"

"Sirius. I've been wanting to get back at him for the Chocolate Frog incident on the train, but I'm not quite sure how. We could work on that," he suggested.

James' face was alight with mischief. "We can't work here," he said, "we'll be overheard. Up to the dorms?" Peter nodded, and the three quickly retreated up the spiral staircase.

In the dormitory, the companions gathered on James' bed - James sprawled across the pillow, Peter perched at the edge of the bed, and Remus sat cross-legged in the middle.

"So . . . do either of you have any ideas?" he prompted after a moment.

"Something - " his companions began, then stopped and exchanged glances. Peter nodded slightly, and James continued. "Something flashy," he announced. "Something that'll attract everyone's attention. And he's got to know exactly who did it, or you're not really getting revenge."

There was a moment's silence; then Peter spoke hesitantly. "We should do the same thing to him that he did to you. You know, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth and all that. Let the punishment fit the crime."

Remus nodded. "That makes the most sense. It won't take too much planning - we might even be able to pull it off tomorrow - and Sirius will know exactly who's doing it and why, like James said."

"What spell did he use, though?" James asked. "It's not in any of our textbooks, that's for sure - but it can't be very difficult, or Sirius never would've managed it on his first try. He may be good, but he's not that good."

"Didn't he say he learned it from his cousin Andromeda?" Remus queried. "She's in Gryffindor; we can ask her."

"She might tell Sirius that we're up to something," Peter argued.

Remus recalled the way Sirius' cousin had looked the night of the Sorting - dark eyes sparkling merrily in her heart-shaped face. There was a definite air of mischief to her. "I don't think she'd tell if we asked her not to," he decided.

"What are we waiting for, then?" James demanded. "Let's go!"

Remus cast a nervous glance at Sirius as they entered the common room, but his friend was busy trying to push a giggling Alice off his arm and didn't see James, Remus, and Peter as they searched the common room. Finally, after several minutes with no sign of Andromeda, Peter caught the sleeve of a passing prefect.

"Excuse me," he ventured, "but have you seen Andromeda Black?"

"Andie?" the prefect asked, grinning slightly. "The sixth-year? Yeah, she's in the library." The three boys exchanged glances, then turned and began to make their way toward the portrait hole.

~*~

They found Andromeda Black at a tiny, secluded table at the back of the library. She was bent over a piece of parchment, scribbling furiously, and didn't look up when the three boys sat down across from her. James leaned over and tapped her shoulder.

"Er . . . Andie?" he asked hesitantly. Remus raised an eyebrow, and James shrugged. "That's what the prefect called her," he mouthed.

Andromeda's head snapped up and her gaze darted around the room before coming to rest on James. She frowned slightly.

"Oh - I thought you were Ted. He's the only one who calls me Andie. Have you been talking to him?" Her face was slightly flushed, as though she was embarrassed, and Remus realized that Ted must be her boyfriend.

"Sorry," James replied.

His tone was anything but sincere, yet Andromeda smiled at him. "It's all right. What are you doing here, anyway? I don't think I know you - wait!" She had caught sight of Remus. "You're Sirius' friend!"

Remus nodded, mildly surprised that she had remembered him. "I'm Remus Lupin. These are James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. We wanted to ask your help with something."

"Of course." Andromeda set down her quill, rolled up the parchment that she'd been writing on, stowed it in her bookbag, and leaned forward to rest her chin on her fists. "What do you need help with?"

The three boys exchanged quick glances. "This is your prank," Peter whispered, and Remus sighed before turning back to Andromeda.

"We were planning a prank, and we were wondering if you could teach us a certain spell."

"A prank? Who on?" Andromeda asked. Remus could tell that he had piqued her curiosity; she seemed to have Sirius' mischievous spirit.

"Promise not to tell?" Peter cut in, and she nodded.

"Sirius."

To Remus' complete surprise, Andromeda smiled. "Excellent. It's been ages since I've managed to trick him with a good practical joke - what spell were you planning on using?"

"We're not quite sure," James admitted. With plenty of aid from Remus and Peter he described the charm that Sirius had cast on Remus' Chocolate Frogs on the train. "He said that you taught him the spell," he finished a few minutes later, "and we were wondering if you could teach it to us so that we could use it to get revenge."

Andromeda looked delighted. "That's one of my favorite spells! I was hoping that Sirius would find a good use for it - though I must admit, I didn't think he'd have the nerve to use it before he even arrived at Hogwarts!"

"But what's the incantation?" Peter pressed.

"Oh, right." Andromeda procured a piece of parchment from her bookbag, jotted something down, and handed it to Peter. "There you are."

James leaned over to read the paper that Peter held. After a moment he looked up, eyes wide with disbelief.

"You're kidding!"

Andromeda laughed. "Not at all. Don't worry, it's not half as complicated as it looks. All the fancy Latin is a bit hard to pronounce, but you'll figure it out, I'm sure. It hardly requires any power to cast - the only reason it's so long is because the incantation has to be quite detailed or the spell won't work the way it ought to. Just say the words and concentrate on the message that you want to appear."

Peter held out the slip of parchment. Remus accepted it and studied it curiously. Sure enough, four words in Latin were inscribed in Andromeda's neatly formed, slanted handwriting.

"Eruptio verborum micantium apparet." He read slowly, tongue tripping over the unfamiliar language. His Latin pronunciation was abysmal - he'd have to work on it before he could cast the spell. On the other hand, he hated to ask Andromeda for any more help, and he couldn't go to a professor. They'd just want to know what he was going to use the spell for. Perhaps there were some books on Latin pronunciation in the library?

He looked up, intending to thank Andromeda and leave, but Andromeda seemed to have different plans.

"How are you going to use the spell in your prank?" she inquired. "I've got a few ideas - maybe I can help you. Of course," she added hastily, "if you want to work on your own, I understand completely."

Remus found his voice. "No - no, that's great! I don't have any really good ideas - " He glanced at James and Peter, who both shook their heads. Andromeda beamed.

"Wonderful! So . . . what do you want to do, exactly? Embarrass him, cause him physical discomfort, or just confuse him?"

"Embarrass him," James said immediately.

"I have an idea," Peter began. "We were talking earlier, and we decided that the best thing to do would be to make the punishment fit the crime. Well, Sirius enchanted Remus' Chocolate Frogs, so perhaps we could cast your spell on some sweets and plant them in Sirius' bookbag, or someplace in the dorm where he's likely to find them."

James seemed quite pleased by this plan, but Remus frowned. "It's too similar to Sirius' original prank," he commented. "I was thinking of something a bit different. And there are too many ways it could go wrong - someone else could find the sweets that were meant for Sirius, or Sirius could find them and offer some to us. We couldn't eat them, of course, and he'd get suspicious if we all refused."

"Besides," Andromeda pointed out, "Sirius' favorite sweets are sugar quills, and they don't come with wrappers, so the spell wouldn't work. You don't have to use something edible, you know - anything with a wrapper or some sort of outside container that Sirius would need to open will do."

"But what do we use from day to day that has any sort of wrapping?" Peter wondered.

Immediately James began to brainstorm. "We could hex his Dungbombs, he keeps them in bags under his bed. Or maybe his trunk - he still hasn't moved his clothes to his wardrobe, and he's got to open it every time he wants to get something . . . "

Remus sighed and leaned back in his chair, only half-listening to his friend's enthusiastic rambling. James has the right idea, but none of his ideas are really what we're looking for. And Sirius didn't use anything with a wrapper or packaging on a daily basis. How would they ever find something to enchant?

What came with wrappers, anyway? Letters came in envelopes - perhaps they could pretend to be his mother writing him a letter. Or a roll of parchment with a ribbon around it. A package of quills, perhaps? Or . . .

Suddenly he sat bolt upright, eyes wide. "I've got it! Ink!"

Andromeda frowned. "Ink?"

"Yes, ink!" His mind was racing, flooded with ideas, formulating a scheme. "It comes in little jars - those are containers, aren't they? We could steal his ink and replace it with an enchanted bottle. And when he opens it . . . "

James' face was alight, hair wild, glasses slipping clumsily down his long nose, but he was too excited to push them back up. "Perfect! Remus, you're a genius . . . "

Remus could feel his face reddening, and he hastened to change the subject. "So how are we going to do this? Do we want to use ink, then?"

"Of course," James said impatiently. "We've got to charm a jar of ink, and then make sure Sirius gets his hands on it somehow."

"The way I see it," Andromeda said slowly, "there are three ways you could go about doing this. You could either enchant one of his jars of ink, slip an enchanted one into his bookbag, or make a big show of knocking his ink off his desk and then offer him a spare jar."

Peter's chin was propped up on his two fists, and his forehead was creased as he pondered the situation. "I think the third option is the best," he decided. "The first two would be good if we were trying to be really subtle, so that he wouldn't know who'd charmed the ink. But we're not trying to do that - James mentioned earlier that we've got to make it perfectly clear that this is Remus' revenge for the whole Chocolate Frog deal. So we might as well make a big show out of it."

The others nodded in agreement. Reassured by their show of support, Peter continued. "Andromeda said that we could knock his ink off his desk - well, that's okay, but it'd be difficult to make it look as though we did it accidentally. We'll need to find a better way of doing it."

"His bookbag!" James cut in. "Sirius always hangs it on the back of his chair when he enters a classroom, and he doesn't take out his quill and ink until class has started and he's sure that he'll have to take notes. I sit right behind him in most of our classes - I could cast a spell that would make his bag split just after he hung it up and sat down. Everything would fall out, and the inkpot would shatter."

"Wouldn't his books be ruined?" Remus asked, frowning.

Andromeda shook her head. "I helped him pack his things for Hogwarts, and we cast spells on all of his books. They repel water, ink, blood, wine, gravy, pumpkin juice . . . you name it." She turned to James. "Do you know the incantation to make the bag split?"

"It's 'diffindo', I think," he replied. Andromeda nodded.

Remus felt a thrill of exhilaration sweep through him. He hadn't realized that planning a prank could be this much fun. They were actually going to do it . . . he couldn't wait to see the look on Sirius' face! His mind was whirling with excitement and guilty pleasure. How would the boy react to the knowledge that his own friends had the cheek to play such a prank on him? He doubted that his friend would actually be hurt, of course. That just wasn't Sirius' way - being playfully indignant would be more like him, and any signs of offense would almost certainly be feigned and exaggerated to the extreme. I wonder if he'll play another prank to get back at me after this . . . Though he enjoyed practical jokes, an all-out prank war between himself and Sirius could only end in catastrophe. And what would his parents think if he got landed in detention?

Banishing this thought to a far corner of his mind, he spoke. "So when should we do this?"

"Tomorrow!" James cheered immediately. "During History of Magic - Binns'll never notice, so we won't get in trouble."

"Great plan, but we don't have History of Magic tomorrow," Peter said with a grin. "We've got . . . " He reached into his bookbag, procured a schedule, and handed it to James, who studied it.

"There's Defense Against the Dark Arts," he began.

"No!" Remus cut in. "Not Defense," he added in a quieter voice, slightly ashamed of his outburst. But he really didn't want to play a prank on Sirius in Defense. Professor Candace was such a wonderful teacher, and he didn't want her to think that he was a troublemaker.

"Right, right, it was just a suggestion," James said quickly. "Hmm . . . how's Charms?"

Peter shook his head. "There's always a chance that we might have a practical lesson, and then Sirius wouldn't need any ink."

Rolling his eyes, James returned to the schedule. "That doesn't leave us many other classes. Not Transfiguration - McGonagall'd kill us if she caught us. That leaves . . . " He looked up, shaking his head with a sigh. "Potions."

"Professor Tramer would definitely give you detention for that," Andromeda replied. "Perhaps you should wait until your next History of Magic class after all."

"We could make it work during Potions," James protested. "It gets noisy in there sometimes when everyone's working on brewing a potion. I'm sure Tramer wouldn't notice a little explosion."

Peter made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort, and James shot him a quick glare.

"I highly doubt that Tramer would fail to notice the explosion," Remus commented. "I'm with Andromeda - let's just wait."

James sighed. "Whatever you say, Remus. I just thought it would be fun to get this done soon, since we spent so much time planning it this evening - and I didn't want to risk Sirius forgetting about the Chocolate Frog thing before you had a chance to get your revenge. But if you want to wait, that's fine."

He looks so dejected, Remus realized, studying his friend. He was really looking forward to this - he was so excited about being able to pull off a prank after all, and he's been so enthusiastic about the whole thing. Maybe he did owe it to James to pull the prank soon. Besides, the way they'd planned it they were going to get caught no matter what - why not do it sooner rather than later?

He sighed. "All right, we'll do it tomorrow." Remus realized that he'd been had as his friend looked up, grinning broadly, and he made a mental note never to believe James when he acted upset.

"Tomorrow," the bespectacled boy agreed. "We can wake up early and meet in the common room. That ought to give us enough time to enchant the ink jar. Is half past five good with you two?"

Half past five wasn't good with Remus at all, but his friend's delight was contagious, and Remus found himself smiling in spite of himself. Andromeda cheered - quietly, so as not to attract Madam Pince's attention - and Peter reached across the table to give James a high-five.

"We'd better go," James said suddenly, glancing at his watch. "It's been almost an hour since we left him with Alice and Julie-Ann - he's probably looking for us."

Nodding, his companions quickly thanked Andromeda and began to sprint back to Gryffindor Tower. But they had barely left the library when they encountered Sirius in the corridor.

"There you are!" he exclaimed. "I thought you were waiting for me up in the dorm - I've been trying to find you for a quarter of an hour! What were you doing?" he demanded, falling into step next to them. "I can't believe you left me there with Alice and Julie-Ann - they kept flirting with me the entire time, I thought I would go mad . . . "

He continued to rant all the way back to the dormitory. James, Peter, and Remus were only half-listening - they kept exchanging winks and grins. Sirius was in a foul mood for the rest of the evening, but Remus didn't care. The thought of the mischief that they were going to engage in the next day was enough to keep his spirits high for the rest of the evening.

~*~

At exactly five-thirty the next morning, Remus descended the spiral staircase that led from the boys' dormitory to the Gryffindor common room. He wasn't surprised to find it empty - he knew for a fact that James had left the dorm twenty minutes earlier and was probably still in the shower, and Peter's steady snores had just ceased when Remus began to make his way down the spiral staircase. Unfazed, he took a seat by the fire and pulled a book out of his pocket.

Ten minutes later, Peter came stumbling down the staircase, still blinking sleep out of his eyes. "Morning, Remus," he mumbled, sitting down across the table from his friend. "Have you seen James yet?"

"No, I think he's still in the shower," Remus replied without looking up from his book. "Do you have the ink?"

Peter nodded and held up a small, round jar filled with black liquid. "It's my last spare jar, but I've got it."

"Don't worry, I can give you some if you run out later," Remus offered.

"Thanks." After that the boys were silent for several moments. Remus noticed that he was drumming his fingers on the back of his book, and he sighed. James had probably forgotten to meet them. Perhaps someone should go and check on him . . . how long did it take him to shower, anyway?

Just then footsteps echoed through the room, and both boys looked up to see James descending the staircase that led to the showers. His forehead was creased in a frown, and he was running a comb through his unruly black hair. "It just won't stay flat!" he exclaimed in frustration.

"Trying to impress one of the girls?" Peter asked, smiling slightly. "I'd give up if I were you - Alice and Julie-Ann seemed pretty smitten with Sirius last night, and you don't stand a chance with Rhea, Marya, or Lily. Unless you had your eye on someone from another class . . . going after an older woman, James?"

"Oh, shut up," James muttered good-naturedly, sliding into a seat next to Remus. "So . . . have you enchanted the ink yet?"

Remus shook his head. "We were waiting for you."

"Why?" James inquired. "I'm horrible at Charms. Come to think of it, someone else had probably better cast the spell. Who's got the incantation?"

"Me," Peter said, pulling the slip of parchment out of his pocket and scanning it briefly. "How are we going to know if we've done it right, anyway?"

James frowned. "I'm not sure - but when Sirius did it on the train, he had to try it a few times before he got it right. When he finally got it, the Chocolate Frogs had a sort of aura for a moment. I assume we'll be able to tell by that."

"Okay, then." Peter raised his wand and then glanced nervously at James and Remus. "Should I do it?"

"Go ahead," Remus replied. "You're better at Charms than I am, and James - " The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes at the mention of his legendary ineptitude at Charms.

"Right." Peter raised his wand again and brought it down rapidly. "Eruptio verborum micantium apparet!" There was a moment's pause, in which absolutely nothing happened. Finally, Peter spoke. "Well?"

"I don't think it worked," Remus said hesitantly. "Were you concentrating on the message?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I was. Here, let me try again. Eruptio verborum micantium apparet!"

This time a tiny jet of light shot out of the end of his wand, and the ink jar wobbled slightly. James leaned forward, squinting at the jar. After a moment he straightened and shook his head.

"No luck. Once more? Third time's the charm . . . "

"You've got the pronunciation wrong," a quiet, mirthful voice commented.

All three boys spun around, eyes wide. Andromeda Black was standing at the other end of the common room, smiling slightly. "You're accenting the wrong syllable in about a thousand places," she continued, walking toward them. "Hasn't Professor Flitwick talked to you about Latin pronunciation yet?"

James found his voice. "What're you doing here?"

Andromeda laughed. "Well, you said you'd be in the common room at five-thirty to practice the spell. I woke early this morning, and I figured I'd come down here to see how you were doing. And lucky I did," she added. "You were pronouncing it completely wrong. It's supposed to be like this." She demonstrated the correct pronunciation of the phrase. Peter repeated it, and she nodded. "That's much better. If you'd carried on saying it the way you were . . . " She frowned. "Well, I'm not an expert, but I do believe you would have turned the entire left half of the Minister of Magic's office purple."

"That I don't believe," Remus replied, but he couldn't help smiling.

"Okay, maybe you're right," Andromeda admitted. "But it wouldn't be pleasant, whatever you did." She raised her voice in an imitation of Professor Flitwick. "Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest!" This time all three boys laughed.

"Ready, Peter?" James asked. "Concentrate on the message . . . "

Peter nodded, eyes narrow with determination. "Third time's the charm," he murmured quietly. "Right. Eruptio verborum micantium apparet!"

This time a flash of orange light shot out of his wand, hovering in the air for a moment before sinking down and being absorbed by the jar of ink. For a second it did look as though the jar had an orange aura . . . then the light faded.

The room was silent as all four stared at the ink jar. Remus was the first to move - a smile spread across his face as he leaned back against his chair. Andromeda began to

applaud, and James leaped from his chair, beaming.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, punching the air. "Sirius won't know what's hit him . . . this is going to be perfect!"

"What's going to be perfect?" came a sleepy voice from the stairwell. Remus' head jerked up, and he saw Sirius meandering down the spiral staircase in his pajamas, rubbing his eyes. "What're you doing down here? It's bloody six AM!"

Thinking quickly, Remus shoved the ink jar into his pocket and stood up, feigning confusion. "S-Sirius? What's going on?" He looked around. "Why am I here? Have I been sleepwalking?" Peter snorted.

Immediately James was also on his feet and looking around in a bewildered manner. "The common room? I thought I was on the Quidditch pitch!"

"Quidditch pitch?" Peter chimed in. "No! We were going down to the kitchens to get food . . . and then Sirius said something and suddenly I was here."

Sirius sighed, clearly annoyed. "I may be exhausted, but I'm not stupid! Come on, tell me what you were really doing."

"Nothing, really," Andromeda assured him. "Your friends were having some trouble with a Transfiguration essay the other day, and I offered to help. That's all."

"Whatever you say," Sirius said with a yawn. "Listen, I'm going back to sleep. Just try to be a bit quieter, all right?" Stifling laughter, the three friends watched him retreat back up the stairs to the dormitory.

~*~

The Gryffindor first-years didn't have Potions until after lunch. Remus, James, and Peter were twitching with excitement and anticipation the entire time - James seemed determined to wear out the surface of his desk by drumming his fingers incessantly, and Peter was so distracted during Charms that after he accidentally lit his textbook on fire for the third time, Professor Flitwick asked him to sit out the rest of the lesson. Remus tried his hardest to concentrate, especially during Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he couldn't summon his usual calm patience. If only they'd change the schedule, just once!

Finally the moment that all three boys had been waiting for arrived.

Lunch had just ended, and students were slowly trickling into the Potions dungeon. Grading papers at his desk, Professor Tramer didn't look up as each new arrival sat down at their desk and began to rummage for their homework.

James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter arrived at their usual time and took their seats, pulling papers out of their bags and joking with each other as they waited for class to begin. Sirius didn't seem to suspect anything, Remus noted - he hung his bookbag on the back of his chair, sat down, and turned to Rhea Rosenblum, seated next to him.

"Hey, Rhea, I'm not sure if I got question #5 right. What answer did you get?" he inquired innocently.

Remus rolled his eyes - he knew very well that Sirius probably hadn't done question #5 at all and was just hoping to copy Rhea's answer before class started, but he wasn't going to complain. Sirius' question had provided James with the perfect opportunity to execute the first stage of their prank. He turned to watch as his friend cast the spell.

James' gaze met Remus, and he winked before turning back to his desk. In a single deft movement he knocked his quill to the ground. Feigning annoyance, he slid out of his seat and bent to pick it up. Only Remus saw the tiny flash of light, or heard James whisper "Diffindo!"

There was a loud crash, and Sirius spun around just in time to see his bookbag split, its contents tumbling toward the floor. As Remus had hoped, Sirius' jar of ink had shattered; parchment, textbooks, and several battered Quidditch magazines lay strewn on the cold flagstones of the Potions dungeon, spattered with ink. He winced in spite of himself when he saw the mess.

Sirius sighed furiously. "How could that have ripped?" he exclaimed. "I've barely had it for a month, and there were no tears in it last night . . . "

Remus had the grace to blush slightly at the defiling of a new bag, which he quickly hid by rubbing his nose. Somehow James was managing to keep a straight face, but Remus could see a merry twinkle in his eyes as he responded, "Maybe you shouldn't have crammed so many old Quidditch Quarterlys into it."

"It wasn't my Quidditch Quarterlys," Sirius grumbled, "it was all those infernal textbooks." Rolling his eyes, he got to his knees and began to clean up the mess. Soon he had wiped the spilled ink off the floor, mended the hole in his bag, and stacked his belongings neatly beside his desk, but he stopped when he got to the tiny fragments of his ink bottle. "Tramer's going to kill me," he moaned. "That was my only jar; I haven't got any more ink with me, and there's no way I can make it up to the dorm before class starts . . . "

Remus recognized his cue. "Don't worry about it, Sirius. I've got a spare jar with me - you can use that."

Sirius' eyes lit up as Remus reached into his pocket and procured the enchanted ink. "Thanks so much, Remus! I don't know what I'd do without you - I'll give you some of my ink this evening to pay you back."

Struggling to maintain his straight face, Remus replied, "No, that's all right. Keep it - you might need it if your bag splits again."

Sirius narrowed his eyes, looking slightly suspicious, but before he had a chance to say anything, Professor Tramer rapped his knuckles against his desk.

"Class has started!" he announced, and the students fell silent. "Thank you," he continued. "Today we will be brewing a simple potion known as the Carollus Concoction. Can anyone explain to me what this potion does, and how it received its name? Yes, Mr. Snape."

Sirius' eyes narrowed as Snape began to answer the question, his low voice smooth and confident. "The Carollus Concoction derives its name from Alcestis Carollus, the witch who invented it. Its primary function is to give off heat, although recent studies by the Guild of Potions Masters suggest that it may have other, lesser uses."

"Five points to Slytherin. And can anyone explain to me why the Carollus Concoction is so useful to us? Miss Donahue."

Marya glanced up, startled; she clearly hadn't expected to be called on. Luckily, she knew the answer and responded in a high, clear voice. "Because it gives off heat, wizards will often carry a small bottle of the Carollus Concoction with them during the winter. It's like having a fire in your pocket, except it doesn't burn through your clothes." A few students laughed.

"Five points to Gryffindor." Professor Tramer turned to the chalkboard and began to write out the directions in his impeccable script. "As this potion is so simple to brew, I see no reason to walk you through the process. I'll write the instructions on the board; you'll have thirty minutes to obtain your ingredients from the supply cupboard and brew the potion. Keep in mind that it needs to simmer for five minutes at the end. At the end of class I'll be collecting labeled samples of your potions to see if they've been brewed correctly." He turned back to the class, and an excited shiver ran through Remus' body as he heard the words that he'd been waiting for: "I expect you all to be copying down this recipe!"

There was a loud rustling noise as students reached into their bags and pulled out ink, quills, and parchment to write down the instructions. Remus, James, and Peter were all watching Sirius as the boy bent down, retrieved his materials from the pile underneath his chair, unrolled the parchment, and unscrewed the lid on the jar of ink . . .

One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . five!

The jar exploded in a flash of bright light. Ink showered into the air, raining down on Sirius - but no sooner had the droplets touched his robes than they zoomed into the air again, dancing merrily before him, spelling out the message that James had suggested earlier.

Hands off my Chocolate Frogs! -RJL

The entire classroom was laughing. Sirius frowned, clearly wondering who RJL was - then realization dawned upon his face, and he shot Remus a glare that looked as though it was meant to be ferocious. There was one long moment when Remus was frozen, petrified that Sirius would stand up and start shouting at him; then his fear dissolved as the familiar sparkle returned to Sirius' eyes, and both boys collapsed in a fit of helpless laughter.

Finally Sirius caught his breath and turned to Remus, grinning, but before he had a chance to say anything, Professor Tramer rapped on his desk. Remus' smile faded immediately when he saw that the teacher was looking straight at him and frowning. Evidently the teacher had figured out who RJL was as well. He sighed. What would his parents say when they found out that he'd got detention? Though they were probably expecting it to happen, he realized, recalling his father's words to him before he left for school: "Always show up on time for detention!"

Professor Tramer rapped on his desk again, and the classroom fell silent. "Mr. Lupin, am I correct in assuming that you are the student responsible for this bit of mischief?" Remus nodded, heart sinking. "Although I'm impressed that you managed to execute that particular spell after only two weeks at school, the fact remains that I can't allow students to interrupt my class. As punishment you will serve a detention tonight, cleaning this classroom."

"Yes, sir." One night's detention - not as bad as he'd expected, but he'd still be hard put to finish his homework before midnight. Though he probably did deserve it, for disrupting class.

His thoughts were interrupted abruptly as Peter stood up. "E-excuse me, sir, but I helped him."

Professor Tramer, who had been about to finish writing the recipe on the blackboard, turned around. "Mr. Pettigrew?"

Peter nodded. "I helped him," he repeated. "I cast the spell on the ink jar. I deserve detention, too."

The teacher sighed. "Very well, then. You may join him in detention this evening."

"I helped, too!" James cut in suddenly. "I split Sirius' bookbag and broke his first jar of ink." Sirius twisted in his seat to face James, one eyebrow raised, and the bespectacled boy shrugged cheerfully.

"Detention, all three of you, and I hope you've learned your lesson. Potions class is not the time to be pulling pranks." Yet hard as he tried to remain solemn, Remus noticed that the corners of Tramer's mouth were twitching, and he seemed to be suppressing a smile as he picked up a piece of chalk once more and began to inscribe the final step of the Carollus Concoction on the blackboard.

~*~

At the end of class Remus was one of the first out the door, attempting to evade the horde of eager students trying to ask him questions about the prank. He'd made it halfway down the hallway when he heard several quick footsteps behind him. Immediately he increased his pace. If that's Alice or Julie-Ann, I'm jumping out a window! he decided as a hand grabbed his shoulder. But it wasn't - it was Sirius.

"Remus, that was fantastic!" he exclaimed, falling into stride next to his friend. "What a great idea! Did you see the look on Evans' face?"

Remus could feel his face flushing slightly. "It was hardly my idea - James and Peter helped, and Andromeda taught us the spell."

But it was impossible to put a damper on Sirius' enthusiasm. "Of course Andromeda helped - she's been wanting to pull a good prank on me for ages. But man, I never would've thought you'd try to get revenge! That was brilliant!"

"Glad you liked it," came a voice from behind them, and both boys turned to see James and Peter approaching. "You can join us in detention if you want."

Remus frowned, remembering the detention. "Why did you say you helped me?" he asked them.

"Because we did," James replied as though this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yes, but now we've all got detention! What were you thinking?"

"That Tramer's not going to sit there and watch us clean the dungeons," Peter replied, grinning. "We'll have a chance to do a bit of interior decorating, if you know what I mean . . . "

Remus felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. James grinned broadly. "Yeah," he said slowly. "Interior decorating. Brilliant idea!"

"Thanks," Peter said, face flushing slightly. "Come on, we'll be late to Herbology."