Solemnly Swear

Chapter Four - 1973

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were perched on the boy's staircase, watching the common room furniture prancing across the carpet and trying to nibble at the edges of people's robes. A particularly friendly footstool was nuzzling Lily Evans as she stood riveted against the wall, and reached a cautious leg up to try and bat her Charms homework from her hand.

Eva Leander's black-and-white kitten was hissing ferociously at its favourite ratty old armchair, which had started to playfully chase the cat's tail before a thick wooden foot landed on the tip of the tail and pinned it to the floor.

All in all, a particularly good stunt, Sirius said, stretching luxuriously. Remus gave him the ghost of a smile. I have to do my homework, he sighed, watching his preferred table scratch at the back of the portrait hole. Anyone else? Peter?

The blonde boy dithered, looking up at James, who frowned. Quidditch practice. You know that, Moony. Peter gave Remus a look of deepest apology. Since third year, he'd never failed to watch James and the rest of their team at practice.

Remus tried not to look thoroughly put out. He should have been used to it by now. He resolved to ignore his friends' idiotic capers in the future.

They thundered upstairs, Sirius swooped over to James' trunk and pulled out the thin silvery cloak, grinning. Moony, he said in a deepening voice, you could always help me. Still doing that Transfiguration homework, remember?

Their last attempts at the Animagi transformations had left Peter with a pointed twitchy nose and Sirius with a pair of shaggy black ears poking out of his head.

James' tail had been a whitish fluffy tuft, but he'd managed to hide that from the others as they hurried to find a cure. He administered the spell to himself in the bathroom afterwards, then wondered if the tail would have made riding his broomstick a little more comfortable.

*

Hogsmeade was that weekend, and both James and Sirius emptied their moneybags at the joke shop, relying on Peter and Remus to scrape together some silver for Butterbeer.

In case you didn't notice, you three, Sirius said, swishing around the contents of his tankard and taking a sip, we're developing kind of a reputation. I think we should go public.

What? Remus spluttered. Sirius -

You mean we should make it clear that it's us doing these things? Peter said eagerly. He'd been the one who came up with the idea, last month, of letting the three geese marked one, two and four loose in the castle. A search was still on for the elusive goose number three. It was driving Filch mad.

We need a name, James said, half-listening to his best friends and half-watching Lily Evans and her clique as they entered the pub in a giggling huddle.

I'm working on it, Jamesy, Sirius said, rakishly flipping his dark hair.

*

It was Filch who thought of the name, really.

A more hopeless bunch of marauders I've never seen, he smirked, Mrs Rochester curling around his legs.

The four, who'd been on their way back from a bit of harmless jinxing in the laundry, stared out from behind a suit of armour. Remus and Peter looked terrified. James put on his haughty face. Sirius grinned.

*

Days later, the Ravenclaw Quidditch team withdrew from their game after their robes had turned invisible on their first goal. Gryffindor won by default, furthering their chances in the Quidditch Cup. The newly -christened Marauders decided to stay silent on this one, at least for now.

*

Remus was trying to get them to do their Potions homework. James argued that it was pointless, they were doomed to fail the subject anyway.

Let Severus feel proud of himself, Sirus yawned, pushing his parchment away and starting to doodle I Love Professor Vector on someone else's completed Artithmancy homework. Snivelling little freak, is Severus Snape, he grunted.

James snickered and ran a hand through his already Quidditch-tousled hair. Snivellus. Snivellus Snape.