"Pass it, Worms."

"Get your own chocolate frogs!" Peter whined, but unfortunately he wasn`t quick enough to block James` grab for the bag.

James threw a frog high into the air. "You need to work on your reflexes, mate." he noted, catching the sweet in his mouth. James waited for applause, but Peter was mad and Remus was reading, so he took another frog and listened to the hiss of the train.

"Maybe you should play seeker this year, James. Your reflexes seem sharp enough."

"Why would I leave the high speed action of a chaser just to stare off into space and pray to find a tiny gold ball? Stuart might have been a boss captain, but I`m inheriting his title, not his position."

"You wouldn`t be that good at it anyway, unless they let you catch it with your big mouth." Noted Remus from behind his textbook, which earned him a frog to the head.

The compartment door flew open and was quickly slammed shut. There was a short fumbling with a wand, which ended at the harsh whisper of "Colloportus!"

Sirius Black leaned panting against the door, his body bracing the door shut. His hair was wild as usual, and black scorch marks covered his clothes and face.

"Chipmunks don`t like Ravenclaw girls." He observed offhand to his unconcerned friends.

He flinched at the loud footsteps, and held back the door as many fists pounded from the other side. The four could hear muttering and curses, but Sirius was able to hold the compartment shut even when the lock clicked open.

"He`s not in here! We`re changing!" Remus called, not looking up from the page.

Several persistent fists continued pounding, but eventually they subsided. Sirius relaxed and spread out on the bench next to Remus, resting the heels of his crossed legs atop the open textbook.

"Want some of my chocolate frogs?" James reached for more.

Sirius put out his hands and caught some. "You don`t need to even ask."

Peter pouted. "They`re my frogs, and you didn`t ask."

"You see Wormtail; we are always teaching you life lessons. Today`s lesson is generosity."

"I offered you and Moons frogs when I got on and you refused!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Tomorrow's lesson should be not complaining so much."

"Speaking of not complaining, guess who`s the new Gryffindor Quiddich Captain?"

"Could it be the twat who`s been talking and writing about it constantly all summer?"

"Or the one who has been signing his letters 'Captain James Potter'?"

"I thought it was the one who ran around his house in his pajamas singing when he got that official letter from McGonagall."

"I wasn`t singing! I was chanting merrily." James muttered. "There`s a difference."

"Did you hear about those dragons on the loose during the summer?" Remus said, his eyes finally leaving his textbook.

"What? How does that have anything to do with James being a twat?"

"I got a letter from Hagrid…"

"-Leave it to Moony to write to the teachers-"

"…and apparently some dragons came down from the north and nested in the forest over the summer."

"Awesome!"

"Not awesome. Before the Ministry could remove them, they attacked the school."

"Even more awesome!"

"No… The only part of the school that was damaged was the Quiddich pitch."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" James cried, falling off of the bench in agony. "WHY?! WHY ME? WHY NOW?!"

"How long is it going to take to fix?"

"At least two months." Remus said, "All the dragons were safely removed, but it could take a while to rebuild everything and grow back the grass."

James let out an inhuman moan.

"What are we going to do with all that spare time?" Sirius asked.

"Homework?" Proposed Remus hopefully.

"Laugh at things Moony suggests and eat heartily until we burst?"

"I don`t even have a girlfriend at the moment." Sirius complained.

"Can we talk about, for a second, how insane it is that for once Moony has a girlfriend while the elusive Sirius Black is single?" James chimed in.

"It won`t last Padfoot, you have every girl in the school falling at your feet."

"If that were only true." Sirius sighed, picturing himself king of Hogwarts.

"Really? Name one girl who isn`t falling at your feet."

"Too easy."

Remus looked up again "…That doesn`t play or announce Quiddich or have a boyfriend."

Sirius glanced out the window at the sea of wizards on the platform. "Uhhmmmmm….."

Suddenly, a spark of red caught his eye and he smiled triumphantly. "Evans."

"Please. You could make her tumble head over heels in love by the end of the month if you wanted to."

"I don`t know about that. James knows better than any of us that Lily isn`t easy." Remus reminded them, raising an eyebrow conspiratorially. "Maybe she`s immune."

"Don`t take this personally, Prongsie, but you just don`t have my level of tact and mastery when it comes to birds."

"Didn`t you put seaweed in Jenna`s bed second year to get her to talk to you?"

"Not my best work, but it did the job, didn`t it? Anyway, I could have Evans completely into me by October, tops."

"A wager, gentleman?" Peter said, eyes alight, "Who wants to bet against the world renowned Sirius Black?"

"Five galleons says he can`t make her fall in love before the first Quiddich Game."

"Thirty." James declared. "I tried for years, mate. No way can you win this in the time it takes to rebuild the pitch."

"Clarification, is this thirty between the two of us or thirty each?" Remus asked tentatively, "Because I don`t have thirty to loose, unlike some of us."

Peter pause for a moment before responding, "Between the two of you, and if we win, Sirius and I get to split the profits, and if we lose, we`ll split the payment."

"So we have a deal?"

"Nothing personal, by the way." James added quickly. "We can`t evolve personally feelings in here, otherwise things will get messy. It`s all good business."

Sirius smiled. "Naturally. All good business."

"Marauder swear on it?"

All four boys pointed their wands in the middle of the compartment, and chanted in unison, "I solemnly swear I`m up to no good."

Outside, the train whistled eerily, as if on cue.

"Let the game begin." Sirius declared, leaning back in his seat.