"Sirius?" James asked as they walked into another dark patch of
trees, "Where are we?"
"I don't know. Somewhere in the Dark Forest."
"I know that, but- are we going the right way."
"We can only hope so." Sirius replied.
"I heard dark things- worse than centaurs- live here." James said fearfully.
"I think centaurs are the least of our worries."
A shadow passed over them, making them both jump back in surprise. It was only a wavering tree branch, but Sirius still whispered in a raspy, fearful voice, "Something wants to kill us."
"And Peter and Remus aren't with us.. Why didn't you tell them?" James asked.
"Because, Peter and Remus are chickens. They'd want to turn back by now. And Remus doesn't want to get into trouble."
They heard a deafening howl and James transformed in a horse, as did Sirius a dog. They ran for a long while, until finally stopping to catch their breath. "We're definitely lost now." Sirius commented.
So they found nothing other to do than keep walking, assuming that fi they were going the right way, the forest would come to an end, leading them back to the castle.
Sirius tripped on a tree branch, "OUCH!", and his voice echoes through the trees. "Uh-oh." he commented, as he saw a shadow moving toward them. He recognized it as Hagrid.
"We're saved!" James shouted gleefully.
"James Potter?" Hagrid asked, surprised.
"Hi Hagrid." Sirius greeted, standing up and kickign the tree branch.
"An' Sirius Black!?"
"Yes, you didn't actually think we were going to go alone?"
"Back ter the castle." Hagrid ordered.
"But we're-"
"Now Sirius." Harry repeated.
"But- just let me finish-" Sirius argued. "Please! I'm not askin' ye' I'm tellin' ye!"
"But we're lost!" James complained.
"In the middle of the nigh'!?"
"Uh, yeah." He grinned "It's so dark that we can't see."
"So you blindly walked inter the forest?" Hagrid demanded.
James shrugged. "Not that I know of."
Sirius elbowed James. "We're dead now."
"I'm erfraid I'm goin' ter haveter take ye' to Dumbledore." Hagrid replied. He turned and started to leave.
Sirius and James followed and within a few minutes they reached the edge of the forest. They both wondered what could be in store for them. They were only eleven years old and watned a little adventure. A month at Hogwarts and they were already wondering if they were going to be expelled.
The halls were dark as they stepped into a place guarded by stone gargoyles.
"Filibuster Fireworks!" Hagrid shouted.
So, James thought, that must be the password. Ok.
Meanwhile, Sirius wasn't even worried about that. My mum is gonna kill me. Literally if I get expelled. Oh no! I can't get expelled! That's like being banashed from the wizarding world!
The gargoyles jumped aside, revealing a door, which opened up when they approached it. Stepping into the room, they walked down a dark hall toward another room, which Hagrid knocked on. "Professor Dumbledore."
Dumbledore opened the door. He was standing in his night robe and cap. "What is it Hagrid? Is something wrong?" He paused when he saw James and Sirius. "What has happened?"
"These two firs' years," Hagrid started, "were in the Forbidden Forest, alone."
"Oh dear." Dumbledore started. "Come in Sirius- James. Hagrid, is there anything else?"
"No sir, all I know is that they were in the forest."
"Not about the students Hagrid. I mean, about- you know."
"No Professor. Nothin' ternight."
"Thank you." Dumbledore replied, "Why don't you go get some sleep."
Hagrid nodded. "Night' Professor," before Dumbledore shut the door between them. "now." Dumbledore started, speaking to James and Sirius. "Sit."
Two chairs appeared in front of Dumbledore's desk. They did as he told.
"Now, why the Forbidden Forest?"
Sirius swallowed and looked at James. "You tell him."
"W-Well." James started, "We just wanted to take a look around, I mean, well, we were wondering what the big deal was. We wanted to see centaurs and adventure stuff."
Dumbledore smiled lightly. "Best not do it again, now that you've had your look."
"You mean you're not going to expell us?" Sirius asked.
"No, as long as you take not another step into that place."
"I'd say he was planning a conspiracy against Con Carne." Peter commented two years later as they walked the halls.
Remus scowled. "I can't believe you didn't tell us all this until now."
Sirius and James shrugged. "Hey look, a Slytherin first year has lost his way!" Sirius hissed.
A boy was walking around the halls, the first day classes started. By the color of the collar of his robes, you could tell he was Slytherin. He was apparently, like Sirius had said, a first year.
"He's probably the next Snape." James agreed. "Got take care of him Si."
Sirius lit a Filibuster that he had been keeping in his book bag and threw it at the boy's feet. All four of them started laughing at the boy's surprise as he ran, but stopped when they saw Sirius being pulled away by Mcgonagal. He grinned. "Hello Professor. We meet again?"
"Too often Black." she muttered.
"Too often dearest? Too often?"
"Stop talking like that or this goes to the headmaster."
"Yes." Sirius replied. "Darling."
Mcgonagal stopped walking. "I'm warning you Black."
"Fine." Sirius followed her reluctantly. "You know. For such a wonderful Professor as you. I'd think you'd-"
"No Hogsmeade next week for you Black."
Sirius stopped, Mcgonagal turning to stop as well. "What?" his mouth dropped open.
"You heard what I said, I did warn you might I add."
"Please!" Sirius got on his knees and tugged at her robe as she walked. "PLEASE! Please, I'll be good! Don't worry!"
Mcgonagal turned, the most annoyed look on her face. "No Black. And the trip after will be cancelled as well if you don't shape up and empty the Filibusters out of your pocket."
"It's like you have x-ray vision or something." he pulled out the Filibusters and handed them to her.
"Possibly."
"ew." Sirius shouted, backing away.
"Black, I don't have time for this! No Hogsmeade next week and a detention. Now, get out of my site!"
"Yes," Sirius started to leave. "Dearest." Then he ran.
"AND TEN POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!"
"You just look for trouble don't you?" James asked.
Sirius nodded, still panting. His face fell. "But no Hogsmeade next week."
"I can't believe it! She cancelled your first Hogsmeade visit!"
"Yeah." Sirius grinned. "She has no idea that we've been there before though." He took out the Marauders Map and unrolled it. "Oh, and wear extra clothes when you're around Mcgonagal. She has x-ray vision."
"ew.." Peter muttered, covering his eyes. "That's really sick."
"Oh please Sirius. Stop with the jokes and tell us what happened!" Remus exclaimed. "Detention, no Hogsmeade and ten points from Gryffindor." Sirius replied.
"Could have been worse." James replied.
Sirius grinned. "I don't care though."
Remus sighed. "And unfortunately she knows that, so she's got a tendency to be harder on you."
"So?" Sirius barked. "And what's with you and your big words anyway, what is tendency supposed to mean!?"
"You don't know what tendency means?" Peter asked. "Dude, everyone else does."
Sirius turned red. "Well. I'm special I guess." he muttered. "Well, time for breakfast peoples." They got up and headed toward the great hall.
Taking their usual seats, near Lily Evans at James's request, they started buttering toast and pouring cereal.
"I 'idn' even realize how 'ungry I was." (translation, "I didn't even realize how hungry I was.") Sirius said, through a mouthful of sugar frosted frog legs.
Just then, a single owl darted through an open window and landed in front of Sirius.
"Here comes the mail." Sirius commented. "My mum's is always early of course."
Then, about fifty different owls zoomed in after it, dropping packages to students at different tables.
A letter was placed neatly in front of James, while Remus's was splattered in his bowl of milk by a post owl. Peter sniggered. "No mail I guess for me today."
WHAM!
Peter blinked and looked up into the eyes of Sirius, James and Remus, standing over him.
"What- What happened?"
James replied with, "Your mum's owl dropped a package on top of your head. A really heavy package."
Peter could hear the laughter coming from Snape, whom had just finished breakfast and was walking past their table.
"Shut up Snivellus!" Sirius shouted. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at Snape.
"SIRIUS BLACK!" Mcgonagal screeched.
Sirius sighed and stuffed his wand back into his pocket. "It's her again. I always get caught!" He kicked Peter over. "Come on. Get up already. It wasn't that heavy!"
Mcgonagal walked up to him, anger flushing into her eyes. "What have I told you Black!?"
"I'm sorry Professor. I just lost control. It won't happen again."
"That's the second time this morning!"
Sirius grinned. "I'm sorry about that too." Not he thought inside his head.
"Ten more points from Gryffindor." Mcgonagal said, walking away.
Sirius groaned. "Not again."
"Well Black." Snape sneered. "It looks like Slytehrin is in the lead for winning the house cup."
"We've got a whole year to beat you guys! We're just warming up!" Remus protested.
Snape laughed. "And the loser award goes to." He continued to laugh all the way out the door as well.
James clenched his fists. "I ought to- that- that-"
"Don't spring while all these teachers are here!" Remus shouted. "You'll get expelled."
"Anyhow." Peter said. "Let's pretend that didn't happen. Ok, what's in this package." He eagerly ripped open the ribbon. "A remembrall!?"
"Why is it so heavy?" James asked.
Peter laughed. "Look at all the post-it notes too."
"See Pete!" Sirius said, slapping him on the back. "Everyone knows how low your brain capacity is!"
"Thanks Sirius." Peter muttered sourly.
"Big words!" Remus protested. "Capacity?"
Sirius covered his mouth. "Oh." he moaned. "I'm turning into you!"
"Well, best see what this letter is." James muttered, ripping open a white envelope.
James!
How are you dear? Your third year at Hogwarts! Your father and I are so proud! We bought you a new broomstick!
James was so excited he could barely read the rest of the letter.
It should come in the mail tomorrow, it's taking the company a while to fill the order.
We love you and keep us updated!
-Mum and Dad
"Wow!" James said, his eyes watering. "I needed a good one!"
Remus then took his which read the whole 'we're proud of you' statement before the 'we love you' paragraph before the signatures and the end of the letter.
"How many sickles you wanna bet that my letter says nothing like yours?" Sirius asked. "It's probably a howler, and I didn't even do anything yet."
"Your parents can't be that bad Sirius!" Remus snapped.
"They are!" James replied. "I've met them!"
Sirius carefully tore the seal on the envelope and put his face in his hands as he read the scrawled handwriting of his mother.
"Sirius- you'd better not mess up this year. One more complaint from Dumbledore and you're going to face the most trouble you've ever seen! I won't hesitate to send more Howlers this year! Oh, and I'm glad you took that mangy animal with you! It was driving me insane! -Mother"
"And how would she react if I told her to get rid of that mangy animal Kreacher!? And she goes and insults my cat."
"That evil cat of yours, Furball." James laughed.
"I didn't name it. The guy at the pet shop did. They said the owner who had him last turned him in."
"Gee." Peter muttered sarcastically. "I wonder why."
"He's really a cute cat though. I mean, come on, a big orange tabby-"
Remus snorted. "With big white fangs."
"Big round green eyes. Besides!" Sirius exclaimed. "The owners who had him last fed him the wrong type of food! That's why he kept throwing up all the time when I first got him!"
"Boys are really gross."
All four marauders turned to find Lily Evans sitting at the table across from them.
Sirius let out a short laugh. "And girls smell- horrid." He plugged his nose. "Perfumes."
Peter and Remus sniggered, but James elbowed Sirius and replied, "But I'm not gross."
"Uh-huh." Lily smiled. "Sure Potter."
"I-I mean I'm a boy. But I'm not sick like them. And not all girls smell like perfume."
Lily giggled. "Whatever James." before walking away.
Sirius started laughing so hard that he fell out of his chair. "Turned you down eh?"
"And you think you can get a date any better? With one of those miss populars over there that you're always staring at." He gestured to a group of girls giggling and gossiping to each other down the table.
Sirius shrugged. "Watch me." He walked over to the girls, whom all looked up at him when he came. "Hey ladies."
They all giggled simultaneously and said, "hi."
"May I interest you in-" He paused when he saw Mcgonagal coming toward him. He sighed angrily.
"Black, I, after what you've been up to all morning, would like to speak with you in my office."
The girls all started giggling even harder.
"Come on Black."
Sirius followed her only reluctantly.
"I see you're quite popular with women, Black aren't you?"
"Well, you see Professor, unlike you, I actually have a social life."
Mcgonagal glared at him and as soon as Sirius had realized his mistake he found himself being pulled into the headmaster's office (the password that year was Frolicking Frogs.)
"What is it Minerva?" Dumbledore asked. He sighed disappointedly when he saw Sirius enter behind her. "Him again? It seems like we meet everyday Sirius. Of course, whatever you did today was without James apparently."
"Throwing Filibuster Fireworks at Slytherin first years," Mcgonagal listed, saying each thing and flicking fingers to count. "Threatening Snape with a wand. The whole dearest thing. The nasty remark he made on the way over. And his cat throwing up in my office."
Sirius stared at her. "Furball? How'd he get out, he was in Gryfindor Tower."
"Sure Black."
"He was! Maybe it was you. Since you're an animagis and all. Furballs happen frequently."
Mcgonagal opened her mouth to protest but was interrupted by Dumbledore. "Mcgonagal, you have a class to teach in five minutes, I suggest you go get ready. And I'll have a talk with Sirius about his- day."
'Too many to list aren't there?" Mcgonagal snapped on her way out, shutting the door behind her.
"Now what is all this about?" Dumbledore asked, surveying Sirius through his half-moon spectacles.
Sirius grinned. "The first year looked like he was gonna be the next Snape and Snape, after insulting Peter, well he took out his wand first. And as for the dearest thing. I thought Mcgonagal could take a joke. And she was insulting my social life so she deserved whatever comment she got! And-And the cat- I don't know because I haven't seen him all morning! Furball couldn't get into Mcgonagal's office. I already tried that in my second year! I mean, she's got all these locks and junk on it!"
Dumbledore suddenly started to chuckle. "That's quite a morning you've had."
"So don't blame my cat."
Dumbledore lifted something from behind his desk. "We confiscated this cat from Mcgonagal's office this morning."
Sirius turned red as he took Furball and started petting him. "Ok, so maybe I did put him in her office."
"I thought so Sirius." Dumbledore lowered his glasses. "I think something needs to be done about all this."
Sirius stared at the cat, anything not to look guilty to Dumbledore. Anything.
By the way, that cat was the fattest cat I'd ever laid eyes on. It was orange, and it's long, fluffy fur only added to how fat it was. It had a little pink nose and a long fluffy tail. It had exactly three whiskers on each side and a small, out spiked collar around its neck, which Dumbledore tried best to ignore. He couldn't help wondering however, how Sirius had gotten the collar to fit around its neck, and to him, it was anything but cute. Sirius had made it up to be something small and innocent, like a kitten. but this thing had enormous, long, sharp teeth, more like a cougar than a cat.
The cat purred so loudly that Dumbldore had to shout over it to even be heard. "For one thing!- For one thing!- Oh just get that animal out of here and don't do it again!"
"Yes sir." Sirius picked up the cat, and opened the door, before nearly falling under the animal's weight. The cat leapt down and Sirius told him, "If you stay close to me while we go back, you can walk."
The cat perked up and rubbed against his legs as they left.
"You got me into a lot of trouble today." Sirius scowled, looking down at him. "But I'm sure Mcognagal's bed was warm and inviting, and the food she had in there was nice and tasty. Whatever, good boy Furball."
Furball meowed softly as they walked down the halls to begin their day.
James bolted upright in bed, feeling the sweat running down his face. It was dark. Too dark even though it was the middle of the night.
Sirius sat up. "James, you know I'm a light sleeper. What'd you do that for?"
"Sirius, something odd is in this room."
"You mean besides you?"
"SHHH!"
They listened for a few moments but heard nothing else.
"Nightmares probably James." Sirius replied. "I'm going back to bed."
"Sirius, something's unusual."
"Unusual." Sirius repeated. "Tell me in the morning." As soon as his head hit the pillow again he fell back asleep.
James got up and paced the room anxiously, knowing that something had gone amiss.
He barely slept that night, he couldn't wipe the bad feeling away that something was wrong. He fell back asleep but even Furball was acting up. He closed his eyes.
Sirius was the one to wake up next while it was just getting light.
"DUDE FURBALL!" Sirius shouted. "YOU THREW UP ON ME YOU STUPID CAT!"
That woke everyone up in the room.
"What's going on?" a boy asked. Sirius heard croaking and he found a toad sitting on his chest. "Who's toad?" he sighed.
"Mine!" the boy replied, jumping up and grabbing it.
Someone turned on the lights and everyone screamed.
"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN JAMES' BED!?" Sirius yelled.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN RON'S BED!?" Harry shouted.
"I don't know. Somewhere in the Dark Forest."
"I know that, but- are we going the right way."
"We can only hope so." Sirius replied.
"I heard dark things- worse than centaurs- live here." James said fearfully.
"I think centaurs are the least of our worries."
A shadow passed over them, making them both jump back in surprise. It was only a wavering tree branch, but Sirius still whispered in a raspy, fearful voice, "Something wants to kill us."
"And Peter and Remus aren't with us.. Why didn't you tell them?" James asked.
"Because, Peter and Remus are chickens. They'd want to turn back by now. And Remus doesn't want to get into trouble."
They heard a deafening howl and James transformed in a horse, as did Sirius a dog. They ran for a long while, until finally stopping to catch their breath. "We're definitely lost now." Sirius commented.
So they found nothing other to do than keep walking, assuming that fi they were going the right way, the forest would come to an end, leading them back to the castle.
Sirius tripped on a tree branch, "OUCH!", and his voice echoes through the trees. "Uh-oh." he commented, as he saw a shadow moving toward them. He recognized it as Hagrid.
"We're saved!" James shouted gleefully.
"James Potter?" Hagrid asked, surprised.
"Hi Hagrid." Sirius greeted, standing up and kickign the tree branch.
"An' Sirius Black!?"
"Yes, you didn't actually think we were going to go alone?"
"Back ter the castle." Hagrid ordered.
"But we're-"
"Now Sirius." Harry repeated.
"But- just let me finish-" Sirius argued. "Please! I'm not askin' ye' I'm tellin' ye!"
"But we're lost!" James complained.
"In the middle of the nigh'!?"
"Uh, yeah." He grinned "It's so dark that we can't see."
"So you blindly walked inter the forest?" Hagrid demanded.
James shrugged. "Not that I know of."
Sirius elbowed James. "We're dead now."
"I'm erfraid I'm goin' ter haveter take ye' to Dumbledore." Hagrid replied. He turned and started to leave.
Sirius and James followed and within a few minutes they reached the edge of the forest. They both wondered what could be in store for them. They were only eleven years old and watned a little adventure. A month at Hogwarts and they were already wondering if they were going to be expelled.
The halls were dark as they stepped into a place guarded by stone gargoyles.
"Filibuster Fireworks!" Hagrid shouted.
So, James thought, that must be the password. Ok.
Meanwhile, Sirius wasn't even worried about that. My mum is gonna kill me. Literally if I get expelled. Oh no! I can't get expelled! That's like being banashed from the wizarding world!
The gargoyles jumped aside, revealing a door, which opened up when they approached it. Stepping into the room, they walked down a dark hall toward another room, which Hagrid knocked on. "Professor Dumbledore."
Dumbledore opened the door. He was standing in his night robe and cap. "What is it Hagrid? Is something wrong?" He paused when he saw James and Sirius. "What has happened?"
"These two firs' years," Hagrid started, "were in the Forbidden Forest, alone."
"Oh dear." Dumbledore started. "Come in Sirius- James. Hagrid, is there anything else?"
"No sir, all I know is that they were in the forest."
"Not about the students Hagrid. I mean, about- you know."
"No Professor. Nothin' ternight."
"Thank you." Dumbledore replied, "Why don't you go get some sleep."
Hagrid nodded. "Night' Professor," before Dumbledore shut the door between them. "now." Dumbledore started, speaking to James and Sirius. "Sit."
Two chairs appeared in front of Dumbledore's desk. They did as he told.
"Now, why the Forbidden Forest?"
Sirius swallowed and looked at James. "You tell him."
"W-Well." James started, "We just wanted to take a look around, I mean, well, we were wondering what the big deal was. We wanted to see centaurs and adventure stuff."
Dumbledore smiled lightly. "Best not do it again, now that you've had your look."
"You mean you're not going to expell us?" Sirius asked.
"No, as long as you take not another step into that place."
"I'd say he was planning a conspiracy against Con Carne." Peter commented two years later as they walked the halls.
Remus scowled. "I can't believe you didn't tell us all this until now."
Sirius and James shrugged. "Hey look, a Slytherin first year has lost his way!" Sirius hissed.
A boy was walking around the halls, the first day classes started. By the color of the collar of his robes, you could tell he was Slytherin. He was apparently, like Sirius had said, a first year.
"He's probably the next Snape." James agreed. "Got take care of him Si."
Sirius lit a Filibuster that he had been keeping in his book bag and threw it at the boy's feet. All four of them started laughing at the boy's surprise as he ran, but stopped when they saw Sirius being pulled away by Mcgonagal. He grinned. "Hello Professor. We meet again?"
"Too often Black." she muttered.
"Too often dearest? Too often?"
"Stop talking like that or this goes to the headmaster."
"Yes." Sirius replied. "Darling."
Mcgonagal stopped walking. "I'm warning you Black."
"Fine." Sirius followed her reluctantly. "You know. For such a wonderful Professor as you. I'd think you'd-"
"No Hogsmeade next week for you Black."
Sirius stopped, Mcgonagal turning to stop as well. "What?" his mouth dropped open.
"You heard what I said, I did warn you might I add."
"Please!" Sirius got on his knees and tugged at her robe as she walked. "PLEASE! Please, I'll be good! Don't worry!"
Mcgonagal turned, the most annoyed look on her face. "No Black. And the trip after will be cancelled as well if you don't shape up and empty the Filibusters out of your pocket."
"It's like you have x-ray vision or something." he pulled out the Filibusters and handed them to her.
"Possibly."
"ew." Sirius shouted, backing away.
"Black, I don't have time for this! No Hogsmeade next week and a detention. Now, get out of my site!"
"Yes," Sirius started to leave. "Dearest." Then he ran.
"AND TEN POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!"
"You just look for trouble don't you?" James asked.
Sirius nodded, still panting. His face fell. "But no Hogsmeade next week."
"I can't believe it! She cancelled your first Hogsmeade visit!"
"Yeah." Sirius grinned. "She has no idea that we've been there before though." He took out the Marauders Map and unrolled it. "Oh, and wear extra clothes when you're around Mcgonagal. She has x-ray vision."
"ew.." Peter muttered, covering his eyes. "That's really sick."
"Oh please Sirius. Stop with the jokes and tell us what happened!" Remus exclaimed. "Detention, no Hogsmeade and ten points from Gryffindor." Sirius replied.
"Could have been worse." James replied.
Sirius grinned. "I don't care though."
Remus sighed. "And unfortunately she knows that, so she's got a tendency to be harder on you."
"So?" Sirius barked. "And what's with you and your big words anyway, what is tendency supposed to mean!?"
"You don't know what tendency means?" Peter asked. "Dude, everyone else does."
Sirius turned red. "Well. I'm special I guess." he muttered. "Well, time for breakfast peoples." They got up and headed toward the great hall.
Taking their usual seats, near Lily Evans at James's request, they started buttering toast and pouring cereal.
"I 'idn' even realize how 'ungry I was." (translation, "I didn't even realize how hungry I was.") Sirius said, through a mouthful of sugar frosted frog legs.
Just then, a single owl darted through an open window and landed in front of Sirius.
"Here comes the mail." Sirius commented. "My mum's is always early of course."
Then, about fifty different owls zoomed in after it, dropping packages to students at different tables.
A letter was placed neatly in front of James, while Remus's was splattered in his bowl of milk by a post owl. Peter sniggered. "No mail I guess for me today."
WHAM!
Peter blinked and looked up into the eyes of Sirius, James and Remus, standing over him.
"What- What happened?"
James replied with, "Your mum's owl dropped a package on top of your head. A really heavy package."
Peter could hear the laughter coming from Snape, whom had just finished breakfast and was walking past their table.
"Shut up Snivellus!" Sirius shouted. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at Snape.
"SIRIUS BLACK!" Mcgonagal screeched.
Sirius sighed and stuffed his wand back into his pocket. "It's her again. I always get caught!" He kicked Peter over. "Come on. Get up already. It wasn't that heavy!"
Mcgonagal walked up to him, anger flushing into her eyes. "What have I told you Black!?"
"I'm sorry Professor. I just lost control. It won't happen again."
"That's the second time this morning!"
Sirius grinned. "I'm sorry about that too." Not he thought inside his head.
"Ten more points from Gryffindor." Mcgonagal said, walking away.
Sirius groaned. "Not again."
"Well Black." Snape sneered. "It looks like Slytehrin is in the lead for winning the house cup."
"We've got a whole year to beat you guys! We're just warming up!" Remus protested.
Snape laughed. "And the loser award goes to." He continued to laugh all the way out the door as well.
James clenched his fists. "I ought to- that- that-"
"Don't spring while all these teachers are here!" Remus shouted. "You'll get expelled."
"Anyhow." Peter said. "Let's pretend that didn't happen. Ok, what's in this package." He eagerly ripped open the ribbon. "A remembrall!?"
"Why is it so heavy?" James asked.
Peter laughed. "Look at all the post-it notes too."
"See Pete!" Sirius said, slapping him on the back. "Everyone knows how low your brain capacity is!"
"Thanks Sirius." Peter muttered sourly.
"Big words!" Remus protested. "Capacity?"
Sirius covered his mouth. "Oh." he moaned. "I'm turning into you!"
"Well, best see what this letter is." James muttered, ripping open a white envelope.
James!
How are you dear? Your third year at Hogwarts! Your father and I are so proud! We bought you a new broomstick!
James was so excited he could barely read the rest of the letter.
It should come in the mail tomorrow, it's taking the company a while to fill the order.
We love you and keep us updated!
-Mum and Dad
"Wow!" James said, his eyes watering. "I needed a good one!"
Remus then took his which read the whole 'we're proud of you' statement before the 'we love you' paragraph before the signatures and the end of the letter.
"How many sickles you wanna bet that my letter says nothing like yours?" Sirius asked. "It's probably a howler, and I didn't even do anything yet."
"Your parents can't be that bad Sirius!" Remus snapped.
"They are!" James replied. "I've met them!"
Sirius carefully tore the seal on the envelope and put his face in his hands as he read the scrawled handwriting of his mother.
"Sirius- you'd better not mess up this year. One more complaint from Dumbledore and you're going to face the most trouble you've ever seen! I won't hesitate to send more Howlers this year! Oh, and I'm glad you took that mangy animal with you! It was driving me insane! -Mother"
"And how would she react if I told her to get rid of that mangy animal Kreacher!? And she goes and insults my cat."
"That evil cat of yours, Furball." James laughed.
"I didn't name it. The guy at the pet shop did. They said the owner who had him last turned him in."
"Gee." Peter muttered sarcastically. "I wonder why."
"He's really a cute cat though. I mean, come on, a big orange tabby-"
Remus snorted. "With big white fangs."
"Big round green eyes. Besides!" Sirius exclaimed. "The owners who had him last fed him the wrong type of food! That's why he kept throwing up all the time when I first got him!"
"Boys are really gross."
All four marauders turned to find Lily Evans sitting at the table across from them.
Sirius let out a short laugh. "And girls smell- horrid." He plugged his nose. "Perfumes."
Peter and Remus sniggered, but James elbowed Sirius and replied, "But I'm not gross."
"Uh-huh." Lily smiled. "Sure Potter."
"I-I mean I'm a boy. But I'm not sick like them. And not all girls smell like perfume."
Lily giggled. "Whatever James." before walking away.
Sirius started laughing so hard that he fell out of his chair. "Turned you down eh?"
"And you think you can get a date any better? With one of those miss populars over there that you're always staring at." He gestured to a group of girls giggling and gossiping to each other down the table.
Sirius shrugged. "Watch me." He walked over to the girls, whom all looked up at him when he came. "Hey ladies."
They all giggled simultaneously and said, "hi."
"May I interest you in-" He paused when he saw Mcgonagal coming toward him. He sighed angrily.
"Black, I, after what you've been up to all morning, would like to speak with you in my office."
The girls all started giggling even harder.
"Come on Black."
Sirius followed her only reluctantly.
"I see you're quite popular with women, Black aren't you?"
"Well, you see Professor, unlike you, I actually have a social life."
Mcgonagal glared at him and as soon as Sirius had realized his mistake he found himself being pulled into the headmaster's office (the password that year was Frolicking Frogs.)
"What is it Minerva?" Dumbledore asked. He sighed disappointedly when he saw Sirius enter behind her. "Him again? It seems like we meet everyday Sirius. Of course, whatever you did today was without James apparently."
"Throwing Filibuster Fireworks at Slytherin first years," Mcgonagal listed, saying each thing and flicking fingers to count. "Threatening Snape with a wand. The whole dearest thing. The nasty remark he made on the way over. And his cat throwing up in my office."
Sirius stared at her. "Furball? How'd he get out, he was in Gryfindor Tower."
"Sure Black."
"He was! Maybe it was you. Since you're an animagis and all. Furballs happen frequently."
Mcgonagal opened her mouth to protest but was interrupted by Dumbledore. "Mcgonagal, you have a class to teach in five minutes, I suggest you go get ready. And I'll have a talk with Sirius about his- day."
'Too many to list aren't there?" Mcgonagal snapped on her way out, shutting the door behind her.
"Now what is all this about?" Dumbledore asked, surveying Sirius through his half-moon spectacles.
Sirius grinned. "The first year looked like he was gonna be the next Snape and Snape, after insulting Peter, well he took out his wand first. And as for the dearest thing. I thought Mcgonagal could take a joke. And she was insulting my social life so she deserved whatever comment she got! And-And the cat- I don't know because I haven't seen him all morning! Furball couldn't get into Mcgonagal's office. I already tried that in my second year! I mean, she's got all these locks and junk on it!"
Dumbledore suddenly started to chuckle. "That's quite a morning you've had."
"So don't blame my cat."
Dumbledore lifted something from behind his desk. "We confiscated this cat from Mcgonagal's office this morning."
Sirius turned red as he took Furball and started petting him. "Ok, so maybe I did put him in her office."
"I thought so Sirius." Dumbledore lowered his glasses. "I think something needs to be done about all this."
Sirius stared at the cat, anything not to look guilty to Dumbledore. Anything.
By the way, that cat was the fattest cat I'd ever laid eyes on. It was orange, and it's long, fluffy fur only added to how fat it was. It had a little pink nose and a long fluffy tail. It had exactly three whiskers on each side and a small, out spiked collar around its neck, which Dumbledore tried best to ignore. He couldn't help wondering however, how Sirius had gotten the collar to fit around its neck, and to him, it was anything but cute. Sirius had made it up to be something small and innocent, like a kitten. but this thing had enormous, long, sharp teeth, more like a cougar than a cat.
The cat purred so loudly that Dumbldore had to shout over it to even be heard. "For one thing!- For one thing!- Oh just get that animal out of here and don't do it again!"
"Yes sir." Sirius picked up the cat, and opened the door, before nearly falling under the animal's weight. The cat leapt down and Sirius told him, "If you stay close to me while we go back, you can walk."
The cat perked up and rubbed against his legs as they left.
"You got me into a lot of trouble today." Sirius scowled, looking down at him. "But I'm sure Mcognagal's bed was warm and inviting, and the food she had in there was nice and tasty. Whatever, good boy Furball."
Furball meowed softly as they walked down the halls to begin their day.
James bolted upright in bed, feeling the sweat running down his face. It was dark. Too dark even though it was the middle of the night.
Sirius sat up. "James, you know I'm a light sleeper. What'd you do that for?"
"Sirius, something odd is in this room."
"You mean besides you?"
"SHHH!"
They listened for a few moments but heard nothing else.
"Nightmares probably James." Sirius replied. "I'm going back to bed."
"Sirius, something's unusual."
"Unusual." Sirius repeated. "Tell me in the morning." As soon as his head hit the pillow again he fell back asleep.
James got up and paced the room anxiously, knowing that something had gone amiss.
He barely slept that night, he couldn't wipe the bad feeling away that something was wrong. He fell back asleep but even Furball was acting up. He closed his eyes.
Sirius was the one to wake up next while it was just getting light.
"DUDE FURBALL!" Sirius shouted. "YOU THREW UP ON ME YOU STUPID CAT!"
That woke everyone up in the room.
"What's going on?" a boy asked. Sirius heard croaking and he found a toad sitting on his chest. "Who's toad?" he sighed.
"Mine!" the boy replied, jumping up and grabbing it.
Someone turned on the lights and everyone screamed.
"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN JAMES' BED!?" Sirius yelled.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN RON'S BED!?" Harry shouted.