Hey there, so this is the first chapter of my new story about the Marauders! I don't know how long it will be or where it will lead in the end, but one thing I know for sure. And that's that I'm going to follow Sirius and his friends through some events of their last year at Hogwarts and afterwards I want to introduce them to the Order of the Phoenix and the First Wizarding War. I hope you don't mind that I don't follow the things mentioned in the book completely and I always like to hear your thoughts and ideas concerning this story. So please write reviews, that would be very great and it always motivates me to update more often. I hope you like this first chapter ;)

I don't own the characters or places in this story!

Chapter 1

Sirius POV

Everything was silent in the castle. The night was dark and the moon was hidden behind clouds, so that no natural light entered the large corridors. The previous days it had been raining heavily and it was cold in Hogwarts. In the course of the day, the mist that had been lying on the grounds had lifted, but it didn't look like the weather was going to change soon. It was a depressed spring.

For a long time that night, the silence in the castle was perfect and nothing dared to interrupt it except the footsteps of the caretaker and his cat. They seemed to be happy, walking through the passageways together. Argus Filch was holding a little lamp in his hand, however it wasn't able to shed light on the entire area around them. Nevertheless, the two of them noticed everything that happened around them, thanks to the sharp eyes of Mrs. Norris that were at night just as good as in the light of day.

Well, maybe you should correct that sentence and say that the cat noticed almost everything. Because at that moment, none of them realized that there was another person in the passageway as well.

Slowly, Sirius Black took a few steps around the statue behind which he'd been hiding. He tried to be as quiet as possible and when neither the caretaker nor the cat showed any signs that they knew of his presence, he carefully took a few steps back and looked around the next corner which led to another corridor. Sirius didn't turn his eyes away from Filch and Mrs Norris when he raised his hand to make the sign they had agreed on.

The light which revealed the exact position of the man and his cat became smaller, until it vanished behind another corner. Sirius just wanted to turn around and look out for his friends, when a hand touched his shoulder softly.

"You should think of something more witty to scare me, Prongs." He murmured and heard someone laugh quietly right behind him.

"Sorry Padfoot, next time I'll do something way more spectacular when I want to show you my presence. Especially when we're on the move in the castle at night, which is forbidden as you might know. And we don't want anybody to find out that we're here." James' voice whispered and Sirius couldn't stop himself from grinning into the darkness.

He just opened his mouth for a reply, when someone cleared his throat. "Do you think that it is safe to risk some light?" Remus asked hesitantly and as an answer to his question, Sirius waved his wand so that the tip of it started to glow in a faint light.

"I think he's made it clear enough, Remus." Peter's voice whispered and it took Sirius a few seconds to see his face a few steps behind James and Remus in the darkness of the corridor. As usual on their trips at night, he was looking paler than usual and it seemed as if he was shivering. Sirius had never really understood why Peter came with them when he was so afraid of getting caught, but he and James had stopped asking when they didn't get a real answer. Maybe it was like Remus thought and Peter just liked to be part of a group with other people, especially when they were far more popular than he was himself.

"Maybe it would be a good idea to start moving." James suggested and ripped Sirius out of his thoughts. He nodded and when he turned to Remus to ask if he had found the right things for their plan, he raised his eyebrows slowly.

"Do you really think that this is a good idea?"

"Oh come on Moony, we've done things like that many times by now!" James said softly and in a convincing tone. It wasn't a surprise that Remus had doubts because of the impacts of their actions.

"But this time it is different. If something goes wrong, we could really hurt him."

"That won't happen." Sirius cut in and smiled slightly. "Or do you doubt my talent at finding things that appear to be scary first and are very harmless if you take a second look?"

It didn't take long until Remus gave in with a sigh. "I hope you've done your research perfectly." He murmured and next to him, James chuckled.

"Since when makes Padfoot really bad mistakes?"

Remus just wanted to reply something, when Peter tapped James' arm and they all turned to look at him. "We don't have that much time." He whispered and Sirius realized that they had given him the task to have an eye on the clock which they often forgot. Like right now.

"Maybe we should go." James said suddenly and Sirius nodded.

"Good idea."

Slowly, they made their way towards the dungeons where they would have potions the next morning.

"Good morning class." Professor Slughorn greeted them as he entered the room. As usual he was clad in green, the colors of Slytherin, his house. Sirius and James exchanged a look and he saw that his own expectance was reflected in his friend's eyes.

Their actions the previous night had taken longer than they had expected and because of that neither of them had slept very much, but right now they didn't care. It happened once in a while that they were sneaking around the castle at night and sleep wasn't something which could stop them from doing it.

"I hope you remember the things we have discussed last week and the task I gave you. It is very important for your exams that you know everything about these potions since it is very likely that you have to explain their effects. So who will start to tell me something about the process of making of the Fire Protection Potion?" He looked around and when some people raised their hands hesitantly, Slughorn pointed at a blond girl from Slytherin, whose name Sirius had forgotten. She started to read out her essay, but after a few moments it was clear that the potions master wasn't happy about the things he heard and the disappointed look on his face made James and Sirius grin. It was always refreshing to see Slughorn's reaction when he noticed that the people of his house weren't as good as he wanted them to be.

"Thank you, Clara. It was a long essay and you have mentioned some of the important steps, but there was also much missing… Well, who's next?" He clapped his hands and turned to the rest of the class, a look of excitement on his face. However, he didn't notice the other hands which showed that someone wanted to add anything to Clara's homework. "Why don't you enlighten us, Mr Black?" Slughorn asked suddenly and Sirius smiled widely at him.

"Of course, Professor." He answered in his most professional voice and cleared his throat before he started to read out a text he hadn't written yet. Luckily, a potion that protected you from fire wasn't very difficult to make and Sirius had taken a look at the pages in the book just before the lesson had started. It didn't surprise the others anymore that Slughorn was thrilled by his answer and James just grinned at him widely. Sirius just shrugged and turned his attention to the potions master again. He didn't understand why everyone was making such a big deal of writing essays and all those things.

There were more important things in life. Like those that happened after Slughorn had filled his cauldron with hot water. First, they just noticed the smell of rotten eggs and when some people in the room started to frown, green slime started to leave the cauldron in big waves. A few girls who were sitting close to the teacher's table cried out in shock and Slughorn seemed to be frozen since he didn't know what just happened. Suddenly, he took a step back and with wide eyes, he turned to his class. "Leave the room, quickly!" he cried and they tried to follow his order without shoving each other aside immediately. To Sirius, it seemed as if they had never left a classroom more quickly or in a more dramatic way and outside, he exchanged an amused look with James, Remus and Peter who were standing right next to him.

With a loud squeak the door was closed behind Slughorn and he looked at the students in front of him with a confused expression on his face. "I… We have to… I think we have to end today's lesson right now." He said finally and behind his back, many people grinned at Sirius and his friends widely. Of course they knew who was responsible for this little incident.

"I can't explain what just happened in there. Everything seemed to be alright when I prepared the lesson yesterday. And after me, nobody had been in there. This is very strange…" Slughorn murmured over and over again and with an innocent look on his face, James took a step towards him.

"Sir?" He asked silently and Slughorn looked at him questioningly.

"Yes, my boy?"

"Do we still have to prepare the Moonseed Potion for next week, or could you give us more time because of what happened right now?"

Now nearly the every one of their class turned their attention towards the two of them since the Potion James had asked Slughorn about was very complicated and nobody had felt the urge to take a look at it yet.

"Oh, the… Moonseed Potion you say?" When James nodded, Slughorn frowned and scratched his head. "Yes, I think it won't be too late if we talk about it in two weeks from now." He decided and James murmured a 'Thank you' before he turned towards his friends again and they left the dungeons quickly.

"That was great!" Sirius exclaimed as soon as they were in the main part of the castle again. "I had expected a reaction like that, but this was…" He made a gesture with his hand that showed the slime leaving the cauldron, much like an explosion.

"Impressive." Remus agreed and James laughed loudly.

"Yes, that's right Moony. Impressive." He chuckled again. "And very useful if you don't want to write an essay."

"And what did you do now, if I may ask?" A voice behind them asked and they all turned around to see Lily Evans standing in front of them, a smile on her face.

James grin widened when he saw his girlfriend and he kissed her on the cheek quickly. "We've let the dungeons explode." He said innocently and now Sirius was the one who had to laugh.

"Well, I think it's more fitting when you say that we've filled them with green slime."

Lily shook her head, even if she didn't seem to be surprised. "Guys…" she murmured and Sirius expected her to roll her eyes, but she didn't give him that satisfaction. Instead of it, she turned to James and raised her eyebrows. "Would you like to come to the library with me?"

James shot his friends a questioning and slightly apologetic look and Sirius just nodded with a grin and winked at his best friend. "Have fun. I'll see you later at the Quidditch training" He murmured and without looking back, he started to walk towards the Gryffindor common room, Remus and Peter right next to him.

"And what are you going to do later?" Sirius asked Remus and Peter when the Fat Lady had finished the story of her suffering and finally let them in.

"I think I'm going to write my essay on the Moonseed Potion." Remus explained and Sirius grinned at the hopeful look on Peter's face.

However, he didn't have the chance to ask Remus for his help anymore since they had noticed the new announcement which had been posted on the bulletin board. "The next trip to Hogsmeade!" Sirius exclaimed in an excited tone and Remus' face lit up a little bit.

"When?"

"Already next week!"

"Finally some good news!" Remus said loudly and his outburst made them all laugh. Sirius looked at the bulletin board again, but except the trip to Hogsmeade, there wasn't anything new. So the three of them sat down at the fireplace and Remus took a Daily Prophet which had been lying on the table. He glanced through it for a few minutes and when he closed the paper again, his expression was thoughtful.

"Anything that's interesting in there?" Sirius asked and Remus shook his head.

"Except for one missing person." That caught Sirius' attention and he sat up quickly.

"Someone's missing?" he asked and his friend nodded again.

"Anna Broadwell, 32 years old, lived in London. No one has seen her during the past weeks. She was working for the Ministry, Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Her special field was the forbidden usage of Dark Magic. They're searching for her now, but it seems hopeless. Too much time has passed since she's vanished."

"An employee of the Ministry of Magic who's missing now?" Sirius asked slowly and frowned. He sat there on the sofa, arms crossed and his legs on the armrest, looking at Remus and the paper thoughtfully. "Isn't that strange?"

Remus nodded. "A little too strange for my liking." He agreed and looked at the picture of the woman again.

"I would like to know if they find out more about it." To his surprise, Remus nodded again.

"Me too. I'll keep an eye on the papers."

"And I'll tell James about it later." Sirius agreed.

And so they just sat there, three friends in front of the fireplace, looking at the picture of a missing woman and not knowing what this little incident could mean for their future.