I told myself I wouldn't start another story until I'd finished 'Free?' but here I am with another. There are so many incredible maruader era fictions on here, and I wanted to write one myself. That's not to say it's incredible; I'm not very confident with my writing ability, but I hope it's okay and I would love some reviews to let me know how I'm doing.

One thing I am pleased with is the chapter lengths. I've written the first two, and they're both a lot longer than my usual style. This is probably due to the episodic nature of this story - again something I'd like feedback on, to let me know if it works.

This story will eventually feature Remus&Sirius slash, but I wanted to make the central point the relationships between all four boys, so even if you're not a fan of those two characters together, hopefully it can still be enjoyed.

So here it is; I hope you enjoy the read and please make me happy and click the review button :)

1.

We all tried to ignore it; the other pupils, professors and myself of course, but reluctantly we knew it was true. For seven years I was theirs. I fell reluctantly at first, not used to being mastered in the way that they managed. I tried to resist, hiding aspects of myself from them and becoming deliberately unpredictable when they were present. It was the way they rose to the challenges that began to thaw me. I was curious, I must admit. Never before had anyone managed to discover things about me with the ease that they did, especially at such a young age. So I resolved to keep an eye on them. Their pranks were so wild and their ways so cunning that someone had to. And who better than someone as omnipresent and astute as myself?

So I began to get to know the boys. Not just as the pack they presented themselves to be, but as individuals brought together by humour, friendship, determination and unwavering, unlimited loyalty. Yes, they had their faults; the ones repeated by frustrated professors and the furious victims of never ending pranks. They were arrogant, disruptive and even cruel at times, but the more I watched them the more I liked them. I found myself slowly succumbing to their lead.

Now it's only fair that I introduce myself through the same way I was introduced to the boys. First of all through whispers and rumours, none of which manage to capture my greatness as, despite all my talents, I am not easy to be described. Inquisitive young minds are ignited by stories of my grandeur, of moving staircases, enchanted ceilings and deeply embedded history. There are tales of my secrets too, hidden passageways, mysterious inhabitants and my influence on the happenings within me. Naturally, I am unable to clarify the truth.

And then the notorious first impression. The boat being cleverly propelled in the right direction turns a corner and I'm revealed. My four turrets stand strong and proud in white stone, bordering the grand entrance. My grounds are beautiful, clear water and healthy grass. Other students are beginning to enter, adding to the visage in their bold house colours. Listening to the gasps and seeing the awe written all over eleven year old faces never gets old. For I'm not only the massive stone castle described; I'm magic. I'm Hogwarts.

Or for the purpose of this story, I'm home of four remarkable boys.

Now let's enter marauder quarters.

The first day of term has always excited me. It's good to reacquaint myself with familiar students and inspect the new. I listen carefully for their names as they're called for sorting, and study their faces as they await the decision. While I can remember the name of every single one of my pupils some always stick in my mind more than others.

Of course, each of the four marauders falls under that category.

Sirius was called first. He had smirked at James, the boy he'd been next to since they'd walked through my doors, and strutted to the stool. He cast his gaze over the four tables wonderingly, before his eyes settled firmly on Gryffindor. The grin he sent to his favoured house was returned by few. Although his lips never moved from the upward curve his eyes grew round and momentarily flickered towards another table. His hands gripped the base of the stool and he sat like that for a further minute, inwardly petrified but already determined to set up a carefree persona. Although the smile may have fooled most, I am wiser. I knew the gesture wasn't genuine until the hat revealed his house and he was able to stride to the table amid mutters of surprise.

Remus was the next. He'd positioned himself at the back of the first years but I'd already noticed him among the crowd due to his strange actions. Several times a minute he'd glance up at the ceiling, where it was barely dusk and the stars were yet to appear. At first I'd simply thought him a muggleborn, more taken aback than many by my enchanted roof. But then his name was called. As he walked past his peers I recalled the conversation I'd overheard between Dumbledore, the four heads of house and a frantic Madam Pomfrey. I expected his sorting to take a long time, but he was only on the stool for a few seconds before the hat made the announcement. Over at the Gryffindor table, Sirius' cheers were the loudest.

Peter was called after a string of students were sent to Hufflepuff and the other houses were getting restless. As he shuffled about on the seat I could see the pupils trying to place him and assuming he would be another with a yellow tie. The hat took nearly as long as it did for Sirius, and Peter looked more uncomfortable the whole time he was sitting there. Twice he went to grab the hat as if he felt it was likely to fall but both times his hands faltered half way and fell uselessly back down by his sides. When the decision was made he beamed and his excitement was only incited by the triumphant calls from the Gryffindors.

James practically ran to the stool and sat bolt upright as the hat was placed on his head. The hat sorted him quickly and James jumped to his feet with delight, knocking the hat to the floor. He laughed and headed to join Sirius and the other members of his house. As he sat down he turned to his new friend and spoke, seemingly oblivious to the volume.

"Knew you weren't like those other Blacks. Well done."

He was too excited to notice the glares his statement earned him from the nearby table.

James and Sirius were sat side by side on James' bed. Their initial bond through a love of pranks and a hate for Slytherins had transcended into a strong friendship in a few whirlwind weeks. They were friendly to the other two in their dorm, Gryffindor boys stuck together, but spent most their time as a pair – plotting.

They began their Hogwarts journey by successfully pulling off pranks in classes; no-one could prove the shower of itching powder was them and why would they feel the need to surreptitiously vanish Lily Evans' chair? But soon professors were beginning to get suspicious and with detentions piling up they decided they should behave for a few days. After one last attempt, of course.

A new target had presented themselves in the form of Severus Snape, the boy from the train, otherwise known as a greasy little snitch who had earned them their most recent detention by proudly announcing he'd seen the wand in James' hand. I'd noticed the wand too, but I'd also seen Snape nearly falling out his chair to get a glimpse of what the boys were up to, so I struggled to blame them for wanting revenge.

I'd listened eagerly as they had discussed the possibilities of how to imprint the word snitch on Snape's forehead, but soon realised I wasn't the only one riveted by their conversation. Remus was also on his bed, but unlike James and Sirius, was beneath the covers with the curtains drawn around. He wasn't attempting to sleep, not surprising given the volume of James' voice, but was frowning slightly as he mulled over their plans. He licked his lips before he spoke.

"Could always use a sticking charm."

James and Sirius sprung of the bed and immediately stuck their heads around the curtain.

"We could what?"

Remus gawped at them, as if he was surprised they'd even heard him speak. His tongue darted out to wet his lips.

"Well, as you said, the letters won't appear out of thin air. But if you made your own letters, if you cut them out of the Prophet, then you could just stick them to him."

Sirius looked at James and a mischievous grin spread across both their faces.

"You, Remus," Sirius said, "are a genius."

"I'm not. You'd need your wand out to do it. Snape would see."

"Might be worth it," James replied with a shrug. "Another detention wouldn't be too bad, I suppose."

Sirius slumped on to Remus' bed. "It would. McGonagall said she'd write home if we got another one this month."

"Well that's that then."

James joined the other two boys on the bed.

"Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Well," Remus said, "No-one would suspect me." As he watched the excitement he'd caused a small smile crept onto his face. He pushed himself back on the pillows so he sat up straighter, trying to retain some form of respectable behaviour, but couldn't help but laugh along with the others. After a minute his laughter subsided. "It'll have to wait though. I'm visiting home this weekend."

Sirius was scowling towards the dormitory door.

"Where is he, James?"

"Dunno. Late."

"Well he shouldn't be." Sirius finally turned away from the door to glare at James instead. "We need to finish planning."

"I think Remus has it sorted. He's probably missed a Portkey."

Sirius hit the bed. "I hate him, you know. Snape."

"Me too," James said, nodding so furiously his glasses began to slip down his nose.

"No, I mean I really hate him." Sirius paused, turning back to the door so James couldn't see his face. "I saw him with Bellatrix yesterday. She's disgusting too, so they've obviously got something in common. But anyone who likes my family is crazy."

"We can prank them too, if you like."

"They'd tell my parents."

"So?"

Sirius didn't reply and James wondered if he'd even heard him. But then his friend jumped to his feet and stomped towards the door.

"Where the hell is he?"

He threw open the door just in time to see Remus climbing the last few steps, and looking as if he'd walked all the way from home. The sight of him seemed to calm Sirius, who stopped his rage and simply stood aside to allow the boy to enter the room.

Remus collapsed on James' bed, the one nearest the door, and looked up at Sirius through tired eyes. "I know, I know. We were meant to be planning for tomorrow."

"What happened?" Sirius asked, though the frustration had left his voice.

"Mum was ill," Remus said so fast it sounded like one word. He gulped several times. "She's often ill. That's why I went home. I might have to go again."

James sat next to him. "Is it bad?"

The corners of Remus' mouth twitched so fleetingly it's not surprising both other boys missed it. "Sometimes. It's a long term thing. There's no cure."

"Oh." James' hand came to an awkward rest on his back. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault."

Sirius stared at the two of them blankly. "So. The prank?"

"I've got the letters," Remus said. "Pass me that book from my bed, will you?"

Sirius complied and handed it to him. "Lazy."

Inside the book were six letters of varying sizes all cut from newspaper. Remus showed them to the others, ensuring they correctly spelt the word.

"I've practised the charm."

"Excellent."

"But don't look at me when it happens. I can't get caught."

"You'll have to have detention at some point."

"It's not detention I'm bothered about," Remus said, before hastily continuing. "The letters should stick for about twenty-four hours if I do it correctly."

Sirius grinned for the first time that day. "Plenty of time for the snitch to be revealed."

"Nice working with you, boys," James said. "Now get off my bed."

The next day I made sure I kept Severus Snape within my radar. Although I'd noticed nothing special about him at the sorting he'd been becoming popular with some of the older Slytherin students, the ones I was certain would make a name for themselves. Though it wasn't unusual within Ravenclaw for first years to be unofficially mentored I'd never seen it happen within Slytherin quite like it did with Snape. It was the interest of these older students that made me wonder if this would be the first prank that thwarted Sirius and James.

The two of them rounded on him at breakfast.

"Been flirting with my cousin, have we?"

"As if, Black."

"Oh he's blushing."

"You know, Sirius, perhaps it's you he wants. He's making do with second best."

"You make me sick. Both of you," Snape said.

"What's that? You love me?"

"You're arrogant."

"And you're a snitch."

On cue the letters zoomed across the room and attached themselves to Snape's forehead. He gave a cry of alarm as he felt them settle onto his skin.

"What is it, what have you done?"

James and Sirius both raised their wandless hands, smirking.

Snape scratched at his forehead as he marched over to the Gryffindor table, spotting the nearest Gryffindor with a wand in their hand.

"Pettigrew. Was it you? Only a filthy half blood would-"

"Oi," James called over the growing crowd. "Leave him."

"Make me, Potter."

Sirius and James both pulled their wands out of their back pocket and forced their way closer. A few spaces down the table, Remus stood up, wand hand steady despite the fear in his eyes.

It wasn't just his friends who noticed the move.

"Lupin."

Remus licked his lips, preparing to speak.

Instead the words came from a surprising source. "You going to snitch again?" Peter asked, mockingly innocent.

"What?"

"Well that's what it says on your head."

Snape looked frantically between the four Gryffindors. "You were all in it together."

"So what if we were?" Peter replied.

Snape fingered the imprint of the word on his head. He sniffed. Then he marched out of the hall.

Sirius and James simultaneously cracked up, throwing themselves down on the bench next to Peter.

"Excellent, excellent."

Remus scooted along. "You shouldn't have done that. Taken the flak for us."

Peter smiled nervously. "Well, that's what friends are for." He paused. "And he is a snivelley little snitch, after all."

Once the four were united as friends it didn't take them long to get more inquisitive about my secrets. I'm accustomed to curiosity, and unperturbed by students finding out the odd details. However the boys took to their task much more seriously than any others had, listing rumours to investigate and trying to gather knowledge from older pupils in their house.

"My dad reckons there are hundreds of passageways," James announced one weekend.

It was cold outside, and the four boys had managed to snare one of the most desirable areas of the common room. The corner they selected allowed them both comfy seats and a little privacy from the masses. Every so often a bunch of fourth years scowled at them, dejected that their favoured chairs had been stolen by some first years, but unwilling to get on the wrong side of the pranksters.

"Hundreds?" Peter asked. "Are you sure?"

"He's exaggerating, Pete. Got to be."

"Shut up. Just because all you know about is the Slytherin common room."

"Yeah," Sirius lowered his voice. "And look how handy that will come in soon."

James chucked a quill at him. "Okay, you have a point. But seriously, there are meant to be loads."

"We all know the rumours," Remus chipped in. "Write them down, James, then we can start to explore."

"Right." He glared at Sirius. "Git stole my quill."

"Stole? Stole!"

James pounced on his friend, pinning him to the chair, but Sirius craftily held the quill out of his reach. They fought for a minute until Remus stood up with an uncharacteristic air of elegance, possibly an imitation of Sirius, and niftily pinched the quill out of the other boy's hand.

"Looking for something, James?"

"Genius."

I read the list. Many of the places they believed to be passageways were nonsensical but they had a couple accurate guesses written down as well. If they truly believed there were hundreds I wondered how long they would investigate for before giving up. Would they become the first to discover them all?

They certainly wasted no time in trying.

When James whipped out his invisibility cloak I wasn't surprised. Generations of Potter's had disappeared under that cloak whenever they saw the need; I never assumed the youngest member would be any different. The boys, however, broke out in uproar.

"You absolute git. You only mention this now, why?"

"Wow, an invisibility cloak! Amazing."

"Where did you get it from, James? James! Stop laughing."

James' head reappeared, though his body still remained hidden. His glasses were skew-whiff from laughter. "Your faces!" He paused to replay the scene and burst out laughing again.

"Let me try it on."

James handed the cloak over to Sirius and while the invisible boy tried to find his reflection in the mirror, he began to explain.

"It's was my dad's. He got it from my grandfather, who got it from my great-grandfather and so on." He grinned. "Now it's all mine."

Sirius re-emerged. "When you say all yours, I hope you mean yours and your three best friends'."

"As long as you promise to put it to good use."

"By good use," Remus enquired, "you do mean pranking?"

"Pranking, exploring, generally getting up to no good. If you're unsure whether your mission is worthy, all you have to do is ask."

"Excellent," Sirius said, passing the cloak to Peter.

When it was Remus' turn to try it he held it up in front of him. "It's big."

James nodded. "Big enough for four people I reckon."

"There's only one way to find out."

And so rather than heading to bed that night, they stayed awake, huddled together on James' bed with the cloak clutched firmly in the hands of its owner. They took it in turns to peer out into the common room, having decided it was wise to wait until it was empty so no-one became suspicious about the portrait hole opening.

Finally, Peter returned from his look-out. "All empty."

"Let's go."

Though there was still plenty of material to spare they huddled together in the middle of the cloak. As they wandered down the corridor they became clumsy, tripping or stumbling into each other. Their curses as they did so were kept to a minimum but James was soon banned from speaking altogether as whispering seemed impossible for him.

They wandered around my floors with little aim, unable to decide which possibilities to check out first. They stopped by each statue, jumped on each wobbly floorboard and Sirius even dared peer into the visor of one of the suit of armours. As he let go of the helmet it clattered and the sound echoed around the hallway. Remus grabbed his wrist and, taking over the lead from James, quickly steered them away from the scene. Unfortunately he only led them instead to a worse situation. As they were hastily stumbling down a corridor a door opened and Slughorn strode out, yawning. Remus reacted the quickest, throwing a hand out to stall the others. They flattened themselves against the wall. James clamped a hand over his mouth, afraid his jagged breaths would give them away.

Slughorn frowned slightly, and double checked the classroom he came out of. Then he shrugged, pulled out a flask from his pocket and took a long, deep sniff. It seemed to relax him, and he wandered away without a further glance.

The close encounter was enough to bring the mission to a close. They made it back to the dormitory without further incident, and as soon as their door was shut stared at each other, relieved they hadn't been caught. Sirius' laughter broke the silence.

"Thank Merlin it was only Sluggy."

"Ha," James agreed. "I've never seen anyone so confused."

"Shame we didn't find anything though," Peter mused.

Sirius' laughter subsided. "Never give up so soon."

Remus gave a curt nod. "Indeed. Right boys, I'm off to bed."

He drew the curtain around himself. Though surprised of the sudden farewell the other boys assumed him to be tired. I, of course, knew the real reason. He was terrified if he looked them in the eyes he'd give away the truth about the one passageway he was all too familiar with.