The two girls crept silently out of Gryffindor tower late on a Wednesday night. They were hidden under an invisibility cloak, completely undetectable, except for one thing.

They were arguing.

Loudly.

"Ellianna Claybourne, will you please shut up! I've told you sixteen times that this is perfectly safe! I've made sure that Filch is chasing Peeves down in the third floor corridor," the first voice shouted, sounding stern and somewhat exasperated.

"But Rose, if we get caught, we'll have to do a detention. Again. I still haven't gotten all of the bubotuber pus off of my cardigan," the second voice argued.

"But we won't get caught, will we?" Rose demanded. "This time, I've taken all of the precautions. Nothing-"

"Who's there?! Show yourselves!" A voice shouted.

The girls jumped and whipped around. Luckily for them, it was only the portrait of the Fat Lady, on the door of Gryffindor tower. Ellie gave Rose a pointed look, almost to say 'I told you so'.

Just as they were about to proceed down the corridor, the portrait hole opened again, and another girl stepped through. She was shorter than the two under the cloak, and her hair was long and brown.

It was Ellie's sister, Lynn.

"Oh, I do suppose that there must be a party somewhere tonight." The fat lady remarked as Lynn glared at her and continued down the corridor.

"Wonder what she's doing." Ellie whispered, looking like she wanted to go after her only sibling.

"It doesn't matter." Rose replied as the pair started walking down the opposite staircase.

"We have to get to the greenhouses and the potions store if we want to get all of the ingredients that we need to finish the Felix Felicis before the end of term."

"Fine," Ellie submitted as the girls came to the first of the moving staircases.

They made their way down to the entrance hall in the dim torchlight, only to find the doors bolted.

"Oh, isn't this just brilliant," Ellie huffed loudly.

"Stow it, I hear someone coming," Rose silenced. The girls shuffled to the nearest wall, still under their cloak.

"James, it's locked," said the first voice, also invisible.

"Well, I'm sure I didn't know that, Sirius," said another voice, laced with sarcasm.

"How could you not know that?" Wheezed the third voice. "We're standing right in front of the door."

"He was kidding Peter," said a fourth voice.

All of them were boys by the sound of it, and Rose and Ellie knew them well. They were also Gryffindors, in their year nonetheless. Sirius Black, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin

Everyone knew that they were always in trouble. Rose grinned to think that she and Ellie were on the same level as the biggest trouble makers at the school.

"What are you grinning about?"

"Shhhh."

"Would you like to do the honors Sirius?"

"Of course, James. Alohamora."

The doors creaked open, and James swore happily at the noise.

The girls followed behind the group, as quietly as they could, still unrecognized by the boys. They headed towards the dark forest. Halfway there, Ellie stopped abruptly, almost throwing off their cloak.

"Where are we going?"

"Following them, obviously," Rose replied, made impatient by their pause.

"So we can't follow my sister, but we can follow them?" Ellie countered.

"This is different," Rose turned, watching as the grass pushed down where the boys walked. They were getting away.

"Damn right it is! That's the dark forest, there's all kinds of nasty stuff in there. We could die! And if we get caught, we'll have detention for so long, we won't remember what the sun looks like!"

"Look. We would need to go to the forest for horklump eggs anyways, so we might as well go now. If we stay in earshot of them, they can help if something happens. Now can we please go? We're losing them."

"Fine," Ellie replied, grumpily.

The girls sprinted to catch up.

They entered the forest just a bit behind the boys, easily found by their loud laughing at various puns.

The branches loomed over their heads and blocked out the quarter moon, and it left the forest black. A path was barely visible at their feet, covered by roots and leaves. The trunks on the trees were gnarled and twisted, and shadows of inkier darkness danced at the corners of their eyes.

The girls made it all the way in to a clearing before they realized anything was wrong.

"Where'd they go?"

While they had been overwhelmed by the forest, the boys had gone.

"Damn it! We've lost them!" Rose all but yelled, the darkness swallowing up her shout almost instantly.

"No, we've just found you. Accio Cloak!" James Potter yelled.

"No!" The girls grasped the folds of their cloak as it tried to fly away.

"Expelliarmus!" Ellie shouted, sending a jet of red light into the forest where the cloak was pulling towards. There was a yell, and a curse as the spell connected. The cloak dropped.

Then another light came from the opposite side of the clearing, this one purple, just clearing the girl's heads.

"Oi!" Rose shouted as she returned the favor by shooting a spell across the clearing towards the second ambusher.

"Protego!"

Ellie shouted as a blue light came straight at Rose's chest from a third angle.

"Nice shot Remus!" Sirius called, but there was no time to reply.

Before anyone knew it, a full duel had broken out, and light was flying everywhere, illuminating the woods in a fashion near to a strobe at a disco.

The faces of the girls were fierce as they stood back to back, firing off spells into the gloom. Nothing so much as touched them, as they practically read each other's minds; defending perfectly, and attacking with such vigor that their opponents were thrown off their feet, literally. After only a minute of dueling, Peter had been hit in the face by a bat-bogey hex, and was on the ground with his head down trying to avoid being hit again.

Remus had soon been hit by a stunning spell (which had been shot by Sirius), and was lying unconscious against a tree.

Now it was only James and Sirius against the two girls.

They parried back and forth for a while, Rose against James and Ellie blocking Sirius' every move. The boys were slowly advancing as they got a feel for the weaknesses of the girls.

Then, suddenly;
"NOW!" Rose roared.

The girls swirled around and switched places blocking the boys' attacks, so quickly that they were left confused, if only for a moment.

But a moment was enough, and in that time-
"Incarcerous!" Ropes shot out of Rose's wand at Sirius, and they sheared straight through his Shield Charm, as he crumpled to the ground with a surprised cry.

"Sirius!" James cried as Ellie shot a jinx at him.

His legs started to tremble as he looked down. Then they started to bend in unnatural ways as he face planted. His legs kept moving even after he was down, kicking in the air and twisting together and apart.

"Really? A jelly-leg jinx, Ellie?"

"It was the first thing that came to mind," Ellie replied, bashfully.

The girls laughed.

"Alright, let's sort this mess out," Rose said. Ellie moved towards Sirius to untie him.

"No, I think we'd best leave those two for last. You start with Peter,"
Ellie turned and started the delicate work of lifting the hex.

"Enervate." Rose murmured.
Lupin shook his head and his eyes opened as the stunning spell was reversed.

"Thanks," he grumbled.

"No trouble, unlike those two," she gestured to James (whose feet were still kicking), and Sirius, who was glaring at them all murderously.

"Oh, I understand completely," Remus replied, returning Sirius' stare. He apparently was displeased with the whole situation.

"Alright, Els, let's get to Black," Rose said, starting over to him.

"Do we have to? He looks a bit like he might kill us," Ellie remarked.

"Yes, unfortunately. If we leave him, he's bound to be eaten before sunrise," Rose replied.

Rose strode up to Sirius and smirked.
"Not so hot now are we, Mr. Black?"
From the ground Sirius looked up at the girl, and got a dangerous glint in his eye. Before she could question it though, it was gone. She shot a spell that burned through the ropes.

"I'd like to think that that whole incident was all James' fault," Sirius replied nonchalantly.

"Come now, you can't blame everything on me," someone said, directly behind Ellie.

She spun around so quickly to face him that she tripped on a root.

Directly into James' arms.

"How-"

"The counter jinx is just unjellify. Not so difficult," James smirked. Rose was trying hard not to laugh, as Sirius snuck up from behind her.

"Never turn your back on an opponent, dear. It could be your undoing," Sirius whispered, from behind Rose. She looked over her shoulder at him.

"Dear me, I must have forgotten," she replied innocently.

Something was pulling at Sirius' leg. Suddenly, he was hanging upside down from a tree, a vine magically grown around his ankle, another unwinding from the tree and pulling his wand out of his hand.

"How's that for my undoing?" She smirked.

"When's the wedding?" James asked Ellie quietly.

She laughed in reply. The sound seemed to jar the other two back to reality.

Sirius dropped to the ground with a flop as the vines recoiled.

Rose winced.

"Sorry. Still working on that," she told him, offering him a hand. He took it gladly.

"Not a problem," he responded, dusting off his robes which were covered with a dark dust.

"What exactly are you doing out here?" Remus asked. It suddenly occurred to both of the girls that he was a prefect. Ellie was worried, but Rose wasn't. She was one too, and she knew Remus well enough to know that he couldn't report them for this.

"Just going for an evening stroll. And yourselves?" She asked, calmly.

"Just the usual," Sirius replied coyly.

"I'm sure. And that's why you're carrying some incredibly dangerous potion ingredients with you," she replied. "Ellie. What do those look like?"

"Well, if I didn't know better, I'd say that it looks like the leaves of Mandragora turcomanicav. But I do know better. That plant is only found in the Middle East. And its leaves only have one practical use. Can you guess what that is, Rose?"

"Hmmmm. Tricky one. I'd have to say…Animagus. But, Ellie, isn't the ritual to become an animagus incredibly dangerous and illegal enough to land you in Azkaban for several years?" Rose asked.

Realizing that the gig was up, James was sensible enough to stop the two girls before they tore down every shred of dignity that he had.

"All right. Fine, you caught us. But, Peter, are those Ashwinder eggs?"

"Looks like it, James," Peter replied.

"And Remus, aren't those what, a Class C non-tradable substance?" Sirius asked.

"Class D, actually," Remus corrected. "Unless they were collected by her, that's a fine over a thousand galleons," he remarked.

"Rose! You told me those were Doxy eggs!" Ellie exclaimed, realizing the danger of the eggs that they were carrying around, the ones that had come by owl last week.

"I wasn't going to let you touch them anyway," Rose reasoned. "So, we're even," she challenged the boys.

"Not quite. You still blew our cover. We were trying to hunt billywigs tonight. You scared them off," Sirius said.

"Billywigs? You really are going to try to be an animagus, then?" She asked.

"Yeah," Peter confirmed. "We've been doing it since second year. Just perfected it last w-"
He stopped when he saw the look that Sirius was giving him. "Oh, no, wait, I mean-"

"S'all right Peter." James said. "Yeah. We're gonna try for it. Why?"

"We want in." Rose said, after exchanging a look with Ellie.

"You can't just join up halfway through-" Sirius began.

"Actually, if what Peter said was right, we can. The first process doesn't have to be done individually. Since you haven't used the mandrake leaves yet, you haven't even started the potion. Or you're doing it wrong," she replied.

"You've tried-"

"Nah," Ellie interrupted. "Just looked into it. We couldn't have. Our mums are too nosy. We would've been caught if we brought it home. Which we had to do," she explained.

"All right. Say we let you in. What's in it for us?" Sirius asked.

"We'll Rose's the best in the class at potions. Behind Snape that is. And her parents run an apothecary. Anything you need, and she can have it here in less than a week."

"That's not much," Sirius persisted.

"Fine. We can just take our Felix Felicis and-" Rose began.

"You've made Felix Felicis?" Remus asked incredulously. The pure gold luck potion was notoriously hard to brew.

"We will have in about six months. Enough for all parties, if you're interested."

The boys all looked at each other, trying to decide.

Finally, James called for a chat.

They turned and shuffled a few feet away, while James cast a Muffliato spell so that they couldn't be overheard.

"What do you think?"

"I'm all for it," Sirius said. They all rolled their eyes at him.

"Sirius, just because you're head over heels-"

"I am not head over heels. Look, they're right. She's the best potion student in our year, and she can get us ingredients. Plus, I think that we could all do with some liquid luck," he argued.

"Remus?"

Remus sighed. "As much as I disapprove of this whole thing, I think that he has a point. And, I think I'm not wrong in saying that she'll report us if she doesn't get her way. We've got much more to lose than they do," he surmised.

"Peter?" James prompted.

Behind James' back, Sirius was giving out a death glare that said to agree with him. An evil eye that told him that he had messed up, but now he had the chance to redeem himself. And to him, that was better than anything those girls could offer.

"Remus is right. I don't think my mother would like me getting caught much," he said.

"Well then, I guess that settles-"

"Oh but James, we can't cut off the parliamentary process. What say you, sir?"

"Well, I say… This is going to be interesting," James grinned lopsidedly.

"Then that makes it unanimous."

XX

The minute the boys had turned, Ellie cast a muffling charm in their direction.

"What the hell are you thinking?"

"What?" Rose asked, looking off after Sirius.

"Don't you-Ugh! Look at me!" Ellie called. Rose turned back to look at her sheepishly.

"You just got us involved in something that could land us both in Azkaban! Don't you 'What' me!"

"D'you honestly think that Dumbledore would let any of us go to Azkaban? Think it through Ellie. Worst comes to worse, we all get expelled, and I'll just end up back with a stable job at the apothecary, which is where I'll be anyway. We can even hire you. Think of it. You love Diagon Alley. And I'll only have to run the shop for a few years until I've earned enough to move out and do my own work."

Ellie did think it through, and her original doubt left, replaced by a feeling of anxiety based on whether or not they would be allowed to work with the boys, or if they would be rejected.

"Think they'll let us join?" Ellie asked, tentatively.

"Why? James Potter as cute up close as you're always saying he is from a distance?"

"Rose," Ellie whined.

"Sorry. Couldn't resist. But yeah, I think the odds are in our favor. Especially thanks to your persuasion. Thanks for that, by the way. Very flattering."

"Well, I thought I'd just make you look good in front of your future husband. How are you so sure?"

Rose ignored the comment about Sirius.

"Look at how they're all nodding. Lupin knows I'll turn them in if they say no. And he doesn't think Dumbledore will be so forgiving. Especially because of his- Well, never mind. Sirius was the first one to speak in our favor. Pettigrew wouldn't dare disagree with the majority. Plus he's got his poor old mother to think of. If he gets put in Azkaban, how will she be able to live through her old age in luxury? And James, of course, the most interesting one, look at how he keeps glancing at you and grinning. He's got eyes for you. Wouldn't say no if I paid him to," she commented, smiling slyly.

"Well Sherlock," she said, "You've just spoiled the surprise again. But stow it, here they come."

They all wandered back to the center of the clearing.

"All right." James nodded, trying to keep a straight face. "You're in. But, there are a couple of conditions. We've no intention of getting caught, and if we are, you have to swear not to squeal. One of us goes down, they go alone. No telling anyone else. Not your siblings. Not your other friends. Not your boyfriends-"

"Ha! As if we even had any," Rose said under her breath. If she had been looking, she would have seen that strange look in Sirius' eye again.

"Ellie can set up a Fidelius Charm. Right now. No one except the secret keeper can say anything, or tell anyone. Her mum invented it. Ellie's brilliant with all that kind of stuff," Rose offered.

"Perfect," Lupin replied, looking a bit relieved.

"Who wants to be secret keeper?" Ellie asked.

"Better make it James," Sirius replied.

"Brilliant. Just give me some space," Ellie said.

She, as per usual performed the charm flawlessly. Charms were her thing. It ran in the family.

"Alright, then. Meet you one am, tomorrow morning, in the common room. Be sure you're not followed."

"You boys need anything from the potion master's closet? We're making a visit tomorrow afternoon," Rose offered. They would have to go tomorrow instead, if they wanted to get back to the dorms before first light. They were off schedule.

"No, but on your way through the greenhouse, pick up some moonlace for us, won't you?" Sirius asked.

"Blue, or silver?" Rose replied, not missing a beat.

"Silver. Five leaves, plucked from the lowest tier of five individual plants, the leaves pointed west. Make sure that the flesh-eating slugs haven't gotten to them," Remus replied.

"Wait for the moon to show through the clouds, yeah?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah," Lupin replied.

"Well then, we'd best be off," Rose said, picking up her invisibility cloak and holding it over her head.

"See you in the morning," James replied.

XX

The girls went off across the silent grounds, to the greenhouses, carefully avoiding the venomous tentacula that was always trying to cling on to the students. They found the moonlace in Professor Sprout's personal greenhouse, and using a compass spell, plucked the lowest, westernmost silver leaves when the moon shone through the clouds, the quarter barely casting a shadow through the grimy glass roof of the nursery, but the glow of he plants themselves serving as enough elumination.

When they were finished, they spun the pots around so that it didn't show which leaves they had taken. Ellie put them into a spare vial and they left, locking the room behind them, and again skirting out through the rows of plants. They grabbed a pair of spare dragon hide gloves that they had originally come for. Both of their pairs had gotten covered in bubotuber pus last week, and they wouldn't be able to get their own replacements for a while.

"Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you saying about Remus earlier?"

"Just… Just a theory. Nothing really."

The cool September night had a faint wind blowing. Rose was struck by the beauty of the castle grounds, barely lit, but still etched perfectly in her mind. After five years at school, she had, in fact, learned something. Look at that.

They again came through the great oak doors of the great hall. Filch was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, and I'll be needing some of your ink to make some exploding quills again to pay off Peeves for tonight," Rose remarked, whispering through the gloom.

"Fine," replied Ellie, too tired to argue.

As they got back to the fat lady, they again paused as someone entered, walking slowly, dragging her feet. Lynn, again.

"What could she be doing so late at night?" Ellie wondered aloud as the portrait closed behind her.

"I don't know, but I caught Nate sneaking out last week," Rose replied, referring to her brother, the star quidditch seeker, in his third year, like Lynn.

They trudged up to the dormitory silently, Ellie flopping into her bed as soon as they entered, not bothering to even take her shoes off, Rose pulling out a book and reading a few chapters. That girl had an ungodly sleep schedule.

The other girls in the dorm were used to it. Victoria, Alina and Ruby. They knew that the girls were always into trouble (though they mearly never got caught), and they were content to let them do as they pleased, just as long as none of them were involved. The tight knit group of fifth years never told any of each other's secrets.

At least as long as they didn't want to get in trouble with the prefect that they shared a dorm with.

Rose finished her book, and quietly as she could, put it on the bedside table, wondering all the while what the hell she had gotten herself into. Her wand under the covers was letting out a silvery blue glow, not unlike the moonlace she had just stolen from the green house.

"Nox." She whispered. The light shut out.

All else aside, at least this adventure would be interesting.

She fell asleep, dreaming of the moon, the stars, and Sirius Black.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hey Guys! I'm a huge Marauders fan, and I'm thrilled to be writing this! Let me know what you think, good or bad! I have a lot of this Prewritten, so my updates might be kind of sporadic. Also, I know that my grammar and punctuation and spelling really suck, so sorry about that! Thanks for reading, and Don't let the muggles get you down!

xxxx

so its now almost a year since i posted this (yikes) and it needs some fixing. You might see some small changes along the way as i think of details to fix, and hopefully, overall this will become a better piece. Thanks for hanging with me through the editing process!