Part 1: Just A Prank

Sirius was bored.

He had been sitting on the edge of his bed in the dormitory he shared with his three best friends, three boys for whom he would be willing to risk his life at the slightest beckoning, for the past hour and a half, effectively twiddling his thumbs (though he was too bored to do so in any literal sense) while he tried to think of something to do. Usually, when such a situation arose, Sirius would simply call upon James, his partner in crime and prankdom, and together they would orchestrate a prank to put Hogwarts' resident poltergeist, the aptly named Peeves, to shame, and this would be enough to stay the boredom for another long afternoon.

That afternoon, however, Sirius had no company other than the humid summer air and his own voice. James had deserted him yet again to chase after his seemingly life-long love interest, the fiery muggleborn red head, Lily Evans- an occurrence that was becoming more and more common in recent months. Though he had never voiced the opinion with any sincerity, he had hoped that James' infatuation with 'the Evans girl' would dissipate with time. He had had no such luck, and despite the fact that the end of their sixth summer as student's at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was already looming, James was even more head-over-heels over the girl than he had been when he had first decided he was in love with her. It wasn't, Sirius mused, that she wasn't a nice person, and she was undeniably pretty- with her thick carroty hair that hinted at curls without entirely giving into them, her smattering of light brown freckles that defined her features, and her near hypnotic green eyes which Sirius had so often seen James stare into with a longing more mature than his sixteen years- but Sirius could hardly bear the way that she had treated James over the years. All she had ever given his best friend was diamond-edged rejection after rejection, and each time Sirius had been there to pick up the pieces and hold James together in front of the girl he loved. It dumbfounded Sirius that she couldn't see that James was crazy for her, even though it was plainer than parchment. He wished he could shake her and tell her to wake up and pay some attention to the boy who had cried himself to sleep over her for more than five years.

Remus, following the usual pattern at that particular time of the month, had gone to the hospital wing the day before in preparation for his transformation. His departure had been much easier for the last year and a half, since Sirius, James and Peter had perfected the animagus transformation. Unlike the previous years, the three boys no longer had to wait anxiously as they tried not to imagine the torment their friend was suffering and hope that he would live to see the morning- since the Christmas holidays of the marauders' fifth year at Hogwarts, James, Sirius and Peter had accompanied Remus each full moon and eased the pain of his transformation as animals rather than humans, and none of them had ever looked back. However, that night Sirius felt a deep sense of regret and pity for Remus, because he was to suffer alone. Whilst Sirius wanted nothing more than to go with him, he was unable to for a simple reason- Peter was ill. Without him, they could never even begin to get into the Willow

He had started to complain of feeling a little queasy the day before, but Sirius had thought he was probably just trying to get out of having to go to Transfiguration, because he owed McGonagall an essay which he had not even begun to attempt, but as the day progressed in an endless tirade of lessons, homework and promised detentions, Peter had started to look a little green. By dinner, he looked positively awful. Sirius could tell something was seriously wrong when he didn't eat a bite of the sumptuous array of food spread on the table before him. He didn't even look at it. Remus had patted Peter on the arm, and suggested he come to the hospital wing with him and let Madame Pomfrey take a look at him. They had left immediately, leaving James and Sirius alone for the rest of the night. They didn't mind this, of course, but they spent the entire night discussing how best to humiliate Snape in their end-of-year prank.

They had not had any breakthroughs, but neither was particularly disheartened, as they had a few more weeks to come up with something memorable.

Peter did not turn up for lessons the next morning, so they went to visit him and Remus at lunch time. Both of them were in sorry states; Peter had to lunge for a bowl constantly so that he could tidily relieve the contents of his stomach, and Remus was sleeping fitfully, besieged by nightmares. In the end, Sirius and James left them to rest. Or, more accurately, Madame Pomfrey chased the two of them out, brandishing the foul-smelling potion for Peter's stomach bug.

They had then begun the long walk back to the Gryffindor common room with plans for a game of wizard's chess, when they had run into Lily Evans. From there, the normal pattern ensued- James asked her out, Lily slapped him, and he ran after her, simultaneously teasing her and complimenting her, while she flicked her hair at him.

And so Sirius was alone. And Sirius was very, very bored.

Suddenly, an idea dawned on Sirius like a light bulb had lit up in his brain. He could go Snivellus hunting! Snivellus hunting, the art of tracking down and inflicting some manner of humiliation or pain on a certain Severus Snape, was one of Sirius' favourite pastimes. Granted, he usually was accompanied by James or Peter (though Remus usually refused from joining them), and usually Snape had done something to warrant his treatment, but neither of these things particularly mattered to Sirius just then- he wasn't looking for something wholesome and moral, just a quick kick to stay the boredom.

With this in mind, Sirius got to his feet and walked over to James' trunk. It wasn't locked, so Sirius just opened the lid and began to rummage through the menagerie of socks (old and new), Zonko products, and other not completely necessary items that James stored in his trunk, most of which had not left it since the first year. With a small smirk of triumph, Sirius felt his searching fingers close on the item he had been looking for. He recognised it instantly by the smooth texture of the parchment, without a single slick smear of ink on its surface, at least for the moment.

Sirius pulled the Marauder's Map from James' trunk and let the lid swing shut with a defiant clang. Before saying a single word, he brought the map up to his nostrils and took a deep breath of its papery smell. It had always smelt nice, even before he and his friends had spent the countless hours poring over it, sketching passageways and corridors in pencil and ink and wrapping it in enchantments to tie it to the castle and all its inhabitants, and trying to make it work. Now, though, it smelt even better. It had the slight aroma of sweat, though in a pleasant sense, and of ghosted ink.

He tapped in with the tip of his wand, and said with relish, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." It did his heart good every time he saw their names run across the parchment; he felt a deep sense of pride that he and his friends had finally achieved something so lasting. Their magical talents and their animagi abilities would eventually fade, but this map could last years after they were gone, to serve generations of pranksters and rule-benders to come. Just the thought of passing on that kind of legacy brought a smile to his face.

Eventually his searching eyes found their target: a small label with the words Severus Snape etched into it. Luckily for Sirius, it was sitting stock still in the library, with no-one else around, rather than in the Slytherin common room. Sirius was slightly disappointed that there would be no-one to witness Snape's humiliation, but stuffed the map into his front pocket and left the dormitory in search of Snape regardless.

It was, of course, very easy to find him. He had not moved from the spot Sirius had seen him in on the map; he was simply sitting and reading a book, though Sirius could not see the title from behind. Before moving any closer, he muttered a spell he had heard Snape use once, so that he could not hear his conversation, in the hope that Madame Pince might not come running if it came to a fight, which was highly likely. As he approached, he was able to see much more clearly: 'Annos et dies- disappearances explained' .

The little bastard, he's researching Remus! Snape had been onto Remus from the first day he had missed school. He was always sticking his nose in, trying to trick them into giving something away. It made Sirius' blood boil angrily at the very thought of Snape finding out about Remus' lycanthropy, as he did not doubt that he was the sort to be prejudiced enough to spread it around the school and do his utmost to get him expelled. Sirius growled.

Snape spun around as he heard the noise, and his eyes narrowed when they fell on Sirius. "What do you want, Black?" His mouth twitched as he said Sirius' last name, either in amusement or disgust- Sirius didn't particularly care which, but it was all the provocation he needed.

He grabbed the book, which lay still open on the table, and threw it across the room. He brought his face centimetres from Snape's and growled.

"You will stop trying," he said, in a low voice, "or I will make you."

He sneered, his yellowing teeth showing slightly. Sirius made a mental note to comment on that another time. "What are you going to do about it, Black? I will find out what's going on here, and when I do-"

He was cut off as Sirius seized his collar and pinned him up against one of the heavy wooden bookcases, snarling. "You will stop,"

"You can't protect him all the time, Black. He's not here now, he's disappeared again. I'm not stupid; I can see the signs-"

"And if you don't shut up, you won't be seeing anything for a week!" Sirius raised his fist threateningly, but Snape did not flinch. He did, however, draw his wand from his pocket and drive it hard into Sirius' cheek, smiling.

"Get off me, Black." He smiled cruelly, pressing the wand hard enough to cause a pain. Sirius, however, was not unaccustomed to pain, and did not loosen his grip on Snape's shirt. "I said, get off! Sectumsempra!"

Sirius gasped as he felt a searing pain in his left cheek, and a warm trickle of blood running down his face and neck. He did not recognise the hex, but made a note to ask Remus about it sometime. He did let go of Snape though, in that he threw him across the room where he collided with a bookcase with a thump and a shower of dust. Usually, Sirius would have said something snide about the improvement, but he was too angry to trade petty insults now.

Ignoring the blood which was now flowing freely down his face, he walked over to Snape, being sure to step on his foot as he did. He drew back a fist, ready to give Snape a black eye, when Snape spluttered, spraying Sirius with saliva.

"You- you can't do anything to me. Madame Pince'll- she'll hear you." He grinned almost manically, and Sirius noted with pleasure that there was a little blood on his front teeth.

"Not with that spell of yours around. No one can hear but you" he poked his wand into Snape's cheekbone, returning the favour, "and me."

Any trace of smugness vanished from Snape's face. Sirius punched him, hard, in the stomach, and Snape curled his legs into his chest, trying to regain his breath.

"Stop it, Black." He hissed, still in his protective ball. "Your pet, Lupin, wouldn't want you doing this,"

He just doesn't know when to stop, does he? Sirius thought hatefully. He would have punched him again, but he heard Snape mutter something, and he felt another lash of pain in his arm, effectively deadening it. He glanced down past his shoulder, and saw crimson spreading through the sleeve of his shirt. Snape smiled nastily.

With his teeth bared, he bent towards Snape menacingly, consumed with anger. "If you are so bloody interested, why don't you go jab the willow, I'm sure it'd love to get its branches on you!"

Snape's smile faltered a little, as though something had clicked in his mind. "That's where he goes, isn't it?" It wasn't a question, just thinking aloud, but that made it no less dangerous. Sirius was too filled with his own cleverness to realise what this could mean.

"You try it, see where it gets you- a bed in the hospital wing, if Pomfrey'll have you, and I somewhat doubt that." He kicked Snape hard on the backside, then walked away to where there was a gap in the bookcases. "See ya, Snivellus," he sneered, and walked away.

Sirius returned to the Gryffindor tower, having taken a brief detour from the library to the kitchens to pick up a 'snack' (a plate of scones and a pint of pumpkin juice) from the house-elves, and to the hospital wing to get the cuts patched up. He didn't mention who had done it, and he didn't go to see Remus (he figured that he would be asleep), he just went in and out as quickly as possible. When he entered the dormitory, he was surprised to see James sitting on top of his trunk with a downcast expression. He was bathed in orange light- the last of the dying sun's rays before day gave way to night. He looked up briefly as Sirius entered the room, but then continued to stare at his shoes. His black hair was strangely tidy- not by most people's standards, but considering the normal state of James' hair, it was quite miraculous. It seemed as though he had perhaps not been running his fingers through it as much, trying to impress Lily Evans. In the brief moment when he had looked up and their eyes had met, Sirius had noticed two things- the angry, red, roughly hand-shaped mark on his cheek, and the glimmer of tears in James' eyes. Evidently, his meeting with Lily had not gone well.

Sirius sat down at the end of James' bed, behind his friend, his hands clasped between his knees.

"Are you alright, mate?"

James sniffed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

He obviously was nothing of the sort.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," James shook his head vigorously, but he still did not turn to face Sirius.

"You sure?" Sirius kept niggling at his friend in the hope that he would open up to him. Sirius of all people knew that that would help. After all, they had forced him to open up about his family, and that had helped him no end.

"Jeez, Sirius, I'm fine!" James spun around, the tears gone though the redness remained. Now that Sirius could see him properly, he could appreciate the full extent of Lily Evans current feelings towards James. The slap mark on his face was small, like Lily Evans' hands, but it was certainly strong. Sirius couldn't help but wonder what James could have done this time to warrant such action.

"So, what did you do today," James wore a forced smile, and the one Sirius returned was equally forced. He truly hated seeing his friend like this, always over the same girl.

Sirius shrugged, "Oh, nothing much. Stayed here for quite a while, which was really, really boring, and then I went Snivellus hunting." James sat up a little straighter.

"Oh? Anything good?"

"Not really. He did some spell that cut me pretty deeply, so I punched him a few times. He was trying to work out about Remus,"

"That bastard," James spat.

"My thoughts exactly. So I gave him a bit of a beating, and told him to go jab the willow if he was so interested." Sirius looked so pleased with himself- he was giving Snape two beatings in one day and barely getting his hands dirty- and so he didn't understand when James' face fell and his eyes widened.

"You did what?" He looked horrified. Sirius frowned confusedly.

"I told him to go jab the willow- he won't get in, he'll just get beaten up!"

"You don't know that Sirius!" James got to his feet and started pacing. "What if he does?"

"He won't! He's stupid, James, he's Snivellus, he'll never get through! And he'll sure as hell leave Remus alone afterwards!" Sirius got up as well, trying and failing to make James see sense. "It was just a prank," he muttered.

James took Sirius by the shoulders, and shook him. "But what if he does, Sirius? Remus could kill him!"

James ran over to the window. Sirius could see from where he was that the moon was beginning to rise, a whole and perfect silver circle. Remus would be starting to transform. "He's not out there," James muttered.

"Sirius, give me the map."

Sirius complied, his eyebrows knitted together. He was battling with himself, part of him sure that he was right, that the Whomping Willow would live up to its namesake and Remus would be fine, but the other part, growing stronger the more Sirius considered it, entirely supported James' point of view. In the end, it was the latter side which won.

What have I done? Sirius asked himself in disbelief.

James looked at the map, mouthing silently to himself. After a moment, he thrust it roughly into his pocket. "Right," he declared. "I'm going after him."

"I'll come with you-" James cut him off with a slight gesture of his hand.

"Don't," He looked at Sirius with a mixture of anger, pity and revulsion. "You've done enough."

AN: In case it isn't clear from my other stories, I am obsessed with Remus, and while he himself doesn't feature much at all in this story, I thought this was an important tale to tell. All of my stories, with the exception of The Game, exist in the same realm of fandom- so anything you read in any of the other stories is what I assume as history and backing for the others. Any criticism, comments, whatever- there's a little button, it says 'review'... and it loves you. If you click it, it will forever be your friend. Just a little something to bear in mind.