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"What?" James asked sharply. Remus had just spent fifteen minutes explaining a rather simple plan, but James was still half-delirious, and Sirius was still… All right, he just didn't want to pay attention.

Remus sighed slightly then said, "Prongs, I've only just finished telling you… All right, let's go through this again. Lily has never minded Padfoot. Not that she fancies him. Actually, she didn't mind you much either. Well, she would've talked to you, at least, until this morning."

James still looked utterly clueless, and Sirius looked as if he would rather kiss the giant squid than attempt to pay attention to all of this again, but Remus continued relentlessly.

"That means that Padfoot can talk to her about what exactly bothers her about Prongs, then he can fix those things and when we all think that the time is right, you can ask her." He finished excitedly.

James' bored expression turned into one of interest, "Would that really work?" he asked quietly.

"Of course it will!" Remus said brightly.

Sirius, however, seemed to have a different opinion, "Um, guys? One problem." The two boys' faces fell. James was a big picture person, and usually relied on Remus to catch flaws. This time, that duty fell on Sirius, as it was Remus who'd thought of it. "She might not mind me as much as Prongsie, but she's not about to spill anything, especially when the information concerns my best mate." He said dully.

James gave him a look that had melted thousands of people hearts, and while it didn't particularly affect Sirius, it was enough to demonstrate to him how serious James was about the whole thing.

"I guess it's worth a try." He said grumpily.

James beamed at him, then stood and said loudly, "Well, I'll just go to bed then!"

Sirius looked as if something had dawned upon him and he said "Uh, yeah. So will I." He said just as loudly, making sure that everyone had heard him.

Remus caught their gaze, sighed and said "Yes, that's a good idea. Bye, Pete."

Peter watched the three of them leave, but stayed where he was. He was determined to figure out a spell that the three other Marauders had mastered weeks ago. It was actually a fairly simple spell, but because it looked a little confusing, Peter had been frightened of it. He was not completely sure if he even wanted to make it work, until earlier today when the James had demonstrated perfectly on Snivellus.

It was a hex that made your 'opponent' hand upside down as though from an invisible rope. It was called Levicorpus, and it was growing quickly in popularity. That kept Peter busy for a number of hours. More importantly, it kept him busy while the other three crept past him.

Remus had been made a prefect earlier that year, but he rarely honored his commitment to it and instead followed James and Sirius, displaying their rivaling genius at pranking the Slytherins.

James had been sent his fathers invisibility cloak in their first year, and it was a great help in their pranking ways. The three of them were under it now, as they made their way out of Gryffindor common room.

Every so often, the three of them would traipse off about the castle, mapping it out. Remus often felt badly that Peter was so left out of these activities, but he agreed that the boy should spend the extra time studying.

They were aiming to be cartographers of the school not because the title was so incredibly cool, but to help future prank-doers. The three of them knew every inch of the castle and back again, but it had taken them an incredible amount of time to accomplish it all.

It would be easier for future prank-players to have every room at their fingertips. More accurately, almost every room. There was one room that nobody but themselves ever needed to see. It held anything that you ever needed and they used it frequently, but it was their room. Besides, what kind of genius prankers would they be if they couldn't figure out anything for themselves?

Obviously, the proclamation that they knew every inch of the school was their own. There were secrets in that school that hadn't been seen since it's founders were around. Secrets that weren't about to be revealed.

The three of them just barely fit under the cloak. They hoped that they would have their map before size became too much more of an issue. They could figure out where they people were, and they could avoid them by using back hallways and such.

They had devised a system by going out like this for almost a year and a half. They stepped together and they could communicate without making noise. Every room that they stopped in was drawn and noted of its purpose. Every room, even ones that were so obvious it was stupid to have to write it.

Remus shot Sirius and James the look that meant 'Go, go, go!' as the portrait had just swung open. They rushed to the exit, strides exactly the same, and made it out just before the portrait snapped shut. James nodded his head to the left and the other two followed him. They were headed for the north tower. It was obvious of its purpose, and Sirius in particular spent a good amount of time there, but, as Remus kept reminding them, they had to search everything. Revisit everything. Just to make sure of its accuracy.

Sirius stifled a snort and continued when he saw a pair of seventh years, Molly and Arthur, snogging on the stairs. They passed a few couples in this position and made it to the bottom of the silver ladder that led its way up to the Divination classroom. They had no hope getting up the ladder without being seen. Besides, it was far past curfew. James sighed quietly and blinked three times. The others did the same.

Good. They were all in accord that it was time to turn back. They quietly walked back to Gryffindor tower and stared at the empty painting in front of them. What were they supposed to do now? Then, Remus remembered the room.

The room just to the right of the painting. The room with the passage to their dormitory. He didn't know what he had done to deserve stumbling upon this portrait, but he was very glad that he had.

He jerked his head to their left and the other two boys, without thinking, followed him. It was a few steps before a confused expression crossed both their faces. Remus shook his head and kept walking.

He pulled out his wand and carefully slipped it out of the cloak. He tapped the wall and a door appeared. Remus pushed it open gratefully and stepped inside. The whole thing was full of portraits. Luckily, Remus knew which one to go through. It was a floor length painting of a horse standing next to a cow. He pulled off the cloak and waited for his friends' confused expressions to turn to happiness.

"What is this?" James demanded happily.

Remus smiled, and turned to the painting. He tapped it with his wand. The painting swung open and the only thing to do was walk through. James and Sirius followed him in a daze. It was a long, dark, empty walk to their dormitory. Finally, there was a spot of light ahead of them.

Remus winked his left eye, then his right, implying that the others should shut their fat mouths for a minute. He peered through a small grate in front of him and saw that the room was empty. Remus smiled widely and tapped the wall in front of him with his wand. The wall creaked open slowly. Sirius beamed at him.

"A true Marauder, Moony," he said quietly, then he walked past his friends and threw himself into his bed. The strange thing was that his bed was right in front of the wall that had just opened. It had pushed forward when the wall did, and a moment later, it pulled Sirius back as the wall slid into place.

Remus smiled, "We may just have to wander this whole school tapping walls with our wands to find all of its secrets," he admitted.

"I don't want to find all of its secrets," James said slowly, "It would make it so much less mysterious, and I don't think I'm ready for a boring Hogwarts,"

"Then Moony and I will just leave you out." James looked hurt, "Oh? So you do want to be in the loop?" Sirius asked with mock-chastisement.

Remus yawned and shuffled to his bed. He fell into it gracefully and immediately was asleep. James and Sirius tried to sleep, but it wouldn't work. Instead, they discussed Lily.

"You can't do this, Prongs. She doesn't like you. Find someone else."

"But… I can't forget her," James said quietly.

"Don't then, just go with other girls and pretend they're her," Sirius said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Padfoot!" James laughed, "That's terrible!"

"Probably," Sirius smiled. Frankly, he hadn't met anybody yet who made him see girls as more than objects.

"You're right though. I'll find someone else and make it look like I don't like Lily like that."

"Of course. My plans never fail," Sirius said broadly.

"Yes they do." James reminded him, "Or don't you remember a certain business venture in third year when-"

"No!" Sirius exclaimed.

"You ended up with a pile of dung to sell to nobody," James added

"Stop! I can't hear it again!" Sirius wailed.

"And you were completely covered, and not one girl would go near you for a month!" James finished happily.

"Aw, Prongslet, you make it sound like you stayed away too," Sirius laughed.

"Go to sleep, Padfoot," James said sleepily from his bed.

"Come on. Don't you want to talk about who you're going to go with now?"

"Sleep."

"PRONGS!" Sirius wailed miserably, but James was not alarmed. Sirius was one of those people who just couldn't get the message when you had to leave or sleep, so this was a fairly frequent conversation.

"Bed," James replied, nearly snoring.

"Kitchens?"

"Sleep,"

"Ice cream?"

"pillows,"

"Marauding?"

"Okay,"

"Really?"

"No,"

"You're no fun anymore,"

"I never was,"

"Prongs…"

"Sleep! Now!" James barked.

Sirius smiled to himself. He managed to irritate James almost daily. He was rather proud of it.

"You didn't have to snap,"

James almost laughed, but he stifled it and didn't let himself encourage his best friend. He was finally going to go to sleep.

"Prongs?"

"What?" James moaned.

"I had a nightmare,"

James snorted, "We haven't done this for awhile,"

"I had a nightmare," Sirius repeated, un-fazed.

James sighed, "What was it about?' he asked reluctantly.

Sirius smiled, he always got his way, "About how hungry I am. You were laughing at me and a giant hamburger was chasing me,"

"Let's get this over with. You're hungry and you want a hamburger and you were thinking about me and how much I get to eat and have at my house when you get squat." James explained, as he always did.

Sirius smiled, "Thanks, mate," he said quietly.

"You got it," James reassured.

They had been performing that ritual almost every night since first year. Sirius claimed that it helped him get to sleep. Sirius would proclaim that he had a freaky dream and James would analyze it.

Eventually, it turned away from Sirius actually having scary dreams. He claimed now that he no longer dreamt of anything. Instead, he made something up for James to play with.

Actually, it helped James too. He always slept better when he was thinking about other people's problems, and Prongs was always willing to help Padfoot, especially if it made him shut up and go to sleep.

They actually got to sleep after that. Remus had finally learned to tune the whole thing out, and hadn't even heard it. Peter fell asleep in the Common Room and nobody was awake enough to go get him.

He woke late the next morning, left out again, as everyone had already gone to breakfast and hadn't bothered to wake him. He stumbled into the Great Hall to find his friends, and happened upon them sitting at the Gryffindor table, talking to two very pretty girls. He sat down next to Remus and looked over at James.

"Who are you?" the blonde one asked rudely. She had very light blue eyes, pale skin and shining, almost white hair.

"I'm Peter," he replied nervously.

The brunette laughed. She had dark brown hair and almost black hair, but it was red too. It was an interesting combination. She was as pale as the other, but she had bunch of cute freckles splattered all over her to soften the blow. James was looking at the blonde one and Sirius seemed very interested in the brunette.

"Sara," Sirius said quietly. The brunette looked over at him with a huge smile on her face. She was a Gryffindor fourth year, and she couldn't help but flirt with every remotely cute boy that crossed her path. "Why don't we take a walk?"

Sara smiled and glanced at him through her eyelashes, "Great idea," she said quietly, and the two of them walked off to find some place more private.

James stared for just one more moment before saying, "Liz, we should go somewhere more interesting."

Liz smiled and happily followed him out of the Great Hall.

James knew the deal, he would meet up with Sirius in no less than an hour to discuss the gory details. They had been doing this a long time.

Sirius and Sara stumbled into the Gryffindor Common Room a bit later to find James and Liz cuddling on a couch by the fireplace. James had his arm around her and she was resting her head on his shoulder. It was a good sign for their evening.

Sirius and Sara plopped into a chair across from their friends, Sara on Sirius' lap. James raised his eyebrow, but stuck to their agreement. they wouldn't say anything about the girls until they got up to the dormitory.

"So, Liz, you're a Gryffindor?" Sirius asked comfortably.

Liz gave him a 'duh' look, "Yes," she said rudely. Sirius almost smiled. He liked sarcastic girls.

James smiled. She was his. Sirius couldn't take her tonight. "And you are too, Sara?" he asked nicely.

"Would I be here if I wasn't?" Sara asked. Sirius beamed. Score five for her! He loved sarcastic girls. He almost felt bad for keeping score, but he knew that if he didn't, nobody would. That seemed to be his logic for a few things.

James smiled at Sirius' elated expression and tried to give the girl in his friend's lap more chances to snap at him. "Well, I wouldn't know, would I?" he asked.

"I guess not," Sara said, "Hardly your fault," score six, she was still nice to his friends.

"No, it's not," James said, noting how Sirius' eyes were shining.

"Well, I should probably go find some homework," Liz said, standing and staring at her friend, "Sara?" she asked, not really an invitation as much as an order.

Sara smiled, "All right, but I'm not doing anything. Bye, Sirius," she said, she kissed his cheek and climbed off of his lap.

James nodded at Sirius, who rose and followed him to their dormitory. Sirius immediately turned on James.

"How did it go?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, she's not Lily, but I think she'll serve her purpose. I don't really have to ask, but how was Sara?" James asked, smiling amusedly at his friend's shining face.

"Amazing! She's sarcastic and sassy, but she doesn't over-step it. And she has a mind of her own. If she didn't she would have followed Liz like Olivia follows Lily. Oh, and she's an excellent-" Sirius stopped, noting James' pained expression. "You didn't snog her?" he asked incredulously.

"No… Didn't get a single kiss." James said sadly.

"Well, be fair. You only just met her today," Sirius said.

"You only just met Sara today," James pointed out.

"But I've seen her around. Who could miss her. Besides, she was just more willing than Liz." Sirius said.

"Apparently I could miss her…" James said quietly.

"Good," Sirius said happily. He was still thinking about Sara. He flopped into his bed and daydreamed until he heard James get into bed too. "Prongs…" Sirius began, "I had a nightmare."

"Oh?" James asked, not remotely interested.

"Yeah. Sara and I were snogging then you walked in on us and freaked out," Sirius said happily.

James sighed, "You're still excited about her, and you're worried I won't like her. But don't worry. I do. I'm happy for you,"

"Thanks, mate… but… I had another nightmare. Moony ran away and Wormtail turned into a giant bull-dozer and ran over him," Sirius said, laughing at the mental image.

"Well…" James said, trying to think of something to say, "Moony isn't here and you're worried about him. As for the Wormtail part, I think you're mad." Sirius laughed and rolled over, instantly asleep.

It took James awhile longer. Where was Moony? He assumed that Remus was fine. He always was. James couldn't think of…

…Oh… God…

"Padfoot! Get up!" he roared, tearing out of bed.

Sirius did not wake easily. James yanked him out of his bed to the cold stone floor. "Ouch! Prongs, what gives?"

"Outside!" James ordered, "It's…. that time of the month,"

"Bad metaphor, but… Oh," Sirius said and ran out the door with him.

They hadn't ever had issues getting to the Shrieking Shack during the full moon before, but tonight Remus hadn't said anything about it and they had just… let it slip.

They dashed to the Whomping Willow unsighted and carefully dodged its swinging branches. It was a practiced art that they had perfected those weeks earlier in the year when Peter had gotten very sick and hadn't been able to slip between the branches for them.

James prodded the knot in the bottom of the tree and wished that the opening would appear faster. He got hit in the back by a flailing branch, and then he threw himself into the tunnel. He could hear Sirius thump in after him, and together they hurtled to the Shrieking Shack.

The tunnel leveled out and they immediately transformed into their Animagus forms, enjoying the warm prickle that went down their bodies as they did. They thundered up the stairs to the room that Remus normally transformed.

There was a fat rat in the corner of the room, looking terrified as a large werewolf towered over him. Sirius barked loudly and jumped in front of Remus.

Moony, realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the rat, turned his attention to the dog. He snarled and Sirius growled back. Remus' right eye twitched and he looked at the familiar dog happily.

Sirius lowered his head a fraction, then it came back up. Remus did the same, the signal that Remus was in control of his actions now, not the wolf.

Happily, they trotted over to the opening in the room and wrestled playfully. James generally stayed out of their initial interactions, but was right there if Sirius needed him. He walked over to the rodent in the corner and tilted his head to the right.

Slowly, Peter came out of the corner and settled near James beside the wrestling canines. James got bored watching and jumped up to join in. Sirius bowed to Remus and trotted over to Peter. James blocked an attempt to barrel into him with his antlers, then prodded the werewolf with his hoof.

All at once, he knew that Remus was gone. The werewolf snarled and jumped at James viciously, Sirius leapt to his feet and hurtled to the two of them. James had Remus pinned on the floor before he got there and Sirius resigned himself to standing beside the stag, looked down menacingly at the werewolf.

Remus relaxed and James let him go carefully.

James and Sirius had an unspoken rule that no matter how badly Remus hurt them, they wouldn't retaliate in anger. It wouldn't do any good.

As a result, James now sported a large gash on his front leg, which would be his right arm when he was human, and about six claw-slashes across his chest.

Sirius glanced at him sympathetically, then turned to Remus. He lowered his head a fraction, then returned it, waiting for Remus to do the same.

It took a long time, and Sirius was worried that he would have to pin the werewolf, then it came. Their signal.

Sirius made a quiet, puppy noise and jumped on top of the werewolf, knocking him harmlessly on the floor. The werewolf almost laughed, then rolled over and pinned Sirius to the ground. That just wouldn't do. Sirius kicked Remus over his head and got to his feet quickly. They wrestled on and off until the sun rose and Remus turned back into a very exhausted human Remus.

"What kept you?" he asked.

"You almost ate me!" Peter exclaimed indignantly, turning human the instant that he saw Remus.

"Sorry," Remus said insincerely, "It wasn't those girls,"

Sirius stared at Remus and James said, "Moony, mate, we're sorry. We forgot. It'll never happen again. It had nothing to do with the girls." He lied.

Well, the girls part was a lie. It was their fault that they had forgotten, but neither of them cared much. They managed to get there before Peter was eaten, hadn't they?

Remus sighed, "Come on," he said heavily. He knew that it wasn't their burden to bear, "I'm just glad I didn't eat Peter. Sorry, Wormtail," Sirius laughed out loud.

"We all are," Sirius agreed.

They walked slowly to the castle. This year, Remus was allowed to go to and from the Shrieking Shack by himself, if he could manage. They went their opposite ways after they entered. Remus went to the Hospital Wing and the other boys went to their dormitory.

It was a Monday and they had no more than an hour to get to breakfast. They couldn't sleep in after their full-moon adventures. Too many suspicions could arise, and they couldn't ask the school nurse for help with their wounds for the same reason.

They usually didn't want to ask for help, anyway. Sirius and James were the only ones who actually got hurt, and they preferred to think of the wounds more like battle scars. They wore them proudly.

They got to breakfast sleepily half an hour later, and ate something hastily, then they set off for their days lessons. When they returned to the Common Room to dump their bags before dinner, they were surprised to see Remus. Usually he stayed in the Hospital Wing until the day after the full moon.

"Moony!" Sirius exclaimed, "You've joined the land of the living!"

Remus smiled wryly, "Got let out early," he said quietly, choosing his words as carefully as the others did so that nobody would guess where he had been all day.

He waited for them to stash their things, then he sleepily said "Dinner," Sirius got excited then. He and James both ate at least twice what the normal person eats, and he were hungry constantly.

"Beat you there!" he said happily, then he dashed out of the room for the great hall, resisting his early impulse to turn into a dog. James was right on his 'tail' and soon they were neck and neck, Remus was a foot behind them and Peter didn't even try anymore. Sirius laughed happily as he reached the great hall first. He slapped the door,

"Haha!" he exclaimed.

"All right, you win." James said through a large smile.

"You owe me a knut," Sirius reminded him.

"I know, I know," James moaned miserably. This was another of their of their rules. First runner up owed the winner money. The three of them laughed and burst into the Great Hall.

They plopped down at Gryffindors table and were soon joined by Sara. She felt odd, she hadn't flirted with anyone all day. She assumed that it had something to do with Sirius, and she sought him out when she entered the Hall.

"Oh, hey," Sirius said happily when she sat down beside him.

"Hi," she said grandly. She glanced at his plate and laughed, "Should've guessed." She muttered to him.

"Guessed what?" Sirius asked, smiling widely.

"You eat like a dump trunk," Sara exclaimed.

Sirius smiled, "Glad you've seen my dark side, Doll,"

Sara smiled, "If that's your dark side, I think you're in for a surprise with me," she said quietly.

"Oh?" Sirius asked, oblivious to his friends attempts to ignore their conversation.

"Yeah," she kissed his cheek and walked off to sit with Liz. Sirius watched her go, with an odd feeling bubbling in his stomach. He pushed it off as his hunger and stuffed himself thoroughly. James smiled and Remus stared.

"Padfoot," he said, "We need to talk."

"Ohmygosh! You're pregnant!" Sirius exclaimed, faking shock.

"Yes." Remus laughed sarcastically, "For real though. In the dormitory. Right now."

Sirius frowned and grabbed a piece of bread before following James and Remus out the door. They passed Peter on the way, still walking to the Great Hall. They let him catch up later. much, much later.

"All right," Remus said, settling into his bed comfortably and watching James and Sirius do the same. "What is Sara all about?" he asked.

Sirius smiled, "What are you talking about?" he asked almost dreamily.

James smiled, "Who is she?"

"I don't know," Sirius admitted, "I've only known her for a day, but I want to know more,"

Remus raised an eyebrow skeptically, "You do?" he asked.

James laughed, "She's more than a snogging buddy?" he asked incredulously.

"Ah… I think so," Sirius said, thinking heavily. Was she? Yes. But that was strange. He had never even considered a girl as more than an object before. That sounded cruel, but it was the truth. This one was different though. He wanted to be more to her and hoped that she felt the same way.

"You think so?" James asked sarcastically.

"Yes." Sirius said, "Why do you care?"

Remus smiled to himself. "Just… curious, I guess. This is sort of new, isn't it? Usually you want to use them and abuse them then set them free. Normally she'd be gone by now."

"I don't usually see people in Gryffindor. It makes things too awkward, but… I think I'll make an exception." Sirius said thoughtfully, "Now, if you will all excuse me." He hopped off his bed and went to the Common Room, where he knew that Sara would be.

He was not disappointed.

There was a head of black and red hair sticking over a couch. Unfortunately, there was a red head on one side of her that looked like a boy that she hung around, but Sirius could tell that there wasn't anything going on between those two. He crossed over to it and leapt over the back of the couch to land on the other side next to her.

"Hey, beautiful," he said softly. Sara smiled. The other boy ignored them to the best of his ability.

"Hi," she said, then returned to the book in her lap.

"Homework?" Sirius said, sounding pained.

"Nope," Sara said happily, "Just… something."

"Well… if it's not homework, then you are reading for the hell of it. That's not okay. You must be sick," Sirius said, reconsidering his fascination with her.

"Nope, I'm not sick." She said contentedly. Sirius again reconsidered. His fascination with a girl who read on her own time was fading, "I just hope I look as good as this girl thinks I do," Sirius looked confused.

Sara flipped the cover over to he could see. It was a diary… She had someone's diary! His fascination was back and in full swing.

"Oh really?" Sirius asked softly, "And what does she think?"

"Oh, nothing," Sara said, smiling widely, "Just that my hair is gorgeous and she wishes she had eyes like mine. Oh, and a few other, ahem, unfriendly comments,"

"Oh?" Sirius asked.

"Yep. Come on, though. You can't really be interested," Sara asked softly. The red haired boy moved silently to the other side of the Common Room.

"I am," Sirius said with a grin.

"But… I may be interested in… something else," Sara said seductively.

"Why, Sara… what 's your last name?" Sirius asked, completely distracted.

Sara sighed, "Bulargo." She said impatiently, "But don't hold it against me,"

"Wait…" Sirius said distractedly, "My name is Sirius Black, and yours is Sara Bulargo… we have the same initials… please tell me your middle name's not Orion,"

Sara laughed, "Your initials are S.O.B.???" Sirius smiled painfully, "Sorry, but at least your middle's interesting."

"You still haven't told me what yours is,"

"You can't really be interested in all of that," Sara said, looking at him seductively through her eyelashes.

Sirius smiled, "I expect to know later," he said before kissing her deeply.

Sara returned the kiss enthusiastically and soon they needed to excuse themselves to a room where the whole house wasn't watching them. They found an empty classroom and continued.

An hour or two later, Sara glanced at the clock on the wall, "Shit," she exclaimed. "I've got to go,"

Sirius looked at her, bewildered.

She gave him a look and ran her fingers through her hair a few times. It fell perfectly into place.

"Do you trust me?" she asked with a tiny smile. Sirius nodded his head and she pointed her wand at his head.

"Shit!" he exclaimed and pulled out his own wand.

"You prat," Sara said affectionately.

She waved her wand lazily and his hair fell into place perfectly, removing any trace of what they had been doing. Sirius didn't have time to react before she kissed him one more time and sped out of the room.

Sirius raised a hand to his hair and almost pushed it out of his face when he remembered who had put it there. Sara liked it that way. It should stay that way.

He looked at a mirror that was hanging on the wall and decided that she knew what she was doing. His hair looked great.

What was with this girl? She was amazing and then she was gone. He wandered back to his dormitory and went to sleep without any assistance from James.

A/N- Why Sara doesn't like her middle name will be revealed…eventually. Have faith, it'll come before too long.

Kisses and Cupcakes (But only if you review)

DANI