A.N: Thank you to those that reviewed. I'm glad you like it!
Remus was almost regretting his late night prank with Sirius when he came down for breakfast. His eyes were so heavy he could feel them refuse to open as soon as he blinked. But then he glanced towards the Slytherin table. The seventh years were looking particularly smug at the first year boys that were crying in front of Slughorn.
"What's going on?" Sirius asked sitting next to James.
"They drenched the seventh years' dorms last night. They're denying it but it was their trunks that were found outside of the door. Not to mention they said they saw someone that was no bigger than a second year turning the corner," James answered pointing past Remus' head towards Slughorn.
Sirius barked out a laugh soon followed by James. Remus didn't know how he had the energy. He had stayed up an extra hour last night regaling their tale to James. Peter joined the table not long after James and urged to be caught up in whatever he had missed while he was still coming to breakfast.
They indulged him in-between mouthfuls and continued telling it when Remus got up to go to Defence Against the Dark Arts. They walked behind him and Remus couldn't help feeling a little annoyed that they still followed him. Peter hadn't even finished his breakfast and was eating while he walked.
He shot a dark look at Sirius when he caught his eye but only got a grin in return and the door held open for him. It seemed that last night hadn't been a new beginning after all. James still used whatever magic he learned in the lessons to make others lives a misery while they were still getting the hang of it. The experlliarmus repellent was soon his new favourite spell. Sirius meanwhile was pointing out all the flaws with it drawing James into a heated debate, backed up by Peter, about how it was one of the most useful spells he's ever learnt.
Remus didn't join in and instead looked forward to History of Magic which was only ten minutes away. Two blissful hours of pulling his cloak over his head and sleeping.
It seemed that wasn't meant to be though. When they were waiting to be let into the classroom the two boys from last night promptly shoved Remus into the wall. He was half wishing he hadn't ran all the way here and left the other three in Defence.
"We know it was you half-blood!" One of them sneered looking down at where he fell.
"I don't know what you mean," Remus replied calmly reaching for his wand.
"We don't know how you did it. But you better watch where yourself-" He cast the horn growing hex he had practised last night. Soon enough, as the boy felt his head, there were two great horns springing out from his skull. They looked heavy and he started to totter in between squeals before the other boy reached over to steady him.
Remus raised his wand threateningly and since the two were first years he knew, pure-blood or not, they hadn't a hex that could top this one. They both took an alarmed step back and almost ran away from him. One of them supporting the other, whilst looking over his shoulder at Remus, towards the hospital wing.
Sirius and James sprinted around the corner of the hallway not long after the two boys had turned. They were casting concerned sweeping gazes over the people waiting outside of History of Magic. Like the two boys the others had given him a wide berth after he had performed the hex.
Sirius spotted him "Remus!" and ran over to him running his hands anywhere that he could.
"I'm fine," he swatted Sirius' hands away "They never got a chance to do anything."
"Are you sure-" James asked catching up with them.
"That was brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed looking at where the other two had disappeared.
"Yes and please stop saying that Sirius. I would have thought after last night that it wouldn't be that interesting," He spoke earning a confused look from James.
"Are you kidding? Seeing it in action is ten times as great as practice," Sirius waved.
"You two have been practising spells? Without me?" James whined shooting Sirius a hurt look. Sirius turned and messed up James' hair.
"Don't fret James. We didn't mean to leave you out. I saw Remus sneaking and followed him. It just happened to be a coincidence. We'll let you play next time, promise," He said solemnly.
Peter panted after finally reaching the classroom. "I always miss the cool stuff," James muttered as Professor Binns let them in.
Needless to say as soon as Remus sat down he pulled his hood over and had himself a nice two hour nap. After that they had Transfiguration where McGonagall finally let them use magic to transfigure matches into needles. Remus finally got it on his seventh try and glowered at James and Sirius who had gotten it on their first. They were teasing Peter after having tired of sticking the needles in each others hands to check the sharpness.
"It is a needle Peter. It's just brown," Sirius consoled before shooting a grin at James behind Peter's back.
"Yeah, if you don't believe us why don't you try lighting it. As soon as it doesn't you'll have to start believing us," James joined and waited behind suppressed giggles as Peter did just that.
He panicked as the fire lit and dropped the match onto the table. Sirius put it out in between laughs and not for the first time Remus wished that he hadn't sat at the front so he could try some hexes on them.
"Mister Pettigrew get back in here," McGonagall ordered as soon as she saw the chaos.
Remus was so happy when it was time to eat. All their lessons were done and he wanted nothing more than to sleep until late noon tomorrow. But again things weren't going his way today. Sirius and James were having a silent pea's war while Peter ,who they had made up with cheered, them on.
"A word Mister Lupin," He turned to see Professor Slughorn behind him.
"Of course," He followed the professor over to the staff table and over to the side where the two boys from earlier were standing with tears in their eyes.
"Now then. Mister Carrow and Dolohov said that you performed a hex on them in one of their classes," Slughorn said giving the boys a reassuring smile. It was obvious he didn't want to be doing this.
"He came out of no where sir and just pointed his wand at me. I don't know all that many spells so I had no chance of defending myself," Dolohov said and Remus was glad he finally had a name to put to his slimy hornless face.
"Is this true?"
"No Professor. I only performed a hex because these two have been bullying me for the past week. They had an older student perform a jelly legs jinx and a stinging hex on my arm. I was left for half an hour in the dark because I'm just a half-blood," Remus replied truthfully. He watched as the two boys paled at their prejudices being aired to a professor.
Slughorn looked faint. It seemed he had taken a liking to the new students in his care but also knew of the prejudices that Slytherin held for others. "Well now, I'm sure that they didn't do-"
"But they did Professor," He looked at them coldly "And they shoved me today, blaming me for something I didn't even do."
"We know it was you!" Carrow yelled gaining half of the halls attention.
"Mister Carrow lower your voice. And if you are referring to last nights incident then we all know that Mister Lapin wasn't to blame now don't we," He didn't even know his name. Remus had no chance of winning this fight.
"But-"
"No buts. We all know that a Gryffindor who was safely tucked up in bed couldn't possibly get into the Slytherin common room. And if he did then he would have been detected, no one not of Slytherin should know how to get out..." He trailed off and got back to the matter at hand "Regardless of the incident last night you did perform a hex on Mister Dolohov didn't you?"
"Yes," Remus sighed.
Slughorn nodded "Well in that case I'm going to have to take ten points from Gryffindor, you shouldn't be fighting in the classroom," He admonished and thus declared the situation dealt with. He retired to his seat at the table leaving the three students to return to theirs.
"This isn't over," Remus snarled before stalking off towards James' worried face.
They made room for him on the bench again and Sirius slid over a more than generous slice of chocolate cake. Remus was immediately grateful and stabbed eagerly.
"What was that about?" Sirius asked tentatively.
"I lost us ten points for fighting in a classroom," He answered around a mouthful of cake.
"But you haven't been fighting in a classroom," Peter replied confused.
"Those dirty snitches," James growled shooting dark looks at the Slytherin table where the other two had taken their seats. "They're the ones that should be punished not you. You were just defending yourself," he argued.
"I know that-"
"It's Slughorn," Sirius put in "He knows about what they do but turns a blind eye because of his stupid club. That's why they also didn't get a detention for what happened with the seventh years. There's literally nothing you can do Remus."
"Club?" Peter asked
"Slug Club. It's his little trophy collection of people he thinks are going to do big things. Mostly pure-bloods and mostly Slytheirns. He excuses anything they do so long as he gets the rewards after they're famous," He spoke bitterly and scowled whilst he did so. Remus had a feeling that Sirius had been asked to join and wondered vaguely why he declined. It seemed that a trouble maker would want a get out of jail free card.
"Figures," James muttered before nudging Remus back to his food "Don't dwell on it."
"I'm not," Which was partly true.
They made their way back to the tower and finally Remus got to do the thing he was dreaming of and collapsed into his pillow.
He didn't wake until noon as the persistent light of day kept creeping in under his eyelids. He finally got up to a room that was in total chaos. Peter and Sirius were wrestling on the floor while James was spelling his curtains. The whole room was also covered in horns.
"Remus you're awake," Sirius cheered and let Peter go to bound over to Remus' bed.
He was still sitting in shock "What did you guys do?"
"James wanted to learn the hex but you were asleep," Sirius explained.
"Yeah so Sirius decided to teach us it. It took a while," A pointed glare at Peter "But we got there in the end."
"I was thinking of teaching them this one I heard where you can shoot arrows from your want," Sirius beamed.
"Now?"
"Why not?" He pouted "James wants to learn with us and this way we won't be caught by teachers sneaking around in empty classrooms."
"I suppose," He agreed vaguely still staring at the horns that adorned the room. "No, wait! We need rules. If we don't have any then someone's going to get hurt."
"No," James moaned "Rules are for wimps."
"They're for people who don't want to be stuck with one arm. We can't just learn whatever spell we like and hope for the best that it'll work," Remus argued. "I learnt the spells that I researched and knew the counter curse too. What would happen if you saw a spell, tried it out and ended up being stuck like that. Or worse being taken to Pomphrey in front of the entire school. The teachers will know that we've been practising things we shouldn't and it'll be humiliating,"
"Remus is right," Sirius agreed and earned himself another drawn out groan from James who was accompanied by Peter. "I say we do the ones on your list and when we're done with them we can research others and only then attempt them."
"You're going soft Black," James complained.
"No, I'm just being practical. I want to learn these just as much as you do but Remus has a point. So stop being a baby and help me look for another spell to learn," Sirius grabbed the parchment where Remus had wrote all the spells down.
"Another thing," Remus interjected earning even more groans "I think we should only learn a couple a week. If we learn too many at once we'll forget them or they'll become sloppy. I say we pick two to learn and the next week we go over them before learning new ones."
"Aw come on," James whined.
"Think of it this way. If we learn enough the practising will turn into duels," Remus negotiated and saw a spark light in James' eyes. He left them there debating whether to follow Remus' new rule to get ready in the bathroom.
Coming out he saw that they had reached an agreement "Alright," James spoke holding his hand out "But I better become a damn dueller by the end of this," He joked.
"That's the idea," Remus agreed and shook his hand.
They decided to learn the other three that Sirius and Remus had learnt on Thursday just so the others would be caught up. Peter wasn't quite as natural to learning magic as James was and Remus kept adjusting his stances like Sirius had taught him. The other two were firing off rounds of the hexes to each other making it into a mini duel. Remus reminded himself to look up defensive spells as soon as Sirius was hit in the chest by a jinx.
By tea they were all exhausted. Luckily there were no meddling first years or threatening seventh years to keep them from their food and they happily tucked in. Since it was the first week the boys had nothing but reading for their homework and since that could be done in a matter of an hour with them all conferring their passages together they had all of Sunday to plan for.
"I say we do something outside," James suggested.
"No," Peter vetoed.
"Why not?" He whined.
"It's cold and looks like it's gonna rain. Besides we have those flying lessons on Wednesday, I'd rather not be out of the castle more than I have to," He complained casting a worrying look at the enchanted ceiling. Sure enough small patches of rain were dribbling from the sky. Luckily it was enchanted only to look like that and not actually hit the students with water.
"Peter's right," Remus agreed. He actually wanted to go outside but was worried that he might run into some foul people again.
"Do you think it's a shielding charm?" Sirius wondered. He hadn't been paying attention to their discussion at all. He had drifted into a world of his own as soon as Peter mentioned the rain.
"What?" James asked around a mouthful of chicken.
"Chew or die," Remus threatened his way. James swallowed and asked again.
Sirius just shrugged "I was just wondering how he did it. Whether it actually is the weather and there's a shield protecting us from the water or if it's just an illusion."
"I think it's just an illusion. I wouldn't worry too much," James reassured "It wont reach us. Dumbledore would go off it if it did."
"Not to mention others," Remus muttered gazing at the ceiling with a thoughtful frown.
Sirius' head whipped around to stare at him "You have that look."
"What look?" Remus asked inspecting his spoon to see what Sirius meant.
"The one you wore just before we slipped into the snakes common room. What is it?" he inquired peering closely at Remus.
He sighed before relenting "I was just thinking that to even make it rain in the hall would be magic beyond first years," He shrugged.
"And..." Sirius prompted earning to curious stares of James and Peter.
"So if it were to rain it we would be beyond suspicion."
"Brilliant!" Sirius sighed gazing adoringly at Remus.
"What is?" James queried.
"Think about it James. If we did this we could pull one over on Dumbledore. You're always telling me that you want to aim high for our first prank of our careers and why not this?"
"Make it rain," James pondered with a smirk.
"Chaos everywhere. Students drenched and teachers shouting and the best bit is just like Remus said; we'd be above suspicion. It's like Slytherin all over again," He conferred excitedly.
"I'm not getting involved," Remus warned and got Sirius' attention back on him.
"This is your idea. Why not?" he pouted.
"Because you're going to get caught," He explained like it was obvious.
"You just said-" James argued.
"That was before you made it a whole school thing. It's sloppy wandmanship to target a big audience and the teachers will suspect a lower student because of the simplicity of the spells. If you concentrated it to a specific target then not only does it actually become a prank instead of a default but the complications will make sure that first years are out," James and Peter looked at him in shock whilst Sirius still had that adoring look on his face.
"What did I tell you James," He nudged.
"Merlin," James sighed "I didn't think you were serious."
"Bloody genius. So Remus go anyone in mind for the target?" Sirius asked slyly looking over to the Slytherin table.
"Maybe," He smirked but cast his gaze further up from Carrow towards the seventh year.
"You really do hold a grudge don't you?" James smirked.
"It's not a grudge. I already got my revenge on him. This prank is all about those two," he nodded in Dolohov's direction.
"Then why are we making him the target?" Peter asked.
"You'll see," Remus smirked and bent his head to confer with the others.
Sunday was spent in the library. Remus had pulled Hogwarts a History from the shelves and was pouring over it to see if it was an illusion or a cleverly cast spell to reflect the weather.
"Does it matter?" Peter asked.
"Yes," Remus whispered back "If it's an illusion then we're going to have to create our own water but if it isn't all we have to do is try to concentrate a hole in the shields keeping the water out."
"What if it isn't raining when we do the spell?"
Remus gave him a look "It's Britain in September, it's always raining."
James and Sirius' job was to look for charms and spells on water and shields. Remus suggested the Defence books for the shields as well as charms and asked Peter to go help Sirius. It was mostly to get him to stop reading over his shoulder.
Remus eventually found that it was just an illusion and started helping the others look for spells that would make it rain.
"What about this one?" Sirius asked handing the book over to James.
"No. Urgh this is hopeless. Remus all the ones we've found aren't concentrated. They fill the entire structure of the room any luck on your side?"
"No, same problem," They all sighed despairingly.
"Ooh," Sirius piped sitting up straighter "I have an idea. What if we do what Remus suggested if it wasn't an illusion. Break a hole in the shield that was there."
"Yes," James agreed catching onto the idea.
"But there isn't a shield there. I thought we'd already established that," Peter spoke.
"There isn't," Remus joined Sirius and James on the same wavelength "But we can always make one. And it doesn't even have to be penetrated-"
"We can just create it to the size we want-" James continued excitedly.
"Then just sit back and watch it rain," Sirius finished beaming at their genius.
They spit off into sections. James Remus researching about raining charms while Sirius and Peter looked at the shield spells. Most of the shields they came across were defensive and short term which wouldn't work for their prank because they needed it up for at least 24 hours if they wanted to avoid suspicion.
By the end of the day they had snuck out three books from the library and hadn't done any of their reading for classes. It was only when the moon was casting its pale glow onto Remus' bed that he remembered they had any. After that there was a frantic three hours of death threats, reading and blackmailing each other into giving up their notes.
Monday had them all on edge. Gone were the playful boys of the first week since their attentions were focused on getting these charms right. They had agreed that they would practise it in the dorm that night after getting the counter curse correct first. The professors didn't think much of the boys quiet behaviour and probably believed that it was just nerves that had them acting out the previous week. But when Remus caught their gazes in classes he couldn't help wondering how they were so blind to the blatant evil that was shining in their eyes. He couldn't wait to perfect this prank.
Carrow and Dolohov hadn't approached Remus since his humiliation in the great hall but he knew they were watching him, just as he was watching them. He didn't doubt for a second that the prank they were planning could get blamed on them again. Despite what he had said about this being too complex for a first year to attempt he knew that with the right evidence all that could be forgotten. But he was going to need a few things before he could watch them receive the punishment they so rightfully deserved.
They didn't get the hang of the shield. The rain was easy to make after they perfected their stances but the shield was harder to conjure. They didn't get it that night and ended up with a drenched dorm that had endured three hours of constant rain. They were going to try for a fourth but Peter was already shivering from the coldness of the rain so they cast the counter spell.
"This is going to take a while isn't it?" James frowned.
"If we want to do this right," Sirius muttered kicking at one of his drenched robes on the floor.
"And we do," Remus added not making them go back on their word now. "We'll try again on Wednesday."
"Why not tomorrow?" James asked.
Remus looked up startled "Erm, I wanted to finish my homework tomorrow. I don't want a repeat of Sunday. Not to mention this is our first real essay, I want to impress," He lied and saw the others cast disgusted looks in his direction "You don't have to. I'm just telling you what I'll be doing. Cast the charm for all I care," he waved off before retreating to the empty bathroom.
Tuesday was hell. He knew he was going to have a bad day from the moment he woke up. For one the light that was shining in his window was too high meaning he had overslept. He kicked back his quilt before sprinting down to his first lesson. By lunch he was starving and bouncing with energy. He couldn't keep still and had been told more than once to pay attention to what was being said.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Peter asked concerned.
"Fine," But his leg was bouncing madly under the table to the same rhythm his fingers were drumming.
And how's Mr Hyper this fine day?" James teased stealing some chicken from Remus' plate.
"I'm not hyper," He snapped. He expected James to go off in a huff but instead he just laughed.
"Hey Sirius, why don't we take him for a run after classes. That always makes me feel better when I've had too much sugar," James laughed and tried to still Remus' hand. He just pulled out of James' reach and started tapping his fork on his plate absent-mindedly.
"Sure," Sirius agreed "I could use a good stretch. Too bad flying's tomorrow, I wouldn't have minded a good soar before bed."
"Too right," James agreed.
They trudged off to their last classes of the day. True to their word as soon as the Defence Against the Dark Arts had finished Sirius and James tugged Remus outside into the damp Hogwarts grounds and proceeded to chase him for two hours. Peter hadn't the stamina nor the will to keep up with them and just told them he was going to save them a seat at the table for when they came in.
Remus had fallen over twice and tackled both James and Sirius a good number of times so that when they did go in for their supper they were covered in mud. They received glared from students and teachers alike but were too cheery to care.
At least Remus was until Dumbledore caught his eye. He made a subtle gesture with his head telling Remus to get moving. He made some excuse to James and Peter about having to clean the mud off him and told Sirius that if he was asleep when they got back not to wake them.
"Finally crashing?" Sirius smirked.
"Definitely," Remus replied not having to fake the weariness that settled over his features.
He walked to the infirmary to be greeted by Madam Pomphrey. She cast him a pitying gaze before leading him out of the castle and towards the whomping willow. She didn't come through the tunnel, preferring to make the journey only once a month, so Remus had to walk it alone.
The shack wasn't all that bad. It had furniture and a bed upstairs for when he returned to normal. But it smelled wrong and he knew this was going to agitate him in a couple of hours. He sighed and decided to make the traditional routine of taking his clothes off and finding a good place to hide them. Hoping that he wouldn't destroy them for having his scent on them.
Then it was just a waiting game. But he wasn't bored. The agitation he had felt all day had grown to a full blown itch that burrowed under his skin. He felt like scratching and biting at his arm to try and alleviate at least some of the annoyance but knew that this wouldn't make it go away. Finally, just when he couldn't take anymore, his shoulder broke sending him screaming to the floor. Then nothing.
He woke to a white light shining in his eyes and squinted as he hastily pulled himself up. Mistake. His leg ached and so did his ribs and neck.
"Not so fast," Madam Pomphrey screeched noticing him awake. She pushed him back against his pillow before checking his bandages. "Good, you haven't pulled the skin back open. You need to take it easy. Some of these wounds were nastier than I thought and you haven't fully recovered." She shoved potions down his throat before straightening him up.
"What time is it?" He croaked.
"Two. You've just missed your first afternoon class."
He relaxed back on the bed when he felt his eyes dropping again. It was a long afternoon in the hospital wing for Remus. But when it came to eight Madam Pomphrey said that he could go to his classes tomorrow.
"At least this way you won't have missed a whole week," She muttered handing his water to him.
"A full week? What day is it?" He asked apprehensively.
"Thursday. You were out for a full day. Good thing too, I wouldn't have liked to have been awake when my lungs were still punctured either," She joked before leaving him to tend to another student.
He had been away for a full day. Two nights. There was no way that the others hadn't noticed his absence. He would have felt worried if the potion Pomphrey gave him wasn't to make him sleep.
He skipped breakfast, since he had his in the hospital wing, and instead journeyed up to his dorm to collect his books. The beds were all empty but his curtains were still drawn around his bed. Remus wondered if they had even checked to see if he was gone before walking to his first class.
"Why have you been avoiding us?" James asked at lunch.
"I haven't," Remus replied coolly.
"Then where have you been? You're were up before the rest of us and in bed when we came to the dorm. Sirius thought you were ill and went to get Pomphrey but she said that you'd been by earlier and went back off. What's going on?" He rushed piling his plate high with food.
"I-"
"So he's here is he?" Sirius demanded sitting next to James "Talking to us yet?" He said to James.
"Yep. He was about to tell me where he was yesterday before you interrupted," James glared back.
"Oh. So?" Sirius turned to Remus.
He thanked every star in the sky that Sirius hadn't opened his curtains. Explaining why he was skipping lessons was much easier than explaining an empty bed.
"I was checking some things for our prank. I had to make sure that my theory was right. Otherwise Carrow and Dolohov won't get blamed," He lied smoothly receiving appreciative and forgiving looks from the other two.
"Why didn't you invite us you moron," Sirius swiped at him playfully and hit a sore spot on his arm. He hoped that Sirius thought of the grimace was a feat of his manly strength.
"It would look suspicious if all of us were gone," He replied.
James pushed Sirius out of Remus' line of sight to eagerly ask "So? Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Yes. I'll tell you later." Peter came running in to join them. He made an excuse of being trapped by Slughorn in the dungeons because of his faulty potion before piling his plate as high as James'. "Did you three perfect the shield charm?" Remus inquired knowing that they wouldn't have waited for him.
"Yep," James piped "It's all done. We just need to pick our moment."
They all spoke excitedly of the plan throughout lunch and later when they were back in their dorm. Naturally James and Sirius wanted to perform the prank that night since it was raining again. Remus held firm though that they weren't to make a move until everything was set.
"Why?" Sirius whinged.
"We haven't gotten everything ready yet," Remus argued.
"But we have the spells perfected. What more is there?" James joined Sirius on the bed adding to his puppy dog looks.
"An alibi!" he said obviously "We're all going to have to practise our hexes tonight and tomorrow to get the spells off our wands," He explained and received questioning looks.
"You'll see why later just do it. Sirius I need you to practise duelling with me," Sirius cast a forlone look at James before going to stand with Remus. James and Peter just shrugged and went over to the corner to practise the hexes they had learnt at the weekend.
So for the rest of the night Remus and Sirius practised their duelling. Sirius was better than Remus since magic just came naturally to him. It was also apparent that duelling was drilled into him from somewhere. Remus could tell from his stances and technique that this wasn't something he just picked up. Even without a wand, someone had been teaching him these moves.
Remus' leg proved to be a problem too. Although Pomphrey had declared him good to go it still stung if he stayed on it too long. With all the moving around that they were doing he soon found his leg stinging as soon as he put the slightest bit of weight on it.
"Are you okay?" James asked having caught Remus' last grimace when he dodged a full body bind.
"Fine."
James and Sirius shared a look over his head. "Maybe we should stop for the night. It's getting kind of late," Sirius suggested and put a yawn in for emphasis.
He was more than happy to agree. Jumping into bed and pulling his quilt up to his face, Remus spared one last look at the waxing moon that shone in through their window before drawing his curtains on it for another month.
The next day way Friday. This meant that they had double History of Magic with the Slytherins to look forward to. All the way through Defence against the Dark Arts he couldn't help casting his gaze outside to will the sun to move faster. By the end he was bouncing more than he had on Tuesday. James cast him amused looks as they walked to History of Magic and Remus knew that he was going to make some remark about him being hyper again so Remus pulled Sirius to a stop and shooed the other two on ahead.
He had made sure that Carrow and Dolohov were in front of them so he wouldn't be ambushed by them and Professor Binns for the past two weeks had made them stand outside until he remembered he had a class so there was no need to fear being late.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked with a smile.
"We need to duel with Carrow and Dolohov. Which one do you want?"
Sirius' eyes had widened. "What?" He squeaked.
"Which one do you want? I don't care for either so I thought you should pick," Remus explained casting a look around the corner at them.
"Why do we need to duel with them?" Sirius pulled him back. Hissing nervously.
"Do you want to pull the prank off?" he reluctantly nodded "Then we need to do this. Don't worry we'll wait until after class but I thought it better for you to choose now so we can prepare ourselves."
"Oh. Can't James do it?" He asked twisting his neck to peer around at the scraggly haired boy.
"No. You're the one with the most experience. James knows some spells but I'm afraid that he'll go over the top and not know when to stop. You're perfect for this," He complimented "Besides I would have thought you'd be itching to have another go at the Slytherins. You always call them. Don't tell me your barks worse than your bite?" He knew he was baiting Sirius but it seemed like the only way to motivate him. He seemed so on board with their prank that Remus didn't see what problem he had with duelling with two first years.
"Fine," He agreed.
"You have to win. So come up with a strategy that will ensure your victory. Make it short, we don't want to attract any teachers," He warned before hauling Sirius towards the open doorway James had just disappeared through.
Sirius was shaking all the way through the firs hour of History of Magic. Shooting looks at Carrow which Remus took to mean he was going for him. Which meant that Dolohov was Remus'.
After class instead of following James and Peter to the hall for lunch Remus towed Sirius after the Dolohov and Carrow who were heading towards the courtyard. They waited, following at a slow pace behind the two before they came to an empty enough hallway.
"Hey!" Remus shouted. They turned, stopping to glare and pull out their wands. "I thought we could finally settle this," Remus continued "Without teachers being involved. It was a cowardly move to even go to them in the first place. But I guess that's what makes you Slytheirns."
"Don't bother antagonizing them Rem. They probably wont even agree to a duel," Sirius joined. "They're probably scared in case you make them grow horns again," He laughed.
"That was a lucky shot!" Carrow bellowed striding forward "It wont happen again."
Dolohov wasn't far behind Carrow and soon they were all standing with their wands drawn. Sirius was tense beside him but Remus knew that they had to win so someone had to make the first move. It was Carrow. He flung an impulsive Expelliarmus at Sirius who, used to James' constant attack with this spell, dodged easily and countered with a full body bind. Remus was quick to end his also and once he had deflected a stinging hex he knew the older students had taught him had Dolohov on the ground next to Carrow.
It lasted less than a minute but Sirius was whooping for joy. Remus countered their curses before dragging a gloating Sirius away from the recovering first years.
"Last night," Sirius panted up the stairs next to him "When you had me and you duelling. Was that for this?"
"Yes. I knew that you would be able to defeat one of them. I just needed to get good enough to defeat the other."
Sirius said the password to the common room and stepped through, racing to the dorm to tell James about his first duel.
"Why did you need to defeat them anyway?" James asked once Sirius had finished his speech.
"We need their wands," Remus replied getting his books for their afternoon classes. He didn't reveal anything else. Not trusting them with the truth until the prank was over.
"It's unfair how much you don't trust us," Sirius whined.
"No it isn't. I'm making sure that we don't get caught. If I told you everything now you could get caught tonight and be questioned. Better to know a little and have some plausible deniability," Remus waved off.
The rest of the day breezed by now that the hard part of their prank was over and soon it was dark in the dorms. The time had come for them to pull off their grand scheme. The clouds had gathered dark outside and threatened to pour for days on end. Meaning that the sky in the hall would be cloudy and rainy too. Remus couldn't have thought of a better day.
"The time has come," Remus announced "We go to the Slytherin dorms first before the hall and after that one of us will have to stand guard."
"Peter," Sirius volunteered.
"Aw. Do I have to?" He whined as they moved to the common room.
"Yes," James agreed pushing him through the portrait hall.
"Don't make too much noise. Sirius and I made that mistake last week," Remus whispered back.
Remus and Sirius had taken the lead. Sirius couldn't hold his giggles in through and continuously looked back to share a snigger with James. Peter kept looking around worriedly and jumped at every little thing that flickered.
When they came to the main entrance Sirius motioned for Peter to stay with him on guard while James and Remus entered into the tunnel. Sirius had taught them both the knock to get into the tunnel and Remus hoped that it was the same for getting out. He had reassured that James knew just as much as him so they wouldn't be completely stuck if things didn't work.
"How much further?" James asked from behind. Remus was busy feeling his way across but could feel a warm breeze coming from ahead.
"Not much. We're going to have to be quiet," Remus whispered back before pulling James in front.
The knock to get in was the same much to their luck and James stuck his head out a little before grabbing Remus and moving to the end of the hallway. He took the lead and went towards the boys dormitory glancing back to tell James that he needed to keep an ear on anyone still awake or approaching behind them.
Remus put his ear to the door of the first years dorm and listened for any movement. Nothing but heavy breathing and a nasally snore drifted towards his ear so he tried the handle. Much the same as before he kept low and to the sides of their beds while being careful to not disturb the curtains surrounding the boys beds.
James came in behind him and Remus pointed at Dolohov's bed before moving to Carrows. He had left his wand on the table situated next to his bed which made the theft that much easier for Remus. He looked over and received a thumbs up from James before he crept back over to Remus' side.
Again he listened at the door for anyone before he moved out. No one was there but still they didn't try breathing normally until they were safely inside their secret passage.
"That, was intense," James chuckled nervously. Remus joined him and they both made their way back to Peter and Sirius.
Remus handed off the wand to Sirius when they climbed out before taking the one from James. They replaced the stone and made their way to the great hall deciding teams while they went. Naturally James wanted to pair off with Sirius, to which Remus had no objection. It would mean that he would be stuck with Peter but he was mostly on guard duty for them.
"Sirius, don't use your own wand. You won a duel with Carrow so his should work. Make sure that's the only one you use. James don't even use yours," Remus ordered before taking Peter to the side of the hall.
He was in charge of the shield charm which had to go up after Sirius had charmed the ceiling. James was there to make sure that he got the spell right and if anything went wrong use his own wand to complete the prank.
While he waited he tested out Dolohov's wand on some candles. He breathed a sigh of relief when the candles floated after a bit of hesitancy and felt proud that he was right about his theory.
"Remus!" He heard and turned to see James give another thumbs up. He got to work.
The shield charm was to keep the water from cascading down earlier than necessary. They had found one that would open partially to a specific target and this was the one that they were using. It was difficult to get the wandwork right and to make it so that it would only rain on the seventh year prefect and Slughorn himself. The way Remus looked at it not only would they have an enemy in their own house to contend with but they would be caught red handed for this prank by Slughorn. He's going to have no choice but to punish them tomorrow.
Remus finished in two minutes and ran towards Peter with the other two scampering behind. It was getting closer to daylight. They ran back to the loose stone and once again hauled it up so that Remus and James could go to the Slytherin dorms. This time they were returning the wands and again they met no one there or back.
Once they were back out they raced back to the common room. Remus was pretty sure he heard Peter mumbling to the stairs to get a move on as they rotated around the castle. Soon they were back in their beds and Peter collapsed on top of his with a mournful sigh.
Remus felt much like he had when he pulled off his first prank of those two boys, tired and satisfied. James and Sirius on the other hand were jumping on their beds screeching and cheering at each other for how smart they were.
"The best ever! I'm always going to remember this!" James said in a pitch only dogs should be able to hear.
"Same! This night. This night right here is the night where it all begins!" Sirius shouted back abandoning his bed to tackle James "The night we finally start our Hogwarts careers."
"Best pranksters Hogwarts has ever seen. All of us will go down in history!" James bellowed from beneath Sirius' arm.
Remus smiled fondly at them taking his pyjamas into the bathroom while the others were celebrating. He couldn't help but keep smiling as he heard the noise that they were making through the door. But then it stopped. When he got out Sirius and James were standing above a frightened Peter.
"What's going on?" He asked not liking the looks on their faces.
"We're tying up loose ends," James replied coming over and dragging Remus to stand with them. They were all in a square facing each other.
"It's come to our attention that we might not be as safe as we thought. After all guilt does funny things to someone," Sirius explained nonchalantly
"You can't be serious?" Remus sighed.
"Oh I'm very serious. In fact I'm so serious that my mother couldn't help but name me it," No one laughed at the pathetic joke.
"I'm not going to tell anyone," Remus reassured "Half of this was my idea anyway."
"True," James agreed "But that doesn't mean that others won't tell of what transpired here tonight," He gazed pointedly at Peter.
"I wouldn't," He whimpered.
"Really?" James asked "Then swear it," He held his hand out "Solemnly swear, all of you, that what happened here tonight stays between us. For the next seven years the secrets that we tell and plans we make never leave this group."
"I swear," Peter groaned out and shook James' hand timidly.
"I swear," Sirius smirked clasping the joined hands.
"I swear," Remus sighed and placed his hand on top of Sirius' after they all cast waiting gazes his way.
"Well boys," James announced "I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship."