A/n: I know it's been a lot longer than I said it would, I'm sorry! I'm not abandoning this story I promise, I have big plans for this one, I have this whole plot line planned out. And I know that no one really cares, but I had an awesome week, I went to Colorado for four days for a Halloween themed wedding, it was sooooo cold, and now it's cold in Texas… And now back to my hectic schedule. Well please review! I love reviews, hint hint

This chapter is a bit different; it's not from Hermione's point of view, but from James'

Chapter 4:

"Well," James whispered to his best friend Sirius, during their History of Magic class "we have to figure out a way to help him."

"What exactly do you mean help him? We can't exactly change the fact that he's a werewolf."

"What do you think Peter?" James asked turning to the shorter boy.

"Well, I'm not really sure what we can do James, Sirius is right we can't make him not a werewolf anymore. Short of inventing some spell or potion to change him back into a human when he transforms I don't think there is anything we can do." Peter replied, trying not to look away from the ghost form of their professor.

The werewolf in question was the missing ¼ of the Marauders, the four second year boys of the Gryffindor house, the other boys had recently found out that he was indeed a werewolf, did not actually have a very sick mother that he had to visit every month to make sure she was okay.

And James was determined to figure out a way to help him, there had to be a way. She would help him if she could.


A few days later James came running into the common room a book in hand. "I figured it out!" he whispered excitedly to the two boys sitting around the fire.

Sirius looked up at the messy-haired boy and saw the book in his hand. "Where have you been? Not the library?"

James nodded "I had to, but I figured it out, I know how we can help Remus!"

Peter looked up from some parchment that he had been scribbling on for the past half hour, "how?" he asked curiously

James opened the book in front of him and pointed to the yellowing page of the book "We are going to become Animagus"


"This is crazy you know." Remus told his roommates "and dangerous, it could go terribly if not done right, you shouldn't risk it!"

"Remus shut up! You are not helping!" Sirius yelled looking at the wolf "we've been preparing for this for three years now, please do not break my concentration."

If it had been at any other time, seeing Sirius actually concentrating would've been funny, but at this particular moment it just made Remus even more nervous.

And then there was a large black dog where Sirius had just stood. James and Peter clapped, while Remus let out a sigh of relief. They hadn't killed themselves, and they had been successful. Something none of them were sure would happen. But, they had done it, and then, after they all took turns practicing changing too and from their particular forms, James a large stag, and Peter a small rat, while Remus just looked on, amazed that his friends had been able to pull this off, and that they had done it to help him.

Finally, after two hours, they finally decided it was time to go to bed. They did, after all still have class the next day.

As they climbed into bed, one could almost hear "I wish she could see this" coming from the far bed.


Remus opened up the portrait hole from the outside, and Sirius and James slipped out unseen, Remus felt them pass, and he gave them a whispered "good luck" as they sidled past him.

This was it, all four boys were excited, this was their first prank They had worked for weeks on this, just had to fine tune everything, so it would come out perfectly.

They had to make a name for themselves, but they also knew that they had to do this quietly without getting caught. If the professor's figured out it was them then this would not only be their first prank, but their last as well.

Maneuvering underneath the invisibility cloak that James had inherited from his father, was difficult for the two boys, but not impossible, they had practice wandering around at night just for this reason, well and because they wanted to see what mysteries the castle held, not all of which could be found during the day light hours.

Creeping through the castles as silently as possible, the two boys jumped at every sound. Every creak in the wind could be a teacher about to catch them, and every shadow could be the caretaker waiting for them to mess up and make a noise.

As they opened the doors to the Great Hall, where their very first prank was to take place, they heard footsteps coming from around the corner. Trying to shut the door quickly, but failing to do so quietly, the footsteps followed them into the Great Hall, and the door creaked open, and the caretaker Mr. Filch walked in.

"Is that you Peeves?" the caretaker called out "Or are there students out of bed?" He looked around and began to search the Great Hall carefully. "I know your there! I heard the door slam. You must be more careful if you're going to be marauding around at night mustn't you?"

James and Sirius looked at each other, an identical grin splitting both of their faces. "The Marauders," Sirius whispered and James only nodded his consent

And at the end of the prank (which was to give all the cups a bit of a potion that would make the drinker change into an animal of their subconscious choice for about one minute when drank) fireworks flitted across the enchanted ceiling "Brought to you by the Marauders," everyone kept guessing who the infamous Marauders were, but they had no plans of being found out.


James walked into the 5th year Gryffindor dormitory only to find it a complete mess, and to see a pair of feet sticking out of from under the furthest bed from the door.

"Padfoot? What are you doing under my bed?" James asked, looking around the room, trying to see what the source of the mess was from

"I'm looking for my other shoe!" came a muffled yell from the depths of the bed. "This is the only place I haven't looked yet."

James stood there for a moment, before shaking his head. This was not the first time that Sirius had lost something and had torn apart the whole room looking for it.

James walked over to the bed, and set down his book bag next to the bed. And dropped down to his knees to help just as the other occupant began to pull himself out, holding not just a shoe but a strange looking book in his hands.

Sirius looked at the book curiously for a moment, and then handed it to James. "This and my shoe were the only things under there; you keep underneath your bed scary clean."

James just shrugged and took the book out of his friends hand; it must have fallen from its original hiding place to under his bed. So, he simply placed it in his book bag, and started to get ready for his study date

Sirius stared at his friend for one more moment, before his curiosity got to him. "What is that?"

James looked at his best friend for a brief moment, before answering "it's a journal that only someone from the Potter family bloodline or someone who has married into the Potter family can read. My dad gave it to me my first year of Hogwarts. Everyone in my family has recorded their Hogwarts experience in it."

Sirius nodded, a lot of pureblood families did things like that, to help record their history and provided a means to help prove their pureblood line, but that kind of proof that they are purebloods. More often than not, it was just to help posterity know what is expected of them during their school years.