A/N: This is probably the quickest I've managed to finish a chapter, I'm rather pleased with myself. It's probably not my best written chapter, but I quite like it, though it changed slightly from where I planned for it to go. Updates won't usually be this quick, but I shall try my best to get chapters up as regularly as possible. I do have an idea of where the story is going, but there's a lot of blanks that I'll be making up as I go. Much love to you all and enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 4

It was a Saturday in early December, but the weather was surprisingly warm, so Elody and I were enjoying the sun out by the lake while practising some spells from charms. Well we had been until we started a water fight where each of us tried sending water from the lake at the other and tried to block each other. My feet were currently a little damp and her back was wet from where I'd snuck a hit behind her but other than that we were both able to block each other. That is until I was distracted by footsteps behind me, losing my concentration and getting a puddle in my face.

"Ooh a water fight, mind if I watch?" I recognised Sirius Black's voice immediately and turned to scowl at his smirking face as I wiped water from out of my eyes.

"Thanks Black, I was winning until you came along and distracted me," I shook my head, managing to spray him a little with the water in my hair as he moved to sit next to me.

"I do have that effect on women," he winked at me, grinning in his usual lopsided manner.

"I'd like to see you try on Mcgonagall," James laughed as he sat next to Sirius on the ground. The two other marauders were there also and joined their friends on the grass, Peter sat next to James, a little out of the semicircle they'd created and Remus next to Elody.

"He'd probably get detention until the end of term," Remus grinned at James.

"End of term? Don't you mean for the rest of his life," James laughed back while Sirius scowled at both of them.

I used this opportunity to deposit a puddle of water onto his head as pay back.

"What was that for?" he spluttered, turning his scowl on me now.

"Getting you back for distracting me, plus I thought the whole wet dog thing would be funny. I was right," I smiled back sweetly, moving away from him slightly so he wouldn't spray me as he shook the water from his head.

He tried to send a wave of water back at me, but I was ready with a blocking spell and laughed as he got even more wet as the water rebounded onto him.

"I haven't had a good water fight in forever, I'm thinking teams of three," James said then, a grin lighting up his face.

"Rosa and Elody should be split up, they're way too in sync for that to be fair," Sirius turned towards James, a similar look on his face now.

"Well in that case you and James should be split up too," Remus piped in, not quite as excited as the other two, but smiling none-the-less.

"In that case I want James, Sirius would turn against me at the first possible opportunity," I said quickly, narrowing my eyes at Sirius.

"Oh so you're sticking me with Black? Fine, but we get Remus," Elody spoke for the first time, giving Remus an appreciative look when he wasn't looking that both Sirius and I saw, making us grin at each other in a knowing way.

"Looks like you're with Rosa and me then Peter," James grinned at the other boy, who had remained quiet since they'd arrived and just smiled back now, remaining as silent as ever.

"We should set some rules otherwise it will just turn into a free for all," suggested Remus to which the rest of us tried not to laugh at.

"We are not setting rules for a water fight, and not just because Sirius would break them at the first chance," I rolled my eyes, chuckling a little.

"What else would they be there for if not to be broken?" Sirius grinned mischievously at me.

"Oh fine, let's just play then," there was a sly little smile barely noticeable on Remus' face that gave me just enough warning to throw up a shield in front of myself and James but unfortunately Peter being sat right next to Remus got showered from head to foot by the water from the other boys wand.

James grabbed Peter and leapt to his feet at the same time as I did. I didn't wait to see what the others were doing and threw an impediment jinx at them, indicating to James and Peter with my head to follow me towards a clump of trees not far along the shore of the lake at the edge of the forest. I knew how seriously the Marauders took these sorts of things and I wanted an advantage and time to form a plan with my team.

"We need to lose them instead of attacking, that's what Sirius will want to do so the best way to beat them is to work out a plan and hit them in their weak spots," I spoke as I ran through the trees, glancing back to see Sirius, Remus and Elody trying to shake of my impediment jinx.

"And who put you in charge little Ravenclaw?" James questioned but there was a playful tone to his voice.

"You know I'm right Prongs," I retorted and if he was surprised that I knew his nickname he didn't show it.

When I felt we'd put enough distance between ourselves and the others I slowed to a stop and turned to James and Peter, having started formulating a plan as we ran.

"Even though we didn't put in place any rules, Remus and Elody aren't very likely to cheat as such, it's Sirius we have to watch out for. I fully intend to cheat as much as possible. My first thought was a great way that will catch them by surprise would be if you were to go into your animagus form, that way you could get behind them without them knowing Peter," I spoke quickly, turning to the shorter of the two boys first.

"That's not a bad thought, though it won't work if he just goes and hits them from behind. We need to lure them somewhere that we have an advantage, then hit them all at once. So if we work out a signal for Peter to become human again and hit them," it seemed like James and I would be planning the tactics.

"Yes, that would work. I think you should be the bait, lure them to our chosen spot because I had an idea for myself. I can climb trees pretty well in my animagus form, and high ground is always good, plus they won't see me up there and on top of that, Sirius' and Elody's forms are no good for tree climbing," I answered, looking around me to see if there were any good trees or spots to make our attack.

"You're kind of brilliant, you know that? So that sounds like a pretty sound plan, now we just need to work out where we'll do this," James gave me a look that I couldn't quite decipher but then he turned to Peter before I could say anything.

"If you transform now Peter and find them, you can follow behind them, then when I've lured them to where Rosa will be waiting and you can transform and hit them from behind when I say attack okay?" he said to the shorter boy.

"Sure thing, I can do that," Peter nodded obediently, quickly turning into a rat and scurrying off out of sight back the way we'd come.

James and I moved slightly further into the trees and soon found a small clearing with some good tall trees that I could get up in to launch my attack and I turned into my lynx form, scaling up the biggest tree as James turned back and went to lure them back there.

I stopped about halfway up the tree and settled myself on a branch, having a good view across the clearing and through the trees on the other side. I stayed in my cat form as my eyesight was keener and I'd be able to see them approaching better that way.

I soon saw James heading back towards our clearing followed by Remus and Elody who were trying unsuccessfully to hit him with streams of water from their wands and they seemed to be running straight into our trap, the plan fell into place perfectly.

That was until Sirius turned up.

I should have been more suspicious at his lack of presence, but as I turned back into my human self and James said the essential word 'attack', I wasn't ready for the jet of water that came at my turned back and the combination of my transformation and the shock of cold water caused me to lose my balance.

As my foot slipped off the branch I yelled out and tried to grab hold of a branch unsuccessfully. People always say that falls like that seem to go in slow motion and seem to be able to describe it in great detail but honestly, it all went awfully quickly and I was just flailing limbs through the air then I was staring up at the trees above me and there was an awful pain in my hip that radiated through my whole body, and then it was black.