Sirius and Peter had given up and gone off to bed some time in the wee hours of the morning but James had remained behind, engrossed in the tales of humans turned animals that the book contained. Some of the stories he thought he could remember from history of magic, the tale of a criminal turned swan mistaken for a god for example, others were completely unknown to him but fascinating. All were beautifully illustrated, the ink magically preserved while the green leather in which the book was bound had faded and rotted away with the years; the illustrations were chilling though, transformations gone wrong. Images of horns ripping through skin and claws pulling out hair, men writhing in agony on the ground like snakes, their arms merged into their sides, one man drowning to death on land while newly formed gills opened and closed begging for water. The pictures moved of course, and by the time James' head finally succumbed to the heavy feeling filling it, the images were etched into his mind and filled his dreams. He dreamed of Sirius and Peter running around Hogwarts with limbs and features gleaned from at least 10 different animals each. Legs of rhinocerus, head of a horse, tail of a tiger, the silver scales of a fish, and as he watched them Sirius raised his head and gave the haunted howl of a werewolf.

He woke from his sleep at the sound of a thump on the stone floor. Gingerly he raised his head from where it had been pressed against the pages of the book and readjusted his glasses so they no longer hung off his face. He glanced around. It was early enough that pale streaks of sunlight were only just starting to breach the room's tall lace curtains and catch at the dust in the air. James watched, a smile spreading itself across his face, as the lion he had conjured yesterday slowly made its way down the female staircase, dimly noting as he watched that the staircase didn't break into sirens for animals.

The lion's head gave the slightest of turns towards James but continued past him to sit down, in much the same way a large dog might, in front of one of the couches, the look on its face was so intent it might have reflected a strange kind of longing. Curious, James leaned his chair back slightly and saw a small hand trailing off the couch and onto the floor. He sat back and continued to regard the beast, slowly his smile widened as though spurred on as the sun streaks stretched themselves lower into the room and illuminated the bright redness of the lion's mane.

James clicked his fingers twice. "Come here," he said soflty, confidently.

The lion looked towards James, then back at the couch, and then got up and moved heavily towards where James was sitting. James ran his fingers through the thick mane and rubbed the soft fur on the creatures ears, a grin on his face as the lion rubbed into the petting.

James checked the orbs floating around in his watch and stuffed the book he'd been reading into his bag, pulling out his cloak and his map as he did so.

He threw the silvery material over his head, leaving his left hand trailing out as a marker for the lion, and swept across the room to the portrait entrance.

"Come on," he said gently and the lion followed him out. James' grin transformed into a smirk as he headed down a passageway that led in the direction of the castle's dungeons.

- - -

The common room was empty by the time Lily woke up. The tension that comes with an uneasy sleep was still seeping through her bones. She was cold, shivering in fact. The fire hadn't been replenished by the house elves during the night, no doubt due to her presence on the couch. But that wasn't why she'd woken, she could have sworn she'd heard something in her sleep. She weighed up returning to her dormitory to get a jacket, and glanced towards the stairways, already seeing in her mind the fearful figure of the lion on her bed.

Something behind her creaked and she whirled around. Was that a tail disappearing out of the portrait hole? Was that a thump of something landing on the corridor floor outside? She rubbed her eyes. She could still be dreaming. But.

She lay still for a minute then heaved herself off the couch. The stairs to the girls tower were narrow and cold, but at least they didn't creak like wooden stairs did. She climbed the five flights of stairs that led to the fifth years' dormitory and pushed open the door. Her bed, with its generous red canopy, lay closest to the door on the right. And it was blissfully empty.

Lily sighed a sigh of relief and practically threw herself on it. She was asleep in minutes.

- - -

Later that morning James was levitating Peter down the corridor after he had fallen down a secret stairway and hurt his ankle. Every so often Peter would cry out as his head inevitably brushed against the roof in James' absentmindedness as they ran.

"I'll kill that wolf." Sirius growled between pants. "The nerve. Not waking us."

"He tried," James huffed. "I may have accidentally singed his eyebrows, though. Probably a good thing - "

They skidded as they turned a corner to avoid banging into a group of first years grouped around a doorway trying to open it.

"- The hex I was aiming for -"

"You have to tickle it!" Sirius yelled over his shoulder without stopping.

They looked at him as though he had two heads and quivered all the way down their robes.

"- Was much worse..." James continued with effort, wiping his brow. Peter tried to do a mid-air swivel to avoid a chandelier and failed.

"You never were... much good... spelling through your pillow..." wheezed Sirius.

They turned another corner and took the steps in a series of jumps. Peter's cries became more frequent.

"Quit your whining, freerider!" Yelled Sirius.

At the bottom of the stairs the air seemed to grow thicker with moisture and the scent of creeping mould.

"Finally!"

They raced down a long corridor and pushed on a heavy door that rasped like a dying breath as it slid open and practically fell through it. James let his wand fall and Peter fell uncerimoniously to the ground.

Sirius let out a howl of rage. "He's not even here yet!"

James checked his watch. 25 minutes past nine. He glanced around the potions classrooms; tired and bored Grythindors sat staring at the blackboard, none of whom looked particularly startled by them entering loudly and lately, and a lot of empty seats – no Slytherins had come down yet.

James grinned and made his way over to their table where Sirius was currently bewitching a rolled up parchment to hit Remus on the back of his head.

"Stop it! Not my fault you're late! No, ouch!"

"Boys," James interrupted them, pointing his wand lazily at the blackboard in the front of the room.

In a heavily stylised scrawl were the words; "Good morning eager students, I have a little House related matter to clear up. Be good, get cracking on Chapter Five. Should be done in a jiffy... Á plus tard, Professor Slughorn".

"Good God, he's even pretentious in his notes," remarked Sirius, letting the parchment fall to the ground.

"I've been trying to figure out what's keeping him and the Slytherins," Remus said, hitting Sirius on the head in retribution.

"Ah, well. That." James smirked, letting his smugness wash over his friends.

Sirius' eyes twinkled. "Has little Jamsie been up to no good?"

"Little Jamsie has been up to no good. Little Jamsie found the lion he transfigured yesterday and they went for a walk."

Sirius clapped him on the back. "Oh very good show."

Remus shook his head. "What do you mean? Where did you find it? When?"

"Now, now, Moony, you're not the only early riser here. Some of us were up at the crack of dawn, and it just happened to be coming down from the girls' dormitory into the common room. I merely thought it might appreciate seeing a different part of the castle, and in particular a different common room, so it could see just how lucky it was to be the mascot of one of the better houses."

"Maybe. And I maybe might have mentionned Snape's name to it as I opened up their entrance. I'm sure it's having a cracking time."

"And what about the students?"

"Oh Remus, they're Slytherins. Sure they're cowardly and slimy, but their not exactly real people, are they?"

"Here's hoping it got Regulus." Sirius muttered.

The four of them crossed their fingers just as the dungeon door creaked open once more and a thunderous looking Slughorn.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N:

If there are any inconsistancies between this chapter and the ones before it, check the Published date and the Update date. There's about 2 years difference.

For any returned readers, some things which made me cringe to reread have been changed, as has the species of large cat following Lily, for poetic reasons rather than anything else.

Sorry to leave off this chapter at such a weak spot, it's just I'm tired and have to go to bed, you understand. The next one has slightly more happening than just filler.

Please review, tell me if you love it or why you hate it....