Sirius

We were all happy to see Remus return after his absence for two days, in a much better mood and with the news that his mother was better. Still… I couldn't help but notice that he didn't look to good himself, pale and worn, the shadows underneath his eyes even darker than before. But as he was back to his sweet friendly self instead of moody and a snappy, I decided to let it go. He probably had just been really worried about his mum. I had seen how close they were on the train.

He had been genuinely happy about the fact that we had been taking notes for him during the lessons, immediately settling down on his bed to try and catch up as quickly as he could. We offered to help him but as it turns out, Remus was quite brainy and managed to figure most of it on his own just fine.

Time seemed to pass much quicker at Hogwarts. September turned into October and with every passing week, I could feel myself growing more and more impatient, anticipating the 31st of October. Andie had told me about the annual Halloween Feast at Hogwarts, saying that it really was something to behold. Unfortunately, she had refused to offer any details about it, saying that would spoil the surprise. Talking about Andie… other than the rest of my family, she did not seem to have a problem with me being in Gryffindor at all. Whenever I met her in the hall, she would stay to talk to us and at times, she even came to sit with us at the Gryffindor table for a minute or two, joking around with James and discussing classes with Remus. Narcissa and Bellatrix were a completely different story, though. They mostly either gave me dirty looks and sneers or just acted like they didn't know me at all. Suffice it to say, I had no problem whatsoever with the second option.

But right now, the Halloween Feast was in the foremost of my mind. I had heard about the celebrations that usually came with Halloween, of course my family had never participated in such non-sense, why something like that was beneath the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, and I was curious.

Therefore, whenever I didn't have anything better to do like during a History of Magic, my thoughts strayed to the feast ahead. I generally didn't mind any of my classes, except for a History of Magic, which just had to be the most boring class EVER in both wizard and human history. The teacher, Professor Binns, was a ghost… and a very boring one at that. Whoever had said that all ghosts were terrifying clearly had never met Binns. He was about as terrifying as blind new-born kitten and as boring as a smelly old shoe-brush. The most exciting thing by far about his class, was his entrance through the blackboard, and even that had only managed to catch our attention for the first three times. For the rest of the lesson, he kept floating in front of the class, droning on about Goblin rebellions and stuff in a voice, which could only be described as monotonous and emotionless. I really had tried to take notes during the very first lesson, but had had to give up after about half an hours, as my thoughts kept drifting away to other things. My notes had been pitiful, mostly consisting of half-finished sentences, or random words. James and Peter had followed my example, Peter was actually sleeping through this class mostly, only waking up when Remus shook him awake at the end of each class. Binns hadn't noticed once, despite the sound of Peter's snoring. Whereas Remus was, incomprehensibly to the rest of us, still valiantly taking notes every lesson, James and I had taken to either staring blearily around the classroom and letting our thoughts drift, or playing hangman on a piece of paper.

Today was no exception to that rule. James and I had spent the first part of the lesson playing hangman, whereas Remus scribbled down his notes and shot either the two of us or the snoring Peter next to him a dirty look every few minutes, but even that had gotten boring after a time. So now, I was thinking about the Halloween Feast whereas James next to me had settled his head on his arms, on the verge of sleep as well.

Suddenly an idea hit me. Giving James a sharp jab into the side with my elbow, probably a bit harder than I had meant to, since he yelped with pain and turned to glare at me, I grinned at him excitedly.

"What the hell?"

"Sorry but I have just had the most brilliant idea ever." James raised his eyebrows, trying to maintain his annoyed expression but I did not miss the flash of interest in his eyes. "You know, it's the 31st of October in a few weeks… and as you know the 31st of October is-"

"Halloween, yes, I know. I'm not an imbecile. What's your point?"

"Well, Andie told me the school will hold a big feast. Like really big."

James nodded. "Yeah, I know my dad told me. I repeat: What's your point?"

I opened my mouth to reply when something hit straight in the face. Startled, I looked down at the folded note that had just fallen onto our table with James' and my name scrawled across it in Remus' handwriting. Casting a curious look in his direction, I saw that he was bent over his notes again, apparently trying to jot down Professor Binn's every word.

Could you idiots be any louder. If you haven't noticed, we're in class, so save it for later. As if it's not hard enough to concentrate with Peter's snoring next to me. So cut it out!

James' snort told me he had been reading the note over my shoulder. We exchanged a quick grin, James pulling the note towards him and scratching something down with his quill before throwing it at Remus, managing to hit him in the ear. Once again, he was glaring daggers at us as he was opening the note. As his eyes briefly skimmed over it, a hint of a grin appeared on his face and he rolled his eyes.

"What did you write?"

"You'll see in a minute." James grinned at me, waiting for Remus to finish his reply and toss the note onto our desk. James opened it and huffed a laugh. I snatched it out of his end and read through it.

Don't be such a goody goody, Remus. Besides, Sirius has had an idea.

All right, then I guess you can do without the goody goody's notes as of now. And … oh no!

What do you mean 'oh no'? I exchanged a look of mock outrage with James, who was grinning broadly. As I tossed the note onto Remus' table again, he sighed and laid his pen down resignedly.

Oh no as in please don't get us into trouble.

Can't promise that, trouble is my middle name. Do you want to hear my idea or not?

How about you tell us after class? I'm actually trying to take notes here. In case you haven't noticed.

I agree. Let Remus take his notes in peace and then we'll talk it over later.

Forget it, James. You're not getting the goody goody's notes this time.

Oh, c'mon, Remus. You know I didn't mean it.

Nope.

Please?

What about me? I'm still getting your notes, am I?

Nope.

Why? I didn't insult you! It was that idiot sitting next to me.

Watch who you're calling an idiot!

How about you try and pay attention yourselves? And besides, I won't have any notes if you don't stop bothering me.

We did try! It was frankly impossible.

Then how am I managing to do it?

Beats us!

At that point Remus set the note on fire with his wand without giving us another look and started to take notes again, a satisfied little smile on his lips at our annoyed grunts.

"All right, Sirius. What's this fabulous idea of yours?" Remus' voice was dripping with sarcasm as he closed the door to our dormitory behind him. James, Peter and I were already sprawled across our respective beds.

I hastily propped myself up onto my elbows and glanced at each of my friends in turn to ensure that I had their undivided attention. Whereas both James and Peter looked curious and in James' case slightly amused, Remus tried to feign indifference … unsuccessfully.

"Is that a glint of interest I see there in your eyes, Remus dear?"

He rolled his eyes and chucked a pillow at me. "Just spit it out before you choke on it."

Grinning, I grabbed the pillow and threw it back at him. "All right… so here it comes… How about we give the Halloween Feast a bit of a… let's call it personal touch?" I raised my eyebrows and looked at them excitedly, waiting for a reaction.

"Personal touch? Like… what?" Peter definitely looked intrigued, as he imitated me and settled himself onto his elbows.

"Like a prank or anything. To start of our career as the official new Hogwarts troublemakers." I grinned, flicking my hair back at these words with a flourish. Remus shook his head, trying to hide a grin and exchanged an amused glance with James. The latter then shrugged and turned back towards me.

"Well, sounds like a plan. Count me in. Remus, Peter? What do you think?"

"Sounds like fun." Peter nodded enthusiastically but then scrunched his face up a bit. "But we won't get into trouble, right?"

"Nah!" James winked at Peter. "Don't worry, Petey. We'll be fine. So, do you already have any specific ideas as to what that prank could look like?"

I bit down onto my bottom lip and shrugged. "Not really, no. But we'll come up with something together, right? Remus… didn't you title yourself the new mastermind for our pranks?"

"That depends. Are you going to get me expelled?" I was not really sure whether he was joking or not, it was hard to tell with Remus sometimes. Especially as he had stopped looking at me and had his eyes firmly locked onto the book in front of him.

"Of course not!"

Remus put down his book and looked up at us again. "All right. Then how about we try to find out as much as possible about this Halloween Feast first? That way we'll know what we are dealing with and it might actually inspire us. Or do any of you already what to expect?"

Peter shook his head. I sighed and replied in kind. "Andie refused to tell me any details, just claiming that it would be great."

"Same here. My mum and dad were always going on and on about the Hogwarts Feasts but they never told me any specifics." James scowled, picking on a loose thread on his blanket.

"Ok, then step one: try to find out as much as possible." Remus turned a page on his book, once again focused on his homework.

"And how exactly do we do that?" Sighing, he clapped the book shut and pulled himself into a sitting position.

"How are the chances of you getting any more information out of Andie, Sirius?"

"Slim to none." I shook my head, knowing full well how stubborn my cousin could get. She was very much like me in that respect.

"Ok… I'm guessing asking the teachers is out, too. How about Hagrid?" I glanced at James, who had raised his eyebrows and gave Remus an impressed look.

"Good idea!"

"You sound surprised. Not so much of a goody goody, am I now?"

James grinned. "Oh, no. You're still a goody goody but we love you." He hastily ducked as Remus' pillow flew in his direction.

"So, it's a plan then?" I glanced around at all three of them, with an expectant smile. James gave me a thumbs-up and a broad grin; Peter nodded and Remus just raised his eyebrows and murmured "Duh."