I was the first person down to dinner that night... I left the hospital wing only because Madam Pomfrey kicked me out, otherwise I would have stayed. Anywho, I was at the Gryffindor table when a very annoyed Nikki sat down next to me.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, taking a bite of my pie.

"A certain person whose name starts with P and ends with Nelope," Nikki fumed. She grabbed a pie from the stack and started eating it, just as Penelope sat down across from us.

"Where's your fan club?" I asked her.

"I wanted to talk to you actually," she said, and I started getting worried. Why on earth would she want to talk to me?

"What about?" I asked, trying to keep my cool.

"A little owl told me that you're going out with Potter," she answered.

I laughed. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Oh wait...

"Who told you that?" I said, trying to regain my composure. "They must be delusional."

I was still laughing, and I suppose I was glad that at this same time the night before, I would have found that completely ludicrous. Because otherwise I wouldn't be able to do what I was planning to do right now.

"I told you, a little owl passed it along," she said.

"OK, who started this ridiculous little rumour?" I asked.

"Word is that Snape started it," Nikki said. "He said he saw you with Potter up in the hospital wing."

"Actually, that's a very good point," Penelope said. "I haven't seen you since last night. Where were you all day?"

"I was up in the hospital wing," I said. "I hurt myself last night, and Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me go to class today."

"Where was James?" Penelope asked.

"What is this, twenty questions?" I asked, then realised that Penelope was pure-blooded and didn't know what that was. "Potter told me the other day that he had to go home for a family funeral or something, and Black, being sort of part of their family went with him. I haven't seen either of them since they left."

"Are you sure?" Penelope asked.

"Yes," I said. She seemed convinced, and left to go sit with her friends at the Hufflepuff table. I rolled my eyes at her and turned back to my pie. "Am I really that good at lying?"

"You mean, you are going out with Potter?" Nikki asked in a hushed voice.

CRIPES!!! I wasn't going to tell anybody... and now Nikki knew, she was going to have to know about everything.

"Finish your pie, then I'll tell you everything."

**

"Miss Evans, back again so soon?"

"Yes Madam Pomfrey," I said. "I need to ask James something."

"Very well," she said. "Be quick though. He needs his rest."

"Thank you." I almost ran to his bed, but I found he was asleep. I gently touched his forehead, and he woke up.

"What are you doing back here?" he asked.

"I need to ask you something," I whispered hurriedly. "The Room of Requirement... how would one enter it?"

"Walk past the tapestry three times thinking of what you need," he answered. "Why?"

"I need to tell Nikki. About everything. Are you alright with that?"

James nodded. "If you trust her, I trust her."

"Thank you," I said, turning away from the bed. He grabbed my hand.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Love you too," I said, and he let go of my hand. I rushed out of the room and grabbed Nikki by the hand, dragging her up to the seventh floor corridor where I knew the room was. I paced past the door three times, thinking of what I needed, and there it was. The door to the room. I smiled at Nikki's bemused expression, and then pulled her through the door, pushing her down onto one of the plush chairs that had appeared.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked.

"You wanted to know, right?"

"Yeah, but why here?"

"Because you're going to ask for the whole story, and here's the only place I can give it to you. Yes, I am going out with James Potter. First question."

"Why? I thought you hated James."

"Things change. Next question."

"Where were you today, really?"

"I was up in the hospital wing, but not because I hurt myself."

"With James?"

"Yes," I said, impatient to get to the main topic of conversation.

"But you said that James had gone home with Sirius. Why would Sirius go home without James?"

"Because they didn't go home," I said. "They did leave the castle, but they didn't go home."

"So where did they go?"

"Hogsmeade, I think. Do you remember the howl from last night?"

"Yes," she said. "That was the last time I saw you."

"Well, that was from the Shrieking Shack. It's not haunted."

"Then what made the howl?"

"Remus made the howl," I said. "He's a werewolf."

"WHAT?!" she screamed. Okay, admittedly, I really wasn't expecting that.

"Are you telling me, that every month, Rem wanders around as a wolf, and nobody even knows about it?"

"Yes," I said. "You seem surprised."

"Of course I'm surprised! He's one of my best friends, and he just neglected to tell me that he's a werewolf! Why would he do that?"

"Because you're reacting like this?" I asked. "Seriously, it's no big deal. It's not like he's ever hurt anybody!"

"But he might!" Nikki said. "I don't want to do patrols with him anymore!"

"Tough titties," I said. "He'll never patrol during the full moon... that's why you had to do Jame's patrol last night."

"Because Remus was a werewolf?"

Oh. Right. Let me correct that.

"No, because James was with Remus. So was Sirius."

"What do you mean?"

"Ever realised that when Remus isn't in school, neither are James and Sirius?"

She mulled this over for a few minutes, and realisation dawned over her face. "Why aren't they?"

"In third year, Sirius, James, and Peter all started to try and turn into animagi. They finally got it in fifth year, and ever since, they've been with Remus during his transformations, and making sure he doesn't come into any trouble."

"Black's an animagus?" Nikki asked, an impressed expression on her face. Why didn't she ask about the other two?

"Yes," I said, confused. "So are Pettigrew and James."

"That's really cool," she said. "What do they turn into?"

"Black is a shaggy black dog, Pettigrew's a rat, and James is a stag."

"And Remus is a werewolf," she said glumly. She'd stood up somewhere in my explanation and now she sat back down again, consumed in her thoughts. I tried clicking my fingers to snap her out of it, but it didn't work.

"NICOLE!" I yelled, using her full name. She snapped out of her trance and looked at me.

"How can I still be friends with Remus after this?" she asked, her face falling.

"You were friends with him before," I pointed out. "Before you knew. He's a nice person, you just need to learn to look past the fact. He doesn't let being a werewolf control him, he fights it. He doesn't let it stop him having a life. He's one of the most popular kids in school!"

"How long have you known?" she asked suddenly.

I sighed. "Since fifth year. I figured it out. I saw it. But they didn't know that I knew until the beginning of this year. You okay?"

"Yeah," Nikki said. "I'm fine."

We sat there in the Room of Requirement until morning, only speaking at odd intervals, usually Nikki asking me a question and me giving her an answer. Either way, we didn't leave until it was seven o'clock, an acceptable time to be out of our common rooms.

When I got to the common room, I saw that Sirius, Remus and Pettigrew had returned. Sirius ran up to me almost as soon as he saw us enter.

"Where have you been?" he asked me.

"Uh, none of your business Black," I snapped.

"I thought I implied to you to stay with Prongs until he woke up," he said, exasperated.

"Yeah, you did," I said. "What are you doing back right now? I thought you'd be coming back tomorrow?"

"No," Remus said. "It was over more quickly than we thought it would be. Is Prongs okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine." I found myself wondering if I should tell them about Nikki knowing, or if I should just let James do it.

"Um, Lily, I'm going to go up to the dorm and get ready. I'll see you later."

"Yeah," I said, facing the Marauders. I waited until she dashed up the stairs. "Are you okay Remus?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm fine. I don't really want to talk about it."

"Okay," I said as he turned and went up to his own dormitory, Pettigrew on his heels.

"Where's Prongs?" Sirius asked me.

"Last I checked, he was in the hospital wing. He's fine though. Madam Pomfrey made sure he was okay."

"Okay," Sirius said, then, as the Portrait Hole swung open, he turned and left up the spiral staricase to his dormitory.

I spun around, and saw James walking towards me. A sigh of relief escaped me, and I threw my arms around him.

"How are you?" I asked, not letting go of him.

"Better," he said. "Especially now that I've seen your face."

"That line is cheesier than a margurita pizza," I chuckled.

"I don't know what that means," he said.

"It's a pizza that only has cheese as it's topping."

"Disgusting," he said.

"Exactly."

"So, how are you my Lilykins?"

"Better now that I've seen you can walk," I said, pulling away and looking at him. "And I need you to do me a favour. We need to keep that we're together a secret. Just for a few days."

"Why?" he asked, his happy face falling.

"I'm going to try playing a prank," I admitted.

"Now for that, you'll need the help of your old pals James and Sirius," he commented, his face lightening up again.

"Yes," I said. "I need you to promise you won't let it slip to anybody except Pads."

"Alright," he said, kissing my forehead. "Go get dressed. I'll see you at breakfast."

**

"Today we will be switching Potions partners," Professor Slughorn announced. Nearly everybody groaned, except James and Sirius, because Slughorn always switched partners by magic. Perhaps they would be able to be partners this time around. Slughorn wrote a list of names up, and then tapped the piece of paper. He then called out the new partners.

There were only four people left, and I was one of them. So was Sirius, and Nikki, and James. I crossed my fingers, hoping that I wouldn't be made to go with James. It would be hard to pretend then.

"Nicole and Sirius," Slughorn boomed, and I looked towards James. "Go with your new partner!"

I sighed and walked over towards James. "You know what we have to do, right?" I asked him.

"Pretend we hate each other's guts?" he asked. I nodded. "Consider it done," he grinned. I glared at him.

"Today, I would like you to brew a potion to cure hangovers!" Slughorn announced, and I grinned. So did James. We both knew that I'd made that potion before, the morning after my sister's wedding. We both set to work, putting the ingredients into the cauldron. Our only problem was that we were working at the same table as Snape and Penelope.

"Look at the two lovebirds brewing a potion together," Penelope smirked. "It almost makes you want to puke, doesn't it Sev?"

"Yeah," Snape said.

"Lovebirds?" I asked. "What gave you that impression?"

Snape looked thoroughly confused. "Yesterday, up in the hospital wing, you said he was your boyfriend."

"What?" I asked. "You okay Sev? Do you want me to make you some anti-hallucinogenic potion?"

"I wasn't hallucinating!" he said, throwing his arms up in the air. I didn't want to remind him that he was supposed to be stirring his cauldron. "You were there, with Potter. He was lying in bed, and you called him your boyfriend!"

"I think Lily's right, Sniv," James said. "I wasn't at school yesterday. I was at my granddad's funeral."

"I know what I saw," Snape said.

"And I know where I was," James said. "Plus, if Lily had said I was her boyfriend, don't you think I'd have her admitted to a mental institution? The Real Lily doesn't say things like that."

"Quiet over there," Slughorn said, and Snape dropped it, although he kept throwing us frequent glares. He was so preoccupied, he didn't notice when his cauldron started smoking, or when his potion, that should be orange by now, was a putrid green colour. I noticed though, and couldn't help repressing a smirk.

"Time!" Slughorn shouted. "I'm going to come over and check your potions now."

As the old, fat Professor started his rounds, Snape looked into his cauldron and his face fell. Then he glared at James and me.

"Oh, Mr Snape, what ever happened to your remarkable potion making abilities?" he asked. He took a sniff of the concoction. "You added a few porcupine quills? Why on earth would you do that?"

"I didn't add any porcupine quills," Snape said, confused. Realisation struck me though, and I looked sideways at James, who was trying to suppress a snigger.

I elbowed him in the side as Slughorn came over to inspect our potion.

"Excellent, Miss Evans," he said. "This hardly looks like a first time brew. Have you made it before?"

"Just once," I admitted. "After my sister's wedding."

"Well, it's very fine indeed. You could put it to market."

I was aware of going a bright red colour as he awarded Gryffindor some points. After he dismissed the class, I waited up for Nikki, Sirius, Remus and James, the only people who knew what was really going on.

Phase one of my first prank was complete.

Not really too sure about the end of this chapter, but please tell me if you like it. Koodos to everyone who reviewed last time... sorry I couldn't reply to you all...

My family is trying to squish the magic of fanfiction out of me, so I only get it at this time on a Saturday night... how sad. But I do get the emails all through the week... I check them when my siblings aren't looking.

Anyways, review!!

Love Gabi xx