"James! Hold up!"
"Hurry up Wormtail!" the head boy called over his shoulder as the small group cut through a shortcut behind a tapestry of an angry looking unicorn, coming out on the next floor.
"Did you see the first years as Hagrid brought them in?" Remus was saying, "Barely fifteen of them."
"Scrawny looking bunch too" James said, brows furrowed, glancing down at the map as they turned a corner. "Not much to look forward to in the way of new Quidditch talent."
Remus frowned but ignored the comment. "Not only that, but a fair chunk of the older students are missing as well. Best case scenario their parents were just afraid and chose to keep them home. It's going to be a rough year for everyone."
"All the more reason to have a good night" Sirius threw in with a grin.
It was Lily's turn to frown. "Do you two ever take anything seriously? Not everything is about quidditch and partying" she snapped in frustration.
"Oh, I'm very Sirius" he replied, dodging her blow with a laugh. "Come on Evans, nothing we can do about any of it right now, so you might as well make the most of this. Can't fool us anymore either unless you plan on erasing the last two months. We all know you're capable of having a good time, or have you forgotten August 4th?"
Lily blushed and James coughed loudly from the head of the group.
"What happened August 4th?" Peter demanded, having been stuck at home for most of the summer before his seventeenth birthday when he had been allowed the first of several tries before he finally managed to pass his apparition test.
"Sorry Wormtail, were not supposed to speak of it" Sirius said solemnly, "but I'll tell you later."
Lily rolled her eyes and hurried to catch up to James.
"Where are we going?" she demanded, "We should really be getting back soon. Were head boy and girl, we'll be missed soon."
James shrugged indifferently.
"We made our appearance. McGonagall knows were not dead in a ditch somewhere, and we'll be back in an hour or two-"
"An hour or two?" she spluttered.
"We'll be back before were missed, just in time to watch the prefects do their jobs, get the party going in the common room and convince the first years, if there are any this year mind you, that they're going to have to fight a troll in their first lesson." He glanced sideways, catching her expression. "Only joking. Here we are."
They had come to a halt next to an ugly stone statue of a fat wizard with a self satisfied smirk on his face.
"Where?" Lily asked in confusion, looking around at the closed doors in the corridor around them, but the four boys were all focused on the statue.
"Lily, meet Gregory the Smarmy" James said, hand resting on the worn stone head. "Gregory, this is Lily Evans."
" Old Greg here is one of our most trusted friends" Sirius added.
"Is this a joke?" Lily demanded, looking to Remus for an explanation, who shook his head with a sardonic smile.
"Wormtail, would you do the honors?" James said, gesturing his friend forward. Peter stepped up, tapped the stone twice with his wand and muttered something indistinguishable under his breath. She watched in amazement as the stone man slid suddenly to the side, revealing a tunnel in the wall behind him.
"Oh, hell no!" she said, drawing amused looks. "This goes to Hogsmeade, doesn't it? This is how you lot always came back with stuff from the village last year. That's what you're planning for your party tonight." She stared into the dark hole, then rounded on James. "You're head boy, and this is certainly against school rules! You know you shouldn't be doing this." But even as she said it she realized who she was talking to and what the words meant, making him smile all the wider. And some part of her…
"And you're head girl" he replied easily, "But you're also a Gryffindor and I know you well enough to know that you're dying to go down there" he said. " Besides, why do the passageways exist if not for us to use?"
"Passageways?" she asked. There's more?"
"Certainly" he replied, as though it was a ridiculous question. "So… After you." He gestured into the hole.
"I am not going first" she informed him stubbornly; crossing her arms, ignoring how quickly she had given in.
"Don't trust us?" James asked.
"Of course not."
James laughed, then frowned down at the map.
"Fine" he said, "But we has best make it quick" he suggested, "We aren't the only ones wandering the halls. Moony, care to take the lead?"
She watched Remus duck and head into the tunnel, followed closely by Peter and Sirius, who winked at her as he disappeared.
"Well then?" James asked, eyebrows raised, challenging her. She eyed him for a moment, then turned and headed in after the others, assaulted almost instantly by the smell of the dampness below, centuries worth of mold and something that might have once been alive.
She felt James enter the tunnel close behind her, then she guessed that the statue had slid back into place as the light disappeared and they were engulfed in the stifling darkness.
"Scared?" he taunted her, lighting his wand so they could see where they were going.
Lily snorted derisively, drawing her own wand. "You wish, Potter."