Energy and persistence conquer all things

~Benjamin Franklin

Chapter Twenty

Never Give Up

"Ow, Peter! You just stepped on my finger!" a whisper broke the silence.

"Sorry, Sirius. Just can't seem to get comfortable," Peter responded sheepishly. Sirius seemed to accept his apology because the longhaired boy turned back to looking down the hallway without another word. Peter squirmed around a little more, paying much more attention to where his body parts were in relation to Sirius'. However, nothing seemed to be helping and Peter gave up with a frustrated sigh.

The brown haired boy had never been great with perseverance. If something were difficult, he would try one or two things make one or two attempts, and if he wasn't successful, he's give up. Call it quits. Turn in the towel. And he'd resign himself to the fact that he simply wasn't good at that particular task.

The list of tasks Peter was not good at had grown quite extensive.

Since arriving at school, Peter had put in a little more effort than he would have normally, but he still hadn't really made any progress. Maybe magic was just another thing he'd have to add to his list. Remus especially, but also James and Sirius, had been trying to help Peter, to convince him to keep trying.

Watching James, with his eternal optimism, and Sirius, with his tenacious drive, had inspired Peter to persevere to a much greater extent than he ever would have. Yet, his defeats still kept coming. And, when he would compare himself, and his many failures, to his friends he would find himself extremely lacking. They'd accomplished so much, could easily do so many things; it could be quite demoralizing. Yet, some quality about James and Sirius seemed to give Peter the confidence to not just pack it up and head home, but stick it out and keep trying until he did succeed.

It was that quality that currently had an extremely uncomfortable Peter sitting on a cold stone floor for going on four hours. Nothing of note had happened in those four hours, and Sirius, the other person sitting on the floor, was getting very annoyed. For his part, Peter was extremely proud that he'd been able to keep at something that so clearly had 'failure' written on it for such a long time.

Maybe he was developing perseverance!

"Well, I think we could sit here for another four hours and we wouldn't get any further along with the Slytherins. I'd say they aren't meeting here tonight. There are certainly better ways I can be spending my time," Sirius suddenly spoke, standing and removing the invisibility cloak.

Since the close call with the Slytherins in the very classroom that Sirius and Peter had been camped out in front of, the four Gryffindors had decided to keep an even closer watch on the goings on involved with that room. They would take turns sitting in front of the offending classroom and wait for the Slytherins to arrive. Then the plan was to find another professor, one more amiable than Professor McGonagall, to help open the classroom and they would have their proof. They were sure that any professor would need to actually hear the plotting before any real discipline was laid down on the Slytherins, but they were hoping their word would be enough to at least get a professor to open a locked door.

However, about a week and a half had passed and, despite near-constant surveillance of the classroom, not a single Slytherin had so much as walked passed the room. James and Sirius had also taken it upon themselves to occasionally tail people they believed were key conspirators, just in case the Slytherin's had decided to meet somewhere else after being found out. That tactic also lead them nowhere.

Peter was willing to start the talk of giving up again, writing this off as just another in his long list of defeats and failures. However, James, Sirius, and Remus seemed to have found a new resolve and forged on, full steam ahead.

Peter and Sirius walked into the Gryffindor common room only seconds before curfew, which earned the pair a suspicious look from prefect Frank. They found James and Remus sitting in front of the fireplace, discussing a large stack of papers they'd spread out between them.

"If you do it that way," Remus whispered to James, the rest of his sentence to quiet to hear. The sandy haired boy had his face scrunched tight as he thoughtfully scrutinized a particular sheet of parchment. Peter recognized that the two were hard at work with the quartets back up plan. If they couldn't clear their names, then they would try to retool their reputation with a grand prank, enjoyed by everyone as opposed to reviled by them.

Sirius collapsed onto a nearby armchair, and James and Remus quickly whipped their heads, hiding their papers from the intruder. When they realised it was only Sirius and Peter, they both relaxed.

"So, anything?" James asked hopefully, despite Sirius' tired expression. All the longhaired boy did in response to his friend's question was shake his head before allowing it to loll over the back of the armchair.

"I was wondering," Remus added, still scrutinizing the parchment in his hand, "maybe the Slytherins are feeling a little heat. Maybe we got a little too close, nearly discovered something with Professor McGonagall. I know if it were me, I'd lay low for a little, try and get us to grow tired, and then resume meeting. Perhaps we should forestall our efforts for the time being, lull the Slytherins into a false sense of security. It would probably increase our chances of getting information.

James was quiet for several moments. So was Sirius, but a closer look by Peter revealed that the longhaired boy had, in fact, fallen asleep.

"Okay, Remus. Let's put a pause on the surveillance until after Easter Break. Then once we're back, we redouble our efforts and don't stop until we get somewhere! That should be enough time for the Slytherins to think we've given up. Plus, we can spend that time really focusing on our year-end prank. One way or another we're finishing first year with a bang!"

The weeks leading up to the break saw the four Gryffindors holing up in various locations throughout the castle: the common room; the library; their dormitory; even out in the Hogwart's grounds on the rare occasion that the weather cooperated. They were always surrounded by piles of paper and hard at work. Not once during this time did a single member of the four go out under the invisibility cloak to follow the Slytherins. Though several excursions were made with the cloak for reconnaissance of the castle in preparation for their prank. Their grand exit, as Sirius had dubbed it.

Then, the morning before Easter break was to start, as the owls brought in the mail at breakfast, a piece of parchment enchanted to resemble a small songbird, flew in. It was quite the sight, this small bird-shaped paper amongst the various owls, and it caught the attention of several students. When it landed in front of Sirius, he was quite surprised, though he hid it quickly.

"Probably a note from my mum. She hates the owl post. Says it's too slow and untrustworthy for her. Plus, she always likes to show of her magic," Sirius spoke loudly to the inquiring looks he received. In reality, he knew it wasn't from his mother. She'd refused to write to him since he'd been sorted into Gryffindor. The only mail he received were covert letters from his younger brother Regulus.

But this letter was also not from his brother. Being only ten, he didn't have the training or know-how to enchant parchment. Plus, flying from London was a long trip that the parchment most likely wouldn't survive. No, he was pretty sure the letter had come from someone in Hogwarts, and he had a pretty good idea who.

Opening the letter only confirmed his suspicions.

Meet me at the spot. Tonight. After dinner. –MS

And that is what Sirius had done. He had left his friends hard at work on their prank in the library, and as inconspicuously as possible, began making his way through the hallways of Hogwarts to the dead-end with the goblin statue. Moira must have some vitally important information for him. Why else would she write him? She could have easily let him know she hadn't gotten anywhere by coming up to him after a class, or in the library. But she didn't. She'd contacted him anonymously. She had to have something!

When Sirius arrived at their arranged meeting place, he found it empty. He must have been early. After dinner wasn't a very specific meeting time. Settling in for an undetermined amount of time, Sirius pictured all the things he, James, Remus, and Peter could get up to, once they no longer had the broom tampering incident hanging over their heads.

After about twenty minutes, he heard a rustling from the other side of the statue. Moira appeared in the void, her expression unreadable. The dark definitely wasn't helping, but Moira also wasn't giving Sirius any emotional signs. Was she happy? Was she victorious? Was she nervous? All Sirius could read was a slight annoyance. But Moira usually looked annoyed in his presence.

"Well?" Sirius asked after she wasn't immediately forthcoming. Moira looked down at her feet momentarily, before turning back to Sirius. Her previously stony expression was replaced with a slight sadness.

"I've got nothing. None of the upperclassmen have left the dormitory in a week. They go to class, eat meals, and then sit in a corner and goof off. Apparently, it isn't only you and your friends who find Severus as an easy target." Moira muttered the last bit. Sirius felt suddenly crestfallen.

"Well, are there rumours? Surely Slytherins are talking? No one is bragging about how they've gotten one over on Gryffindor?" Sirius asked, hopeful that there was something.

"Look," Moira responded, her annoyance returning, "I'm not sure what it's like in Gryffindor, but there is definitely a hierarchy in Slytherin. The seventh years, and especially Warrington's little group, are at the top. The first years like myself are at the bottom. There is no way they would share anything about what they've been up to. If they've even been up to something. I'm sorry."

Without waiting for a response, Moira turned a left. Sirius slide down the cool wall of the alcove. He'd been sure Moira would have been more help.

Finally, Easter Break arrived and a collective call of joy erupted from the student body. The four Gryffindors were a little less enthusiastic. They returned home to their families with only the prank on their lips. But their problem was never far from their minds. Especially since their plan b of Moira Scott had fallen through. So, when they returned from break, all four were ready to put an end to their issue, once and for all. Their first night back, the boys sat up in bed, discussing their plan, not for the prank, but for finally implicating the Slytherins in the broom tampering scandal.

"So, Sirius and I will take the first watch, so to speak. We'll go out tomorrow after class and if they are meeting, we'll try and get a professor to break it up. Hopefully we'll be able to get somewhere this time," James spoke, sounding like a general laying out his battle strategy.

"And I think Remus and Peter should spend that time continuing on with the grand exit preparations. We're almost done, but we don't want to get side tracked or anything," Sirius added. Everyone voiced their agreement and then turned in for the night. A buzz, not dissimilar to the one that was felt upon the arrival of invisibility cloak, permeated the room.

'Something,' Peter thought, as he dozed off, 'something big was going to happen tomorrow.' He could just feel it.

When the next afternoon arrived, Peter couldn't help but feel a little sidelined. He was sure that James and Sirius were going to end the whole Slytherin saga and he wasn't even going to be a part of it. Instead, he was forced to wait in the common room with Remus and just wait for what came next. Remus didn't seem to share Peter's displeasure; he had his nose buried in parchment and books, furiously scribbling notes on procedure and needed spells. Remus was perfectly fine with planning and doing behind the scenes work and leaving the actual troublemaking to James and Sirius. However, since arriving at Hogwarts and befriending the other Gryffindors, Peter had discovered that he quite enjoyed the spotlight. If there was renown and infamy to be had, Peter wanted to be a part of it.

With a dejected sigh, Peter focused on what Remus was doing. If he couldn't be on the front lines, then he'd at least try and help, have an input in the project one way or another. After only a few minutes of trying to follow what exactly Remus was doing, though, Peter found himself very confused. It was obvious the skinny boy didn't need any help or input.

Searching for something to stimulate him and help the time pass, Peter let his gaze flit across the common room. It was a cool, dreary day out, especially cruel after the silver of warmth and blue sky that had occurred only the day before. Most of Gryffindor had sought shelter indoors, spending the afternoon curled up in the common room, relaxing after studying for hours and days, or busy in the library.

As Peter let his gaze wander, he found his eyes drawn to a small group of first year girls. There were three of them spread out on a couch, books and parchment surrounding them, though Peter knew there were six girls in total. They'd been in every single class that Peter, James, Remus, and Sirius had been, and yet, Peter had never really thought about them. He'd been so busy with James and Sirius.

Peter was pretty sure the red haired girl was Lily; he'd heard James talk about her a few times, and she was friends with Snivellus. Lily seemed like a nice, kind person; you'd have to be, Peter figured, to want to befriend a Slytherin like Snape. Peter was pretty sure she was a muggle born, but she had a natural magical ability, especially when it came to charms. Several times in Flitwick's class, Peter had witnessed her superior skills.

Sitting next to Lily was a dark haired girl Peter thought was named Victoria or Veronica. She seemed fairly quiet, keeping mostly to herself. Whereas Lily had interacted with James and Sirius, mostly yelling at them, Veronica (or was it Victoria) hadn't said a word to anyone besides the other first year Gryffindor girls.

Finally, Peter's eyes moved towards the last member of the group. The petite, pretty brunette sitting beside Lily was named Marlene. Peter blushed slightly as he took the brown haired girl in. He'd first noticed her on the day of their sorting and ever since then, Peter often found his gaze drawn to Marlene. There was something about her that Peter found attractive, and he couldn't help but watch her, though not in a creepy way or anything. Today, her hair had a slight curl to it and, when it caught the sun, looked like it had golden flakes in it. Her eyes were a deep blue and seemed to sparkle with a joy Peter was unaccustomed to.

Peter wanted to continue watching Marlene and see how she moved, watch her laugh, watch as an easy smile crossed her face, but James and Sirius picked that exact moment to re-enter the common room and Peter's attention was otherwise diverted.

He turned and focused on the two figures that were slowly making their way across the room. Both had a look of such dejection that Peter felt surprised. Then, for the briefest of moments Peter felt happy at the duo's expressions. Dejection meant no success. No success meant Peter hadn't missed any glory.

"Well boys," James spoke, as he and Sirius slumped down in chairs around the table that Remus and Peter were at, "things are not going to be as easy as we thought."

"Obviously," Sirius interjected, "the lack of joyous, obnoxious dancing means we didn't achieve anything new. Trust me, when we are successful there will be a lot of dancing."

"Yes, well, anyway. It turns out our plan to lay low worked because the Slytherins were, in fact, meeting up today. In that classroom! Sirius and I were only there for a few minutes before people started showing up! We quickly went to get a professor, any one but McGonagall, to see if they could unlock the door and that we'd hopefully find more than a Quidditch meeting."

"And we flat out failed!" Sirius jumped in, slight outrage in his voice. "Apparently, Professor McGonagall had been sharing our exploits with all of the staff! They all want proof before they help, but we can't seem to get proof without their help! How will they know what we're saying is true?!" As Sirius spoke, he got more and more hysterical.

"Yeah, we found three different professors and all of them said that they wouldn't be lead on a wild goose chase without hard proof, like statements from the Slytherin team incriminating them or us witnessing them doing something against the rules. Though our word may not be worth much any more. On the third professor, Professor Flitwick, we even tried to imply that we had heard some things in the meeting, but he wasn't willing to believe us! It's like we'll need to get it in writing or have a professor overhear their conversation!" James added, a little more calm than Sirius.

The group was quiet for several seconds before Remus suddenly stood from the table.

"I may have something to help us with the professors overhearing an incriminating conversation," he stated simply before heading off towards their dorm rooms.