37

They ran for several minutes, weaving and turning through the corridors that lead deeper into the bowels of Hogwarts. They were all breathing in ragged gasps, exhausted from the chase. Finally they came upon a hallway lined with suits of armor, providing for plenty of cover in the event of an ambush. 'Rest here?' Caradoc panted. Peter responded by flopping onto the floor unceremoniously in a great heap. Sirius leaned heavily against the wall, clutching his bleeding hand.

'I think I nearly broke it,' Sirius said through gritted teeth. 'Lunkhead sure didn't have a glass jaw.'

James was doubled over, clutching his knees as he sucked in as many deep breaths as he could. 'That was quite a sight, Sirius,' he said with a grin through gasps for breath. 'You lunging onto him and fighting with him?'

Sirius grinned. 'Worked out, didn't it?' he said with a chuckle.

'I'll go check and see that the coast is clear,' Caradoc said after a moment. 'Wait here, yell if anyone comes.' He trotted on ahead, having regained his breath, and disappeared around the corner.

Remus grunted from where he was sitting on the floor. 'Pass that map over, Sirius,' he said. 'I think it would be safer with someone who has a less suicidal tendency to start brawling with older students.'

Sirius laughed again as he reached into his uniform and withdrew the map, handing it to Remus. 'All yours, Moony,' he gasped. 'I think I could fall asleep here if we were allowed.'

'Probably not a great idea,' Remus said as he shoved the map into his own uniform. 'Severus will probably be rallying the Slytherins for another try at us. He seems to want James rather badly.'

Sirius' grin dropped. 'Snivellus was there?' he asked.

'In the entrance hall,' James sighed. 'I think he organized that little rampaging kill party to come after us.'

Peter moaned. 'What's his problem?' he asked.

Sirius snorted. 'It's February—nearly time for his bath. Little slimeball,' he muttered, earning a laugh from James. 'What's he playing at, anyway?'

Caradoc had returned. 'You talking about that Snape boy that's always following Lily Evans around?' he asked idly.

'What do you know about him?' James asked in surprise.

'Just what Alice tells me,' he muttered as he wiped sweat from his face. 'She doesn't understand it. She says Lily Evans is one of the most honest, kind and morally centered people she's ever known.'

Sirius frowned. 'What does she say about Snape?'

'That he's not,' Caradoc said flatly and they all laughed. 'But he certainly seems to hate you, James,' he pointed out.

'Yeah, well. He's probably looking to use this event to get even with me,' James said dismissively.

'For what?' Caradoc asked.

James laughed. 'I've got a list. Would you like it in chronological order, or alphabetical?'

Remus chuckled. 'Yes, they shall never be bosom mates,' he said coyly. 'But right now the pressing concern should be how we're going to contend with the Slytherins. They managed to take out that big group of Ravenclaws they had near Gryffindor tower.'

'We could try teaming up with the girls?' Sirius suggested hopefully. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Peter shift uncomfortably on the ground.

'Even then, the numbers aren't exactly in our favor. And have you seen how the Slytherins are using their younger students as human shields?' Remus asked in a disgusted voice. 'I don't exactly like to go out of my way looking to criticize people, but that's pretty despicable,' he lamented.

Caradoc nodded. 'Doesn't seem very fair,' he said. 'But I think Sirius is right. We might be able to find some strength in numbers, and Alice and her friends seem to be as good a place as any to start.'

James grinned. 'Thought you weren't looking to make allies?'

'Well, I'm feeling much better about not having chosen to fight you lot now that I've seen what you can do,' Caradoc said with a chuckle.

'Cheers,' Sirius said as he hauled himself to his feet. 'Well? Shall we get a move on?'

'Where are we going?' Peter asked as Remus helped him to his feet.

Remus sniffed. 'I think our best way to rendezvous with the others is to cut back through the entrance hall,' he said to a chorus of groans. 'If we get there quickly enough, the Slytherins may not have made it back yet. It should be much easier for us to slip through unnoticed,' he declared.

'Unless they're expecting us to emerge from this side, in which case we'd be walking into a trap,' Sirius pointed out.

'How would they know that?' Peter asked worriedly.

James looked thoughtful for a moment. 'If they'd sent someone back to the entrance hall while we were all fighting in the staircase room,' he said slowly, 'they could have had people stationed down here and waiting for us.'

'That would require a presence of mind I doubt they possess,' Caradoc said shrewdly.

Remus sighed. 'Best to err on the side of caution. Let's proceed back to the entrance hall, but slowly,' he said to nods from everyone. They fanned out and began to walk.

'How many people do you reckon are still in the game?' Peter asked.

Sirius shrugged. 'No idea,' he said. 'If I had to guess, I'd say there was about a hundred Ravenclaws near Gryffindor tower. If most of them were eliminated, that's a pretty big chunk.'

'The first day is also a bloodbath, historically,' Remus added. 'If I had to guess, I would say we're down to at least half the student body.'

'Final five hundred, everyone!' James said sarcastically and they all chuckled.

Peter glanced around nervously. 'Has it occurred to anyone else that we haven't run into anyone since we got down here…?' he asked slowly.

Sirius frowned. 'I hadn't though of that until now,' he said slowly.

'What are you thinking?' Caradoc asked.

Sirius glanced back at James. 'Ever get the feeling that you're about to do a double take?' he asked.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when a spell came hurtling down the hallway towards them. 'Split!' Caradoc roared as he dove to one side of the hallway. James grabbed Peter and hauled him aside as both Sirius and Peter lunged to the other. The corridor was suddenly alive with yelling as Slytherins appeared around the corner in an odd new formation—the younger, shorter students were in front casting shield charms while the older, taller students were in a line behind them casting offensive spells.

'Back the other way, run!' Sirius bellowed and they hastily backpedalled down the hallway. The Slytherins pressed forward, running after them.

'Peter, Remus, shields!' Caradoc instructed. Peter and Remus immediately obeyed, mimicking the position the Slytherins had taken and shouting 'Protego!' together. Caradoc, Sirius and James shouted out their hexes and jinxes, and the sounds of blasts, bangs and crackles filled the corridor as they ricocheted everywhere.

'Keep backing up, we're almost at a corner!' James shouted as they slowly shuffled backwards.

Caradoc twirled his wand and a massive hex blasted from the end of his wand, the same spell he had cast in the staircase room. It exploded onto the shield charms cast by the younger students, knocking several of them down. James and Sirius pressed forward, hurling stunning spells into their midst and catching several of them, their wands instantly evaporating into the air. An older Slytherin student cast a similar spell back their way, slamming it into Peter's shield charm. He went skidding backwards several feet, straight past James and Sirius and rolling to a stop on the ground. He couldn't seem to keep his grip on his wand. 'My arm is numb!' Peter yelped.

'Come on!' James said. 'Scatter!' he grabbed Peter roughly by the scruff of his neck and ran towards the T at the end of the corridor, breaking right as he did so. He cast a glance back to see Remus, Peter and Caradoc break left. 'Come on, Peter,' he panted and they sprinted onwards, taking another left and running down another hallway.

'We've lost them,' Peter moaned.

'Don't worry, they've got the map,' James said, although he was worried. If any of the Slytherins from the staircase room were coming from that direction, they could soon find themselves trapped.

They ran on for several minutes more and then came to a stop, panting as James glanced back around the corner from the way they had come. 'Where are we?' Peter asked.

'Somewhere underneath Gryffindor tower,' James sighed. 'We might be best off trying to find a staircase leading up there.'

'Aren't the Slytherins camped out there?' Peter asked worriedly.

James shrugged. 'Looks like most of them are after us right now,' he said darkly. 'Maybe they've abandoned their post?' he added in a hopeful tone.

Peter glanced around. 'Look, James…as long as we're alone…I have a small problem.'

'Oh?' James asked, raising his eyebrows. 'What's up?'

'It's about—well—it's about Caradoc. And the plan to rendezvous with the girls.'

'Spit it out, Peter,' James said as he leaned against the wall. 'What's on your mind?'

Peter turned red. 'Well—I know you three weren't—I—I made a backup plan,' he said hastily.

James' eyebrows ran further up his head in surprise. 'A backup plan?' he echoed. 'What sort of backup plan? Why didn't you mention this around the others?'

'I couldn't,' Peter said miserably. 'Caradoc and Sirius wouldn't have been happy, and I don't think you will be either. But believe me, James, I just wanted to be sure all our bases were covered,' Peter said hastily. 'So I formed an alliance with Mary.'

'What sort of alliance?' James asked, taken aback.

'Well, she told me stuff about the girls' plans…' Peter said timidly.

James stood up. 'And you told her about ours?' he asked in exasperation.

'No, no, that was never a part of it!' Peter said hastily. 'She and I are friends—and she told me the girls really wanted to eliminate us, badly,' he said quickly. 'Like, on sight—they didn't even want to give us a chance. So we agreed that if we ever ran into each other, she would…well, turn on them.'

James wrinkled his nose. 'Turn on them,' he echoed.

'Turn on them,' Peter repeated.

Realization was dawning on James. 'You mean the second she sees us…'

'…she's going to start hexing the girls. Marlene, Lily…Alice…'

'Caradoc won't respond well to that,' James said with a sigh. 'And you're right, neither would Sirius,' he added after a moment.

Peter looked frightened. 'Are you mad?'

James laughed. 'I'm surprised,' he said. 'That's pretty cunning, Peter. But I guess the rest of us could have stood to make some backup plans as well,' he said.

'So how do we get around this?' Peter asked. 'I can't exactly signal to Mary not to go about hexing the others.'

'Mary was actually okay with this?' James asked skeptically. 'Turning on her friends?'

'Well…it's a game, right?' Peter asked.

James snorted. 'How would you react if one of us did something like that?' he asked shrewdly.

'I'd be pretty hurt,' Peter said truthfully.

'Exactly. As much as I want to win, I don't want to see their friendship ruined,' James said. 'How did you get her to agree to that?'

Peter flushed again. 'I didn't have to do much convincing…I just said that maybe we could get her to the final five…you know…along with you,' he said.

'Oh Peter,' James muttered. 'You know I'm not interested in her, right?'

'That doesn't mean she's not interested in you,' Peter pointed out.

James sighed. 'Alright, well, this isn't the end of the world. We know what her plan is, now we just need to figure out a way to get her to not turn on them upon seeing us,' he muttered.

'What about Caradoc?' Peter asked.

'What about him?' James replied.

'What if we sent him in first? Alice might get the others not to hex him, and then he could let Mary know not to hex the others.'

James shook his head. 'I don't think it will go over very well if Caradoc basically fills everyone in on the little secret that you got Mary to play double agent against them,' he said with a small laugh. 'We're going to have to figure out something more subtle. Give me some time to think about that.'

'You're sure you're not mad?' Peter asked.

James clapped him on the back. 'You were looking out for the Marauders, Peter,' he said bracingly. 'Admittedly, that's more devious than I would have thought possible. But it was looking out for us.'

'Even the hexing Lily bit?' Peter said with a nervous laugh.

'That I may have had a problem with,' James said in an amused voice. 'The only person hexing Evans in this game is me.' He looked around. 'Come on, I think if we keep going this way we can find a staircase leading up to the tower.'

Peter looked worried again. 'Shouldn't we wait here for the others to find us?'

James shook his head. 'I think it's best that we keep moving. When they get a chance to look at the map they will, and they'll work on reconvening with us.'

'What if they've been eliminated?' Peter asked.

'Don't think like that,' James said firmly. 'Hopefully they're like you, Peter—some unexpected tricks up their sleeve.'