"Oi, how come she'll hold a normal conversation with you, but hexes my bogeys into attack-bats?" James complained in a whisper as Professor Binns droned on and one about Uric the Oddball at the front of the room.

"Maybe because you oggle at her every time she comes within twenty yards of you?" I teased, nudging James in the side.

"Girls like to be oggled," James said with a shrug. "Especially by boys like me."

I gagged. "Oh, and...hang on, that's right, too, she thinks you're rather full of yourself. Dunno where she got an idea like that…" James grinned in response.

Later, after Transfiguration and lunch, we were up in the common room, still waiting for Remus to come back. James and Sirius were playing Exploding Snap while I helped explain Binns' reading assignment to a very anxious Peter, when the portrait hole burst open and Derek Bell came through, mad as a hornet. He was followed by a rather exhausted, but resignedly frustrated Bilius Weasley.

"And another thing…" Derek said, voice loud, obviously continuing a conversation they'd been holding in the hallway, "...I bloody didn't do anything at all, except keep him there to be caught! It's utter bollocks!"

"I know that, mate, but I don't call the shots 'round here," Bilius said with a shrug. He sighed, "If I did, Malfoy would be on the next train back to his manor, you know that."

Sirius looked up from the game. "What happened?"

"Welcome back, Bil," I added.

"Thanks," Bilius replied, "And nothing happened we didn't half expect, anyway."

"Malfoy managed to make it sound like we tried to curse him first and that he was acting in self defense when he blasted Bilius across the whole bloody hall!" Derek shouted. "Lying sack of beetle dung he is."

I said, "But you didn't curse him at all, did you?"

"Didn't even try!" Bilius replied. "Couldn't have done, I had my back turned when he attacked me."

Sirius looked outraged, "That's ridiculous! How could Dumbledore not have known better? And you must've had loads of witnesses, why don't you tell Dumbledore to ask them about it?"

"I mentioned it," Derek fumed, "But Malfoy pointed out all the witnesses around us were Gryffindor teammates and seeing as we're captain and prefect of the house, they're likely to say we were innocent, even if we weren't."

"But you are!" James exclaimed.

"Tell that to Dumbledore and Moody," said Derek. He sighed, "I'm going to take a nap, I'm quite fed up right now." Without further adieu, he turned and left the room, and a moment later I heard the dorm room door slam behind us.

Bilius sighed, "I dunno. Everyone's gone mental 'round this place lately." He walked over and sat down in one of the big overstuffed chairs by the fire. "I'm ruddy tired of Malfoy and his shenanigans. It's been six years of this!" He rubbed his forehead. "Malfoy hates our whole family. He was like this toward my brother, Arthur, too. Moment he saw me come through the door he started in on me. I'll never forget it, he sneered at me while I was gettin' sorted, you know, and later when we were going off to the common rooms, in the Entrance Hall, he said loud enough he was shocked our family could afford two sets of robes for me and my brother. Started mocking us because we aren't rich like his family is. Galleons are worthless when your soul's so bloody awful." Bilius frowned at his hands. "I wouldn't want to be rich, if the gold makes you act like that."

"The Malfoys are dark all the way through," Sirius offered, "He's my cousin and he hates me just as much. Says I'm a Muggle lover."

I rolled my eyes, "I hate that kind of pureblood thinking!"

"It's stupid," agreed James.

Bilius nodded, "Malfoy's the worst of them all. You know, he told Moody and Dumbledore that he had reason to believe that Derek and I had snuck down to the Slytherin common room, broke in, and stolen some personal items from his dorm? It's impossible! I couldn't have gotten into the bloody Slytherin common room...nobody can unless they're a sneaky little rat...a Slytherin, that is."

I looked 'round at the three boys nervously. "No?"

"No, of course not," Bilius explained, "The door's bewitched, you can't even touch the handle unless you're up to no good."

Peter's cheeks turned pink. "That can't be. How would a doorknob know?"

"Like I said, it's bewitched," Bilius said with a shrug, "I dunno how it works, but it's been there as long as the houses. Salazar Slytherin set it up 'round the same time he created the supposed Chamber of Secrets. It's all part of Hogwarts lore and legend, you know."

Peter looked down at his history book quickly.

"Anyway, I'm going to go up to bed, too," Bilius said, wincing as he stood up. "Pomfrey's brilliant but I'm still sore. Plus now I've apparently got a detention to serve...Derek's so angry because it's going to mess with the Gryffindor Quidditch practice." He sighed and shook his head. "I don't blame Derek for being frustrated. He really didn't do anything at all." Bilius' eyes twinkled. "I'm not going to lie, I did sort of egg Malfoy on." He grinned and ducked away, heading off to the stairs up to the dorms.

Sirius turned to look at us. "Blimey," he whispered.

I nodded, then turned to Peter. "So how come you could open the Slytherin door anyway?"

Peter shrugged, "I dunno. I didn't think on it. Maybe because we were all up to no good when we were sneaking around down there, both times. I reckon if I went back without ill intentions, I wouldn't be able to. Course why would I ever be there without ill intentions?"

That was a fair answer. Sirius and James turned back to their Exploding Snap game. "So how do we get Bilius out of trouble, then?" James asked.

I sighed, "I dunno. I promised Lily I'd find a way. I've been wracking my brains trying to come up with an idea, but I haven't got it yet."

Remus returned late that evening, after supper, and we filled him in on everything that had gone on since he'd left, while he ate the food that Peter had gone down to the kitchens to nick for him. Remus stared timidly at the mirror when Sirius pulled it out of the depths of his trunk to show him, and he asked, in a whisper, "Think he can hear us?"

"Dunno," Sirius replied. "I hadn't thought of that."

We stowed the mirror away quickly after that.

This chapter's a little on the shorter side, but there's gonna be a much longer one tomorrow!

Q&A:

SummerTheSlytherinApricot says, "ohhh. Things are going down. I think you are the best Marauders fanfic writer that I have encountered. You capture the characters so well. Normally James is too self-absorbed or Lily is so sweet or mean (depends on which one you read) but you have found the perfect balance. Lily is a bit of a goody-two-shoes but she knows when to keep secrets like Hermione but a bit less work-obsessed. I always love seeing when this is updated. I have neutral feelings toward Peter but whenever he throws his panic attack tantrums it annoys me lol. I really really really ship Sirius and Sabrina. They both start with S. lol.

qoerufqifehuhuefwip gosh, you guys are so lovely with your compliments! Any time I ever get an email that a new review has been posted my heart flutters like a butterfly. THANK YOU! And yes, I feel like many marauders fics have reduced the characters to one personality trait: James is egotistical, Lily is either sunshine and rainbows or bossy, Sirius is a rebel, Peter is pathetic, and Remus is angsty and depressed. While the characters DO have moments like this, at the end of the day people are three-dimensional beings, with mood swings (especially when you're a hormonal teenager), and flaws and positive aspects. Sure James is egotistical, be he's also totally the Mom Friend. Lily is a brat at times, but she also cares about her friends and just has a no-nonsense attitude. Yes Sirius is a bit of a rebel, but that's because he stands for what he believes him and at the end of the day he's just an abused, broken kid. Peter is a whiny lil bitch but he also brings a lot of energy to the group, and is always there with some food from the kitchens. Remus is angsty, but that's because he lives in fear of hurting someone, and also he's got a dry wit about him that SLAYS ME. Ew I've never said "slays me" before but I felt it was appropriate. And it's quite a challenge inserting another character into the mix, because the group dynamic will change to an extent. But I've tried to make Sabrina's character be one that always wants to have fun and is super carefree, but will snap someone's neck (metaphorically) if someone messes with her friends. But she's also a bit immature. So erm...rant over I guess? I dunno, I feel like I write wayyyy too much for these!

MyBeewing says, "Ouch. They really are harsh on Peter. And he has a point, even if telling Dumbledore would harm Sirius. Whose mum won't be happy no matter what, he'll have to face some sort of punishment, I expect...I love your plot! I've read quite a lot of fics situated in this time period, and they all seem to copy the plotline of one of Harry's school years, but yours doesn't. It's inventive, captivating and all :) Also, I really like that Lily annoys James as much as he infuriates her. His ego just couldn't handle being repeatedly humiliated. And something, don't worry about Sabrina being Mary-Sueish, you don't even have the beginning of a toe in that realm :) Now that I'm done writing about all the things that crossed my mind without transitions, I just wanted to say it was a great chapter (when isn't it) and I hope you update soon!

Once again, THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR KIND WORDS! I published my first-ever fanfic in 2013 on Wattpad at the age of 12 years old (ew it was a Doctor Who self-insert fic where my OC was an uwu special Time Lord), and I'd NEVER have expected to get such praise on my writing before. I, too, have read WAYYY too many Marauders fanfics. There's a part of me that wonders if I should publish my original, non-fanfic poetry on this site, but idk maybe that's something for the future.

ANYWAY onto what you actually said about the chapter. Yeah, technically I'd side with Peter in going to Dumbledore, but the way he went about expressing his point was all wrong. The group, I think at least, decided they'd rather be in danger together than allow Sirius to suffer alone. And if Walburga Black already uses Unforgivable Curses on Sirius for just saying hi to a local Muggle, imagine what she could do to him because of this whole FaceTiming with the Dark Lord mirror debacle.

And hell yes to James and Lily mutually annoying each other. I LOVE WRITING THAT STUFF!