Hello everyone!

Hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I feel like the more I barely get time to write these days. But I'm trying, okay. I can't leave this story at this point. It hasn't even reached the good parts, and I'm too invested in the characters.

The song for this chapter is 'Hound Dog' by Elvis Presley.

I apparated with a crack.

"You can let go now Martha," I said with a chuckle.

Embarrassed, she let go, her vice like grip on my forearm disappearing. I walked in through the iron gates and trekked across the grounds, regretting wearing heels.

Stars littered the dark sky, surrounding the crescent moon. The Black Lake was calm, even the ripples caused by the Giant Squid silenced as the creature comfortably slept in the darkness. The only source of light, aside from the celestial bodies was from Hagrid's hut. Behind that, the Dark Forest looked like something jumped out of a horror movie, but having seen it every night for seven years, the sight filled me more with peace than with fear. Just over the edge the tree line, a herd of Thestrals could be seen flying.

Martha's face had subsided back into business mode.

I reached the castle, the blinding lights being a stark contrast to everything outside. I walked into the Great Hall as Martha headed to her room. The room was empty except for a certain grey-eyed boy who was sitting on the Gryffindor table. His held his face in his hands, engaging himself with making different shapes from a candle's flame which was floating right above him.

"Hey Sirius!" I said smiling. The flame died down into its usual form as Sirius turned to look at me.

He grinned back at me. "Hey," he said, with a short wave.

"Have James and Peter arrived?" I asked, sitting down beside him.

"They should be arriving right about now," he said, casting Tempus to check the time.

As if on cue, James walked into the room. A few moment past that Peter walked in taking a seat beside me, James on the other hand sat down on the table, across from us. And no, I don't mean the seat, I mean the table.

I wasn't surprised to see Peter. Umbridge had sent me a letter yesterday, telling me that Peter had taken a sick leave for today. Every day she would write to me giving me a report of how Peter was doing even though I never asked for one.

Just by reading the letter, for the life of me I couldn't fathom how this woman had gotten such a high-ranking job. The only job I would see her fit for was as an advertiser for chocolate frogs. Her toad-like appearance would look perfect on the adds.

Even through pen and paper, that woman could annoy me to a whole different level. My hatred for her almost rivalled my hatred for Voldemort.

Almost.

I watched Peter carefully.

It was very subtle, but you could notice the difference his job had brought in him.

Instead of his usual slumped posture, his shoulders were pushed back and his chest puffed out. He held his head higher instead of looking at his shoes the entire time. His clothes were ironed out to remove any wrinkles in them and if you looked even more closely, you would be able to tell that they were relatively new than what he usually wears.

The most noticeable of changes were his emotions. There was joy and confidence hidden in his eyes.

And right underneath that you would notice the nervousness.

"How're you doing Pete?" I asked smiling softly.

He smiled back. Not a polite smile that you give someone out of formality, but a genuine one, "I'm fine."

I nodded and then turned towards James, "And what about you James?"

I saw Peter's smile drop from the corner of my eyes.

"Good," he said.

"And how was your recording, Ms. Celebrity?" Sirius said.

I rolled my eyes, a smile on my face. "Tiring," I said, which was true.

We continued to talk for a few moments, catching up with each other.

My eyes caught onto Peter. The nervousness I had noticed before showed more blatantly at the moment.

He seemed to be giving himself a pep-talk.

After a few moments he took a deep breath and finally looked up.

I averted my eyes.

"Um- guys," Peter said, "I've got a new job."

Well.

This just made things a lot easier for me.

The other Marauders stared at him, still processing the abrupt statement.

James was the first one to recover.

"You got a new job?" asked James, "When?"

"Uh- they contacted me over the break," Peter said, "Tomorrow is my first day." He scratched the back of his head.

"That's great Pete," I said, a big smile on my face.

"What job did you get?" Sirius asked.

"Er- it's at the Ministry," Peter said, "In the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They haven't exactly told me what the job entails, but it pays well, and I asked around, they said the job's not that tough."

"Pete," I said dawning a worried expression, "You shouldn't take up a job without knowing the details. Who knows what the job contains? They might make you do something you don't like." I moved forward, putting my hand on his shoulder, "Should I send Martha to find out some information."

Peter eyes widened. "No, no!" he rushed out, his voice so loud that it was border-line a shout.

I pulled my hand back. James gave him a weirded-out expression.

"I mean-" Peter cleared his throat, "I know what the job is about. Just don't know the specifics."

I nodded, acting as if Peter's outburst was completely normal. Everybody else seemed to brush it off as well.

James suddenly stood up grinning. "We should celebrate," he said, patting Peter on the back, "Let's head down to the Three Broomsticks."

Sirius nodded, looking like a Niffler who'd just spotted gold. "I'll call Moony," he said, jumping out of his seat.

"You guys go ahead," I said, "I'll head back to bed. The first task's tomorrow."

The boys didn't object too much (though Peter looked like he wanted to). It made sense. Those four had been best friends for years, I had just joined the group.

Works for me. I was too tired to keep up this act.

Sirius walked with me towards our rooms.

When we were out of the Great Hall I turned towards Sirius, still walking, and said, "Hey Sirius!"

He turned towards me.

"We all should surprise Pete tomorrow," I said excitedly, "It's his first day. The first task will be over by afternoon. We could go to the ministry during his break or something."

A grin grew on Sirius' face, "That's brilliant. I'll tell James and Remus."

"And maybe you can call Lily too," I added.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at this, "You just want to meet Lily, don't you?"

I flushed, avoiding his eyes, "Maybe."

He laughed. The sound similar to that of a dog barking. We discussed the surprise, deciding to go during the snack break, till I reached my room from where we parted ways.

Everybody knows, the Marauders are a tight knit group.

It had always been Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.

But I had a feeling Wormtail won't be in the equation any longer.

As I walked into my room, I heard another door bang open from down the corridor.

Sirius' booming voice carried across the hall, "Get your butt out of bed Moony! We're going out!"

I heard a short yelp and thud, as if something had fallen. This was followed by a pained groaned.

"Padfoot," Remus said, his voice a weird mix of anger, sleepiness, exasperation and pain. How someone fit so many emotions into one voice was beyond me, "I have work tomorrow."

"Oh rubbish," Sirius announced, ignoring the string of curses escaping Remus' mouth and dragging him out.

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