- CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE -

A Very Purple Dressing Gown

James, Sirius and Peter awoke on the first day after the holidays to a ridiculously loud yell from Frank.

"REMUS! You're back! How was your Christmas?"

Groaning, James rolled over onto his side and groped around for his glasses. He shoved them onto his face before sitting up, blinking in the light from the dormitory window. On his left, Sirius swung his legs off the side of the bed, grinning over at Remus.

"Hey, Rems. Wow, you look terrible."

Remus winced and felt his face, tracing the new scar above his eyebrows. "Thanks," he told Sirius. "The cat was feeling a bit grouchy."

"Grouchy?" James rubbed the grit out of his eyes and stared up at Remus. "That cat needs putting down if you ask me. Keep out of its way in future."

Sighing, Remus sat down on the edge of his bed. He was fully dressed and had a large book under his arm. "I try. But it's not always that easy." To his displeasure, he found that lying to his friends didn't seem to have become any easier.

Frank changed the subject. "So, aside from being attacked by a cat again, did you have a good holiday?"

"I went to a muggle shopping centre with my mum," said Remus, letting the huge book fall open on his knee. "And Dad kept asking the shopkeepers about all the electric devices."

Sirius' eyebrows shot up. "Muggles have ecklectic devices in shops?" he asked, studying Remus closely.

Remus nodded. "Yep. And I'm pretty sure Dad broke one of them. Anyway," he turned to James and Peter, the latter who had just woken up. "How are you? Did you do any of the homework we were set? Or did you get up to mischief without me?"

James snorted. "Homework? Can you honestly see Sirius doing homework in the holidays? But we did find out some stuff. Some very important stuff, actually..." He cast an anxious look at Frank, who took the hint.

"I'm going to have a shower," he said, sliding off his bed and seizing his clothes. He ambled into the bathroom and pulled the door shut behind him.

"Frank's pretty awesome," said James, as soon as their dorm-mate was out of sight. "Hope he doesn't mind us having a private conversation. Anyway, Remus, we have something very useful to tell you."

Remus raised an eyebrow, fiddling with the pages of his book. "You do? Is this about Professor Oden?"

"Shut up and we'll tell you," said Sirius, and Remus instantly obeyed.

By the time Sirius and James had finished explaining, however, Remus was unable to shut up for any longer. "What?" he exclaimed, dropping his book with a loud clunk. "Our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher works for a Dark wizard?"

"Yup," said Peter, who hadn't been at all helpful during the explanation. He shivered. "It's quite scary actually."

"So what, in the name of Merlin, are we going to do?"

"Tell McGonagall," said James firmly. "She'll know what to do. She's head of our house, the deputy headmistress... and we can't tell Dumbledore, can we? We don't even know if he's here. "

"I wish Dumbledore was here," said Peter, sighing as he picked at his chin. "He'd understand exactly what was going on and how he could help. He's that sort of person. He knows everything that goes on around here."

"Well, Dumbledore's not here," said Sirius flatly, beginning to pull on his pyjamas. "And he doesn't know about this. McGonagall is the only person we have who can help us work out what's going on with professor Oden. So come on, let's just get down to breakfast. We can tell her in Transfiguration. That's our first lesson."

The other four began to dress at a similar speed, throwing on clothes as though their lives depended on it. Just as James was pulling on his shoes, Frank poked his head around the bathroom door.

"That was a very refreshing shower," he said, although his head was completely dry. "I might go down to breakfast ahead of you guys if that's okay." He strode past them to the dormitory door and pulled it open.

Sirius and James gave him grateful grins as he left, then the four boys followed him, still conversing in low voices about their 'mission'.

"I still can't believe Professor Oden is working for an undercover Dark wizard," muttered Remus twenty minutes later, as they finished their breakfast and began to make their way up to Transfiguration. "I mean, he's a bit strange and forgetful, but he was a good teacher."

"Yeah, I learned loads this year," agreed Peter. He glanced at the door to their right, then stopped in his tracks. "Hey, look. That's where we heard Oden being... tortured." He gulped as he said it, gripping James' arm very tightly.

Sirius took a couple of interested steps forwards. "I wonder what's in there. There was a strange sort of cupboard, do you remember? And it made noises..."

"Could be a boggart?" suggested Remus lightly.

James shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Boggarts don't talk, do they? Anyway, there was another person in that room torturing Oden who vanished as soon as Oden left. It could be a passageway." He walked up behind Sirius and pushed gently against the wood of the door. It swung open, creaking on its hinges, revealing the large wardrobe right in the centre of the empty classroom. Much to his relief, Professor Oden was nowhere in sight.

Remus and Peter hovered anxiously behind him.

"You're not going to go in there, are you?" asked Peter, trembling slightly. "What if it's dangerous?"

Sirius snorted. "Dangerous? Ha! If you think that cupboard's dangerous, you should see some of the cupboards in my house. There are daggers in some of them-"

James nudged him. "Shh. Let's just look around for a bit. It can't do us any harm. We might find something interesting that we can tell Professor McGonagall."

"But the bell's about to ring," Remus pointed out, checking his watch. "We'll be late for class. I don't think McGonagall will want to listen to us if we're late."

"Remus has a point," said Peter.

James and Sirius exchanged glances. Silently, they both came to a conclusion.

"I suppose we could come back tonight..." said James slowly, running a hand through his hair. "We could use the invisibility cloak, then tell McGonagall what we know tomorrow instead."

"Yeah," said Sirius, turning away from the door. "More sneaking around. I'm up for that."

"I'm not," shivered Peter.

Remus patted his arm. "Nor am I. It seems like a stupid thing to do, to me. We've got evidence that Oden's behaving strangely. Let's just tell a teacher and leave it at that. We've done enough 'sneaking around'."

"Have we though?" interjected Sirius. "We don't actually know what Oden's up to, so we can't accuse him of anything. Anyway, who are the teachers going to believe - their colleague or us?"

Remus shook his head, but James looked thoughtful. "You have a point," he said slowly. "All Oden has to do is deny he's doing any of it. Then the teachers will think that we're stirring up trouble and we'll be given detentions. Professor Oden will be free to get away with whatever it is he's doing and-"

"Okay, okay, we get the point," sighed Remus. He reached out and closed the door of the empty classroom. "Come on, let's just get to Transfiguration. But if we get caught sneaking out at night, it's all your fault, Sirius."

Sirius grinned. "Fair enough. I can make up one of my brilliant excuses. If a teacher comes along, I'll tell them that a terrifying purple monster is chasing us, with inch-long fangs and googly eyes."

Remus sighed. "I don't know about you, Sirius, but I'm not sure Professor McGonagall would believe that story."

"How do you know?" replied Sirius as they made their way to Transfiguration. "Anyway, it might not be Professor McGonagall who catches us."

James grinned. "Yeah, Hagrid would be delighted if we told him a monster was chasing us. He'd probably want to adopt it and keep it as a pet. He'd name it'Furry' or something." They all snorted as their classroom came into view. "Remember," continued James, lowering his voice, "we're not telling McGonagall anything. We're going back to the weird empty classroom tonight and seeing exactly what's in that wardrobe."

Peter shivered. "I still don't like this idea."

"Don't like what idea?" A voice behind them made them all jump. Alice Fortescue frowned at them curiously.

"Erm... I- Er..." Peter looked around at the other for help.

"Nothing," said James quickly. "We were just... planning a prank of Snivellus."

Alice grinned. "Ooh. What's the prank?"

His palms sweating, James hastily tried to think of a response. "We- We haven't decided yet."

"Well, what ideas do you have so far? Maybe I can help. Or I could ask Marlene for ideas. She likes pranking people."

Stumped, James glanced at Sirius. As mischievous as he was, he was useless at thinking of ideas on the spot. "We were... We were going to... um..."

"Steal his shampoo," interjected Remus. "And mix it with Hair-loss Potion."

Alice burst out laughing and James gave Remus the most grateful look he could muster.

"Nice one!" said Alice, still giggling. "Can I help you do it? I'd love to see the look on Snape's face when all his hair falls out."

Peter twisted his fingers together. "We weren't actually going to do it," he said. "I think we'll get into-"

Professor McGonagall appeared in the classroom doorway. "Inside, please, all of you. We'll be turning mice into snuffboxes today and I'd like your homework essays in a pile on my desk."

Alice was forced to drop the subject of the prank, although the boys heard her discussing it with Frank in a low voice as she sat down.

"Phew, that was close," said James, taking out his inkpot and a quill. "Good thinking, Remus. I'm actually tempted to try that prank now."

Remus smiled. "We could sneak into Severus' dormitory sometime," he suggested. "He probably keeps his shampoo in his trunk."

"Or the bathroom," said Sirius. He frowned. "Hang on, does Snivellus even own any shampoo?"

Before James had time to reply, Professor McGonagall had closed the classroom door. The talking instantly died away.

"Could someone please hand out the mice? Miss MacDonald?" Professor McGonagall pointed at Mary, who stood up nervously and took the box of mice she was offered. "There should be enough for one each."

Mary moved around the classroom, plonking a couple of mice on each desk. Then she sat down beside Marlene.

Professor McGonagall shook her sleeves away from her wrists and turned to the blackboard. "Turning mice into snuffboxes is not a particularly difficult Transfiguration," she explained, "because these particular mammals are not very large and do not provide much of a challenge. However, that does not mean that you do not need to pay attention - Mulciber, if I see you doing that again, it will be detention."

Mulciber, sitting behind Snape and Lily, scowled and stopped poking his mouse. It curled up in a ball and went to sleep.

"They're kind of cute, aren't they?" whispered Peter to Remus, picking up his own mouse, which was attempting to scurry up his arm. "They're much nicer than snuffboxes."

Remus laughed. "I know. I'd much rather keep the mouse and not bother with the snuffbox."

At the front of the classroom, McGonagall was demonstrating the spell. "It is vital that you do not wave your wand too much or say the wrong incantation. Speak clearly. I'm afraid I don't have time to cart you to the Hospital Wing if you accidentally cast the wrong spell."

Sirius was doodling on a scrap piece of parchment. "Look at this," he whispered suddenly, showing the drawing to James.

James leaned in. "What?"

Sirius grinned. "Look."

Looking closer, James saw that Sirius had drawn a very accurate picture of Snape, who was clearly hopping with fury, clutching his bald head. The caption read: 'Shampoo trick'.

"Nice," snorted James, glancing behind him at the real Snape, who was scribbling down the notes from the blackboard. "Show it to Rems and Pete."

Sirius obeyed, shoving the parchment under Remus' nose and almost spilling his inkwell. Tutting, Remus shook his head at Sirius, then glanced down at the paper and choked.

Peter leaned over, trying to see. "What's that?" he asked, tugging at Remus' sleeve.

"Snape," whispered back Remus, trying to contain his laughter. "He's got no hair. And his nose is a bit too big."

"No, it's not," replied Sirius. "I've drawn his nose exactly how it should be. Huge. And greasy. And disgusting."

"He looks like Pinnochio," said Remus flatly. "But it's a good drawing. I didn't know you could draw."

"Nor did I," admitted James, reaching over to take the picture back.

Sirius took the paper from James and stuffed it into his bag. "It's one of the perks of being a Black," he told them. "My mother made me take drawing lessons."

"We should show the picture to Snivellus," said Peter, chortling. "He'd like it, wouldn't he?"

James laughed too, causing Professor McGonagall to glare at him. "Sorry, professor," he muttered. Then he turned back to his friends. "Good thinking, Pete. Quick, Sirius. Where's the parchment?"

Sirius, looking over his shoulder at Snape as he did so, rummaged in his bag and placed the drawing back on the desk. "It's here. Should I throw it or...?"

"I'll do it," said James. He took the paper from Sirius and folded it into quarters. Then he dipped his quill in ink, wrote 'Watch out, Snivellus', on it and threw it across the classroom at Snape. It hit him on the shoulder. Lily, fortunately, was too busy watching McGonagall to notice.

The four boys watched - Remus more discreetly than the others - as Snape picked up the parchment and, glaring at James, unfolded it. There was a few moments pause while Severus' dark eyes widened, then his scowl deepened. He dipped his own quill in ink and scribbled a message.

James caught the note as it sailed threw the air.

"Nice catch," whispered Peter.

"Thanks." Checking that no one was watching, James read the note then passed it to the others.

Sirius pulled a face. "Who's Snivelly calling 'pathetic losers'? He's way more pathetic than we are."

Remus sighed. "Stop throwing notes at each other," he said, briefly pausing his work to look at them. "The drawing was funny, but-"

"I'm a genius," grinned Sirius. "The drawing was hilarious."

"Bit full of yourself, aren't you?" joked James, leaning on one elbow. Then he sat up straight. "Hey!"

"What?" The other three turned to look at him.

"I've just had an idea," said James excitedly. "Listen-" He lowered his voice and conveyed his plan to the others.

Peter rubbed his chin. "You want us to draw pictures of Snape and stick them inside all his belongings?"

"Yep."

"But... But I can't draw."

"Nor can I," said Remus. "Sirius will have to do all the work. Anyway, haven't we got enough on our plates with Oden. Shouldn't we be focusing on that, instead of trying to prank Severus?"

James folded his arms defensively. "We can be pranksters as well as investigators, can't we? We've got months until the end of the year. It's barely past January."

"Well, a lot's happened since Christmas," replied Remus. "We can't afford to waste time with the Oden thing. We need to act fast if we're going to act at all."

"I think it's a brilliant idea," said Sirius, leaning back and closing his eyes. "I can picture it right now... Snivellus will be so mad when he finds all these little bits of paper everywhere, all with drawings of him on them... It'll be hilarious."

"I'm not saying it won't be," Remus said patiently. "I'm just saying that we need to focus on other things. Besides, we have exams soon."

The other three groaned.

"Rems, the exams are ages away," said James. "They're not until the summer."

Peter looked very pale. "Don't remind me," he muttered. "If I pass, it'll be a miracle."

"No it won't," said Remus kindly. "I'm sure you'll pass. You just need to practise a few spells. I've got a book on Charms upstairs if you want to borrow it for a-"

Sirius cleared his throat. "Erm, Remus? We're in Transfiguration. We don't need to be talking about exams right now."

"We don't need to be talking about pranking Severus, either," retorted Remus, turning to face the front again.

At the end of the lesson, not a single one of the boys mentioned anything to Professor McGonagall about Oden or their evidence.

"James, where's the invisibility cloak?" Sirius glanced at his alarm clock then sat up in bed. "It's midnight. We need to get going."

"What?" James, his voice muffled, rolled over and almost fell onto the floor. "Get going where? What are we doing-? Oh!" He suddenly sat up, dark hair askew. "Oh! Oh, Merlin, I forgot! We're exploring the passageway! Quick! Get Remus and Peter..." He fumbled around until he found his wand, then held it up. "Lumos." Sirius' silhouette emerged in the gloom.

In the light of James' wand, Sirius began waking the other two. "Remus! Peter! Are you two awake?"

"Mmph." Peter woke up, rubbed his eyes, then stuffed his feet into slippers. "Guys? What's going on?" He shivered. "It's cold out here."

In the bed next door, Remus was having similar difficulties with leaving the warmth of his bed. "Is it time already?" he grumbled. "Can't we just stay here where it's- Argh! Sirius, don't pour water on me! All right, I'm getting up. I'm getting up..." Ducking the jug of water which Sirius held over his head, Remus got out of bed and stood up.

James already had the invisibility cloak clutched in his hands. "Come on," he hissed, gesturing to them to move. "Under here. Don't wake Frank."

The other three all slid under the cloak, casting anxious glances at their roommate as they did so. If Frank woke up and saw that they were missing... But he wouldn't turn them in, would he?

"Wait a second!" Sirius dodged out from under the cloak and hurried to his bedside table. "I need my wand. And some slippers."

"Hurry up," Remus told him, already quaking with cold. "We need to move."

"I'm coming!" Snatching up his wand from the bedside table, Sirius turned back to his friends. "Hang on- Where are you? I can't see you because you're-"

"We're here," said James impatiently, lifting up the cloak so their feet were visible. Sirius slid into place beside him. "Everyone ready? Come on then."

They made their way out of the dormitory, moving as quietly as they could until Peter stepped on a loose floorboard. "Sorry!" squeaked Peter as they all froze, not daring to breathe in case someone had heard them in the rooms above.

James peered down the spiral staircase, checking that no one was coming. "It's okay," he told Peter. "Just- Wait!" A soft whimpering noise had reached his ears. "What was that?"

"Someone's there!" breathed Remus. "Someone must be in the common room."

"At this time of night?" James shook his head. "Who on Earth would be in the in the common room at midnight?"

"I don't know," said Remus anxiously. "But there's definitely someone there."

Sirius looked at his friend, then exhaled. "Well, there's no point in us standing here like idiots. Let's just go down and see who it is. They aren't going to know we're there, are they? Not if we're under this cloak."

Trying to avoid breathing in case they disturbed anyone, the four boys made it to the end of the staircase, then peered around the corner into the common room. There, curled up in an armchair by the fire, hunched over a piece of parchment with her shoulders shaking, was Lily Evans.

James gasped. "What-?" he began, remembering too late that he was supposed to be quiet.

"Shh!" said both Remus and Sirius, clamping their hands over James' mouth.

But James was still spluttering. "Lily- What? Is.. Is she okay?"

Glancing up from the parchment, her green eyes bloodshot and full of tears, Lily looked around. "Wh- Who's there?" she called, wiping the tear tracks from her cheeks. "H- Hello?"

"Let's creep past while she's distracted," hissed Sirius, pushing James to get him to move. "We can make it out of the portrait hole before we're seen if we're careful."

James, however, was rooted to the spot. Lily Evans was crying. Actually crying in front of him.

Remus grabbed James by the shoulders and shook him. "James, come on-" he began, then stopped.

Lily had heard him. "Remus?" she choked, more tears leaking from her eyes. "Is th- that...? Is that you?"

For a few seconds, Remus looked at James and James looked at Remus.

"What do I do?" Remus mouthed, biting his lip. "Do I go over there or-?" Before he could complete the sentence, James had shoved him out from under the cloak.

Lily jumped. "Remus! Oh, it is you. How did you get here? I just- just-" She stuffed the parchment out of sight, then sat up a little straighter.

Remus glanced back at the spot where the others were, wishing the ground would swallow him up. "I, erm... walked down the stairs," he said awkwardly. "I was just going for a... a walk."

"At midnight?" Lily hiccuped and pushed her dark red hair off her face, where it had stuck to her damp cheeks.

"Um... Yes. What are you doing here? Are you okay? I mean, obviously, you're not, but-"

A small laugh escaped her. "I'm fine. I was just reading a letter. Nothing much. I should probably go to bed soon." She hesitated, looking up at him. "You do know you're not supposed to be wandering around at night, right?"

"Yes..." said Remus slowly, glancing at the others again. He couldn't see them, but he was pretty sure they hadn't moved. "I know. But I need to go for a walk. It's important."

"It is?" Drying her tears, Lily drowned slightly. "Why? Are you okay? And where are Potter, Black and Pettigrew?"

Remus swallowed. "They're... nowhere. I- I mean, they're in bed. They're asleep. They're... They're not coming on this walk with me."

"Oh." There was a few minutes silence, while Lily's breath caught in her throat and she turned away. Then she began again. "Remus?"

"Um, yes?"

"What would you do if you had a sister who hated you for something you couldn't help?"

Surprised, Remus shook his head. "I don't know. I guess I would try to find out why she hated me. Why? Has this got anything to do with your letter?"

Lily sighed. "My sister, Petunia, h- hates me for some reason. I wrote to her earlier this week and she wrote back telling me that she... she didn't want to... to talk anymore..." Her voice broke and she dissolved into more tears.

Remus stared. "Oh, no. But why? Why does she hate you?"

"She- She's not a witch," whispered Lily. "And I think she might be upset with me for leaving her at home while I came to Hogwarts. I don't know what to do. We were so close for so long and n- now..." She shook with sobs for a moment. "Now she doesn't want to be friends anymore."

"Do you...?" Remus hesitated for a moment. "Do you think she might be jealous? Of your magic, I mean?"

"Well, yes," said Lily, looking up at him. "That's what Sev thinks. But I can't keep bothering him with this. He doesn't like Tuney much and I don't want us to fight over her."

Unprepared to hear Snape's name thrown casually into the mix, Remus said nothing. Over his shoulder, he could've sworn he heard someone mutter, "Stupid Snivellus. He thinks he knows it all."

Lily apparently heard it too. "What was that?" she said sharply, narrowing her eyes. "It sounded like-"

"What?" asked Remus, trying not to curse James for being so prejudiced. "I didn't hear anything."

"Well, I did," said Lily, her eyes still scanning the common room, passing over the red armchairs and the dying fire and the stairwell to the boys' dormitories. "I could've sworn I heard Potter... He's such an idiot, Remus. I don't know why you hang around with him."

"Erm..." said Remus, rocking backwards and forwards on his toes. How was he going to get out of this? "I don't know either."

Someone coughed behind him, an irritated cough that sounded suspiciously like "Thanks, Remus."

Lily whirled around. "There it is again!" she exclaimed, her eyes on the spot where James, Sirius and Peter stood, hidden beneath the cloak. "Remus, what's going on? What are you doing and why is Potter's voice in this common room?"

"I- Well..."

Lily glared at him. Even with red eyes and a dripping nose, she still managed to look angry. "Tell me."

"James, Sirius, Peter and I," began Remus, hoping his friends wouldn't kill him for telling Lily everything, "are trying to sneak out of the common room for a bit. Under James' invisibility cloak."

Completely disregarding the bit about the cloak, Lily's eyes flashed. "You mean Potter, Black and Pettigrew are in this common room right now, listening to every single word we say?"

"Yep," came Sirius' disembodied voice. "We can hear everything. Hi, Evans."

"Black!" Lily folded her arms. "What are you doing? Why are you here? Where even are you?"

"I'm here." Sirius removed the cloak so that he, James and Peter were all visible.

Lily's mouth fell open. "What?" she spluttered, looking from them to Remus and back again. "How? How did you three get here?"

James, grinning, held up the cloak. "Under this little beauty," he said, pointing. "It's my dad's. We can use it to sneak around the castle and spy on people."

"You mean you're sneaking out? In the middle of the night?"

"Of course," shrugged James.

Lily fired up at once. "No, you're not. I won't let you. You'll get into trouble like the idiots you are."

"I didn't hear you telling Remus off when he told you he was going to sneak out," pointed out Sirius.

"That's not- That's not the point!" snapped Lily. "Remus going out alone is one thing, but if you're all going out when you know you're not supposed to-"

"So Remus is allowed to sneak around but the rest of us aren't?" Sirius demanded. "How is that fair, Evans?"

"Shut up," Peter advised him, his eyes on Lily, who was turning as red as her hair.

Sirius ignored him. "Why does Remus get special treatment?"

Fuming, Lily shook her head. "Because he's nice!" she snapped. "And he's not going to do anything dangerous. Whereas, you three - you're always doing something stupid. You'll get detention and disgrace Gryffindor-"

James spoke up this time. "How do you know Remus isn't going to do anything dangerous? We're all going to sneak out to find evidence about an evil Dark wizard. Does that sound safe to you?"

This silenced Lily. She stared at each of them in turn before she finally found her voice. "What?"

"You explain," James told Remus. "Tell her what we're doing."

Sighing, Remus obeyed and told the story, telling Lily everything about Professor Oden and the weird tattoo and how Professor Dumbledore didn't seem to be in school. When he was finished, Lily was speechless again. "In our defence," he added, glancing at the others. "It's for the good of the school. Not because we want... glory or anything like that. I know it sounds mad, Lily, but it's true."

Lily's voice trembled as she spoke. "Are - you - kidding - me?" And, when none of them answered her, she went on. "You're actually doing this? Are you insane? Are you honestly so stupid that you think you can catch this wizard single-handed?"

"Not singe-handed," said Sirius. "We're only going to have a look in that cupboard-"

"Shut up, Black," snapped Lily. She turned to Remus again. "You'll be in so much trouble if you get caught."

"We won't," James reassured her. "We won't get caught, I-"

But Lily silence him with a look. "I wasn't talking to you, Potter."

James ignored this. "Evans, please," he said desperately, keen to get going. They were wasting far too much valuable time. "Just let us get on with this and don't turn us in-"

"No," said Lily firmly.

The boys gaped at her.

"You're- You're not going to tell McGonagall, are you?" asked Sirius hoarsely.

Lily's face remained unreadable. "No," she said again. "I won't tell on you. But only if you let me come with you to do... whatever it is you're doing."

"You can't do that!" said James, stunned. He exchanged a look with Sirius.

"And why not?"

"Because..." said James. His brain had gone oddly blank. "Because... You're a girl." The next thing he knew, Lily had slapped him across the face with all of her might. He staggered back, reeling.

Peter looked mildly awed. "You deserved that," he told James, staring at Lily.

James massaged his cheek. "I guess I did," he admitted. "But that's not what I meant. I just meant that Evans isn't one of us. She can't be involved in this."

"Potter," said Lily, her eyes blazing. "I don't care what you think. You can either let me come or I'll go straight to Professor McGonagall and tell her you've been sneaking around at night. Choose. Quickly."

"But... But..." James spluttered. They were running out of time. They needed to get inside that classroom and search the wardrobe before sunrise... "Oh, all right," he said, at last, glancing at the others. "You can come, Evans. But promise me you won't tell anyone. Especially not Snivellus."

"Severus," Lily corrected him automatically. She readjusted her purple dressing gown, then smiled. "And I won't. Now come on. Let's just get going to wherever it is we need to go."

Still gaping at her, the boys followed her to the portrait hole. There was no point wearing the cloak. It wouldn't cover more than four of them, anyway.

"I can't believe we've got Evans with us," Sirius muttered to James as they made their way down to the first-floor corridor. "It's almost like you two are on a moonlit date."

Behind them, walking next to Remus, Lily scowled. "I heard that, Black!" she called. "And it's not a date. I'd rather date the Giant Squid than James Potter."

"Ouch," sighed James.

Peter sniggered. "You should just grow tentacles, James," he said. "Then you'll have Lily's attention."

"I don't think it's that easy," sighed James. "But I would if I could."

They continued down the corridors, meeting no one at all, neither ghost nor human, until they reached the classroom. Then James groaned. Mrs Norris' moth-eaten tail appeared around the doorframe, followed by her dull-brown body and, finally, her gleaming yellow eyes.

"Go away, Mrs Norris," snapped James, glaring at the cat. "Stop spying on us, why don't you? Go and chase rats or do something useful."

Mrs Norris didn't move.

Sirius aimed a kick at her but missed as she leapt out of the way, spitting and snarling. "C'mon. Let's just do what we came to do. The cat won't bother us. Probably."

They all knew that this was too much to hope for. But none of them really wanted to say it out loud. Mrs Norris had never done an innocent day's work in her life. She would almost certainly report them to Filch.

Still glancing suspiciously at Mrs Norris, James led the way into the classroom, with Lily bringing up the rear. "Well, this is it," he said, looking around at the blank walls and the huge wardrobe in the centre of the room. "This is where we need to look. Evans, do you want to start looking over there behind the wardrobe, while Remus and Sirius look in the wardrobe?"

Lily didn't seem to like being bossed around by James, but she headed over to the area he pointed at without arguing.

Remus eyes the wardrobe apprehensively. "What if we open the door and something nasty comes out?"

James shrugged. "I dunno. You're the one who's good at Defence Against the Dark Arts. Just... attack it or something. Defend us from the evil Arts."

Sirius grinned and followed Remus to the front of the wardrobe. "I like that phrase. 'Defend us from the Arts'. It sounds sort of poetic."

"You two are idiots," said Remus, smiling. "Anyway, let's just get on with this. What's Peter going to be doing?"

James looked around at Peter, who was hovering in a corner by a teetering tower of unused desks. "Peter can..." He thought about it for a moment. "Peter can stay by the door and keep watch. If anyone's coming, Pete, let us know, okay?"

Peter nodded. "All right. What are you going to do, James?"

"I'll help Evans," said James, winking at Lily.

Lily glared at him. "Excuse me, you will not. I don't need help, thank you. I'm quite happy working on my own-"

At that moment, however, Peter, who had been navigating around the desks to get back to the door, tripped. He fell with a yelp, his limbs flailing, finally crashing into the pile of desks with a noise loud enough to make the walls shake. Everyone froze.

Mrs Norris mewed loudly and whisked away down the corridor. There was no doubt whatsoever about where she was going.

Peter's head emerged from the wreckage. "Oh, no," he wailed. "I'm sorry. I just tripped and-"

"It's okay," said James hastily, silently praying that no one had heard the noise. "Are you hurt? Is everyone else okay?"

"Yep," said Peter shakily, extracting himself and wincing. He looked around at the mess.

Remus, Sirius and Lily, who had managed to escape being crushed, all looked at each other, each thinking the same thing. Lily voiced it out loud.

"We've got to get out of here," she whispered. "Quickly. Before Filch comes."

"We could just hide," suggested Sirius, gesturing to the desks.

But Lily shook her head. "No. We have to move. Now. Filch will search the whole room when he gets here. Come on, quickly. I can hear footsteps."

Everyone listened. Sure enough, Filch's hobble could be heard echoing down the corridor above them, getting closer and closer...

"Run!" whispered James, grabbing Peter's bruised hand and dragging him out of the door.

Sirius and Remus followed suit, with Lily just behind them. They ran and ran, sprinting as fast as they could, not caring how loud they were as long as they could put enough distance between them and Filch. Peter's chest seared with pain and his breath came in ragged gasps, but James hauled him along, refusing to stop, refusing to let anyone catch their breath.

"Through here!" yelled Sirius, gesturing to a corridor that was concealed behind a tapestry. "It's a shortcut!"

They took turn after turn, running up random staircases, not pausing until they were sure that Filch was no longer within reach. Outside the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, James stopped running.

"I - think - we've - lost - him," he gasped, doubling over and clutching the stitch in his side.

Peter sank to the floor, wheezing horribly, his whole body shaking. "Never - again," he whimpered. "Never - again are we - running - from - Filch..."

"Well, that was a waste of time," said Sirius, examining his fingernails. He alone seemed to have enough breath to talk properly. Beside him, Remus was blue with cold, shivering so violently that his hands were blurred. "We didn't get to see what's in that wardrobe and we didn't even get to say hi to Filch."

Lily glowered at him. "You're right. This was a waste of time. I knew you shouldn't have snuck out of bed at night, but you did it anyway. You idiots! I'm never going to be coming out with you again. Not even in daylight. We could've been skinned alive."

"Skinned alive?" asked Sirius. "That's a bit dramatic, isn't it?"

"Shut up!" snapped Lily, rounding on him. "Have you seen the sorts of things Filch keeps in his office? Of course he'd skin us alive if he caught us! And it's all your fault."

"Actually, I think it's Peter's fault," muttered Sirius, while Peter went pink. "And we didn't exactly make you come with us. You could've stayed in the common room, weeping over your poor muggle sister-" As soon as he'd said it, Sirius knew that was the wrong thing to say.

For a moment, Lily just stared at him. Then she exploded. "WEEPING OVER MY 'POOR MUGGLE SISTER'? AND WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, BLACK?"

Sirius took a couple of steps backwards. "Wow, Evans," he said. "Try not to burst my eardrums."

Lily hissed. "Shut up," she snarled. "Shut up. Don't ever talk about me or my feelings in that way again, Black. Do you understand?"

Sirius opened his mouth to reply. But he never got the words out.

Peeves the Poltergeist had appeared with a pop in mid-air. "Ooh, poor Lily-Flower's feeling grouchy!" he cackled, going cross-eyed as he flipped over. "Why are you out at night, you naughty, naughty first-years? Do you like sneaking about and getting into trouble?"

"Peeves..." Remus whispered, still shivering. "Peeves, don't fetch Filch. Please."

Peeves' grin grew wider. He jangled the bell on his hat. "And why shouldn't I, my loopy, loony friend?" he sang. "If first-years are up to mischief, I should tell Filch, I should."

"Peeves," said James warningly.

Peeves, however, completely ignored him. He began to circle them all, blowing raspberries in their ears as he dipped and dove about. He seized the knot on Lily's purple dressing gown.

Lily shrieked. "Let go of me, you stupid, idiotic-"

Peeves began to cackle. He danced around Lily, still clutching her dressing gown, screeching in her ear as she tried to throw him off. "Naughty little first-years! Naughty little first-years! Naughty little-"

"Get off me!" cried Lily, taking a swipe at Peeves.

There was a few seconds pause and then Peeves drew in a breath. Everyone winced... "FIRST-YEARS! FIRST-YEARS MAKING MISCHIEF! FIRST-YEARS MAKING MISCHIEF DOWN THE SEVENTH FLOOR CORRIDOR!"

"Run!" bellowed James, as Lily disentangled herself from her dressing gown and ran, leaving it clutched in Peeves' hands. "This way!"

They broke into another sprint, stumbling done the corridor as fast as they could. Peeves remained in the corridor, waving Lily's dressing gown as though it was a great, purple flag, cackling loudly enough to wake the whole castle. Halfway down the corridor, however, Filch's footsteps reached them, coming from the direction they were running, blocking the only escape route. It was Peeves or Filch. Peeves... or Filch.

James looked up and down doorless the corridor. There was nowhere to hide. They were going to get caught.

Peter was already panicking. "What are we going to do?" he wailed, pacing back and forwards. "We need a place to hide... We need a place to hide... We need a place to- Oh!" On Peter's third length of the tapestry, he stopped. So did the others.

On the blank stretch of wall facing the tapestry, an old wooden door had appeared from nowhere. Seizing their chance, they all scrambled through it and found themselves in a perfectly ordinary broom cupboard.

Sirius stared around at the brooms and bottles of Mrs Skowerer's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover. "What is this place?" he asked, his eyes wide. "How did it get here? Peter, what did you do?"

Peter looked equally stunned by their good fortune. "I don't know!" he squeaked. "I was just pacing and then... And then the door opened!"

Remus sat down on a crate. "Maybe we could ask the room how it got here," he suggested.

"Good idea." James hesitated, then looked around him. "Erm... Room?" he asked nervously. "Wh- What are you?"

Almost instantly, a scrap of parchment appeared on the nearest wall. Snatching it up, James read it aloud. "'The Room of Requirement.'" He paused. "What's that?"

Lily prized the parchment from his fingers and read it herself. "Requirement... Requirement... Maybe it gives you whatever you need."

"But how do we get in here?" asked James.

Everyone looked at Peter.

"I told you, I don't know," said Peter. "I just thought about what I wanted and paced up and down. Three times. Do you think that's how the room knows to appear?"

"It could be," said Lily, still examining the parchment. "Filch won't be able to find us now. Can anyone see what he's doing?"

Sirius peered through a crack in the door. "He's talking to Peeves," he said. "He doesn't look too happy..."

"What's he saying?" asked Remus.

Listening, Sirius related what he could hear. Filch was standing a few paces away from Peeves and demanding to know which way the students had gone.

"Tell me, Peeves, where did they go?" Filch snarled, eyeing the poltergeist warily as Mrs Norris wound herself around his ankles.

Peeves flipped upsidedown, brandishing Lily's dressing gown. "I shan't tell you."

"What? Peeves, no, tell me at once!"

"Shan't," said Peeves again, blowing a raspberry.

Filch cursed under his breath. "For Merlin's sake, Peeves! I'll have you out of here if you don't do as I say. Which way did the students go? And give me that dressing gown!"

"Say please!" sang Peeves.

Filch hesitated. "All right. Please."

Peeves grinned. "Say: 'Please with cheese'."

"I haven't got time for this, Peeves."

"SAY IT!"

"Just give me the dressing gown."

But Peeves was insistent. "Old Peevsie won't give you nothing if you don't say 'please'."

"I've said it already," snarled Filch, a vein pulsing in his temple. "You're wasting my time, you evil, pilfering poltergeist-"

"Say 'please'-"

Filch, losing patience, made a swipe for the dressing gown. "Give it to me, Peeves!" he snapped.

Peeves moved even further out of reach. "Come and get it," he sang. "Take it from Peevsie yourself."

"I- I can't, Peeves, as you very well know." Filch seemed to be getting angrier by the minute. "Because I can't reach."

"What's your wand for, Filchie-Wilchie!" Delighting in torturing the caretaker, Peeves flipped a somersault, while Mrs Norris hissed below him.

Scowling, Filch's face turned peuce. "I don't have a wand, Peeves, as you very well know," he snarled, his lamp-like eyes bulging. "Because I'm a... I'm a- a-"

Sirius, watching intently in the broom cupboard, exchanged looks with the others. A what? Why didn't Filch have a wand?

Peeves was cackling louder than ever. "A what?" he taunted, still waving the dressing gown. "What are you, Filchie?"

Filch seemed to struggle with himself for a moment. "A- A-" he spluttered, knotting his bony hands together. Then he glared at Peeves. "I'm a squib!"

"Ha, ha, ha!" Peeves clutched his stomach as he laughed. "Ha, ha! Ha! Filchie is a squib! Filchie is a squib!" Then he zoomed away, still clutching the dressing gown and leaving Filch to hobble away, Mrs Norris at his heels, cursing.

In the cupboard, the four boys and Lily exchanged glances.

Lily broke the silence. "What's a squib?" she asked, looking from Remus to James, Sirius and Peter.

James shook his head, still stunned. "Did you know?" he asked Sirius hoarsely. "About Filch being a squib?"

"No," said Sirius. "Did you?"

James answered in the negative, then silence fell.

Lily's face shone through the gloom. "What's a squib?" she asked, slightly more forcefully. "Why couldn't Filch get the dressing down?"

Remus answered her. "A squib is someone who is born to wizarding parents but can't do magic," he explained. "They're... sort of... shunned in the wizarding world."

Lily stared at him. "But why?" she asked.

Remus said nothing.

James shrugged. "I guess they're just different, aren't they?" he said slowly. "People like to make fun of them. The same as with muggles. But now we know why Filch hates students so much. He must be a bit bitter."

"Who wouldn't be," said Remus. "Being shunned must be horrible." He didn't add that he knew exactly how Filch felt.

Peter stood up. "Well, come on, then," he said squeakily. "We should probably get back to the common room. We've been up all night and I'm-" he yawned widely "-I'm... exhausted."

"Same," said Sirius, following him out of the cupboard. The corridor was mercifully deserted. Neither Filch not Peeves was in sight.

Lily sighed. "My dressing gown's gone," she said, rubbing her arms, which were covered in goosebumps. "How am I going to get it back?"

James thought for a moment but could think of nothing. "Don't worry, Evans," he said. "You'll get it back eventually."

"Thanks, Potter," Lily snapped sarcastically. "That's very helpful And thanks for letting me come on this ridiculous 'mission'. I'm so glad we were chased by Filch, almost crushed by a pile of desks and left to freeze in a cupboard." She stormed off, with the others trailing behind her.

Sirius pulled a face. "It's not like we forced you to come with us," he told Lily's retreating back. "You brought this on yourself."

Remus gave him a look that told him quite plainly to stop talking and they all arrived at Gryffindor tower, exhausted but buzzing. The Fat Lady wasn't at all pleased to be woken up.

A/N:

If you're reading this and have stuck with me through all of my slowness, I need to thank you :) You're amazing!

I hope the wait for a new chapter has paid off - this chapter is much longer than all the others. I'm not sure whether or not it's too long, actually.

Thank you for all your encouragement and support!

~ Lacy