CHAPTER TWO

Lily sat watching James pacing the floor of the deserted classroom, wondering why on earth he had reacted in such a way towards her. She felt foolish for believing that he actually liked her!

James finally looked at her and said, "Right just tell me exactly how much do you know, and don't leave anything out!"

"Not much really," she said, sniffing. "All I know is that you have been meeting in the old part of the castle, in a turret classroom." James was eyeing her suspiciously, pacing back and forth, as he did so. "And you are making a map of the school!" She sniffed again, loudly. "What's so 'top secret' about that?" James was still pacing, as he listened. "I only wanted to tell you about a couple of passages that you may want to include in it!" Lily concluded abruptly. James couldn't help looking relieved.

"Are you sure that's all?"

Lily nodded her head earnestly. James moved towards her in a bid to try to comfort her, and for what it was worth, apologise. But as he got near her she flinched, and recoiled away from him.

"Lily, I'm sorry for what just happened," he said, earnestly. "And I wouldn't blame you if you never forgive me, or even speak to me again." He knelt down to her level, showing a nervous smile. "But you don't know what you've stumbled upon." His face became more serious, and his tone apologetic. "And until I speak to the others, I can't say much more about it."

Lily looked at him with her huge green eyes, and smiling weakly asked herself, why had he reacted so fiercely?

"You scared me James." She had tears welling up in her eyes again. "There was no need to do that, so don't do it again!" she said, meaningfully.

James hadn't realised how much he had alarmed Lily and it was only then that he noticed she had been crying. He felt a pang of guilt.

"You're right Lily," he said. "I am deeply sorry for the way I have behaved towards you." He stood up. "Please don't let's fall out over this." He smiled warmly this time. "Here let me help you up."

He offered her his outstretched hand, which Lily eyed as if it were a horned toad. She then saw him smiling at her, and in a nodding gesture told her to take his hand.

"I won't bite, I promise." Lily relented, and she took his hand tentatively. "We'd better get back to the common room before someone notices we're missing," he said.

Lily and James made their way back to the common room as quietly as possible. They had almost reached the portrait of the fat lady in a pink silk dress, when they heard voices coming towards them.

"Quick!" He whispered urgently as he pulled Lily behind a nearby statue.

"We need to get moving on this straight away, Barty. Have you not been reading the reports in the Daily Prophet? " Dumbledore said in disbelief.

"Now, now Professor Dumbledore, calm yourself," the man at his side oozed. "You are obviously letting your imagination run away with you." Dumbledore's eyes narrowed. "We don't even know what is happening ourselves yet! These reports are just speculation at the moment."

"Sir I am NOT a small child, so please do not speak to me as if I were!" Dumbledore snapped.

The slim, dark-haired man's eyes widened in shock at this sudden, and in his opinion unwarranted outburst. Barty Crouch was the newly elected Minister for Magic and there had been reports of Muggles suddenly disappearing in the night. Also, there were rumours going round the wizarding world, of some respectable wizards not being seen for days on end. Then suddenly reappearing with no knowledge of where they had been! Barty Crouch had to now try and allay the fears and the concerns of all the wizards and witches. They wanted answers, and not excuses. So Barty had to come up with something, and quickly! This is why Dumbledore had called him to Hogwarts, so he could find out what the ministry knew if anything. He also he needed to protect the students, even the School itself against any potential danger. Unaware that they had been overheard, Dumbledore and Mr Crouch carried on walking down the dimly lit corridor. They moved slowly towards the spiral stairway leading to the staffroom.

"What do you make of that?" Lily exclaimed. James was quiet. He came out from behind the statue, grabbing Lily's hand as he did so.

"Come on!" he whispered. "We'd better get back to the common room now!"

After they got past the portrait of the fat lady, they sat by the fire. It was not long before Sirius, Remus and Peter joined them. James and Lily kept quiet about what they'd overheard, until there were not so many people about. They passed the rest of the evening doing homework from the Charms lesson earlier until one by one the rest of the Gryffindors went to bed. When it was just the five of them left sitting by the fire, James began to tell the others what he and Lily had overheard.

"What do you think it could mean?" Remus asked no one in particular.

Everyone looked at each other. They had silently asked themselves that very same question.

Sirius broke the silence, and said pointedly, "All I know is it must be bad for Dumbledore to be so concerned." He screwed up his face thoughtfully. "That he got old Crouch down out of his new Ivory Tower to see him here!"

"I agree with you." James had a concerned look on his face. "But what can WE do about it?" He looked round at everyone. "It's not like we know anymore than Dumbledore does!"

"We will just have to keep our eyes and ears open, and see what develops," Remus added. They all nodded in agreement.

Lily gazed into the flames dancing about the huge fireplace absent- mindedly. She seemed lost in her own thoughts for a moment until she heard her name mentioned when she was suddenly jerked back to reality with a start.

"So how come you and Lily were skulking in the school corridor anyway?" Sirius winked playfully. Lily's cheeks flushed slightly, but the dimly lit room concealed her embarrassment. They listened silently as James told them of her following them to their secret room the previous term and the fact that she knew about The Map! Sirius' expression gradually changed from playful, to one of real anger.

"Where the hell do you get off busy-bodying around, snooping in other peoples' business?" he raged. Lily's bottom lip started to quiver.

"Look!" said James. Trying to ease the situation. "This isn't getting us anywhere!" James moved defensively towards Lily. "It's no good shouting at her, I've all ready done that!"

"She must swear never to follow us again, or she must pay the consequences!" Sirius threatened.

"Oh stop being so dramatic," Peter drawled sleepily. Peter was always sleepy - it often amazed the others how he managed to stay awake at all! Standing now, Peter stretched his arms up, tightened his puny frame, and contorted his face. "I'm tired, let's get some sleep!" he yawned. "Anyway as I see it, we have two options: one, modify her memory; two, make her a member. And as number one is out of the question, that leaves number two. Night!" With that he slouched off up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. *

The room was so still and silent, you could hear a pin drop. The four remaining students could not believe what they had just heard. Everyone's jaw had dropped, and they sat looking at each other in total disbelief! The thing that surprised them most was that for once, Peter made sense!

"Could we modify her memory?" Sirius looked questioningly at the others, his eyebrow raised as if the notion had some merit.

"Of course we couldn't, don't be stupid!" they all chorused.

"Ok, I was only joking!" Sirius grinned cheekily.

Remus scowled at his mischievous friend with mock disapproval. "Let's discuss this properly tomorrow, in the library after dinner."

They all agreed.

Then James said, "Oh no I can't after dinner." He looked over to Sirius. "We've got Quidditch practice, remember Sirius?"

"Oh yes, you're right, well let's make it after that then."

They all nodded in agreement and trouped off up to bed, tired out, but with the recent events still spinning trough their heads. Lily was full of questions that she wanted to ask them all, but they would have to wait until tomorrow. * The next morning the sun began to filter through the small dormitory windows. It hit Sirius' closed eyes, and they twitched slightly. The next moment he sat bolt upright and rubbed his eyes. His Tawny owl Malcolm had been nibbling his ear in a bid to wake him up.

"Alright, alright Mal, I'm awake." He yawned and stretched his long muscular arms above his head. "What's this then?" he said looking down at a tatty envelope sitting on the blanket in front of him. To Sirius Black was scrawled across the back of the envelope. He ripped it open and unfolded the small piece of parchment within it.

Dear Sirius, Thought I would send Malcolm with this note before the main delivery this morning. Can you come and see me today at noon? Send Malcolm with your reply. Hagrid.

Sirius quickly scribbled, 'See you at noon. Sirius,' on the back of the note and tucked it back into Malcolm's pouch.

"Take this to Hagrid please Mal," he whispered and gave the perplexed looking owl the small corner off a biscuit. Malcolm nuzzled his master affectionately before flying off again. Sirius lay back down on his bed. He gazed up at the canopy above him. His eyes began to close and he drifted off into a light sleep. What only seemed like two minutes passed when James woke everyone up. Muffled groans could be heard from around the dormitory. Huge white pillows came whizzing at him from all directions.

"Hey!" he yelled as one by one each pillow hit its target with great force.

Sirius made his way across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. He soon reached the door, and knocked sharply. The door opened a crack, and a big hairy face with small beetle black eyes peered out.

"'Allo Sirius" said Hagrid smiling. He opened the door wider so that Sirius could enter.

"What's up Hagrid?" Sirius stepped in through the open doorway. "What did you want to see me for?" he asked.

"Well now, yeh know 'ow I was wantin' some 'elp with me chores 'ere at Hogwarts?" said Hagrid, mysteriously. Sirius nodded. He and Hagrid had been trying to come up with a solution to this problem on the first day back at school.

"You know that using magic is out of the question, don't you Hagrid?"

"Yea, I'm not stupid yeh knows!"

Hagrid's huge face was beginning to crumple and he sniffed, blinking a tear away.

"Now don't upset yourself Hagrid, I was only thinking of you," Sirius said comfortingly. He had forgotten how sensitive this huge man was. "Now go on, tell me your solution," he cagouled.

Hagrid beamed and said, "Now close yer eyes, an' no peekin!'"

Sirius shut his eyes. I can't believe I'm doing this, he thought. He heard Hagrid rummaging about and something scraping across the floor.

"Right, yeh can look now!" he beamed.

Sirius was not prepared for what he saw curled up in Hagrid's chubby hands. He had gotten himself a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

"Isn't he lovely," he said full of admiration for this unattractive little beast.

Sirius rolled his eyes and mumbled. "Oh no, not again!" Sirius thought he would try a fresh approach. Hagrid was cooing lovingly at the Skrewt.

"Who's a lovely little boy then? C'mon Derek, give us a kiss!"

Sirius shouted, "Hagrid!" He snapped him back to the problem at hand. "Now how exactly will er.Derek help you with your chores? And while I'm on the subject - where did you get him from?"

The subtle sarcasm in Sirius' question went straight over Hagrid's head. Hagrid raised his head, puffed out his chest proudly and announced, "He can help me when I 'ave to go into the Forbidden Forrest - I need to go in there quite a lot. Oh, rather you didn't say anything about that!" Hagrid tapped the side of his nose secretively. "As for where I got young Derek 'ere, I'd rather not say, if you get my drift." He shuffled uneasily, and changed the subject. "So 'ow's the Quidditch practice goin'? Are yeh ready for your first match against Slytherin yet?"

Sirius slapped his hand against his head. "Oh no I forgot I should be at Quidditch practice now!" he exclaimed. "You had better get rid of that creature before Dumbledore finds out Hagrid," Sirius warned as he jumped up out of his chair. He sped towards the door in a bid to get to the Gryffindor Changing room before he got booted off the team. Hagrid looked sheepishly back at him. "It's for your own good, you know I'm right!" he looked at him earnestly. "Now I really must go!"

And with that he left the hut, and ran across the grounds towards the castle. Meanwhile, Hagrid stroked Derek, who was very ticklish. He burned Hagrid, who then dropped him in agony.

*

"Where ave you been 'til now?" the Quidditch captain, Jacob Creyton, asked accusingly of Sirius as he struggled into his red and gold Quidditch robes.

"So sorry I'm late Jake." He was struggling with his bootlaces and didn't look up. "But a funny thing happened to me on the way to the practice session," he said with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

"Very funny," Jacob sneered. "Hurry up! You've kept us waiting long enough!"

And with that he pointed his sharp nose in the air, turned on his heel and walked out of the changing room. This practice session James was the Gryffindor Seeker and Sirius protected him. Sirius was a Beater. He and Luke Smith had to make sure that James got through a match without getting knocked off his broom. Angelica Sweet was a Chaser as was Brian Hilton, and Oliver Clayton. They all flew round the Quidditch pitch practicing the moves that Jacob was shouting from near the goals.

"C'mon you lot, pull together!" He hovered around like a demented moth. "You're supposed to catch the bloody ball Angelica!" he shouted.

By the end of the practice, everyone was tired and hungry. James and Sirius got changed and after something to eat, they and the rest of their group, all met up in the library as arranged.

"Right, we need to find out, what exactly has got Dumbledore so worried?" said Remus.

James said, "Well I can always try and find out!" He moved them into a close huddle. "I can use my Invisibility Cloak get into the staff room or something, what do you think?" He looked at the others for approval.

Lily looked at him in astonishment. "You have an invisibility cloak!" she exclaimed. "They're really rare."

"It was given to me ages ago, a present for winning the Quidditch cup." he said enthusiastically.

Peter piped up, "Well in my opinion, the only way we can find anything out, is if we complete the map!" He looked behind him as someone walked past their table. "We still have a few passages to locate. And there is the one that leads from Hogwarts to Honeydukes to add yet."

"He's right," Remus joined in. "We can get around Hogwarts better with the map. And we can also see where everyone is!" he exclaimed as if he'd been struck by lightening. "Then there's no chance of getting caught!"

"That's it then, we make a start - tonight," said James with a hint of excitement in his voice.

Lily chipped in, "How can you tell where everyone is from a map?"

"We put a simple charm on it, so that everyone in Hogwarts can be seen actually moving around on the map, exactly in the place they're in." James told her.

"That's brilliant!" she enthused. "But what about a meeting place? The old turret room's been closed off now!"

"Well, we do need some privacy." Said Sirius.

"I know! Let's use the Shrieking Shack!" James turned to the others for approval.

"But that's haunted, isn't it?" Lily shivered at the thought.

"All the more reason to use it. No interuptions," Sirius grinned.

They got up from their seats with one or two books so that the librarian, Miss Elliot, didn't become suspicious. * Later that evening James, Sirius, Peter, Remus and Lily made their way out of the common room, and down the corridor. They crept down the marble staircase towards the Entrance Hall.

Peter was the first to break the silence. "Right, if anyone asks we're going to Hagrid's hut to help him get rid of some Flesh-Eating Slugs, ok?"

They all nodded, exited through the huge doors and sped off into the night. When, they reached the shadows of a huge tree, James said, "Everybody under the cloak! Peter, it's time!"

Peter nodded, and within the blink of an eye Peter, seemed to disappear. In front of them Lily said aghast, "Where did he go?"

Sirius said, "Look, there by the Whomping Willow!"

Lily followed where his finger pointed. She could just make out the shape of a small creature near the roots of the tree.

"Is that a - a rat?" she asked wrinkling up her nose in disgust.

Sirius, James and Remus exchanged looks, and smiled at her broadly.

"That's not just any rat, that's - Peter!" they whispered. Lily couldn't believe her ears. Peter was an Animagus!