6.

The Cloak-Covered Caper

The new term was well underway. The time flew by so fast, past Quidditch matches, through incredibly boring History of Magic lessons and dark Potions dungeon classes, over Transfiguration and turning rabbits into slippers, skirting barely the tedious hex deflections of Defence Against the Dark Arts and some healthy inter-house rivalry, which somehow resulted in two Leg-locked Gryffindors and a Slytherin who was convinced he was a chicken.

James, Sirius, Peter and Remus were itching to try out the Invisibility Cloak. They managed to get all the way past Easter without anything more adventurous than running around the common room teasing people with it. They had been far too caught up in everything that was going on with school to even think about sneaking out, and Sirius was happy with another load of egg-shaped cakes that were given to him by his friend on Easter. She'd left the same for the other Marauders, who wasted no time in tearing into them. Stuffed on Easter chocolate and cakes, not even Sirius could stomach the thought of stealing more of Dabble-gin's éclairs.

Easter came and went, and still there was no mischief worth the presence of the Cloak. Exams were drawing close and now their thoughts of haring around the school without anyone being able to see them were driven out of mind by the presence of a tight schedule made by Lily Evans, passed on to them by Midgeon who'd become the boy's devious informant. So they followed Lily's schedule, maybe with the exception of Sirius who'd somehow come into the possession of more rock candy and was racing around the boy's dormitory like a jackrabbit on hot iron most often. The plus to this was he seemed to take in a lot more when he was bouncing off walls.

But aside from all the candy and exams and boring classes, something was beginning to niggle at that back of their minds. Always, in the morning after a particularly messy night in the common room, it was always spotlessly clean. One Sunday morning though, three of the four boys were standing in the middle of the room, looking around with an active curiosity now. James frowned a little.

"Why is it always so clean?"

"Maybe it's enchanted to clean itself up when everyone goes to bed?" Peter suggested, and Sirius shook his head.

"No, it must be the girls. You all know what they're like when it comes to mess."

"I don't think the girls would go to this extreme, though," James frowned. It wasn't troubling as much as it was curious. James then turned to Sirius.

"Where's Remmy?"

"Still asleep. He said he didn't feel well."

"Oh."

"It's not like he's missing anything, really," Peter said. "All we're doing is standing here discussing the reasons as to why the common room is clean every day."

"Hullo boys!"

They turned and looked as three girls came down from their dormitory. Midgeon, Mana and Alice stopped in front of them as they entered to common room. Midgeon winked one big, dark-lidded green eye at them. Alice's eyes scanned the three of them.

"Where's Lupin?"

"Sick," James replied. "He was sick about this time last month too."

"Yah, well, what can ya do?" Midgeon chirruped, though she did seem concerned. Sirius had to make a sudden observation.

"You know, Midgie, if Mana had green eyes and curly hair, you'd look a lot alike!"

The two dark-headed girls stared at him. Then they glanced at each other and started to chuckle. Midgeon reached forward and scuffed his hair up.

"Now, spend another five seconds straightening your hair again, Black."

Mana reached out and flattened it again. "Three second presentability every day, Sirius."

"You said a while ago that you didn't give a Fizzing Whizzbee about how you looked," Sirius joked, and Mana gave him a cock-eyed look. He grinned. Then his grin faltered a moment and he turned to Midgeon.

"Midgie, I need to ask you something alone."

"Sure Black."

They two of them walked away and Alice turned back to James and Peter.

"So what are you two wing-nuts up to now?" she asked. The two boys shrugged.

"Just discussing the common room being clean," James replied to her. Mana and Alice both nodded their agreement and gave a small chuckle.

"Mighty good job those house-elves do on the rooms, isn't it?" Alice asked with a smile. James stared.

"House-elves?"

"Yeah, there must be hundreds. They work all over the castle. Me and Lily saw some a week ago come in to tidy the dormitories."

"I didn't know there were house-elves in Hogwarts," Peter admitted, looking at James. James agreed.

"We have a house-elf," James declared. "His name's Niggle. Mum doesn't know where she'd be without him. Sirius has one too. Kreacher, I think he said was the name."

"We have one," Alice said. "But ma felt sorry for the poor blighter and gave him clothes. But he begged not to have to leave the house, so she let him stay in our cupboard under the stairs. Loves to help out, does the shopping for us sometimes."

The two girls farewelled them and departed towards the Great Hall for breakfast. Sirius and Midgeon came back over, both of them looking triumphant.

"What was all that about?" James asked Sirius as Midgeon waved goodbye and left after her two other friends. Sirius crossed his arms and laughed.

"Midgie told me where the door to the kitchens is. She has a friend in Hufflepuff who walks past the door on their way to the Hufflepuff common room. Apparently it's behind a painting of fruit in one of the corridors. But as to how to get in, they don't know. So here's the deal…"

*

The day was uneventful. Sirius and Remus got permission from Madam Hooch to practice riding broomsticks out in the grounds while she supervised, Peter more comfortable down on the ground than up in the air. Earlier that year, during second term, the new Shooting Stars had arrived and their first broomstick lesson had gone by without a hitch, if you discluded the fact that for some reason Snape's hands kept sliding off the broomstick he was trying to grip. The fact that a birch wand was pointed at him might or might not have had anything to do with it.

They were zooming around in the air high above the ground, the wind in their faces blowing their hair back when James rushed by Sirius.

"Have you seen Remmy at all today?"

"I told you. He said he didn't feel well."

"But he's usually up by now, it's nearly lunch time. He's missed breakfast."

"Maybe we should wake him up for lunch?" Sirius suggested as he dove to catch the ball that had been thrown into the air by Hooch. James caught it first, streaking away with it and tossing it back so he could catch it. The pass was spot on.

"Send Petie up. I'm sure he won't mind."

The sound of Madam Hooch's whistle told them to come back down, which they did immediately. The Hufflepuff Quidditch team was practicing on the pitch in the distance, little canary yellow flashes against the blue sky. Hooch smiled at them as they handed the brooms over.

"You boys should try out for the Quidditch team next year, you especially, Potter. You'd make good Chasers."

"Is there a position?" James asked, interested.

"I believe that Stefan King is in his seventh year. There'll be an opening for Seeker of course, but I believe that the favourite for that placing is that third year chappie Bill Weasley. Bit of a wild one, Bill, but he's got it where it counts. Now you three best be running on to lunch now. Go and revise for your exams, they're coming up in a few weeks. Off you run now," she finished, and the three of them took off back to the castle.

"Hear that?" Sirius laughed. "Chaser positions next year. Are you going to have a go?"

"Sure. What about you two?"

"Me?" Peter nearly tripped. "I can hardly fly a broom straight, let alone catch a ball riding one."

"I might have a go," Sirius thought. "Couldn't hurt."

"Peter, if we save you a seat in the Great Hall, do you want to run up to Gryffindor Tower and wake up Remus?"

"Sure, but… isn't he sick?"

"Well he'll be even sicker if he misses lunch," James reasoned. "If he says no, just come back down. We'll sneak something up for him."

They reached the Entrance Hall and separated, Sirius and James heading to the Great Hall and Peter climbing the marble staircase to Gryffindor Tower. The majority of their year was already in the hall by the time they got there, the familiar five girls sitting a little way along the table in the company of some of the second and third-years, chattering loudly. Mana and Figwelda, as usual, were rather quiet, listening raptly and pitching in what and when they thought it necessary. James wanted to sit near the girls, and so Sirius followed him over. Midgeon was taking the proverbial podium now, relating in a loud voice some horrible incident that seemed to have happened to a Slytherin girl in their year involving the girl's toilets, some Filibuster's No Heat Wet-Start Fireworks and a box of eggs.

"…Well she and her friends had been leaving some horrible messes on purpose for the house-elves to clean up. Alice and Lily found this out the other night when they saw some of the little guys come in to clean our common room…"

James and Sirius sat down. They didn't need to hear this story; they'd been directly involved in it. There were a few plates of sandwiches on the table, but James went for a shepherd's pie and the flagon of iced pumpkin juice.

"…Well I only had to say it once. If it's a problem with Slytherins you've got, count on them to sort it out…"

Sirius grinned back at the girls as a few glances were turned their way. James passed him a bowl of cheese crackers as he pulled the plate of chicken sandwiches over to him.

"…It was classical. You saw it too, of course Mana, Alice. Every last firework went off and I don't think I've ever seen a more jumbled expression. It was like utter shock, confusion and fury all at once…"

"You'd think they'd never seen a toilet blow up," Sirius rolled his eyes, referring to the girls as he poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice. "But I thought quite highly of the flying eggs."

"Thank Peter for that one. It was his little idea."

"I'll be sure to."

"…Of course, the three of them were busted by Filch, but they got out of it mad shocking, I don't think I've ever seen Peeves in such an amazingly wicked state!"

"You don't think a lot, Midgie," Lily prodded.

"Ahhh, but such a naivety is surely a virtue? It really does allow for the greatest effect when seeing the amazing pranks of the Marauders."

"Tell us again about how the eggs chased them down the Transfiguration hall."

"Okay, well…"

Just as Midgeon was about to go into detail about the heat-seeking missile eggs, Peter came trotting into the hall. He jogged along the table and slid into the seat next to James.

"Well? Where's Remus?"

Peter was reaching for a plate of corned beef sandwiches. He glanced up.

"He mumbled something about being sick and rolled over. Then he asked me to draw his curtains and went back to sleep."

"I'm getting a little worried about him," Sirius admitted, a real look of concern crossing his usually rather excited features. "He keeps getting sick at the same time every month."

"And he's usually missing the night before," James added. "But he always seems to have an excuse."

"Last night's was that he was in the hospital wing," Sirius told him. "That I believe. But Madam Pomfrey should've fixed him up in a jiffy."

"Oh well, even wizards get sick too," Peter sighed, helping himself to the cheese crackers. "Poor Remus. He really did look unwell."

Sirius and James began stashing food in their pockets as the laughter of the girls down the table crescendoed. Peter, seeing them, began doing the same. Lily had her eyes on them, and catching their gaze, shook her head disapprovingly. They gave her an imploring look and stood up, hastening to leave the hall. They walked up through the castle doing little more than jabber about past pranks, avoiding the egg, toilet and fireworks incident — the girls had worn it out for now, and threw back and forth some new ideas.

"Alihosty in the pumpkin juice, huh? Just on the Slytherin table though. Sounds good, I think we'll save that one."

"Super glue on the broom handles? I like that one Peter."

"Why don't we set off some fireworks in History of Magic? Could make it more interesting. Only it wouldn't be any fun because Binns probably wouldn't notice."

They drew up in front of the Fat Lady. "Alpha Centuri," they all said in unison and the portrait swung aside with a soft creak, and they went through into the common room. There were a few students from the other years, including the Quidditch team, their captain Sally Genista giving them some tactics pointers on their coming match against Slytherin. Though normally they'd have hung around to listen to Genista talk, they headed right upstairs to their dormitory and opened the door. One of the six beds had the hangings drawn, and there was no one else in the room. They approached the bed and James drew back the scarlet curtains, peering inside. Peter and Sirius crowded around him. Remus was fast asleep, looking, as Peter had said, quite ill. James gave his shoulder a gentle push.

"Hey Remmy? Remus, hey, wake up."

He mumbled something in his sleep and pulled the covers tighter.

"Remus? Hey wake up!"

He opened one eye and looked up at them.

"Mmmm? What?"

"You okay? It's past lunchtime. You've missed breakfast and lunch."

"I think I'll skip dinner too," he murmured, and went to go back to sleep.

"Well you've gotta eat something," Sirius persisted, and Remus opened that eye again and looked up at him. Sirius pulled some of the crackers out of his pockets. "Look, we brought you stuff."

"I don't think so… I appreciate the thought and all…"

"Here," Sirius said, ignoring his very feeble protest and handing him the crackers. He took them reluctantly and nibbled one.

"…Thanks."

"Anytime, Remmy," Sirius grinned.

"Would you like us to leave you alone?" James asked. Remus nodded, and they stepped back. "We won't be far; we're down in the common room if you need us, okay?"

Remus nodded again and they stepped back, drawing the curtain closed again. They exchanged concerned glances, and then walked back downstairs. Genista was discussing manoeuvres with her Chasers as they came back into the common room, and they sat down just outside the circle of players, slumping in the chairs and listening.

"Now that Beater has a hard arm, King, so you'll need to be especially careful. I want you to mark him, okay Jenkins? Now about that scoring pass of yours, Mansfield, Bart are you listening? Pay more attention, Mansfield. I want to make sure you practice that special move. The Slytherin Keeper is good at blocking, but thankfully their Chasers aren't entirely up to scratch. But they play dirty, you've come to expect that. I'll worry about the Seeker…"

Genista's words seemed to be fading into the background as Peter turned to Sirius and James.

"So are we still on for tonight?"

*

It was sunset when the boys were sitting in the common room, waiting for the few people still there to peter away. James, under his robes, had folded the Invisibility Cloak. It was getting close to midnight when the last of the students left, and the three of the four Marauders climbed out of their chairs, crept to the portrait door and James pulled out the Cloak. Just then, they heard footsteps on the stairs from the boys' dormitory.

Before they had a chance to either hide or disappear under the Cloak, a pasty-faced boy came tottering down the stairs, rubbing an eye with one hand and trying to straighten his disarranged pyjamas with the other. His hair was sticking up everywhere, but alert tawny eyes were staring at them. It was Remus.

"Oh there you are. I woke up and you were all out of bed… Where're you going?" he asked, as if he didn't already know that they were up to something, having taken in the Invisibility Cloak and how close they were to the portrait door.

"We were going to sneak down to the kitchen doors and see if we can work out how to get in," James replied. Remus' pale face lifted.

"I can come, can't I?"

"You feel better?" Peter asked, looking him up and down. Remus brushed his hand unsteadily through his ruffled hair.

"I'm hungry. I've only eaten those crackers you brought me."

"Well as long as you feel okay," James said as the fourth Marauder walked over to them. Remus nodded. "Come on."

He cast the Cloak around their shoulders and they vanished from view. James pushed open the portrait door and they walked off down the empty, dark and moonlit corridor. The castle was eerie at night, and what was even more eerie was that they were able to walk right past Filch on the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall without him even catching a whiff of them. So they headed through the hall, down to the Potions corridor off the side of the Entrance Hall and proceeded into the dark corridors. Lanterns in the walls cast sparse light down here, and the halls were lined with paintings and portraits. Their feet made tiny taps on the stone. Then they drew to a halt outside a large painting. This one was of a lot of fruit, and lo and behold, it was wide open. A group of house-elves were climbing through the hole in the wall into the room beyond. The four boys, still hidden by the Cloak, followed swiftly after them. The painting closed behind them, but they weren't in darkness. They were in the kitchens.

Before anyone could consciously stop him, Sirius had darted out from under the Cloak, into plain sight. Now of course the elves saw him. But they held their breath for no reason, for as soon as the hundred of house-elves saw Sirius, they burst into calls of glee. Immediately they crowded around.

"Éclairs, sir?"

"Some hot chocolate young Gryffindor master?"

"Cake, fresh out of the oven for you sir!"

James pulled the Cloak away from the rest of them. The little creatures with their crooked noses and great big ears were in a state of euphoria by now, crowding around and offering anything that they could carry.

"Here are some sandwiches for you!"

"Can we take your coats young masters?"

"Would you like a seat at all?"

James managed a laugh. He looked around.

"Is this the kitchens?"

"Oh yes, it is, is it sir," cried a few of the elves. They looked around. Apart from the stoves and ovens and countless storerooms, in the middle of the lengthy kitchen were four tables along and one across. They must be exactly underneath the Great Hall, for this was obviously where the food that seemed to magically appear appeared from. The elves were still scrambling to see to the four boys.

"We found the door ajar," Remus said to the nearest elf, which seemed as though about to faint by being addressed by him. "How is it that it opens?"

"Oh, there is a pear in the fruit painting," she replied. "You tickle it, and the doors open!"

"Oh there he goes," James pointed to Sirius, who'd run off with a duckling-tail of elves behind him. "We'll get him back if we can ever get him off the roof."

Remus let himself be led off by the elves, having wanted to come down to find something worth eating anyway. That left James and Peter, still being bombarded by offerings from the little elves. James had a sudden idea.

"Say…" he turned to the house-elves. "You wouldn't happen to have some pancake mix, a box of eggs and a bottle of fizzy drink, would you?"

"Of course sir!" replied several at once. They scurried off the retrieve what James had asked for. Peter looked at him queerly.

"Pancake mix, eggs and fizzy drink? What have you got in mind?"

"Oh nothing much, just something that might convince that slimy git Snape to wash his hair. It's a work in progress, Petie, I'll explain later."

An hour later they found themselves dragging a shaking Sirius out of the kitchen. Remus was shaking his head as he looked at him, James trying to cover them all with the Cloak. It wasn't working; Sirius would simply not stand still. Peter stated the obvious by saying he thought Sirius had had a little bit too much sugar. He was careful not to mention the bag of goodies he'd hidden under his robes, as it was more than obvious that Sirius would very nearly strip him bare looking for him. In his current state, he probably would've done just that because he thought it would be fun.

"Sirius!" James hissed as Remus tried to secure his hands behind his back. "Stay quiet! You're going to get us caught."

But even as he said it, he could hear the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps. It was Filch. Remus and Peter grabbed Sirius as tightly as they could as James threw the Cloak around them. The caretaker stopped right where they had been moments ago, and shone his torch around, clearly looking for them.

"I know yer out 'ere," he snarled. "Heard yer whisperin'. Come out an' maybe I'll go easy on yer…"

The sound of his voice even silenced Sirius, he had stopped wriggling. And then, with a look of utter disappointment on his face, Filch kept moving. They let go of their held breath. They could still hear him down the corridor though.

"…If I catch yer, yer'll all be in trouble yer will…"

Silently they made their way back up the stairs and back into Gryffindor Tower. They reached the common room where the fire was dwindling behind the grate. Off came the cloak, and suddenly…

"Hail the conquering heroes," a few lights suddenly came on around the common room. Sitting around the room were several Gryffindors including the Quidditch team, mostly in the years above them, though Lily, Midgeon, Alice and Frank were sitting on the sofa next to Bill Weasley. It was Lily who had spoken, still holding her wand tip at the candle she'd lit. "Sit down. We need to talk to you."

(ooooooh, now what could Lily and the Gryffindors possibly want to

discuss with our favourite Marauders?

Are they in trouble?

Has something happened?

All these answers and more in Chapter 7: Quidditch, Quarrels and Quirks!)