A/N: Ok, here's chapter 6, and I'm not sure whether I'm gonna keep going or not, so please review and tell me if I should!
James stretched sleepily as he reached for his clothes. It was Monday morning and he didn't really feel like facing two whole hours of being bored to death in Herbology. He cast around for some extra Dungbombs or something to take with him and make the day more interesting when something hit him on the side of the head. He turned to see Sirius grinning at him and was about to make a scathing remark when he saw what it was that Sirius had hit him with; a package of Dungbombs.
He looked up at his friend, his crooked grin a mirror image of the one looking back at him. It was amazing how alike their minds were. Sirius turned away and threw the towel he was wearing on the floor while he rummaged in his trunk for some clean robes. James shook his head, the boy had no shame.
James heard a startled yell from the bathroom, and turned to see Peeves the poltergeist come zooming out with Peter's boxers on his head. He did a summersault in mid-air and caught sight of the only occupied bed in the room, Remus's. Frank Longbottom had gotten up early for once and had already left for the Great Hall. Peter came running out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist as Peeves ripped back the curtains on Remus's four-poster.
The short little man floated down so that his wide mouth was just inches from the sleeping boy's ear and suddenly burst into song.
"Loony, loopy Lupin! Loony, loopy, Lupin!"
The growl that came from within the four-poster bed made the other boys in the dorm wonder if Remus kept a vicious dog in his bed, but it was Remus himself that emerged, swinging at Peeves and trying to get free of his blankets. Peeves zoomed backwards cackling as Remus fell on the floor, trying to run after the poltergeist with his legs still wrapped in the sheets.
"Hey! Come back here, I need those!" Peter yelled as Peeves flew out the door still wearing Peter's boxers on his head. Peeves's only reply was to blow a loud raspberry as he disappeared into the common room.
James and Sirius laughed at the sight of their friends; one messy-haired and half asleep, sitting on the floor trapped in his bed sheets, yelling obscenities at Peeves , and the other wearing nothing but a towel, and shaking a fist at the empty air. Their laughter seemed to wake Remus up the rest of the way, and he began to chuckle along with them.
"Morning, guys." he said as he disentangled himself and stood.
"That it is, Remy. I was beginning to wonder if you'd sleep all day." Sirius teased.
"Yeah, lucky Peeves came along." James chortled, "I sure wouldn't wanna wake you up."
Remus made a low growling sound in his throat, "Damn poltergeist." But he returned James's smile.
"I guess it's about time for breakfast." he said, glancing at the clock.
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I'd say its time to get showered and dressed first, mate."
"I'm not the one standing around in my birthday suit, Siri." he retorted.
Sirius looked down and shrugged. "I'm still one step ahead of you, my friend."
Remus just rolled his eyes as he headed off to the shower. Fifteen minutes later, much more awake now that they'd had breakfast, the Marauders headed out of the castle toward the greenhouse where they had Herbology which was, unfortunately, with the Slytherins this week. Normally the Marauders messed around in Professor Sprout's class just because it was the only way to keep their sanity as she bored them with the virtues of skindleweed and root of oleander, but today they had another source of amusement.
Severus Snape was sitting two rows in front of them, and he seemed to be the only person in the class actually paying attention when Professor Sprout asked what the uses of different plants were. He was sitting on the front edge of his chair, raising his hand as high as he could, and eagerly listing all the different potions that could be made out of the plants they were studying. He didn't notice the disdainful looks he was receiving from Gryffindors and Sytherins alike. Narcissa Black, who usually partnered with Snape in Potions in order to receive full marks, was looking down her pinched nose at him as though he were some kind of disgusting insect she had stepped on. Slytherins had a reputation of being cold and aloof, and they didn't seem to be taking lightly to Snape ruining that reputation.
"Oh, Professor, I have no life so I memorized the entire contents of the potions workbook!" Sirius mimicked as Snape correctly answered yet another question.
The Gryffindors snickered, except for Lily Evans who spoke up indignantly.
"He knows more about potions than you ever will." she said coolly.
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And why would I want to waste my time memorizing which root you need to cure hookworm or something? Unlike that slime ball," he motioned to Snape, "I don't touch other people's shit."
"Besides" James added, "Who needs potions? Sirius could hex Snape into next Thursday."
"And I suppose you think that gives you the right to pick on him? You're nothing but a big bully."
"Oh, I'm hurt." Sirius said, putting a hand over his heart dramatically. The other Gryffindors chuckled.
"Now, Sirius," Remus cut in mock-reproachfully, "look at it from his point of view. If you looked like Snape, you'd be interested in potions too. I'm surprised he hasn't used a Shrinking Solution on his nose yet."
"And I seriously doubt soap and water could take care of that hair if he ever decided to wash it." Peter added.
The Gryffindors roared with laughter, receiving dark glares from the Slytherins who'd overheard them. Even though the Slytherins were annoyed with Snape at the moment, they would always jump at a chance to send evil gazes (and normally insults, too) at Gryffindors. Only Snape and Professor Sprout seemed unaware of the conversation going on in the back of the class.
"Now it really isn't that funny that rythuse blossoms can be used to cure diarrhea." Professor Sprout said, slightly annoyed, "I'm sure you've all had it at one time and if you come from a wizard family, you were probably given a potion made from rythuse to cure it. I must ask you to be more mature."
"Sorry, Professor." they chorused, trying to hold back their laughter.
The bell rang and the Gryffindors piled out of the greenhouse still making fun of Snape as they made their way toward McGonagall's room for Transfiguration. As soon as they were out of earshot of the Slytherins, Lily turned on the Marauders again.
"You four think you're so funny, picking on him like that. It's not like he can help what he looks like!" she shouted.
"He could take a shower occasionally." Sirius said.
"Some people have oily hair; not everyone's born with perfect locks like you and your cousins." Lily snarled.
The tall boy's face darkened dangerously; the surest way to piss off Sirius Black was to liken him to his family in any way.
James cut in before Sirius could really loose his temper. "Look, Evans, you don't understand. Ironically enough it's the Muggle-borns who don't understand just how horrible people like Snape are." he said quietly in a somber voice that was completely out of character.
"That doesn't give you the right to pick on him." she insisted.
"Come on, Lily, let's go." a short girl named Alice said softly.
"No, I'm not just going to shut up and watch them make fun of that poor boy behind his back. I don't care what house he's in, it's not right."
"Lily." Alice said more firmly, "We're going to be late."
At the stubborn expression on the redhead's face, Krissy Miller stepped forward and took her gently by the arm and steered her away from the rest of the group.
"Come on, we'll explain." she said as she and Alice led a fuming Lily down the hall.
When they reached their class Lily was already there, seated between Krissy and Alice, who were talking quietly to her. She had calmed down slightly, but if the glares she sent at the Marauders were any indication, she still didn't believe their actions were justified.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A few days later Remus, James and Sirius were heading off toward Potions chatting about how they had put a bull's eye on Professor McGonagall's butt in Transfiguration (and gotten another week of detentions). The look on her face had been well worth it though. Peter had gone ahead of them to return a book that he had borrowed from a Ravenclaw boy in Care of Magical Creatures, and when the three Marauders reached the bottom of the stairs near the Potions dungeon they saw Malfloy and Snape standing in the corridor. As usual, Malfloy was flanked by his two bodyguards who were currently glaring and cracking their knuckles at Peter while he cowered on the ground in front of Malfloy.
"P-please give me my book." They heard Peter stutter.
"Oh don't worry, you'll get your book back." sneered Malfloy as he ripped a handful of pages out of it. Snape snickered.
"Give him the book, Malfloy." Sirius snarled as he withdrew his wand.
Malfloy whirled around, an evil grin spreading across his face. "Well, well, if it isn't the noble Sirius Black and his little sidekicks. Looks like your friends are here to rescue you, Mudblood." Malfloy drawled at Peter.
"Don't you ever call him that, Malfloy." James said. His voice had gone deathly quiet and his face had gone pale with rage.
"Are you threatening me, Potty?" Malfloy scoffed as Crabbe and Goyle turned on James. Snape's beady eyes were glittering with anticipation, but before Crabbe and Goyle could reach James, the three Marauders had their wands out.
"Petrificus Totalus" they bellowed simultaneously, it was the most recent curse they had learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and with all three of them doing it at once, Crabbe and Goyle were not only instantly paralyzed, but also thrown back into the wall behind them with a sickening thud.
Snape paled and began to back away nervously as Remus bent down to help Peter up, but Malfloy reached for his wand and pointed it at Sirius.
"Watch yourself, Black. You don't know who you're messing with." he drawled.
Before Malfloy could hex Sirius, James shouted "Expelliarmus!" and Malfloy's wand arced out of his hand towards James who caught it deftly. Suddenly the silence was broken by a soft meow behind them.
The Marauders turned to see Filch walking up, a maniacal glee on his face and his scrawny cat at his heels. "Eight detentions today!" He seemed ready to skip with joy. "We'll see if the Headmaster won't allow me to bend the rules and hang you up by your toenails in my office." he snickered.
Sirius and James exchanged amused looks (that was exactly the punishment they had imagined) and Sirius even let out a bark of laughter. "Do you find this amusing?" Filch demanded angrily. Malfloy and Snape snickered, and Filch turned on them. "How about you? I have plenty of manacles to go around!" he yelled.
Professor Smeral poked his head out of his room to see what all the commotion was about. "What's going on, Filch? These five," he said pointing at Snape and the Marauders, "are supposed to be in my class right now."
"Caught them fighting, Professor. Detentions for all of them."
"It looks to me like four Gryffindors hexing my students." Smeral sneered.
"No, sir." Filch disagreed, "Saw the whole thing, they were definitely provoked." Even though they knew Filch was only standing up for them because he wanted to put as many students in detention as he could, they Gryffindors were fighting back smirks when Smeral spoke again. He seemed unable to find any other way of getting his students off, so he resorted to acting angry about being interrupted.
"Fine then." he snapped. "You can deal with them later, these students need to get to class or I will mark them all tardy."