Winter holidays were just around the corner, and all the teachers were trying to cram in as much as they could before the students left for vacation. The Marauders were up late every night, along with the rest of Gryffindor Tower, trying to finish all their homework. Only Sirius seemed unconcerned with his huge workload. As the other three poured over Transfiguration notes and Astronomy charts, he paged through a huge book of spells that he had checked out from the library a few weeks earlier.
"You know, Sirius, your homework isn't just going to do itself." Peter informed him as Sirius pulled out some of the food he and James had stolen from the kitchens and continued looking through his library book.
"Wouldn't that be nice? You know what, Pete? I'm going to invent a quill that does homework all by itself and I'll dedicate it to you." Sirius said absently.
"Could you actually do that?" Peter asked, sounding excited at the prospect.
Remus raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think if it could be done someone would've done it already?"
"Well why couldn't you bewitch a quill to be able to do your homework."
"You could, but you'd have to also give it the ability to think on its own, take in information so that it would know what to write, and move by itself. Hell, you'd basically have to make it come alive and be just about as intelligent as you are." James answered without looking up from his Potions essay.
"But Peter's right, Sirius, McGonagall and Smeral would love to give you detentions for not doing your work."
"McGonagall's just pissed because I can do everything. She doesn't like having the class clowns actually be smart, too."
"True, but still, she and Smeral could make your life one big long detention."
"Funny, that's how it's been feeling all year long, anyway. I've got the school record for the most detentions in a year, and it's not even Christmas. Besides, I only have two weeks to do something to Bellatrix that she won't forget."
"Just before you go home to see your family? I thought you were intelligent." Remus snorted.
"My dear Moony, I am not going home over the holidays." Sirius smiled, "I'm sure I'll hear all about how I'm an embarrassment to my family, but it would be so worth it, to send her home with red and gold hair or something."
Ever since they had found out that Remus was a werewolf, Sirius and James had been calling him Moony. At first Remus had been afraid that someone might figure out what it meant, but everyone accepted that it was just another inside joke, the Marauders had hundreds anyway.
"Hey, me neither." James said happily. "My parents are going to France, so I'm stuck here. Think of all the fun we could have!"
"You know, Sirius, I think I heard something about a Permanent Dye Spell that you could use on Bella's hair." Remus told him.
"Permanent Dye, hmmm? That would be perfect!" his friends had never seen him so excited as he flipped his book to the index, looking for the Permanent Dye Spell.
"Of course it would only be permanent until her hair grew out, or she dyed it black, though."
"That doesn't matter. In fact, that's even better. All the Blacks are obsessive about their hair. It's a family trait, and they would never even dream of dying it. The women in my family would never even cut their hair; just trim it enough to keep it looking perfect. If she had to dye it… Moony, you're brilliant!"
They just laughed at him as he read through the spell much more carefully than he had ever been with any spell given to him by a professor.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The last Quidditch match before the holidays was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. The weather was much better than the last game; cool and overcast, but dry. All the Gryffindors watched in frustration as their team was steamrollered by the blue and silver Ravenclaws. Hardly two minutes into the game, their Keeper, Wayne Johnson, let in a goal and his game fell apart from there. The Ravenclaw Chasers, two tall boys and Andromeda Black who obviously shared her cousin's talent on a broom, had no trouble outmaneuvering the Gryffindor Beaters.
Sirius jumped to his feet screaming at one of the Beaters, a Thomas Forest, as he sent a Bludger spinning toward one of the Ravenclaw Chasers. The boy ducked, and the Bludger slammed into the Gryffindor Keeper, hitting him in the head. Ravenclaw scored as the Gryffindor Keeper fell from his broom, unconscious.
The spectators gasped and a few girls screamed, but Nicolas Tanner, a Chaser and one of the few good fliers on the Gryffindor team, caught him before he hit the ground. By the time Tanner landed, Johnson was coming 'round.
They called a time out, but he insisted that he was alright, so the game continued. Ravenclaw scored five more times in the next twenty minutes, putting the score at 90 to 30. Gryffindor began hoping for a miracle when their Seeker went into a sudden dive, but the Snitch seemed to have disappeared before he reached it, and he pulled up empty handed.
Fifteen minutes later, the Ravenclaw Seeker dived suddenly, but this time it wasn't a false alarm. Madam Hooch's whistle blew as the Seeker held up the struggling Snitch.
"I can't believe it!" James raged as they walked back to the castle in low spirits. "I saw the Snitch before that idiot on the broom!"
"And what about that Bludger? That has to be the worst aim I have ever seen! I could have done better with my eyes closed!" Sirius fumed.
"Well, we'll be on the team next year. Just wait, everything will be different." James said, his dark mood lightening as he pictured himself and Sirius on the house team.
"Oh no, I'm so nervous." a cold voice drawled behind them. They whirled around to find half of Slytherin house following them. "Did you hear that, Bella? Sirius Black and Potty Potty Potter are gonna play Quidditch next year."
"What ever will Slytherin do?" Bellatrix said in a mockingly worried tone. "We'll never be able to win against them." her fake worry dissolved into derision as she began to laugh.
"I hope my team's up to the challenge." A tall boy said sarcastically. Sirius recognized him as Rodolphus Lestrange, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain, he was a big sixth year with dark good looks and evil black eyes.
"Save your big words until next year, when I can make you eat them, Lestrange." Sirius growled.
"Ooo, the little first year has a big mouth." he mocked
Sirius longed at him, but Remus caught him by the back of his robes as Professor McGonagall approached, looking angry. Her team had just lost any chance of winning the Cup for the sixth year in a row, and she seemed to be looking for something to vent her anger on. The Slytherins noticed this too.
"We'll continue this on the pitch next year, Black." Lestrange hissed as he and the rest of the Slytherins walked away.
"Can't wait." Sirius growled quietly.
Any chance the Marauders had of lifting their spirits that day was gone. They climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower in foul moods over the game and more importantly what had occurred after. James's face was set in a scowl, Remus looked disgusted with the tactics of the Slytherins, and Peter seemed, more than anything else, scared of his friends' bad moods. Sirius's face, on the other hand, was etched with determination to beat Lestrange in the only place he could, on the Quidditch pitch.