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Chapter 4-Prowling the Corridors

Just as their lips were about to meet, the portrait hole abruptly swung open. There was an angry voice bellowing throughout the room upon its entrance.

"Sirius! What in Merlin is taking you so long?!" He saw Sirius and Hermione standing merely inches from each other, with Sirius's arm wrapped around her waist. He immediately flushed and apologized. "Oh, right. Sorry mate. Do carry on." With that he winked and left.

The two looked at each other then hurriedly broke apart. Sirius was the first to speak. "Well, I should be going. I'll, um, see you at breakfast, 'Mione. G'night." He gave her a light kiss on her forehead and then turned to leave.

Hermione stood dumbfounded, until she heard a fit of giggles coming from a couch behind her. She turned around to see a smirking Lily with her head peeking over the couch. "How long have you been sitting here, Lily?"

"Long enough! Hey, do you want to come with me to the Prefect's washroom for a moment? I need to look for my earring that I lost."

"Sure! I've never been in there yet!" she said happily. The two girls walked out of the room together. As they were walking down the hallway, two Slytherins came around the corner, heading to Merlin knows where. One had long black curls, a pierced eyebrow, and loads of other rings in her ears. She would be a fairly attractive girl if it weren't for her mounds of eyeliner and eye shadow. The other girl was shorter, though she was very pretty, with her long, silvery straight hair accenting her shockingly blue eyes. "Where are you going, mudblood? Off to write to your filthy muggle parents?" the taller one asked coldly.

"None of your bloody business, Bellatrix. I think you'd best leave us alone, before your dear cousin comes and tears you apart." Lily replied coolly.

"Always using Sirius to defend yourself. Doesn't look like he's around right now, though." She said, craning her neck as if she was looking for someone in the hallway. "Rare occasion to find you without those bloody dolts around. We'd better make the best of it, huh Narcissa?"

"Yes, we shall Bella. What spell shall we use?" she answered cruelly.

"Hmmmm, I'm not sure. Which one causes the most pain, 'Cissa?

"Maybe, the Cruciatus?"

"Okay, good choice. CRUC-."

"EXPELLIMARUS!" Hermione shouted before Bellatrix could finish the spell. The two girls' wands went flying into the air, as did their bodies. They both picked up their wands, looking thoroughly disgusted.

"We'll finish this later, mudblood. I don't like you either, you little twit." She said, glaring daggers at Hermione. The girl stalked off, her chest held out for everyone to see.

"Hey, thanks Hermione! You were great!" Lily exclaimed.

"Thanks! Who were those girls?"

"Narcissa and Bellatrix Black. Both of them are Sirius's cousins. They're the bad apples of the family. Only obvious, though." Lily smirked.

"We'd better get to looking for that earring, Lils." Hermione said, remembering what they were here for in the first place.

"Yes, let's go." Before they could get any farther, they heard a loud explosion coming from behind them.

"Oh, what now?!" Hermione asked, now frustrated that they couldn't head off to the bathroom yet. She turned around as she said this, only to abruptly have to duck out of the way to avoid being hit by a firework.

"Oh, sorry Hermione! That one got away from us!" she heard Sirius shout. "Would you pretty ladies like to join us for a little Snape- bashing?" he flashed that irresistible smile at them. Hermione almost lost her balance.

Lily scoffed at them. "Oh, I swear James, you and your mindless pranks. Why you hate Snape, I don't know. You're the git, not him! What did he ever do to you?" she asked angrily.

"Lils, he calls you-er, that one name! I can't let him get away with it!" James countered. "Why do you stand up for the greasy git, if he calls you names and everything?"

Lily looked thoughtful for a minute, and then shouted, "I DON'T KNOW, JAMES! WHEN I THINK OF A REASON I'LL TELL YOU! AND DON'T CALL ME LILS!" She stormed off towards the common room, obviously forgetting about her earring.

"I'll come with you!" Hermione smiled. "I hate the stupid prat too." Thinking back to all of the times he gave Harry and Ron detentions for doing absolutely nothing to earn them.

"Okay, let's go! Okay, let's see. Where's the twit at?" Sirius said, pulling out a blank piece of parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He tapped the parchment once with his wand. 'The Marauder's Map!' Hermione silently giggled.

"Ah, he must be using the bathroom!" James said, his face lighting up. "Excellent. Snivellus, here we come!"

They draped the Invisibility Cloak over themselves and walked off down the hallway. As they were walking, Sirius grabbed Hermione's hand. She looked up at him and smiled. "Do you three ever go to bed?"

He acted like he was in deep thought, then replied, "No my dear, I don't think we do. Night's the best time to play pranks!"

She giggled, then thought 'Night's the best time to do other things, too.' "OH!" she exclaimed, and then clasped her hand over her mouth.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"Watch where you're going, Prongs!" Remus said angrily. "You nearly ran us into a statue!"

"Well, you're the one who should stop stepping on my heels!"

"I never did!" he replied, making a movement with his arm, and accidentally hitting Sirius in the nose.

"OW Remus that was my nose, you clumsy oaf!" Sirius commented, holding his nose. Suddenly, in the midst of their complaining, they tumbled down a flight of stairs, the cloak falling off in the process. They lay at the bottom, in a heap of bodies, moaning in pain.

"That was YOUR fault, Prongs." Remus inquired.

"You're the one who should have been watching where we were going, Moony!" he countered.

"You have the map, James!" Sirius chimed in.

Hermione sighed at the childish bickering, when someone came walking towards them. "What are you four doing out of your common rooms? Going to cause more trouble? In that case, I bid you all DETENTION!" Professor Keith shouted. "30 points from Gryffindor, also." He added, a bit to cheerfully for Hermione's taste.

They got up and started walking towards the common room. "Well, that was a waste of time. All we got was a detention. How productive." Sirius said gloomily.

"Well, look at the bright side," James started. All three pairs of eyes looked at him warily, waiting for him to finish. "Er, well, I guess there isn't one. Oh well. Gibbertonicus." He said the password and the four entered the room.

"Well, good night guys. I'll see you in a few hours-at breakfast." She said, emphasizing the last two words. "Wait, have you seen Lily since she ran off earlier?"

All three boys shook their heads and looked at each other. With almost precision timing, they heard Lily's high-pitched scream. "Oh Gods, someone help me!" she cried. Hermione and the three boys ran to her frantic cries of help.