A/N: Hi gets a cookie!  Hi rules!  Go Hi!  Bet you all wish you looked at our bio like Hi did, but you didn't so now you are hungry cuz you don't have a cookie.  Ha!

Moving on...  Nope, nothing to move to.  Sorry.  On to the disclaimer!

Disclaimer:  This isn't ours.  This J.K.'s ideas and characters which we just justify.  I read a story that had a similar idea to ours, which sucks, cuz we thought of it on our own.  So if you think our eventual plot is similar to a very well known author, we didn't copy!

Chapter 5

"I'm bored," James complained as all four of us lounged at the shore of the lake. 

"You're always bored," I said, trying to make a joke.

James rolled his eyes at me.  "At least I'm not always boring.  Come on!  Let's do something!"  He looked just like a little kid, bouncing in his seat.

"You could start your potions essay," Remus suggested, not looking up as he was writing his potions essay.  "You know, the one that's due tomorrow."

"Petey's not the only boring one in the group, apparently," Sirius said,  bringing all attention to him.  "You all want to play the game with the Whomping Willow?"

I had decided to stop complaining as much about the horrible nickname they had given me, seeing as how I spent the first year of school doing this and nothing had come out of it.

"No," said Remus quickly.  "It's a stupid game.  You know how badly you could get hurt if you get hit by one of those branches?"

"We'll be fine.  The game's fantastic.  I'm in, Sirius," James said, hopping to his feet.

"Great.  Hey, you coming Petey?" Sirius asked, also standing.  "It'll be fun."  He sounded like he was talking to a little kid.

I looked at the tree, it's branches flailing about in all directions.  The game's objective was to attempt to touch the trunk of the tree.  Why Dumbledore had decided that Hogwarts needed such a violent tree, I doubted I would ever know. 

"No," I said, apprehensively.  "No, I think I'll go for a walk."

"Chicken," James called over his shoulder as he made his way over to the tree.

"See you, Petey," Sirius said, following his friend.

I got up and began the walk I said I would take around the lake.  This was about a mile, so I figured that they would be finished with their game by then.

"Hey, maybe you two should play on the other side of the tree," I could hear Remus suggesting behind me.

He's a strange person, always picking out the strangest things for us to change.  For example, he won't use the silver dishes in the Great Hall, complaining that we could all get food poisoning.  Another thing, Remus seems to know when he's going to get sick.  He never makes plans on the days when he does have to spend nights in the hospital wing.  I think he's faking it.

What gets me is why Dumbledore goes along with all of his crap.

I was about a quarter of the way around the lake when I heard them:  footsteps behind me.  Hoping that Sirius had decided to join me after all, I turned to face the person behind me.

It wasn't Sirius.

It wasn't even a person.

It was three people, all older and larger than me.  And the one in the center was Lucius Malfoy.

"Hello, First Year," he said casually, as if he wasn't stalking me with a handful of bullies.

Well, I did the smartest thing I could think of.  I raised my chin defiantly and said, "I'm a second year."

"Oh, I see," Malfoy said, in a clearly mocking tone.  "A second year.  Well, this changes everything."  He paused and more a moment I thought I might be off the hook.  I realize now that I was stupid.  "No, it doesn't.  Goyle, Nott?  Would you be so kind?"

The two largest students walked toward me, looking extremely threatening.  I tried to run, but two other boys had apparently come up behind me.  They each grabbed one of my arms, pinning them behind me, as either Nott or Goyle walked up to me and punched my squarely in the stomach.

When you think about it, you don't expect to feel that much pain after getting hit there.  You think it would be much worse to be hit in your face or your groin.  Well, I wasn't hit there, but let me tell you, getting hit in the stomach is no picnic either.

My knees buckled and suddenly my legs couldn't hold me up anymore.  I was trying my best not to cry, seeing as I was twelve years old.

Lucius Malfoy sauntered forwards.  "You think you could do that to me and get away from it.  All five of you!  But no, it's come back to haunt you.  And your going to suffer a thousand times more."

Yes, this was the perfect time to say something witty to show my Gryffindor spirit, but I couldn't think of anything.  Luckily, I wasn't alone.

"Did you really bring five guys to beat up one kid?" I heard Sirius say, his tone caustic.

Malfoy spun around, his blonde hair spreading out as he did, to face Sirius.  Well, I think he was since I couldn't actually see where Sirius was standing, but Malfoy seemingly could.

"Black," Malfoy hissed.

"Malfoy," Sirius said, sounding quite a lot calmer than Malfoy.  "Is there anyway to make you let him go without a fight?"

Malfoy smirked, and, with a tiny nod in the direction of his goons, sent Goyle and Nott lumbering towards Sirius.  Malfoy stepped out of the way to reveal that it was not only Sirius, but also Remus who had come to my rescue.

I watched in awe as Goyle tackled Sirius, and had him pinned to the ground in an instant.  Remus on the other hand, awed me more.

As the other large boy approached him, Remus placed one hand on Nott's chest and sent him hurtling towards the lake.  Remus then hurried over to me and somehow pulled the other two off of me, before rushing over to help Sirius.

Well, Malfoy was not to be beat this easily.  He pulled out his wand, but before he could utter a curse, all three of us were running away.

Not exactly the bravest thing to do, but helpful anyways.  We were no match for Malfoy's knowledge of magic back then.

We reached the Whomping Willow tree and, even though it wasn't particularly different from anywhere else, we felt safer.  James, who had been sprawled out on the grass, sat up.  "Did you rescue Petey?"

Sirius, still out of breath, smiled.  "Yeah.  He's such a hassle," he said.  "Do you want to keep playing?" he asked James, and the two of them went to play the Whomping Willow game.

Remus opened his book, but I wouldn't let him read.

"Hey, Remus?" I said timidly.

He made a grunting noise, trying not to look up from his book.

"How did you throw that guy into the lake?  It was about ten feet and he was a lot bigger than you and-"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Peter," he said, though I knew perfectly well that he did.  But he wouldn't answer my questions, leaving me to wonder.

A/N: Wasn't it good?  Yes it was.  Now tell us.