Thank you to Kayhera for her very nice post. Sorry, I'm being cheesy, but I don't really like Thanksgiving much, and you made me very happy. I wrote this a few days ago, but I couldn't post it, so here it is, ta-da. Oh, and, I've started on the next chapter already (yay).

At War With Slytherins

It was almost the end of the year. We had stopped advancing on Animagus spells because of exams, and I think at this point we were almost through the exams. We were studying alone in the common room, when Remus came in, and he had looked much better, I assure you. His robes were torn in several places, and it looked like both his lip and nose had just stopped bleeding. The gold chain on which he wore a small segment of a coin that we each had a piece of was clearly visible. He (like the rest of us) always wore it under his robes. "Remus!" I cried, running to him. The others followed, looking just as concerned.

"What happened?" asked Peter.

"The Slytherins," he said. "I met up with them on the way here. They seemed quite… happy to see me alone."

"Why didn't you fight them back?" asked James as Remus sat down on one of the armchairs by the unlit fire.

"Yeah, Moony," said Sirius. "You're strong enough."

"One of them," he said slowly, "was wearing a silver ring. Hurt like hell and made it hard to think straight."

"That would be Regulus," said Sirius sounding angrier. "The ring with the Black family crest. It marks him as an heir to the Black fortune. I think I lost mine a few years ago when I accidentally threw it down a field…"

"Were they caught?" I asked, while James put a freezing charm on a glass of water and handing it to Remus.

"Yeah… good thing it was McGonagall who walked by and not Vernes. He wouldn't have cared, probably. They all got detection." He handed the glass back to James. "No thanks, I don't need it. It's already beginning to heal, see?" Sure enough, Remus's small cuts were already closed. "I keep forgetting you're not used to it," he said. "Werewolves heal faster than normal humans. That's why it's stopped bleeding already."

By the next day, it was barely noticeable that Remus had been in a fight at all but we had not forgotten. It seemed that no Gryffindor was unknowing about the events of the previous day. Gryffindors were traveling everywhere in packs, and most of the time, we were surrounded by a protective throng of fourth of fifth years, but this wasn't getting us anywhere. We wanted to get back at the Slytherins in a big way, and my book of useless charms wasn't big enough.

But Sirius had a plan, bigger than any one prank we had done, because it wasn't just one prank…

it was five.

We had a map, of sorts. Not the famous Marauder's Map, but an early prototype. It marked out major locations in Hogwarts, and could be wiped clean by any of us. One of these major sites was the Slytherin common room. Early one morning, we set up the stage, and then got under the Invisibility Cloak to watch. Perfectly, Snape was the first to walk out of the Slytherin common room, hooked nose buried in a book.

It was time… Snape stepped on the first prank—a spot spelled to be slippery, and slipped forward, yelling, only to land on the second—the same one we had pulled in the beginning of the year—turning him Gryffindor colors. He stood up, fuming, banging his head on an overhanging ledge, where a bag of silent dungbombs fell straight on to him, exploding with a stink. He backed up, onto a spell, planting a huge, gold capital 'M' on his forehead, spelled not to come off for a week. We could only watch for so long, though, and had to go to class, eventually, so when no one was looking, James whipped off the cloak and stuffed it down his robes, and we walked casually away, and actually got around the corner…

…and walked straight into Professor Vernes. He was with a group of first years who had stepped onto the last prank: a spell which made a person shout out anything we wanted. In this case they were yelling: "LONG LIVE THE MARAUDERS!" over and over again.

"Ah… just who I didn't want to see," he said icily. The effect of the moment was ruined when one of the first years yelled, "LONG LIVE THE MARAUDERS!"

"Hello, Professor!" said Remus briskly ("LONG LIVE THE MARAUDERS!").

"Gotta get to class!" said Sirius. ("LONG LIVE THE MARAUDERS!")

"Not so fast," he said slowly ("LONG LIVE THE MARAUDERS!"), "Come with me…"

So, he threatened us with expulsion, told us we were the shame of Hogwarts, docked us about 200, and gave us each detention for three weeks.

Nothing unusual.

But that didn't stop anything else.

It was full-blown war of Slytherins vs. Gryffindors, now. No dockage of points or detentions could stop it. No Gryffindor or Slytherin could move about the hallways alone, for fear of being caught in a prank or beaten to a pulp. Which also meant that Ravenclaw won the house cup that year by about three-hundred points, with Hufflepuff a close second.

One good thing about the end of second year was that it was Bellatrix's last year. Sure Slytherins were still out for our blood, but that was okay, because… um, well… I guess… well, maybe it wasn't okay, but it was still nice to get rid of her.

Yay! I did another chapter! It's short, but, yay! In other news, I got bored and PLANNED OUT THE WHOLE STORY. It was fun though. There should be about fifty (count 'em) FIFTY more chapters in the story. Also, each school year is going to be shorter. For about two years, that is. I have a lot of future chapters written, just to make sure that I will get there. With hope, I will finish this, making it the first almost full length story I've ever written. I have a problem with finishing thi…

Ps: I'm not writing this for reviews, but they still make me happy! (hint, hint, nudge, nudge)