Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize, including most of the plot. -sob-

Chapter Five: Fights and a New Friend

The four Gryffindor first years stopped as soon as they stepped past the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Does anyone remember how to get back to the Great Hall?" James finally asked after they had stood there for several minutes.

"Nope, I was counting on you for that," Sirius said.

"I was too tired," Remus said, grinning sheepishly.

"I forgot," Peter replied, cheeks reddening.

"Well, you could always ask," came a slightly miffed voice from behind them.

The four boys whirled around, all with a distinct sense of dejà vu. No one was there. "Well?" the voice asked again, and the boys realized that it was the portrait speaking. Remus yelped and jumped backward, while James snickered.

Sirius stepped forward. "I'm sorry. It just never occured to us that a lady as beautiful and intelligent as you would ever deign to help four first years," he said flatteringly.

The Fat Lady giggled, blushing furiously. When she managed to control herself, she pointed them down the proper hallway, still blushing.

Sirius smiled charmingly at her before following the other three down the hallway. As soon as they had rounded the corner and were out of earshot, all four of them burst out laughing.

"Where did you learn to do that?" James asked Sirius, grinning wide enough to split his face in two.

"Picked up a few things here and there," Sirius replied vaguely. "Why'd you jump back?" he asked looking at Remus. "You acted like you've never heard a portrait talk before!"

"I haven't," Remus said quietly.

Sirius froze. "Why not?" he asked cautiously.

"My mum's Muggle," Remus said, shrugging. "I never met any other magic kids until yesterday. We pretty much kept to ourselves."

"You're Muggle-born?" It was hard to tell what Sirius was thinking.

"Half-blood," Remus replied.

"Why?" James asked, frowning at Sirius. "You said yesterday that you hate your family's ideas. So why does it matter if Remus is half-blood?"

"I do! It's just...you've never met my mum, James! She'd scare anyone! And if she ever found out that I was hanging around with anyone that wasn't pure-blood..." Sirius paused, apparently trying to get himself under control. "Look, I wouldn't put it past her to use one of the Unforgivables on me."

James quite obviously didn't believe him. He rolled his eyes and stalked off. Peter and Remus glanced at each other and then ran after James.

"What was that all about?" Remus asked when they caught up. "You practically accused him of being like those Slytherins on the train!"

James scowled. "He is like those Slytherins on the train! Were you even listening?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Yes. And I think you were being too hard on him."

James snarled and turned to Peter. "What about you?" he demanded.

Peter looked stunned and not a little scared to be asked his opinion on the matter. "Well...I...I..."

James glared. Remus stepped between them. "You're doing it again!" he accused.

Startled, James blinked at Remus. "Doing what?" he asked, completely bewildered. "I'm not saying that Peter is like the Slytherins!"

Remus sighed impatiently. "Not that. Jumping down someone's throat for having a different opinion."

"I was not!" James replied indignantly. He paused. "Was I?"

Peter nodded mutely. Remus didn't bother. He just stared at James, tapping a foot impatiently.

James scuffed a foot against the floor. "Alright, maybe I was," he saidgrudgingly, not meeting Remus' eye. "Just a little."

"So you're going to apologize to Sirius?" Remus prompted.

"No! He was acting like a Slytherin! So, since it's his fault, I'll apologize when he does."

Rolling his eyes, Remus decided that that was probably the best he was going to get, so he continued down the hall. "C'mon, Peter," he called. "I recognize these stairs; we'll be down to breakfast in no time. Are you coming James?" Remus' tone was noticeably cooler than it had been earlier, but James ignored it.

"Yes," he replied.

Remus shrugged and led them down the stairs and the three of them managed to reach the Great Hall with a minimum of wrong turnings-five to be exact.
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Sirius stormed back to the Gryffindor common room, his appetite gone. How /dare/ that...that...that...that Potter imply that he was like his family! What did he know anyway? Just a spoiled rich kid who thought the world revolved around him.

He collapsed into one of the armchairs and glared at the fire, plotting horrible deaths for James Potter. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there when he felt a light nudge on his arm.

He looked up into the incredibly green eyes of Lily Evans. "Hey," she said.

"Hey."

"You weren't at breakfast," she continued.

"Wasn't hungry."

She nodded, as if expecting that answer. "Professor McGanagall was out timestables," she said, handing him a slip of parcment.

He stared at her, surprised. "Thanks. Your name's Lily Evans, right?"

"And you're Sirius Black," she said by way of confirmation.

"The one and only."

She laughed. "Come on. We better hurry, or we'll be late to class."

"Which class?" he wondered aloud, glancing down at the timetable. When he realized which class (and more importantly who they had it with), he nearly groaned.

"Double Transfiguration with Slytherin," she said, looking way more cheerful than any Gryffindor heading to a class with Slytherins should ever look. "Now come on!"

Sirius considered saying that he didn't care, but decided gainst it. He had a feeling that Lily Evans would drag him there if she had to. "Alright," he said, standing up. He towered over her.

She gaped up at him for a second, then shook her head. "Well," she said impishly, opening the portrait hole. "Are you coming or not?"

A/N: Okay, chapter six will be up later today (it's currently sitting on a floppy disk, staring up at me evilly), as will chapter eight of 5P1S.

Now, for those of you that I know are going to be wondering about the fight between James and Sirius: first off, they've only known each other for a day, they're really not that close yet. Secondly, James hates the dark arts (ref. OotP) and he also presumably hates the pure-blood mania that often seems to come with the dark arts. Sirius has been raised thinking that half-bloods and Muggleborns are less than pure-bloods, and while he really doesn't believe it, in this chapter, he's tired and Remus surprised him. Don't worry, they'll get back together in the next chapter.

Review Replies:

shadow929: Glad :you like it! Here you go! Sorry about the delay.

Miss Anonymous hp: Glad you like! Here you go!

Tekvah Ariel: Ah, Peter's house. Well, after I wrote that chapter, I surfed around a bit and came across the records of a chat in which she confirms that Peter was a Gryffindor. And no, all evil wizards aren't in Slytherin. The two people who've said that (Hagrid and Ron) are both Gryffindors and somewhat...shall we say...biased? But I fully understand you thinking that-J. K. Rowling is certainly pushing us to believe that...and because I'm just naturally suspiscious, I'm convinced we're going to have a Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff traitor.

Alright, now about the whole age thing...first off, according to an interview or chat or something with J. K. Rowling, McGonagall is in her eighties during the books, which makes her around twenty years older than Tom. Lucius is in his forties, if I remember correctly, which makes him around twenty years younger. Granted, he may be a bit more than five years older than the Marauders-probably more like ten, but he's going to play a big part in the plot, the way I have things planned out.

But, on the whole, thanks for the reviews! I love reviews like this that point out things that don't fit with canon! I hope you keep reading and pointing out problems!

Neva13: Wow, you really think so? Thanks!

AislinnStar: Glad you understand, and glad you like it!

Lupin's Chic: Thank you! And so do I!

the roller disco queen: Glad you approve! If you want to try another Marauder's school days fic, try Before Harry: The Marauders Tale by Chelles. It's awesome (if a little long)! Here's the update.

Lady Silvamord: Yeah Iknow the last one was just filler. Forgive me? I hope this one's a little better-it will actually affect the rest of the story (at least, I'm pretty sure it will)!

Nooka: Ooh, too bad. But then again, I started school back in August, so you're actuually kind of lucky... ;) Hope you liked the chapter!