Greetin's, all! Its been a while, I'm sorry- don't give up on me! I'm definitely not going to abandon this one, I have set out to finish it, and finish it I will. I've just been a bit preoccupied lately. Sure you understand, being the lovely understanding people you are.

Jennykim2007: Thankyou kindly for your reviews! I'm sorry you didn't like chapter 6- it was one of my favourites, actually. I don't know, the thought of two boys being trapped in a girls toilet just amused me somewhat. Anyway, if Peter-bashing is your thing, then read on, because I've slipped it in as often as possible. Without going overboard, obviously- after all, they didn't know he was going to betray them. Plus, less is more...or so they say.

Ceyxa, vanity is my name and Lily of the Valley: I thank you three in particular for being my "regulars"! Always a pleasure to see your names after I post a new chapter…just hope I don't disappoint!

To anyone else I have missed (I will be more specific and mention names next time): Thankyou also! I know I've already said this, but your reviews are what keep me going! That, and I'm determined to finish this.

Look at me, rambling on, probably boring you all to tears. I'll shut up now and let the boys get on with their Marauding, I think. Enjoy!

Drifting off to sleep that night was easy for James and Sirius. Content with the fact that they had not only made peace with Peeves the Poltergeist, but they had joined forces, they happily fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows, knowing they wouldn't have any unpleasant late night visitations by him wanting more revenge. Peter was exhausted too, and not surprisingly. Though he had one final slug attack over the edge of his bed, after that, he too dozed off. Remus was the only one who had trouble falling asleep- it wasn't the first time he had lay awake worrying about what his friends had dragged him into, and for some time he tossed and turned, trying to reassure himself that this would all be over by April Fools Day- he found it wasn't a very comforting thought knowing this meant he would still have to endure a whole 3 more days of rule-breaking. He tried not to think of the chaos that could ensue now that they were in league with Peeves, as he finally drifted off to sleep.

Never did the Marauders expect to have such a valuable asset to their group. Peeves had certainly seemed keen to help out: yet as the first rays of the Friday morning sun gleamed through their dormitory window, they didn't quite yet know the extent of his keenness. Or what his idea of 'helping out' would be.

Day 5 began rather suddenly for the four friends. As they slept peacefully, Peeves allowed himself into their room and gave them all a rather alarming wake up call.

"YOO-HOO!" he bellowed, causing James, Remus and Peter to awaken with startled cries. "WAKEY, WAKEY RISE AND SHINE!"

"Wha-?" James muttered blearily, fumbling around for his glasses. "Whosat? Whassgoingon?"

"Time to wake up!" Peeves warbled. "Quickly now! WAKEY, WAKEY!"

Remus gave a sort of feeble sob when he realised what was going on, and buried his head under his pillow- Peter blinked and tried to figure out who it was that was yelling this early in the morning.

"Early birds catch the worms!" Peeves sang, at the same level of annoyance as an alarm clock that won't stop ringing. "No time for sleeping! Plenty of work to be done! Come on! WAKE UP!"

James found his glasses and put them on, wincing. "Its too early, Peeves," he slurred. "Go back to bed…or whatever. We haven't got to get up for another hour-"

Sirius- who was the only one who hadn't been woken up by Peeves' trilling- gave a sudden snort and shifted slightly, one of his arms dangling out of bed.

"Oh, Blaaaack?" crooned Peeves, giving him a push. "No more sleepies, time for wakies! Get up!"

"Mrphh…who hid my bowtruckles?" Sirius mumbled, just as Peeves gave him a rather forcefully nudge, causing him to slide out of bed and flop suddenly onto the floor, tangled in his bed sheets. The fall woke him suddenly.

"Arghh! What! Where- huh?" he babbled groggily, trying to disentangle himself from his sheets. He looked blearily at his surroundings. "Wh-where am I? I'm on the floor- why am I on the floor?"

Peeves grinned excitedly, bobbing up and down- he emitted a rather evil giggle and disappeared from the room with a pop, obviously deciding the boys didn't need anymore reminding.

"James," Remus moaned woozily from under his pillow. "This is a bad idea…who knows what he'll get us into?"

"Don't you start that at this time of the morning," said James, as he got out of bed. "He's all right, we'll be fine. As long as we're careful,"

Sirius rubbed his eyes, still looking a little disorientated after his fall. "We won't get caught," he said, stifling a yawn. "Don't worry, Moony,"

"I worry whenever you say that," said Remus. He gave in and threw off his pillow, sitting up, running a hand through his tousled hair. "Peter, surely you don't want to go along with this?"

Peter looked torn. Though the memory of the slugs was still fresh in his mind, his will to impress James seemed stronger than anything else.

"Well…" he said awkwardly. "If James and Sirius say it'll be ok…"

"Course it will!" said James. "Now come on- if our newest member wants us up and ready, then up and ready we'll be!"

No matter how exciting having help from a poltergeist sounded at that time, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus were about to find out, that in this case: "Four's company, five's a bloody nuisance…"

By the time the Marauders had gotten dressed, had their breakfast and left the Great Hall, Peeves had already gone on ahead and was into mischief before the four boys had even started yet. They found him floating at the foot of the marble staircase affixing an invisible trip wire- or at least, that was what the Marauders imagined it to be- two little first years who were descending the stairs stumbled suddenly when they reached the bottom then looked around them, completely puzzled as to what had caused them to lose balance. Peeves chuckled from where he was hiding behind a marble pillar. The Marauders approached him.

"Hello, comrade!" said James jovially. He gestured to the stairs, where a dumpy Hufflepuff boy lost his balance and fell heavily, landing spreadeagled on the stone floor. "What's all this about?"

Peeves grinned. "This?" he asked. "An invisible trip wire, this is! No one can see it except the one who put it there! Mind your step!"

Kayne Quigley, the Head Boy, was next to topple over Peeves' wire, and the Marauders could hardly bare to watch as he tottered unsteadily, trying to regain his balance, before hitting the ground with a painful thud.

Peeves laughed, his wicked black eyes glinting, as Quigley- blushing angrily- awkwardly got to his feet and hobbled off.

"You could break someone's neck," uttered Remus. "This is absurd, James, we can't-"

"I really wish I could come up with stuff like that," commented Sirius, looking down in the general direction of the wire with envy. "Where did you get it Peeves? I've got to get some! I could have so much fun with invisible trip wire back at my house!"

"Peeves has many tricks up his sleeves," said the Poltergeist knowingly. A group of girls all tripped at once and tried to hold onto each other for support. They ended up falling in a heap on the ground.

James winced. "Harsh…" he proclaimed. "I like it. What else can we do?"

"Lots," hissed Peeves.

"Er, James?" asked Peter, timidly. "I don't want to interrupt, b-but, um…its just that…its time to go to lessons now,"

"Lessons?" shrilled Peeves, giggling uncontrollably.

"Yes, Lessons? How tedious!" said Sirius haughtily. "We're only doing revision, Pete- lets hang around and cause some trouble!"

"Yeah, we don't need to go to lessons," said James, waving a hand. He turned to the fifth Marauder, taking a deep breath. "Come on, Peeves! Lead the way!"

Peeves beckoned them to follow, and he zoomed off down a corridor to the right. James and Sirius eagerly followed in hot pursuit. Peter stalled momentarily, twitching as if he were having some sort of internal battle in choosing whether to obey the rules or disobey them.

"Not you too, Peter," Remus begged. "Look, they'll get you into terrible trouble, you know that, don't you?"

Peter chewed his lip, and then seemed to decide that 'embracing his inner miscreant' would be more fun. He smiled apologetically at Remus before taking off after his friends.

Remus gave a helpless sigh and felt he had no choice but to follow too. 'At least,' he thought, as optimistically as he could. 'If they do insist on doing this, then perhaps if I go along I can attempt to get them out of any trouble, if they need it,'

He didn't realise just how hard that would be.

It was nine o'clock, and all was well at Hogwarts. Most of the students were currently in their first lesson, yet almost all of them would have preferred to be outside: the weather was delightfully sunny, as an improvement on the previous day. Madam Hooch in particular was making the most of the lovely conditions, and was out on the fresh green grass of the grounds with her first years, giving flying lessons. She didn't know that shortly her lesson was about to be rudely interrupted, as not far above her in the castle, Sirius Black was leaning out of the window, aiming a Fanged Frisbee at her and her students.

"Easy does it, Padfoot," whispered James. "Ready…and…go!"

Sirius hurled the Frisbee- it soared with amazing accuracy directly down towards Madam Hooch. Watching it from a distance, as the Marauders were, was possibly even funnier than watching it up close could have been- the Frisbee sailed over her head first, then did a full u-turn and went straight for her hair. Madam Hooch shrieked, trying to bat the demonic Zonko product away with her broomstick. She went tearing off across the lawn with the Frisbee drifting after her, and her students screaming and running off in all directions. Sirius and James were doubled up laughing.

"Oh, this beats going to lessons!"

"Beats it by a long-shot, Padfoot!"

"In fact, I don't see why we don't skip lessons more often to do this sort of thing!"

"Good idea!"

Remus crossed his arms angrily, but didn't say anything. He honestly wondered whether keeping watch for them was more than they deserved.

Peter had meanwhile taken up residence at the window to provide a running commentary. "Look, its still biting her hair!" he said excitedly. "Oh no, wait- now its going after one of the boys! Ooh- its ripping a hole in his robes- is that bad?"

"Oh, Peeves, we have you to thank for all this," said James, wiping his eyes. "It was your idea, after all!"

Peeves, who was floating just behind them gave a devious cackle and drew several more Fanged Frisbees from behind his back. Sirius and James's jaws dropped open.

"You-you have more?" Sirius spluttered, looking at the Frisbees with avid admiration. "Where did you get them all?"

"Stolen!" answered Peeves proudly, bobbing up and down. "From Filchy's office! Against school rules, they are! Anybody want one?"

Remus' ardent objection of "NO," was by far drowned out by James, Sirius and Peter all eagerly cramming around Peeves for a Frisbee, like children who had been offered free lollipops. Soon enough, not only one Frisbee was pestering Madam Hooch and her class, but a flock of about seven more had been sent sailing down from the window. The distant screams from students down on the grounds were music to the Marauder's ears.

Peeves was grinning pompously. "Want to have some more fun?" he asked sweetly.

"Lead the way, oh-mischievous-one," said Sirius, courteously. Peeves bowed, and rocketed off down the hallway, jingling as he went. The Marauders followed; James and Sirius in absolute awe of their new partner in crime's abilities. Remus was far from impressed, and Peter was still wary of Peeves after Day Four's general sliminess- but both still followed.

Soon enough, Peeves stopped them in front of an impressive suit of armour, one of many around the castle. This one was large: it wore a grand horned helmet and heavy gauntlets, and wielded a menacing spiky mace.

"What now, Peeves?" asked James, gazing up at the armour.

Peeves grinned. He spread his fingers, and looked as if he were concentrating very hard. The suit of armour began to clatter, trembling from head to foot, and it glowed red hot for a moment before falling still again.

Peeves gave a musical chortle, obviously very pleased with what he had done. Whatever it was, it was not yet evident to the Marauders.

"Er…right," said Sirius, eying the motionless suit of armour cautiously. "What was all that about, then?"

"Step closer," Peeves crooned.

Peter was the only one who was brave enough (or stupid enough) to do this, and walked right up to the suit of armour. In the blink of an eye, it had raised its mace, and clobbered Peter heavily over the head with it.

Peter staggered, letting out an pained cry. He rubbed the top of his head, wincing, as James, Sirius and Remus stood staring in shock.

"Brilliant!" exclaimed James, putting all sympathy for Peter aside. "That's amazing, Peeves! So he'll just freely wallop anyone who dares to walk close enough?"

Peeves nodded deeply. The suit of armour flexed its metallic fingers, clenching the mace readily.

"Wicked," uttered Sirius, in admiration. "Does it hurt much, Pete?"

"Yes," Peter whimpered, his eyes brimming with tears.

"Nonsense!" snorted Peeves. "He won't hit too hard- OOH, LOOKIE! Victims!"

Sure enough, a group of very bookish looking 7th years were making their way down the hall, deeply immersed in conversation, which was no doubt very serious NEWT business. They would surely pass straight by the bewitched, mace-wielding armour, and would surely also get biffed.

Peeves giggled evilly, wriggling his belled shoes in delight.

"James, please, stop this," urged Remus, watching with dread as the 7th years got closer. "This really has gone beyond a joke. Its dangerous. He's dangerous,"

"Come off it, Moony!" said Sirius, eagerly watching the approaching students with a rather predatory gleam in his grey eyes. "Forget the rules for a moment! Just enjoy yourself! Have fun! Embrace your-"

"If you say 'inner miscreant' again, I'll…"

Remus trailed off, and paled quite suddenly- for he had spotted someone else, at the opposite end of the corridor . Not just anyone; it was one particular grumpy staff member, armed with a dirty mop and a foul expression on his pouchy face. Before Remus could find his voice to warn his friends, the intruder spoke first.

"What do you boys think you're doing hanging around here!"

All Marauders turned suddenly. It was Argus Filch. He had stopped in his tracks, with Scraggles at his feet.

"Skiving off lessons, are we?" he queried, somewhat triumphantly. "Out to cause some TROUBLE, eh?"

"Mother of Merlin!" wailed Sirius. "Its Filch! RUN!"

He and James directly turned tail and fled- which was not an incredibly wise idea, on any terms: nothing says "I'm guilty!" like running from the crime scene. Peter was quick to follow and Remus too, feeling he wouldn't stand a chance by himself, Prefect or not, against the caretaker's current mood. Peeves heroically sent one last Fanged Frisbee spinning towards Filch before he zoomed off after the Marauders. The 7th year group paused to watch, bemused.

"STOP!" Filch hollered, finishing with a strangled cry as the Frisbee tackled him head-on. This caused him to stumble sideways into the knight, who brought down his mace on Filch's head with a painful clang, resulting in an even more agonised yell. No matter how entertaining the Marauders would have found this, they didn't stop running for anything.

"Now you've done it!" Remus cried, haring after James. "Why did you run?"

"Well I wasn't about to hang around and get caught, was I?" said James, darting up a flight of stairs. "We'll be fine, we're too quick for him,"

"I feel like a fugitive!" panted Sirius. "On the run from the authorities! Isn't it fun!"

"Fun?" Remus exclaimed. "Have you completely lost it, Padfoot?"

"We've got to hide!" said James as he skirted around a corner. "Dammit! I wish we'd brought the Map! Peeves! Know anywhere good?"

Peeves' wicked eyes slid from side to side, before he pointed suddenly to a closed wooden door.

"Ooh, in here!" he said. "In you go!"

James didn't stop to consider what could be on the other side of the door, but opened it quickly and darted inside, Remus, Peter and Sirius following.

It shut behind them.

They were in.

James breathed out a sigh of relief- which soon turned into a squeak of panic when he realised where exactly they had just stepped into.

It was the History of Magic classroom, and unluckily for the Marauders, a class was in session. The room was filled with bored looking second year students, and Professor Binns was floating near the blackboard, drawling on about 9th century Troll invasions.

The four friends froze by the door, not knowing what to do as a few students near the back turned in their seats to see who had come in.

"Uh-oh," whimpered Peter. "What do we do now, James?"

"Sit down and shut up!" whispered James, dragging them down into the back row of desks. They sank down as low as they could in their chairs, hoping they would go unnoticed. They needn't have worried- ghostly Professor Binns was scarcely aware of his own pupils, let alone a few extras.

"No offence, Prongs, but this is stupid!" hissed Sirius. "I spend half of my school life trying to get out of History of Magic, yet here I am sneaking into it!"

A group of boys to Remus' right were staring at them curiously. Remus sent them a pleading look to keep quiet.

"We'll be all right," said James. "We just hide in here for a moment, until the coast is clear, and so as Peeves has time to head Filch off for us,"

"You really think he will?" asked Remus coolly. "I think Peeves is only in this for himself,"

"Oi, he's our 5th Marauder!" countered Sirius. "We have an understanding! Of course he's going to help us!"

More students were giving up listening to Binns and were turning to look, wondering why on earth they had four visitors in the most boring class at Hogwarts.

"This isn't good. If they keep staring at us, they're going to give us away," James murmured. "We need to distract them. Any ideas?"

"Got one," grinned Sirius, carefully drawing his wand. He sat up in his chair, just enough to see over the students heads, and flicked his wand at the blackboard.

Magically, it began erasing itself- the cursive scrawl, which had contained notes on obscure little towns in Northern Europe that had recorded sightings of Trolls in the 9th century, disappeared in a cloud of chalky dust.

Binns was oblivious, and simply continued droning on as his students suddenly perked up, whispering amongst themselves and watching the blackboard in amazement.

Sirius sniggered. He wrote something in thin air with his wand, and a new message was chalked onto the board.

"The invasions themselves…as such…were not unexpected," Professor Binns drawled. "On the contrary…the villagers had adequate defenses, in case of such an attack…"

Behind him, the words "Binns is a boring old sod," had formed, much to the amusement of the second years. They started to titter lightly when they noticed. Sirius was not finished yet.

"Blah, blah, blah, troll invasions, blah, blah," the blackboard continued. "Studying dragon dung would be more interesting than listening to this senile twat,"

A collective chuckle was rising from the students around the room, and the ones who had only just noticed were nudging their neighbours, pointing to the board. Binns became slightly distracted and began to dither a little, losing his thread- which was something very unusual for him.

Peter, as always, found this hysterical- of all the students in the room, he was laughing hardest. James drew his wand and decided he wanted to have a go as well. Before long, the blackboard had a new message:

"He's so dull he wouldn't even notice a troll invasion,"

"Even if they invaded this room," added Sirius, with a curly flick of his wand.

"Pity you can't die twice," wrote James.

"Lucky, really. He might be even more boring if he was doubly-dead,"

He and James exchanged superior smiles, listening to the students' amusement - but their happiness was short-lived. With a startlingly loud bang, the classroom door behind them was flung open, and in strode Filch and his mangy old cat Scraggles.

Alarm struck the four boys, and they instantly tried to hide their faces behind their robes as Filch passed them, down the central aisle.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Professor," he said sternly. "But I'm looking for some students…"

His narrowed eyes scanned the room. Students were still giggling at the messages on the board, and the fact that they were giggling in the first place during History of Magic made Filch suspicious.

"We've got to get out of here!" fretted Sirius, hiding his face with his robe sleeves.

"How?" snapped Remus.

"Y-yeah, he's got us cornered!" Peter moaned. "Its over, isn't it James? We'll have to just admit defeat, won't we?"

James was looking surprisingly calm. He pointed defiantly at Peter.

"Don't ever let me hear you say that again, Wormtail," he said. "We haven't let anything stop us yet, have we? No!"

Perhaps it was because James said this a little too loudly, or perhaps it was because Filch wasn't quite that stupid not to notice them up the back, rather obviously trying to hide behind their hands- either way, at that moment, the caretaker spotted them. His slitted eyes suddenly widened and he leered victoriously.

"We have to go! Follow me!" said Sirius, sliding out of his chair and under the desk. James followed suit, and so did Peter.

"What are you doing?" asked Remus, worriedly. "Exactly where are you planning on going?"

He didn't get a reply, only James grabbing his arm and dragging him under too.

"This way!" called Sirius, leading them on their hands and knees under the desk in front of them, and past several sets of students' legs.

"Hope you know what you're doing, Padfoot!" called James.

"Not really," confessed Sirius, crawling awkwardly underneath another desk, causing several girls to shriek and leap up. "Sorry, excuse us…"

"Potter!" Filch roared. "You and your little friends had better get back here, or you'll all be in serious trouble!"

Peter got himself temporarily entangled in someone's backpack and thrashed about in panic. This caused several empty chairs to fall over in a domino effect, one of which almost fell onto Remus, who gasped and just managed to get out of the way. Students were standing up, startled and puzzled as the four escaping Marauders clawed their way underneath the chairs and desks. Chaos was slowly erupting over the room. No one really knew what was going on, especially not Professor Binns (he looked as if he was wondering whether it was worth telling his students to turn to chapter 29 in their text books or not).

"Did you hear me, boys?" Filch hollered, dancing around, looking like he wasn't sure how to try to head them off. "Stop where you are! You're not going anywhere!"

"He's obviously not familiar with the art of 'nicking off'," said Sirius, squeezing past two more pairs of legs, and scuttling under another desk.

"I'd say not," agreed James. "Sorry- coming through, don't mind us,"

Sirius dragged himself out from under the tables, now near the front of the classroom. James, Remus and Peter clambered out too, looking a little dishevelled after crawling through the maze of chairs and desks. Filch looked hopping mad that they had ignored him. He began to make his way towards them, through the disjointed desks, fallen chairs, and students who had stood up to watch what was going on.

"Right!" he bellowed. "Don't you dare move another inch!"

"Here!" yelled Sirius, suddenly noticing a way out. He had clapped eyes on a second door just behind where the blackboard stood, which must have lead out to another corridor, or an office. The Marauders didn't care where it lead to at that point; it was their only hope. They ran to it, praying it wasn't locked. Remus had just drawn his wand in case a quick "Alohomora" was needed, but Sirius opted for brute strength instead- he hurled himself fearlessly at the door and it burst open.

The four boys tore through, just as Filch reached it. With a quick smile at the livid caretaker, James slammed the door shut, bolting it behind him.

Wherever they were, it was dark. Remus, with his wand still drawn, whispered "Lumos", causing his wand tip to glow brightly, illuminating the space around them. They seemed to have found their way into a small storeroom. Stacks of rolled parchment sat in the shadowy corners, and a few mysterious looking boxes were piled in mounds along the walls.

"Please don't tell me we've just locked ourselves in a storage cupboard," said Remus flatly.

Behind them, the door James had bolted rattled, and Filch's angry, muffled cries could be heard.

"Rem, this is a castle," said Sirius, checking behind a few stacks of boxes. "You forget- wherever there's a way in, there's always at least 3 ways out!"

"Speaking of which," said James, from somewhere in the darkness ahead of them. "Voila!"

Daylight flooded into the room, as James stood proudly by a now open doorway.

Gladly, the Marauders stepped out. They found themselves in a hallway which they recognised as one nearby the Muggle Studies room. Knowing it wouldn't be very smart to hang around, they left the scene as quickly as possible.

"Close call, eh?" James breathed, running a hand through his tousled hair. "Another success for the Marauders!"

Remus stared at him in disbelief as they walked. "Please define 'success' for me, James, because now we have Filch on our trail, and he knows we're guilty!"

"Well…" said Sirius, fishing around for something positive to say. "At least we gave those poor second years a lesson they won't forget!"

"Yeah," chuckled James. "I loved the 'senile twat' comment, mate. Priceless,"

"I do what I can, Prongs," said Sirius airily. Peter giggled.

James' expression darkened slightly, and he stopped.

"Hang on, where did Peeves go?" he asked. "I thought he'd at least help us out by distracting Filch, or lead him off in the wrong direction,"

"You're right!" said Sirius in realisation. "Filchy did find us pretty quickly in that classroom. Its almost as if Peeves told him exactly where we were!"

The four boys indulged in a moment of silence, each of them trying to process this thought.

"He wouldn't do that," concluded James. "I mean, he's on our side, right?"

"He's a poltergeist, James, he isn't on anyone's side," said Remus, witheringly. "Can't you see that?"

"Yeah, but we have our code to keep to!" Sirius pointed out. "You know: we watch his back while he watches ours, that sort of thing,"

"Maybe Remus is right," said Peter, very carefully. James and Sirius looked at him sharply.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…Peeves never really helps anyone, does he? He did put the Slug Curse on me yesterday. What if- what if he's only saying he's helping us, but he really doesn't care if we get caught or not?"

Remus looked to James and Sirius to see their response. Both were looking slightly unsure.

"That's stupid," declared Sirius. "Possibly the most idiotic suggestion you've ever made, Wormtail. Next to that one about Doxy droppings back in 3rd year, perhaps,"

"Peeves wouldn't abandon us," James muttered. "We agreed to help each other out. We're on the same level,"

A harsh cold breeze blew through the hallway, and Peeves himself appeared with his usual jovial pop.

"You see?" said James to Remus and Peter. "Very loyal!"

"Hey, where were you?" asked Sirius, a little angrily. "We nearly got caught!"

Peeves puffed himself up. "Helped you hide, I did!" he said.

"Of course you did, and we're very grateful, aren't we?" said James, glancing meaningfully around at the other three. "What next?"

Before they could plan any further, something caught their attention. A dirty, dark grey cat came skulking up to them, instantly recognisable as Scraggles- Filch's personal patrol assistant. Every student knew: wherever Scraggles was, Filch wasn't far behind. He glared up at them and meowed warningly, which almost certainly meant "You're in for it now".

They could hear the heavy clumping of boots not far away.

"Oh no," groaned Sirius. "He's onto us again!"

"Come on, lets move, quick!" cried James, taking off again. Peeves hurtled after them, chuckling inappropriately.

The boys raced down the hallway, their robes flying behind them.

"I can't run anymore, James," Peter rasped. "I'm so tired!"

"Don't stop!" James snapped. "Whatever you do, don't stop! We can do this!"

James skidded around a corner and stopped abruptly.

They had reached a dead end.

"NO!" he cried, almost hysterical. "No! There must be a way through!"

Sirius ran straight into the wall, slamming his hands into the stones, as if hoping a doorway would magically appear. He had no such luck.

"We're trapped!" he sobbed. "We can't be trapped, we're the Marauders! We don't get trapped!"

The footsteps were sounding less and less distant.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Peter, panicked. "If Filch finds us, th-then he'll tell all the other teachers, won't he?"

"Y-yeah, but he won't be able to prove that its us, will he?" said Sirius, determined not to give in. "Apart from him, his smelly old cat will be the only other witness- his word against ours? Come on…"

"Sirius, a whole classroom full of students saw us!" Remus exclaimed, nervously grabbing his badge. "And Professor Binns! I hate to rain on your parade, but we couldn't look more responsible if we tried!"

Peeves looked rather unconcerned about the whole thing, and had flipped upside down again, wiggling his curly belled toes.

"Peeves, you've got to help us!" said James sincerely. "Please, where can we hide?"

Peeves flipped right way up again and gave an exaggerated shrug.

"It isn't Peeves's problem," he said, grinning wickedly. "Naughty 5th years can find their own hiding place,"

"But what about the 'Troublemakers Code' and all that?" asked Sirius frantically. "Honour? Respect? Sticking up for your friends?"

Peeves dipped his jingly hat, blew one final raspberry and vanished from the scene.

"Oh, GREAT!" James cried, throwing up his arms in dismay. "Deserted! That's it, I'm never trusting a poltergeist again!"

"Its nice to hear you've learnt your lesson," said Remus sardonically.

The footsteps were almost upon them. The four remaining friends backed up against the wall.

It looked grim.

Sirius gulped. "Brace yourselves for the worst, Marauders," he said, shakily.

Peter shut his eyes.

Around the corner came not only Filch and Scraggles…but Professor Quinn, looking sourly pleased with herself, her hands clasped neatly together. Filch's face lit up upon seeing them, and even Scraggles looked triumphant.

"Hello, boys," said Quinn, in a sickeningly pleasant tone. "Professor Dumbledore wishes to see you,"