Celebrean - I thought it would be interesting if I let them find him first. It sort of detective work for James, Sirius, and Peter. I should put it in mystery, but all of you already know what Remus really is, so it's not really a mystery. And Raven doesn't know, it's just mere coincidence.

urges - Er...Thanks for the comment/pointer/flame! I've never gotten all three from the same person before. I didn't realize that I switch elm and oak... I must have been thinking about the oak tree in my yard. Oh and if I got that howler, I wouldn't be too surprised ;. Harry really was the youngest player in Quidditch after all, but it was just something I wanted to be put into this fanfic. So please forgive me! :bows:

Author's Note: Crap another Author's note! Suck at them! Well this chapter will become extremely confusing... and stuff. JKR own Harry Potter and I don't have a right to say I own anything except for some names I made up to move this fic along.

Chapter 13: The Passage

The Gryffindor Quidditch team had begun practicing for their up coming game, and James, unfortunately, was not among their crew. The real seeker, Blake Smith, was in perfect shape now and trained into the wee hours of the morning preparing for the game. Smith, apparently, had heard about James' amazing snitch catch, and he seemed to have become more determined to win for his team. At times he'd even go as far as asking James for tips and helpful hints on how to trick opponents or avoid bludgers.

Even if James was a big help toward the team, Remus, Sirius, and Peter still had to do a lot of things to keep James' mind off Quidditch. It was most obvious to everyone that James missed being on the Quidditch Pitch, soaring through the air, and having his very own broomstick. Snape took great advantage of this and at whatever chance he had, he would humiliate the four of them in front of large groups of students. Even so, this humiliation, that Snape would try so hard to create, had no effect on James whatsoever.

"The seeker reject!" exclaimed Snape, loudly one February afternoon.

"Can it, Snivellus." Said James, lazily stretching his arms. "That is, unless you want me to hex you."

"We can make arrangements; what do you say to tomorrow after Transfiguration, mate?" Sirius scoffed, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

Snape scowled harshly at them then sped off in the direction of the Great Hall. Peter, as usual, cheered the two of them on, his yellowish hair looking ghastly white in the sunlight as they walked about aimlessly on the grounds. Remus, strangely enough, did not carry around with him his usual book.

"Did you look over Raven's report?" asked Sirius in an interested manner. "Was it any good?"

Remus pondered what to reply for a moment then said, "Yes, it was very thoroughly detailed."

Sirius shrugged; apparently he was expecting a more complicated answer from Remus. James laughed aloud at the two of them and rested his arm on Peter's shoulder. Both Sirius and Remus looked strangely at James, he wasn't usually this cheerful. Laughing at something that wasn't really funny meant that there was definitely something on his mind.

"Why yeh in such a fine mood, mate?" Sirius asked, eyeing him in suspicion.

"Tonight—"

"Oh no, I think I know what's coming." Remus frowned.

"We'll be checking that place you found Peter." He continued, vividly picturing their adventure. "You still remember where it is, right?"

Peter's white cheeks seemed to flush with red at the question, and the lot of them knew exactly what he was thinking. Remus sighed hopelessly. James ruffled his hair and shrugged.

"Sorry…" whimpered Peter.

"Don't worry, Peter, I still remember where it is." Remus comforted. "Though, I realized it's the same area Peeves the Poltergeist hangs about. I don't really understand why he hangs around there though."

"Peeves?" James mouthed; he apparently hadn't met all of the ghosts and wondered how friendly this one was. "Who's that?"

"You haven't met Peeves?" Peter asked his eyes round with awe. James could tell just by Peter's expression Peeves wasn't exactly the friendly type. James imagined it for a second, there were only two choices he could choose from; it was either this Poltergeist was really mean and evil or he was just way too friendly.

"I, unfortunately, had the honor of meeting him in the bathroom." Implied Remus gritting his teeth at the memory. "It wasn't the most pleasant visit, I must say."

"The bathroom? He goes in there, too?!" yelped Peter, clinging to James' arm.

Sirius laughed, tugging lightly against his dark cloak. This conversation was beginning to interest him, and James was curious to know if Sirius had met him already…

"I feel for yeh," Sirius snickered, lazily stretching his arms towards the sky as they continued to walk. "But unlike you two, Peeves and I were able to make a compromise."

"Compromise, eh?" repeated Remus, looking at Sirius in wonder. "I've heard that some people who compromise with Peeves often ask for him to do his or her dirty work for them."

"D-dirty work—?" Peter whimpered, thinking about it in his mind.

"Ha! You seem to be on top of all the latest gossip, Remus, that doesn't sound like you." Sirius laughed, ruffling James' hair for no reason. "Yeah, I asked him to play a minor joke on Snivellus."

"Mind sharing with us…?" James asked, looking at Sirius with great pride.

"I just told Peeves to put five frogs into his pants," he replied calmly, chuckling at the thought. "Unfortunately, Snape saw me laughing..."

"So that's why Snape has been following us around more than usual!" Remus frowned, rubbing the back of his neck.

James smiled warmly at his three friends then up at the sky. He took a deep breath in then sighed. Their friendship was growing stronger; there is no possible way for them to break apart now. Peter noticed James looking up at the sky and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked trying to be helpful.

"Something on your mind?" Sirius added, lazily resting his face on his left hand.

James closed his eyes, took of his round glasses, then opened them again.

"Peeves, eh? Sounds like an interesting fellow…"

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Transfiguration was the last class they had for the day. Professor McGonagall especially prepared today's lesson to be extremely challenging: changing large furniture into animals. Some of the stationary items they used were as big as bookcases and desks.

By the end of class there were only two people who were able to transform anything, and only one person who was able to successfully transform it into a creature. James was obviously the one who succeeded in transforming a large bookcase into a small lizard. The other two people were Sirius Black and Lily Evans who both were able to make their items either groan, growl, or be fuzzy.

"That was fun," said James as they walked out of the classroom after the lesson. "Though I think the lizard looked a bit disoriented."

"You did fine, I'm sure you'll get full points, mate." Sighed Sirius, yawning.

"Evans did a good job too." Peter interrupted, "She's so smart even if she's muggle-born!"

"Being smart doesn't mean you have to be pure-blood, Peter." Said Remus, opening another one of his gigantic books: Intermediate Transfiguration.

"Then you're not a pure-blood, Remus?" Peter asked, not thinking very much about the question he had just asked.

James blinked. That was a question that one must not ask, rather the person should tell them without being asked. Sirius shrugged.

"I'm half." Remus said plainly, not seeming to mind at all.

"Well anyways, Evans is really pretty too." Sirius nudged at James nearly knocking him over.

James cocked his eyebrow upward at him.

"Are you trying to tell me something, mate?" he asked, suspiciously.

"Not really. Just saying that she might be prettier than you." Sirius retorted, grinning evilly.

Peter and Remus chuckled at the comment, but James didn't seem that amused by it.

"Are you suggesting that I'm pretty?" James wondered aloud, a grin very similar to Sirius' appeared on his haughty face. "I didn't think you were looking at me that way, Sirius."

Remus could no longer hold it in for he began laughing rather loudly. Peter, in turn, snorted uncontrollably. Several passing students giggled at the sight of the four of them. Sirius gave James a look of utmost revulsion; his joke had just backfired on him, and James had just struck him down once again. He snickered and patted Sirius on the back.

"I was just kidding." James laughed. "Anyways, onto important matters. Remus, do you mind telling us where the secret passage—?"

"Passage, huh?" sneered a low, sinister voice.

Sirius knew who it was instantly and grimaced at hearing it. It was none other than his own cousin, Bellatrix Black, and her lackey, Rodolphus.

"It's none of your business." He sneered angrily at the two.

"Oh I think it is, little cousin, dear." She scowled back at him. Bellatrix was the Queen of all mischief catchers. She enjoyed wandering around Hogwarts looking for people who had secret plans to either sneak out of their common rooms or just cause trouble. Because of this, she had been awarded a plaque that was on display in the same place James' seeker plaque was.

"They appear to be starting some sort of group, ma'am," said Rodolphus, eyeing the four of them. "Think we should report 'em?"

Peter hid himself behind James to avoid contact with the two seventh years.

"They're not even worth being reported," smirked Bellatrix flinging her hair to one side. "If they're really starting a group, what's it called? The Idiotic Unmanageable Four Brats?"

Rodolphus laughed at the comment, and Bellatrix grinned at Sirius.

The four of them stood silently, James clenching his fist, trying to keep from grabbing his wand and hexing her. Sirius kept glaring fiercely at them; he didn't know what to say except to just look at them coldly.

"Well? Do you have a name or not?" She stammered, looking at them impatiently.

"Of course we have a name!" Peter blurted out, his face flushed red from fright. This surprised James and Sirius; Peter was pretty brave to say anything after that. Even if it was brave, it was just like Peter to blurt out something extremely careless.

Bellatrix and Rodolphus looked at Peter, stunned. Was this the same wimp they had nearly beaten up not too long ago? The yellow-headed boy seemed ever so slightly stronger. Was it his friends' influences? It stumped them as to how this boy had enough courage to even speak up.

"Is that so…?" she asked, finally regaining herself, "Then what's your group called?"

Peter buried his head in James' cloak for he did not know how to answer her question. This created a very brief silence.

Remus' throat was rather parched and dry from dehydration, and he cleared his throat trying to see if he throat would feel better. It was hard to understand why he'd be so calm at a time like this. Now, all the attention was focused on him.

A sly smile appeared on Bellatrix's face and she wondered what kind of joke they were trying to play on them.

"Well?"

"We are Purveyors of Aids." Remus croaked, trying to swallow all the saliva left in his mouth.

James and Sirius looked at each other dumbfounded. Had Remus created a name for them already?

"Strange name you got there! Purveyors of Aids? To whom?" Rodolphus laughed, tugging on his own cloak.

Remus gave a calm grin toward the two of them and casually said, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Bellatrix pursed her lips and looked like she was about to attack Remus, but was rudely wakened when Professor McGonagall walked by. Instead she spat at them, took Rodolphus by the arm and walked away.

Professor McGonagall saw what had happened and walked toward the four of them; her face quite pale. The four of them looked up at their Professor with no words to say; what did they do wrong this time?

"What's was that about?" she asked them, eyeing the four with great concern. "I don't think I've ever seen Ms. Black spit at anyone in such a revolting manner before."

"She's just jealous. Don't think about it too much, Professor." Said Remus casually.

"My, my, Mr. Lupin, you're always to calm and casual aren't you? It's hard to believe that— Oh I mean—it's hard to believe sometimes." She replied, stumbling over a few of her own words.

Remus' face looked as white as a ghost now and he grit his back teeth to keep from saying anything harsh to her, "Sh—shouldn't you be heading to your next class, Professor…?"

Professor McGonagall seemed to catch the message Remus was trying to send and sighed.

"You're right. Try not getting too involved with Ms. Black." She said walking away from the four.

When she was finally out of sight, Peter rushed over to Remus, his eyes full of wonder and excitement.

"Wow! Remus is as good as James and Sirius!" He squealed, hopping up and down. Remus smiled warmly at Peter's comment.

"Tell me, mate, exactly what are we purveyors for?" Sirius asked curiously, hoping Remus would have an answer.

"Purveyors of Aids to M.M.M." Remus replied confidently. "Can I have some of your water, James? I feel exhausted…"

James pulled out a tin bottle full of water and handed it him. The parched boy took a deep drink, wiped his mouth, and handed it back. James took it with care and found that it was nearly empty already.

"Mmm? As in really yummy?" asked Peter, licking his lips. It was getting close to supper, and you could really tell. Remus shrugged his shoulders and chuckled at the thought.

"M.M.M. Stands for Magical Mischief-Makers." He replied smiling at them. "So we're the Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers."

"Excellent name!" James exclaimed, looking rather impressed at Remus, "It's perfect! I probably wouldn't have thought of it myself."

"Of course you wouldn't," Sirius smirked. "But for now, why don't we just call ourselves the Magical Mischief-Makers, I mean, we aren't purveyors yet, are we?"

They all agreed at this thought, but also realized that they should use the name "Purveyors of Aids" toward other people, such as teachers, who ask them so it's not too obvious. Their excitement was suddenly interrupted when they heard the grumbling of Peter's small stomach.

"Can we eat now…? I'm starving!" Peter whined, patting his stomach.

---------------------------------

After supper, the four innocent Mischief-Makers calmly, and happily walked up to their dormitories to get ready for their third real adventure around Hogwarts. Dangerous their adventure would be if they were to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris so they needed to come prepared with wands, invisibility cloak, and a rough sketch of Hogwarts that Remus sketched out.

Since Christmas vacation was over, there were students around again, it was safe to say that there must be many people studying and chatting down in the common room before heading to bed. Not only that, but the Gryffindor Prefects were around to make sure nothing happens, no doubt, so it would be best not to act too suspicious as they walked out of the common room.

"No whimpering, got that Peter?" Sirius stammered.

"O—okay." He whimpered back.

Sirius shrugged; at this rate, they'd be caught for sure! James shushed all of them and urged Peter out of their dormitory first. Peter struggled at first, but was soon persuaded by Remus who walked out with him. Sirius followed afterwards, jabbing his wand into his front pocket. When they all cleared the room, James closed the door behind him as he left the room, clutching his invisibility cloak under his arm in order to hide as much of it as possible.

Stay calm…Remain calm… James repeated in his mind over and over. Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase they weren't surprised to see practically all the Gryffindors sitting by the fire talking and laughing to their hearts content. As the new arrivals into the room, the two prefects and several other students looked up at the four of them only out of mere instinct. With this mind, the four of them became extremely nervous; it seemed as though Peter was about to have a nervous break down.

"B—Bathroom," James sputtered making a extremely noticeable fake smile, "Going to freshen up before bed."

Sirius and Remus nodded in agreement as they dragged Peter quickly towards the door of where the Fat Lady was relaxing. James opened the door and politely said, "Excuse me," to her and allowed his other three friends to exit.

"Why, aren't you a polite little boy tonight, Potter." Exclaimed the Fat Lady as James carefully closed the door, "You wouldn't happen to be up to no good, would you?"

"Oh? What makes you think that?" smirked Sirius, walking quickly ahead of everyone.

James, Peter, and Remus walked quickly as well in order to avoid further questions. When they finally reached the staircases, Remus stopped and motioned everyone to do the same.

Everyone at Hogwarts knew that the staircases and even some of the classrooms were some how enchanted to keep rotating and changing positions. It was very easy for one to get lost in the castle if they were to walk around carelessly and did not pay attention to the routes one was taking.

"So where is this passage way hiding?" asked James quietly. "Behind a tapestry? Statue? Suit of Armor? Are you positive this isn't another bathroom?"

Remus nudged James rather hard in his side and gave him a look of warning then muttered under his breathe, "Try not to doubt Peter, he gets his confidence from you, James. You're his role model; he really looks up to you! Don't let him hear you say that…"

James' cheeks grew hot; that was the first time anyone said that to him. He was a role model for someone? That was something he just had to tell his family; they'd get a kick out of it! James Potter a role model for everyone to follow; it would be on the front page of the Daily Prophet if his family knew. The James Potter they knew was definitely not someone that they could look up to as a good role model.

"Oh! Now I remember!" Peter squealed to them, "I went down the third staircase to pass by here— Look! —Here it comes!"

The flight of stairs before them ascended to the next floor, suddenly moving away from their platform. The stairs moved to another platform, much like the one they were standing on, while another flight of stairs creaked toward them, taking the place of the former steps. This staircase was no longer ascending to the next floor; instead it was descending about two floors down.

Seeing that the sun was now setting quickly, the floors below were now enveloped with blackness. James hesitated for a second then remembered what Remus had told him. Peter was counting on him…

"Yeh first, mate!" James laughed, shoving Sirius ahead of them.

"G—GAAHHHH!" He yelled loudly, leaping off the platform and speeding down the staircase unable to control how fast he was going. Sirius was leaping a few steps, running down a few more, then hopping down a few others. Soon enough, he disappeared into the darkness below and the only thing they could hear was the sound of his deep echoing voice. When his yelling finally ceased there came rather a loud thud and an exhausted groan.

Both Peter and Remus stared wide-eyed into the darkness of where Sirius had disappeared into then stared at James in the most horrified manner. James, who didn't expect Sirius to rush down the steps that quickly, crooked his mouth to the side, obviously at a loss for words. He then looked hesitantly toward Peter and Remus who were shivering constantly, backing away from James slowly.

"Erm…" James croaked, rumpling his hair in embarrassment, "Who's next?"

Both Remus and Peter pointed their quivering index fingers back at James obviously telling him that he should be the one to go down next.

"Y—You guys are sending me to my grave!" he sputtered back at the two, "Sirius is going to kill me!"

"I'm not going to kill you, mate." Exclaimed Sirius, his voice somehow carrying all the way from down there. "I'll just strangle you when you get down here!"

"Would you two be quiet, Filch might be here any minute!"

James sunk his head in defeat then quickly walked down the flight of steps, careful of traps, and hoping he didn't trip on his own feet.

When he got to the very bottom, Sirius was there waiting for him, his face mighty pale from that fall he could have had if he tumbled down. His handsome face was full of perspiration and there were still marks of fear left on his face. His hair was no longer tidy and neat, rather it looked like an extreme gust of wind had blown up against his face causing his hair to stay in that strange, windswept position.

Sirius had already lit the tip of his wand with the Lumos spell causing a deep shadow to form across his face when his wand was held underneath his chin. James gulped, Sirius looked like he was about to kill someone or something; the deep pools of black in his eyes seemed to swirl around uncontrollably causing James to feel light headed.

"It was an accident, mate." Said James feeling dazed, his head still spinning.

Sirius shrugged.

"It's all right, be more careful next time. Here come Peter and Remus." He said aloud, patting James on the shoulder.

Peter, being as clumsy as always, tripped on the last step and fell forward. Remus sighed, for once he wished Peter would watch where he was going. At the rate they were moving, Mrs. Norris could probably keep up with their pace.

"Put that light away, would you?" said Remus calmly stroking some of his light brown hair from his lonesome face, "From upstairs it looks like the north star. Filch could probably see it from five stories up."

Sirius frowned and quickly said the counter curse bringing the darkness back around them. James shrugged; this is the second time someone asked them to say the counter curse for Lumos. He found it rather annoying.

"How do you expect to find our way around the corridor in this dark then?" asked Sirius, crossing his arms.

Remus didn't answer him, instead a soft, crackling sound could be heard and a soft shimmering light filled the entire place. It looked like the moonlight was also peering into these corridors, but instead of a moon, it was fire. Remus looked like he was holding a hand full of small flames.

James smiled confidently at their bookworm friend tapped him lightly on the back. Sirius, who had been frowning before, grinned widely at him while Peter quietly cheered him.

"Where'd you learn how to do that?" James asked, looking into the handful of flames.

"I'll show you the book later," he replied walking in front of them, "Let's get to the passage before someone suspects anything's wrong."

Peter cheerfully led the way pointing out which direction to go. After what seemed to be more than ten minutes, Sirius began to have his doubts about this secret place. When ever he would try and speak up about it either James or Remus would immediately interrupt. Finally, Peter came to a stop…

"Right here!" Peter exclaimed pointing at a plain, and what seemed to be an unimportant, wall.

"A dead end…?" Sirius groaned, looking at the wall unsatisfied.

"This is the place, Sirius, Peter showed it to me." Said Remus, holding the fire outwards toward the wall. "Open it, Peter."

"I remember pressing this block—yay!" He squealed happily.

The block was then pushed backwards and the wall slowly and steadily opened up. James stared at passage for a few seconds then wondered, there was something about this seemed very odd to him.

"Peter, exactly what, were you doing down here in the first place?" he asked him, looking worriedly at the passageway.

"I—I got lost?" replied Peter, his tone of voice very hesitant and questionable.

"Peter," Sirius said, eyeing him strangely, "Someone told you about this passageway, huh? Remus do you know anything about this?"

Remus shook his head innocently and said, "The first time I heard about this passageway, was when Peter was showing me where it was. When I saw it I told you about it, remember?"

The three of them looked at Peter, their faces up in concern and very uncomfortable.

"Where did you hear about this place?" James asked him, looking deep into the dark passage.

Peter looked down at his feet, his face solemn and embarrassed. Peter didn't find this passage on his own… someone must have known—

"I—I got lost… and ended up wandering around down here." He began, his voice suddenly sounding like he was crying. "It was this area where I saw Snape and two other Slytherins push the block and open up the passageway."

"Snape?!" Remus exclaimed, jumping at the thought of it. "Why would he be down here?"

"Wait a minute…" Sirius stared at the floor, "Snape and two other Slytherins…? I think I know where this passageway leads to."

They all looked up at him in confusion and awe. Where could this passage lead? Why would Severus Snape know about this place, and exactly what would he be doing here? None of it added up! Sirius seemed to be the only one who was able to piece it together.

"Where does it lead, mate?" James asked, rumpling his hair thoughtlessly. "Snivellus' personal bathroom?"

"My family described it a few times to Regulus, I eaves dropped on them at the time. My so-called mum also described this place in one of her letters; it was a warning. I'm surprised I'm just realizing it now." Sirius started, his eyes motionless, staring at the floor. "We can be in grave danger if we're caught…"

"G—grave danger?" Remus murmured, glancing from Sirius to the passage. "Filch technically can't hurt us…"

"Who ever said I was talking about Filch?" Sirius grit his teeth. "I was talking about the Bloody Baron."

:: Muwhahahahaha!! ::

Next chapter: Slytherin

So how confusing was it? Was I successful in confusing you? Please tell me! Nyah :D