Do I really need to say this again? J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. If you recognise anything from any movie, TV show, book or whatever else, it's probably because it is from them. If you want my 'full' warning, you can check out either 'Dormant Power' or 'Beginning of the End'.

If you've read both those fics, then you know how my version of it ends…but how did it begin? Again, only some names are mine, everything else is not! I've based this from the Marauders perspective so…well you'll know the story when something happens to a certain someone, even though I don't write about it in this one! Also check out 'The Apprentice', it has some info you won't find in my other two stories (wink, wink!).

So, there's the first prank out of the way. And if you've read Dormant, you'll know what Trent's reaction is!

This will be the last chapter of this fic I post for a while (about four weeks or so, I'd say) due to the imminent release of Half Blood Prince.

Chapter 4 – Never Believe Everything You Hear

"You should've seen the look on your face!"

"Shut up, Padfoot! How in Merlin's name was I supposed to react when I heard knocking on my door!"

"Maybe so, but to…"

"I can send you to the Hospital wing early if you like, Padfoot" James growled, and Sirius quickly quietened down as the four of them made their way to the Hall for breakfast.

Remus and Peter had been watching the banter between the two of them in amusement, but both had more than enough sense not to contribute to it. Remus' idea of using the Head Students' room to get back to Gryffindor tower worked, but it wasn't without incident.

James, of course, hadn't been expecting his three friends to come in when he heard knocking on his door. He had thought it was Lily, and had quickly removed his shirt before telling 'her' to come in. Needless to say, when he saw who it was, he was less than impressed. He had let them use the corridor, but told them that would be the only time he would help them like that.

They settled down for breakfast, comparing timetables.

"So, double Herbology then Potions after lunch, Padfoot. What about you two?"

"Same, but I've got Arithmancy after lunch" Remus answered.

"I've got Muggle Studies" Peter added.

"Nice, so we've all got spare time before dinner. We can go over our first midnight adventure then. It's next week right?"

"Yes" Remus replied before refilling his goblet.

"Are you feeling it yet?"

Remus just glared at Sirius. "Ok, ok, stupid question! What do you reckon our detention will be like?"

"Oh, it'll be brilliant, Sirius. Just wait and see" James replied while rolling his eyes and shaking his head slightly.

Despite James' threat, he had not done anything to his friends today, but he had not ruled out the possibility of doing something later in the year just yet. The four of them made their way to Professor McGonagall's office after dinner, each caught up with what they might be doing. All of them had hoped they would only be doing something 'simple' like polishing the trophy room without magic, but they had a nasty feeling that McGonagall might make them spend time with Filch.

"Right, you four. What you did last night was incredibly irresponsible. Especially given the fact that two of you have added responsibilities this year," she said looking between James and Remus before continuing.

"You're all lucky that it's only the first day back, or you would most likely be doing something totally different than what I have in mind."

"Trophy room?" Sirius asked hopefully.

McGonagall pursed her lips before replying "no, Mr Black, you shall not be cleaning the trophy room. For the next two nights, you shall be cleaning, without magic, the dungeons."

"WHAT! But that'll take way longer than two nights!" James exclaimed.

She arched an eyebrow, while allowing a wry smile to cross her face. "Then I suggest you begin right away. You can start with the Potions classroom."

The four of them looked at each other before nodding and slowly making their way to the dungeons to begin.

Trent happened to be wandering by the dungeons doing his patrol when he heard voices from inside one of the rooms.

"Hey, watch where you wave that thing around! It's wet!"

"Well, it would be easier with my wand!"

"Will you two shut up! This is hard enough doing this as it is without you two constantly complaining. Now sit still and hold this!"

"Yes, Professor Lupin!"

"Shut up, Sirius."

thwack!

"Ouch! Hey, he hit me! That's it Sirius, you're in for it now!"

"C'mon James, I didn't slap you that hard. You just have to really put your back into it!"

"I'll put your back out if you're not ruddy careful!"

"Um, bit of help over here guys!"

"How'd you manage to stick that there, Peter?"

"Well, if I could figure that out, James, I wouldn't have done it in the first place!"

"Oh, good point. Here, let me help. On the count of three, pull really hard; one, two, three!"

"That's it! It's coming out! No, don't stop, damn! Do it again, yeah?"

Trent decided that he'd heard enough and politely coughed to catch their attention.

"What was that?"

"I think someone's outside!"

"Merlin, I hope it's not Filch, he'll kill us!"

"I'll go and check, stay here."

The door opened and a red-faced James Potter, with a damp towel in his hands, looked up and saw Trent.

"Er…hi. Is there something we can help you with?"

"Do I even want to know what you're doing in there?"

"Oh, we're just cleaning."

Trent raised an eyebrow in reply. "Right. Sounded like you were doing something quite different than cleaning."

"Well, we have to do it without magic. Right royal pain in the a…"

"Well that would explain some things I guess" Trent cut in.

"It's for our detention. We have to clean the dungeons for the next two nights. We're still on the first room."

"Oh, I see. Just be careful with what you're talking about in there next time. Mental images and all that."

Trent smiled when he saw James' eyes widen in horror when he realised what some of their comments might have sounded like. He nodded dumbly before closing the door.

As Trent walked away, he could hear James giving the others an earful.

"Nice going you prats! Do you have any idea what we must sound like to someone outside!"

"Um, no, not really. Who was it?"

"That Auror from the Express. Let's just try to do this in silence, all right? That way we won't say something that could be taken the wrong way."

"Yes Professor Potter!"

"Shut up, Sirius. Just for that, you can scrub the floor!"

"But that's all I have been doing!"

Their voices were drowned out as Trent rounded the next corner and continued his patrol.

Trent was coming back after finishing his patrol and wondered how the four wizards were going with their cleaning and popped his head into the nearest dungeon. It was empty and clean, so he kept going until he found them two dungeons down.

"Not too bad, you four. How much longer do you have to go tonight?"

"Around an hour" Remus answered.

"Mind if I help?"

"How?"

Trent just smiled before raising his wand and pointing at the wall Peter was working on.

"Scourgify!"

The build-up on the wall quickly vanished while Remus looked on in amazement.

"You did the whole wall with one spell!"

"What are you talking about, Remus? That is what that charm's for" James said.

"I'm aware of that, but to remove that much grime and stuff with one spell! If we were allowed to use our wands, it'd take us at least three spells to get it all off" Remus answered back.

"Anyway, I'll let you get back to it then."

"Couldn't you do the whole room for us?"

"Sirius! He can't, McGonagall would know we had help then, you git!" James retorted.

"Oh, right. Thanks then."

"My pleasure. See you same time tomorrow night."

Trent then walked out of the room, leaving the four wizards with one less wall to clean.

The four of them made their way back into the dungeons for their second, and final, night of detention.

"So, how many did we get done last night?"

"Three, Sirius. And that was only due to the help that Auror gave us."

"Too true, Remus. I wonder why he helped us. It's not like he had to or anything."

"Maybe he found out that it was…"

James' voice stopped when they entered the next dungeon to work on.

"Er…what happened?"

The others looked around at the dungeon in shock. It had already been cleaned.

"Maybe we already did this one" Sirius suggested before opening the door to the next room.

"We certainly didn't do this one" Remus remarked as he poked his head around Sirius to find that dungeon had been cleaned as well.

Sirius nodded in agreement before the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard from behind them. The four of them slowly turned, hoping it wasn't Filch, and breathed a sigh of relief when they found Trent standing across the corridor.

"Like what you see?" he casually asked.

"You mean you did this!" Remus exclaimed.

"I would have thought that was obvious" Trent replied.

"But why? Why are you helping us?"

Trent shrugged before replying "I don't know. Possibly because you four should be concentrating more on your studies than wasting time cleaning dungeons."

The four wizards blinked in surprise as they watched Trent begin to walk away.

"Wait!" James said, and Trent stopped.

"Thanks for helping."

"No problem. You might want to just sit and wait in one of the rooms though until your detention is over."

They nodded their heads as Trent went on his way to continue his patrol. After he'd gone, Sirius turned to James.

"You know something. I'm beginning to like that guy."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. He doesn't appear to be like any of the Aurors I've met before."

"What do you mean, James?" Remus asked.

"Well, Aurors don't normally talk to anyone except their colleagues. But this guy's…"

"His name's Trent if I remember rightly" Remus interrupted.

"Whatever. He's different from the others. You've seen them around the castle, they're kind of scary the way their eyes dart around, as if trying to catch you for just looking at them. But Trent doesn't seem to care about it."

"Maybe he's just trying to be nice" Peter suggested.

"Yeah, Peter might be right. You can't believe everything you hear, James" Remus added before the four of them made their way into the nearest dungeon to wait for their detention to end.