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!).

Yup, I'm well aware of the order I put Peter's Boggart in…would have worked in Dormant too, if Remus hadn't been…well, you know (if you've read it!). Speaking of Remus, you should remember the bit about Boggarts…"without wands, please." Actually, that's in both the book and movie now that I think about it.

Also, I know the balloon thing only happened in the movie…I think Remus just makes the Boggarts we've 'seen' him face vanish.

And yes, I know JKR has said that Remus doesn't have a brother called Romulus…I guess I sort of have now done the same since he's…well, dead.

Chapter 10 – Retaliation

Trent was patrolling the halls when he spotted one of the classroom doors slightly ajar. He quickly checked the door for any spells, but found none.

He peered through the crack and could barely make out anything. He quickly drew his wand before whispering, "Torca Ignis."

Instantly the room lit up, and Trent walked in, his wand trained on a figure he saw cowering on the floor. He was rather surprised to find that the figure in front of him was wearing Hogwarts robes and had dirty blond hair.

"P…Peter? What are you doing here at this time of night? Where are the others?"

Peter slowly looked up as he recognised Trent's voice. "Th…they're asleep. You're not going to hurt me are you?"

"Hurt you? Why would I do that?" Trent asked, quite confused over Peter's actions.

"Well, for one thing, you...you have your wand pointed straight at me."

Trent had to admit that Peter made a fair point and pocketed his wand before offering to help Peter off the floor, a gesture which Peter declined. "Sorry, I just do that out of habit now I guess. So why are you here, Peter?"

"I…I'm not really sure," he replied.

"You should really head back to your…"

"NO! I don't want to go back there!" Peter interrupted, his eyes wide with fright.

Trent was concerned; he'd never seen Peter act like this. Then again, he hadn't seen Peter by himself either. "You have to, Peter. You can't stay awake for the rest of your life you know" Trent said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I know that, but…" Peter started, but couldn't finish as tears started to trail down his face.

Trent suddenly became much more worried, "What happened, Peter? Has someone hurt you? Please, I must know who did this to you!"

Peter shook his head and wiped his eyes, "N…no, it's not that. It's just I…I'm a failure!" he answered, and buried his head in his hands.

Trent's eyes widened in surprise. Whatever explanations he may have been thinking, this certainly wasn't one of them. "Who told you that?"

"No…no one," Peter sniffed.

"Then why are you so sure you are then?"

"Because I…I couldn't repel the Boggart last night!" he exclaimed before breaking down and sobbing again.

Trent sighed and waved his wand at the door, locking it. He then cast a silencing charm before turning his attention back to Peter. He sat down on the floor next to the young wizard and sighed again before speaking, "So, this is about what happened last night. Just because you couldn't doesn't make you a failure, Peter."

"But Sirius, Remus and James could all do it! Why couldn't I?!"

"You have to stop comparing yourself to them."

"But…but they're my friends!"

"Yes, and they'll understand. If they didn't, they never would have comforted you last night, would they?" Trent argued.

"They'll laugh at me."

"And how is that different to the way they normally act? James and Sirius laugh at each other most of the time."

"That's different. That's normally because they've just pranked each other," Peter snapped.

"Why in Merlin's name would they laugh, when you've just shown them that the thing you fear the most, is them dead? That's not a laughing matter, Peter."

"But they're so much better than me at everything!"

Trent sighed again. "Peter, listen. Yes, it's true that you don't have the same knack for picking things up quickly like James and Sirius have. It's also true that you aren't a bookworm like Remus is. But despite that, they still consider you to be their friend, Peter. They like you for what you are, not what you want them to think you are."

"But…"

"No buts, Peter. They are not better than you at everything. I've only known the four of you for a short time but I can already spot the main faults each of you have."

"They don't have any faults."

Trent chuckled before answering, "Everyone has faults, Peter. No one is perfect, trust me. James and Sirius share the same fault as each other. They don't bother to look before they leap. They both seem to be the type of people who would hex first, ask questions later. Remus thinks too much. He probably likes to picture every possible outcome before choosing what to do. In a battle, he'd most likely end up dead before he could fire one spell off. And your main fault is that you have no confidence in yourself."

Peter nodded as Trent said the last part. And the more he thought about it, the more he knew Trent was right about all of them.

"Now, what's one thing James can do better than you three?"

"Quidditch," Peter replied, without thinking.

"What about Sirius?"

"Get chased by witches."

Trent chuckled and moved on, "And Remus?"

"He and Lily usually tie for top marks in classes."

"Ok, which now brings us to you. What's one thing you can do better than those three?"

"Nothing," Peter answered again without thinking.

Trent snorted, "How could I guess that you would say that. Let me tell you something I've noticed you do better than your friends. If James and Sirius have a knack for getting into trouble, you have one for getting out of trouble."

"I'd hardly call that a talent," Peter said.

"Maybe you wouldn't, but I'm guessing they would. You're able to think on your feet, Peter, very quickly too I might add. Imagine how many more pranks they could've come up with if they spent only half as much time in detention. If they could talk their way out of them like you can."

Peter grinned as he could only imagine the kinds of things James and Sirius would get up to. "You're right. How do you know exactly what to say all the time?"

Trent smiled before answering, "That's probably the one main talent I have. I can normally find the positives from any situation. A glass is either half-full or half-empty, Peter. I choose to look at it as half-full."

Peter nodded, before thanking Trent and making his way back to Gryffindor tower, thinking about what they had discussed. He knew Trent was right, that was the one thing he could do better than his friends. He felt a lot better having talked to someone different about this.

If Peter's confidence in himself slowly grew, so did James and Lily's relationship. It soon became common occurrence to see the two of them together. Sirius, Remus and Peter didn't mind this too much, although Sirius had been aching to get their map back to see exactly how close the two of them had been getting.

It was mid-afternoon and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were sitting by the fire in the Head Student's common room. Lily had gone to the library to do some Healing study earlier, leaving the four wizards to their own devices for a few hours. James thought it was time for a little discussion with his three friends.

"Right, what am I going to get her for Christmas?"

"I'm sure I heard her say that she wanted some stink pellets, Prongs."

"Really?! How much do they co…"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, James, he was only kidding!"

James' face dawned in horror as Remus said this and he glared at a grinning Sirius. "Oh, right. Mr Prongs thanks Mr Moony for his honesty, and would like to remind Mr Padfoot that he's an unfunny git!"

"Mr Padfoot acknowledges Mr Prongs' comment, but begs to differ. I thought it was funny actually. I mean, imagine Lily's face if she opened your gift and found those!" Sirius replied with a dreamy look on his face. Peter meanwhile was trying his best to not laugh, but was failing miserably.

"Mr Prongs says to Mr Padfoot that no one asked for his opinion, and would like him to shut Mr Wormtail up since he looks like he's about to burst something!"

While all this was going on around him, Remus had his brow furrowed in concentration. He then looked up at James. "You could write her a letter."

James stopped joking around with Sirius and grinned at the young werewolf. "Hey, that's a great idea, Moony!" he said before summoning a quill and parchment from his room. "Er, any ideas how to start this?"

"How about…"

"Shut up, Padfoot! Don't even think about finishing that sentence!"

Sirius threw his hands up in mock surrender while Remus was again deep in thought. "Just tell her that you're looking forward to spending more time with her when you get back. And tell her that…"

"Whoa, slow down, Moony! I can't write that quickly!" James said as he furiously scribbled down what Remus had been saying.

"That you're gay and you don't…"

"SHUT UP, PADFOOT!"

That was the final straw for Sirius and Peter who both fell off the lounge, roaring in laughter. Remus was having difficulty keeping a straight face once he saw both his friends had tears trailing down their faces.

James just glared at his friends before sighing, "Oh, sod off you two. Now, you were saying, Moony?"

"To tell her that you hope she has a wonderful holiday, and that you would never pressure her into anything she doesn't want to do. Maybe you could both see a muggle movie or something over the break."

As James was scribbling away, Sirius spoke up again, "Great idea, Moony. You'll need a chaperone, Prongs, and since Moony and me are staying with you…"

"Forget it, Padfoot! There is no way in hell that you'll be going with us. If we do go, it'll be by ourselves," James replied without looking up from his parchment.

"You should still get her something though, James," Peter said, finally throwing off his laughing fit.

"But what? What could I possibly get her?" James asked as he put down his quill.

"Flowers normally work," Sirius remarked.

"Shut up, Pad…oh actually, that's not a bad idea. Sorry Padfoot!" James apologised after realising Sirius had not been joking for a change.

Sirius just rolled his eyes and grinned. Remus however thought otherwise, "I don't think that's such a good idea, Prongs."

"Why, is that what you got her sister, Moony?" Sirius casually asked, amid glares from Remus.

"Of course I didn't! I'm not interested in her…"

"Ah, but she is interested in you. Maybe you should write a letter letting her down gently," James said with a grin.

"For your information, I have already done that," Remus snapped back. That had been the reason why he bought up the idea of the letter to James. Remus had given his letter to Lily, asking her to pass it on to Petunia when she saw her over Christmas. He then stood up. "Since you don't need my help anymore, I might go to…"

"NO! Don't do that!! Please don't leave, Moony! I'm getting desperate here!" James pleaded, getting off the lounge and falling to his knees to tug on Remus' robes.

Remus tried to look disapproving, but could scarcely hide his amusement. "Oh all right. Stop begging, you prat! I was going to suggest you get her a bracelet or something like that. Bit more personal than giving her flowers."

James looked up at his friend and his face broke out in an enormous smile. "Moony, I could kiss you! That's a fantastic idea!"

"In that case, you'll have to mention that you're ga…"

"SHUT UP, PADFOOT!" James roared, and again Sirius and Peter burst out laughing.

Remus was the only one who caught James mutter something about getting his payback next Potions class.

Professor Linus Tuero, Slytherin Head of House, was not having the best of days. His previous class had been disrupted when one of the fourth years mixed the wrong ingredients, causing a massive explosion which coated the entire dungeon with a thick green sludge.

That happened in the first ten minutes of class, which meant the rest of the time was spent frantically cleaning it up, which all the class helped with. He was fuming, and had taken fifty points off the unlucky house, despite it being his own.

He didn't have much time to dwell on it, as his final class for the day rolled in; seventh years. He watched as James, Lily and Sirius all sat as far away as possible from Severus and Walden Macnair. He was just starting to go over the way to brew the Draught of the Living Death, when a crash caught his attention.

He whirled around and spotted James standing up, his chair overturned, with his wand trained on Sirius.

"Right, that's it, Sirius. I swear, do that again and I'll…"

"What, James? Going to hex me are you?"

James glared and whispered something that no one caught. When everyone next blinked, Sirius' nose had been replaced with a snout. Sirius was seething, and responded in similar fashion, giving James not only a snout, but also a matching tail. James countered this, and Sirius soon found himself scratching like mad as James gave him fleas.

That was the final straw for Professor Tuero who abruptly brought their little display to a halt. "POTTER AND BLACK, IF YOU DON'T CEASE THIS INSTANT, I'LL PERSONALLY SHOW YOU WHAT THE EFFECTS OF A WRONGLY BREWED BATCH OF THIS POTION WILL DO! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!!"

James and Sirius gulped and nodded their heads before sitting back down.

"Oh, no, I can't have you two here like that. Get to the hospital wing, now! Fifty points from Gryffindor for interrupting class. Also, you will now be required to provide me with, not one, but two rolls of parchment on all you can find about this potion. GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM!"

Sirius and James packed their things up and raced outside as quick as they could, glaring at each other all the way to the hospital wing.

"Where's Padfoot?"

"And Prongs, I haven't seen either since lunch," Remus added.

"Oh, they're both in the hospital wing," Lily announced.

"What? How did that happen?"

"They were both mucking around in Potions, Peter."

"Let me guess, they ended up hexing each other…again," Remus said with a slight shake of his head.

Lily nodded. "I don't think there'll be any everlasting effects though."

"Everlasting effects? Why, what did they do to each other?"

"I'm not sure, Remus. I'm not too up to date on the pranks you four like to come up with. I didn't recognise the spells. Seriously though, Sirius' was more serious than James', however they both didn't seem to be taking the class that seriously in the first place," Lily replied, a smile gracing her face as she said this.

"Um…right. C'mon Remus, let's go see if they're all right."

The two of them set off to the hospital wing to see their friends. As they were walking, Remus noted the look of confusion on Peter's face and waited for the inevitable question.

"Do you have any idea what Lily was on about with all the Sirius' serious stuff?"

Remus laughed before answering, "I think she meant that whatever they did to each other, James got off the lighter. She was just doing what we used to do with his name. I mean, honestly, how anyone with that name expects to go through their life without hearing that joke is beyond me."

"True, we haven't done that in a while though…"

"That's because Sirius hasn't been all that serious in a while!" Remus interrupted with a grin.

Peter grinned back and nodded as they arrived at their destination. They pushed the door open and walked inside, dreading what they might find.