-shuffles feet- Erm . . . let me begin with saying that yes, I AM aware that I have not updated in over –mumbles- a year. For this, I am sorry. Life was like a car speeding away and I was along for the ride. I had no muse, no inspiration, and no time to write. But after spending an entire day re-reading my writing and the reviews you wonderful, wonderful people left, and seeing how many people have me on their favorites list, I was more or less consumed with guilt. I decided that even if it kills me, I am going to pull this story out from somewhere and I am going to finish it. So help me God.

I want to thank all of you reviewers who have stayed faithful to me and to Fairy Dust- Nicole and Meredith especially for their constant and unending friendship. You have no idea how much I love and appreciate you to two for all that you do.

Thank you.

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"Detention with Black," James muttered angrily as he scrubbed at a multicolored glob of goo on the floor of the Potions dungeon. The night had started off absolutely wonderful. Professor Arlington, completely oblivious to the death glares the boys were sending to each other, had given them the task of scrubbing the entire dungeon clean without the use of magic. James Potter had never done a single thing in his life without magic. James Potter had also never actually cleaned anything either.

The professor had left the two boys to their cleaning. As soon as she had left, Sirius moved as far away from James as he could, lest he catch the disease that made James's hair defy gravity. He sat in another corner of the room, playing with his sponge and not doing his assigned work- an average occurrence in the life of Sirius Black. A grunt from the other boy in the room caused him to look up. James had his back towards him and was obediently tending to his chore. A small grin slowly grew on Sirius's face as the hand holding the sponge dipped menacingly into the bucket of soap and suds. The back of Potter's head just looked so inviting . . .

WHAP!

James bolted straight into the air as something very wet hit him in the back of his head. Reaching back, he cautiously felt what had attacked him. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found it was only soap and not something utterly disgusting. A soft sniggering noise from the other side of the room told him immediately who the culprit was. Well, it's not like there could have been anyone else. They were alone, after all. "Oy!" he shouted, whirling around to face his nemesis. "What was that for?"

"First rule of pranking," Sirius replied. "Never turn your back to your enemy." James narrowed his eyes before smirking.

"That may be true, Mr. Black, but you seem to have forgotten the equally important second rule: Never be caught defenseless," he said. "Because now that you have thrown your sponge at me, I have two and you have none. Therefore I hold all the power. You have no way to defend yourself."

"Ah yes, but you seem to have forgotten, Mr. Potter, that I have a bucket of lukewarm detergent that is just begging to be thrown at that mop you call a head," Sirius retorted, holding up his bucket threateningly. "And, plus, I'm a freaking wizard."

"You wouldn't dare," James hissed.

"I'm a Black. You should never make assumptions about us," Sirius said as threw the entire soapy bucket onto James. The now soapy Gryffindor boy coughed and sputtered before slipping around on the soap. While Sirius was laughing his head off at James's misfortune, James took the opportunity to pick up his bucket and toss the contents at his enemy. The shocked, startled intake of breath followed by cursing and spitting as Sirius realized he had just swallowed a mouthful of the soap succeeded in bringing a smile to James's face.

Sirius wiped the soap out of his eyes and glared at James. "You are so dead," he growled before lunging at the boy and knocking him to the floor.

Fifteen minutes later, Professor Arlington entered the Potions classroom and gasped in shock as she saw the two students who were supposed to be doing detention wrestling on the floor, a few punches and kicks being exchanged between them. "Boys!" she cried. Upon hearing her voice, the two Gryffindors sprang apart from each other. The professor cautiously stepped into the room and looked around.

"I have to admit, although you boys have an unconventional way of cleaning, you've done a nice job," she remarked, a satisfied look on her face. James and Sirius both raised an eyebrow before looking around the room. It was completely spotless. Somehow, they had managed to clean the entire thing. This was most likely due to them rolling around on the floor covered in soap. The boys looked at each other and shared a small laugh, just happy that they had made it through the detention.

"You're free to go," the professor said. "And do try not to get detention again. I'd hate to have to put you through this again, I really would." Instantly, James was out of the room and halfway down the hall.

"Hey Potter! Wait up!" Sirius called, running after the boy in question. James stopped and heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"What do you want, Black?" he grumbled, folding his arms and giving Sirius a sour look.

"You have quite the devious mind for an absolute idiot," Sirius said, patting James on the shoulder.

"Do you have any idea what 'devious' means?"

"Well, no, but my mum uses it to refer to me all the time. Do you know what it means?"

"No, but that's not the point."

"What is the point then?" Sirius questioned, scratching his head.

"I don't know," James replied. "You're the one who started this stupid conversation."

"Oh right!" Sirius murmured as they walked down the hallway together. He chuckled softly. "Man, it would have been great if that had been Snape there instead of you. His poor hair could have finally been washed." James came to a sudden stop.

"You hate Severus Snape?" he asked with wide eyes.

"With an undying passion," Sirius replied. He quirked an eyebrow and suspiciously asked, "Why?"

"Because I hate him more than I do you!" James exclaimed. Sirius paused for a moment and looked thoughtful (a rare occurrence for the heir of the Noble House of Black). James squinted his eyes at the boy. "Are you thinking?" he asked, amazed.

"Hey, don't knock it 'till you've tried it," Sirius replied. "You know, I think I've come up with something that will make us both very happy. Do you realize what we could accomplish if we worked together? I mean, of course, all the utter terror we could unleash with pranks upon these poor, unsuspecting students. I propose a truce; for the time being at least, so that we can combine our efforts and our brains to create a legendary team of pranksters." He extended a hand towards James. "So what do you say, Jamesie? Are you willing to put aside our differences for the greater evil and general mischief?"

James stared at Sirius's hand for a moment. "Never call me 'Jamesie' again and you've got yourself a deal, Mr. Black," he said, taking Sirius's hand and giving it a quick shake.

"I can already tell this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership, Mr. Potter," Sirius said, slinging an arm around James's shoulders as they walked down the darkened corridor and into the night.

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The portrait hole opened and Lily entered the Gryffindor common room, her arms laden with books. She had been working on homework ever since dinner was over and still hadn't finished when the librarian finally kicked her out of the library. She was about to call it a night and leave her Charms homework for the morning when she spotted one of her dorm mates sitting alone in a corner. It was the quiet one; Megan, she thought her name was. Usually Megan and one of the first year boys would always be together playing chess, doing homework, or just talking. But he didn't seem to be around tonight and Megan looked quite lost without him.

Deciding sleep could wait; Lily walked over to the girl. "Hey Megan?" she asked softly. "Did you understand the Charms homework? I've worked on it for hours and I can't seem to understand it." In all truth, Lily had taken instantly to Charms and seemed to have a knack for it. So what if she told a little white lie? Lily knew full well she couldn't go seven years with Sirius as her only companion and Megan looked like she needed a friend.

"I'm pretty sure I understood it. Do you want to sit down and we can go over what you have? I can try to explain the things you don't understand," she said softly, scooting over on the couch she was sitting on and making room for Lily to sit down.

"Thanks so much," Lily said as she sunk onto the couch and opened her Charms book. "Where's your friend at? I don't think I've seen you two apart since the year started."

Megan looked at the ground and shrugged. "Madame Pomfrey, the hospital wing lady, came and got him after classes were over yesterday and he never came back. I got a note from him this morning that said his mother was sick and he had to go see her but that he'd be back in a few days at the most."

"Oh. Well I hope she's all right," Lily murmured as the portrait hole opened and James and Sirius stepped in, laughing hysterically about something. Lily immediately raised an eyebrow at the two boys.

"Well Mr. Black, I've got to get some shut-eye but I'll talk to you tomorrow morning about Operation Mischief," James said, giving Sirius a friendly pat on the back. Sirius nodded.

"But remember, it's strictly hush-hush," he said. "Wouldn't want the greasy bugger to find out, now would we? See you in the morning, Mr. Potter." James disappeared up the boys' staircase and Sirius spotted Lily sitting over in the corner with Megan. He walked over to the girls and sat in between them.

"What exactly did they do to you in that detention?" Lily asked suspiciously as Megan scooted away from Sirius.

"Why Lily, what ever do you mean?" Sirius questioned before glancing at Megan. "I'm not going to bite, you know. Not hard, at least." Megan scooted even further away from him.

"I'm talking about how you spent all day today whining and complaining about how you were dreading your detention with "The Evil Git" as you referred to him and now you two come back acting like you've been friends all your lives!"

"Lily, Lily, Lily," Sirius tutted. "The bond between men is a strange and mysterious thing that can be neither understood nor explained."

"You found something in common didn't you?"

"You know Lily, you take the fun out of everything."

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Breakfast at the Slytherin table was traditionally a quiet affair. Slytherins by definition were not morning people and most would still be half-asleep as they shoveled food into their mouths. It seemed that a cruel twist of Fate had bestowed upon Slytherin a terrible curse that came in the form of a caffeine crazed first year girl.

"What kind of place is Dumbledore running?" Meredith mumbled, folding her arms and pouting. "Pumpkin juice and tea? You've got to be kidding me. Where is the coffee?" At the mention of the beverage, she slammed her fists on the table, causing many Slytherins to bolt upright and one to fall on the floor.

"What are you talking about, girl?" Lucius hissed, angry at being knocked out of his sleep-like state.

"Don't give me that attitude, Lucy," Meredith responded to which Lucius narrowed his eyes. "I'm talking about how there is no coffee here. Sure it's an American drink, but that doesn't mean we Brits can't enjoy it too! Who says we should be confined to tea? Coffee is a whole new world of possibilities."

"Meredith, people are starting to stare," Nicole muttered. Having roomed with the girl for almost a month, Nicole knew that when Meredith went off on a tangent, it would be hard to bring her back to Earth.

"Let them stare!" Meredith cried. "Then maybe they will realize the horrible injustice that is occurring here. Sure, I put up without the coffee for a few weeks, hoping that maybe whoever makes the food had just forgotten. But day in and day out there continues to be no coffee and I am beginning to go through withdrawals. Look at me Nicole, I'm shaking! I'm shaking from being deprived of coffee's caffeinated goodness!"

"Oh for the love of Merlin!" exclaimed a seventh year as he leaned over and tapped Meredith's goblet with his wand. "Please shut up now."

Meredith raised an eyebrow at the boy and hesitantly raised the goblet to her lips. As soon as she tasted the liquid, she let out a scream of joy. "It's COFFEE!" she cried happily.

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A few days later found the Gryffindors enjoying their dinner. Megan's soft-spoken friend had returned looking extremely worse for wear and she had not left his side since. Stifling a yawn, Lily sat down next to her just in time to catch a part of Sirius and James' whispered conversation from across the table.

"Today?" James whispered. Sirius craned his neck as if looking for something across the hall.

"I don't know, is he here?"

"Of course he's here. Bugger hasn't missed a day of school yet."

"Well okay. Do you want to do it or should I?"

"Do you know the spell?" James whispered.

"Of course I know it, Potter," Sirius retorted, giving the bespectacled boy a glare.

"Fine then, go ahead." Sirius nodded and withdrew his wand. As he did, Lily's eyebrows shot up. She was about to say something to stop him when Sirius pointed his wand at something across the Great Hall.

"Wingardium Leviosa," he said, butchering the pronunciation horribly. He seemed to be waiting for something to happen. Apparently nothing did because his face immediately became one of disappointment. He tried saying the spell a few more times but had no success.

"You idiot," James growled, standing up and whipping out his own wand. "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" he shouted. A few seconds later there was a loud cry followed by hysterical laughter. Lily whirled around in her seat to see a very shocked looking Severus Snape pulling a bowl of pudding off of his head as the rest of the Great Hall laughed at his expense.

"POTTER! BLACK!"

The two boys turned to see a furious looking McGonagall storming down from the faculty table and down the aisle. She grabbed the two boys by the back of their robes and dragged them from the Great Hall.

"Wow, they're really going to it," Megan's quiet friend murmured. Lily merely nodded her head in agreement.

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"This sucks," Sirius muttered as he picked up another piece of parchment and placed it in a folder. "OUCH!" he cried after receiving yet another paper cut. He and James were serving detention for McGonagall as punishment for their prank on Snape. She was making them re-file all of the papers that she had kept over the years.

"Tell me about it," James grumbled. "You know, if we had planned the prank better instead of just rushing into it we might not have gotten caught."

"Well the only problem there is that neither of us were blessed with the 'being-smart-and-good-with-planning-stuff' gene," Sirius retorted as he made a pouting face at his paper cut.

"True," James replied as a wicked grin spread on his face, "But I think I know someone who was."

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A/n: Well, there it is, just in time for Christmas. Please, please, PLEASE read and review with comments and suggestions (they are GREATLY appreciated). It may be a while until the next part comes out since my life will be a little busy in the next few weeks, but I PROMISE that it won't be a whole year. Just keep reviewing to kick my lazy butt into gear.