A/N: No slash yet, unfortunately. But it might be here soon, so if you don't like it then please don't complain to me!

Chapter Three

"Hey Black! Kill any Muggles today?" Sneered a Ravenclaw fifth year as Sirius and Remus made their way to Arithmancy, the only class they had without James and Peter. Sirius turned, growling at the boy who'd asked the question, but before he could do anything, he felt a hand on his arm, pulling him back. Remus was shaking his head, though he looked just as angry as Sirius was.

"Just ignore him, Sirius. Anyone who thinks you're capable of stuff like that isn't worth your time and you know it," Remus said as he steered the other boy into their class.

Sirius knew Remus was right – he always was. But it was still hard. Ever since the attack two months ago on Remus' village, the students at Hogwarts had begun treating him and a few others like they were the ones doing all the killing. His entire house was against him, with the exception of the other Marauders. James, Remus, and Peter were the only ones who wanted anything to do with him. Sirius Black, once one of the most popular students in school, was now a social outcast, hated by almost the entire student body.

Still, Sirius knew that he was lucky. After all, he still had his closest friends by his side. It seemed that James and Peter spent most of their time trying to distract either Sirius or Remus whenever one of them was feeling particularly down. James got Sirius to take part in more childish pranks against the Slytherins than ever before, while Peter was constantly challenging him to endless games of chess or Gobstones to take his mind off things. Though Remus hadn't exactly changed his behavior towards Sirius, the two boys had become closer to each other in the past two months than they'd ever been. After all, they were both encountering the same sort of prejudice, even if it was from different sources. The Ministry believed that Remus was going to become a Death Eater, if he wasn't one already, simply because he was a werewolf, just as the students believed that Sirius was a Death Eater simply because he was a Black. This made things difficult for both boys, but they each felt lucky to have someone who could understand what they were going through.

Unfortunately for Remus, James, and Peter, their continued support of Sirius meant that they too were suffering socially. True, they weren't treated with the same sort of hate as Sirius was, but they had experienced a sort of fall from grace with the rest of the students. They weren't sneered at, but were considered outcasts by the rest of the school.

Sirius was pulled out of his thoughts by a sharp jab in the side. "What?" He asked, scowling at Remus.

"Weren't you paying attention?" Remus asked as he began to pack his things away. "Class is over."

"Oh," Sirius said, finally noticing the rest of the students walking out, none of them so much as acknowledging the two boys.

"Yeah, 'oh'. We'd better get going if we don't want to be late for Potions," Remus said, standing up.

"You mean we don't want to be late for Potions?" Sirius joked, shouldering his own bag, which he hadn't bothered to unpack.

"Not when it's the last class before the Christmas holidays and that idiot Abinger is going to be giving us a test," Remus said with a slight frown as they walked out of the class and headed towards the dungeons.

The rest of the day passed without incident, with the exception of Sirius turning Snape's hair pink in Potions. He spent the whole of dinner that night complaining about Abinger assiging him a detention as soon as the Christmas holidays were over.

"Well, Padfoot, what do you expect? She did catch you playing a rather childish prank on her favorite student," Remus said as he cut up a piece of steak.

"Yeah but still! It's the holidays, and she gave me extra homework plus a detention!" Sirius said indignantly.

"Yeah, Moony. Whose side are you on, anyway?" James asked with a laugh. "Marauders don't stick up for teachers!"

Remus snorted. "Right. I'll keep that in mind the next time a Slytherin decides to prank McGonagall, shall I?"

"So anyway, what do you guys want to do in Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Peter asked, effectively changing the conversation.

"Zonko's." James said immediately. "What?" He asked, noticing Remus roll his eyes. "I'm low on Dungbombs. And I've still got Christmas shopping to do."

"Well, I'm done with all my shopping, so I guess it doesn't really matter to me where we go," Remus said.

"I don't care either," Sirius said. He scowled as a couple of fourth year Gryffindors glared menacingly at him as they left the Great Hall. "Just so long as we avoid everyone else."

"Well, I need to go to Devish and Banges to get something for my dad," Peter said hurriedly, trying to distract the others. "So why don't we go to Zonko's and Dervish and Banges first, then we can decide whatever else we want to do."

"Sounds like a plan," James said in approval as the others nodded before returning to their food.

"God, it's freezing out here," Sirius said as he wrapped his cloak tighter around him. After finishing their breakfast, he and the other Marauders had left for Hogsmeade immediately, not wanting to deal with the other students who'd stayed at school and were planning to visit the village. Even with the layers of clothing each of them had put on that morning, it was still uncomfortably cold out.

"Well, we're almost to the village," Remus said. "Why don't we get some butterbeers to warm us up before we start shopping?"

"Sounds good," James said, his teeth chattering with cold.

As they entered Hogsmeade, Sirius was glad to note that there didn't seem to be many other students there yet. Hedidn't have to worry about glares or unfriendly comments for a while, for which Sirius was thankful.

All four boys sighed with relief as they entered the warmth of the Three Broomsticks. They smiled at the hostess, Madame Rosmerta, before picking a table in the far corner of the room. The table was as far away from the door as they could be, and it was far away from where most of the other patrons were sitting. Rosmerta smiled as she approached their table.

"What can I get you boys?" She asked.

"Four butterbeers, I think," James said, glancing around at his friends for confirmation.

"Nothing else? Are you boys feeling alright?" Madame Rosmerta asked in mock concern. "You normally eat half my food between the four of you."

"Well, we really just stopped in to warm up," Remus said. "We'll be back after we've finished our shopping, so no need to worry."

"Alright, I'll be back in a minute," she said, hurrying away to the bar.

"I'm glad there's not many people here yet," Sirius said with a sigh, as he watched James bounce around Zonko's with the enthusiasm of a four year old. "I'm really beginning to hate crowds."

"I know what you mean," Remus said sympathetically. "Those idiots at school can be so hard to deal with."

Having finished with their drinks, the four boys had decided to get their shopping done as quickly as possible, in order to avoid the crowds they knew there would be later. As soon as they'd seen a few older students enter Madame Rosmerta's pub, they'd paid for the butterbeers and made a quick exit, trying to attract as little attention as possible. They'd gone to Dervish and Banges and then Honeydukes so Peter could get some sortof magical gadget for his dad and chocolate for his little brother. James had practically dragged Peter away from a display of Sugar Quills so that they could continue shopping.

"Well, I've got everything I need!" James said happily, as he walked up to the counter.

"I certainly hope so," Remus said, staring in shock at all the things his friend was buying. "What did you do, get one of everything?"

James' arms were loaded down, not only with Dungbombs, but also fake quills that shot ink at whoever tried to use them, and dozens of other things. "No I didn't get one of everything, Moony. Are you crazy?"

"No, but that sure is a lot of stuff," Remus said as James paid for his things.

"Well of course it is! I got four of everything. There had to be enough stuff for all of us, you know," James said, as if that were the most obvious statement in the world. And for him, perhaps it was.

A few hours later, the boys found themselves backat the same tablein the Three Broomsticks, now laden down with their shopping. After Dervish and Banges, they'd stopped by the bookstore for Remus, and then the pet shop because James insisted on getting flee powder and a dog leash for Padfoot. Sirius was not amused.

"This looks wonderful, Rosie, thank you," Sirius said, grinning charmingly at Madame Rosmerta as she brought them their second plates of food. Sirius' attitude had changed drastically since they'd been in the village. It seemed that he only had to be away from the other students for a few hours before he was able to return to the flirtatious, somewhat arrogant boy his friends knew and loved. They were glad that Madame Rosmerta and the other shopkeepers in Hogsmeade didn't seem to see Sirius the way the students did.

"Of course, dear. I'm glad to see you boys eating so much, you're all way too skinny!" She said, laughing as all four of them tore into the delicious food. A group of Hufflepuffs on the other side of the room caught her eye, and the attractive hostess turned away from the Marauders to go take their order.

Just as Sirius was finishing off his third butterbeer, there wasa loud explosion out in the street. The other patrons looked around in confusion, wondering what was going on. "What the hell was that?" Sirius asked, looking at his friends.

"No idea," James said, frowning in worry. As one, the four boys got up from the table and made their way to the door to see what was going on. All of the other patrons, even the ones who weren't students were ducking under the tables, not knowing what else to do. They could hear screams of terror coming from outside, and Remus cracked the door to the pub open.

"Oh God," Remus breathed in horror at the scene that met their eyes. Students and villagers were running aroundin panic, looking for cover as dozens of maskedfigures in hooded black robes fired curse after curse at random passersby. The Death Eaters were attacking Hogsmeade.

A/N: Well, this has got to be the most updates I've done in a while! Anyway, please review! And no flames.