Remus laughed. 'I never thought anyone could beat Sirius and James when it came to pranking necessities, but you whipped them like puppies!'

'I like to be prepared.'

'For what?' I yelped, staring at Lily as we walked back through the dark tunnel. 'We don't prank you all that much!'

Lily raised her eyebrows. 'Oh, and rat in my bed, the spiked hair, the snakes in my clothes, the love potion that Jeremy Hairifeather drank that had him sliming over me for three days…'

Sirius proudly waved his hand in the dim light. 'That was my idea… oh, that was class, that was…' His eyes went dreamy as they always do when he's reliving a particular good prank and someone's painful humiliation.

There was the sound of Lily's hand smacking some part of Sirius exposed flesh. Remus and I chuckled. Sirius yelped. 'Hey, I did it for his own good! It was either that or he'd go out with Dana Leedy. That would be an unfortunate experience in itself.'

'She a nice person,' Lily started, loyally.

'Yeah, but her face looks like it was bashed with the backend of a shovel…'

'Sirius!'

I laughed and headed up the ladder below the trapdoor. Behind me, I could hear the bickering continue.

'At least she doesn't have the personality of a squashed toadstool.'

'Hey, squashed toadstools are quite friendly, Evans, you should give them more of a chance. You might want to calm down, your hair will start standing on end again.'

I heaved open the trapdoor and wriggled onto the stone floor, turning to help up Lily. She stood and faced Sirius as he emerged, blinking in the sudden bright light. She punched her finger at him, eyes slits. Was it only me who could tell she was three seconds from fits of laughter?

'You do and your dead, Black.'

'I was planning on living another thirty years at least, Evans dearest. Give me a call then, you can murder me when I'm rich and have three wives.'

Remus laughed and his head appeared from the hole in the floor. 'Dreaming, Padfoot old mate.'

We started back and checked the map. Waiting until the coast was clear, we slipped out from behind the tapestry, my eyes constantly on the map. I was watching McGonagall behind us, praying she wouldn't step into the corridor and seeing us walking back. We'd missed dinner, letting time get away from us. I personally didn't want to be caught dusty, dirty, clearly full, in the possession of Zonko's and Honeyduke's treats. I didn't see Pringle, the ancient caretaker, heading straight towards us.

'Pringle!' I hissed at the others. I gripped Lily's arm and yanked her behind the Statue of Dorgis the Disgusting. I whispered 'mischief managed', tapping my wand against the parchment, watching the lines fade away. Lily grabbed it off me and jammed it into the deep pocket of her robes. A brave but wise mood, as I was laden down with sweets and Zonko's stuff. She pressed back into the darkness and gripped my arms. Furtively, I glanced through the curve of Dorgis' arm. Pringle was shuffling along the corridor, muttering incoherently to himself. I could see Sirius and Remus hidden behind a huge tapestry further along the corridor. Sirius silently signaled to me and I flattened out my hand, pressing it down, telling him to stay down, stay quiet until I said. I had a better view than them. Pringle started singing quietly, chuckling every now and then. He was almost past Lily and I. Lily sighed and relaxed against me. But Pringle froze. He turned and looked straight at the statue. I think my eyes were the size of dinner plates. Lily gripped my arms even tighter. She had more to risk than we did, being a prefect. Pringle shuffled towards the statue, and twisted his head to lean around and look behind. To find us.

'Apollyon!' McGongall's voice drifted down the corridor. Pringle turned his ancient head and looked away down the corridor. 'Apollyon, have you been using the old torture instruments? I heard from a Potions student that they've been moved around and if you haven't been maintaining them, then I can start finding out which student has been using them.'

Pringle shuffled away, his croaky old voice drifting back. We heard the sound of a dungeon door close. Lily looked like she was going to pass out. I grabbed her hand, slipped out from behind the statue and hurried down the corridor to the tapestry Sirius and Remus were behind. While Lily's eyes were locked on the closed door up head, I whacked Sirius through the tapestry, grinning at the muffled yelp before he and Remus tumbled out.

'That was close,' Remus gasped.

'They're coming!' Lily whispered. 'Go!'

The door creaked as it opened but by the time it was fully opened we were tearing back up the stairs in the Entrance Hall. We didn't stop running until we reached the Fat Lady's portrait. Sirius wheezed 'Bezoar' and she swung open. With and laugh a sigh of relief, we fell into the chairs by the fire. Our hearts slowly began to slow… but mine sunk. And I turned. Peter was standing on the steps to our dorm, looking down at us. No one else had seen him. I opened my mouth to explain, but he shook his head and slowly headed up the stairs, shoulders slumped and head down.

Crap.