Cheers for the reviews, I knwo there isn't much hint of a plot yet, but I get involved with the pointless conversations, ya know? I just love these guys! Except Peter, I hate having to write about him.....

Chapter Ten: Scavenging for Party Food

Four days later and the Marauders were very tired from their full moon excursions; Remus in particular was pale and drawn, with dark circles under his eyes and scratch marks from when he had changed.

They didn't let it dampen their rebellious spirits, though, and made themselves busy working on a plan to humiliate the Slytherins, Snape being their main target, as well as already discussing ideas for next month's Animage adventures.

James had not forgotten Remus' advice concerning Lily, and he was currently organising a surprise birthday party for her upcoming seventeenth, which he hoped would get him into her good books for once. Meanwhile, Sirius and Peter were still competing for the attentions of Adriana. To Sirius', and everyone else's, surprise, she seemed so far to be less impressed by his own natural charm, which he usually found did the trick, than by with Peter's constant praise and admiration.

He was beginning to wonder, anyway, whether James hadn't been right all along, and whether Adriana, although undoubtedly beautiful, wasn't just a shell, with no real personality. He felt needed more than that to really get more interested in her, so had decided to wish the best for Peter. His trust in her as a good friend and Gryffindor were also put to the test, around the middle of November, when he was sent by James to scavenge some food supplies for Lily's party...

James was pacing about the common room, looking over a list of provisions he still required. He went over to the stairs and called up to Sirius.

"Padfoot! Can you come down here for a minute?"

There was no answer.

"Padfoot!" He shouted more urgently this time. Still no sound from the bedroom. James went up the first couple of steps and yelled "Sirius!" at the top of his voice.

A dark, dishevelled head appeared at the top of the stairs. "What?" he asked calmly.

"I need your help," James went back to the sweet, innocent tones he had used in the first place.

Sirius came down the stairs, eyeing him warily. He stopped a few steps up from James and folded his arms. "Well?"

"I need you to take a trip to the kitchens and grab some food from the elves," James explained. "For the party."

"Oh, well why didn't you just say?" Sirius asked; he was willing enough to pay a visit to any place that offered him food.

"Well, you weren't my first choice," James grumbled, "Because I know you'll probably just scoff everything. But, Moony's out on Prefect duty with Lily, and Wormtail says he's busy doing some essay or something."

"It's good to know that nothing stops you from calling me when you're in need," Sirius said, poker-faced.

"Yeah, nothing except you not answering," James retorted through gritted teeth. "But listen, you can't eat anything; for one thing, it's for Lily's party, and for another you can't get all bloated and heavy for the match against Ravenclaw this week."

"Okay, fine," Sirius agreed, "If you think you can trust me, I'll do it. Cloak," he demanded, holding out a hand. James deposited his Invisibility Cloak into it; Sirius exchanged it to his other hand, saying, "Map", and receiving the Marauders' Map. "Some sort of bag to put the food in?" he asked.

"I'm sure the elves can provide you with something." James pushed his friend towards the portrait hole. "Now, go."

He sighed exasperatedly as the hole closed behind Sirius. "You'd think it was a simple task, getting someone to go down to the kitchens, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah," agreed Sarah, who had been sitting on a nearby sofa, watching the whole scene with great amusement, "Even something you could do yourself, James."

Sirius stumbled out of the common room, swinging the Cloak around himself and unrolling the map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he muttered, and, after checking no unwanted characters were lurking nearby, set off for the kitchens, marvelling at the genius of the Marauders for creating such a map.

After about half an hour, he emerged from the hot kitchens, lugging a huge sack full of party treats and drinks with him. Those elves were generous, that's for sure. They never even questioned the boy's need for so much food at nine thirty on a Tuesday night.

Setting off, he checked the map again; he saw Filch sitting in his grimy office, Abercrombie in the Potions classroom, probably fixing up a nice poison, he thought, and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall in the Headmaster's room, but his pathway back to Gryffindor Tower was clear as he trod the well-worn steps of a hungry student.

Halfway back, Sirius thought he heard a noise, of voices or something, nearby, and he silently got out the map again. Checking along the third floor corridor, where he was currently standing, he saw nothing, and put the sound he had heard down to ghosts. As he went to roll up the map again, he noticed a huddle of black inky dots, at the opposite end of the school from where he was. Squinting slightly, he peered at the names in the torchlight, and his eyes narrowed further when he saw the names of several of the slimiest Slytherins, Severus Snape of course being among them, as well as his own brother Regulus, the little whelp Lucius Malfoy, and his hateful cousin Bellatrix. There were five dots in all though, and Sirius' expression clouded with confusion when he saw the name Adriana Balavoine labelling the last one.

"What the hell is she doing with them?" he asked himself. After a second or two more of staring at the map, he made up his mind to go and find out, but at that moment he saw Filch's label coming out of his room, just along the corridor from where he was standing. He hurried back to the common room, intending to tell James what he had seen, and feel reassured that it was nothing.

However, upon arriving back at the tower, he was distracted by the entire population of the common room trying to get at the bulging sack of treats he was carrying, and had forgotten about Adriana' apparent late night rendezvous with the Slytherins by the time they had got the food up to their dormitory, almost all of it still there.

"Ah, now I know what it's like to be Santa," Sirius smiled contentedly as they set to work charming the food so that it would stay fresh and tasty for the party next week.

"Well, except Santa generally lets the children have the presents he brings," James commented.

"You always have to ruin things, don't you?" Sirius grumbled. At the prospect of a good party, his worry of earlier on had been banished to the far reaches of his mind, to be rediscovered a long time from now.