1973

"Hey, Snivellus!"

Sirius Black whipped out his wand and flicked it to tie the laces of the Slytherin's shoes together. Before Severus could look back and see his tormentors, he was already tumbling forward onto the stone hall of Hogwarts. James laughed behind his shaggy-haired friend.

"Nice one, Sirius," he grinned, adjusting his glasses. "Did you have a nice trip, you greasy git?"

"Come on, James," Remus rolled his eyes. "Don't kick a man when he's already down—we'll ask when we see him next fall," he joked.

Peter, the last of the group, stood behind the young werewolf. "See ya later, Snivellus!"

The Marauders were in particularly splendid moods that Saturday afternoon. Classes were over for the time being, they had at least three and a half weeks before they lost Remus to the full moon again. As third years, they were also allowed to go to Hogsmeade. It was a perfect storm of happiness: gags and goodies from Zonko's to conduct their pranks and nefarious activities, and chocolate and candies from Honeyduke's. Severus Snape just happened to be caught in the cross-hairs of this joy, as one of the boys' most famous pastimes seemed to be tormenting him. Naturally, while in either tremendously good or bad moods, the Marauders could be particularly nasty.

Snape looked on as the boys rushed by him, others laughing and pointing at his misfortune. They wouldn't get away with this, the young Slytherin decided. And he knew just how to hit them where it would hurt the most.

After a few hours and many, many chocolates, the Marauders returned to their common room snickering about the little prank they had played on the snooping boys by the Shack, as well as grinning over their latest purchases.

"Say, James?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"Think we'll be using those Whizzing Worms anytime soon?"

Sirius grinned. "As long as we get to use the Frogspawn soap along with. I think both would be excellent additions to the girl's lavatory."

"Actually," Remus said with a smile, "I had been thinking the prefect's bathroom—Myrtle could surely help us get in, and with the large bath…"

"Moony, you genius," Sirius beamed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Likely because most of your brain cells go to keeping that unruly mop hair on top of your head," James joked.

The four continued planning their next prank all the way into their dormitory, where all four boys then froze and stared ahead of them at the ruins of their room. A window was shattered, bedding and pillows absolutely destroyed. Books were on the floor, under the beds, pages torn out and scattered every which way. Gryffindor pennants, which had hung pristinely on the walls, thanks to Remus' sticking charm, were slashed and had fallen to the side. In short, it looked like a tornado had been through the room.

"What in Merlin's name…" James drifted off. Remus was already rushing into the room.

"My notes!" He yelped, frantically searching the ground. "All of my notes, my books…"

"Your notes?" Sirius bellowed. "My pennants! My posters! My…" He looked down at the floor beneath him to see a broken comb. "My hair…"

"My broom!" James shrieked. It had been tossed into a corner handle broken off. "My precious broom!" The boy ran to his prized possession and began cradling it in his arms.

Peter stood still. "Mates," he began slowly, "Look over there…"

The round boy pointed to a message painted on the wall. All four boys turned as Peter read the message aloud.

"Thanks for the trip, and here's a tip: don't MESS with me."

All four boys looked at each other and spoke in unison:

"That git!"

"Oh, he's going to get it," James bristled. Sirius picked up his comb, breaking it further in his hands.

"He's going to more than get it—next time I see him he won't know what's—"

"Lads," Remus sighed. "We can't just go about blatantly attacking him: we'll get in trouble. We need to…" the young werewolf drifted off as he saw, on his bed, the shredded remains of his transfiguration essay. His eyes narrowed as he stomped over to pick up a strand of paper from his pillow. "I spent weeks on this…my final essay, the one due the day after the moon…I won't have time to write a new one. I can't…"

James, Sirius, and Peter watched in astonishment at what came next. They had never seen Remus so angry in his entire life. His amber eyes flashed with a sort of menace they had only heard about: the boy looked positively wolfish.

"This is war," Remus snapped. "Let's take stock: we've got the soap, the worms, how many dungbombs, Sirius?"

"At least five," the usually loud boy squeaked.

"Excellent," Remus snarled. "Alright, here's what we'll do…"

The four Marauders huddled around their brainy friend as he began laying out the plans for the next prank.

"Screw the prefect's bathroom—we're going to the dungeon, boys," Remus said with a rather crazed look on his face. He told them all about setting worms and frogs into the Slytherin common room, dungbombs timed to go off every five minutes and hidden in various corners where no one could find them.

"We've got Arnold's Magic Glue," James suggested, and Remus flashed him a devilish smile.

"Good," he replied. "Perfect for the floors—imagine Snivellus and his greasy friends—if he has any—unable to get out of their stinking cell."

James and Sirius exchanged looks. Peter trembled somewhat.

"Is there a problem?" Remus questioned, sounding a bit meaner than he intended. James shook his head.

"No, mate, it's just…"

"Why aren't you like this all the time?" Sirius blurted out. "I mean, you've got loads to be angry about, more than us on any given day, why…why now? I mean, we're all mad, but you…you seem particularly upset."

Remus blinked a few times and stared at his friends, shoulders dropping. "I'm always angry," he admitted. "At least a bit. Only now…"

"It's because it's affected school," Sirius said quietly. James rolled his eyes, expecting some witty remark from Remus, but the boy merely nodded.

"School is important to me. It's…it's all I've got to be different…" He gulped, looking down at his feet. "Different from the other ones. The ones who kill, who maim for fun—"

"You will never be like them," James said sternly, grabbing Remus by the shoulders and forcing the boy to look into his bespectacled eyes. "School or no school, you are different. You are Remus."

"Exactly," Sirius huffed. "You've got loads making yourself different. But if you care all that much about school, then this is war."

Peter nodded, crossing his arms. "That greasy git's gonna regret ever messing with Moony's schoolwork. You mess with one Marauder—"

"—you mess with all of us," James finished.

Remus looked at his friends, giving them a small smile. "Well, then? What are we waiting for?"

"Let's get him," Sirius sniggered. "Let's get him good."