Chapter 6 of Year 4: Trouble in Paradise

In late September of 1974, there was an important celestial event that was scheduled to take place just after sunset: "Venus will be passing through the Leo constellation; straight by Regulus." Professor Sinistra, the astronomy professor, decided to organise a picnic so they could eat their dinner as they watched the sunset and waited for the stars to appear.

The entire school was out there. Mr Filch (with Mrs Norris held tightly in his arms) tried to keep the first years out of the mud. Hagrid was kindling fires so they could stay warm in the brisk autumn air. Professor Sprout and Professor Sinistra followed him around, setting telescopes down next to the fires. Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Haas levitated a table and chairs so the professors wouldn't have to sit on the ground. The house elves were busy setting out blankets around the fires or putting the final touches on the food they had brought out. It was very rare for house elves to be seen and some of the younger students looked shocked by their existence. They passed a group of Slytherins chuckling about muggleborns with minimal damage, only one yelped in pain and surprise as they passed - Remus looked suspiciously at James but said nothing.

They settled themselves on a relatively dry patch of earth that was close enough to the fire that they didn't need to wrap themselves in their cloaks. Sirius immediately took out his Charms book, having already decided that tonight's events would be incredibly boring. Peter fiddled with his wand, looking for any cracks or dents (it was acting up in Transfigurations today.) Remus, still tired from the last full moon, stared at the passing students milling over the grass trying to find the perfect place to sit. James's eyes grazed over the scene in front of him trying to find someone that could liven things up a bit.

He noticed Dirk Cresswell in the middle of a group of giggly Hufflepuffs with Cassie Rosier on his arm. Given what he saw last year he decided it was best not to interrupt that. Frank Longbottom was trying to hide the fact that he was holding hands with Alice Fortescue. Gabe Pevensie was making doe eyes at someone in his group. James huffed. It was a rather romantic atmosphere with the firelight and the setting sun turning the sky a deep purple. Lily Evans had her head thrown back, her eyes crinkled, her nose scrunched up as she laughed sweet gales of laughter. A warm feeling erupted in James's stomach, a chill went through him, and he couldn't help but smile. Then old Snivel Snail reached out and touched her and the feeling evaporated. In its place was a sickening heartache and a burning desire to rip his ugly face off. They were sitting alone and rather close together (probably at Snape's request,) reading off of an evidently hilarious piece of parchment. They were surrounded by his Slytherin friends, her friends were scattered around miles apart from each other.

He found that he could not look away from them. Every muscle in his body seemed to have frozen and his brain gone haywire. Only when Sirius had announced that he - James - was wondering if his brother Regulus had stopped nursing (in a much more derogatory way. It was Sirius after all,) did he regain his motor skills. James's head whipped around to see Sirius sipping on his pumpkin juice, staring at him with a blank expression. Remus had his face in his hands, trying to hide his laughter. Peter had spit out his drink and was coughing violently.

"I'll just tell her you haven't yet," Regulus snarled, standing over Sirius with his fists clenched at his sides, glowering at him. Evidently, he didn't share his brother's sense of humour. He made to leave. Sirius turned around.

"You can tell her that if she wants to ask me something, she can ask me herself! AND YOU - you can keep your nose out of my business," Sirius said, furiously. Regulus spun around and gave his brother an extremely rude hand gesture. Sirius heaved a heavy sigh then threw his cup down. Grumbling, he stood and marched after his brother. For a moment James thought Sirius was going to hex him but then Regulus turned left and Sirius continued forward toward the staff table.

James turned back to Remus and Peter who, like him, were watching Sirius.

"What happened?" James demanded.

"How could you have missed that? You were sitting right there!" Peter exclaimed.

"Ah, but Pete, Lily was in his line of sight," Remus smirked, waving a hand showcasing where Lily and Severus sat.

"Oh, just shut up and tell me!" James demanded. Sirius had approached the staff table and was now talking with Professor McGonagall who had obviously stopped him from venturing any further.

"Regulus asked about the Slug Club," Peter answered. Remus opened his mouth to add something but James didn't stick around to hear it.

Professor McGonagall had stepped aside to let Sirius pass. He made his way toward Professor Slughorn, shook his hand, and was immediately immersed in a conversation. James leapt over a group of students and landed next to Sirius, nearly colliding with the table in the process.

"Me too!" he sputtered out, gasping for breath. Slughorn looked at him, confused and startled.

"Mate, I haven't gotten that far yet," Sirius said, irritably.

"Well, go on then," Slughorn said. He took his glass of wine and brought it to his lips, smiling over its rim. Sirius took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked at James for a moment before continuing.

"Er… James and I were wondering if…" Sirius took an audible gulp and added in a rush, "if we were still invited in the Slug Club…? Regulus said that there was a meeting last week, and we weren't invited to it."

"I know I'm a bit rubbish at Potions, Professor, but I'm fantastic on the Quidditch field, and Professor McGonagall did say I'm brilliant at Transfigurations," James said, sending a proud grin to Professor McGonagall. "And Sirius is actually quite good at Potions when we're not goof-"

"Slow down m'boy," Slughorn laughed, heartily. "The Slug Club isn't just about Potions and I'm fully aware of your talents. Believe me, we would be happy to have you. I was under the impression that you weren't interested. You've been turning me down for four years now."

James and Sirius shared an awkward glance.

"Er… well…."

"We thought it was only for potions," Sirius lied quickly.

"Right! But then we talked to a few members," James said, backing him up.

"Like Evans and Regulus."

"Yeah, and they told us all about the fun… er-"

"Dinner parties."

"Dinner parties… right!" James said, cringing inwardly at the thought of dinner parties.

"And all the cool people they got to meet. And we just thought," Sirius snapped his fingers and gave a very fake toothy grin. "Merlin, we've gotta join the Slug Club!"

James crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping that Professor Slughorn couldn't read Sirius's snide expression like he could. To his relief, Slughorn chuckled jovially.

"An easy mistake to make," Slughorn smiled brightly, almost smugly. "Now that I know you're interested, you can expect an invitation soon. I'm expecting a special guest and I wanted to throw a party for her." Slughorn grinned at them as if he had just given them exemptions from the end of the year exams.

"Oh, joy! Lucky we're not going to miss that, eh James." Sirius stretched his grin so wide James was afraid he'd split his face in two. "Have a splendid evening, Professor."

Sirius turned to leave, his grin quickly fading into a scowl. Thankfully, none of the professors noticed this. James rushed to keep up with him. Sirius kept his jaw tightly clenched. Only when he matched his strides did he erupt into conversation.

"That stupid git! Probably did it on purpose. 'Oh, I'll just back off a bit, then they'll come begging on their knees.' Probably got my mother to press it. When did she ever care about the stupid Slug Club!" he ranted, throwing his arms about.

"If it gets your mum off your back -"

Sirius barked out an odd sounding laugh. "Yeah, right! This doesn't change the fact that I'm a Gryffindor or that I associate myself with such filth as blood traitors and half-breeds and mu- muggleborns. Oh, if she only knew about Remus," Sirius growled with an odd glint in his eye.

"Hey, what did Regulus say when he came over? Nice to see you two talking to each other," James said, dismally hoping that this would take his mind off his mother.

"Who cares what that prat said…! You know you're absolutely pathetic whenever you see Evans," Sirius smirked, obviously intending on this being a joke. James didn't find it funny.

"OUT OF THE WAY, SNIVELLUS!" Sirius shouted. James started. He had been so focused on Sirius that he hadn't seen what was right in front of him.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Severus had, at the sound of Sirius's voice, pulled quickly away from Lily though his hands still rested on her waist. Her arms were draped around his shoulders. James thought he was going to be sick. He didn't know what the embrace had been but it was like he was living one of his nightmares. Sirius pushed Severus ruffly out of his way and Lily shouted at him.

The sickening feeling was quickly subsided by anger. His hands trembled at his sides and he felt a pulse on the side of his head that seemed to goad him on. Do it! Just do it! Severus got to his feet, glaring at James as he did.

"Potter!" Lily said sternly. James broke the eye contact he held with Severus to look at her. He, for once, had her full attention. She had stepped in front of Severus, taking a protective stance. Her eyes, full of determination, never left his.

"Relax Lily, he's too much of a coward to do anything in front of the professors," Severus snarled. This awakened something in James he had never felt before. It was like a monster was trying to rip his way out of his chest while his fingers itched for his wand. He really did hate this greasy, big nosed git. But he was right. The professors were there. Lily was there.

"Oh, shove it Snivellus," James said, with just as much ferocity as he could muster. "Later, Evans," he said softly and stepped around the pair. Sirius was waiting for him with his wand ready.

"He's so dim he puts trolls to shame," Sirius said, sending one last scowl to Severus.

"I'm not pathetic," James muttered icily. He stomped off, making sure the Sirius stayed behind him. His anger had not yet subsided and Sirius's little joke made it very appealing to take it out on him.

"I - oh hold on!" Sirius groaned. He turned, walked up behind his brother, jumped into a sitting position at his side, making the surrounding second years cry out in fright. Regulus, on the other hand, barely moved. "I've just been invited to the next meeting, so you can tell her that I'm in the stupid club."

"Yeah, I can't do that in good conscious," Regulus said.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked through gritted teeth.

"It would be lying. You're not actually in the club, you've been invited. It's not the same," Regulus smirked. James thought it would be very nice to take some of his aggression out on the little prat in front of him but remembered a promise he made to Sirius. Besides, it was just bad karma to hex your mate's brother.

"Reg, just tell her I'm in it. I'll be at the meeting I swear," Sirius said, looking like he couldn't actually believe what he was hearing.

"I'm not lying to mum," Regulus said.

James wasn't quite sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew he was holding Regulus against a tree by the collar of his robes, his face mere inches from his. He was very much aware of how much bigger he was than him.

"Look it you little prat. The only reason I haven't hexed you into oblivion is because of Sirius so you can write your mother and tell her that your brother is an honorary member of the Slug Club. Then you can thank him for constantly saving your ass," James growled. Sirius, after some struggle, pushed him away.

"Is there a problem here?" an older Slytherin wearing a prefect badge had approached them. The surrounding students were either staring at them or watching the staff table to see if the professors had noticed.

"No. We were just talking, right Reg?" Sirius said, pulling James by his arm further away from the scene. "And we'll talk more later, at breakfast maybe… before anything else."
Regulus straightened his robes, his eyes flickering between Sirius, James, and the prefect.

"Black?" the prefect pressed.

"Yeah, we're fine. We were just talking. Everything's fine. I'll see you at breakfast," he muttered, returning to his meal.

Sirius nodded and turned away. This time James was the one forced to fall behind. Neither of them spoke until they returned to their spot on the field. Remus and Peter were no longer there, nor were they anywhere in sight.

"What the hell is your problem?" Sirius hissed. "Regulus was off limits for a reason, you idiot."

"Oh, so I'm an idiot and I'm pathetic-"

"That was a joke!"

"Yeah, well just because you're mad about the Slug Club, doesn't mean you can take it out on me!"

"I am mad at you!" Sirius growled. James didn't know what to say, Sirius had never been angry at him before, but he did find he wasn't particularly worried about it, his anger never really lasted long. Sirius didn't seem to be expecting a reply anyway because he grabbed his cloak and stormed away. James followed though he wasn't sure why. He wasn't able to catch up with him until they got into the entrance hall. They continued up the stone steps, back toward Gryffindor tower.

"Regulus is a prat, and he's not going to stop being a prat until someone puts him in his place," James told him. Sirius spun around and stopped in front of him.

"If anyone's going to put him in his place it's going to be me," Sirius said firmly.

"Right, but you're not. You won't even talk about anything that's happened let alone do anything about it," James said.

"What's it to you anyway?" He yelled.

"You're still my mate, no matter how much of an idiot you are!" James yelled back. Sirius opened his mouth to reply, but something had caught his eye behind James. James spun around to see what he was looking at. There was a shadow coming quickly down the corridor. It was impossible to see who or what it was because only a few lights were left on in the castle but it could very possibly have been Filch. James took out his wand and muttered "Lumos" causing a light to emit from its tip.

"James is that you?!" the friendly voice of Remus Lupin echoed down the corridor.

"REMUS MOONCHILD LUPIN, YOU SCARED US HALF TO DEATH," James responded.

"Sorry, not sorry! Come down here, you need to hear something," Remus said. Sirius strode past without a glance or a word.
"What happened?" he asked Remus.

"Just come on," Remus answered. He led the way down the corridor at a light jog and slid to a halt outside of a door to a classroom that was no longer in use. They usually used it to hide from Filch when the need arose.

He opened the door, revealing the familiar dusty interior. The room was softly lit by balls of fire contained in floating glass jars. The walls were lined with stacks of desks and chairs. Broken baskets, old Quidditch supplies, and oddly a pair of shoes had been thrown in here. Peter sat cross-legged on the floor, sitting very close to Mary Macdonald. Eilidh was pillaging through the cabinets. There was a blonde in Slytherin robes, staring at the wall in front of her, twiddling her thumbs.

"James, you remember Persephone from Ancient Runes?" Remus said, closing the door behind him. Eilidh jumped down from the cabinets. Peter stood. Mary cast a silencing charm on the door.

"Yeah, sure how's it hangin'?" James smiled. Persephone smiled back and gave a small wave. "Persephone, this is Sirius Black, Sirius this is Persephone Machault."

"Nice to meet you," Persephone smiled.

"Pleasure," Sirius said, stiffly. "Remus, what is going on?"

"Ask them, mate," Remus said.

"Eilidh, we told you we don't trust Slytherins," Sirius said.

"Right, but she's friends with Mary and we trust Mary," she responded.

"I should probably just tell Professor Slughorn anyway," Persephone mumbled, taking a step toward the door.

"No," Mary said, placing a hand on her arm to stop her. "Guys, Steph's cool. She's just trying to help."

"This is really something the professors should take care of," Persephone argued.

"All they'll do is 'look into it,'" Eilidh rolled her eyes.

"Then I'll go to Dumbledore," Persephone argued further.

"He'll take away Hogsmeade from all of us," Mary protested.

"Would someone just tell us what's going on!" James demanded.

"Machault overheard a conversation," Eilidh said, staring pointedly at Persephone.

"So!" Sirius said, irritably after a moment's pause. Persephone groaned.

"I was in my common room, on my way outside when I heard someone talking on the stairs up to the boy's dormitory," Persephone said, sending one last venomous look to Eilidh. "They were talking about smuggling something in from Hogsmeade. I'm not sure what but it sounded dangerous, like a dark object or something."

"Did you see who it was?" James questioned.

"No, I kinda got out of there as soon as possible. It's not really safe for the Slytherins either," Persephone said.

"Could you recognise any of their voices?" Sirius asked.

"I'm not sure, but I thought one of them might have been this guy, Abbot. But he's Head Boy, he wouldn't -"

"Yeah, I'm sure Malfoy wouldn't either," Sirius said, bitterly.

"Did you hear anything else from their conversation?" Remus said.

"Er, yeah. They kept talking about this other guy. They never said his name though, just said 'him' and 'he.' It was actually kinda creepy," Persephone said.

"It sounds like…" Eilidh started.

"You-know-who," Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Oh, you don't think…. At Hogwarts! That's ridiculous! I … I mean it's Hogwarts," Mary said with fear etched into her face. "Eilidh, what is this?"

"It's true Mary, they're here. I think it started with Malfoy last year. He was just recruiting but now it seems like they're actually making a move," Eilidh said.

"Listen Machault, you can't tell anyone else about this," James said.

"Maybe she should though," Mary said.

"Mary, you were just telling her not to," Eilidh said.

"Yeah, but if they are Death Eaters… Eilidh look what they did to your dad and God knows how many others!" Mary argued.

"I know what they've done, Mary!" Eilidh yelled.

"I am going to go to Professor Slughorn and tell him what-" Persephone interrupted, seeming to want their argument to end.

"I've been to the professors before, they won't do anything. They'll look into it, that's all. We don't have enough evidence for them to do anything," Eilidh told her.

"We can stop them from smuggling anything in," James said with sincerity.

"This is ridiculous! Peter tell them they're being stupid," Mary demanded, turning to where Peter stood against the wall, watching the ordeal.

"I-I er…," Peter stuttered.

"The professors will not be able to do anything about this," Sirius said sternly.

"He's right, you didn't see anyone," Remus said. "They might question Abbot but there's really not much they can do."

Everyone feel silent while they waited to see what Mary and Persephone would say next. Persephone looked at Mary. Mary shrugged and quickly looked away.

"Fine," Persephone breathed. "But that's it, we're not participating in your… whatever you wanna call it."

"We wouldn't ask you to, it'd be too dangerous for you," Remus said.

"Right, now that, that's sorted, Mary would you like to see if we can make it in time for dessert?" Peter said.

"Yeah," Mary said quietly. "Come on Seph."

"We'll make a plan for Hogsmeade, tomorrow morning before breakfast. Meet us in our dormitory, yeah?" James asked Eilidh as he and Remus followed them out.

"I'll be there," Eilidh promised.

Sirius stayed behind because he didn't feel like continuing his argument with James. He didn't know why Eilidh stayed. That was until the door shut behind Remus, leaving them completely alone.

"So what's with you?" she asked, jumping up onto one of the countertops again. "You seem upset."

"Do I? I thought I was downright cheerful," Sirius said. Eilidh simply smiled and waited for him to continue. He sighed and jumped up next to her. "I joined the Slug Club."

"Why?" Eilidh said, looking completely baffled.

"I promised I would," Sirius shrugged. "It's not the worst thing, I just didn't want to do it. Maybe it won't be so bad."

"Yeah, maybe," Eilidh said, weakly. She stared across the classroom looking deep in thought. "You only promised that you'd join the Slug Club, right?"

"Yeah, but I can't quit. That'll be worse than if I didn't join," Sirius answered.

"So get kicked out," Eilidh said.

"Something tells me that that's not gonna be easy," Sirius chuckled.

"Maybe it will be," Eilidh said. "You've been invited to his next party right?" Sirius nodded in response. Eilidh's eyes were alight with excitement, a grin stretched across her face. "Okay, Lily said that someone important's coming to that one, someone he's keen on making a good impression on. You just have to sabotage it and he'll never invite you to one again."

"It's gotta be something good, though," Sirius said, his foul mood finally seemed to be dissipating.

"We'll think of something. And I'm sure James can help," Eilidh said.

"Oh, he's in it too, he'll help," Sirius said.

"Great," Eilidh grinned, jumping down from the countertop again. "There was a rumour of treacle fudge out there. Let's see if it's true."

Sirius grinned and stumbled after her.

***Splash of Thunder in Mist, I'm glad your here. :) Hope you continue to enjoy. XO

***I feel like this one was pretty long, hope it was worth the read.

All rights reserved to JKR

Thanks for reading. :D

Until next time,

XO******