Hmm, I don't think I have to say how much trouble this chapter gave me, given how long it's been since the last update ^^;

But! Good news! Great, fantastic, awesomelicious news in fact! Domino Effect has fanart! Gorgeous, awesome, beautiful fanart! The talented sweetlessly has created three marvelous piece, one of which is the coverart for this fic! I am just in love with them! You can find sweetlessly on deviantArt. Just go to my profile, I have the links on there, or just head straight to the site and search for her! They're so awesome that one of them actually inspired me to write a scene/teaser for a future chapter, and it's attached to it for all to read ;D

And, uhm, I just freaking realized the last chapter got 60 reviews! 0.o Holy shizz man, just, wow. I love all of you guys! XD

As always – Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor claim to own, anything pertaining to Inuyasha nor Harry Potter. Just the ideas that pop into my mind ;)

—Year I; Part VI: With a Boom and a Bang—

James was never one to make promises lightly, or rather, vows—even if they were of the unspoken variety.

And during that second week of Christmas break, Severus found himself on the receiving end of a certain someone's wand more than once.

Severus had no doubt exactly who that someone was. But every time something happened, there was no one there.

Even in broad daylight, where there was nowhere to hide, there was no one to be seen.

It started small, so small that he thought they was mere accidents. A little stumbling here, parchments and books slipping from his hands there... little things. He was tired, it was cold, his fingers were numb. He was just a little more clumsy than usual.

But it just kept happening and happening, and those 'little' things escalated into big things.

Like when, during one day as he was walking back to the Slytherin dorms after lunch, he was de-pantsed all of a sudden for everyone to see his undershorts.

"Bloody hell!" the Slytherin snarled, hands snatching at his slacks. "Who's there?!" he demanded, blushing furiously as he hopped around. Growling darkly, he glowered into thin air. "I know it's you Potter," he bit out darkly, his words reduced to hisses, "This has youwritten all over it."

Just then, two older girls—Hufflepuffs—rounded a corner and stopped dead cold, mouths dropping and eyes widening.

The only three students in the hall stared at each other in frozen, horrified, awkward silence. The blush on Severus' cheeks darkened, contrasting starkly against light pallor of his skin.

And then, Severus' stomach upturned as the two girls shared a look and broke down in a fit of strangled giggles, so wrought with laughter they hung on each other lest they crumple to the ground.

Shooting a dark glare towards the girls, which only sent them into another round of giggles, Severus whirled around and stalked away as quickly as he could, teeth gnashing. All the while he harshly muttered a vow under his breath. "I will find you, Potter - and I will hex you into oblivion..."

Unfortunately for Severus, it had only just begun.

James swore sweet, humiliating revenge, and sweet, humiliating revenge he would get, one way or another.

And on New Year's Eve, he did a damn good job at it.

o.O.o

The year of 1971 was over, and the night saw to the last day to ever grace the year.

And, of course, the Marauders planned accordingly. And by planned, they plotted. When they weren't plotting, they were passed out catching up on rest. It had to be flawless, especially since the prank called for direct involvement, and unless they wanted to spend the rest of their vacation and then some in detention, then they could leave nothing to be linked to them. Nothing.

It was early evening as they were seated in the Great Hall during the dinner feast. A massive, single table occupied the middle of the hall, set with only about thirty chairs.

Above them, the moon shone brightly behind a cluster of clouds, lending an unearthly glow below them. Stars were scattered across the cast span of the moonlit sky. Snow trickled lazily from the ceiling, falling but never quite landing on them.

Surrounding them were two lines of massive pine trees, set along the sides of the hall, flourishing in their own little snowy environment—magical snowflakes sprinkling around the trees, a small bundle of snow crowding at the bases.

The trees were decorated to the nines: wrapped with garland, colored alternatively with the house colors—Gryffindor and Slytherin on the left, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff colors on the right. Crafted ornaments dangled from the tree limbs, both wooden and stone, carved into magical-esque figures like stars, rune designs, and Hogwarts symbols. There were even miniature carvings of creatures, like unicorns and elves. Small, multicolored twinkling lights swirled and floated around the trees in the place of electrical Christmas lights, Kagome suspected.

Each tree even had a great, grand star, color-coded with the garland of its respective tree. It was almost garish, but it was so wondrous in the sense that it was picturesque of a magical yuletide.

Laughter danced around the table as they all ate, some of the students showing others the bounty they received opening their Christmas crackers, some Exploding Snap decks, others sweets, things of the sort.

Raucous laughter came at one end of the table, where four Gryffindors were clustered at. James had just been telling a joke, of a prank they pulled when they were younger on their parents one time during the winter season, and Sirius was laughing loudly, pounding his leg—McGonagall gave him a scathing look the last time he was about to do so on the table, halting him even before his fist made contact—as he loudly claimed he wished he could have pulled that on his own parents, for their expressions alone would be worth his weight in gold.

But just as Sirius' laughter was about to cool down, a groan sounded next to Kagome, gathering the attention of those around.

Remus, who had just placed his goblet of warmed pumpkin juice down, a strange look flitting across his face, suddenly moaned. He curled inwardly, arm twining around his waist to cradle his stomach.

Kagome hurriedly dropped her fork in hand. "Remus?" she began warily with alarm, "Are you alright?"

Remus only moaned once more, louder this time, and mumbled something about his stomach.

James, eyes narrowed in speculation, suddenly grimaced. "Mate, y'don't look all too well..." he said slowly, edging back, as if he didn't want to catch whatever his friend had.

Sirius, however, had no qualms; he leaned forward, eyes wide. "He's about to hurl, is what it looks like!" he said loudly.

Promptly, everyone save the Marauders scooted back.

"Mister Lupin, are you ill?" McGonagall's anxious voice called down the end of the long table.

The usual loquacious boy just answered with another mere moan.

Kagome, the picture of concern, leaned forward to look down the table at the woman. "Should he go and see Madam Pomfrey, Professor?" Kagome asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips, before nodding curtly. "It seems that would be best," she murmured tersely before turning to the ill-student herself. "Mister Lupin, will you be able to make it to the Hospital ward, or do you require some assistance?"

With a wince, Remus looked up and peered at Kagome, as if pleadingly. Kagome quickly nodded. "I don't mind helping him over, if that's alright Professor," she said, voice genuine.

Professor McGonagall granted her request with a nod. "That will be sufficient. Thank you, Miss Potter."

"D'you need help?" James piped up, looking at the two in concern. Sirius nodded, looking about ready to get up.

Kagome looked at the two of their plates and quickly shook her head. "No, no, it's fine. You two eat—I think we can manage on our own."

The two boys shared an uncertain look and Kagome rolled her eyes as she pushed her chair from the table before pushing it back in. "I'm already so stuffed in any case," she added, before turning to the sandy-haired boy beside her and holding out a hand. "C'mon Remus, up and at 'em."

Nodding sluggishly, Remus slowly pushed away from the table, grasping Kagome's hand to stand, before pushing his chair back in. With that done, Kagome threw an arm of his around her shoulders. Grasping him around the back, she led him out of the room.

Quietly, they limped through the doors of the Great Hall. They continued as such, Kagome helping Remus along as he slumped up against her slightly, trudging down the hall, turning a couple of corners, before, all of a sudden, they paused by a grand tapestry.

Remus' groaning stopped as sudden as they did; the boy straightened, his pained expression vanishing from his lightly scarred face. He untangled himself from Kagome, who let out a low whistle.

There was a moment of pause, before a certain cream colored cat tottered around a corner ahead and headed towards them.

"Kirara," Kagome murmured, holding out her hands for the nekomata to leap into and use her arm as a bridge to settle on her right shoulder. "Did you take care of Mr. Norris?"

Her answer was a meow that sounded suspiciously affirmative and even more unusually devious.

"I don't even want to know," Remus muttered under his breath.

Snickering, Kagome jogged over to the tapestry, pulling it back to reach within.

As she backed out, it was slow and her movements were jerky, as if she was pulling on something particularly burdensome. However, when she came out into the open, it was with seemingly nothing… until she pulled on something. In her hands was suddenly a bundle of shimmering cloth, and at her feet was a box.

A box full of fireworks, to be exact.

Kagome and Remus slowly turned to each other to share an evil look. "Time to get to work," Remus said, his eyes glittering with uncharacteristic glee and guile that only came with their more involved pranks.

Kagome let out a low, evil giggle. "Is it really work when it's so much fun?" she asked idly as Remus picked the box and Kagome threw the cloak around them.

Remus only sniggered as they doubled back to the Great Hall.

o.O.o

James poked at the half-eaten double chocolate cake on his plate, head tilted down and eyes downcast. "I'm a bit worried…about Remus," he whispered, turning slightly so only Sirius would hear, really saying: I hope they didn't get caught.

Sirius swallowed his mouthful of lemon-meringue tart. "Psh. Relax, Kagome's helping him to Madam Pomfrey." They have an excuse if they run into someone, and besides, Kirara's on lookout. Sirius eyed the remains of James' slightly mutilated cake. "You going to eat the rest of that?"

James rolled his eyes and pushed his plate over. "So nice to see you caring," he muttered, half-amused, half-exasperated.

"Not so nice to see your knickers in a twist, mate," Sirius shot back, though his words were muddled with the forkful of chocolate cake in his mouth.

James twitched, and he would have retorted if it wasn't for the strangled noise of disgust that sound three seats up and across the table.

"How vile…"

James sneered as he leaned forward, glaring up the table. "No one asked for your opinion, Snape!"

His response was outright ignorance as Severus merely turned his nose away from him, and it had him practically hissing.

Fists clenched in his lap underneath the table, James turned to hiss in Sirius' ear. "You have it, right?"

Sirius, who was scowling rather darkly, suddenly looked down to hide his blooming, wicked smirk. Discreetly, he slipped a small, packet of brown packaging from his robes, careful to keep it palmed in his hand. "Would I ever let you down so horribly?"

James picked up his goblet of steaming cocoa, using it to hide his own smug smirk. "I'd never let you forget it," he muttered.

Sirius snorted. "Now, we play the waiting game. A good thing we're the ones to stay behind, instead of Remus."

James let out a disappointed sigh. "I know, they'd never agree to it—Kagome especially. She'll probably hit me for days if she finds out, and then embarrass the bloody hell out of me when I least expect it."

Sirius shivered, remembering quite vividly the Kagome's rare moments of vengeance. "I've told you how evil your sister is, right? She's pure evil, is what she is, mate. She may look sweet and act all kind and polite and innocent, but she's a fox underneath that sheepskin."

James fidgeted, looking over his shoulder, paranoid as the thought that Kagome and Remus could be behind them crossed his mind, hidden underneath the cloak and they'd never know it. "I know," James breathed out with heavily after a moment, eyes wide. "I don't need you to tell me that, you're not the one that grew up with her the past decade. It's scary sometimes, brilliant when it's not turned on us, but bloody scary."

Kagome, who was just sneaking by with Remus and Kirara with the fireworks, passed by just in time to hear Sirius's comment and lingered long enough listen to James' response.

"I'll get him," Kagome hissed as she stomped, quietly mind you, towards the left line of Christmas trees; Remus was forced to scramble to keep up with her or be exposed when Kagome pulled the cloak off of when she left him behind. "When we're done, I'll get him when he least expects it," she vowed, not aware that she was only proving them right.

Remus could only palm his face.

o.O.o

A minute before the feast was about to start, a series of popping sounds interrupted the Yuletide cheer, followed by the unmistakable sound of hissing.

Heads snapped up to see multitudes of flying rockets shoot out from through the trees and up towards the ceiling. Most of them jumped when the explosions sounded out to reveal a sequence grand, multicolored, glittering lights flashing above them all.

Cheers erupted after the shock melted, the two visible Marauders leading it with loud whooping and wild exclamations of, "This is so cool!" and "Did the professors do this!?" to throw off any suspicion.

Dumbledore, of course, was smiling serenely, and clapping at the "Marvelous display!" McGonagall's face was flushed with red, from anger those around her suspected, but if one looked closely, she seemed hard-pressed not to smile as a bright blue steaming rocket swirled into the air, spelling out the words, "Happy New Year!" in curly script.

So distracted were the students and professors that no one noticed the hovering cluster of powder that floated across the table, only to dispense into a certain Slytherin's cup, just as no one noticed Sirius slip his wand back into the sleeve of his cloak.

As they brought in the New Year with a bang, Sirius and James shared a sly grin, and underneath the cloak, Kagome and Remus did the same.

o.O.o

That night, when Severus returned to the lonely quarters that was the Slytherin first year dorms, he changed into his nightclothes and climbed into his bed.

He was wrapped in a warm cocoon of green and silver blankets, a hair's breadth away from slumber, when his stomach suddenly turned and gurgled.

Severus shifted awkwardly, turning on his side before settling down. He was once again about to fall asleep when his stomach churned once again.

Only this time, he didn't just fidget and roll over. He shot off the bed so fast, if it wasn't for the fact that he vaulted of the bed, tangled as he fought of his covers almost violently, he would have made it to the dorm-connected bathroom in a dark blur.

It was only by a stroke of luck that his dorm mates were not present, for the unearthly smell that wafted from under the door could wake the sleeping dead and kill them again, and that was something Severus would never be able to live down.

Suffice to say, Severus did not leave the bathroom for most of the night, and when he did, it was with a new appreciation for self-refilling toilet paper canisters.

o.O.o

It was just a few days shy of the end of the break that they attempted the stairs one last time. And this time, they were all going to climb up the stairs at once.

"Are you guys sure this will work?" Peter asked tentatively, biting his lip.

Peter had returned just the day before, his mother dropping him off early at Hogwarts when an emergency came up and they had to cut their vacation short. His aunt, who was recently widowed, had just given birth to his new baby cousin Karen. Peter all but jumped at the chance at going back to school when his mum offered him the choice, knowing that she would be spending a lot of time helping out with the new baby and his aunt.

Peter understood and didn't mind—he missed his friends anyways.

"Uh," Remus muttered, scratching his head sheepishly. "Pretty sure?"

"Oh, that's reassuring," Peter mumbled uneasily under his breath.

Kagome laughed, tossing an arm around his shoulders. "Relax Peter! We've almost made it to the first year dorm when four of us are on the stairs. We think if we add one more person, we'll be able to trick the staircase and make it all the way."

"And if not, well, it doesn't hurt that much anymore," Sirius mused.

James snorted, grinning. "Yeah, after falling like a million times, you kinda get used to it."

Peter just groaned.

Kagome suddenly clapped her hands. "Let's go then—Peter, you can go up front," she instructed, and slipped arms around Remus' and James', tugging them along as she followed. "Sirius, you take the rear."

Sirius let out an amused puff of air. "Sir, yes, sir," he quipped, causing Kagome to look over her shoulder at him. He flashed her a cheeky smile.

Kagome narrowed her eyes in a withering glare.

Once they gathered around Kagome, they shuffled forward and slowly, warily, climbed up the stairs. As they approached the level to the first year dorms, they slowed down, inching up step by step with great apprehension.

Suddenly, already passed the point where the stairs gave the last time when it was only four of them, the stairs rippled and they all froze, waiting.

This time though, it didn't shift. Instead, the stairs remained stable, but a sort of nasty sounding locking, cranking noise cracked through the silence. The Marauders shared worried looks, before nodding to one another, an agreement to continue. They were already so close!

Gingerly, the five Gryffindors quickly climbed three more steps to finally close the distance to the first year dorm.

"It worked!" Kagome exclaimed, eyes wide. She whirled around to see the boys looking after her in astonishment, jumping in excitement. "It actually worked! We did i-ahhh !"

Suddenly, out of the blue, the stairs shifted out from under them and they all went tumbling down.

They tumbled down the short set of stairs, crashing to the ground as the stairs dumped them on one another in a tangle of limbs.

A short moment of silence ensued, before it was broken by a volley of pained moaning and groaning.

"Hey, Kagome?" James' muffled voice called out after a moment of groaning.

"Yes?" she muttered, wincing when someone's elbow dug into her back. "Ow," she complained plaintively.

"It didn't work."

Kagome's eye twitched at her brother's brilliant deduction. "Shut up," she muttered darkly. "And whoever's elbow that is digging into my spine, get it out."

"Oooh, watch out, someone's not in a chipper mood."

A tick formed in her right eye, and Kagome 'accidentally' moved her knee into Sirius' thigh. And by 'moved' she 'dug' it into him.

"Eeeouch!"

The elbow in her spine moved, followed by a sheepish, small mutter. "Sorry, Kagome..."

The anger melted from her face—she couldn't be mad at Peter, not when he sounded like a kicked puppy. "Don't worry, Pete, I only save my abuse for James and Sirius," she told him kindly, ignoring the following, offended yelps.

"Oi!"

Remus let out an exasperated sigh, and always as the voice of reason, he wondered, "Are we going to spend the afternoon here, or will we be getting up anytime soon?"

"Touchy, touchy," James muttered from above as he rolled over and off.

They climbed up from the ground, waiting before the stairs.

"I can't believe it didn't work," Kagome muttered under her breath, arms crossed across her chest. "I was so sure it would."

Sirius threw an arm around her shoulder. "We all were," he grumbled, rubbing his head from the slight ache it got during the fall.

"Is there anything else we can try?" Peter wondered, peering over at his friend.

James pouted. "We've tried just about everything, haven't we?"

Remus sighed, eyes squinted as he peered up the staircase. "The staircase was confused long enough for us to slowly make it near the top while we were all on it. There's a chance we can fool it long enough if we go faster," he suggested.

Kagome blinked, turning to Remus. "That's right, we've never tried to go faster before," she said in realization, "We were too worried about it changing under us…"

Remus nodded. "I know, we just have to—" He stopped short as he turned back towards the staircase, face paling. "Hey, why isn't it changing back?" Remus said, his voice bordering panic.

The rest of them whipped around to see Remus was right—the staircase was still a stone slide. "It hasn't been thirty seconds already, right?" Kagome asked with mounting despair. "Right? That has to be it—we couldn't have broken it!"

"What… what about that weird sound earlier, right before the stairs gave out?" Peter breathed out, and turned to the others with a frantic look. "It did that before, right?"

The other four gave him a mortified look which answered his question easily enough. "Oh, man," Peter moaned.

"Shit," Kagome blurted out. "Oh shit, we broke it."

"We're dead," Remus muttered, horrified.

"We're so dead." Sirius corrected faintly, shaking his head. "McGonagall will never let us live."

James gulped and feebly suggested, "Maybe if we wait long enough, it'll go back?"

They could only hope so.

o.O.o

"It's been hours!" Remus ranted, pacing back and forth in the common room. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Maybe we can just tell McGonagall?" Peter suggested weakly from his spot on the one of the couches.

Beside him on the other side, James and Sirius shrank at the thought.

"We might have to," Kagome mumbled, her face buried in her arms. "I mean—where else are you guys going to sleep tonight?"

"Camp out in the common room?" James said weakly, "Anything is better than facing McGonagall's fury." Sirius underscored that fact with a deep, vigorous nod.

"We're going to face it eventually!" Remus exclaimed, whirling on them, face drawn. "Break is ending in a few days—the students will be coming back soon! How are we going to explain to all the guys in Gryffindor that they can't go up to their dorms!"

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows. "We can lie?" He shook his head just as he suggested it. "No, this doesn't seem like something we can just fib our way through," he muttered, his tone taking on a morose edge as he bemoaned. "Merlin, I can only imagine the Howler Mother is going to send me…"

Kagome and James winced collectively at that, knowing their mother would do the same.

"I guess…" Kagome began, "We can wait until the day before break ends? And if it doesn't fix itself, we'll…" She winced, "Turn ourselves in…"

o.O.o

They spent the rest of the day either in the common room, or traipsing in the Hogwarts grounds. They returned after dinner only to find the stairs unchanged.

They idly played chess and exploding snap to past the time, each and every one of them turning to check if the stairs returned to normal without their notice.

It didn't.

Nighttime came and soon it became time for Kirara to take the boys to their dorms so they could finally hit the hay.

In the Gryffindor Tower, there were two balconies overlooking the common room—each of which was on the first landing to of the girls' and boys' staircases. James remembered that as he stared up at the ceiling earlier, lost in space, and he quickly realized that since their dorms were on the first landing, Kirara could easily carry them up to the balcony.

Of course, that meant they all had to explain to Peter about Kirara and sacrifice a perfectly good opportunity for a good-natured prank on the boy when James loudly stated his revelation.

Kagome was lounging on one of the sofas in the common room as the boys went to change and grab their things—Sirius was taken with the idea to camp out by the fire in the common room, so they were going to stick with the plan just for kicks—when a rumbling sound suddenly grumbled through the Common Room. Kagome sat up in a snap, clambering over the sofa and scrambling to peer around it and towards the stairs to the boys' dorms.

Kagome's eyes widened as she watched the stairs ripple, before it slowly shifted back into place. "Guys!" she shrieked, excitement coloring her tone as she launched up, over, and off the sofa, almost tripping as her bare feet landing on the plush carpet about five feet away. "Guys! The stairs! It's back to normal!" she shouted, wrought with relief as she ran towards the staircase. "Guys!" she said, blindly tearing up the stairs.

Kagome shot up the stairs to the first landing, crossed the space to the door to the first year dorms, and ripped it open to the great surprise of its inhabitants. Wild yelps sounded out as the door smacked the wall on the other side.

Most of the boys, only half dressed, dived.

"Merlin, Kagome!" Sirius shouted as he launched over his bed to hide behind it, snatching his covers to protect his dignity. Peter just let out a "Meep!" as he scurried in his own, only to pop his head out the other end to peek at her.

Remus, already dressed in his nightclothes, shook his head in amusement as he sniggered under his breath.

James, who was just about to pull on his shirt, sighed. With a slight, dry drawl, he told her, "Please knock next time to protect the modesty of these delicate flowers."

His face was promptly assaulted by a pillow, courtesy of one perturbed Sirius.

"The stairs!" Kagome said, grinning and brimming with excitement as she ignored the commotion and the boys' state of undress. "They're back to normal!"

The boys froze.

"What!" Sirius shouted in gleeful relief, dropping his covers and forgetting his 'modesty' as his chest was bared. "Yes! No howlers!" he cheered. James pumped a fist in the air at that and let out a wild whoop.

Peter shot up, still wrapped up in his scarlet coverlet, and let out a deep, long, sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin…"

"Kagome," Remus said in a strange, somewhat strained voice. "How did you get up here?"

"I took the stairs," she said immediately, as if it was obvious. She froze as her words finally came back to her. "I took… the stairs," Kagome said slowly, eyes widening. "Holy shit," she muttered, whirling around. "I made it up the stairs! By myself!"

"Bloody hell!" Sirius breathed out in astonishment; he and James looked at each other, and after a moment, they shared a proud, shit-eating grin. "We really did break the staircase!"

o.O.o

The rest of the break came and went. Now that Kagome was able to make it up the stairs to the boys' dorm, she snuck up there constantly under James' cloak—it wouldn't do for the other Gryffindors to find out about their part in the stairs just yet.

It was the perfect place to scheme though, that much was sure. A quiet place all to themselves without the pressing fear that a prefect might overhear. No need to worry about another student snitching or leaking their plans.

School resumed as usual. New spells and potions were learned, theory first and then practical. Essays were written, at the last minute for many students alike. Soon enough, it was already halfway through January.

As the five marauders left potions, Kagome brought up something that had been bugging her for a while. "Hey, is it just me, or does Severus seem a little angry lately?" she wondered, eyebrows furrowed out of curiosity, looking back over her shoulder to the Slytherin in question that was subtly stomping away, his robes slightly snapping at his ankles.

The expression of his face as he passed her was nothing but dark: his lips were pinched, his eyes narrowed into slits, and if it was possible a dark little cloud would be hovering over his head, thunder rumbling, following diligently like a puppy as he stalked away.

Sirius snorted beside her as the five of them made their way towards their second class of the day: Charms. "When isn't he?" he remarked quietly, lips curled into a smirk. At Kagome's frown, that smirk dropped and Sirius hastily added, "Hey, he's not exactly a chipper person you know," in his defense.

Kagome huffed and turned to the two boys who she knew wouldn't be prats. "Remus? Peter? Have you noticed anything?"

Peter shrugged, scratching his cheek lightly as he shook his head. "In Potions? Not really, no."

"He does seem a little more agitated than usual," Remus commented, eyebrows furrowed.

Finally! "That's what I'm saying!" Kagome exclaimed quietly. "I mean, after the break I'd figure he might cheer up a bit since Lily is back. But it's been weeks, and he's always in a darker mood since the last time I saw him…" she murmured.

James scoffed. "Yeah, it makes you wonder what has his knickers in a twist." His eyes glittered as he shot a covert glance towards Sirius, whose lips twisted. Sirius turned his head to hide his grin and let out a small cough to mask his laugh.

The others were oblivious to it all.

Minutes later they were clambering into Professor Flitwick's room and took their seats: Kagome and Remus in one row and James, Sirius, and Peter in the one behind them.

For today's lesson, they were picking up where they left off before the winter break: the practical of tickling charms.

"Now, remember, the wand movement is like so." He swished his wand twice, ending with an easy flick. "And just say Rictumsempra—repeat after me, please." They did, and a couple times at that, until the Professor was satisfied. "Practice the form first, if you will, and test out the pronunciation. After that, try it out on a partner-a mutually agreed one at that, mind you," he added, not missing the devilish look Sirius and James took on.

The pair fought down their smirks and rushed to present themselves as the angelical, innocent, proper children they assuredly were not. Professor Flitwick could only sigh and try to hide the way his lips twitched at the sight.

Remus turned to Kagome with an inquiring look to which Kagome nodded. As they began to practice their wand movements, Kagome darted an impish look in the werewolf's direction. "Tell me, Remus," Kagome began conversationally, finger tracing under the words of her notes as she scanned them. "You don't happen to be ticklish, right?"

Remus stiffened and he slowly turned from his own notes, his eyes narrowed. "I'm your partner, Potter, not your guinea pig—you would do well to remember that." Though his voice was mostly serious, Kagome detected a hint of playfulness.

Kagome only blinked at him innocently. "They aren't the same thing?"

Remus snorted and flipped a page.

After a few minutes of reviewing, it was time to practice. Setting his wand to the side, Remus turned on his stool to face her, prepared himself, let out an exaggerated sigh, and bemoaned, "Do your worst."

"You'll regret that," Kagome murmured wickedly after rolling her eyes, and she easily swiped her wand whilst pronouncing the incantation. "Rictumsempra!"

Remus promptly started to wiggle, and it was obvious by the way he clenched his jaws that he was trying not to laugh as well as fall off his stool. Kagome started to grin.

It was not to be as he couldn't hold it in any longer. He slipped off his stool and crumpled into giggles, writhing on the floor. "M-Merlin, stop it!" he gasped out between laughs, arms and hands flailing as if to bat away whatever was tickling him.

Feeling merciless, Kagome snickered and decided to keep at it a little longer for a few more seconds.

That was when Remus' sweater and shirt rode up, revealing a span of pale skin marred with a litter of silver scars, healed over from years it seemed. But what stood out to her was an angry, raised pink one that starkly stood out against his skin.

Unable to help herself, Kagome released a stricken gasp, her wand going slack in her fingers.

She… she knew he had them, it was common sense—he already had a few scattered across his face, of course it wouldn't be restricted only to there. She knew why there were there. She knew they were going to be bad. And she knew there would be more to come—from the flashbacks she knew that he had years of painful transformations with no control ahead of him until the Wolfsbane potion would be created, so of course he would gain more scars.

But seeing them for herself…it was a shock that made her heart ache sharply. She could only imagine the pain he must have endured—still endure at that—from the transformations… How for every full moon he would be locked up, be it somewhere at home or now in the shrieking shack, all alone just waiting as the time ticked down and the full moon rose. How he inflicted the wounds on himself, struggling with the loss of control, unable to bask in the moonlight and hunt like his instincts drove him to. And she wondered how he must feel to see them every day, a constant reminder of the curse inflicted on him—to feel the shame he no doubt possessed every time he did.

Her heart ached for Remus, for the pain he must endure and the loneliness he must constantly feel.

I wish I knew when the boys will finally figure it all out, Kagome thought fretfully. If she thought she could she would drop hints, anything to cut the wait short so they could show Remus that he wasn't alone, not any longer, that he had them and they weren't going to be scared away. Only, messing with the past, trying to change the future… it was a tricky, dicey thing and needed a delicate hand. She feared that by intervening she might disturb the process of accepting the news that their friend was a werewolf and forever ruin their friendship for the boys. So, she was stuck sitting back, helplessly waiting and watching.

Eventually Remus calmed down, breathing somewhat normally if not a little fast, and soon realized why Kagome stopped when he followed her gaze. Stricken, he yanked down his clothes, hiding the scars before anyone else could see, and shot Kagome a pleading look.

It was too late though, as three certain Gryffindors were leaning over their table and staring down at Remus in wonder.

"Whoa," James breathed out as Peter muttered, "Merlin!"

"Impressive scars you got there mate," Sirius commented quietly.

"I-uh," Remus stammered, face going white, "Devil snare accident when I was younger…" he mumbled out, ducking his head.

Sirius, James, and Peter all shared an awed look, before flashing him a grin. "Wicked…"

Kagome remained silent, didn't comment that she knew it was fresh, its angry pink color and that it was raised were obvious indications that it was new and recently healed at that. She did, however, roll her eyes. Boys and their scars…

"Well," Kagome announced, rocking on her heels awkwardly, and Remus' head snapped up to her. "Seems like I got that spell down," she said, and she stepped forward to hold out her hand for him. "Your turn, yeah?"

Remus relaxed in obvious relief and grasped her hand with a muttered thanks. "…Yeah…"

After that, the class continued on with an awkward tension settling between the two, only broken when James and Sirius got it in their heads to practice their newly learned spell on their Charms Professor.

The two Gryffindor boys shared an evil look and raised their wands. "Rictumsempra!"

"Hahah—Potter! Hah—Black! Hehehe—ten points, ha, from, teehee, Gryffindor! Put down those wands!"

Words- 6,055

I'm not totally satisfied with this chapter, to be honest, at least, not with the last half of it but oh well. I'm taking the trouble I'm having as a sign to get on with it and wrap up first year, so, if I'm lucky, just two more chapters, then maybe a summer chapter, and then second year.

And remember! Check out the fan art! The links are on my profile or just head over to deviantArt and search for sweetlessly!

As for review replies… I honestly never expected to take so long to update. I usually prefer to reply right before I post the new chapter, but I figured it'll be better to just reply as soon as I possibly can once I get them. I'm still replying, so some of you that reviewed last chapter will be getting replies over the next few days. Again, thank you all for taking the time to review! You guys are all so awesome! XD

A few shout-outs of gratitude for the people whose ideas inspired the scenes of the chapter:

As always toArmyWife22079, for her general amazingness and constant support.

To sweetlessly for helping me getting off my ass and finishing the chapter, because let's be honest, it's her artwork that oiled the muse and got it working once more.

And to Venas for the idea of fireworks and a Charms scene

Hopefully, I got them all lol. If not, my apologies and my thanks to all that I failed to mention!

Till laters!

RainLily^^

A big huge honking thanks to all those who read, alerted, and fav'd this fic, and to these awesome reviewers!

CrescentMelody, Valleygoat, JolleyLoser, Lorem tenebrae, Tenshi 'Gome, WhyWhatShutup, Bunny.W.K, SphereShadow, Umbra1219, Venas, Spastic Freak, drksilvercloud, MoonPrincess1989, Magykrider, RebornRose1992, ObsidianFrost, Guest, ShiTsukisan, kagome midnight fox, StuffedCupcakes, Kuro-Shi-Kage, The Kumiko, LovelyLadyMarMar, TsukiyoTenshi, Kagome Lady of Darkness, Chibisemo, Guest, WraithReaper, BloodFued, HisSecretLover18, Avela, Avulocard21, Natsumi Tsuchi-Ookami, RoseGlass, GiggleboxGirlie, Guest, Himawari-no-Ichizoku, emeraldmoon14, MC, Rigoudon13, eloquent dreams, rooniey, LeaFairy124, demons can smell fear, Unseene, Elemental64, , sweetlessly, tsukinoyume11, ThunderSakura, Tempest S, Foxluna, Strawberry-kun 14, Jessica, Fluffy-luvr, Aashni, KagomeFan981, Zombina, Dragon'sSounding, Sugar0o, xXCrossoverLoverXx

Guest- Thanks! ^^ For the last chapter, you asked if Dumbledore knew because of the map… You're right, he doesn't have the map and the marauders made it themselves. Dumbledore doesn't really know every thing, it's just rumors gone out of hand, y'know? Lol. If anything, he knows a lot through the portraits throughout the school.