A/N Okay, so I lied. I know I said that I wouldn't update again yet, but I felt guilty for depriving the people who actually bothered to review (many thanks, guys!) Anyway, I shouldn't have to resort to blackmail to get you to review. It takes like five seconds! Come on!

Also, I keep forgetting to write disclaimers. Just assume the one from a few chapters back is in effect for the remainder of the story. Trust me, if I were to suddenly acquire the rights to Harry Potter, I would let you know.

Anyway, here's the next chapter. It's a little weird, but whatever.

James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin were in their dorm in the Gryffindor Tower. It was also Peter Pettigrew's dorm, but he wasn't there: he was speaking to Professor McGonagall, head of the Gryffindor House, about which NEWT courses he was taking. He was considering dropping divination, which everyone knew was useless anyways. They doubted that he would have much trouble; Professor McGonagall hated divination.

Despite that it was their first night back in the castle, they were bored and trying to come up with something to do. So far, they had exhausted the options of eating, playing exploding snap, and planning pranks (but only because they didn't like to plan too far ahead).

"If only my sweet Lily flower would talk to me," moaned James. Despite his supposedly eternal love for Lily Evans, she couldn't stand him. It didn't help that he had been made Head Boy this year, while she was Head Girl, forcing her to spend even more time around him.

"If you were more polite…" started Remus, even though he knew it was futile. He had tried to talk some sense into James numerous times, but, when it came to Lily, James wouldn't listen to reason. One would think that years of failure would have convinced him to try a new tactic, but no, not James.

"Would you shut up about Lily?" ordered Sirius. He had heard this conversation at least once a week since third year, and was entirely sick of it. "I'm bored. Give me the map, I'm going to see if anyone we know is wandering the halls."

James handed him a piece of parchment. "Maybe Lily…"

"No. No Lily. Besides, she's not a rule breaker." Sirius unfolded the parchment and tapped it with his wand and said, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Lines appeared on the page, forming a map, which Sirius began to scan. His eyes widened as he said, his tone surprised, "Snivellus is in the Astronomy Tower."

"So?" interrupted James, wanting to return to his favorite topic, Lily.

"With a girl," finished Sirius.

"What? No way! Let me see," demanded James, thoughts of Lily, although not forgotten, pushed to the side for a moment. He shoved Sirius over to get a look. Sirius pointed, and James stared at the two dots next to each other on the map, labeled "Severus Snape" and "Mackenzie Rush."

"We have to go see! This calls for the Invisibility Cloak," said James, opening his trunk and dumping armfuls of clothes and stacks of books onto the floor, as well as, creepily enough, a few photos of Lily. Finally, with a flourish, he yanked out a long, silvery cloak. "You coming, Moony?'

Remus shook his head, not even bothering to look up from his book. "Unlike you, I don't enjoy spying on other people's private moments."

"We aren't going to spy," smirked Sirius. "We're going to interrupt."

Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius stuck out his tongue. "Fine then, you spoilsport."

James shook the cloak out in the air, unfolding it. When it drifted back down over him and Sirius, they disappeared. "Ow, don't step on my foot!"

"Sorry, mate."

A hand appeared out of nowhere and snatched the map off of the bed. Then Remus heard the sound of retreating footsteps. He sighed. When would they learn to leave well enough alone? But it wasn't his problem, so he went back to his book.

When James and Sirius finally reached the Astronomy tower, they saw the backs of two dark haired heads, and two sets of legs dangling over the edge of the tower. They elbowed each other, snickering. Sirius asked, "So, what's the interruption plan?"

But James wasn't paying attention. "I think they're talking about us."

"…the look on their faces when they saw you. Priceless! See, I told you it was worth the exercise," she said.

"I still hate you for making me run," he grumbled, poking her in the side.

"Oh, don't be such an old man, now you have enviable muscles to make all the girls drool," she laughed as she poked him back. He just started at her like she had gone crazy. "Let's play a game."

He rolled his eyes, ready for anything that would distract the conversation from his muscles. "Fine. What game?"

By this point, Sirius was poking James in the side repeatedly. "She's the girl from the train."

"I can see that, Padfoot. Shh!"

Mac was still considering, tapping her pointer finger against her chin, her eyes thoughtful. "How about… Which Marauder?"

"That's a game?" snickered Sirius. "See, I told you everyone is obsessed with us."

"Fine, if you insist," answered Sev.

"Well, I do."

"Yes, I know that's why I said that. No, don't interrupt again. Hey, I'm talking!" He poked her arm, and when she kept trying to talk, he covered her mouth with his hand. "My question first. Which Marauder do you hate the most?"

His face turned disgusted as he pulled his hand away from her mouth. "You licked me!"

"Yah, well, I wanted to say something and you were covering my mouth. I hate… Lupin the most."

"Lupin?" He sounded confused. "Why? What did he do to you? And you picked him once for who you would be locked in a room with, so that doesn't really make sense."
James and Sirius looked at each other, wondering the same thing. No one hated Remus, he was just so likeable. He was friendly, shy, helpful, studious: everything that people wanted other people to be. And, after all they had done to someone who was apparently her friend, why not one of them? Good thing Remus hadn't come. Who knows how he would have reacted to hearing that someone hated him. Sometimes they thought he dedicated his time, when he wasn't studying, to making sure that everyone liked him.

"Well, I picked him for that because he wouldn't attack me, but he also wouldn't faint like Pettigrew would. You know I can't stand seeing people humiliated. I hate him the most because, unlike the others, he has the potential to be a good person, but he isn't. He let's his stupid friends do whatever they want, and I can see in his eyes that he knows that its wrong, but he's too cowardly to do anything about. It surprises me that he's in Gryffindor: he isn't brave.

"I'm not going to bother asking back: you hate Potter the most."

"What gave me away?" He was grinning. "Your turn."

"Which Marauder do you… pity the most?"

"Why would they pity any of us?" Sirius asked James, confused. After all, they had everything that all students wanted. The Slytherins acted like they didn't care about popularity, but they had to. Didn't they? James just told him to shut up.

"I don't know. They're all kind of pathetic. Potter, I guess. He's totally in love with Lily, and she keeps turning him down. Funny though it is for me, I'd feel really bad for him if I didn't know him. But I'd still be pretty angry if she finally gave in. All of us who hate the Marauders have our hopes pinned on her. You?"

"They don't need to pity me," snapped James, his eyes flashing. "She loves me, she just hasn't realized it yet."

"Sure, mate, whatever you say," said Sirius, trying to quiet him down, and also wondering who else was included in "all of us who hate the Marauders."

"Definitely Pettigrew," Mac answered, "He cares so much about what they think, and sometimes they're so mean to him. Eventually it's going to be too much for him. But I don't feel that bad for him since he doesn't care who he hurts in his quest to be one of them."

Sev nodded his acceptance of her reasoning. "Which Marauder would you snog then?"

"Ew, Sev, that's disgusting!" Her nose was crinkled up and her eyes were squinty as she twisted up her face for emphasis.

"We aren't that bad," whispered Sirius huffily. "Most girls would do anything to snog one of us. They wouldn't even care which one. Well, except Peter."

"Okay, I need background information. Would anyone know? Would I have to see them again? Would they be allowed to talk? Is their personality taken into consideration?"

"How about no, no, no, and no."

"In that case… Black. He's the best looking, if you don't know them. Plus, I could mess up his stupid hair."

Sev's nose was crinkled, mirroring Mac's expression to his question. "I really don't want to think about it."

"Hey, you asked! So now I'll as an awkward question… which would you chose for me to date?"

"Lupin, he's the least of a jerk. But I wouldn't want you dating any of them. Because they're all arrogant jerks who would think that they owned you. You deserve a nice guy. Plus, that would mean I would have to be around them. You know that. Why, which would you date?"

"Well, first of all, of course I know that, and I wouldn't. And don't be so selfish." Then, knowing what he was thinking, she added, "Yes, I know you're a Slytherin. Second, if I deserve a nice guy, I won't be able to date until I'm out of school. All the people here are jerks, at least when they're around me. Plus, niceness is overrated. And kind of boring. Third, I would date… would it have to be a real relationship?"

"What does that even mean, Mac?" Sev cocked one eyebrow.

"Well, if I didn't have to snog him, I'd date Pettigrew. I could turn him into my own personal slave."

Sev snorted. Unknown to him and Mac, so did James and Sirius. "Nope, doesn't work like that."

For some reason Sirius felt himself waiting for an answer, and felt slightly disappointed when she answered, "Probably Lupin, because he isn't bad looking, in love with another girl, or a player."

Sirius grinned ruefully. He knew that last thing was about him. He couldn't help it if he was the most sought after guy in school. What was he supposed to do with all the girls who jumped him in broom closets? Next to him, James was also smiling, but his grin was proud.

"In fact, if I didn't hate him and he wasn't quite so goody-goody, I'd probably like him." To Sev's disgusted face, she said, "Hey, he's hot.

"Actually, though, at this point you're hotter," she commented, then continued, when she saw his face, "Just stating a fact, not being awkward or anything. So, are you going to get a girlfriend this year? I mean, you do know that you're going to have a fan club soon, too? All the girls were staring at you at the banquet."

"No, I'm not. I don't want one, anyway. A fan club, I mean. I'm not like stupid, attention-seeking Potter and Black."

"She thinks he can get a fan club? Who do they think they are?" demanded Sirius.

"Bloody Slytherins, that's who," replied James, and they went back to their spying.

"Exactly. The reason that so many girls like Black, other than his looks, is that he is obviously troubled. They want to redeem him because he's a troublemaker. But you seem even darker. Plus, you're more secretive and don't have a reputation for lying to girls to get them to sleep with you. It's appealing, the challenge, you know." She glanced up at Sev, who looked confused. "Sorry, I'm not explaining this well. But, just wait, you'll see what I mean."

"Sure, whatever you say, Mac," he replied, obviously not believing her. "Lets head back to our dorms."

They got up and started walking towards the stairs. Sirius and James, who had been paralyzed by shock at what she was saying, no one could be more sought after than SIRIUS, quickly stumbled out of their way a bit louder than they meant to. They both held their breath, hoping that the two Slytherins hadn't heard them. They let out their breath in a sigh of relief when the two disappeared down the stairs, and then James said, "We should get going, too, mate."