Disclaimer: Aye, it is me… no, not Purplelight, well, one of the authors of this one… oh, nevermind. These are JKR's characters, not mine… I want Sirius though! And some of it is from another author… you'll come to that when you get there!

Chapter 11

Slip of the Tongue

Sirius stalked around the edge of the lake, simmering. Stupid Snape, he thought, taking his anger out on an old enemy rather than an old friend. He needed something to get back at Snape. He wanted something that wouldn't necessarily hurt his enemy, but would scare him so much that he might actually have to change those greying underpants of his.

He chuckled to himself, some of his rage lifting as he remembered what he and James had done after the OWLs last year.

"Black," Snape's greasy voice, almost as oily as his hair made Sirius's name sound like an insult.

Sirius's anger returned full force as he saw Snape, leaning against one of the trees, "Snivelly," he sneered, and strode towards him, fingers clenched around the wand in his pocket, "What are you doing here? I would have thought you were marking the pages in the Library with your grease, it dripping off your nose and onto the parchment. Tell me, which ones were you reading? I don't want to drop them because my fingers were covered in your slime."

Snape's eyes filled with loathing and he plunged his hand into his pocket for his wand. Sirius already had his though he whipped it out, shouting, "Impedimenta!" as he did so. The curse flew across the short space between them, and hit Snape right on his hooked nose.

Snape glared as Sirius swaggered towards him, smirking. "Well, Snivelly," he said, wand still out and ready, "What curse could I use on you?" he grinned at his enemy, helpless before him. An idea came into his mind, and his temper cooled a little at his plan, Well, he thought, smiling grimly to himself, it looks like the Marauder's plan is still going ahead, even if it's just going to be me carrying it out. Sirius sneered again, and leaned forward to tell Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow. Turning on his heal, he strode away, temper much improved, leaving his enemy immobilised and curious.

James clambered through the Griffindor Common room portal. He thumped onto the couch in front of the fire. He pulled his bag close to him and rummaged in it until he found an inkbottle.

It was small and made of ivory… with "Property of Lily Evans" engraved on it. Ah, He thought, smiling, Works every time.

He looked up and tried not to look too guilty as Remus came in, looking tired and haggard, Full moon's tonight James remembered, and grinned, thinking about the adventures they had had in the night of the full moon last month.

"Hey, Moony!" James greeted him a little too cheerfully, his hand moving to cover Lily's inkbottle.

Remus wasn't going to be fooled that easily, "What've you got there, Prongs?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing!" James exclaimed innocently, widening his eyes at Remus, who narrowed his eyes in response.

"Interesting subject, nothing," Remus commented dryly, "Brings out the most amazing reactions in people." (AN: yes, we stole it from Trudi Canavan's High Lord, hey, it's Fanfiction, isn't it? besides, it's a good book, so READ IT! … and go read Harry Potter while you're at it… actually, since you're reading this fanfiction, you probably already have… nevermind… on with the story!)

James blushed and opened his hand to reveal the ink. Remus raised an eyebrow. When James showed him the name labelled on it, Remus's mouth twitched sideways, "James… You know that Lily is going to murder you, don't you?"

James looked up earnestly, "What she doesn't know won't hurt her!" he said, grinning and fluttering his hand to wave away all accusations. He ruffled his hair as he saw Lily walk in through the portrait, her eyes still smouldering.

She saw him lounged on the couch and minced over, her hair swinging behind her. James watched her, grinning smugly as she stopped in front of him, "Alright, Evans?" he asked.

She jabbed him in the chest with her finger, "Potter," she snapped, "You promised me the dratted mirror. Well, here I am. Is the mirror here?" As James gaped at her, she poked him again, "No, I didn't think so. Off you go: get it." James stared at her for a minute longer while she tapped her foot, her patience obviously long gone, "Now!" she snapped, and James leapt up and ran to his dormitory.

He rummaged in his trunk, then remembered that it was Sirius's mirror to start off with, and went to Sirius's trunk. He looked into the mess of clothes and saw the Peeping Tom Mirror, strewn next to the mirror that he had the pair to. Here he paused, remembering the conversations that he and Padfoot had had over that mirror. He swayed, loyalty to his best friend warring with his fear of Lily's wrath.

"I'm waiting, Potter!" Lily's voice from the bottom of the stairwell made James do a fair impression of levitating, without magic. James leaned down and snatched the mirror from Sirius's trunk, before turning and running back to Lily at the bottom of the stairs.

He held out the mirror, and Lily took it, a look of curiosity and suspicion on her face. She looked through it, and gasped as she saw through the material on James's leg, "It works," she whispered.

James frowned her, "What are you looking at?" he asked, shifting slightly.

Lily blushed, "Nothing," she muttered, and put the mirror in her pocket. She looked up at James for a moment, before turning and mincing back the stairs to her dormitory.

James stared after her for a second, then went to sit on one of the couches before the fire. He looked moodily into the flames, before the sound of the portrait swinging forwards caught his attention. His head swung around as Sirius bounded through the Portrait. James put his head in his hands, and hoped that Sirius wouldn't see him; not if he was in the same mood that he was in when he had left the Great Hall.

No chance. Sirius bounced across the room to him, stopping about half an inch from his friend, "Hey, Prongs!" he greeted, and flomped into one of the chairs beside him.

James looked at him suspiciously; Sirius should not be in such a good mood… unless he had pulled a prank, "What have you done?" he asked.

Sirius widened his grey eyes, "Nothing!" he said, and shrugged, trying to avoid the question.

James narrowed his eyes. The only thing that would really cheer Sirius up would be pulling a prank, and the only thing that would cheer him up that much would be... James inspected Sirius over his glasses, "You told Snape, didn't you?" it wasn't a question.

Sirius gaped at him, "How do you do that?" he asked, and sat back in the chair, dumbfounded.

The echo of James's voice could be heard around the Great Hall, "SIRIUS BLACK!"

A/N: Yes, I know; it's short and i'm sorry... sorta, but that bit just wrapped it up nicely! now, Review! pwease?