A/N: Well this chapter is long overdue…I can blame in on a combination of not having time, then my computer needed to be fixed, and then there were problems with the internet connection at my house (thankfully that was fixed). Though not too much happens in this chapter (it's a filler chapter), a lot of the things mentioned will prove important in later chapters.

It was history in the making; a prank to be remembered for years. The plan wasn't particularly brilliant nor was it executed flawlessly – yet for one reason or another it was this prank, not the ones they pulled before and not the ones they pulled soon after that had cemented into the minds of the student body, the four of them as mischief makers.

At that precise moment James was concealed under his invisibility cloak waiting for the verbal signal.

"Quidditch!" Sirius Black rounded the corner at a near sprint and it sounded as if a herd of angry Hippogriffs were after him. In actuality it was a herd of angry Slytherins and as they ran past, James flattened himself against the wall to ensure no one ran into him by accident. James had counted about 10 Slytherins, a bit more than they had planned for.

He was curious about how Sirius had managed to enrage them enough to get them to chase him. Slytherin students didn't typically engage in such undignified behavior. James was pleased to see Snivellous, Bellatrix, and Lestrange brothers, Rodolphus and Rabastan in the group. In James's mind this wasn't a random prank as he had let Sirius, Peter and Remus to believe. This was revenge for all the heartache that House had caused him.

Recently Bellatrix had been enacting her own revenge against James when Sirius wasn't around. He had kept this quiet because he knew Sirius would blame himself if James ever told him.

It turned out that the only time James and Sirius weren't together was when James had Quidditch practice. Just the other day James had been throwing a quaffle around with Robert and Darien to get the feel of each other in the open patch behind the pitch. Bellatix, Lestrange, and two other Slytherins had parked under a tree and began sending a barrage of stinging hexes at James with their wands concealed under their robes.

The spell left no mark and by luck none of the spells hit Robert or Darien, so the only evidence it was at all happening was the fact James kept dropping the quaffle. After this had happened three times in a row, Robert had grown impatient, "What's the matter with you, Potter?"

"It's the Slytherins!" James responded angrily. His anger was not at Robert, but himself for allowing the hexes to affect his performance so visibly.

"Come on, Potter! Just ignore them. If you can't handle them during practice, well their presence will only get worse during the game."

James knew this off course. He had dealt with Slytherin taunts since his first year. It was a side effect of befriending Black and being from a decent pureblood family. He listened to Robert's reprehend silently and forced himself to catch the next three passes even while being hit simultaneously by three hexes.

Now getting back to the task that was at hand, James didn't start following the trial of Slytherins until they had a slight head start. His next part didn't occur until Sirius, the Sltyerins and James passed seven doors and made one left turn. James took aim with his wand at the ceiling and six balloons filled with mud and dirty water from the lake came splashing down. All the Slytherins stopped mid-stride and some of them even cried out. None of the balloons actually hit them. The point of the balloons had been to cause a quick distraction so Sirius could rest a moment.

See in order for the prank to work, they didn't want Sirius to outrun his pursuers and they also didn't want them to catch Sirius. Eventually Sirius was to lead them to a certain corridor where the real prank would occur. James stayed rooted to his spot until the chase started again after Sirius taunted them once more. Something about them being cowards and being stuck-up; it did the trick rather quickly and they soon disappeared down the hallway. Sirius would be on his own for a bit now.

Before heading for his own mission James cleaned up the mess. "Scourfiy!"

It was a handy house cleaning spell his house-elf had taught him during the summer.

Hoping none of this had attracted any unwanted attention, James headed to the same dead-end corridor Sirius was going except taking a quicker, more direct route.

James was also headed to the same dead-end corridor on the third floor Sirius and the Slytherins were, but in a much quicker route. This corridor wasn't always a dead-end corridor only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights. This tidbit of information was thanks to Remus taking time to actually read parts of Hogwarts a History.

The absence of teachers and Prefects in the middle of the day wasn't just pure luck. Peter right now was overseeing Victoria and her friends setting off large quantities of dungbombs all over the school except for the parts where the prank was occurring. This would hopefully keep any unwanted spectators busy. For once Victoria's infatuation with James had proved helpful. Victoria had agreed instantly to help their prank in any way and had even corraled eight other first years to help them as well.

Finally reaching his destination James called out, "Remus?"

"James?" Remus answered hesitantly searching the empty hallway. James laughed before uncloaking himself.

"There you are," Remus grinned and turned immediately serious. Remus was good at that, "Any problems?"

"None. There was nothing to worry about."

"We didn't get away with it yet…"

Remus was always the optimist.

James rolled his eyes. It always took some time to get Remus to agree to help and then he'd become as excited as them during the planning. Even though Remus tried to hide the excitement of the prank with a worried expression, James wasn't fooled. It was best just to ignore Lupin's insecurities.

James now handed Remus the invisibility cloak and he took Remus's place hiding behind the statue of a large regal looking witch. Now they just had to wait. He watched Remus walk across the hall and then with a salute disappear under the cloak.

They had gotten into position just in time because Sirius arrived, flying down the hall. He ducked behind the statue in one fluid motion giving James a thumbs up. Next, the Slytherins hurled themselves into the hallway, still clearly infuriated and were forced to come to an abrupt stop.

"Where did he go?" Rodulphus Lestrange bellowed loudly.

"He went down here! I saw him go down here!" someone else said.

A few of the Slytherins were trying to hit the walls looking for a secret escape route. Only Snape was eyeing the statue concealing James and Sirius with enough interest to worry James.

It was time.

"Ready?" James mouthed at Sirius and before waiting for a response swished his wand to cause all the candles in the hallway to flicker and go out one by one.

"Sirius is still here. Find him!" Bellatrix instructed.

Winking at James, Sirius pointed his wand at the ceiling and James mirrored his actions. One balloon after another pummeled down on the unsuspecting victims. The balloons like the ones before were filled with murky water, mud and foliage. The Slytherins reacted with a mixture of screams and curses.

It was a sight to be remembered!

Every single one of their advisories was soaked and covered with a mixture of grass and leaves. It was now time for Remus to unleash the smoke beans. The smoke beans weren't even on the market yet, but Peter's father worked in a Wizard toy factory and was able to get things before they were released.

Upon contact with the air, they had been held in sealed bag, they emitted a smoky fog engulfing everything in the room. It was thick enough to disorient the Slytherins who had gotten the worst of it being in the center of the room.

James and Sirius quickly slipped out from behind the statue before they too could not see. Remus joined them coughed a little from the smoke, handing over the invisibility cloak to James.

"What was that?" he asked apprehensively.

"What was what?" Sirius feigned innocence as they headed to the Tower.

"Those letters didn't appear on their own," Remus said exasperatedly and when Sirius shrugged, "You know, the glowing red letters that said: Brought to you by S.J.R.P. We didn't agree on that."

"I took some artistic liberty," Sirius said vaguely.

"Why don't we just turn ourselves in, save everyone the trouble," Remus said sarcastically.

"No ones going to figure it was us by our first initials. Relax, Remus. Enjoy the moment."

The three boys entered the Common room casually and quickly headed upstairs when no one reacted any differently to their arrival.

"That was brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed unable to contain his excitement any longer, "Pure brilliance!"

"All thanks to me," James answered relishing in the strange lightness he was feeling. He felt as if he was floating on a cloud and nothing could ever go wrong.

"As if you could have pulled it off without us," Sirius scoffed.

Remus allowed himself a smile, "Never expected it, did they?"

A knock sounded on the dorm room door and the unexpected noise silenced them all quickly. Cautiously James stood up and opened it a crack to reveal a pink faced Victoria. He ushered her in and for a few moments she eagerly looked around. It was most likely her first time in a boy's dorm. Victoria turned to inspecting them, "You all look well…seem to have all your fingers and toes."

"How do you know we have all our toes?" Sirius asked with amusement looking down at his shoes.

"I can see through things. Didn't James tell you?" Victoria answered innocently.

"Ha, ha," James laughed dryly, "Where's Peter? Don't tell me he got caught?"

"No, no…he – err- he may have fainted."

"May have?"

"Well he received a direct hit with one of those super-super dungbombs. And it happened right in front of McGonagall, which I think saved us because she was starting to suspect we weren't innocent bystanders."

"He probably fainted from fright, he doesn't exactly have a heart of a lion," commented Sirius.

"Some people are just more sensitive to dungbombs," Victoria interjected. It was odd to see her sticking up for Peter.

"What about your alibis?" James pressed.

"All set, Lauren and Lynn were already telling others about your tutoring session with them."

"Excellent. Give them our thanks. We couldn't have done it with all your help."

Victoria beamed and literally skipped out of the room for once quieted by the unexpected complement from her crush. James turned to his friends with a sigh, "She drives me crazy!"

They all erupted into laughter and eagerly began discussing the finer points of the prank.

Severus Snape was going to kill Bellatrix Lestrange. She had dragged them all directly to Slughorn's office not allowing any of them to clean off first, so that they might look a little presentable. Bellatrix wanted Slughorn to see the full effects of the pranks by the Gryffindor brats.

He couldn't believe, they, the Slytherins for all their cunning had walked right into a trap! Had anyone else found it a little suspicious to follow Sirius Black after he had insulted them all so crudely? Snape had gone along only because Bellatrix hadn't stopped and he wasn't stupid enough to argue with her.

He didn't like being governed by Bellatrix's whims, but hopefully it would become fruitful. Unlike most of his House, he had neither money nor family name to ride on

Then to add to their humiliation, Bellatrix had chosen some of the mostwidely used hallways to Slughorns office, so they passed many tittering ad laughing groups of Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors in their wake.

Black would pay for this, as well as Potter. Those two had been glued to each other for the past few days, and he wouldn't put it past sickly Remus Lupin and tagalong Peter Pettigrew to be involved. Maybe Slughorn would even decide to have Professor Adair oversee their punishment; Snape relished the thought.

He would be forever grateful to Professor Adair for humiliating Sirius Black so brilliantly. Snape had seen both pain and fear in Black's eyes, usually cool with indifference. He had also enjoyed delivering his own punishment on Black, even if Bellatrix had been the one to instigate it. If Potter and his gang of wayward followers hadn't interfered he could have had Black begging in front of the entire student body. They would pay for that and the latest mischief. He could wait to make them pay though. For now he could feed on enjoyment on just riling Black with casual remark about blood, family, and honor. It really was too easy sometimes and Sirius's temper was as short as Bellatrix's though not as dangerous. With Bellatrix you never knew what she was capable off.

'May I offer a suggestion?" Snape asked delicately.

Looking slightly annoyed, Bellatrix nodded subtly.

"Could we perhaps go to straight to Professor Adair's office instead of Slughorns? We all know she would deal a more severe punishment."

"An interesting idea…" she murmured watching Snape closely.

"We can't!" someone blurted out curtly, "Professor Slughorn is our Head of House."

The girl who had spoken was the newly elected fifth year Prefect. Apparently she wasn't aware that Bellatrix rarely followed any of Hogwarts rules.

"Shame. But there you have it," Bellatrix smiled condescendedly on the girl who had spoken before addressing Snape again, "No one's mind quite works like yours, Severus."

Her tone of voice was so unreadable that Snape was unsure if it was a compliment or a warning to not get too ahead. He was after all a second year and Snape knew he had to be careful to not attract too much attention.

So they ended up in Slughorns, though predictably the visit did not go smoothly, Slughorn was bewildered to find them in his office in such a messy state. After he overcame that, it had taken some time for him to understand their side of the story.

"You said you saw Mr. Black? Sirius Black?"

"He's my cousin," Bellatrix implored irritably; "I know what he looks like."

"You didn't see Mr. Potter though?"

"No, sir," Snape intervened, "But in all likelihood he was involved."

"We can't go accusing an innocent boy! Its things like that that gives our House such a horrible name."

"Potter is anything but innocent," snarled Rodolphus Lestrange.

"We could lie, sir," Bellatrix said sweetly, "Say we saw Potter, just to get him here for questioning."

"No need for that dear girl." As usual telling the truth rarely gets you to where you want.

Bellatrix didn't look pleased, though Snape had a feeling it was more to do with being called dear girl than getting Potter in for questioning.

Now they had all told him exactly what had happened, their Head of House seemed unsure of the next proper step in such a protocol.

In the end under Bella's suggestion, Rabastan Lestrange and Snape were stuck waiting an hour with Slughorn while everyone else was allowed to leave and clean up. By the time Sirius and James sauntered in Snape did not believe it was possible for his mood to get any worse. It was small consolation that Slughorn had managed to get James to come.

"There is no way they can wiggle their way out of this…" Lestrange whispered confidently. The problem was Lestrange greatly underestimated Black and Potter.

As Potter and Black answered Slughorn's questioning, Snape was becoming physically sick from their politeness. James and Sirius weren't this polite with teachers they respected. Even though they were very convincing with their looks of bewilderment at the state of the Slytherin's robes, Snape still believed they would get the punishment they deserved.

And then James had the nerve so say earnestly, "I hope you catch the real culprits, sir." It all went down hill from there.

It was obvious Slughorn didn't want to believe Black and Potter were involved. He ate up their tales and Snape was forced to watch silently as the Gryffindors spun a web of lies. Some rubbish having to do with tutoring first years. He was too disgusted to pay attention to the details.

Lestrange apparently was paying more attention than Snape and as usual was unable to restrain himself, "Tutoring? And you believe them, sir?"

The only problem was, questioning Slughorns sanity would only hurt their case.

"I was doing a family friend a favor," James answered coldly; "The girls are friends with Victoria Dekker. My family has known the Dekkers for ages. Perhaps you know them sir?"

Snape had to acknowledge Potter's quick thinking alluding to his connections was the perfect way to get Slughorn's attention.

"Yes, yes," Slughorn beamed, "Fine family. Very sad when they lost so much of their fortune."

"If needed I'm sure the girls, Lynn and Linda would have no problem being called in."

"No, no…there will be no need for that."

"Black did it! Black taunted us! We chased him!" Lestrange's rage was apparently causing him to talk in short sentences.

"I'll admit to taunting them, sir. What's the harm in a little House rivalry? I can understand their angry, but I'm afraid we aren't your guys. And I most certainly did not engage in a chase."

"A simple case of mistaken identity, eh?" Slughorn rumbled. He looked relieved.

"And it's just a coincidence all your first initials match the message left by whoever were the brains behind the prank: S.J.R.P; Sirius, James, Remus and Peter." Snape spoke softly and confidently. This was the first he had spoken since the Gryffindors had walked in and both Potter's and Black's eyes rested on him cautiously. "A very peculiar coincidence, sir. If you believe in such things."

And Snape did not believe in such things. It had been careless of them to leave such evidence of their involvement.

Sirius coughed, "It still doesn't prove anything. Coincidences happen all the time, if you believe in them or not."

"All right boys, I think its best…yes, yes…it is best if we just forget this incident." Though for the first time that day, Slughorn sounded suspicious, which at least was a slight win on Snape's behalf, "I'll have to tell Professor McGonagall about the complaint Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, so do not be surprised if she questions you."

Complaint? Was that what that vicious prank had been reduced to? Lestrange flung out of Slughorn's office cursing under his breath. Potter and Black left next, but they were waiting for him outside. He may have been more worried it they weren't still right near Slughorn's office.

Potter was smirking and Black looked triumphant.

"Hello Snivellus!" Sirius said cheerfully. Perfect, they had thought of a new nickname.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet. Actually I wouldn't sleep tonight or the next night or the next…Bellatrix is going to be out for blood."

"Does she have you do all her threats for her?" James was twirling his wand.

"It won't be my Quidditch career ruined after a skirmish with her."

James stopped twirling his wand to give Snape a good long scathing look.

"And it's not just Black's cousin you have to watch out for. It wasn't exactly smart targeting ten Slytherins that all have a larger knowledge of hexes than you do."

Though they stiffened at his words, they laughed trying to cover up their worry.

"Let's go, Sirius," James said and giving Snape a once over, "Take a bath, Snivellus."

So Snape was left alone at last.

As he walked back to his common room, a wonderful idea took form in his mind. He'd allow Bellatrix and her crew get their revenge, playing as little role as possible. He was sure it would result in a large loss of points and weeks of detention. Bellatrix wasn't known for her subtlety. And while the quartet was nursing their wounds, then he'd strike.

Peter stared at the piece of toast he was buttering as if it were the most important thing in the world. Sirius sat across from him rifling though the Daily Prophet. Remus had left late yesterday afternoon to visit his sick mother and James was at Quidditch practice. This left only Sirius for company. Peter was comfortable enough with Sirius when the four of them were together, but alone he became edgy around him. Sirius could sometimes be brutally honest about things, while Peter preferred to pretend the less finer things in life did not exist.

A loud boisterous group of fourth years walked past greeting them fondly. This had been happening daily since the prank, which had occurred about three days ago. They had become quite popular. Well mainly James and Sirius. No one was really sure of Remus's and Peter's involvement, but they were usually around when James and Sirius were being congratulated so Peter could easily pretend the praise was directed at him too.

His job had been just as important. His friends should be bloody grateful he had fainted because McGonagall had been suspicious. And even though both Peter and Victoria explained that to them all, he knew they were laughing behind his back and probably calling him a clumsy fool.

But what was the point in harping on his friends faults? He didn't have the guts to confront them. And he needed them. They created a safety net against the bullies and an illusion to the world that he was part of a close-nit group of friends. Peter knew they considered him a friend, but friend was not synonymous with equal in their books.

Sirius threw down the paper sighing, "Do you want to read it?"

"Err- no thanks…" Peter had never enjoyed reading the Daily Prophet. He found it dull and any interesting stories only caused him to panic and worry about things that would never actually happen to him.

The Mail Owls all flew in then and a gentle murmur filled the Great Hall. Peter didn't bother glancing up. His mother only mailed him once a month and he had just received something the other week. So he was surprised to find a large tan owl thrusting a light green envelope in his face. Peter stared at it blankly.

"Do you need help opening it?" Sirius asked looking at Peter disdainfully.

Peter only narrowed his eyes, but obliged his impatient friend.

Dearest Peter,

Congratulations on becoming a big brother. Your little sister was born last night. Her name is Jocelyn Anne Pettigrew.

Love,

Mum, Dad, and baby Jocelyn.

A picture of a red squirming howling baby fell out of the envelope. Sirius picked it up looking at it curiously. Sirius passed him the picture and Peter stared blankly at it unsure what he should feel and wondering why he wasn't feeling anything.

Two sixth year girls who were sitting in close proximity to them rushed over. "Ohhhh! Who's that?" cooed one of them.

"M-m-my little sister," Peter mumbled. It was weird to lay claim to the little squirming person in the picture.

"She's so cute!" they both squealed and giggled crazily. Their laugh drew attention of a few more girls and though Peter was getting very nervous being near so many females, he was starting to enjoy the bonus attention. None of them were paying an attention to Sirius, who only had a pain-in-the-arse brother.

"Sure, she's cute now," Sirius said dully and looking sourly at the baby picture and the throng of girls around it. And when the prettiest girl of the lot gave Sirius a cold stare and then proceeded to smile genuinely at Peter, "She's precious," Peter decided he'd give his little sister huge thanks the moment he saw her. Feeling much better than he had all week, he put the picture away though he would be sure to keep it handy in case any other girls wanted a peek at it later.

"I'm going to write down all the days Remus has missed and will miss when he disappears," Sirius whispered with an air of importance.

The comment came out nowhere, but had obviously been on Sirius's mind for awhile. "Huh?"

"I'm hoping to find a pattern. Maybe some clue to where he goes."

"You don't know he's lying," Peter said levelly eyeing the paper Sirius had written last night's date on. Sirius and James took Lupin's absences very personally. They acted as if they were in a middle of some elaborate conspiracy.

"Don't I?" Sirius challenged.

"You'll feel quite stupid when it turns out he really does have a sick mother."

"If his mother is sick, he most certainly isn't visiting her."

Peter breathed in quickly gathering a moment of strength, "Dumbledore is allowing Remus to leave the school. The teachers aren't suspicious of his absences. Remus will tell us when he's ready. And some things are best left unknown." The last bit was a spout of wisdom from one of his cynical cousins.

"Oi lads!" James called sitting down next to Sirius and grabbing a piece of toast right off his plate. His robes were all muddy, but he looked happy.

"Hey!" cried Sirius indignantly even though he hadn't touched any of his food for the last fifteen minutes.

"How was practice?" Peter asked.

"Well the Prewett brothers got into a spat. You should have heard McCoy ranting and raving for letting a bludger hit Camille, our seeker."

Gideon and Fabian Prewett were brothers who both had striking red hair, though Gideon's hair color was lighter, while Fabian's was a much darker shade.

"The Prewett's are cousins to me by marriage, but they are on the side of the family we pretend don't exist," Sirius commented after a moment.

James ate heartily and then slyly looked at Sirius as if just remembering something, "Darien's friend, Ally was asking about you. She's a fourth year and she was watching our practice."

"What for?" Sirius asked distractedly and Peter noticed the paper with the dates had vanished.

James rolled his eyes, "I suppose she likes you, mate."

Sirius looked up surprised and only vaguely interested, "How about that?"

"She's a fifth year!" Peter exclaimed jealously. It was not possible someone who was fourteen years old would be interested in a twelve year old, even if Sirius was considered handsome.

Peter did notice Sirius eyeing a pretty girl with bouncing blond curls at the end of the table. She noticed Sirius and blushed looking away. Sirius also quickly turned away looking unsure about the situation.

James announced that he had to go back to take a quick shower before classes began.

"I'll join you," Sirius said quickly grabbing his stuff together. Peter would have rather stayed a little longer, but he didn't want to be caught alone in the hallways later. Not when the Slytherins had not acted on their threats just yet.

As James showered, Peter saw Sirius go quietly over to Remus's trunk and begin trifling through it.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked alarmed.

Sirius didn't answer having suddenly found one of Remus's old notebooks from last year. Peter was surprised Remus bothered to keep his old notebooks. Peter had thrown out all his old notes; they had been barely decipherable while he was learning the material. Still not sure of Sirius's purpose in this invasion of privacy, Peter watched him flipping through the notes writing dates on that same paper he had during breakfast.

James returned dressed in his black school robes. His hair, still very wet, looked a bit more tidy than usual. Turning back to Sirius he noticed Remus's notebook was gone and his trunk had been closed as if none of what he had witnessed had happened.

Worried about the situation, Peter blurted out, "Sirius, what was on that paper?" He pointed to the paper still in Sirius's hand. Luckily, Sirius hadn't been quick enough with hiding that. All this secrecy was making him uncomfortable.

Sirius composed his face as James looked at him funny.

"Oh..nothing," Sirius said in a off-handed way, "Some birthdates…"

"That all have to do with Remus," Peter answered hastily.

"Remus?" James asked now taking the paper from Sirius, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked the paper over, "What do these have to do with Remus?"

"It has to do with his disappearances," Sirius declared not looking pleased. How could Sirius berate Remus for keeping secrets when he had been just about to do the same?

"I don't understand…" James said as he handed back the paper to Sirius. Neither did Peter.

"I remembered that Remus used to do that copying spell with your notes, James and put it in his notebook. So I borrowed one of his old ones and these are all the dates that he had to visit his mother."

"So you're looking for a pattern, right?" James's voice was filled with excitement and interest.

"Yes," Sirius nodded, "I was going to show it to you guys. I just wanted to mull it over myself for a bit." As he said the last part he looked pointedly at Peter.

"Excellent," James nodded and began pacing the room. Putting their heads together, they began to run ideas about patterns of numbers, days, and the way the sun was positioned. Peter suddenly wished he hadn't interfered with Sirius's secrecy. He found this all boring. It was all nonsense and it was a relief when James and Sirius had to stop because their first class of the day was about to start.

A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to read, now please take a few more minutes to review and let me know what you think. Any anonymous reviewers, your responses from last chapter are in my profile. Thanks again to all my readers! Until next time!