A/N: This chapter is shorter than my usual. I wanted to get another update in, and I'm already working on the next chapter.

Time at Hogwarts was now passing quickly; there were only seven weeks left of Sirius' second year. As usual with the school year coming to end, the teachers were piling up the work from surprise quizzes to essays the length of short books. Poor James had to deal with Quidditch practice on top of it all. Gryffindor had a real chance to actually win the Quidditch Cup this year and McCoy was doing all he could to make sure the team was prepared.

Sirius and James still found time for fun; life would not be worth living without some of that. They caught on quickly to all the new magic and theories the teachers were ramming into their brains, so even with all the work they still managed to find some downtime. With the help of Remus and Peter, they pulled off another prank without getting caught, but they didn't celebrate as loudly as they should have because later that same day Slughorn assigned James and Sirius detention for throwing a dungbomb into Snape's cauldron.

In addition Sirius and James still had Adair's lessons, which though hadn't gotten any worse; they hadn't gotten any better either. As a matter of fact at the present moment they were walking to one of the lessons.

"I wish there was something we could do," James muttered. Without having to ask for clarification of what that 'something' was, Sirius knew he was talking about their werewolf friend, Remus.

Another full moon had come and gone, and even Peter, who had taken the longest time to understand that Remus was still Remus even if he turned into a werewolf once a month, wished that they could do something – really anything - to help. They visited Remus in the Hospital Wing attempting to cheer him up and pretending they didn't notice how mangled he looked, but it didn't feel nearly adequate enough.

"There's nothing," Sirius replied for the twentieth time that week. They'd had this conversation before. "Unless two second years came come up with a cure, which is bloody unlikely."

"There has to be something!" James insisted. "It isn't fair that Remus has to suffer."

Sirius was already very aware of how unfair the world could be. James, on the other hand, had grown up in a more pampered lifestyle, refused to believe there were certain things that were simply unfair and that nothing could be done about it.

They were keeping one thing secret from Remus. It wasn't a big deal, even though they had sort of promised Remus they wouldn't do the thing they were keeping secret from him. James had insisted their actions had fallen in a loophole since they hadn't entered the tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack on the full moon (none of them had a death wish), but they had the next morning. By then the full moon had waned and Remus was completely harmless; and it wasn't as if they hadn't gone out without preparation. They had taken James' invisibility cloak and had left the castle so early in the morning that even Filch was still sleeping.

Sirius wasn't sure what he had expected, but it wasn't the horrible sight that they witnessed that morning. Remus lay naked and unconscious on the floor with most of the cuts and bites covering his body still bleeding. James had covered their friend with a blanket and they all just stared silently at him for a few moments.

Then they heard someone entering the Shack and they rushed to a back corner of the room flinging the cloak over them. The visitor was Madam Pomfrey and they spent a tense ten minutes against one of the walls watching her attend to Lupin's worst wounds. She then conjured a stretcher, levitated him onto it and with a flick of her wand they were both gone.

Sirius and James had now arrived at Adair's office to find a note tacked on the door addressed to them. The lesson was to be held in a medium size classroom down the hall. They exchanged furtive glances at each other; neither excited about a change in the usual plans.

Reaching the classroom door, Sirius knocked on it softly three times.

"Enter," Adair instructed. With one more glance at James, Sirius walked in first to find the room had been cleared of all desks. On the large desk meant for a teacher was a cage with four rats.

"Just because we are in a different setting does not mean the usual courtesies are not to be followed," Adair snapped. They hastily bowed hoping she would not punish them.

"Right. Today and for the next few lessons we will be doing practical learning," Adair stated.

Sirius looked at James wondering if he had spoken to his parents about the monotony of their lessons and perhaps had gotten them to persuade Adair to do something interesting. James looked too shocked and surprised for this to be the case.

"You do have your wands?"

"Yes, Professor," they replied in unison. Having deprived a wand all summer, Sirius had decided to never again let it out of his sight if he could help it.

"Excellent. Now watch me."

Adair jutted her wand toward the rat cage, opening the lock and levitating the rat out of it, onto the desk. She gave her wand another twirl and jab, and the rat that'd been scrambling away, dropped on its side, kicking its legs and gasping for breath. Sirius stared at the rat in apprehension. The spell looked very familiar…

"Mr. Black, you are already familiar with this spell. Your mother told me you successfully cast it this summer. It causes the victim to believe their airway is constricting," Adair said with an evil smile on her face.

Sirius did not answer because he was watching the look of disgust and apprehension on James' face. What was James going to think of him now? Could he convince James that he'd been forced over the summer to learn and practice darker magic? None of the spells had been illegal, just on the questionable side.

"But, that's a Dark spell, Professor," James said interrupting Sirius' worried thoughts.

"You are speaking without permission, Mr. Potter."

"I don't care! I won't cast a Dark curse like that!" James shouted.

"Calm yourself. There's no reason to worry about compromising your morals; you won't be casting the spell. I'm teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'll be casting it on you and we'll see how your defensive skills are shaping up. It is naïve for you to believe that if you are ever attacked that the attacker would only try to disarm you instead of using Dark magic. I believe the only real way to learn is to experience the real thing."

James did not reply, but he was still glaring at Adair. Sirius was relieved James wasn't glaring at him.

"Mr. Black, you will go first. Now go stand in the center of the room. I want you to try to block whichever spell I throw at you in anyway you know. Ok then, one, two, three…"

Sirius barely had his wand out when he saw the flash of light coming straight at his head. He did the first thing he could think of, which was duck down, so that the spell flew over his head and hit the opposite wall with a loud crack. The Professor didn't give him a second to recuperate, sending another spell at him once more and this one hit its mark. He fell to his knees gasping from the pain and trying to get air back into his lungs.

"Let's make one thing clear. Dodging the spells will not be allowed. You are wizards, not Muggles! You may only defend yourself using magic. Is that clear, boys?"

"Yes, Professor," James muttered. Sirius wasn't able to answer since he was still trying to catch is breath.

"Mr. Potter, it is your turn," Adair instructed abruptly. "I think Mr. Black needs some rest." Adair was looking down at Sirius disdainfully.

Sirius flushed at hearing the Professor's remark, but backed away from the center of the room to allow James to take his spot.

James having seen Sirius go was more prepared. James even managed the pull off a Shield charm that knocked the first curse away. Professor Adair was not in a gentle mood and kept sending spell after spell until James couldn't hold the Shield charm any longer.

"Not bad, Mr. Potter, but your Shield Charm is very weak. I suggest you practice in your spare time with that. Mr. Black, your turn again…"

The lesson may have only lasted an hour, but it felt as if they were in the room all day. Adair kept switching back and forth between the two of them, never giving either of them enough rest. They were both exhausted by the end with thoughts of the homework they had not completed yet looming in their minds.

Adair had used a range of three different darker curses on them. It was good practice and even the short period of time they had both gotten better at holding the Shield Charm, but only out of necessity. Adair only criticized them without offering any suggestions or better defensive spells. She stated that for now she wanted them to only rely on their instincts.

On the walk back to the dormitory James muttered that he was going to scour the library in his free time, find every defensive spell book written, and memorize each and every spell.

It was a mark of how their friendship had strengthened that James did not ask him about how he had come to learn the dark Throat-tightening curse.

"Oi Potter!"

James turned toward the sound of the voice. James and Sirius were headed to the courtyard to meet Remus and Peter for their free period.

Robert McCoy was running toward them breathless. "I'm almost late for Ancient Runes. Could you run this to McGonagall? She's in class right now, but I want her to get this right away. It's our practice schedule for the next month and its best if she books it straight away. I don't want the Slytherins to end up with the best practice times."

"Sure," James answered taking the neatly folded piece of paper from McCoy. "I have a free period now anyway."

"Excellent. See you two later," McCoy stated quickly and he started down the hallway at a jog before they could say anything in return.

"You don't mind, do you?" James asked.

"No, not at all. I want Gryffindor to win the Cup just as much as the next person."

By the time they reached McGonagall's classroom she was already in deep discussion with her class. They paused near the door, which was cracked open to listen to the topic the fifth year class was covering.

"— is one of the most highly advanced forms of Transfiguration and if you are not careful can go horrible wrong. There are a very small number of witches and wizards who have the magical ability and strength to even attempt it because of how complicated the process is. The Ministry keeps a tight control over those wishing to become Animagus and all Animagus are required to register with the Improper Use of Magic Office. As underage wizards and witches none of you are prepared for the advanced magic this requires, which is why today we will only be studying the theory behind it…"

"Imagine being able to turn into an animal at will…" James whispered looking through the crack intently.

"It would be brilliant, but you heard McGonagall… We've only just learned how to transfigure beetles into buttons."

"Still it would be interesting to learn more about it," James said. Transfiguration was his favorite and best subject. Professor McGonagall had mentioned before in their class how difficult human transfiguration was, but that was as far as she had touched the subject.

"When would we have the time? You have Quidditch, exams are coming up, we need to practice for Adair's lessons, and I'm sure we'll be serving another detention or two before term is over. Anyway, what use would it really be for us besides being a really good trick to show off?"

James paused in thought for a moment. "To help Remus," he replied suddenly, excitement growing in his voice.

"What?"

"Do you remember what we've read about werewolves?"

"Yes, still how does turning into an animal-"

"Werewolves are only a danger to humans, not animals."

"So are you saying we'd keep him company?" Sirius asked in shock.

"Exactly."

"Are you mad?"

"You said you wanted to help Remus."

"I was thinking of something simpler…"

"Well it is simpler than coming up with a cure," James retorted with a slight grin. "It can't hurt to do some looking around, some research. It won't be easy to get books that cover more than the theory, but the restriction section might have something."

"Adair has a book on it. She had me re-shelving her books for detention one time. I had to write down all the titles and put them in order by subject."

"Well then our next mission is to liberate that book," James said with a smile and stepped forward to knock on the door.

With the help of the invisibility cloak 'borrowing' the book on Animagus was easy and it went off without a hitch. Remus and Peter had created a distraction near Adair's office, getting the teacher to vacate the room so that Sirius under the invisibility cloak could search the book shelf. They had convinced James, who had not been happy about it, to not have any part in it. They had been worried with the Quidditch game near that if Adair caught them, she'd punish James by banning him from playing in the game.

The book now was hidden at the bottom of Sirius' trunk. They had been so busy with everything that they hadn't had a moment to look it over or even a moment alone. They had both decided to keep it from Peter and Remus until they had more information on the topic.

Adair had continued with the practical lessons and they were only getting more physical and tiring. Though these forced lessons could not quite be called enjoyable, it didn't mean that they weren't learning anything. It was quite the opposite; their reflexes had improved greatly as well as their wand work. Professor Flitwick had even remarked one day in Charms about the improvement in their controlled handling of their wands. Lily Evans wasn't too happy to hear this, usually earning most of the praise in that class for Gryffindor.

One lesson Adair even took the time to instruct them on proper stance technique and how the arms and body should be held during a duel. Though at times like that Sirius and James forgot they considered Adair an 'enemy' teacher, she reminded them often by keeping them on their toes. Sometimes in the middle of the practical lesson, she'd suddenly quiz them on the Latin words they had memorized weeks ago, and if they made any mistakes she's assign them extra homework. Their teacher appeared torn between being impressed by the improvement in their defensive skills and annoyed that they were actually catching on so quickly. Every lesson she was pushing them harder and further as if seeing how far she could go.

The biggest game of the year was fast approaching now and with Hufflepuff beating Ravenclaw, the House Quidditch Cup would be between Gryffindor and Slytherin. All seven Gryffindor Quidditch players were constantly being targeted by the Slytherins in the hallways over the past two weeks. When teachers and prefects were near it was merely them hissing insults or shoving past them roughly, but when no authority was in sight the insults turned to hexes and jinxes. Sirius felt James was targeted unnecessarily more than all the other players and he was convinced that it was because of Bellatrix.

Feeling it was their duty to get back at the Slytherins, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter came up with a plan. During breakfast one morning, only three days away from the game, after all the owls had delivered their mail, a lone brown owl flew in toward the Slytherin table screeching loudly. It dropped in the middle of the table an innocent looking red envelope.

"Whose howler is that?" demanded Bellatrix loudly drawing the attention of the entire student body instead of just the Slytherins and four Gryffindor boys.

"It's addressed to the Slytherin House," a first-year Slytherin replied timidly.

"Don't be ridiculous," Bellatrix bellowed picking up the envelope and upon reading who it was addressed to, tore it open violently.

A loud snobbish booming voice filled the Great Hall. "I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE DISGRACED TO HAVE BEEN THE FOUNDER OF THE HOUSE OF SYLTHERIN. TO THINK MY ONCE PROUD HOUSE IS FILLED WITH COWARDS AND DUNDERHEADS. I AM FILLED WITH SHAME TO SEE HOW YOU HAVE DISHONORED YOUR ANCESTORS AND MY GOOD NAME, WHICH IS WHY I WANT TO SAY 'GOOD LUCK' TO THE NOBLE HOUSE OF GRYFFINDOR IN THIS WEEK'S UPCOMING MATCH AGAINST SLYTHERIN. GRYFFINDOR SURELY DESERVES THIS WIN. SINCERELY SALAZAR SLYTHERIN."

There was a moment of stunned silence and then a roar of laughter overcame three-fourths of the student body, the sound overwhelming the shouts and grumbles of the mortified Slytherins.

It had been Sirius with a help of a voice charm Remus had discovered who had recorded his voice for the howler. The next few days no Slytherin could walk the hall without some Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff quoting the howler or jabbing some joke referencing the howler.

The fun did not end there; Sirius charmed a bottle of shampoo to chase Snape around the courtyard during their break that same afternoon. Then later that evening when Frederick began his own investigation on the masterminds behind the howler, James quickly drew and cut up ten Prefect pins so that they flew in a circle around his head and distracted Frederick enough that he turned in early for the night.

Though they eagerly wanted to take credit for the prank since it had embarrassed the Slytherins in front of the school, they had decided they'd wait until the last day of the school term. Not only would they hopefully avoid detention by waiting, but this way the student body would go home thinking about their brilliant prank.

Professor Adair arrived to the Quidditch pitch right as the last game of the year was beginning. She took her seat among the other teachers. She had no interest in the silly game, but she was obligated as a teacher to watch the House Cup Game. She clapped with the other Professors when both Slytherin and Gryffindor scored or made a spectacular save.

Potter had scored the first goal, and after that the two Slytherin beaters had taken to targeting him more than the other two chasers. From the start the score stayed close with Gryffindor in the lead by one goal.

Potter now had the Quaffle and he was heading for the opposing goal. Somehow he had avoided one Bludger by doing a strange swerve to the right and then the other Bludger was also headed straight for the boy. Adair watched hearing a gaggle of girls near them cheer as he dived straight at the ground to avoid it (pity it missed him).

Adair looked upward for a moment taking her eyes off Potter when she heard the crowd gasp. She looked back to where Potter had been to see him falling from his broom, though there was no Bludger nor another player any where near. Potter hit the ground and Madam Hooch was blowing her whistle crazily. It took her a few seconds to call a time-out and get all the other players safely on the ground.

Adair followed the group of teachers to the unconscious boy on the ground. Her concern was different than all the other teachers; she did not care for the boy's welfare. Her only worry was that his injuries would require the school nurse to have a look at him. Even a half-trained nurse would be able to deduce the cause of Potter's collapse and then difficult and unpleasant questions were sure to arise.

A/N: Thank you everyone for your continued support of this story. PLEASE REVIEW.

There is either one long chapter or two shorter chapters left and then Year Two will be over.

Also I've recently posted the first chapter of a short L/J fanfic called "Vertigo". Please check that out if you have a chance.