That's right, chapter 3 is already up! This chapter is dedicated to melissarxy1. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The next afternoon, James said goodbye to his friends at five thirty and left the common room. No need to give Professor McGonagall another reason to yell at him.

He was almost at the transfiguration room when he heard voices in another corridor. Wondering what was happening, he snuck over to have a peek.

It was Sirius, surrounded by Slytherins, again. James watched for a few minutes before leaving completely disgusted. There was no way he could take Remus's advice and be nicer to a guy who spent his time conniving with the enemy house.

James was five minutes early to detention so he stood quietly. Sirius ran up just as Professor McGonagall opened the door.

"That was close," McGonagall said with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, Professor," Sirius panted, "I was running a bit late." James glared at him as they walked behind McGonagall. Surprisingly, she led them to a classroom in an area of the castle they hadn't visited before.

"Since you two seemed fond of that mess in the hallway yesterday," began McGonagall as she walked into the room, "I decided you needed a lesson in how to clean."

The two boys gaped at the room in horror. It had to be the dirtiest, messiest, and smelliest room either had ever seen. There were burn marks covering the walls and floor, what looked like green slime smeared everywhere, and chunks of who knows what splattered across the room.

"The fifth years had some difficulties in Defense Against the Dark Arts," McGonagall said in answer to their horrified faces. James and Sirius just nodded dumbly. "You are to clean this room. I'll be back in an hour and a half."

She swept out of the room leaving the boys still in shock. Sirius recovered first.

"This is all your fault!" exclaimed Sirius.

"My fault?" yelled James, "you're the one who started the fight! And you're the one who's spending time with those Slytherins. Why don't you just switch out of Gryffindor already? Everyone knows you belong in Slytherin!"

James was fuming. He wasn't the one betraying his house. Sirius was a lying, cheating prat and he deserved detention. Gryffindor had no need of scum like Sirius.

"I already told you that I'm not switching!" Sirius shouted, "Damn it, what did I ever do to you?"

"You're a Black and I'm a Potter," James sneered, "My parents were right."

"That didn't seem to bother you on the train," Sirius growled, "and you still didn't answer my question." James laughed coldly.

"Do?" snarled James, "You ask what you did? You're obviously a spy for the Slytherins. I judged you wrongly when we were on the train. You had me going for a little while."

"Why the hell would I spy for Slytherin?" Sirius asked hotly, "What good would that do me?"

"How should I know how the mind of a dark arts maniac works?" retorted James, "You're just like the rest of your family. Stupid, wart-lugging bags of scum."

"Fine," snapped Sirius, "I can see you're not going to listen to me. Just think about what your life would be like if you were sorted into Slytherin." Sirius spun around and grabbed a mop.

James was shocked into silence. What would his life be like if he was sorted into Slytherin? His parents would probably say they were happy for him while really being furious. He would have no friends because the Slytherins would hate him for being a Potter and the Gryffindors would hate him for being a Slytherin. Life would be pretty bleak.

Grabbing the other mop, James began to absentmindedly clean the floor. He now felt rather foolish for hating Sirius.

"So you're going to stay in Gryffindor?" James asked hesitantly. Sirius began to laugh bitterly.

"So now you finally believe me," Sirius said still laughing. James glared at him and he stopped. A ghost of a smile flitted across his face. "Yep, my dear mother talked to Dumbledore and found that once you're sorted, you can't change houses. So even if I wanted to switch, I can't."

Even if he wanted? Did that mean Sirius didn't want to change houses? That he was happy to be in Gryffindor? Maybe James's first impression of Sirius had been right.

When James walked into the common room that night, he went straight over to Remus, who was working in the corner.

"Hey Remus," James said sheepishly, "I guess you were right about being kinder to Sirius."

"Huh?" Remus asked looking up from his homework. James told him about his conversation, or rather argument, with Sirius in detention. He was thankful when Remus simply listened and didn't say I told you so or anything of the sort.

"Why don't you ask him to eat breakfast with you?" Remus asked after a few minutes.

"But," James stuttered, "But I…" He trailed off as Sirius walked into the common room.

"But what?" Remus asked. "I think you and Sirius will be good friends once you get over hating each other and actually talk." Remus wondered distractedly if that would be a good thing or not. Well, he thought, it would be good for the two of them, but it would be dangerous for the rest of the school.

James just stared at him. Just because he didn't think Sirius was evil didn't mean he wanted to be friends. It just meant they didn't hate each other. Remus grinned slightly as James stood up huffily and walked over to Sirius.

"Hey, um, hi," James said nervously. Sirius looked up, obviously surprised to see James, much less have James talk to him. "I was wondering, um, if you'd, er, if you'd like to sit with me Remus and Peter at breakfast." He said the last bit in a rush and looked at his hands.

"You don't have to if you don't want to of course," James said when Sirius didn't answer.

"No, I'll sit with you," Sirius said hurriedly. James thought his voice sounded slightly hoarse, but he smiled and walked back to Remus.

The next morning, James fidgeted all the way down to breakfast. Sirius was walking down with them and everyone was unnaturally silent. The four boys sat together and began to fill their plates.

"Man," James said, happy to finally break the silence, "you eat a lot." He pointed to Sirius's plate which was piled with more food than even Remus could eat. It seemed as if Sirius was going to tfinish it all too.

"Well I haven't really been eating much so I'm hungry," Sirius said ruefully. Thinking about it, James realized he really hadn't been eating that much. Sirius usually played with the little food on his plate then left before everyone else.

"Well, eat up then," James grinned and piled another stack of toast onto Sirius's plate. Sirius smiled, the first real smile James had seen since the train, and he suddenly looked like a charming, mischievous kid. James realized the pinched, silent look wasn't Sirius's natural state. The meal passed in companionable silence.

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James sighed as he left the common room for his second detention. He was almost there when he heard voices down the same hall as yesterday. Creeping over, he saw Sirius surrounded by Slytherins again.

Something tightened in James's chest. Sirius had been telling the truth when he said he wasn't spying for Slytherin, hadn't he? James wanted to believe Sirius was innocent because much as he hated to admit it, he really liked Sirius.

James was walking away, disappointed, when the voices suddenly raised. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but it was hard not to when he was sure the people in Gryffindor Tower could hear them too. Besides, everything important that a boy ever learned was from listening to secret conversations.

"Well you can tell my precious parents that I don't give a damn!" yelled a familiar voice. It was Sirius!

"Really," sneered a cold, feminine voice, "that's no way for a lowlife like you to speak of your esteemed parents."

"Especially after they put up with you for so many years," added another, silkier voice. James started to turn back to see what was happening.

"Lucious," said the first voice, "do you think we should teach this scum a lesson?" A shrill laugh that sent a chill down James's spine accompanied the question.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Bella," said the person named Lucious. "And Snape here has some interesting spells he'd like to show us."

James could now see the group of about five Slytherins surrounding Sirius. The leader seemed to be the blonde fifth year prefect named Lucious. Next to him was a girl who James assumed was Bella. On Lucious's other side was the slimy haired boy James knew to be Severous Snape.

Lucious shoved Snape forward with a maliciously excited grin. Snape pointed his wand at Sirius and the next thing James knew, Sirius had fallen to his knees and was clutching his right arm, which was bleeding.

"That's a little present from you dear father," shrilled Bella. "And there's more where that came from. I'd watch out if I were you, especially when you return home."

Rage was boiling through James now. So this was what had been happening when Sirius had been surrounded by Slytherins. Well that was going to end now if he had anything to say about it. Sirius was much better than those Slytherin slimeballs.

Pulling out his wand, James crept up behind them. As a first year, James didn't actually know that many spells, but when would that ever stop him? He would just use the spells he knew to their full extent.

"Wingardium Leviosa," James whispered.

A very bewildered Lucious Malfoy was lifted into the air. James laughed as he began to panic, madly waving his arms and legs like a beached jellyfish. When he tired of Lucious's girly shrieks, he unceremoniously dropped him on top of Snape, who was promptly squished by the much larger boy.

Bellatrix, who had heard James's laugh, shot a hex at him. James dodged the curse and hastily waved his wand. He watched in fascination as her hair turned into long needles that began to stab her face and shoulders.

Hearing some squeals, James turned around and found that Sirius had hexed the two remaining Slytherins, who were staring in horror at the boils erupting on both their faces.

Suddenly, sharp footsteps were heard on the hard floor.

"You'll pay for this," hissed Bellatrix as the Slytherins made a mad dash for safety. Professor McGonagall waked up looking ready to kill.

"Explain yourselves," she snapped. James realized that it looked like he and Sirius had been fighting. The Slytherins were no where to be seen and both boys had their wands out.

"Professor, we weren't fighting, honest," James said imploringly. "Some Slytherins were…" James was cut off.

"It's my fault Professor," Sirius interrupted. James stared at him in surprise. Professor McGonagall seemed surprised too.

"Really Mr. Black?" McGonagall asked. Sirius nodded. "Then why is your arm bleeding while Mr. Potter seems to be just fine."

"You see," Sirius began, thinking quickly, "I tripped on the stairs. That's why my wrist is bleeding." Professor McGonagall nodded suspiciously. "I thought James had made me trip because I saw him ahead of me on his way to detention. So I chased him all the way over to here, planning to get him back. But I realize now I tripped by my own clumsy self and it wasn't his fault at all."

James looked at Sirius incredulously. He wasn't about to let Sirius take all the blame. He opened his mouth to say something when he noticed Sirius shaking his head. Glaring, James decided to listen to him.

"I see," Professor McGonagall said thoughtfully. She had watched the exchange between the boys and was hiding a smile. "Mr. Potter, please take Mr. Black to the infirmary to get his arm healed. When you are finished with that, kindly return to my room for your detention." The two boys stared at her, and James could almost hear his jaw creak as it unhinged. "Off you go."

Sirius grabbed James's robe and pulled him away.

"She, she didn't give us detention," spluttered James, "or take house points away. I think something might be wrong with her. Is she poisoned or something? Did someone clean her knickers?"

"I don't know mate, but this arm really hurts," Sirius said. James stopped.

"You're still bleeding!" James exclaimed.

"It's no big deal," Sirius sighed, "I just have to put pressure on it and the bleeding will stop. I've had worse."

"You've had worse?" James asked. Sirius's face darkened and James decided to drop the subject. "Anyway, um, thanks for saving us back there with McGonagall," James said awkwardly, "you didn't have to do that."

"Hey, no problem," Sirius grinned, "and I should be thanking you for helping me with those Slytherins."

"Anytime," James grinned back, "can you forgive me for being a complete ass to you so far?"

"Can you forgive me for not giving you a reason to not be an ass?" Sirius retorted. The two boys laughed together all the way to the infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey, the young nurse, quickly fixed Sirius's arm and sent the two boys out again. They walked back to Professor McGonagall's room and were led to the dungeons, where someone's potion had obviously exploded.

Sighing, the two boys grabbed mops and began to clean. James soon noticed that although the dungeons were as cold and dank as always, he felt warm for some reason. Maybe it was from the physical excursion of cleaning, but maybe, maybe it was because he and Sirius had finally become friends.

"You know," James said into the comfortable silence, "Remus was right."

"About what?" Sirius asked. He was futilely scrubbing the wall with his mop, a losing battle against the orange goop.

"About us being good friends," James clarified.

"Yes he is a psychic one," Sirius grunted. He was now slapping the wall with his mop, which was doing nothing but soaking him. "He just hides his psychic-ness by being bookish and silent."

James looked over at Sirius and started to laugh. Sirius stopped slapping the wall to glare threateningly at him. Sadly, it wasn't very threatening because his wet hair kept flopping into his face, making him look like a deranged puppy. Sirius gave up and began to laugh with James, who had fallen over clutching his sides.

"I understand that my cleaning skills could improve, but I don't see what's so funny," Sirius grinned. It took James a few seconds to respond.

"You should see yourself," James wheezed, "who would imagine the usually silent and proper Sirius Black to be completely beaten and soaked by a rogue mop?" James fell into a new fit of giggles as Sirius glared reproachfully at the mop.

"I really don't like cleaning," Sirius said plaintively, trying not to ruin the effect by laughing. James jumped to his feet and caught his breath.

"Then why don't we do this the wizard way?" James asked. He pulled out his wand and pointed at the wall. "Scourgify." James grinned as a patch of the wall came away scorched, but clean.

"You're a lifesaver," Sirius whooped happily, slapping James on the back. He took out his own wand and pointed at another wall. "Scourgify." Soon the walls of the dungeon were slightly blackened and charred, but at least they were clean.

"Quick," hissed James, "grab your mop!"

Professor McGonagall walked in to find the two boys mopping up the last bits of goop from the corners of the room. She raised an eyebrow at the scorched walls but dismissed them.

Out in the hall, Sirius turned to James. "Thanks," he said.

"For what?" James asked confusedly. He hadn't done anything for Sirius. If anything, Sirius had helped James. He was quite sure detention would be a lot more fun from now on.

"For letting me laugh," Sirius said. James was more confused than ever.

"You let me laugh too," James said, "should I be thanking you?" Sirius smiled and shook his head.

"Never mind," Sirius grinned, "but that was a lot of fun today huh? I really liked how you turned Bella's hair into needles, very creative."

"Yeah, well I think the two kids you hexed will be crying about their looks for quite a while." James had a grin to match Sirius's now. "Not that they look any worse than usual. The boil-look might actually be an improvement."

"You know," James's grin had turned dangerous, "I think we need to teach that slimy haired git and his Slytherin friends a lesson. No one messes with Gryffindor and gets away with it."

"You mean that blob with a hooked nose you could fish with?" Sirius asked. "I think you're right. Although it is thanks to him that we're friends now." Sirius smiled at James.

"Maybe you're right," James's eyes had a mischievous glint, "we should give him a little present. What do you say?"

And the two boys entered the common room with identical, evil grins.

Ooh, what are the boys going to do to Snape? To tell you the truth, I don't know yet. Sorry, but it may be a week or so before the next chapter comes out. I have finals this week and will be completely bogged down with studying. But reviews might help inspire me to write faster (like always :P).