Over the following week, Sirius and James participated in the usual Hogwarts lessons. Professor Flitwick took them for Charms, an extremely small, grey haired Wizard who remembered Harry Potter well. "…best summoning charm I had ever seen…"

Herbology was with Professor Longbottom, a round faced young Wizard who had been a friend of Harry's at Hogwarts.

The ghost of Professor Binns took them for History of Magic, while Professor Fiddler taught Transfiguration.

The Potions master was an old, doddery wizard who suffered severe memory loss but was an excellent teacher all the same. Sirius had been wary at first, having heard too many Professor Snape stories from his parents. Professor Adder, however, although head of Slytherin, didn't show favoritism at all. Indeed, he seemed to loathe Malfoy as much as Sirius and James.

"You boy! Yeah you!" He croaked to Malfoy, one afternoon in the dungeons. "Pay attention or I'll turn your tongue into a venomous snake!"

Evan Malfoy shut up at once. His father had once recalled to him the time when an equally bad tempered wizard had turned him into a ferret and bounced him round the entrance hall.

Defence against the Dark arts was by far Sirius' favorite lesson, and it was here the Marauders gained their third member.

Their teacher was Tonks, a fun and friendly witch who was good friends with the Potters, Weasleys, and especially Professor Lupin.

Tonks always greeted the class with a grin, and never asked them to call her "Professor", she was just plain Tonks.

On this particular lesson, they had been learning about various dark creatures, and for the first part of the lesson had been naming as many as they could, and outlining the ways in which to recognize them. They had noted them down, and now there were just a few minutes left until the bell.

"Right, everyone into groups of no more than three. Cory, you go and join Sirius and James."

Cory sat next to Sirius who grinned at him.

"Ok, to finish off today I thought we could have a bit of a debate." Tonks paused and look around the room, her pink hair clashing horribly with her purple robes. "Any ideas on topics to start us off?"

"Quidditch!" Came a voice from the back.

"Lets try to stick to the subject, shall we?" Tonks grinned.

"Werewolves."

Everyone looked around at Cory who just stared right back.

"Now that's more like it!" Tonks looked impressed. "So then Cory, what are your views on Werewolves?"

"I think they're great. I'd love to be able to turn into one. Willingly though, and as long as I could keep my head when I transform."

"But they attack people!" Cried a girl from the front.

"Only if they don't take the Wolfsbane potion. I know you get some nutters like Greyback who bite people for the fun of it, but if you think about it, Werewolves aren't all that bad!"

"Yeah, like Professor Lupin!" Sirius jumped in. Cory grinned.

"Exactly. I think he's brilliant. Able to juggle the full moon with him being Headmaster."

Suddenly the bell rang, making everyone jump.

"Ok guys, well done! Some really interesting stuff going on there. Homework is to write down some positive and negative points on Werewolves so that we can continue this next lesson!"

Sirius turned to Cory.

"How come you're so into Werewolves?"

"My brother is one. He was bitten when he was about nine. I got him to tell me everything, what it feels like, what he thinks about, it's really fascinating."

"Really?" Asked James. "My Uncle is a sort-of Werewolf. He only got scratched so he doesn't change, but he likes his raw meat!"

Cory laughed, then went read as he asked, "D'you mind if I…hang around with you guys? It's just, I haven't really made any other friends…"

"Yeah, it's fine!" agreed Sirius. "We were going to ask you anyway. Me and Prongs are cousins, so we've been hoping to meet new people."

"Prongs?" Cory frowned.

"Ah…it's his nickname." explained Sirius. "He's Prongs, and I'm Padfoot."

"Cool." sighed Cory. "I've never had a nickname."

"Well, how would you like to be Moony?" Sirius asked, and as they headed towards the Great Hall for dinner, he and James explained all about the Marauders.

On Saturday, the first years had their first Quidditch lesson. Most knew already the rules of Quidditch and were pretty good flyers. Katie Bell took the lesson, instructing people how to manage their brooms and the Quaffle together. She swept around the group, placing everyone in pairs. James was placed with Cory, and Sirius ended up with the mousey-haired girl from the boat, Nancy Little.

"Right, I want everyone to mount your brooms and hover about five feet in the air. Then I want you to play catch with the Quaffle in your pairs."

Sirius and Nancy threw back and forth in silence until Sirius asked,

"What was in the cage?"

Nancy looked so surprised at the fact he was talking to her that she dropped the Quaffle. When the game was back in full swing she answered,

"My rats."

Sirius smiled.

"What are they called? My Dad's owl is called Hedwig…

"Sugar and Spice."

"Harry!"

Sirius turned to see where Katie Bell had called to and then speed towards. Harry Potter was striding across the pitch, waving to them all. Sirius flew towards him and landed with a "thud" in front of him.

"Dad? What are you doing here?"

Harry grinned at his son and kissed Katie on the cheek.

"Mind if I have a word with him?" He asked her.

"Sure." She zoomed off to join the rest of the class back in the air.

"So, why are you here?"

"I came to see Lupin and I thought I'd just stop by. Had a good week?"

"The best!" grinned Sirius.

Harry paused and turned serious.

"Sirius, I assume you've come across Evan Malfoy?"

"Yeah, on the train and in Potions, why?"

"Well, maybe it's a good idea to stay as far away from him as possible."

"What-"

"Sirius, please, just trust me on this. Oh, and I brought you this." He handed Sirius a small, square mirror. Sirius recognized it at once as one of the two-way mirrors his Dad owned.

"Use it if you want me, ok? Whether it's something important, or you just want to chat."

"Er…thanks Dad." Sirius grinned as Harry ruffled his already wind swept hair.

"Right, well, I'll be off. Enjoy your lesson."

Sirius watched his Dad until he disappeared into the castle. James landed next to him, followed by Cory.

"What was that about?"

"I'll tell you at lunch."

"Why do you reckon he gave you the mirror?" James asked Sirius, looking puzzled.

"I have no idea." Sirius sighed. "But he obviously knows something about the Malfoy's, or he wouldn't have had to warn me."

"I reckon you should just forget about it all for a bit, Padfoot." Cory suggested. "Take your mind of things, play a bit of Quidditch or something. It's a shame the Team tryouts were delayed."

"Yeah." Sirius stared absent mindedly across the common room where Nancy was sitting, alone, with a large white rat on each shoulder.

"Oi. Potter."

Sirius looked up. A tall 5th year was holding a snowy white owl. "This came for you."

Sirius reached for Hedwig, but the 5th year held the letter out of his reach.

"Jump for it." He grinned, teasing Sirius.

"Ah…come on. Just give me the letter."

"Beg. Or Jump. Your choice titch."

Sirius reached but he was too small. James made a wild grab but the boy held the letter higher. Cory stood on his chair but as he reached he toppled over and fell.

"Look, we don't want trouble," James pleaded. "Just give Sirius the letter."

"Erm…No."

"Hey, you"

Nancy had appeared behind the boy, her rats still on her shoulders.

"Give him the letter."

"Eurgh, keep those things away from me!" The boy winced at the sight of the rats. "They don't bite, do they?"

"You bet they do!" Nancy said fiercely. "So you give Sirius his letter or I'll order them to attack!"

The boy thrust the letter into Sirius' hand and stalked off across the common room. Nancy grinned at Sirius, and he nodded to the chair opposite him. She sat.

"Thanks for that." Sirius grinned, tucking his letter into his cloak. "They don't really bite, do they?"

"No, of course not. They're as tame as Kittens."

"I was bitten by a kitten once." Said Cory, and they all laughed.

"You want to join us in a two-aside Quidditch game later?" James asked Nancy.

"Um…I don't play. Sorry. I'm muggle-born you see, so I don't know how."

"Well we can teach you, can't we Prongs?" Sirius grinned at James.

"You bet. Me and Moony against you two then, 'cuz Moony and you are good Sirius, and if Nancy has never played before…"

Nancy grinned. "Ok then. But explain something to me first. Moony and Prongs? Nicknames I take it?"

"Yep. And I'm Padfoot." Sirius said, grinning mischievously.

"What are you, a gang or something?"

"Yep." Said Sirius again. "And we've just acquired our fourth and final member."