Life for the Marauders definitely improved with having Nancy in the gang. For a start, her rats became unusually useful for warning off elder students looking to pick on first years, and in any lesson where mixed groups were required, there were no more uncomfortable silences between the three boys and a girl they barely knew.

Sirius had, however, gained a number of things to worry about, despite the fact that all the Marauders seemed keen to live up to their motto: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good". Harry had been writing frequent letters to Sirius, urging him to behave and not put himself in danger.

"You can't be too careful! (he wrote), Even with Voldemort gone, there are still dark wizards out there."

"He talks as though Hogwarts is in the middle of a public place and I'm doing my best to break every rule in the book!""

James smiled sympathetically. "I know mate. I'm getting the same from my parents."

"And my mum keeps reminding me that the forest is off limits and not to approach large wolf-like dogs! Honestly, she came to Hogwarts herself, she must have noticed the lack of dogs trotting around the place!"

"What about your Dad?" Nancy asked, peering over the top of her "Standard Book of Spells, Grade One".

"He's a muggle, I'm half and half you see. My Mum knew your Dad." He added to Sirius. "Ask him if he remembers Lavender Brown…"

"Hey! My Dad told me he went out with her once!" James exclaimed.

Cory burst out laughing. "Just think, if they had ended up getting married then neither of us might have been born!"

Another worry Sirius had gained was his and James' useless sense of direction. Twice, now, they had got lost and been late for Potions. Sirius had begun to study the map thoroughly at night, as he didn't dare wave it around in public, but the moving staircases were a big problem.

"Come on Sirius, it's just up here!" James called over his shoulder. They were sprinting down corridors, ten minutes late for Transfiguration. When they reached the door, they paused to catch their breathe before pulling it open and walking in.

The rest of the class were immersed in writing an essay. Cory and Nancy grinned at them, as they approached Professor Fiddler's desk. It was bare, except for a sand-coloured ferret, snoozing on the register.

"Phew, he's not here." Sighed James with relief. Sirius, however, frowned at the ferret. It had sat up and was staring straight at them. Suddenly, there was a pop, and Professor Fiddler was sitting on the edge of his desk.

"Well hello." Professor Fiddler smiled at Sirius and James. "What time do you call this?"

"Sorry Sir." Sirius began. "We got lost and…"

"Then say no more. Hogwarts Castle is famous for it's moving staircases, doors and walls. Just the other day I came across a fully stocked store cupboard I'd never seen before when I broke my quill."

"Er…right." Sirius followed James to their usual table and sat down with Cory and Nancy.

"I didn't know Professor Fiddler was an Animagus!" exclaimed James.

"Neither did we until the start of this lesson." Replied Cory.

Nancy turned to Sirius. "A fifth year told me that there's meant to be a secret passage under the Whomping Willow." She said, casting a wary eye over to where Professor Fiddler was talking to the students on the next table. "I wondered if it was on the map."

"It is but I don't know where it finishes." Sirius explained. "It leads out of the Castle grounds."

"Cool!" Whispered James and Cory together.

"Let's check it out!" James hissed, excitedly.

"When?"

"Saturday night?" Suggested Cory. "That way if we stay out late, we don't have to worry about getting up early."

"Ok. Saturday night, Whomping Willow. Can't wait." Grinned Sirius.

On Saturday morning, a loud "BANG!" woke Sirius up. He pulled apart the curtains of his four poster bed to reveal Will Weasley hopping around the room, clutching his left foot.

"Hi Will.

Will stopped jumping and sat down on Sirius' bed.

"Sorry about that mate," He said, rubbing his foot. "Walked into James' trunk. I came to tell you, you're on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"But I haven't tried out yet!" exclaimed Sirius.

"You don't need to mate. I saw you in your lesson, and Katie Bell says you're a natural, just like your Dad."

Sirius sat, speechless. He couldn't believe it. He was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team!

"First practice is today, 1:30 at the Quidditch pitch. I know it's a bit short notice…"

"I'll be there."

"That's my boy!" Will got up, stretched, and started towards the door. "I'll catch you later. Got an Essay to finish for Flitwick, doing my O.W.L.s this year you know…"

After lunch, Sirius made his way down to the Quidditch pitch along with his fellow Marauders, who were offering him tips and advice at every possible moment.

"You'll be fine, you're a good flyer…"

"Just keep your eyes on the snitch…"

"Watch out for Bludgers…"

"It's only a training session James, he'll be fine…"

"Ready Sirius?" Will came trotting over to meet them, followed by two girls holding beaters' bats.

"You bet." Sirius grinned at Will who winked back.

"This is Jess, and Tess Creevy." Will pointed at each of the girls in turn who smiled at Sirius. "They're our Beaters. I'm a chaser, along with Matty Moon and Lucy Spinnet, and Carl Jordan is our Keeper."

It was a brilliant training session. Sirius caught the snitch easily, so that every time Will suggested he gave it five minutes head-start. By four O'clock, everyone was tired out, and they all trooped back to the castle for dinner.

At 9:30 the Marauders crept down from their dormitories and squeezed under the invisibility cloak. They slipped out the common room when, by chance, Will and Carl Jordan came through the portrait from the other side.

They were lucky, they met no one except the Bloody-Baron who floated past, muttering crossly to himself, along the Charms corridor.

When they reached the Whomping Willow, they pulled off the cloak and stared. Then Cory asked the question they were all thinking.

"How do we get under it?"

Carefully, Sirius took a few steps towards the tree. At first, nothing happened. Then a large branch smacked him across the face and he was thrown back to land on top of James.

"Ow, sorry James."

"No worries, mate. You're not bleeding, are…" James stopped. Sirius followed his gaze to where Nancy was edging forwards on her stomach towards the tree. As she neared the trunk she reached out and pressed a large knot. The tree stopped moving.

"Wow! Way to go, Wormtail!" Cried Cory. "Lets get in there quick, before it starts to move again."

They all slid down the slope between the roots and came out at the bottom of a very low tunnel. They began to walk.

"How did you know what to do?" Sirius asked Nancy, as they led the other two along the tunnel.

"The Fifth year told me."

They walked and walked, until eventually the tunnel began to rise and twist, and they came to a small opening. They crept through and looked around. They were standing in a very dusty room where broken furniture lay scattered across the floor and all the windows were boarded up.

"What is this place?" Cory wondered aloud. "Padfoot? Any ideas?"

Sirius frowned at the map. They were no longer on it.

"We're off the map, which means we're out of Hogwarts."

Suddenly, James gasped.

"Of course!" He turned to Sirius, a gleeful look in his eye. "We're in the Shrieking Shack! We're in Hogsmeade! Remember our Dads telling us?"

"Yes! This is where my Dad found Sirius Black!" Exclaimed Sirius.

"Wow!" Breathed Cory, looking around. "Just think, no one else has probably set foot in here since!"

James turned to where Nancy was peering out the boards on the windows.

"What D'you think, Wormtail? Worth the trip?"

Nancy opened her mouth to answer but there was a loud "BANG" from the next room which made them all jump. Sirius and James automatically drew their wands, as Cory whipped round to stare at the door.

"Who's there?" Whispered James.

"Forget it, Prongs." Sirius said, putting his wand away. "Probably just rats or something."

"Come on, lets go." Said Cory, turning back towards the tunnel. "At least now we know where it leads to."

They all filed back in to the tunnel one after another. The man stood in the shadows, chuckling to himself, and wringing a wand in his chubby hands.

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, eh? I wonder who gave them that idea."

The weeks leading up to Christmas were the most eventful yet. Sirius played his first two Quidditch matches and won both, 190-60 against Hufflepuff, and 270-120 against Ravenclaw.

In lessons they had leant the "Wingardium Leviosa" charm, how to turn a match into a needle, and an antidote for warts.

On the last day of term, Sirius and James sat at the Gryffindor table, eating lunch and discussing the holidays.

"We'll be coming to yours next Thursday, but we're seeing Gran and Granddad first at The Burrow." James said.

"Are they coming with you to ours?"

"Yep. Should be. And Fred and George, Lupin and Tonks, and Bill and Fleur. You're gonna have a house full."

"Hey! Sirius!" Cory came sprinting into the hall, waving a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Look at this!"

Sirius leaned in and read the headline out loud.

"PETER PETTIGREW STILL AT LARGE."

"Apparently, he was sighted last week not far from here." Cory scanned the article. "Avoided capture so far…Aurors including Harry Potter out searching…"

"WHAT?" Sirius cried, making James jump. "My Dad is out looking?"

"Has been since August, according to this."

"Of course!" Sirius banged his head on the table. "No wonder he's been telling me to be careful. If Pettigrew wants revenge on my Dad, he's likely to come after me!"

"But you're in Hogwarts." James reminded him. "It's the safest place to be, unless you locked yourself in a vault at Gringotts. He's not likely to come bursting into the Castle, is he?!

"YES!"

Sirius and James turned to stare at Cory who had just cried out gleefully.

"Your Dad has caught Draco Malfoy, Padfoot!"

"What?"

"It says here, "Draco Malfoy, former follower of Lord Voldemort has been captured and sent to Azkaban by none other that Harry Potter himself. The defeater of Lord Voldemort refused to comment, but it is thought that Malfoy was in some kind of contact with Peter Pettigrew." Which explains why your Dad wanted you to stay away from Evan."

It all made sense. Sirius and James left Cory to eat, and made there way to the entrance hall. As they began to climb the steps, Evan Malfoy appeared at the top and began walking down.

"You keep out of my way, Potter!" He snarled.

"Or what?" Laughed James. "You'll get Daddy to do us in?"

Malfoy scowled, but continued on. Sirius and James hurried back to Gryffindor tower to continue packing.

Life at number 12 Grimmauld Place had improved in leaps and bounds since Harry was 15. It was no longer the dark, dusty, damp place it used to be. It was now bright, clean and warm. The portrait of Sirius' mum had been removed some years ago, and in it's place was a picture of Lily and James Potter. The Black family tree was also gone, along with anything bearing the family crest.

Harry and Ginny had added Christmas trees, tinsel and fairy lights since Sirius had last been home. There was a warm and happy feeling throughout the duration of the holidays, as they had family and friends around for endless turkey dinners. Sirius loved it, but was anxious to get back to Hogwarts for the Quidditch, and to see Nancy and Cory again.

It was the last night before they were due back at Hogwarts when Sirius asked his Dad about Peter Pettigrew.

"How do you know about that?" asked Harry, frowning.

"Daily Prophet."

"And what did it say?"

"Only that you've been looking for him since August."

"Well, yeah. They're right. I have been."

"What do you think he's up to?"

"Ah, come on Sirius! Even if I knew, you know I couldn't tell you." Grinned Harry.

After Sirius had gone to bed, Ginny sat next to Harry on their sofa and smiled.

"What?"

"He's just like you were when you were young."

"Yeah, and if you remember I had a real nose for trouble."

"Like father like son." Said Ginny, sleepily.

"That's what worries me." Said Harry.