Chapter 3: Unlikely Allies
A week later, Sirius met a strange orange cat. He couldn't explain it, but he had sensed that it somehow knew he wasn't just a dog. He had seen it on his next visit to the grounds with Harry's friend and some possibilities seemed to open up. It had taken him the rest of the week to bribe Crookshanks into trusting him. It was frustrating, but eventually he had managed to convey to the cat what he wanted. Crookshanks had given a deep, rumbling growl, and rubbed against Sirius's legs, convincing him that the cat didn't like the stinking rat either.
From then on every second or third night Crookshanks would find Sirius and keep him company for the night, as if to make up for not bringing him Wormtail. It was nice to have company after twelve years alone, even the company of a cat.
That morning, Sirius had managed to get his paws on the last issue of the Daily Prophet, and the date surprised him. He had obviously lost track of time again because he had thought it was the start of October, but the date on the Prophet was the 30th, which meant that the next night was Halloween. The whole school, students and teachers, would be at the feast. It would be the perfect chance to sneak in and retrieve the traitor himself.
By the time Sirius got to the castle the feast had started. Cautiously, he approached a window of the Great Hall. His eyes were drawn immediately to Harry. From this distance it was like he was seeing James again. As he stood there, a Halloween floated in his memory, his fifth year at Hogwarts…
"Engorgio." James squinted at his handiwork.
"Do you think it's big enough?" Sirius asked
"Any bigger and it won't stand up," Remus observed as it teetered slightly.
"It's not going to stand up! We want it to drop from the ceiling as people come in."
"Hmm." Remus sounded unconvinced. "Let's test it."
"Okay. Peter, go out the portrait and come in when we tell you."
"Alright Sirius!"
Peter hurried out while the other three got it into position.
"Alright Peter!" James called once they had stepped back to watch.
Peter came in and the giant spider dropped, bouncing unrealistically. Peter hadn't even flinched. They had borrowed the spider from a Muggleborn boy in their year. When they had started it was a small rubber spider. Now it was the size of a large dog.
"Well that isn't going to work," Sirius said disappointed.
Remus smiled. "Now for my idea."
"Are we going to the feast soon?"
"And miss all the excitement? Of course not Peter! We'll go down to the kitchens later." As Sirius was saying this, Remus had been explaining something to James.
James's face broke into a grin. "Brilliant! Oh you're evil."
They had only just finished the spider in time. The four of them sat like a panel of judges near the fire, their chairs lined up facing the entrance, as the first few students arrived in the common room.
The first group were some third year boys. After their initial shock, they laughed and clustered around behind the marauders' chairs. Overtime the group, of boys and girls, in the common room grew larger. They as laughed at the growing number of girls and even a couple of boys outside afraid to come in.
Then Lily arrived. She didn't seem to notice the unusual number of girls in the corridor; she was busy talking to her friends. Without pausing in her story, she gave the fat lady the password and stepped inside. Still walking and talking, it wasn't until one of her friends grabbed her arm that she saw the spider. It was crawling towards her, following her movements.
She didn't stop to look closer but pulled out her wand. "Reducto!"
Everyone in the room was showered in bits of rubber.
"Aww," the group near the fire groaned in disappointment and began to disperse as those outside, who had seen what had happened through the open portrait hole, started to file in, looks of relief on their faces.
"Sorry Brad, looks like your spider's dead," Sirius said in commiseration, placing a hand on the shoulder of the boy standing next to his chair.
"Charlie, nooo!!"
"Charlie?"
Brad shrugged with an embarrassed grin. "It was the first name that came to my head."
Lily strode forward, scowling. "I should have known that thing was another of your stupid pranks."
"Wait," Sirius grabbed James's arm as if he needed support. "Do you mean to say you-" Sirius and James grinned at each other. "You thought it was real?"
Sirius and James broke into exaggerated howls of laughter. Peter and most of the other boys joined in.
Lily's scowl grew darker. "Grow up," she snapped, whirling around and heading up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.
Sirius shook himself. That Halloween they had pulled other pranks including one on Snape, one that, if perhaps they had never done it, he wouldn't have been so determined to learn their secrets. But that didn't matter now. He was running out of time, he had to get to Gryffindor Tower.
He easily got into the castle. There was a deep longing in his chest as he stood for a moment listening to the sounds of merriment coming from the Great Hall. He was pleased to discover that after so long away and twelve years in Azkaban he could still remember every secret passage he and his friends had explored at school. So he was soon standing in a very familiar corridor looking up at a portrait of a fat lady.
"Well, still looking as radiant as ever I see."
The fat lady turned and her eyes widened when they came to rest on him. "Black!" she squeaked.
Sirius bowed. "I'll just nip inside and grab a bit of trash that's lying around."
"What? No! I mean, Password?"
"Let me in, he's in there. He's there I know he is! I'm so close."
"Password?"
"Look you stupid smudge of paint, let me in!"
"How dare you! No one enters without the password. Do you have it?" the fat lady asked icily. Despite the tremor in her voice Sirius could detect a hint of irony in her tone.
"Just let me in, he's there let me in! Let me in, let me in or I swear…" Sirius pulled out a knife. "I'll cut my way in!"
"P-password?" the fat lady demanded bravely and shrieked when Sirius lunged with his knife. Her hand shot to her cheek where the knife had nicked her. She fled as Sirius slashed the portrait again. Again and again he cut into the canvas. He drove the knife in to the hilt but he couldn't make the slit any wider than about five centimetres. He yanked the knife out and thrust two fingers in but as he knew very well the canvas had not been penetrated. He threw the knife at the empty portrait in frustration and it bounced off, skidding off down the corridor a couple of metres. He heard raised voices getting closer fast. The feast had ended. He stared at the portal to the Gryffindor common room a moment longer, his frustration felt almost unbearable. So close.
"I'll be seeing you, Peter," he whispered fiercely. The happy noisy students were very close now. Whirling away, he stalked down the corridor, scooping up his knife without hardly pausing and disappeared behind a tapestry.
