Disclaimer - Usual

Chapter 49

The next day, the guys had Herbology and the class could not have been more perfectly set up for Peter to ask Gwen out. Professor Sprout asked everyone to pair up for the re-potting of bubotubers. They were given the usual warning about not squeezing the tubers as the bubotuber pus was highly toxic. They would be collecting the pus in the next class.

Peter paired up with Gwen, Remus with Patty, Sirius with Gillette, and James with Lily, who looked highly affronted that Gillette had gone along with the guys' scheme to pair her up with James. Gillette and Patty giggled and failed to point out she could have easily paired up with someone else; it was Lily who agreed to pair up with James.

Patty was the quiet one of the Gryffindor fourth-year girls. She and Remus got along rather well, both content to work and not chat.

Peter invited Gwen to work with him and, to his surprise, she had agreed. Her friend kept casting curious glances in their direction, to see if Peter would ask her out.

They chatted idly, and somewhat awkwardly, for a while, then became quiet as the work became more difficult. Gwen was easy to work with, gently making suggestions, and very willing to have Peter take the lead in what they were doing. This made him feel good and less insecure. Finally, toward the end of class he said, "Gwen, would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday?"

Gwen smiled and nodded. "Yes. That would be nice."

Peter was ecstatic. Had anyone told him he would get a date, in fourth year no less, he wouldn't have believed it. Even better, James still hadn't been on a date yet, though, admittedly that's because James was stuck on a girl that didn't want to date him. But Peter felt a sort of pride in that accomplishment. His reverie was broken by a splat sound nearby and he looked wide-eyed at Sirius.

Sirius and Gillette had over-watered their plant, causing the soil to become thick and muddy. As Professor Sprout had walked by, she commented, "You'll have to remove some of that mud. Then add more soil." Sirius scooped some of the mud out of the pot and a little bit of it fell with a squelch on his shoe. Looking down, an evil grin spread across his face. With a flick of his wrist and a wet thud, James had a trowel-full of mud stuck to his shoulder and chest.

"What the…?" James looked around and saw Sirius was concentrating intently on his plant, while also trying very hard not to laugh. "Uh-huh," James said to himself. He scraped the mud off his cloak and loaded it onto his own trowel. With a flick of his own, and a smack, James hit Sirius square in the face with the mud.

Sirius grunted when he was hit. Then he loaded up the trowel again and flung it. Only this time, his aim was not so careful and the mud spread out in an arc, hitting both James and Lily.

Lily gasped at the assault. Her eyes flashed, causing the green in them to sparkle like emeralds.

Sirius ducked his head, waiting for the yelling, and then next thing he knew, he was hit with mud from both James and Lily. James' mud hit him in the head and dripped coldly down into his ear and under his collar. Lily had somehow managed a rather significant amount of mud, which Sirius suspected was due to a bit of magic, and his whole front was covered in mud. Some of the mud had gotten beneath his robes and was slowly snaking its way down his body, sending shivers through him. Sirius looked up in surprise at Lily, who was working on their plant and doing a much better job of looking innocent than he had earlier. James, on the other hand, kept snorting, not able to keep in his laughter.

"Mr. Black. What on earth happened?" Professor Sprout asked, causing everyone in the vicinity to stop what they were doing and look at Sirius.

"I think it got angry," Sirius said as sincerely as possible while Gillette tried not to giggle.

"Indeed!" Professor Sprout appeared torn between being angry that he wasn't taking the lesson… well… seriously, and finding the sight of him covered in mud rather amusing. "Do try not to anger your plant in the future, Mr. Black. You wouldn't want your partner covered in mud… Or something more dangerous."

"No ma'am."

The mud slinging stopped, but after class Sirius went up to James and give him a big hug, making sure to squeeze him so some of the mud transferred from Sirius' robes to James'. He next opened his arms and came at Remus, who ran – which was a mistake. Sirius was like a dog – throw a squeaky toy and he was bound to chase it down. So he took off at top speed and, being taller than Remus, was easily able to catch him, tackling him and sending the two sprawling to the ground. Now they were covered not only in mud, but also grass stains.

Getting up, Sirius then turned to Peter. "Peter," he said with a big grin and his arms wide open. Peter squeaked and half hid behind James. He didn't want to run for fear of being chased down, but if he stayed where he was, Sirius was sure to get him there as well.

Lily stepped forward with a sigh. "Scourgify." With a quick wave of her wand, Sirius' robes were clean. She repeated the spell for Remus, James and herself.

"Thanks mum," Sirius said sarcastically. He still had mud dripping off his hair and down the inside of his robes. "You mind getting the rest of me?"

Lily nodded and raised her wand, but she paused when Sirius grinned again and started to strip down, "What are you doing?"

"It got under my robes," he said innocently.

Lily groaned. "Honestly." And she walked away.

"Come on, big guy, let's get you cleaned up." Gillette patted Sirius on the back.

"Oo, you going to help?" he asked playfully.

Gillette just shook her head and pushed him ahead of her.

That night, the Marauders went to an abandoned classroom to practice spells. Remus was sitting in the doorway, looking through Sirius' book of spells for a good binding spell. Sirius was doing classwork, while James tried to coach Peter through a few non-verbal spells.

"You're getting it. Honest," James encouraged.

"Yeah, but still not as good as you," Peter said in a melancholy voice.

"That's why we're practicing. Okay Sirius, you're up."

Sirius got up and sat down on the pillow they had brought. He crossed his legs and stared at the feather in front of him.

"Okay, the book said that you start by imagining drawing energy into yourself, then expel it by willing it to perform the task you want it to perform."

"I know, James, now shut up."

"Sorry." James sat down with a huff on another pillow next to Sirius. It was true, they had reread and rehearsed that section countless times since Sirius had bought the book, and so far with no result. He concentrated on his own feather.

James had tried to imagine drawing energy into himself, but nothing seemed to work. For months they had tried with no results. Tonight, he decided to try something new. He loved Quidditch, so he imagined a quaffle that was being passed around by an opposing team. This quaffle was his magic. He had to focus on getting it from the other team. Scoring the goal would be getting the magic to focus and do what he wanted it to. He focused in on the quaffle until it was all he could see and, finally, it was in his hands. As soon as he had the quaffle, he felt energy course from the quaffle into his fingertips and through the rest of his body. He concentrated harder, making sure that the energy didn't dispel, but stayed locked in his body and in the ball. Then he headed for the goal. All the while that he was visualizing this imaginary game, he simultaneously kept the sight of the feather in front of him. In his mind, he chucked the quaffle at the goal, which translated as the feather. As the quaffle headed toward the goal, he repeated in his head, "Wingardium Leviosa." He guided the energy of the quaffle to the feather and then, instead of dropping, as a quaffle would do in real life, it rose higher into the air, and with it, the feather rose.

James startled when he heard Sirius let out a cheer. Peter was sitting next to James, his classwork on his lap, but his eyes were focused on the feather and his mouth was hanging open. Remus had moved from his station at the door and was laughing and clapping. As soon as James' concentration was broken, the feather fell gently to the floor.

"Excellent!" Sirius exclaimed. "How did you do it?"

"Don't laugh," James blushed slightly, "but I imagined a Quidditch game."

Sirius stared in disbelief for a minute before bursting out laughing. "Only you could use Quidditch to help you do magic."

"I think you're on to something there, though," Remus said thoughtfully. "Well, let's head back and you can explain what you did on the way."

The guys made it to the Entrance Hall, but stopped there. There was a rather large crowd gathered in the hall, with a lot of students whispering in groups. The Marauders received a couple of cheers as they drew nearer the crowd and, while they smiled and waved back, they had no idea what was going on.

Aden walked up to Remus, looking very serious. "You guys are in so much trouble."

"What? Why?" Remus asked.

"For the prank on the Slytherins," she answered.

A look of confusion passed between the four.

"Someone played a prank on the Slytherins?" Sirius asked. When Aden nodded, he said, "Excellent."

"You mean you had nothing to do with this?" she asked.

"No, nothing," Remus stated.

"This is bad. Apparently there's some kind of… puddle… in front of the Slytherin common room entrance. Whoever steps in the puddle disappears. Well, it turns out that a group of Slytherins just ran in from the Forbidden Forest. They claimed they were entering their common room and suddenly found themselves in a clearing in the forest."

"Nice," Sirius chuckled.

"No! Not nice. Some of the students are still in the forest. And the ones that returned said something chased them out." Aden finished the account of what happened.

"Black! Potter! Lupin! Pettigrew! Follow me." Professor McGonagall looked furious. The guys followed her to a side room. "What is the meaning of this?"

"We don't know, professor," James said. "Honestly, we had nothing to do with this."

"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you? You've pulled more pranks, some of them dangerous I might add, than any other students I've ever taught. And this was a direct attack on Slytherins. Who else do you suppose could have done this?"

"More pranks?" Sirius asked absently, which earned him an elbow in the side. "Really Professor, we didn't have anything to do with this one. Brilliant as it was."

"Sirius!" James hissed. "You're not helping."

"Excuse me, professor," a voice from the hall interrupted the private conversation. Each of the Marauders cringed as they recognized the voice as belonging to Snivellus.

"Yes Mr. Snape?"

"We found this in one of the rooms near our common room."

Professor McGonagall took the item. It was a glove, clearly Gryffindor colors. McGonagall searched the inside for a name. On the tag inside was written "Potter." Turning back to the boys in front of her, she held up the glove and said, "And this? I believe this belongs to you, Mr. Potter."

James took the glove and saw it was, indeed, his. He glanced at the others. "I… I don't know why it was wherever Sniv… I mean Snape, said he found it. But I didn't put it there. I swear."

"Professor," another voice interrupted the session. "They've located the others."

Professor McGonagall walked out of the room, through the entrance, and out onto the grounds. Several other professors and Hagrid were escorting a group of about five Slytherins back to the castle. They all appeared to be first years and Remus was struck with how small they looked.

Hagrid was also carrying a student. When Professor McGonagall saw him, she ordered, "Hospital wing, right away, Hagrid."

The Marauders watched the procession as it came into the Entrance Hall. As soon as light fell on the group, Sirius recognized the boy in Hagrid's arms.

"Regulus?" Sirius rushed from the room out into the hall.

"Mr. Black! Back in the room. Now!" Professor McGonagall turned on him and pointed to the room.

"But…"

"Now!"

Professor Dumbledore had come to investigate, along with Professor Slughorn. When he saw Regulus being carried by Hagrid, he gave a nod for Hagrid to continue. Then he dispersed the crowd and headed to the side room where the Marauders were being detained.

"What has happened?" He asked, scanning each of the boys carefully as if trying to read their thoughts.

"A 'prank' has been played on the Slytherins, leaving several students abandoned in the Forbidden Forest. And this," Professor McGonagall took back the glove James was holding and handed it to Dumbledore, "was found not far from the scene."

"I see." Professor Dumbledore pondered the situation.

"Professor, if I may. Several Slytherins saw Gryffindors in the dungeons not long before the students started to disappear."

"Hmm. And what do you four have to say for yourselves?" Dumbledore asked, his gaze still firmly fixing them in turn.

"It wasn't us!" James said emphatically.

"I wouldn't do that to my own brother," Sirius added.

"Oh no? Your prank last year might speak against you on that, Mr. Black," Dumbledore reminded him.

Obviously, even though they had not been punished, all of the teachers knew they had pulled the prank last year. And now, it appeared they were being framed.

"It wasn't us, sir," Remus joined in.

"And someone will confirm that you were in your common room where you belonged?" he asked.

The guys exchanged looks again. "N-no sir. We weren't in our common room. We were in an abandoned classroom," James answered.

"Doing what?"

"Practicing magic," Sirius confessed. "The classroom is near the dungeons. That's probably why Slytherins say they saw us. But we didn't do anything."

"And were there any other witnesses to your whereabouts?"

"No sir," Remus whispered, hanging his head.

"The evidence is stacked against you. You do realize you should all be expelled." James and Sirius' heads snapped up to look at Dumbledore with wide, scared eyes. Peter started whimpering, while Remus kept his head down. "That stunt was very dangerous and resulted in at least one student getting seriously injured." Dumbledore looked at Sirius when he made this statement.

"How badly injured?" Sirius asked

"I don't know yet. I will be visiting the hospital wing when we're done here. But there is a reason the forest is off limits. I'm afraid that unless someone steps forward, due to your past history and the evidence, albeit circumstantial, you will each very possibly be expelled. This is a matter to be taken before the governors."

"E-excuse me, Professor." Of all the people the guys expected to see, the one that stood before them was the last one.

"Yes, Miss Evans?" Dumbledore addressed her.

"They're telling the truth. They were in that classroom all evening."

Professor Dumbledore gave her the same penetrating stare he had used on the boys. "And how do you know that, Miss Evans?"

"Be-because I was in the room, too. My…" Lily flushed crimson before continuing. "Hayden Walker and I were walking through the corridor near the dungeons when we heard voices approaching. We ducked inside a classroom to avoid them. Unfortunately, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed to the same classroom. So we… we hid… inside a cabinet."

Dumbledore's mouth twitched at this news, and some of the hardness he had worn earlier melted away. "And you were there for how long?"

Lily cleared her throat. Looking down, she answered, "Three hours sir." She glanced at the Marauders who were all staring at her in disbelief. Had the circumstances not been so severe, they would have been laughing hysterically. As it was, they were too grateful for their dumb luck to laugh.

"And I assume Mr. Walker will corroborate your story?"

"Yes sir."

"Very well. Then it appears… You are free to go," Professor Dumbledore dismissed the boys. "Ah… but first… I believe that the six of you, that would be Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, Miss Evans and Mr. Walker, will all receive detention for being out of bounds."

"Yes sir," they responded, practically in unison.

Sirius noted that Snivellus had gone from looking very pleased with himself to very angry in a matter of seconds. He made a mental note to have a chat with the slimy git, but first he wanted to see his brother.

- - - - -

A/N Well, not the longest of chapters, but hopefully enjoyable anyway. Thanks again for the lovely and honest reviews. I appreciate them all. Thank you. And of course, thank you to Mom, mei mei, and J.A.Carlton. Love ya.

Nonair - I'm glad the boys seem very realistic - very teenage like. I'm glad you like Peter, too, as I sometimes find him difficult to write... and yet scarily easy at times. I'm glad he's at least somewhat relatable. Mmm. I'm glad you caught, too, how Sirius would despise being cooped up in that house that holds too few good memories for him. I tend to leave certain things in the background because I assume people know that they go on - one being the ongoing animagus project, the other the map, and the third the amount of detentions they get. Lol. That doesn't come up often either. And, of course, I'm glad you like Ogden. She kind of reminds me of Remus - like his inspiration for how learned to teach effectively. Thanks again for the wonderful review.