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Chapter 68

On the way back to the Gryffindor common room, James and Sirius traveled through a few secret passages, headed down some deserted corridors, but were suddenly stopped by an all-too-familiar voice.

"And what are you three up to?"

"Ah, Snivellus…" James turned to face his nemesis. "What drew you from your hole this evening?"

"I could ask you the same question." Scanning the three boys before him, Snape realized Peter was being levitated and was, apparently, unconscious. "What did you do to Pettigrew? Does he no longer amuse you?"

James' facial expression was somewhere between anger or annoyance and confusion. "He's asleep… And what's that supposed to mean, anyway – no longer amuses us?"

"I think you have us confused with your own kind," Sirius commented. "You're the ones that dispose of people who are no longer useful. Besides, some of the most amusing people we know, we can't stand."

"So you admit Peter isn't really a friend, he's just around for your entertainment."

"We never said that," James picked up the conversation again. "Wormtail, here, is very much our friend."

"If you say so… but you didn't answer my question. What are you up to?"

"One – You wouldn't understand our friendship because you have to know what friendship is first," James answered. "And two – Why would we ever tell a git like you what we're up to?"

"Because I can alert a professor that you're out of your common room after hours."

"And you're not?" Sirius asked. There was something dodgy going on here.

"Besides, by the time you find a professor or prefect, we'll be back in our common room," James added, though he saw something flash in Snape's eyes and had a funny feeling he'd just said too much.

"You're so sure of that, are you?" Snape asked coyly. There was no response from the other two. Snape glared at each boy in turn. When he looked at Sirius he frowned, but looking at James, he began to smirk. "Good," he whispered. Without warning, he turned back to Sirius and whipped out his wand, "Langlock."

Sirius tried to dodge. Since he was the one guiding Peter, he couldn't use his wand without dropping Peter heavily to the floor. The spell hit him and he felt his tongue suddenly shift to the roof of his mouth. He couldn't move it; it was stuck. He glanced at James, but James already had his wand out and was hurling hexes at Snape, who took off running.

Snape cast a shield charm over his back to block most of the spells James threw. He then turned to face James again and cast two or three spells in rapid succession.

James blocked the first, but missed the second. It hit his hand, and he dropped his wand. He dodged out of the way of the third spell, rolled and retrieved his wand. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled, and Snape's wand flew from his fingers.

All three boys jumped when they suddenly heard the cackling sound of Peeves' voice, which seemed magically amplified in the corridor, "Dueling! Students dueling!" A few seconds later, Filch arrived on the scene and kept the four boys from leaving until a professor arrived.

Professor McGonagall's hurried footfalls could be heard coming down an adjoining corridor. "What is going on here?" she demanded when she arrived.

Two of the three conscious teens each started yelling their own version of events.

"Enough!" she held up her hand to silence them.

"Mr. Snape, why are you here?"

"I was heading to my common room from the library." James knew better than to interrupt one of McGonagall's interrogations, so he bit back the almost overwhelming desire to call Snape a liar.

"You're a bit out of the way, aren't you?" Turning to James and Sirius, she asked, "And what's this about dueling?"

"He started it," James pointed at Snape. For once, he was telling the truth and he hoped she would recognize that.

"Mr. Black?" Sirius nodded in agreement with James.

"Nothing to say?" Snape taunted.

"You, young man, are already in serious trouble," Professor McGonagall warned. "I would suggest you keep your mouth shut." Snape nodded his understanding. "Mr. Black – nothing to add?" Sirius shook his head. "And… Mr. Pettigrew?"

"Oh," James sighed, having temporarily forgotten their floating friend. "He fell asleep when we were… visiting a friend. He's very difficult to wake up, so we were levitating him back to the common room."

"So I see." McGonagall actually looked slightly amused that Peter had slept through the commotion – especially Peeves' alarm. "There is to be no magic used in the corridors. You have all been here for five years now. I know you know this. Mr. Snape, I will be speaking with your head of house. He will deal with you."

Snape nodded. He glanced at Sirius and gave him an appraising look. With a smirk, he walked away. Once he was out of sight, McGonagall turned to the members of her own house, "As for you two – a week of detention for fighting in the halls…"

"But…" James started to protest.

"No! No excuses. I somehow doubt that Mr. Snape was lying in wait for you and suddenly started throwing hexes out of the blue. Now… Mr. Potter, you're bleeding. Head to the hospital wing to get that looked at. As for you, Mr. Black, you may escort Mr. Pettigrew back to the common room."

Sirius nodded and walked away with Peter.

When James arrived at the hospital wing, he saw Aden jump off the bed she'd been sitting on, and hide out of sight. James nodded and smiled at Remus, who gave him a confused look.

"Madam Pomfrey?" James called. He looked at the cut on his hand. It didn't look that bad, but it hadn't stopped bleeding yet, either.

"Yes dear?" she replied as she bustled out of her evening quarters.

"I um… got into a fight and was scratched."

Madam Pomfrey looked at James' hand and frowned. She muttered a spell, but it had little effect on the cut. She retrieved a balm from her stores, and rubbed it over the cut. While soothing, it didn't heal or change the cut in any way. "What was the spell used to do this?" she asked.

"I… I don't know. I didn't hear it."

"Who cast the spell?"

"Sniv… I mean, Snape."

"Hmm." Madam Pomfrey's frown deepened and she tutted in disapproval. She cast three more spells. The third one finally started to mend the cut, so she cast it a few more times until the cut was finally healed. "Very well. There you are. Good night, dear."

"Thank you, ma'am. May I say goodnight to Remus."

"Yes, of course," Madam Pomfrey sounded slightly distracted, but James thanked her again and headed over to see Remus.

"Hey Aden," he whispered, with a grin on his face. Smiling, and blushing slightly, she looked up at him from her position crouched on the floor. James then explained to Remus what had happened.

"Hmm," Remus said thoughtfully.

"You're beginning to sound like Madam Pomfrey," James joked.

Remus chuckled. "Padfoot didn't say anything?"

James shook his head. "No. Weird, huh?"

"And what was the spell cast on him?"

"Um… Langlock."

Remus pondered this a minute. "I wonder if he can't talk."

James frowned. "He wouldn't be stupid enough not to say anything, would he?" Remus just raised his eyebrows. "Right… This is Sirius we're talking about."

"He probably just didn't want Snivellus to have the satisfaction of knowing the curse worked."

"Well, I think he knew anyway."

"Right. You know, maybe we should join Padfoot when he practices those occlumency exercises."

"What? You think Snivellus might be a legilimence?"

"Probably not fully. But he does seem to have a talent for picking up on the truth of things."

"Hmm."

Remus smirked. "It's catching."

James snorted. "Yeah. Goodnight Moony. 'Night Aden." He whispered the last statement. She waved at him from the floor.

James returned to the common room to find out that Remus was right. Sirius was unable to talk, and too stubborn to get help. He wrote a note indicating he was hoping it would wear off with time, and by breakfast it had done so.

"Why didn't you say anything to McGonagall?" James asked Sirius over some sausages.

"This is between us and that cretin. Besides, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing the spell worked."

"Moony," James grinned. They performed the shortened version of the Marauders' handshake in greeting, while James continued speaking with Sirius. "Do you really think he invented both of those spells? And then waited to test them on us?"

Sirius nodded while placing more bacon and eggs on his plate.

"Listen to this," Remus got their attention. "Dumbledore came to see Madam Pomfrey this morning. I overheard her tell him about that cut on your hand, Prongs," Remus pointed at James' hand. "Dumbledore didn't look too happy about it, but I don't know what they'll do, if anything. Aside from getting detention for performing magic… and dueling in the halls… there's no rule against creating your own spells."

Peter stared at the others. "I can't believe I missed all that."

Sirius snorted. "Honestly, Wormtail. You could be lying on an island, in the middle of a hurricane, and not know it. Mmm," Sirius grinned and got a far-off look in his eyes. "Or an island of beautiful, scantily clad women…" Returning his attention to Peter, he said, "Thanks for that mental picture, but… you wouldn't notice that either."

"I would too," Peter frowned.

James chuckled. "Not if you were asleep."

Peter hrumphed, but made no further reply. He was a heavy sleeper and he knew he could sleep through a lot, but he really wasn't as bad as they thought. He did, however, know it was sometimes better to feign sleep than let others know you were aware of what was going on. It was safer for him, and he usually heard a thing or two when others thought he was out cold. Besides, in situations like last night, he had full confidence in his friends' abilities, not only to handle themselves, but keep him safe as well.

"So," Sirius nudged Remus. "How's Aden?"

Remus' eyes subconsciously traveled to where she was and he smiled. "She's good. And before you ask, we slept. Emphasis on 'sleep.'" Sirius poked Remus rather hard on the arm. "Ow. What was that for?"

"Are you alive?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know… No snogging at all?"

Remus grinned. "I didn't say that. But mostly, there was the sleeping."

Sirius barked out laughter, startling a few of the sleepy students around them. The combination of his laughter, and the reaction of those around him, made the other Marauders laugh as well.

"Well, good to see you're all awake this morning," Lily said, with a disapproving tone, as she and the girls from her dorm room approached.

"Evans," James smiled sweetly.

"No," she answered.

He frowned. "You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"Probably about Hogsmeade, which was posted yesterday, by the way. Getting a little slow. And I repeat – no. I'm already going with someone."

James' frown deepened. "Who?"

Lily slipped her arm through Gillette's."We're double-dating. I'm going with Collin, from Hufflepuff, and Gillette's going with his friend, Marcus."

"Marcus?" Sirius asked. He was frowning now too.

"Yes." Gillette looked at Sirius curiously. "Why?"

"Mm. Nothing."

"Oh come on. Tell me."

"Nothing. I just don't like him."

"Why?"

"Oh, does it matter?" Lily asked exasperatedly and pulled Gillette away so they could eat breakfast.

Remus was peering thoughtfully at Sirius.

"Moony," Sirius began.

"Yes?"

"You already have a girlfriend. Stop looking at me like that."

Remus just grinned. "So… why don't you like Marcus?"

"Look at him. He's so… nice, and annoying."

"Mm-hmm," was all Remus replied.

"What does she see in Collin?" James asked absently.

"Oh, I don't know," Remus sighed. "He's good-looking, smart, friendly…"

"He's not full of himself," Sirius added with a grin.

"Lots of girls want to date him," Peter added. When James glared at him, Peter said, "Well, a lot of girls want to date you too."

"Fickle bunch, aren't they," Sirius muttered.

"Look who's talking," Remus countered.

"I am not fickle," Sirius said, trying to sound offended. "I'm wild and carefree and too young to settle down with one of them." He gestured to a nearby group of giggling girls.

"Uh-huh. On that note…" Remus gathered up his books. "I'm heading to class."

The others gathered their things and walked with him.

"Wormtail, who are you going with next weekend?" Remus asked.

"I dunno. Thought I'd ask Evelyn, from Hufflepuff."

"You have a thing for Hufflepuff's, don't you," James observed.

"Well… Ravenclaws are looking for brains and Gryffindors…" Sirius teased.

"Hey! I don't think I want you to finish that statement." Peter had learned, over the past couple of years, to take their ribbing in stride. He didn't always appreciate it, but he had learned that most groups had at least one member who was the brunt of most of the jokes. Among the fifth-year Gryffindor girls, it was Patty. And he filled that niche with the Marauders. At least it meant he had one.

"So have you two picked out your monthly dates?" Remus asked James and Sirius.

"I say we shoot for seventh-years this time." Sirius wiggled his eyebrows at James.

"Right… I think we might be overshooting just a bit," James said.

Sirius threw an arm around James. "Prongs, you underestimate your sex appeal. You're a quidditch captain. One who won his last match."

"And let's not forget the hair," Remus smirked, as James reached up and ran his fingers through his hair to "restore" its wind-swept appearance.

"Right. The hair. And those glasses," Sirius agreed.

"What about my glasses?" James asked, pushing them up on his nose.

"Girls really dig the geeky look."

James punched Sirius in the ribs, causing him to take his arm off James and wrap it protectively around his side. Either that, or he was laughing so hard his ribs hurt.

"Fine," James said, giving Sirius a challenging look. "A seventh-year it is."

By the weekend, James and Sirius both had seventh-year girls hanging off their arms for the trip to Hogsmeade. They spent the morning lavishing much attention on their companions and being rather gentlemanly. They arrived at The Three Broomsticks for lunch, meeting up with Remus and Aden, and Peter and Evelyn (who did not appreciate being called Eve or Evie). In the afternoon, they showed off their magical prowess by hexing random people. Well, they really weren't random people. Collin ended up with a case of hives. Marcus seemed to have a bad reaction to something he ate. Snivellus tripped into a bookcase at Dervish and Banges, which caused a domino effect with three other bookshelves. Regulus, who Sirius was horrified to find out was on a date with a Burke, came down with a bad case of horrid-smelling breath.

When evening rolled around, James was the first one back to the common room. He and Sirius had gone their separate ways to return the girls to their common rooms. James thanked his for the lovely time and returned. Sirius came in an hour later looking rather disheveled. He plopped onto the couch next to James

James laughed. "What happened to you? Get attacked by a broom."

"Something like that. I really don't get the broom-closet thing. It's very… difficult… to maneuver in there. And smelly."

James chuckled. "That's all you have to say about your first real snogging-session?"

"Well… yeah. It was nice and all, but…"

"Let me guess, you were forced into it."

"Hey. You have to pay the piper," Sirius grinned.

"Does this mean you'll be seeing her again?"

"Nah, not really my type."

James smiled and shook his head. "And what is your type?"

"I'll know it when I find it. May take some searching… and experience with the wrong type." Sirius wiggled his eyebrows. "What about you?"

"Nope. Nothing."

Sirius shook his head and sat up so he could face James. Becoming uncharacteristically serious, he said, "You're never going to get her."

James frowned slightly while looking at his hands, then he smiled. "Oh I will. It's just going to take time."

"Prongs, have you even considered anyone else?"

"No. Look, I appreciate your concern…"

Sirius cut him off. "I want you to be happy, and the longer this goes on, the more miserable you'll become."

"Like I said, I appreciate your concern, but it will happen."

Sirius was reminded of how sure James had been that he was going to be in Gryffindor before their sorting. "All right," he said, surrendering to his friend's will. "She'll be yours one day. I'll help any way I can."

"Thanks, mate."

Sirius settled back, slouching on the couch so his head rested against the back. "That's what brothers are for."

- - - - -

A/N - Aww. Thanks again so much for the kind reviews. I was a little concerned about the last chapter, so I really appreciate the love. Thanks to all who take the time to leave a little comment. Thank you also to my everfaithful and encouraging betas - Mom, mei mei, and J.A. Carlton. Love.

Nonair - Welcome back! Hope you had a great vacation. Once again, I'm thrilled that you picked up on the clues that foreshadow future events, like Mrs. Black's behavior and Sirius' dislike for both Grimmauld Place and Kreacher. I'm also glad to see you thought my characterization of the Centaurs was fairly accurate. Thanks again for the wonderful reviews.