Chapter Two:

A Lie, A Lesson, And A Lead.

"Good morning, Lily. Did you sleep well? I got you some food for you so you wouldn't miss breakfast, everyone else is already downstairs. Do you want a breakfast roll? Omelet? Toast?" I shoved a heaping tray of food in her direction.

Lilly rubbed her eyes and sat up. "I must still be dreaming. Otherwise, this would be a bribe for something, or you`re trying to make sure I don't get mad at you for something bad you`ve done." She raised an eyebrow as I pushed the tray onto her lap, and sighed. "Come on Mattie, just spill and save me the trouble. We`ve been down this road before."

Clearing anything but innocence from my face, I played the victim. "Come on, Lil. I do good stuff too! Who was your bodyguard for that month in fifth year when that Slytherin kid, Snake or something, kept trying to talk to you after he called you a mudblood? Who helped you get back at a certain Hufflepuff girl who was cruel to you, and has been at your disposal for other scheming needs?"

Suspiciously skeptical, Lily started to eat the breakfast. Finally. I waited until she was halfway through her toast before I spoke again. "What`s so special about being a Marauder? What`s the big secret?"

Lily looked up, her eyes glazed and out of focus. "Several months ago, the four of them snuck into Potions after class under James` cloak to try and get some Felix Felicis but accidentally grabbed Draught of the Living Dead instead. They all drank it before realizing the mistake, and now they have only three weeks to live. They don't want anyone to find out, because they`d all be expelled."

I turned pale. Why didn't anyone tell Dumbledore? He could probably reverse it! I had to find some sort of cure… If only I had paid more attention in potions! This had to…

I was jolted back to earth by laughter. "Gotcha! Draught of the living dead is a sleeping potion, which you should know if you didn`t spend Potions charming Mary and Alice`s hair different colors. Nice try with the veritaserum, though. Too bad I know some minor occlumency."

"Of course you do." I muttered, mad I could have overlooked the smallest but crucial detail.

Apparently, she found my expression worthy of her pity, because she softened slightly. "Okay fine, I`ll give you a hint, but like I said yesterday, it's not my secret to give away. So, what you need to do is just think about how they all uniquely act, like James` loyalty, Peter`s timidness, what Sirius` laugh sounds like, and the nicknames, especially the nicknames. I know you can figure this out, Mats. You just have to show that same determination you have for quiddich, and pranking people."

"Thanks, Lily. I`ll get rid of this tainted food, now let's go get some actual breakfast."

"Remus, wait up!" I called as James and I broke into a run from the doorway of our last class of the day.

"Hey Mattie, Prongs. How was Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Alice, Mattie and I started a minor spitball war that ended up knocking off a certain professor`s wig and giving us all detentions for Friday. What`s new with you?" James casually said, but failed to mask the pride in his voice.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"That's your third detention this week. You`ve been slacking. At this rate, you`ll never regain your crown as King of the Compound." Sirius said, as he strolled up with Peter.

The sight of the quaffle James had drawn on the corner of his textbook sparked something at the back of my mind. I`d almost forgotten, which would have been catastrophic, especially if Mel found out I let an excuse to go to the kitchens slip through our fingers. Food was something she and I take very seriously (Siriusly?).

"Speaking of trouble, is anyone up for a little midnight wandering tonight? I was thinking of raiding the kitchens, since we`ll need to stock up on food if we`re gonna have a party for the big win against Slytherin this weekend. After practice last week, I bet Emma that we`re going to crush them by at least 75 points."

"Absolutely! I`ll make sure James brings the completely inconspicuous burlap sacks for carrying all the food!" Sirius grinned excitedly. But the other three gave him a pointed look as Remus nudged him in the ribs.

Peter bit his lip. "Ahh, sorry Mattie. We have to…"

"… Help tutor James so he doesn't fail the History of Magic test on dwarf wars. Padfoot and Wormtail are going to hold him down while I make him study flash cards. It could get ugly. Sirius must have forgotten it was that time again."

They were obviously trying to hide something. You could always tell, because Pete doesn't lie well and the others always finish his lie so it wasn't feeble. But naturally, I acted nonchalant. Two could play at this deception game, or rather, five. "Okay. See you later then." I walked ahead to the Fat Lady.

"Trolls Blood." I brushed through the portrait hole. Once in the (thankfully vacant) common room, I crouched down behind a couch and waited for the Marauders to come in.

"I don't remember being told about studying for any test tonight!" James` whine came from outside the portrait hole.

It wasn`t long before Sirius joined in. "Yeah! Plus, couldn't you just jinx him down and let Wormy and I go with Mattie? That was a little rude to blow her off like that."

"Guys, it's a full moon tonight. Don't wig out on me now." Remus reminded them.

"Ohhhhhh, sorry, Moony…. I forgot. We won`t bail on you tonight, don't worry. About what time should we meet down here by, do you think?"

"Eleven thirty should be good."

"Hey Padfoot …" the voices faded as they ascended the stairs to their dorms.

Now, it was time to prepare. I got up from my hiding spot, and hurried up to the girl`s dorms. Come eleven thirty, I knew I was not going to be raiding the kitchens.