It was later in the year, and the Gryffindor common room was filled with people. Some students were studying, but most were relaxing and chatting with their friends. Moria was currently reading, sitting next to Sirius and the rest of the Marauders, who were chatting amongst each other. Moria looked down as a form jumped onto her lap and saw Ashes climbing onto her lap, beginning to purr and then settled. Sirius glared at the cat, which the cat feigned indifference.

"Great, I'm being replaced by a cat." He huffed out, just under his breath. She laughed as Ashes hissed, her hair rising a few inches.

"I still love dogs, Sirius." She reasoned and he grinned. Ashes seemed to glare at him again, threatening him to back off, until Moria began to pet her back, sending the kitten back into a purring euphoria. They were supposed to be studying. And while she was studying, Sirius was staring into space. Well it was close enough to him studying. She glanced up to see him looking at her.

"Do I have something on my face?"

"No. Why?"

"What's with the staring?" She questioned.

"So is Chamberlain bothering you at all?" Sirius asked out of the blue, refusing to answer her question. Moria eyebrow rose and she noticed James, Peter, and Remus glance up slightly before looking back down trying to hold back a smirk.

"Actually no." She replied slowly. "He's been at the hospital wing due to getting a bad case of pink eye." She explained, smirking. "You four wouldn't have had anything to do with that would you?" she asked as James laughed slightly.

"Now what made you think we would do something so awful?" Sirius joked.

"That is so mean, Prescott." James teased. "Why would you think that?" He mimicked.

"Oh just a guess." Moria responded in a teasing matter, glancing up for a second when she heard footsteps. Lily ran past them and up the steps to the girls' dormitory. James sat up quickly but Moria held up her hand.

"I got it." Moria said placing Ashes on the sofa and walking up the steps. As she neared her door she heard soft crying and after a bit of hesitance entered the room.

"Lil?" she asked the form. Lily straightened, her shoulders stiffening and Moria observed her running her fingers over her face. "Lily…what's wrong?"

"Severus tried to apologize to me about what he said last year."

"Okay…and that would be bad because…?"

"Because I rejected it."

"I thought I said how this was bad." Moria asked. "Not something I hadn't figured out."

"He said he had been sorry…that he hadn't meant calling me a mudblood."

"But you had decided that wasn't enough."

"Like it or not we are muggle-born witches…the very thing that Severus and his….his…group of egocentric, disgusting gits hate! I refuse to just let some name hold me back." Lily spat out and Moria patted her shoulder. "I know…I know he probably did mean the apology…but I asked him if he was really planning on becoming a death eater…he didn't reply." Lily said, brushing her face with a hand. "But the look on his face said it all. He is trying to be one…and I refused to be associated with a boy who wants to kill muggle-born witches and wizards." Lily continued. Moria was quiet for several minutes. She knew Lily and Snape had been close before this. Even if Snape hadn't called Lily mudblood last year…chances were their friendship would have ended soon.

"Well it's his own fault." Moria said as she pulled Lily to her. "It's nowhere near your fault." She continued Lily shuddered slightly then returned the hug. The pair were silent for a few minutes before Lily shifted, looking at Moria sheepishly.

"Sorry…did I interrupt anything when I came in?"

"Nope." Moria stated with a shrug. "Though I suspect that Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter gave Chamberlain a bad case of pink eye."

"And as much as I normally hate when they hex someone…this time I'll let it slide." Lily grumbled out. Moria grinned then looked up as they heard yelling.

"-get her off!"

"Mate it's a bloody cat! How bad-EAAAUGHHH!"

"Don't toss her at m-EEEEEEEEEEE!"

"OWOWOWOOWOWOWOW!" they heard Remus yelp out and Lily looked at Moria in confusion. Moria was trying to desperately not to laugh.

"I believe my cat is now using the four as human scratching posts." She said with a chuckle. "I better get down there before she hurts them." Moria said and Lily laughed.

"Don't you mean before they will hurt her?" Lily asked as they heard Sirius yell out in pain followed by a loud hiss and an angry meow.

"I believe Ashes is winning." Moria commented and got up, followed by Lily. They went downstairs and while Moria barely managed to hold back laughing, Lily didn't and burst out laughing.

Ashes was now sitting in the exact spot that Moria had left her, delicately licking her paw, and beginning to clean herself, as though she had done nothing. However the four boys sat on the opposite side of the cat as though she was some disease, all of them covered with scratches on their face and the exposed areas of their arms.

"What happened to you four? You look like you went through barbed wire." Moria finally managed to say, chortling. Sirius glared.

"You know full well that it was you demon cat." Sirius grumbled glaring at the cat. Moria grinned apologetically. James looked at Lily, noting her slightly red eyes.

"You okay Evans?" he asked with softness in his voice that shocked her for a second. He had never talked to her like that. She blushed slightly, but then nodded.

"Yup. I'm fine. Honest." She replied with a smile on her face. He smiled. "I'm going down to go get some food. I'll be right back." She said and left.

"Smooth James." Moria smirked at the boy as the redhead left. She picked up Ashes and placed the feline on the ground, who made a sound of annoyance before scampering off towards the Fat Lady's portrait. "Very smooth."

"What?" he asked confused.

"Smooth way to get some brownie points with Lily."

"What the bloody hell are brownie points?" Sirius asked. Moria grinned.

"Muggle saying." She replied. "But anyways. You did good today James." She concluded and he grinned.

Remus was walking around, doing his rounds as the Prefect. It seemed not even James and Sirius were out. Well not actually true, Remus mused at the memory of the couple that he had walked in on snogging. They hadn't even noticed him. Lost in his thoughts, he turned around a corner, and grunted when he slammed into a shorter form that squeaked. He looked down to see Bryn staring up at him, her face turning a bright red.

"H…Hi Remus." She stuttered out. He looked at her, and felt warmth growing on his face, but coughed roughly.

"What are you doing out here? You know it's against the rules." He said calmly…or as calmly as he could say. She lifted up a bag revealing some food.

"Chelsea and the other two roommates were hungry…and I sort of lost the contest for sneaking into the kitchen." She said and winced at how weak that excuse was. At least it was Remus instead of Filch. She was terrified of Filch. Remus smirked at how many times he and the other Marauders had done the same thing. He didn't have the heart to punish her for doing something he always did with his friends.

"You might want to get going before someone else spots you." He said and she looked at him shocked.

"You aren't going to take away any points? Or give detention?"

"I can't. You aren't in my house." Remus replied. "Now you better head back before your prefects catch you." He stated as she stared at him then smiled and without warning kissed his cheek before scampering away, leaving the stunned prefect standing there and he touched his cheek and glanced at the now empty hall, his face turning a slight shade of pink before he hurried off towards his own House.

Dane Chamberlain glared at his face. Though the swelling of the pink-eye had gone down enough that he had been released it was still puffy, and it begged to be scratched, but he couldn't. Angrily he shoved the mirror away. He knew it was those four bastards that Prescott hung around with nearly every day. Those two blood-traitors, that half-blood, and that rat. They had made it perfectly clear it was them as they put the Conjunctivitis hex on him.

"You harass Moria again, you touch her, or even think about looking at her wrong, and getting pink eye will be the last thing you're worried about." Sirius had growled out after they had cast the hex on him. He could have told the professors about the threat…that it had been those four morons that did it. But his Slytherin pride disagreed. He pulled out an abused photo that had been stabbed with his letter opener multiple times and had been doodled on by him. He sneered at the barely identifiable face of the picture. The muggle image revealed a woman who had no knowledge of the photo being taken, chatting to her friends.

He knew a way to get his own revenge on how Black treated him. And that was through a single little disgusting mudblood.

"Moria…you'll understand just how annoying I can be." He hissed out and tore the picture in half. She wouldn't even know what hit her. And those bloody bodyguards of hers would know not to mess with him.

After this…no one would mess with him.