A/N: See, told you I'd be back after holiday =)

I'm getting back into the flow of story writing now, even though it's taken awhile. I've already started Chapter 21 as well so with any luck that'll be up soon. In the mean time, tell me what you think of this one ;) x


Chapter 20

Detentions and Sherbet Lemons

Sirius wolfed down his breakfast hungrily, eager to get the day over with so he and James could serve their detention and go up to the dorms for some much needed sleep. As he thought, Sirius looked across the table to his best friend to find the boy scribbling anxiously on a piece of parchment.

"Bloody hell, James! You're not actually doing homework are you?" he exclaimed.

"No" James scoffed, still writing

"Then, what are you doing?"

James looked up at the long haired youth momentarily "Writing to Harry. Gotta tell him about the Bludger thing. He'd love it!"

An awkward silence fell at his words that the hazel eyed boy didn't seem to notice. He continued scratching his quill on the parchment until Remus interrupted.

"Um, James" The scarred young man said quietly. He was looking even paler than usual today and his hands shook slightly as he played with his untouched food. "You do know that Harry's um… he's-"

"Of course I flipping well know!" The scruffy haired Gryffindor snapped "Doesn't mean I can't write to him!"

"Oh, well I was just, you know-"

"Well, it's not like he can read them is it?" Peter retorted earning a death glare from Sirius.

"Shut up Pete. If James wants to write letters to his brother then let him"

James smiled weakly before continuing with his letter. Breakfast passed in silence with neither James nor Remus eating what was piled in front of them. Eventually the bell rang signalling the start of the day's lessons and causing all four boys to jump in surprise. They gathered up their belongings and followed their fellow students from the Great Hall to make their way to first lesson.

"Would you look who it is" James smirked "Snivellus"

His three friends looked around in confusion to find out who this 'Snivellus' was until their eyes rested upon Severus Snape. The Slytherin was marching just behind his class mates, his head hung so the curtains of greasy hair blocked his face from view.

"Oi! Snape!" James called, causing the boy to turn on his heal "They have showers here you know!"

Many of the students in the entrance were now watching the two boys with interest.

"Shut your mouth Potter! Aren't you meant to be sobbing in a corner over your dead brother or something!" Snape snarled

James' face twisted in anger. "Try cleaning before you insult me Snivellus. Scourgify!"

A stream of bubbles issued from the Gryffindors wand and spat straight towards the Slytherin first year who attempted to duck out of the way but, much to James amusement was too late.

"Flagrate!" Snape cried, slashing his wand through the air causing water to spray from his sopping sleeve. A thin line of fire flew towards James, singeing his school robes.

"WHY YOU-"

"What's all this then?"

Pupils who had been gathered around the entrance to the Great Hall scattered quickly in order to let the portly belly of Professor Slughorn through. He look from Snape, who was drenched from head to toe and dripping a small puddle on the floor, to James, who's uniforms continued smoking slightly as he pointed his wand at the Slytherin.

"Boys, boys!" Slughorn tutted, waving his own wand to get rid of the spells. "You know duelling in the corridor is forbidden! I'm afraid I'll have to give you both detentions for this!"

James and Snape glared, still pointing their wands at each other.

"Tonight after school in my office I say!" Slughorn continued loudly.

"Professor" James said, finally dropping his gaze "I can't do tonight, I've already got a detention with Professor McGonagall"

"Dear dear my boy! Do you not know how to behave!" The Potions Professor shook his head in disbelief. "You are very much like your brother, God rest his soul. Very well, tomorrow night in my office it'll have to be, both of you."

"Yes professor" The two boys said in unison.

"Good. Now chop chop! Don't want to be late now do you?" Slughorn clapped his hands causing the students who had been hanging back to watch to hurry off to their lessons.

James, followed by his three friends, stormed off to Transfiguration muttering under his breath the whole way.

80)

By dinner James had managed to secure himself a weeks worth of detentions with different teachers and had hardily spoken a word to his friends. The four had once again eaten in silence and had walked up to Professor McGonagall's office without uttering a single word. Remus and Peter had left their two friends by the door and, with small smiles of goodbye, had walked off in separate directions: Peter off to the common room and Remus to the Hospital Wing complaining about feeling sick.

"I'm not surprised!" Sirius exclaimed when his scarred friend had expressed his discomfort "You haven't eaten all day and you look even more pale then usual!"

"Thanks Siri" Remus muttered sarcastically, using the new nickname the taller boy had recently been given by James.

"Whatever, just have a piece of bread or something when you get there ok?"

"Stop mothering him Sirius and get into the office otherwise McGonagall's going to kill us" James said irritably.

Waving goodbye to Remus, Sirius followed his grumpy friend into the Transfiguration teachers' room. It was a very ordinary looking room with bookshelves lining the walls and a large wooden desk placed in front of a huge arched window overlooking the vast grounds towards the Quidditch pitch. McGonagall sat in a high backed chair facing away from the window and fixed the boys with a piercing glare as they entered.

"Sit" She instructed, gesturing towards smaller chairs on the opposite side of her desk.

Sirius and James did as they were told. Sirius shifted around for a moment trying to make himself more comfortable upon the hard, straight backed chair.

"I must say I am quiet disappointed in you boys" The strict witch said "Two first years with no regards for the rules set down by the headmaster of this school in an attempt to keep you safe. This is another reason with first years are not allowed to join their house Quidditch team!" She seemed to be rambling, making both boys feel guiltier. "You are extremely lucky nobody was hurt. If they were you'd be facing more than just a simple detention!"

"We're sorry Professor" Sirius piped up as the tall teacher paused from breath "We didn't mean to cause any harm, we just wanted a bit of fun"

"Be that as it may, Mr Black, but you and Mr Potter here still broke school rules and will serve detention tonight with me, as if I haven't punished you boys enough in the past."

"Yes Professor" The Gryffindors said solemnly.

They served the rest of their detention sat side by side in silence at McGonagall's desk, each writing their own essay on how important school rules are at keeping the students safe and well. The Transfiguration Professor sat at the desk in front of them marking work from her classes that day and looking up occasionally to make sure the boys weren't cheating by copying each others work. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Professor McGonagall stood up from her seat.

"Well boys, let me see what you've got"

James and Sirius handed their rolls of parchment over quickly and both relaxed in their seats, glad to no longer be writing.

"Very well, I will mark these tonight and you will receive my thoughts during your next Transfiguration lesson. For now your detention is over"

"Thank you Profession" The first years said together, gathering up their things.

"But, before you leave" McGonagall added quickly as they made towards the door. "I do not want to hear another peep of trouble from you two for quite sometime now. As I have been informed by many of the other professors, Mr Potter has managed to score himself a detention every night of this week!"

She looked towards James as if hoping he'd tell her this was untrue.

"I'm sorry Professor" The messy hair youth said apologetically, hanging his head "I just, haven't been feeling myself lately."

Professor McGonagall knelt down so she was at James' height and place a comforting hand on his shoulder "I know this loss is hard on you James, but there is no need to be getting yourself into trouble like this. I remember when your brother first started this school, he was a shy little first year that kept out of mischief and studied hard. Merlin knows that when he grew up he became the trouble maker everybody remembers him as, but you shouldn't follow that route so early. At least wait a few years so I can think of enough suitable punishments to give you for the mayhem you are bound to cause." She gave him a rare smile before getting to her feet again. "Now off with the both of you! And if Mr Flitch catches you out of bed, send him straight to me"

Both boys grinned widely and left without a moment's hesitation. Luckily for them, the only person they bumped into on the way up to Gryffindor common room was Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, who was muttering to herself about "Poor young boys being put through such pain at such a young age". Neither spoke until they reached the Fat Lady, muttered the password and found only Peter Pettigrew sat by the fire struggling with his homework.

"Hey Pete" Sirius greeted, settling down beside the chubby boy. "Where's Remus?"

"Still in the Hospital Wing" Peter replied, scratching his nose with the wrong end of his quill and making a smudgy line of blue ink appear on his face. "Do either of you know what the main ingredient is in a Garrotting Gas potion?"

"No Pete." James said unhelpfully "And if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed"

Watched by his two confused friends, James got up swiftly and left them both of the comfort of his bed.

80)

Friday came along quickly. James had just left his final detention with Professor Flitwick in the charms class room. Exhausted from the amount of punishment and late nights he had been through that week, he dragged his tired feet around the corner but stopped dead in surprise when he saw Professor Dumbledore and Mr Flitch walking towards each other opposite ends of the corridor.

"Out for a walk Headmaster?" Flitch asked in his oily voice, a nasty smirk playing across his lips.

"Why Argus, I appear to have run out of sherbet lemons and decided to take a quiet stroll through the corridors of the castle in the moonlight before heading off to find some more" Dumbledore smiled "May I ask what you are doing all the way up here at this time?"

Flitch's smirk faltered. "Search for trouble makers of course"

"Well, I can assure you that I have past none on my way here Argus, and I see none here now" The headmaster looked around the empty corridor, his twinkling eyes lingering for a second on the wall James had hidden behind as if he could see straight through it.

Flitch grunted "It is always best to double check for pests Professor"

"Well, if I do see any of these pests on my walk I shall send them straight to your office"

The caretaker seemed to recognise his dismissal. He bided the Professor goodnight and shuffled off in the direction he had just come from, leaving Dumbledore in the deserted corridor. James peeked around the corner to watch as the elder wizard removed his wand from the inside pocket of his sweeping purple robes and headed towards a statue of a one eyed witch located about half way down the tiled floor. Dumbledore shifted around to behind the stone witch, tapped his wand once on her back and said clearly "Dissendium!" James gawked in awe as the statues hump opened up and the headmaster disappeared inside.

"Whoa" James said under his breath. He ran up to where Dumbledore had disappeared. Curiosity took over James. He glanced around to check no one was watching, took his own wand from his trouser pocket and muttered "Dissendium" rapping the stone just as he had seen.

Once again the statue opened up revealing a small dark hole leading quite a way down. James poked his head through the gap trying to see his headmaster, opening his eyes as wide as possible in an attempt to see better and pushing his whole upper torso in, only to result in him falling head first though the hole. Managing not to cry out in shock, James slid on his stomach down a gradual slope, landing with a splatter into some cold, damp mud just at the bottom. He jumped to his feet hurriedly and brushed himself off.

"Lumos" He said quietly, lighting the end of his wand. The narrow beam of light show brightly in the dark, low ceiling passage way which seemed to go on for miles. James knew he should turn back and go up to his dormitory, but he just couldn't resist the chance to explore.

The young Gryffindor walked quickly down the passage, turning sharply as it twisted and turned in all sorts of directions, panting the further he got. After a long while, he felt the earthy floor beneath him begin to rise and soon enough he reached a set of cold stone steps which he climbed until he hit his head rather hard upon something solid. Dazed, James reached his hand out and felt above him. His hand ran over a large wooden panel which he gave a small push upwards. A small gap formed casting light down the passage way and giving James the confidence to push the trapdoor up some more until he was head and shoulders inside a cellar filled with different sized boxes and crates. The youth dragged himself up inside, listening carefully for voices and began to search his surroundings, hoping to find out where in Merlins name he was.

"No way" He exclaimed in a hushed voice. He'd just wandered over to the largest of the crates and in the beam from his wand read the words 'Property of Honeydukes Sweet Shop' James grinned widely as he continued to explore, unable to wait to tell the others his new discovery. He was so wrapped up in his excited thoughts that he didn't notice the presents of another wizard until a voice spoke.

"Like what you see Mr Potter?"

James jumped violently at the sound of the headmasters' voice. He span around on the spot to come face to face with the older wizard, who was beaming down at him.

"Professor, I… I…"

"You are not in trouble Mr Potter" Dumbledore said, raising a hand to stop the poor boys stuttering. "I have myself to blame for leading you here. However, I must warn you that night time trips to Hogsmeade are strictly for school headmasters who have run out of their supply of sherbet lemons"

"Yes Professor"

Dumbledore smiled "I shall walk you back tonight, but I want your word that you will not maraud around here after nightfall again" His blue eyes twinkled again

"You have my word Professor"

The two descended thought the trap door and began the long journey back up to Hogwarts.

"You know, I hear your young friend Mr Lupin is rather fond of chocolate" The professor said after a while "I met him in the hospital wing a few days ago and he was scoffing down a chocolate frog as if he hadn't eaten in weeks!"

"Yeah, he hadn't eaten much that day" James replied, remembering how pale Remus had been "Said he was feeling ill"

"Yes, well illness seems to run in the Lupin family I'm afraid. His mother hasn't been too well recently either" Dumbledore looked thoughtful "I'm sure Remus would love to visit Honeydukes, he could pick out a whole range of chocolates to devour to his hearts content"

"Yeah! It's his birthday soon too. I wish first years could visit Hogsmeade so I could get him some"

"When you have the know-how Mr Potter, anything is possible" Dumbledore hinted with a sly wink. "Now off you go back to your dormitory for a good nights sleep. And if you bump into Mr Flitch on your way make sure to tell him you were with me"

James was slightly taken aback when he realised they were already out of the passageway and standing beside the one eyed witch statue once more. He wished the professor goodnight and headed off in the opposite direction to Gryffindor tower.