Rumours ran around the castle walls like rats, being passed from one student to another, heads bent low as they whispered, growing quiet whenever they saw one of the four boys they were talking about.

"Do you think they're well?"

"I saw them, in the library. They must be planning something."

"Halloween. It has to be for Halloween."

It had been unusually quiet the last few days, even in the Gryffindor Common Room where James and Sirius usually practiced their next prank ideas. The whisperings had started from the Gryffindors, as they told friends from other houses that the four boys hadn't even been seen in the Common Room. The only time their fellow students saw them now, it seemed, was in classes or at Quidditch practice.

The first match was on Halloween itself, and both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were busy practicing. When they weren't in the library or on the pitch, the teams were racing around the castle, jogging through the grounds, James and Sirius included.

"Anything?"

Thursday evening, and James dropped down into a chair at the table Remus and Peter were sitting at. Remus shook his head, looking up from the book in his hands.

"Where's Sirius?" Peter asked, frowning as he gazed at James in his Quidditch robes, his hair drenched with sweat.

"Shower," James panted. "I came straight here."

"There's nothing about how to do it in any of the standard books," Remus said, closing the book and pushing it into the middle of the table. "James, it could take a long time to find anything."

"That's fine," James replied, glancing at him. "As long as you don't mind waiting. We'll stick with it, and once this first match is over, training will happen...less. Me and Sirius will be able to look as well."

"How's your History homework coming?" Remus asked, crossing his arms as he lent forward. "Only two more weeks to get the essay in."

James waved a hand in the air. "Plenty of time."

Remus rolled his eyes, before gesturing to the parchment in front of Peter. "Peter's already started."

Peter blushed. "With a bit of help from Remus."

"A bit," Remus agreed. "How did training go?"

"He's pushing us, hard. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the others end up with injuries before the actual match."

Remus reached into his bag and pulled out a small jar, full of a thick, light blue cream. He placed it on the table. "Apparently, this stuff is brilliant. The Ravenclaws are using it."

"Where did you get it?" James asked, frowning as he reached forward and picked up the jar. A blush coloured Remus' cheeks.

"When I was in the Hospital Wing, I heard Madam Pomfrey talking to a couple of the Ravenclaw players. They were asking for it because practice was making their muscles ache. When she came to check on me before I left, I asked her about it, told her I was aching from the change." He grinned. "She handed it right over."

James laughed, quieting as he caught sight of the librarian, passing them as she restocked the shelves. "Remus, you are brilliant! I can't believe you lied to a teacher!" He clapped him on the back. "Thanks, mate, I owe you one."

"You just have to rub a small bit where it's aching. Apparently, we cover it in fourth year Potions. Which will be why the Ravenclaws knew."

"Wonder why the older team members haven't mentioned it?" James mused, turning the pot over as he looked at the cream.

"It has other uses. Maybe they just didn't think about using it for that."

James nodded, before dropping it into his bag. "So, where do you think we should look next?" he asked, picking up one of the books and flicking through it. Remus shrugged.

"It's complicated magic. We've only read the standard texts up until second year, but there might be something in the more advanced books. We'll need to start looking at the OWL books."

He grinned as James shuddered. "Brilliant." He sighed, before glancing around. "Well, it's getting late. We should head back. Do you think you could write a list of possible books? We can start looking through them after Halloween."

"Sure."

Peter started to gather his stuff. With his roll of parchment halfway into his bag, he stopped. "What if...what if we can't all do it?" he muttered, keeping his gaze away from the other two. "If one of us just can't..."

"Don't worry, mate," James said, grinning at him. "You can do it. Now let's get back – I'm shattered."

X X X

The day dawned cloudy. Few people were up in the Common Room when the Gryffindor team came downstairs, and even less were in the Great Hall. Even the reserves had been woken, and they walked slowly behind the main team as they made their way through the castle. James and Sirius both grinned when they saw Remus, sitting at the table and reading a book, a piece of toast in his free hand.

To their surprise, the book was about Quidditch.

"Go sit with your friend," Gerard said. "And try to relax, Potter."

James nodded, darting down the table and falling down in front of Remus. Sirius sat beside him.

"Didn't notice you were up," James chuckled, grabbing a slice of toast and the butter. "Your curtains were closed."

Remus shrugged, not wanting to tell them the nightmares had meant he had barely slept, leaving his bed sheets twisted. He had been hungry when he had woken, and hadn't wanted to wake the others.

"Here." He passed the book to James. A few pages had been folded over. "You were too busy training last night for me to give you this."

"Bit late to be reading up on tips, isn't it?" Sirius muttered, glancing over James' shoulder.

"Amelia Nova gave it to me."

"The Ravenclaw?" Sirius asked, head snapping up. "Brown hair?"

Remus nodded. "She said she doesn't know if it'll be much help, but the pages are the ones the Ravenclaws use the most. And you have to hang out with her tomorrow by the lake, James."

James frowned. "Why?"

"I think she likes you." Remus sounded like the thought was confusing, beyond his reach of comprehension. When he saw the look on James' face, he laughed. "Hey, she's given you that, hasn't she?"

James glanced through the pages. "Okay...actually, yeah, this isn't too bad. Doesn't give too much away but these must be the moves they've been practicing. Remus, you're brilliant."

"Don't thank me," Remus sighed. "She just came over to me in the library, said she'd seen me hanging around with you and asked if I could give you that, in exchange for the...the..."

"Date?" Sirius cooed, before he burst out laughing as well. "Oh, Merlin, Potter has a date!"

"It's not a date!" James snapped. "She just...I don't know, maybe she wants me to help with homework or something."

This time, both of them laughed. "She would have just asked Remus, mate."

They carried on with breakfast, James and Sirius skimming over a couple of the pages that had been marked out. The hall began to fill, people chattering excitedly about the first Quidditch match of the season.

"There's Amelia," Remus said, gesturing towards one of girls at the Ravenclaw table. James half turned, looking at the table. Amelia's long, sleek hair was tied back with a blue band, standing out against the black colour. She was facing them and, as James' eyes caught hers, she smiled and glanced quickly away. James turned back to the others.

"Oh, yeah, she's one of the really clever ones, isn't she?"

"Who is?" The voice came from James' right, as Alice took a seat beside him. Lily sat on the other side, not looking pleased as she started to scoop breakfast onto her plate. The Gryffindor table had filled up quickly with people eager to get good seats for the match, and the spaces next to James and Remus were the only seats left.

"Amelia," Sirius said. "James is going on a date with her." His voice took on a sing-song tone, and James scowled.

"It's not a date!" he insisted.

Lily glanced up, looking surprised. "Well, she can't be that clever then, can she?"

"Jealous, Evans?" James snapped, before his scowl turned into a grin. "Anyway, I'm a rising Quidditch star. Why wouldn't she want to go on a date with me?"

"I thought it wasn't a date?" Remus said, unable to resist grinning as James' mouth opened, then closed. He stuttered something before he was saved. Gerard Floss stood and glanced down towards them.

"Potter, Black, let's go."

Relief washed over James' face and, without saying anything else, he stood, grabbing the book, and made his way towards the rest of the team. Laughing, Sirius followed.

"I don't know why you hang out with those two," Lily muttered, shaking her head. "I really don't."

"They're good friends," Remus replied, grabbing another slice of toast and swiping a lump of butter across it. "And they are good guys, Lily, you just don't see it."

"I would say you have a point," Alice cut in. "But sometimes...I don't know, they just seem to enjoy their little pranks too much, don't they?"

"And they are downright cruel to Severus, for no reason."

"Really?" Remus scoffed. "You mean his whole 'better than you' attitude isn't reason enough?"

"If anyone has that kind of attitude, it's Black and Potter," Lily snapped. "Severus is lovely, and I would have been terrified about coming here if it hadn't been for him."

Alice remained quiet, her head bowed as she stared down at her breakfast. Remus shrugged, glad when he saw Peter dart into the hall and jog to the table. He sat opposite Remus, panting.

"Why didn't anyone wake me?" he wheezed, reaching forward for some bacon and sausages. "If I had overslept..."

"I was up early," Remus replied, "and James and Sirius were down not long after. Sorry, Peter, but you do get grumpy when you're woken too early."

Peter frowned, before glancing at Lily and Alice. "Looking forward to the match?"

Lily shrugged, as a grin lit up Alice's face. "I can't wait! Nothing like a good game of Quidditch."

"Personally, I'm just looking forward to the feast," Lily said. "I can't get into Quidditch."

Remus nodded his agreement, before the talk turned to homework as they swapped mental notes.

X X X

The excitement was thick in the air as the students made their way down towards the pitch. They formed a thick crowd, knocking into each other as they went. Peter and Lily both disappeared, leaving Remus and Alice together. Professor McGonagall, wearing robes in the Gryffindor colours, stood at the entrance to the pitch, directing students to seats. A few of the older students were helping her as well.

Peter appeared just before they reached McGonagall, panting and sweating, parts of his robes torn.

"You okay?" Remus asked, as McGonagall gestured for them to head towards the Gryffindor stands.

"Fine," Peter muttered. "A fight started. Gryffindor and Slytherin. Hagrid broke it up."

Remus shook his head. "You seen Lily?"

"Don't worry about her," Alice chirped up. "She'll find us. Come on!" She grabbed Remus hand and pulled him up the stairs, Peter following behind. They managed to find a couple of decent seats, high up enough to see everything that was going on, but not too far back.

Alice squeezed close to Remus, as a few more Gryffindors sat down on her other side. William and Michael were a few rows ahead of them. Remus was glancing at the other stands, spotting the Slytherin students with Ravenclaw banners opposite them. There were five main stands, one for each house and the last for the teachers and visitors. There were other stands, too, mostly taken up by students sitting with friends from other houses, or other visitors who didn't fit in the teacher's stand. Most of the time, there were people from Hogsmeade, or parents and siblings of some of those playing.

Occasionally, though it was more often than not near the end of the year, they would be joined by scouts, too.

Someone tapped Remus' shoulder. He turned, to see a group of third years sitting just behind them.

"Remus Lupin, right?" one asked, a boy in the middle with light brown hair. Remus nodded. "Heard you were pretty smart, right? One of the smartest in your year?"

He felt his cheeks flush red. "I guess. Lily Evans usually gets better marks than me, though."

"She's a bright witch. Look, we've got a little group set up. Thinking of getting a bit of a competition going with the other houses, something for those of us who aren't the most sporty." The boy gestured to the pitch, where the teams were now filing out of the changing rooms. "Think you'd be interested? Your friends are welcome to try it out, too." He gestured to Alice and Peter, his gaze lingering on Alice slightly longer.

"Sure. What do you think?" He turned back to the other two. Peter frowned.

"I'd be useless."

"I'm game," Alice said. "I'll ask Lily, too."

"Great. I'll tell you when the next meeting is. I'm Frank Longbottom, by the way." He held his hand out to Remus, who shook it and smiled.

"This is Peter, and Alice."

"Nice to meet you." He shook their hands, too, as the captains on the pitch shook and the whistle was blown. "Enjoy the game."

"You too." Remus, along with the other two, turned to watch as the players lifted off into the air.

X X X

The Gryffindors were in high spirits as they made their way to the Great Hall that evening. As they crossed paths with the Ravenclaws, hands were shook and houses congratulated on a good game. It was only the Slytherins who seemed dejected about the game. It had been close, and both teams had proven already that they were going to be hard to beat that year.

Remus knew the book had done little to actually help James, but it had served to calm his nerves and give him something to concentrate on before the game, to keep his mind off his own performance until he was actually on the pitch. He hadn't stopped smiling since the game ended, despite the fact that he, personally, hadn't scored.

Instead, he had helped set up the other chasers, helped them get the goals they needed.

Lily hadn't turned up for the match, and Alice hadn't seemed bothered by it. Remus spotted the pair walking down to the hall, and Alice gave him a quick wave before they entered for the Halloween feast.

Bats flew above their heads, and a couple of fake skeletons had been enchanted to dance around the hall. Even the Slytherins couldn't keep the smiles from their faces as they sat down and the ghosts began to fly around, appearing through tables and walls.

The food appeared in front of them, all foods typical of harvest. The students happily dug in, enjoying the various root vegetables on offer. Between mouthfuls, they talked of the game. Names of players were thrown around the hall, and between the main course and desert, a couple of Hufflepuff first years approached the Gryffindor table.

The two boys headed straight for James.

"You were g-g-great," one stammered, glancing nervously at his friend. "We just w-w-wanted to t-t-tell you that."

"Err, thanks," James replied, looking mildly embarrassed.

"We just h-h-hope we're half as g-g-good as you, next year." The two darted off, and further down the table, Lily rolled her eyes, making a deliberate effort to turn away.

"He's a celebrity already," Sirius commented, shaking his head as the deserts appeared in front of them. Ice cream, gateaux, pies and other treats were spread across the table, enough to rival the Christmas feast. Everyone reached forward, eagerly grabbing their favourite sweet.

The hall fell silent, the enjoyment of the food taking over.

Remus could feel himself growing sleepily, and he suspected most everyone else was feeling the same. It wasn't to last.

The doors to the hall burst open, and Remus jerked around to see a centaur ride in, ignoring the students and charging straight for the teacher's table. For a split second, he thought the centaur was going to run Dumbledore down. The headmaster stood, staring at the half-horse, half-man as he came to a stop directly in front of him.

The centaur had panic written all over his face. He leant towards Dumbledore, saying something. Everyone stared, watching as fear flashed across the face of the headmaster.

"Everyone," he boomed. "Back to your common rooms."

No one moved.

"Now!"

Suddenly, they were scrambling up, every student making a mad dash for the doors with no idea why they were running.