Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Warning: None for this chapter.

Chapter 2 – The New Year Begins

For Remus, who loved school and for whom an education was particularly critical, the first day of a new term was a wonderful and focused experience. For Sirius, however, the first day of school each fall was akin to torture. He hated being cooped up in the castle and forced to listen to lectures when the sun still shone bright and warm outdoors. He'd had enough of being confined at home to last him a lifetime.

Naturally gifted, at age 15 Sirius was already more powerful than many of his peers – and some adults. The development of his considerable raw talent began early, under the tutelage of his father, Orion. There was no care or nurturing involved in those early lessons; Orion ruled his elder son with an iron hand and was determined that Sirius would follow the family's tradition of brilliance in the Dark Arts. He was also determined that the young wizard would live up to the family motto, "Toujours Pur", an ode to their belief that only wizards and witches of pure bloodlines mattered in their world. Those of mixed blood or, Merlin forbid, Muggles were not to be tolerated. Sirius, however, was to be their biggest disappointment. The heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black quickly discovered that a whole world existed beyond the dark doors of number 12 Grimmauld Place and he came to embrace it wholeheartedly. The natural enthusiasm and excessive energy that had been suppressed in him by both of his parents found an outlet at school, much to their dismay and that of his professors. The fact that he was not sorted into the House that Blacks had historically called their own, Slytherin, was almost the last straw. The fact that he was Gryffindor earned him a Howler of such proportion that breakfast had to be brought to a swift conclusion to spare the more innocent students' ears. After that dark morning, the gloves were off, as they say and Sirius' relationship with his parents worsened considerably. Time spent at home over summer holidays was nearly unbearable and Sirius' had begun spending Christmas holidays at school to eliminate duplicating that experience.

As Sirius blinked into wakefulness on this, the first day of a new school year, he was grateful to encounter only the soft snores of Peter and James rather than the shrill voice of his mother. Stretching to work out the kinks in his muscles, Sirius' thoughts turned to his brother who, to all appearances, seemed to be taking the first steps on the path originally designated as his own. Sirius sighed in frustration; he had tried so hard to convince Regulus that the philosophies espoused by their parents would only cause the boy pain. His pleas fell on deaf ears, as last night's Welcome Feast had clearly shown. Sirius was certain that his brother's Sorting would result in a far different Owl from home than his had done.

Enough, Sirius thought to himself. He'd tried and failed. If a realistic opportunity to speak with Regulus presented itself, he would take advantage of it. Until that time, Sirius resolved to move forward. He threw back the bedcovers and opened the burgundy hangings that closed off the bed from the rest of the room.

"'morning," Remus greeted him from the other side of the room. "You're up early; a bit unusual for you, isn't it? You're generally just a blur in the corridor in the morning."

"Ha, bloody ha, Remus," Sirius smiled nonetheless. "I'm for the showers. Meet you back here and we'll head down to breakfast, yeah?"

Remus nodded and dropped his head back onto his pillow after the dark-haired wizard left the room.

Thirty minutes later, both boys were downstairs in their Common Room, awaiting the appearance of James and Peter. Light laughter sounded from the stairwell of the girls' dormitory and soon the trio of Lily, Kate and Dorcas Meadows arrived on their way to breakfast.

"Ladies," Sirius greeted them. "Heading down to breakfast? Remus and I would be more than happy to accompany you. Ah – here's the rest of our merry little group. Now you won't have to pine away for James, Evans. We can all walk together. Ms. Morgan, may I offer you my arm?" Kate smiled and tucked her hand in the crook of his arm.

"Evans?" James extended his arm to her and was rewarded with a horrified look.

"Please," she said turning away. "My standards are a bit higher than that, I'm afraid."

"One day soon you'll realize that you can't live without me. I can only hope I'll still be available," James called after her retreating form.

"Of course she will," Remus said as he walked past him with Dorcas, who smiled sympathetically at James before turning her attention back to Remus.

Peter and James looked around and saw that they were the only ones left in the Common Room. Shrugging, Peter offered James his arm. "Mr. Potter?" he batted his eyes.

James couldn't help but laugh at the boy's expression. "What the hell," he said and he linked his arm with Peter's and together they made their way through the Portrait hole and down the stairs to the Great Hall. The laughter was echoed from the students gathered for breakfast when the two teenaged wizards walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down with their friends.

"James, mate; I know you're devastated that Evans won't give you the time of day, but really, if people get the idea that you'd settle for Petey, you're all done!" Sirius chortled with glee at his own commentary while James scowled at him and began spooning eggs onto his plate. "Git," he muttered under his breath.

"So, Kate, are you glad to be back in Britain?" Sirius turned his attention back to the young witch seated across from him.

She nodded. "Yes, actually. America is nice and I hope to return one day, but England will always be 'home' to me. Of course, this will be home for the next few years."

"I'm glad," Sirius said, meeting her eyes.

"Are you flirting with me, Mr. Black?" Kate asked, looking directly at him.

"What if I am?" Sirius asked, a bit defensively.

Kate shrugged. "I didn't mean anything by it, Sirius. I just wanted to know. Your reputation as a heartbreaker precedes you, I'm afraid."

Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise. "All the way to America?" He paused and shot a look over to Lily, seated next to Kate and listening closely to their exchange. "Or all the way to Platform 9 ¾?"

"Shrewd, Black. Very shrewd," Lily commented then smiled at Professor McGonagall who had arrived with their first term schedules. Taking a quick look at hers, Lily continued, "Ah, Transfiguration first then Arithmancy." Checking her watch, she rose. "I'd better be going or I'll be late."

Kate stood with her. "That's my schedule as well. I'll walk with you." With a wave to the boys, Kate left the Hall, with Sirius staring after her.

"That's becoming a familiar look for you, Sirius," James said, sliding along the bench toward his friend. "Perhaps you'll have a taste of what I go through every day."

Sirius gave his friend a disgusted look. "Not if it includes making a grand entrance to the Great Hall with another bloke, I won't! What do we have first?"

Remus looked at their schedules where they lay on the table. "Care of Magical Creatures, then Astrology. After lunch, we have Potions with Slytherin and Ancient Runes."

James grinned widely. "Evans has Potions and Ancient Runes this afternoon!" At Peter's curious look, he shrugged. "Saw her schedule when she put it down."

"Come on, let's go before we're late," Remus said and the four friends took off for their first class, unaware of the watchful gaze of Sirius' younger brother from his seat at the Slytherin table.

The morning passed uneventfully and the Marauders trouped to the Great Hall for lunch, none of them particularly looking forward to Potions with Slytherin House. Lily, Kate, Dorcas and a few of the other girls from their year had taken up a spot at the opposite end of the Gryffindor table, eliminating the opportunity for additional conversation. Although Sirius was disappointed not to have had additional opportunity to torture James about Lily, it did force them to focus on their food and, immediately afterward, head to the dungeons for their Potions class.

Professor Slughorn was standing at the head of the classroom writing notes for their assignment on the chalkboard. Sirius and James took seats together, as was their custom; Peter and Remus sat directly behind them. Lily and Kate partnered on the other side of the room; James was less than amused until he realized that he had a clear line of vision to the object of his affections. His mood improved dramatically with this realization.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 5th year Potions. Today, we will discuss what we hope to accomplish this year and will assign partners for the remainder of the term. I've decided to shake things up a bit, as it were, in an attempt to expose you to different skill levels amongst your peers."

James and Sirius exchanged apprehensive looks before returning their eyes to the front of the room. They could hear Peter shuffling nervously behind them. Remus had been Peter's Potions partner since their first year and it was due to his patient diligence that Peter managed an "Acceptable" grade in the subject during that time.

"Ah, yes; let us see. To begin, Mr. Potter, you will partner with Ms. Meadows; Mr. Longbottom, you will partner with Mr. Pettigrew. Mr. Black, please take your seat with Ms. Morgan; Mr. Lupin, you will be with Ms. Sodergren; Mr. Snape, please sit with your partner, Ms. Evans," Slughorn continued down the list of students but the Marauders heard nothing after the pairing of Severus Snape and Lily Evans, so stunned were they at the change. After all the changes were announced, the students packed up their belongings and found their way over to their new seats.

"I'll try not to flirt too shamelessly," Sirius whispered to Kate as she unpacked her parchment, quill and ink from her book bag, dropping her a sly wink when she looked over at him.

"Don't hurt yourself," she responded, dryly.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at her. "Well, well, well, Morgan; I didn't think you had it in you."

"You'd be surprised what I'm capable of, Black," she replied. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to listen to Professor Slughorn."

Sirius grinned and took out his own supplies; when Slughorn began delivering his lecture, they were both taking notes.

XXXXXXXX

The boys climbed through the portrait hole at the end of the day, three of them wearing identical looks of displeasure. Ancient Runes had proved to be as boring as it was rumored to be, despite the presence of Lily and Kate. Add to the boredom the outrage caused by Slughorn's surprise shake-up earlier in the day and tempers were running a bit on the high side.

"I can't believe that Slug put Lily with that greasy git," James fumed.

"Really, James, it's only for one term and it's just one class. Lily and Snape are very similar in their skill levels; it would make sense that they be paired. They will challenge each other. Last year, Lily paired with Alice and wasn't particularly challenged," Remus reasoned. "Lily told McGonagall that she wasn't learning as much as she could; McGonagall must have spoken to Slughorn about making the assignments this year rather than allowing us to choose our own partners."

James threw himself onto the overstuffed couch in front of the fire – well-established Marauder territory. Sirius joined him while Remus chose "his" big burgundy chair and Peter settled on a huge floor cushion at their feet. "How's partnering with Sodergren, Remus?"

"She knows what she's doing; she just needs to develop her confidence," Remus replied. He checked his watch. "Listen, I'm heading to the library to work on that Ancient Runes assignment. I'll meet you in the Hall for dinner."

The three boys watched their friend walk through the portrait hole and, when it had closed behind him, James spoke. "We've got to get moving on the Animagus project; did you guys see Remus yesterday at the train?"

Sirius' face hardened. "Yeah, he looked like he hadn't slept in a week."

Peter nodded. "And he was limping again. I think he must have hurt his knee again this time."

James looked them. "It's getting worse. We know what we're doing with the spell; over the summer, I did some research in Dad's library and I think I found out what we did wrong with the potion last time."

"Can you make sure we don't have to spend three days in the hospital wing with the new potion?" Sirius asked.

"My mum was pretty angry," Peter said, his beady eyes glancing between the other two boys nervously.

Sirius laughed darkly. "So was mine, Petey," he said grimly. "Now, if I'd actually died, she might have felt a wee bit better about it."

James shook his head. "Sirius, you really should…"

"Jamie, let it go. Please. They hate me; I hate them. It's a mutually satisfying relationship," Sirius interrupted his friend. "Let's talk about something else. Let's talk about when we can start the revised potion so we can really help Remus, yes?"

James reluctantly agreed, but made a note to revisit the topic of life at Grimmauld Place when the opportunity next presented itself.

The boys sat with their heads together until it was time to meet Remus for dinner. Having resolved the matter of ingredients (Slughorn's storeroom) and location (Room of Requirement) for their brewing, they turned to the topic of when they would make their next attempt. After much thought, Sirius remembered that Remus had Muggle Studies as his last class the following day; James, Sirius and Peter had passed on this course bringing their day to a close after History of Magic. Since Remus would be occupied until late afternoon, they resolved to head to the Room of Requirement once Remus was safely on his way to his last class. That settled, the boys headed to the Great Hall and dinner with their friend.

XXXXXXXX

Dinner passed uneventfully and the boys trouped back to the Common Room upon its conclusion. Settling into their usual seats, Remus and Peter immediately became engrossed in a game of Wizard's Chess. James and Sirius sat on the couch where they could observe Lily and her friends on the other side of the room.

"First Hogsmeade weekend coming up," James commented, watching the attractive redhead talking animatedly with the group of girls.

"So I hear," Sirius replied. "Going to ask Evans to go with you?"

"I don't know, Sirius. I keep asking. She keeps turning me down. Doesn't seem to be much of a future in it, does there?" James asked.

"Maybe not; then again, there's always the chance that you'll wear her down," Sirius shrugged.

"True," James agreed. "There doesn't seem to be anyone else around her."

Sirius couldn't resist. "Well, I suppose Snape could always ask her. After all, they're partners in Potions." He never saw James' punch until it hit his shoulder. Snickering, Sirius said, "What? I'm just saying…"

"Oh, just piss off!" James huffed. "Are you going to ask Morgan? You seem to have gotten pretty chummy with her in the past 24 hours."

"I'm not 'chummy' with her; she's just another bird in our year." Sirius shrugged again.

"Then you won't care that Gideon Prewett's over there chatting her up," James stated lifting his chin in the direction where Kate was sitting.

Despite his earlier bravado, Sirius' head shot up and he looked over at Kate. Sure enough, there sat Gideon Prewett, right next to Kate, who looked like she was enjoying his company. Sirius swallowed. "No, I don't care. Stupid wanker. If she likes him, then let her go to Hogsmeade with him."

"And you'll be fine with it," James said.

"Hell, yeah! I'll ask Diana Rothschild," Sirius asserted, sitting up straight and looking around the room. He finally located the object of his invitation and sauntered over to ask her to join him at the weekend. With a smile and a wink, the deed was done.

"There, I'm all set. Now, you ask Evans," Sirius said when he'd flopped back down on the couch next to James.

"I think I'll wait until tomorrow morning and ask her then," James decided. "Do it just after breakfast, while she's collecting her things."

Remus smiled. "Catch her while she's preoccupied, eh, James? Not a bad plan, that."

James scowled at him. "I don't see you asking anyone, Remus."

"That's because I already asked and was accepted," he replied, rising and gathering his belongings.

There was a surge of sound from his friends as they all spoke up at once, "Who?" "Remus, get back here!" "Come on, Remus, give over!"

Sirius spoke up, "Oi, Remus, just tell us, mate. We all know – it's Meadows, right? I mean, who else would it be?"

Remus paused at the foot of the stairs and turned back to his friends. "No, it's not Dorcas, Sirius."

"Well, then who is it?" the dark haired wizard asked, smirking at his friend.

Remus smiled back at him. "Kate. 'Night."