Monday, 20th September 1971, 2:10 pm

Sitting in Charms next to Peter after lunch, Remus felt delighted with himself. His plan had gone perfectly and everyone seemed to be enjoying their transfigured outfits. Even Professor Dumbledore hadn't changed. The morning had gone well. Transfiguration was easy since he'd already mastered the art of changing a material's colour, and Sirius had commented on how good he was at it. Remus had wondered if the boys would suspect him, but so far they seemed to believe the Hogwarts Marauder was someone much older than themselves.

They were now working on the gouging charm Defodio. It was a simple charm, and most of the class had grasped the basics the previous Wednesday, but now Professor Flitwick wanted them to work on their precision and had given each of them a flat piece of wood and asked them to produce a decorative carving. Peter was attempting some kind of star pattern, but it wasn't going well, and his stars were somewhat lopsided. Remus was working on an intricate pattern of lines and swirls, and it was coming along nicely. He just had a few finishing touches to add.

'Wow, that's fantastic, Remus,' Peter said. Remus looked up from his work to see Peter staring at his carving with wide eyes. 'Hey, guys, look at this,' he said, turning round to speak to Sirius and James.

Sirius and James looked up from their own work. Remus had no idea what James' was supposed to be, but Sirius seemed to be carving some kind of dog.

'What?' Sirius asked.

'Remus' carving. It's brilliant,' Peter said, picking it up to show them.

Sirius and James stared at the wood for a moment before looking up at Remus.

'How are you so good at everything?' Sirius asked. 'You're the first to get it right in every class. Well, except Potions.'

Remus felt his face heating. That was happening a little too often for his liking. 'I kind of read all the books when I was little, and I practised the wand movements with a stick too.'

Sirius stared at him for an uncomfortably long moment. 'You are such a nerd, Remus Lupin,' he said. But his tone held a hint of affection and his eyes were twinkling. Remus decided he didn't mind being called a nerd when it was Sirius.

When classes were over for the day, they returned to their dormitory to relax, and discussion immediately turned to the Hogwarts Marauder, much to Remus' amusement.

'Who do you think it is?' James asked the room as he flopped onto his bed.

'It doesn't really matter,' Sirius said, his voice thoughtful. James shot upright and opened his mouth, presumably to argue, but Sirius stopped him by holding up a hand from where he was lounging on his own bed. 'I mean, the real question is how are we going to top them?'

James' mouth gaped for a moment, closed and opened again twice before he responded. 'You are absolutely right. It needs to be amazing and spectacular and awe-inspiring.'

Remus laughed inwardly. This was too funny. 'What do you mean? Top them?'

Sirius, James and Peter all glanced at each other, appearing to have a silent conversation. Sirius twitched his eyebrows. James wrinkled his nose. Peter shrugged. James frowned. Sirius rolled his eyes, and James nodded.

Sirius grinned and turned to Remus. 'You remember the unpoppable balloon parade a couple of weeks ago?'

Remus nodded and plastered an interested expression on his face.

Sirius smirked. 'That was us.'

Remus attempted to look suitably surprised and impressed. 'Really?' he asked. 'That was very impressive. How did you get the balloons to animate exactly?'

James hurried to explain how they'd stolen the vial from Filch's office and used it to improve on their plan at the last minute. Remus was impressed but still thought his own was better, purely because it was all his own work.

'So, when you say "top them," you mean do something better? In competition?' Remus asked.

'Exactly,' James said, grinning. 'You in?'

Was he in on helping his friends top his own work? Remus thought, fighting down the bubble of laughter threatening to burst out.

'Sure, why not? What do you have in mind?' he asked.

James rubbed his chin and glanced at Sirius. 'I'm not sure. We need to brainstorm,' he said.

Peter grabbed some parchment and a quill, and they settled down to think.

The evening flew by in a rowdy planning session, and the next afternoon, Remus found himself roaming the halls once again with Sirius, James, and Peter, on the hunt for more Hogwarts' secrets. They had finished with the seventh floor of the main building and had moved on to the west wing, and as they got nearer the entrance to Ravenclaw tower, they heard voices. Three males speaking in a mocking tone and a female who sounded upset. The four boys glanced at each other.

'What do we have?' James said.

Remus was confused at first, not understanding what James meant, but as he watched Sirius rummage through his bag, he got the idea. They were going to help the girl. Remus' chest swelled with pride. There wasn't a hint of hesitation in his friends. They were truly good people.

'I have that bag of dungbombs from your father and a fanged frisbee,' Sirius said.

Peter was also checking his bag. 'I've got the itching powder and the rest of the stinksap Sirius collected.'

Remus already knew there was nothing in his bag but books, quills and parchment and he deflated a little. He had so little to offer. 'I have my wand,' he said, holding it up.

Sirius looked up at him and grinned as if Remus possessing the most basic equipment required for any wizard was the best news he'd heard all day. 'Have you tried any offensive spells?'

Remus frowned and thought over the spells he'd "practiced" in his garden with a stick. 'Not as such, but I reckon I can manage a Depulso.'

James bounced on the balls of his feet. 'Brilliant! Okay, here's the plan.'

They rounded the corner and found three, third or fourth year Slytherins surrounding a sobbing first year Ravenclaw and showering her with stinging hexes. Beside him, Remus heard Sirius grinding his teeth together, and he glanced down to see he'd balled his hands into fists. This was really bothering him. He wondered why, but he didn't have time to think about it because, according to James' plan, he was up first. He hoped he wouldn't screw it up.

Remus stepped forward, pointed his wand and yelled, 'Depulso, depulso, depulso.' He moved his wand to re-aim after each attack, and three balls of blinding white light shot from the end and hit the Slytherins square in the forehead, knocking their heads back painfully. While they were distracted, James and Peter let loose with a barrage of dungbombs. The girl got to her feet and ran off down the corridor without even stopping to thank them. That was Sirius' cue. With the girl out of the way he launched the fanged frisbee, and they all watched as it soared towards the three Slytherin boys who were too busy wiping dungbomb detritus from their eyes to notice its approach. The frisbee went in for the attack, biting all three of them on any and all exposed skin it could find. Panicking, the Slytherins ran, and the fanged frisbee followed them. It wouldn't stop attacking until one of them had the presence of mind to snatch it out of the air.

The four boys watched them leave with satisfaction, congratulating themselves on a job well done.

'What on Earth did you do to them?' a high-pitched voice demanded.

Remus looked up and saw the speaker was Lily. She was walking down the corridor from the direction the Slytherins had run and had obviously seen their departure.

'Why do you three keep attacking Slytherins?' she asked. 'And you too, Remus? I'm surprised at you. I thought you were better than these bullies,' she added when she spotted him at the back of the group.

Remus was shocked. Surely she didn't think him capable of bullying?

Lily gave him one last scathing look before tossing her hair over her shoulder and marching away down the corridor.

'Well, that's nice, isn't it?' Peter asked. He seemed to be the only one of them capable of speech at that moment. James was staring after Lily like a lost puppy, and Sirius was stood with his mouth gaping open, apparently in shock. 'We stop people from bullying someone and get labelled bullies ourselves?'

That concise summary of events broke the spell, and they all started speaking at once.

'What a mangy hippogriff!' Sirius said looking scandalised. 'Talk about jumping to conclusions.'

'I can't believe she would think I was involved in bullying,' Remus said.

'She's so pretty when she's mad,' James said with a sigh.

'Mad is the right word,' Sirius said and smacked James around the back of the head.

'Hey! What was that for?' James yelled.

'Being a dopey prat,' Sirius said. 'She just called us bullies, and you're mooning over her like a love-struck pixie.'

'I wasn't mooning! I just think she's pretty is all,' James said, pushing his lower lip out and pouting like a toddler.

Sirius shook his head with dismay and, in a rapid change of subject, looked at Peter and asked, 'Is it nearly dinner time?'

Peter glanced at his watch, and his eyes widened with surprise. 'It is,' he said. 'I hadn't even noticed.'

'Right then,' Sirius said, straightening his robes and smoothing his already-perfect hair. 'Let's go eat.' And with that, he marched off down the corridor, leaving Remus, James and Peter to hurry after him or be left behind.

After dinner, Remus climbed the stairs to the dorm with a light heart and a smile on his face. Breen had made his favourite steak and chips; he'd spent the afternoon with friends; and he had all his work up to date, so there was nothing to do that evening but relax. There was no way he was going to show his face at potion's club again, not after the disaster that was last week and the way Lily had accused him of bullying earlier.

When he pushed the door open, he was greeted by a chorus of loud burps. He looked around and saw his three friends sitting on Sirius' bed together and taking it in turns to belch obnoxiously.

'What on earth?' he said.

James opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was another audible expulsion of gas. He tried again and the same thing happened. Sirius giggle-burped and shoved James' shoulder with his own. Peter burp-sighed and picked up a packet from the bed between them, tossing it to Remus.

Remus caught it and read the writing on the front.

"Belch Powder. Make your friends burp whenever they try to speak."

'I see,' Remus said. 'And you all took this?'

Sirius nodded with enthusiasm.

'How long does it last?'

James jumped off the bed and bounced to where Remus was standing, took the packet, turned it over and pointed to the writing on the back.

"Effects wear off after ten minutes," Remus read aloud. 'How long do you have left?'

Sirius held up two fingers before moving his hand horizontally and waggling it.

'About two minutes?' Remus translated and Sirius nodded.

'I'm going to take a shower,' Remus said and proceeded into the bathroom to do just that.

When he returned, the boys were waiting for him.

'Can you slip the powder into the food when you're in the kitchens to eat?' James asked him the moment he came out of the bathroom.

Remus sidestepped the three boys and continued to his bed to put his uniform away before answering.

'I'm not sure. I don't usually go near the cooking area. It would be tricky, but it's possible,' he said. 'It's not really enough to beat the Hogwarts Marauder though.'

'This is just a small part of it. If we're going to put on a show for the Halloween feast, we have plenty of time to plan the rest. What I really want to do is find a way to combine the powder with a bubble charm. To make people burp bubbles. Just imagine it,' James said, gazing off into the distance with a dreamy expression on his face.

'That might be possible,' Remus said, thoughtfully. 'We'll need to figure out how the belching powder works before we can alter it though. I'll do some research.'

'Thanks, Remus. You're a star!' James said.

'He's not a star, I'm a star!' Sirius said.

'Your name is a star,' James said, turning to Sirius, who was pouting. The expression caused a strange flutter deep in Remus' stomach. 'Remus is an actual star because he is saving me from spending time in the dreaded library.'

Sirius nodded. 'Point. We can share stardom, Remus.'

Before Remus could reply, there was a tapping at the dormitory window, and they all turned to look. A large owl was hovering outside carrying a flat, rectangular box. Sirius was closest and hurried over to open the window. The bird flew in and dropped the package on Sirius' bed before landing on the windowsill and hooting softly.

Sirius grabbed a few sickles from his money pouch and showed them to the owl before tucking them into the tiny bag attached to its leg. The bird hooted again and flew out the window.

'What's in the parcel?' James asked.

Sirius grinned. 'Chocolate!' he said, unwrapping the package and revealing a box of Honeydukes' finest. Chocolate which Remus had only ever dreamed of tasting. His mouth watered. 'You want some?' Sirius asked, offering the box first to James and then to Remus.

'Oh. Thank you,' Remus said, and Sirius' grin grew impossibly wider. Remus glanced over the contents of the box and took one of the smallest and least interesting of the selection.

Sirius scoffed and rolled his eyes before picking out four of the biggest and most interesting delicacies and handing them to Remus. He looked Remus in the eye and with a serious expression said, 'Remus, you are my friend. I bought these chocolates to share with my friends. In future, if I offer you a share of something and you short-change yourself, I will take it as an insult and be very cross with you. Understand?'

Remus felt a warm glow in his chest and nodded. Sirius' expression melted into a beautiful smile and he twirled away to offer his bounty to Peter, who was not shy about helping himself to a decent amount. Remus sat down on his bed, Sirius' words were playing on repeat in his mind. "Remus, you are my friend."

He couldn't stop the joy he felt from showing on his face, so he popped a chocolate into his mouth to give him an excuse to smile. It was divine! Rich and creamy with a hint of vanilla and strawberries. He groaned with delight at the flavour. Nothing before in his life had ever tasted so good as this chocolate, given to him by his first real friend.

The next morning, Sirius was waiting in the Entrance hall with James and Peter for Remus to return from the kitchens after breakfast. He was delighted with how well the chocolates had gone down. A couple more boxes like that, and he would be able to feed Remus chocolate when he returned after the full moon without anyone thinking it was odd.

'There he is,' James said, pointing at the steps down to the dungeons. Sirius followed his gaze and spotted Remus as he reached the top of the staircase. He was looking much healthier than he had at the beginning of the month. His skin had more colour, and the dark rings under his eyes had all but disappeared. Thank Merlin and the gods and Godric Gryffindor himself that Hogwarts has such a competent medi-witch to take care of him, Sirius thought. With Madam Pomfrey's help, maybe Remus could surpass the usual ten-year life-span of a lycanthrope.

'Hey, what do you guys want to do until History?' Remus asked when he reached them.

'We still need to finish searching the seventh-floor. We could carry on with that?' Sirius suggested. The others quickly agreed, and they were heading for the stairs when an ominous shadow fell over them. Sirius looked up into the stern face of Professor McGonagall.

'Gentlemen, I'm glad to see you four all together. It makes my job so much easier. Please come with me. I need to have a word,' she said, before turning with a swish of robes and marching in the direction of her office.

Sirius glanced at the others, frowning. 'What the hell did we do?' he whispered.

James shrugged. 'Beats me, mate. Guess we better go and find out.'

They all followed her up the stairs to the first floor and into her office, where she told them to take a seat. Sirius was confused but not worried. He didn't think they had done anything wrong, so this couldn't be a punishment, and detention wasn't a big deal, anyway.

Professor McGonagall took her seat behind the desk and eyed them over the top of her glasses.

'It has been reported to me that the four of you attacked three Slytherin students in the corridor yesterday afternoon. Is this true?'

Sirius gaped at her. 'That's what this is about?' he asked. He glanced at the others, and they nodded their approval for him to speak for the group. 'We did attack them, yes. But we only did so because they were bullying someone. They had her surrounded and were hitting her with stinging hexes.'

Professor McGonagall frowned. 'Do you have the name of this student so I can verify your story?'

'No. She was a Ravenclaw, looked like a first-year, but she ran off when we intervened. We didn't get the chance to speak to her.'

'I see. You're telling me that you pit yourselves against three fourth-year students to protect someone you don't even know?' Professor McGonagall asked, raising an eyebrow. Sirius wasn't sure if she was surprised or sceptical, but either way, it was insulting.

'Yes. Obviously. We are Gryffindors,' he said. His voice came out a little more haughty than he had intended, but it was effective.

Professor McGonagall smiled. That was unexpected. 'Yes, you are,' she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. She cleared her throat and continued in her normal stern tone. 'I will admit to feeling a little proud. However, I can't condone using magic in the halls. It is against school rules. Under the circumstances, though, I think a warning will suffice. Don't do it again. Understood?'

They all nodded.

'Good, you may go.'

Sirius stood and sauntered from the room, with the others close behind him.

'I can't believe they reported us. What a bunch of idiots,' James laughed as they started down the corridor.

'I guess they needed treatment for the frisbee bites and had to explain why they were covered in dung,' Remus said.

Peter tripped on the bottom step of the staircase, but James caught him. 'Woah, steady. Don't go breaking your nose, we have things to do.'

'Thanks,' Peter said after regaining his footing. 'At least McGonagall believed us.'

'Detention would have been worth it. If she thinks I'm going to leave someone to be bullied because we aren't supposed to do magic in the corridors, she can think again,' James said, puffing out his chest.

'Hear, hear!' Sirius crowed. 'Not on our watch, right, mates?'

Remus and Peter were quick to agree, and Sirius felt a swell of pride. He felt bigger, stronger and more powerful, surrounded by his friends. He had people he could count on to be there when he needed help and people who believed in him. He liked it. He liked it a lot.

Two hours later, Sirius was sitting next to James in Charms, staring at the back of Remus' head and watching him as he attempted to levitate a feather. He had mastered the swish and flick of the wand movement but was having a little trouble with the pronunciation.

'Wingardium Leviosa,' Remus said, swishing his wand. Nothing.

'Wingardium Leviosa.' Still nothing.

'Wingardium Leviosa.' Remus' feather swayed as if a light breeze had touched it and then lifted off the desk, floating up towards the ceiling. Remus kept his wand pointed at it but shifted it to the left slightly in an experimental fashion. The feather reacted, following his wand tip exactly. Sirius grinned and turned back to his own work, pleased for Remus.

He cast the charm and his feather rose into the air. He and James had practised this spell earlier in the week, both agreeing that it could be useful for the purposes of misbehaviour, and James was floating his own feather with equal ease next to him.

Sirius was guiding his feather in the direction of Flitwick's hat, hoping to add a little decoration to the headgear when Remus turned around and said, 'Do you think we can use this spell for Halloween? The bubbles won't float to the ceiling without some help.'

James rubbed his chin and, forgotten, his feather floated to the floor of the classroom. 'Yeah, but it will take forever to add the charm to each grain of powder. Do you think you can pre-cast it over the top half of the Great Hall?'

'I'll have to do some research. We might need to alter the spell a little,' Remus said.

Alter the spell? That sounds incredibly complicated, Sirius thought. 'You can do that?'

Remus hesitated before answering. 'I've done a little reading on the subject. I've never tried before, though.'

Sirius gave him a searching look. He wasn't sure what was causing it, but something told him Remus was lying. But why would he want to keep that a secret? Best not to let on that he'd noticed anything, though.

'We'll leave that in your capable hands then, Remus,' he said, giving him a wink that made Remus' cheeks redden.

After Charms, they dashed up to Gryffindor tower to put their bags away before lunch as they had no classes that afternoon, and on their way back out, Peter spotted something on the noticeboard.

'Hey, guys! Look at this, could be fun,' he said.

They all stopped to read the notice that was covering the entire board. The letters bounced around on the poster excitedly. There were inky fireworks repeatedly bursting in the corners and a considerable amount of small print at the bottom.

Hogwarts Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt

will take place on

Saturday, 25th September

beginning at

8:00 am

in

Classroom 12c on the third floor

Sign up with your team name below. The deadline to sign up is 5 pm on Friday.

Teams must consist of no more than four people. Under no circumstances reveal the existence of the Hogwarts Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt to any member of Hogwarts staff, under pain of shunning. Participation in the Hogwarts Annual Super Secret Niffler Hunt may result in severe punishment. You are expected to take full responsibility if caught out-of-bounds or otherwise engaging in forbidden acts during the hunt.

You have been warned!

Signed

Hogwarts Chiefs of Raucous Revelry.

'Awesome, I love niffler hunts!' James said.

'What the hell is a niffler hunt? Not hunting nifflers, surely? They're so cute and adorable,' Sirius said, feeling traumatised by the very idea.

'No,' James said, laughing. 'The organisers give you a list of stuff, and you have to find it all within the time limit. Sometimes there are puzzles you have to work out to figure out what you need to find.'

'Ah, so we would be the nifflers then,' Sirius said.

'Exactly. You up for it?'

'Absolutely. Nothing better to do, is there?' Sirius said with a grin.

'We need a team name. Any ideas?' Remus asked.

'How about the Jolly Jokesters?' Peter suggested.

James groaned. 'Gods, no, That's awful.'

'The Talented Tricksters?' Sirius said. 'Or the Rebellious Rogues?'

James shook his head at both suggestions.

'If we're going with alliteration,' Remus said, 'what about the Magical Mischief Makers?'

'Ooh, I like it,' Sirius said, looking at James to see his reaction. James smiled and nodded.

'Yes, that has a nice ring to it. Peter?'

'It describes us quite well, I think.'

Sirius looked down to see where they were supposed to sign their team-name and saw a piece of parchment and a quill hovering inches below the noticeboard. The moment he moved his hand towards them, they floated closer, and he plucked the quill from the air and wrote their chosen name on the list.

'This is going to be a blast,' James said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Sirius had to agree.

After lunch, they returned to the dorm intending to get some sleep before Astronomy, but James and Peter were restless and soon got back up to start a game of gobstones.

'Argh. You got me again, Pete!' James cried out for the third time in less than five minutes. His shout was echoed by the shifting of bed sheets from behind the only set of curtains still closed. Sirius glanced over to Remus' bed. There was no way he was going to get any sleep with James and Peter making so much noise in the room.

'I'm bored,' he said. 'Let's go outside.'

He heard a whispered, 'Oh, gods. Please do,' from behind Remus' curtains and, smirking, awarded himself a mental pat on the back for being such a good friend.

James considered his suggestion for a moment, stroking his chin as if thinking deeply on the issue.

'Why, yes, my friend. I think going outside sounds like a splendiferous idea,' he said, jumping to his feet. 'Come on, Pete! Adventure awaits.'

With that pronouncement he bounded from the room with Pete following close behind. And everyone says I have too much energy, Sirius thought.

'Sleep well, Remus,' he said as he left the room, closing the door gently behind him before rushing after his friends.

They reached the edge of the Black Lake ten minutes later and flopped down on the grass. It was a bright sunny day, but the wind coming off the lake was chilly, and Sirius pulled his cloak around himself to keep warm.

'You know, those Prewett twins seemed quite roguish. You don't reckon it's them, do you?' James said, breaking the silence.

'Who? The Marauder?' Sirius asked. James nodded. 'Can't be. The message would have said "The Marauders" if there were multiple people involved. It's only one person.'

'Well, who do you think it is?' James asked.

'I have a suspicion,' Sirius replied, thinking about what he'd noticed earlier that day. 'But I'm not going to say until I have a little more evidence.'

'What!' James yelled, leaping to his feet. 'You can't say that and then not tell us!'

'I can and I did,' Sirius said, laughing at James' outrage. 'What are you going to do about it?'

'This!' James scooped up a handful of mud from the bank of the lake and formed it into a ball before launching it at Sirius.

Sirius rolled out of the way, and the ball of mud missed him by inches, splattering Peter who had been lying on the grass next to him. Peter leapt to his feet, wiping mud off his face and shouting, 'You're dead, James!' before running to the bank to collect his own grubby projectile.

Sirius scrambled to his feet. 'It's so on, Potter!' he cried, heading in the opposite direction to Peter in his quest for a weapon.

The boys chased each other along the circumference of the lake for over an hour before finally collapsing onto the grass, exhausted and coated in mud. They had each been shoved into muddy pools several times during the course of the game, and there was barely an inch of clean material between them.

'Merlin! I don't think I've ever had that much fun before,' Sirius said.

'Really?' James asked. 'I had mud fights with my dad all the time growing up. Mum used to go mental. It was hilarious.'

'Gods, no. If my mother could see me looking like this, I think she'd drop dead on the spot from sheer horror,' Sirius said. 'Actually, that's a thought. Can we get to Grimmauld place from here? Damn, if only I could apparate.'

James laughed. 'Sorry, mate. You'll have to wait until Christmas. Do you have a garden? You can just roll around in the mud when you get home. Job done.'

'Summer,' Sirius said.

'What?'

'It will have to wait until summer. I'm not going home for Christmas. Or Easter. I'd rather put that confrontation off for as long as possible.'

James and Peter had stopped laughing, and the atmosphere was heavier than before. Sirius felt bad for lowering the mood.

'Your parents can't really be mad at you for being in Gryffindor, can they?' Peter asked. 'It's not your fault. We don't get to choose.'

'They won't see it that way,' Sirius said. 'But that's a long way off, and there's no use worrying over something that can't be changed. Let's head back to the dorm and get showered before dinner. It might take a while to get there. If Filch sees us in the castle looking like this, he might actually kill us.'

James and Peter both looked down at themselves and laughed.

'Yeah, he might. And I left the cloak behind too. Didn't think we'd need it.'

Sirius jumped to his feet. 'Race you to the Entrance Hall,' he hollered over his shoulder as he ran towards the school.

'Cheater!' James shouted, but was quick to give chase.

Peter moaned behind them as he clambered upright. 'Not more blasted running!'

As Sirius had expected, he and James were forced to wait by the door for several minutes while Peter strolled sedately across the grounds towards them. His plodding walk combined with his mud-soaked attire gave him a distinct resemblance to a troll.

When Peter finally reached them, they poked their heads around the door to check for cranky caretakers and, seeing the coast was clear, hurried towards the stairs, leaving a trail of muddy footprints behind them.

They made it as far as the fifth-floor before disaster struck. After rounding the corner of the staircase onto the fifth-floor landing, they heard a distant voice bellowing from the floor below.

'Look at this filth, Miss Norris! These horrid children spreading their muck everywhere! Let's get them, sweetness. We'll string them up by their ankles.'

'Shit!' Sirius said. 'Run!'

James and Peter didn't need telling twice. The three boys ran as fast as their legs could take them. Unfortunately for Peter, that meant he was soon left behind. When Sirius arrived at the portrait to Gryffindor tower, James was by his side but Peter was nowhere to be seen.

'I'm sure he'll turn up,' Sirius said.

James agreed, and they gave the Fat Lady the password and clambered into the common room to go and wake a sleeping Remus for dinner.

A/N I realise not a lot really happened in this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway :)