Hogwarts with the Marauders (I) - [OLD]

CHAPTER ONE - Night Time Stroll

WARNING: I wrote this purely for my amusement, two years ago, and mostly when I was sugar-high. If you're expecting quality, check out my other stories (not including the sequel).

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters except Alessia, who you will meet in the next chapter. All other characters belong to J.K. Rowling, I just developed them.

CHAPTER ONE - Night Time Stroll

"Prongs, I swear, this time, I can't come." Sirius said gravely, looking into his best friend's eyes. Sirius wanted to go with James, of course he did, but he had to stay in tonight. He just had to. He had promissed Lily Evans. She wasn't always nice to him, but she had helped him get out of trouble with Professor McGonagall once.

Lily, who had hoped that by getting Sirius to stay out of trouble, she could get James to, too, asked Sirius to repay her this way. They didn't always see eye-to-eye, but acknowledged each other’s existence, which was the first step. It wasn't that Lily cared about the boys' record, but she was tired of Gryffindor coming in last place in everything except Quidditch.

James stomped his foot angrily. Remus and Peter were both asleep, and honestly, James didn't feel like waking either of them. Sirius always broke the rules with him, not like Remus, who didn't approve of anything James did, or Peter, who just tagged along for the ride without saying much. What was keeping Sirius from coming tonight?

"Fine," James said, irritated, "I'll just take the Cloak and go alone!"

Sirius watched silently as James grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and walked out of the common room, slamming the Fat Lady's portrait behind him. She complained under her breath about how James had never in his life closed doors behind him, but always chose to close her portrait with particular force.

James slipped the Cloak on as he walked, making sure to cause the minimum amount of noise, which was very hard, considering how very angry he was. He turned a corner a little too quickly and almost bumped in to Lily Evans.

James quickly pulled himself out of the way, as Lily walked by, a worried look on her face. Instead of taking his usual route around the grounds, James decided to see where Lily was going so late at night.

She was heading towards the Charms hallway, when she suddenly made a left into what James thought was a solid wall. Poor James, who thought he knew every secret passageway in the school, was blown away when she went right through the wall, not even flinching. 

"I bet Sirius wishes he was here, now..." James whispered to himself, and followed Lily through the wall and into a secret room James had never seen before. He could hear voices around the corner, but stayed put.

"Oh, look! It's Mudblood Evans! She's here, just like she said she'd be." a voice sneered.

James knew the speaker: Sirius' cousin, Bellatrix Black. He had heard of some pretty bad scenarios with Bellatrix, but James had never heard Bellatrix, in the five years he had been at Hogwarts, call a Muggle-born "Mudblood". James was ready to blow his cover and hit her, when another voice spoke.

"Bella, be nice." Andromeda's soft voice said. She was younger than Bellatrix, also in Slytherin, but much kinder than either of her sisters.

"Or what?" Bellatrix demanded, almost mockingly.

"Or I'll send an owl to Mum and Dad, telling them how you snogged that boy, Lucius Malfoy, in the out-of-order girl's bathroom on the second floor." Andromeda said, and James could feel a smile creeping onto her lips. When Bellatrix didn't respond, he knew she must be speechless.

"Can I just have it?" Lily asked impatiently, a tapping noise now being heard. James assumed she was tapping her foot on the ground.

"But it can't be that easy, can it-" Bellatrix started, but was interrupted by Andromeda.

"Take it, Evans." she said, and James heard something hard hit the floor. Presumably, whatever Lily wanted had been thrown on the floor by Andromeda.

"Thank you, Andr-" Lily began.

"Black," Andromeda said, cutting her off, "You call me 'Black'."

"Yes, of course." Lily murmured, quietly. James knew she must be embarrassed. He heard footsteps coming his way and - even though he was invisible - he hurried back to Gryffindor tower, making sure to take off the Invisibility Cloak before the Fat Lady saw him.

"Flibbertigibet." James mumbled, and the Fat Lady swung open only after he had repeated the password three more times.

He ran down the marble steps to the dormitory, where three figures were lying, each in their own bed, but he knew one of them was still awake.

"Padfoot!" James hissed, going over to Sirius' bed. Sirius sat up immediately, as if he had been waiting all this time for James to return. After James explained what had happened, Sirius swore under his breath:

“That… That…” Sirius screwed up his face in effort, trying to find the right words.

“Yeah; I mean, I know Bellatrix is your cousin and all, but if she wasn’t so evil, and she wasn’t in Slytherin, I would consider dating her.” James voiced thoughtfully.

Sirius did a face-palm, “I wasn’t talking about Bella, you git!” he exclaimed, “I meant Evans!”

James stood there shocked as Sirius explained the promise he made to Lily about staying out of trouble for one full week.

“Just a week? That’s easy, Padfoot, I’ll do it with you!” James said loudly, patting Sirius on the back, who shrugged him off with a weird look on his face.

“Prongs, please re-phrase that.” He insisted seriously. James slapped him over the head:

“You know what I meant!”