The Marauders and the Hollow Hill

The Last Compartment

"Give 'em back, Sirius!"

"Come and get them!"

"You f-" Sirius grinned as he heard a heavy thumping noise, immediately followed by an irritated "oomph!" It was now the eleventh time James had fallen over something.

"You all right?" Sirius shouted over his shoulder, not bothering to slow his pace.

"Give me my glasses, Sirius, you prat!" James screamed, jumping out of nowhere and tackling him. Sirius was taken completely by surprise, leaving James the perfect opportunity to steal back his glasses. He snatched them away, looking haughty as he place them neatly on his nose. "How do I look?" He sounded honestly concerned.

"Stunning," Sirius muttered sarcastically, whipping a crumpled scrap of parchment out of his pocket. He tapped his chin. "Hmm... so that makes it... Sirius: 5, James, 1."

"No!" James protested, trying to grab the parchment and quill out of Sirius's hands. "I have two points; I totally got you that one time!"

"Poppycock," Sirius replied calmly, sticking his nose up in the air.

"I did so!"

"Nonsense, my good sir, it can't be."

"Yes, I did! I swear-!"

"If you're talking about the time you stepped on my foot-"

He broke off suddenly as James elbowed him hard in the ribs; Sirius choked with laughter, doubling over. He'd never felt this happy before, at least, not for a long time...

Seeing his distracted, James struck. He ripped the parchment from Sirius's grasp and jogged forward a few paces, making faces and dancing tauntingly. Sirius tried his hardest to make a disapproving face, he really did, but he just doubled over again, chuckling even harder. "You look stupid," he chortled, hugging his sides; they ached.

James was grinning so widely his face looked like it was threatening to split open. Then he froze, with that crazed grin and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Sirius thought he looked quite creepy, to be honest. If possible, James's grin got even wider.

"Come and get me!" he finally hollered, turning round and rushing down the corridor again. Abruptly, Sirius jumped up and sped after him.

Sirius felt better than he ever had in his entire life. For once, he had a friend - a friend who he could joke with, play pranks with, laugh about everything with. They wouldn't discuss history or family trees or what they had eaten for supper the past few nights."Broccoli, and something boring," Sirius would always say. His family... didn't like to understand him. And that was an understatement. Pure-blood maniacs they were, power-hungry spoiled brats. How they hated him. How they despised him. It was like an obsession, always finding something wrong in whatever he did, whether it was talking or eating or even sleeping. Always he seemed to bring disgrace to the noble and most Ancient House of Black.

He had tried to bring honor to his family many times, many, many times - but he had failed miserably, all because his mother and father absolutely hated him. The worst of the Blacks, an inhuman snobbish swine who deserved to be boiled in frog spawn... Sirius had heard it all. Recently, he had just given up with trying to impress his parents and decided to try and make their lives as miserable and as uncomfortable as possible. He wanted to embarrass them, he wanted them to make public fools of themselves. He enjoyed seeing the look of disgust on their faces whenever he played a prank, he enjoyed the gasp of horror when he introduced them to his "Mudblood friend." It was his favourite pastime, a mere hobby, now that he did it so often. He wished he could make a living off of it.

Up ahead of him, James was slowing a bit. Sirius grinned. James was fast, but not exactly aware. Sirius could just tackle him now, and James wouldn't know before it hit him. But James sprinted faster... Sirius did also... they were approached a corner...