Chapter Text
PART 1: 'NO FRIENDSHIP IS AN ACCIDENT' - O. Henry
'Mars is the bringer of war,' said James as if continuing a conversation, his dark eyebrows furrowing slightly.
They were sitting in James' bed, waiting for the castle to fall asleep so that they could have some more fun with the Slytherin's belongings. Between the two boys lay a list of the various places they had mapped out as the ideal locations around the castle for the items. Hiding the belongings around Hogwarts served the dual purpose of the entertaining thought of the Slytherins having to find them, and getting rid of any evidence that tied them to the crime. It was going to be especially good to get rid of the sneakoscope which they had had to wrap in a scarf so as to not drive them mad.
'So the centaurs believe a war is coming too,' Sirius mused. He remembered the centaur's words too well to need ask James what on earth he was on about.
James grimaced.
'A war is necessary,' Sirius remarked. It was something he had come to realise in the aftermath of the conversation between Madam Maxwell and Alastor Moody.
'You're kidding, right?'
'No, I am not,' said Sirius, seriously. 'Things need to change. Look at my family - look at what they believe. A war will throw all of this up in the open.'
'How can you be so sure? Nobody knows who's behind all this stuff Moody mentioned.'
'No,' Sirius agreed, 'but I know history. Wars are always about the friction of ideologies. A new war will force change.'
'As long as it doesn't force us to change,' James muttered, unconvinced.
'Oh, our side will win.' That, Sirius was sure of. 'We've got Dumbledore, for starters.'
'But people will die,' James argued, which was a fair point. One that Sirius had considered, and had an answer for: 'Weak people will die.'
'Innocent people will die,' James pushed back.
'I am not saying it's a good thing,' said Sirius quickly, 'but innocent people are already dying. Think about Dahl and Appleby.'
'How long do you think this war will go on?' James asked, still looking worried.
'Who knows,' Sirius shrugged. 'It hasn't yet started.'
'Listen,' Sirius continued when James still looked miserable, his arms crossed over his chest. 'I am not saying it's going to be fun - just that it's got to happen. And look at us, and look at the rest of our class. When this war comes, nobody our age is going to be better prepared than you and I.'
'True,' James agreed. Sirius saw James' eyes flicker towards the two other beds.
'Not now,' said Sirius. If they started duelling now, they were sure to wake the others.
'Tomorrow,' James agreed.
The following morning marked the first day of classes. Peter, Remus, James and Sirius left the castle after breakfast, crossed the vegetable patch and made for the greenhouses, where the magical plants were kept.
There was a murmur of interest as professor Sprout told them they would be in Greenhouse Three that day. They had only ever worked in Greenhouse One before. Greenhouse Three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants. Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. Sirius caught a whiff of damp earth and fertiliser, mingling with the heavy perfume of some giant, umbrella-sized flowers dangling from the ceiling.
'Is that a Venemous Tentacula?' James asked eagerly as they passed a spiky, dark red plant.
'Probably,' Sirius shrugged. If James thought it was a Venemous Tentacula, it likely was just that.
Professor Sprout took her position behind a trestle bench at the centre of the greenhouse. Sirius noticed a collection of different-coloured earmuffs lying on the bench. James, however, had caught sight of something else. He elbowed Sirius and pointed to a row of deep trays with a hundred or so tufty little plants, purplish green in colour, that were growing there in rows. Suddenly the earmuffs made sense.
James made a face like a screaming toddler, and Sirius snorted, loudly.
'Mr Potter, Mr Black, care to share what is so funny with the rest of the class?'
Sirius hadn't realised the rest of the class had fallen silent and they had been ready to begin the lesson. He shook his head, noticing James doing the same from the corner of his eyes.
'No? Well then maybe one of you two can tell me the properties of the Mandrake.'
Sirius sighed, before readying himself. Oh the two of them could tell her that: 'Mandrake-'
'- or Mandragora,' James shot in.
'or Mandragora,' Sirius nodded, 'is a powerful restorative. It is used to return people who have been cursed or transfigured to their original state.'
'As such, the Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes,' added James. 'But it's also highly dangerous, as the cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it.'
'Very well, ten points to Gryffindor each,' professor Sprout gave them a look that Sirius assumed was meant to be stern approval - a warning to not misbehave mixed with the recognition that they did in fact know their plants, but which didn't quite match professor McGonagall's deadly stares.
'Please, professor,' Stebbins' hand shot up - he looked nervous, 'what did Potter mean with the cry of the Mandrake being fatal?'
'There is nothing to worry about Mr Stebbins,' Professor Sprout said, matter-of-factly, 'the Mandrakes we have here are still very young. As seedlings, their cry won't kill yet, however, they will knock you out for several hours.'
A tempting offer, thought Sirius.
'Now as I am sure none of you want to miss your first day back -'
James sent Sirius a look that plainly told him that James too was weighing up the pros and cons of not putting the earmuffs on properly.
'- take a pair of earmuffs now.'
There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. Sirius immediately grabbed a pink and fluffy one and turned to James -:
'Here, I got you one!'
Only his voice wasn't the only one saying the words. Sirius' eyes fell to James' outstretched hand, as he too held out a pair of pink and fluffy earmuffs. Fair play.
They both had to suppress a laugh before Sirius grabbed a grey pair from Remus, who just sighed and resigned himself to his new pink pair. James turned to do the same, but Peter had ended up with a pink and fluffy pair himself, so James was stuck with his own.
'Now you're the odd one out,' James smirked at Sirius, who decided that was fine by him.
'When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered,' said Professor Sprout. 'When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right - earmuffs on.'
All in all, it was a fun lesson. More fun than Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall asked them to turn beetles into buttons, but nobody seemed to make any headway whatsoever. Nobody but himself and James, of course. They ended up playing hex-hoc-hoax with their buttons - James' being distinguishable from his own by being just a notch more elegant, but who cared?
After lunch, they had Defence Against the Dark Arts, which provided an excellent opportunity for James and Sirius to learn more about their new teacher.
'Shame about Madam Maxwell,' Sirius noted as they made their way to the classroom. James ignored this. It was a shame though, Sirius thought. He doubted very much that James would suddenly form a crush on professor Aymslowe.
Their new professor started by taking the register. When he called out for 'Black, Sirius,' James immediately replied 'Yes, Sir.' Sirius grinned at his friend, and, following James' lead, decided to respond when 'Potter, James' was called. Peter sniggered, Remus' lip twitched, and a few of the girls seemed amused too.
It turned out that Archie Aymslowe, who looked like someone who knew absolutely nothing about the Dark Arts, and certainly nothing about defending himself against them, was an expert in cursed objects.
'And we will cover the basics of such objects next term,' said professor Aymslowe, which caused an excited murmur amongst the students to break out. 'This term, however, we will be covering dark creatures.'
'Like werewolves, professor?' James said innocently, glancing at Remus, who they both suspected to be very afraid of werewolves. Remus didn't meet James' eyes, and Sirius saw that he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Now that they were friends with Remus again, James and Sirius were definitely going to have some fun with him.
'Werewolves?' Professor Aymslowe seemed momentarily taken aback, before he cleared his throat: 'Well, yes, Black - although, not in great detail. Our focus will be on creatures such as Red Caps, kappas, hinkypunks and grindylows. We will also cover Boggarts, though I am by no means an expert in the area. I have, however, been fortunate enough to work with one such expert on a few occasions -'
Here their professor looked at Remus, who blushed slightly, and Sirius remembered that Remus' father was recognised as an expert in Non-Human Spirituous Apparitions.
'- and I hope I'll be able to pass on his wisdom.'
Their professor paused to take a sip of water from a glass on his desk before he continued: 'However, you are expected to know that there are five signs to identify a werewolf from a regular wolf and we will cover those, though you are not expected to be able to remember all five until next year.'
'What's the use of that?' James blurted out. 'To know that there are differences, but not know which.'
'To instil, early on, that wolves and werewolves look very much alike,' professor Aymslowe answered, frowning. 'Please, rai-'
'Basically, if you see a wolf during the full moon, assume the worst,' Gemma offered.
'Quite, Miss Dawlish,' professor Aymslowe agreed, 'Now - please - if anyone wishes to speak, raise your hand.'
'Luckily I know the signs already,' James told Peter, Remus and Sirius confidently after class, 'no werewolf can fool me.'
'As if you'd have time to look closely should you ever come across one,' Sirius snorted. 'It's just stupid little differences in any case, like the shape of the snout... Dawlish is right, best to avoid any and all wolves during the full moon.'
'How do you guys know all of this?' Peter bemoaned.
James shrugged, then turned to Sirius again: 'Or we could go werewolf hunting. Saturday 23 is a full moon. The four of us could sneak out to the Forbidden Forest and see if we spot any.'
'That's an excellent idea,' Sirius grinned, knowing exactly why James had suggested it.
'Yeah, brilliant idea. Always dreamt about dying young,' Remus muttered, and Peter nodded in agreement.
'Oh come off it,' said Sirius, feeling a surge of impatience with the two boys.
'There aren't actually any werewolves in the Forbidden Forest,' agreed James, 'it's just good fun, sneaking around during the full moon. We might see some Mooncalves.'
Admit it already, Sirius thought, studying Remus' tense face, you're terrified of werewolves.
'I say we go,' said James firmly, 'all of us. It's about time we have an adventure together in the forest. Remember point number four in our pact?'
Sirius' point. To go on adventures with my best friends.
'We wouldn't want to break the pact now, would we,' Sirius raised his eyebrows at the two smaller boys.
Peter appeared to be nervous, but he nodded. Remus looked something else entirely. He seemed absolutely miserable, but until he was ready to admit to his fear, Sirius wasn't about to give him any breaks. Nor did it seem, was James.
Tuesday evening saw James and Sirius in a secret passageway behind a tapestry on the second floor. Well, it wasn't a particularly secret passageway, and the reason they happened to find themselves there at that particular moment was that it was frequently used by Filch.
'That's the last one,' James said as he placed the magic slinkie down.
'Excellent,' Sirius grinned.
At the start of term feast, Dumbledore had announced that Filch had added Spiteful Slinkies to the list of banned items, so naturally, James and Sirius had decided to punish the caretaker. The first Saturday back, after a quick visit to the Hospital Wing, the two had snuck out to Hogsmeade to pick up as many slinkies as they could carry.
Tuesday after dinner had been the perfect opportunity to put their plan in motion, as Peeves had decided to cause some disturbance in the Trophy Room, leaving Filch's office free of the foul man. While the caretaker was busy trying to stop Peeves, Remus, Peter, Sirius and James had placed about a dozen Spiteful Slinkies around the room - on top of cabinets, under and on the table and such like. Then they had split up to place the rest in various passages they knew Filch liked to use.
'I've been busy,' they heard a familiar, unwelcome voice say.
James and Sirius exchanged a look and moved down the stairs quietly.
'With what?' Lily Evans asked. It sounded like they were just passing the tapestry at that moment. 'I've hardly seen you since we came back.'
'Does it matter?' Snivellus' voice was further away now.
'We've done it,' came Peter's voice from above, and Sirius and James spun around to see the small boy rush down towards them.
'Pete, watch out!' Remus and Sirius warned at the same time, but too late, Peter came to what looked like a painful halt as his leg sank through a trick step.
James and Sirius rushed up to help Remus free Peter. Once they had been able to pull Peter up, the four headed back to the Gryffindor Tower, and Sirius was free to ask James what had been on his mind since they'd overheard the exchange between the two friends-:
'I wonder what old Snivellus has been up to?'
'Dark magic, no doubt,' James muttered.
'Wouldn't surprise me,' Sirius agreed.
But they were wrong, as they found out to their great delight the following day.
James was keen to get some Quidditch practice in, the weather was nice and Sirius too had felt restless trapped inside the castle during the day. Making their way to the Quidditch pitch, their own brooms thrown across their shoulders, they saw the greasy-haired git flying around the goalposts.
'This is too good!' Sirius could hear the delight in his own voice.
The two picked up the pace.
'Oi, Snivellus,' James called as he kicked off the ground, 'fancy seeing you here.'
Snivellus dropped the Quaffle he was playing with, and James swooped down and caught it.
'Don't tell me you're practising to join the house team?' Sirius said, unable to hide his glee. 'Even your team expects their players to know how to handle a Quaffle.'
'And it's no good playing on your own, y'know,' James said as he threw the Quaffle to Sirius, who caught it easily.
'Luckily, we were just about to play some,' Sirius agreed as he passed the Quaffle back to James.
'We're feeling generous,' Sirius continued, 'want to join?'
'It's easy,' said James, 'here, catch.'
James threw the Quaffle with such force that it was evident that Snivellus was never meant to catch it. The greasy git didn't even manage to get out of the way, and the Quaffle hit him in his stomach with a loud thud. Sirius watched as Snivellus struggled to catch his breath.
'You need to use your arms,' Sirius offered as James once more swooped down to pick up the Quaffle. 'Let us demonstrate.'
James passed the Quaffle once more to Sirius.
'Got it?' James smirked at Snivellus. 'Sirius is going to pass you the Quaffle now.'
Sirius threw the Quaffle as hard as he could, aiming straight for Snivellus' face. It passed Snivellus' outstretched arms and hit the target. Blood started flooding from Snivellus' long, ugly nose.
'That can happen,' James said, with mock solemnity. 'I think you need some more practice, mate.'
Snivellus shot straight for the ground.
'Shame,' Sirius lamented, 'I was just starting to have some fun.'
'Let's watch the Slytherin tryouts,' James suggested, 'should be amusing.'
It turned out to be okay, but not spectacularly fun. Whether Snivellus had never intended to try out or whether James and Sirius had been able to demonstrate just how fruitless it would be for the boy to turn up, he certainly wasn't in attendance.
Amos Diggory was Slytherin's new Quidditch captain and he seemed to stick to the old line-up, and the lucky new players were those who filled in the gaps that had been left with the departed students. There was one participant Sirius should have been able to predict turning up, but hadn't.
'Your brother is not a bad flyer,' remarked Peter, as the three walked back to the castle. Remus had been less interested in spying on the Slytherins.
'He's a shit Quidditch player though,' said James, who met Sirius' eyes for the briefest of seconds. It seemed James had planned to keep quiet about Regulus turning up to the tryouts, and Sirius wished Peter had had the same sense.
'He's a shit chaser,' Sirius corrected, somewhat unwillingly. 'Not too bad a seeker.' Annoyingly.
'So why didn't he try out for that?' James asked, confusion evident.
James thought nothing like a Slytherin. Never, not once, would it occur to James to try out for the position that there was less competition for - or which wasn't already likely to go to an incumbent team player.
'Because,' explained Sirius, 'he knows he's got nothing on Lucius Malfoy.'
'Regulus had nothing on most of the chasers either,' remarked James unimpressed.
'Also, seeker, I ask you,' James continued as they entered the castle. 'Who on earth wants to be a seeker? You miss all the action.'
That was open for interpretation, thought Sirius. But he was glad to lend his disapproval to everything his brother was doing, so he voiced his agreement.