A/N: We actually have an update! Amazing! Here we are at chapter 10!

Upon rereading the chapter 7 interlude, the one with Sirius' Dearest Ambitions essay, I realized that Sirius doesn't know what he's talking about half the time. (Actually, it was really me, not remembering I'd given Remus' mentee Luke the last name Teslo and then changing it to Caulfield in the next chapter.) So, please ignore Sirius' calling him "Teslo," or else chalk it up to Sirius being misinformed and unobservant. Luke's last name is actually Caulfield. Most likely, you guys didn't even pick up on that, oh well.

Reviewer Thank-yous: I know it's been forever since the last chapter, but still thanks to bundibird for reviewing the last chapter.

Disclaimer: is the same as it's always been. I don't onw any of the character appearing in JKR's HP books.

The Boys Called Marauders

Chapter Ten: Dream a Lucid Dream

Peter sat on the common room floor listening to his friends jabber on about anything and everything, though he found none of it particularly interesting. He was brushing the remaining soot off his clothes from the last period while desperately trying to fight off sleep. A few times he failed and nodded off, only to be woken up by his friends' raucous laughter.

"You gonna make it, Pete?" James asked after a while.

"I think I'll just go up and take a quick nap before next class," Peter said, and he made his way over to the dormitory stairs.

When he reached the fifth year boys' landing, he tripped suddenly. As soon as he had recovered his composure, he lost it again. To his great surprise (and terror, if we're being honest) Danny Littlebrook was sleeping, curled up in a little ball in front of the door. It was as if he was waiting there for him to come up and take a nap – as if he knew he haunted Peter's nightmares – as if he knew that Peter was so inexplicably afraid of him that he felt like turning around and screaming like a little girl as he ran back down the stairs. Peter did not wait around to figure any of that out. He turned around, screamed like a little girl, and hightailed it back down the stairs.

"What in the world, Pete?" James asked as Peter came flying out of the stairwell into the common room, screaming at what James presumed was the highest decibel he could manage.

Peter did not answer. He was too busy catching his breath.

"I think he's finally lost it," said Sirius, eyeing the stairs suspiciously.

Peter coughed and wheezed.

"It's not my fault that kid is out to get me!" he said, fitfully.

"Who, Peter?" asked Remus, concerned.

"It's Danny!" Peter shouted, getting his composure back. "Danny Littlebrook! He's everywhere!"

"Even in your dreams, right Peter?" Sirius said with a smirk. He found the whole situation rather entertaining. After all, Danny Littlebrook was just a thirteen-year-old boy, one who had promised to give Regulus trouble. He couldn't be that terrible.

"It's not funny, Sirius!" Peter shouted.

"Well, actually, Pete, it sort of is," said James. "Danny's just another kid. He's not out to get you."

Peter looked at each of his friends in turn. Sirius looked as if he was putting every ounce of strength he had to forcing down his laughter. James was clearly growing impatient with him, and Remus had a look of pity on his face so prominent that Peter started to get a little angry. After some huffing, Peter decided to just leave them to themselves.

"I've got to go," he said simply, and then headed out through the portrait hole.

Peter had made up his mind to see Professor Slughorn straight away and get his mentoring assignment changed to some other third year student. He would just get somebody else to mentor and he wouldn't have to see Danny Littlebrook again.

But what if I see him in the hall? What if he comes up to me at breakfast? What if he gets mad and poisons my pumpkin juice? What if he ties me to a tree and eats my toes?

Without realizing it, Peter had pressed himself up against the wall of the corridor. If anyone had been in the corridor with him, he would surely look like an escaped mental patient who believed himself to be a secret agent on a covert mission, or else one that fancied himself to be a chameleon and just didn't get that he wasn't a scaly reptile and couldn't actually blend into the wall. He took a deep breath and tried to collect himself.

Come on, Pete. Get it together! Just go to Slughorn and get it switched. You'll be fine.

And so on he went. Finally, he reached Slughorn's classroom. Thankfully, it was empty except for the professor.

"Excuse me, Professor?" Peter asked, stepping into the room.

Slughorn looked up. He stood and shuffled over to Peter.

"How can I help you, my boy?" he asked.

"Well, sir, I was wondering if," he trailed off a bit. "Would it be possible for me to switch mentees?"

"Now why on earth would you want to do that, my boy?" Slughorn asked, bewildered.

Peter took yet another deep breath.

"It's just that I don't think I can work with Danny Littlebrook anymore, Professor," he said. "It's not working out."

Slughorn frowned. He went over to his desk, saying the words, "unfortunate, most unfortunate."

He picked up a roll of parchment and examined it.

"Well, Mr. Pettigrew, a situation has arisen that might lend itself to solve your problem," Slughorn said.

"And what's that, sir?" Peter asked.

"Jason Collingsworth has come down with a nasty case of spattergroit," Slughorn said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "He's been removed from the school to contain the disease. We were going to assign his mentee to someone kind enough to take on two third years, but we can reassign Mr. Littlebrook instead."

Peter thought this over.

"Well, my friend Sirius would probably take him without any problems," he said, but then another thought crossed his mind.

"Collingsworth the Slytherin, sir?" he asked. This would mean his mentee was probably a Slytherin too.

Anyone's better than Danny.

"That's right," Slughorn confirmed. "If you choose to, you'll mentoring young Regulus Black, and we'll reassign Mr. Littlebrook to Sirius Black. Ah! The two Black brothers appeased in one little switcheroo!"

Regulus Black? Oh no…

Peter stared at the ground while he thought about it.

Well, it's one weird and crazy third year for a mean, spoiled third year.

The decision wasn't an easy one. However, the little voice at the back of his mind kept whispering: Anyone's better than Danny!

"I'll do it," he said. "I'll mentor Regulus. Sirius can have Danny."

"Excellent," said Slughorn with glee, "It's settled then."

The bell rang then, and soon students began filing into the room and taking their seats. As this was Peter and the other Marauders' next class, Peter went ahead and took his normal seat. A sense of clam settled in over him. He was no longer responsible for having anything to do with Danny Littlebrook. His heart was no longer pounding. His friends joined him at their table. Peter's breath got back to normal. He could relax. The lecture began…

…and suddenly, it was over. He must have been really relaxed. He didn't remember leaving the classroom or going to the Great Hall. There was nobody around. He looked around the room, wondering what was going on. Finally he saw someone moving around in a shadowy corner.

"Hey, you there!" he called out. "What's going on? Where is everybody?"

"They've all gone to get ready," said the person in the shadows. "They're coming to watch my show."

The person stepped into the light then. It was Sirius. He was wearing a kilt with his school uniform instead of the pants he had worn earlier.

"What show, Sirius? What are you going on about?" Peter asked, seriously confused.

"My show, Peter," Sirius said, as if it were common knowledge. It certainly wasn't to Peter.

He watched Sirius as he went up onto the stage and began doing vocal exercises. He could only stare as Sirius began leaping across the stage doing pirouettes and twirls. He had to be dreaming.

"You're not dreaming, Peter," a voice whispered in his ear.

Remus came up next to him. He was wearing glasses and a long white coat.

"You're lucid dreaming," Remus said. "You can change what you see if you don't like it."

"Really?" Peter asked.

"Yes," Remus answered. "Now, can you give me a top hat? I'd really like a top hat."

"Okay, I guess so," said Peter.

He closed his eyes and imagined Remus wearing a top hat. When he opened his eyes again, a black top hat sat upon Remus' head. Peter laughed as Remus tipped his hat to him and walked off to go join Sirius on the stage. The two linked arms and skipped around in circles, singing some indistinguishable tune.

"You weren't supposed to start without me!" Someone yelled out from behind Peter.

Peter turned around to see James running toward the stage, wearing multi-colored robes and a long, bright yellow, flowing wig.

"James! What are you wearing?" Peter asked as James ran by.

James turned around and opened up his robes, revealing periwinkle pajamas underneath.

"What? You don't like it?" he asked Peter.

"It's very interesting," Peter answered. "Are you in the show too?"

"No," James said. "I'm the conductor."

Peter looked around. He didn't see any sort of band. James gave him a look.

"Not that kind of conductor, Peter," James said. "Now, come on. It's time to get on the train."

"But I don't see any train either, James," Peter said. "What train do you mean?"

James motioned for Peter to follow him. He ran up onto the stage and grabbed both Remus and Sirius by the hand, positioning them to stand one in front of the other. Then, James stood in front of them, forming a three person line. Sirius put his hands on James' waist, and Remus placed his hands on Sirius' waist.

"All aboard the crazy train!" James shouted. "Let's go!"

Together, they started moving forward, making figure eights across the stage. Sirius and Remus took turns hollering, "WOO-WOO!"

Peter found this hilarious. He was clutching his stomach, doubled over with laughter. He wanted in on this, for sure. He closed his eyes and imagined himself wearing a pinstriped pajama shirt, a kilt, and a top hat. He too ran up to the stage.

"Come on, Pete!" called Sirius.

"Yeah, Pete, join us!" Remus said.

Peter grabbed onto Remus' waist and started chugging along across the stage with his friends.

"Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga," Peter whispered.

He closed his eyes and started laughing again.

"Chugga-CHOO-CHOO!" he shouted.

"Mr. Pettigrew, if you are going to sleep in my class, at least do it quietly."

Peter's eyes snapped open. He was back in Slughorn's class. The Professor and every other person in the room was staring at him.

"Sorry, Professor," he mumbled.

Sirius, James, and Remus all laughed quietly.

"Dreaming of Danny Littlebrook again, Pete?" Sirius asked, laughing more now.

"No, actually," Peter said, irritated.

He'd actually dreamed that Sirius was a skirt-wearing performance artist, that James was the leader of the crazy train, and that Remus was an even nerdier nerd than normal, but he decided he would keep those hilarious images all to himself.

A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter. What did you think? Gotta say thanks for sticking with me up to this point. Unfortunately, holiday break is ending, and there won't be huge amounts of time to continue this, but I do want to. It's just taken a while for it to happen. I'll do my best to get more chapters written and posted.

Again, thanks for reading guys! Now review!

Also, if you have a minute or two, please check out the BCM companion story "Hero." I know you guys like Sirius, so check out this look into his future.