"...43 muggles, miniature-sized in a broom cupboard. Authorities are still investigating the case but are fairly certain that this piece of magic was performed by You-Know-Who's followers, the Death Eaters,-"

"They must have had to use some pretty intense memory modification charms," Sirius grumbled, lifting his head from his roughly assembled makeshift bed on the compartment floor.

Remus frowned. "I thought you were sleeping."

"Keyword being "were", meaning was, as in before your reading-out-loud-to-the-kiddies time woke me up."

James chucked and Sirius directed his glare at him instead.

"Shouldn't you be off with the other prefects, planning ways to take the fun out of the school year?" Sirius sneered.

"The meeting ended a while ago," Remus replied coolly, "whilst you were busy catching up on your beauty sleep."

Sirius barked out a laugh appreciatively.

"Can't even stay mad at you for long, Moony! Say, where's Wormtail?"

Said boy burst into their compartment, wheezing.

Sirius immediately shot up, at the alert.

"Slytherins," Peter panted. "They- cornered me- got away."

James nodded at Sirius. "Let's go."

"Wait!" Remus stood up, knocking his copy of The Daily Prophet to the floor. "Don't be ridiculous! You can't use magic outside-"

"I hope it's Snivellus," Sirius said excitedly. "That vermin's surely an exception to the rules."

Remus pushed him lightly back into the compartment, cutting off their advances.

"Oh, come off it, Remus!" roared James. "Since when do you care for- for- Snivelface so much?!

"I don't! It's you lot I don't want getting into trouble-"

"How can we let this go? They cornered Peter-"

"Threatened him!" Sirius added for good measure.

"I know but-"

James tried to push Remus aside but he wouldn't budge.

"Oh, bloody hell-"

James and Remus whipped out their wands simultaneously as Sirius gave James a hard push from behind. James bumped into Remus who pushed Peter and, like dominoes, they hit the compartment door just as it flew open.

Lily Evans stared, shocked, at the pile of Marauders at her feet.

"Well, this is certainly... new..." she trailed off.

"Pleugh!" Sirius made a face, pushing himself into a standing position off of a rising James and effectively sending him sprawling back down again. "I think I ate some hair."

Remus slid out from underneath James, who fell, once again, back down onto Peter.

"It's not what it looks like!" he gasped. "I can explain!"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "I think I'd rather you didn't."

"Lils!" James spluttered, having managed to finally stand up. "What are you doing here?"

Peter groaned from his position on the floor.

Lily ignored James, turning to face Remus instead.

"The train arrives in ten minutes, so we need you down in the Prefects compartment again."

Remus cast a sympathetic glance at James' disappointed face and set off after Lily down the corridor.

"Guys," Peter piped up weakly, "a hand would be great."

Half an hour later the Marauders were seated at Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, waiting patiently - or, in Sirius' case, not so patiently - to eat.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore boomed. "I trust that you are all eager to eat so I will leave the boring, informative bits until after you have done so. Tuck in!"

James, Peter and Remus all shook their heads as Sirius began heaping piles of food onto his plate.

"I seg," he attempted to speak through a mouthful of food, "tha playsh is yeagh-"

"Look at me Padfoot," James directed, cutting him off. "In today's lesson I'm going to teach you how to eat- er, properly. First, you must spear the chicken with your fork. Next, you-"

He ducked under the table as Sirius tossed a leftover bone at his head.

"Honestly," Remus scoffed, "don't play with your food."

Sirius swallowed, rolling his eyes. "Yes, Mum."

"Is it safe to come up yet?" James called from underneath the table.

"Yes, I'll let you live... for now," Sirius replied. "Anyway, as I was saying earlier, don't the plates seem smaller this year?"

They all stared open-mouthed at Sirius' plate.

"Er, no, mate," Peter spoke up, "it's just your appetite that's gotten bigger."

Sirius stared at him for a moment and then shrugged, continuing his attempt to eat as much as humanly possible.

The Marauders finished the rest of dinner in silence, speaking again only when Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Here we go," James breathed to the other three.

"Now that we're all full of the delicious food provided courtesy of Hogwart's wonderful house elves-"

"Advertisement, anyone?" muttered Sirius.

"-I would like to introduce everyone to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Silver!"

A tall, brooding man stood up from the teachers table. His shoulder-length black hair was tied at the base of his neck and, unlike the rest of the staff, he wore ripped-up jeans and a dark-green t-shirt. He was also, along with Sirius, the only male in the entire school to be wearing an ear piercing.

Several of the girls at their table giggled as Professor Silver raised a hand in hello.

"Thank you, Professor. I'm sure you will be welcomed to your new post warmly," Dumbledore said knowingly. "Next, Quidditch try-outs will be held as they are every year, so please check the board in your common room sometime this week for more information and announcements. And, lastly, a reminder to all that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits for everyone." Here he stared pointedly over the rim of his glasses at the grinning Marauders.

"So, once again, welcome back to Hogwarts and get a full night's sleep for lessons beginning tomorrow. Goodnight!" he closed off.

The Great Hall immediately assembled itself into one of many versions of chaos.

"That's my cue," sighed Remus, making his way over to the Gryffindor first years.

Sirius, James and Peter followed their fellow Gryffindors up what seemed countless flights of moving stairs and chilly corridors and into the common room.

"Home at last," Sirius mumbled a while later, after they had all changed into their sleeping clothes and fallen into bed.

"Mm," Remus agreed from the next bed.

A short while later, "You know, I don't recall the curtains being so- so- maroon. I think they've changed the look of this place around a bit, eh?"

Silence.

Sirius shifted around in his bed uncomfortably.

"My bed feels.. lumpy. Like it's coming down with a sore throat. Do beds have throats? I assume the, well- gosh, I don't know. If the bed were to be considered like the human body, which part would be the throat? Or rather, the kookers? Though maybe that'd just be-"

Having sensed Sirius' nervousness, James' bedside lamp flicked on.

He stared at Sirius.

Sirius stared back.

James raised an eyebrow.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and smirked, hoping to out-do him in terms of facial expressions.

Thirty seconds of intense eye-contact later, James relaxed his facial features.

"It's going to be alright," he said softly. "Goodnight, Padfoot."

The light went out.

Sirius smiled in the darkness.

"Goodnight Prongs."