Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: I know I put Mrs. Norris in one of the earlier chapters, but I'm changing the cat's name. There is no way Mrs. Norris could at Hogwarts this early on and still be there when Harry attends. Mrs. Norris is now Lady Bona, first thing I could come up with.

The Marauders Year 1

Chapter 22: Making Plans

"GET UP YOU BLOODY IDIOTS!" Remus screamed loudly as he set bangs off with his wand. His three friends screamed and fell out of their beds. They lifted their heads to glare at him.

"Well, isn't this a role reversal." James said as he put his glasses on. "Aren't we the ones who are usually waking you up?"

Remus didn't look the least bit amused. He was frowning and pushing his short bangs up. "Stop joking around. We are supposed to be in the Great Hall in ten minutes to get our exam schedule and our first exam begins in fifteen minutes I think."

"They don't give us a lot of time to prepare for that one, do they?" Sirius asked amused as he pulled his trousers on.

Peter began to button up his shirt. "How did we manage to sleep in this late anyway? Didn't we set our alarms?"

"No, I thought we did, but apparently we forgot." Remus growled, tapping his foot impatiently and glancing at his watch every few seconds. He was nervous enough about his exams. He just wanted to go and take his first one and be done with it.

By the time the three boys were finished getting dressed, they were late to getting to the Great Hall. They had to run all the way there and just skidded to a halt in the Entrance Hall in time to hear the end of Dumbledore's speech about why exams were important and wishing them all good luck.

Breathing heavily, the boys slipped into the Great Hall. They wanted to make it to their seats unnoticed, but Dumbledore was still standing up so he saw them coming in. "Ah, Messrs Black, Lupin, Potter, Pettigrew. It is so nice of you to join us."

"Oh, so sorry for interrupting Professor. We had the misfortune of forgetting to set our alarm and slept in, so if you would just ignore us at the moment we can go sit down." James grinned impishly at him with his eyes shining with amusement.

Remus stared at him with realization in his eyes. He clenched his fists. "You prat! You turned our alarms off so we would wake up late on purpose!"

"I don't know what you are talking about." James replied innocently.

"I missed breakfast because of you!" Remus said angrily.

James patted his arm. "Maybe this will teach you to get up on your own for now on."

"Like that is ever going to happen." Peter snorted.

"Boys, if you are quite finished, could you sit down?" Dumbledore motioned to the empty seats at the Gryffindor table.

James smiled. "Righty-o."

Remus smacked James in the back of the head as he walked pass. James turned his head to glare at Remus, who was grinning innocently at him. "Fair warning, Lupin, I know where you sleep." James hissed as he sat down.

"Have you been stalking him, mate?" Sirius asked, wriggling his brow.

James sent Sirius a disgusted look. "No, you prat. We share a dorm with him."

"Right." Sirius replied unconvinced. "So, Remus, ready for the exams?"

"No!" Remus replied frantically.

Sirius sighed. "You need to calm down, mate. You're going to do fine."

After a week of exams and dealing with a frantic Remus, Sirius and James were ready to hex someone into oblivion. The exams were too easy for them and they thought the same thing of Remus. He was smart, even if he didn't think he was. They were hoping he would calm down when the exams were over, but he was still freaking out as he waited for the results to come out.

"Remus," James said innocently two days after their exams ended.

Remus stopped pacing to look at him. "Yeah?"

"STOP PACING!" James yelled. "You did fine. I'm sure of it, so could you just please relax?"

"Relax? RELAX? How the hell can I relax when I just failed all those exams?" Remus screamed, waving his arms wildly.

Sirius looked up from his Quidditch magazine. He sat up and turned to Remus. "Remus, mate, you really need to calm down and think rationally. All this panicking is doing you no good. You are one of the best in our year in all our classes except Potions. What we really need right now is some fresh air. That will help you calm down. All of us, outside now!"

James and Sirius each grabbed one of Remus's arms and forcibly dragged the smaller boy outside. Peter followed them and was carrying a bag that James and him had been going through when Remus's pacing had driven James to start yelling at him. The group earned many strange and suspicious looks from the students and teachers they passed. In return to the looks, James and Sirius smirked with the smirk that usually meant they were planning something.

Outside, James and Sirius dropped Remus under the beech tree and sat down on his either side of him. Peter handed the bag to James and sat in front of the three other boys. James opened the bag and smiled.

"So, Peter and I went to Hogsmeade yesterday." James started.

"WHAT?" Sirius screamed and leaned pass Remus to glare at James. "How dare you go there without Remus and me?"

"You two were in that detention for throwing those balloons filled with slime at students in celebration of exams being over." James explained, smirking. "How did you guys get caught anyway?"

Sirius glared at him. "We don't all have invisibility cloaks that help in our escape."

James grinned. "Yeah, well, Peter and I decided to go to Hogsmeade and get some things." He reached into his bag and pulled out four butterbeers. "For our own celebration."

"Mmm, butterbeer." Sirius drooled. He loved butterbeer. "Give me."

"No need to be greedy." James handed a bottle over to him. "Want one, Remus?"

Remus sighed and took one of the bottles. He hated it when they snuck into Hogsmeade. They weren't allowed there until their third year. Couldn't they obey at least one of the school rules?

"Awww, Remus doesn't look happy that we snuck into Hogsmeade." James cooed mockingly. "I know what he needs to understand that rule breaking is alright." Smirking, James reached into his bag again and pulled out a big chocolate bar. "Want it, Remus?"

"You know I can't say no to chocolate." Remus grumbled and reached for the chocolate.

James pulled it out of his reach. "What do you say about sneaking to Hogsmeade?"

"It's fun." Remus mumbled.

"And?" James waved the chocolate bar in front of Remus's face.

"We should do it more often." Remus sighed dejectedly.

"Now, don't be like that or I can't give you the chocolate." James said.

Remus glared at him.

"How much do you want this chocolate?" James shook it in his hand. He stopped and thought for a moment. "I can only give it to you if you cheer up and stop worrying about exams. Your worrying is driving us crazy. You passed them all, I'm sure you did, even if you didn't accept our help to tutor you in Potions, which I don't get at all."

"He's just too damn proud to accept help from the two biggest troublemakers this school has seen." Sirius said.

Remus raised a brow. "Why would I ask Gideon and Fabian for help?"

James and Sirius stared at him, shocked.

"YOU BLOODY PRAT!" Sirius yelled and launched himself at Remus after putting his butterbeer down of course.

"AHHHH!" Remus yelled as he was knocked backwards into James with Sirius on top of him.

"SIRIUS, YOU GIT!" James yelled indignantly.

"Oi, you three knock it off." Bilius called after them as he walked pass with his friend Jake.

"Loved to!" Remus replied as he tried to push Sirius off him. "Get off, Sirius."

James grunted under the weight of his two friends.

Sirius shook his head. "Not until you tell me who the school's biggest troublemakers are."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I've already told you. Gideon and Fabian. Weren't you listening?"

Growling, Sirius grabbed Remus's jacket and started to shake him roughly. "They. Are. Not. The. Biggest. Troublemakers. Hogwarts. Has. Ever. See. You. Bloody. Git. James and I are them. How dare you say they are?"

"Sirius…you c-choking….m-me." Remus gasped out, trying to pry Sirius's hands off his jacket.

"Sirius, can you two gits get off me?" James snarled from under them.

Sirius kept hold of Remus and rolled off of James. He pinned the smaller boy beneath him as James stood up and dusted himself off. After readjusting his glasses and fixing his robes, James glared at the two of them, then at Peter who was laughing at them.

"Now, Sirius, be reasonable. Gideon and Fabian have been here longer and have caused more chaos than us. It only makes sense that they are the biggest troublemakers in the school." Remus said in a calm, steady voice. He looked at James with pleading eyes though. He wanted the bigger boy off of him.

James sat next to him. "Sorry Remus, but I have to agree with Sirius here. We are the biggest troublemakers. Look at our pranks. They are awesome. We are the Marauders. Have you seen our pranks? Those two have nothing against us. Just think what our pranks will be like when we learn more magic."

"If I agree, can I have that chocolate bar?" Remus asked, eyeing the candy lying on the ground nearby.

James smirked. "As long as you stop worrying about exams and help us with the prank that we are going to do to reveal we are the Marauders and agree with us, then sure you can have it."

"You guys are the biggest troublemakers Hogwarts has ever seen." Remus said.

Sirius ruffled Remus's hair. "Good boy. Take the chocolate."

Remus grinned and knocked Sirius off of him.

Sirius lay on his back and stared at the sky. "You could have knocked me off you the whole time?"

Remus looked up from his chocolate bar. "Yeah, sure, I just decided it would be nice of me if I let you think you won."

"You stupid prat." Sirius growled as he sat up. "I will win on my own."

Peter looked passed his friends. "Guys, Professor Dumbledore is coming towards us."

"WE DIDN'T DO IT!" Sirius yelled frantically.

James and Remus stared at him. Sirius blushed and went back to his butterbeer before his eyes widened. "Guys, we need to get rid of the butterbeer before he gets here."

James grabbed the bottles and threw them in his bag and kicked the bag to the other side of the tree then sat down and leaned against the tree. "We tell him nothing."

"Agreed." Sirius, Remus, and Peter said.

They all looked towards their Headmaster who was still strolling pleasantly across the grounds acting unaware to all the strange looks the students gave him. Apparently it wasn't normal for the Headmaster to be strolling around lazily outside, which the boys found odd. It is his school. Why shouldn't he be allowed to walk around on the grounds?

"Ah, boys, do you mind if I steal Mr. Lupin for a moment? I have some things I need to discuss with him." Dumbledore asked when he reached them.

James, Sirius, and Peter turned to look at Remus with confused looks. Why would the Headmaster want to talk with Remus? He hadn't done anything wrong as far as the boys knew and they were almost one hundred percent sure that Remus wouldn't do anything wrong to get him in trouble without him. What made everything weirder was that Remus looked confused too.

"Well, Mr. Lupin, let's go to my office. This is a private conversation." Dumbledore turned and walked back towards the castle, humming a tune to himself.

Remus shot his friends a worried look as he stood up and followed his Headmaster.

"Weird, I wonder what Dumbledore wants." James said concerned. He watched his friend and Headmaster walk away until they were in the castle. It couldn't be about anything bad, could it? He really hoped not. He didn't want his friend to get into trouble. Remus hated getting into trouble.

"Forget about it. Remus will tell us when he comes back. It will do us no good to worry about it until Remus tells us what he wants." Peter replied.

Sirius sighed. "You're probably right." He leaned back against the tree. "So, what are you guys doing for the summer?"

"I don't think I'm doing anything." Peter sighed. "Just a boring summer."

James grinned. "Don't worry. I already said you guys could come over to my place." He turned to Sirius. "How bad are your parents?"

"They are horrible, James. They are going to be so bad now that I'm a Gryffindor. Before I came to Hogwarts, they knew I was going to be different. I always questioned their views on the world and that got me into a lot of trouble. Now I'm a Gryffindor. They are going to try even harder to get me to agree with their views. I don't want to stay there, James." Sirius buried his face in his hands. "You have no idea of how bad it will be. Even I don't know for sure how bad."

James clapped his on the shoulder. "Which is why I'm going to get you out. I'm a Pure-blood and so is Peter. They are going to have some respect for you for hanging out with Pure-bloods. They won't be bad about that, even if we are blood-traitors, we are still Pure-blood."

"Yes," Sirius lifted his head and grinned. "That just might work, James. They'll be mad that I'm a Gryffindor, but if they know I'm friends with Pure-bloods, even if those Pure-bloods are blood-traitors in their opinion, I might be able to stay at your house for a while. We just have to plan this right."

Remus followed his Professor nervously to his office, racking his brain for what he could have possibly done. Nothing was coming to mind though. He spent all his time studying for the past month and the only thing bad he did was throw those balloons filled with slime at people, but he already got punished for that. So, why did the Headmaster want to talk with him?

Dumbledore stopped outside the stone gargoyle that led to his office. "Jelly Slugs."

The stone gargoyle moved aside and a spiral staircase started moving upwards. Dumbledore stepped on and motioned for Remus to come up too.

In his office, Dumbledore sat behind his desk and Remus sat in one of the chairs in front of it. Dumbledore smiled at Remus, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "You aren't in any trouble, Mr. Lupin. I merely wish to talk with you."

"Okay." Remus said unsure, but no longer nervous as he knew he wouldn't be getting in trouble.

Dumbledore folded his hands. "You have made some great friends here at Hogwarts."

Remus blinked. Was that what Dumbledore wanted?

"Three very troublesome friends." Dumbledore's voice was laced with amusement. "They are very loyal to you, aren't there? I can see that they can care a lot about each other and you. Have you ever thought about telling them about your condition?"

"I will never tell them. Yes, I have thought about telling them, but I won't. I love having friends. I'm not going to risk losing them just so they can know that I'm a werewolf. They are perfectly safe not knowing." Remus replied stubbornly.

"That's a shame. They seem like very loyal friends. I don't think they would abandon you over something like this." Dumbledore said, staring at Remus with eyes that made Remus feel like he was being x-rayed.

Remus stared back. "No offense, sir, but you don't know everything. You can't know what their reactions would be. I've dealt with this for seven years now. I know that they will hate me when they know and they will get me expelled."

"You know that Mr. Black and Mr. Potter are smart. They will eventually discover the truth." Dumbledore responded, looking around his office.

"I know and I will face it then, but for now, I will keep lying to them. Having friends is great and I don't want it to end." Remus said, rubbing his forehead nervously. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. "They are the first people to call me their friend since I got bit, but I guess that is my fault. I never wanted to have friends because I knew the dangers, but they were persistent. This past year has been great. If I lost them, I don't know what I would do. They are the greatest friends I could ask for."

"So, you will be joining us next year? I remember that when I came to visit you to ask you to attend Hogwarts, you only promised one year at Hogwarts. Will that stand or will you be coming back?" Dumbledore asked, smiling at his student.

Remus sat up and turned his gaze back to his Headmaster. "I have to, won't I? I already talked to James about this and he says that I have to come back. The way he said it, I think that if I try not to come back, he and Sirius will come to my house, kidnap me, and bring me back here."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, as I said, they are very loyal and trusting. You four have definitely grown close to each other these past few months."

The two fell into silence for a few minutes. Dumbledore looked around his office so he wasn't staying at his student as he thought. He knew it would make him uncomfortable.

Remus crossed his arms and developed a thoughtful expression on his face. His friends were very smart. James and Sirius were two of the best in their year. He knew that they would figure him out eventually. They were already suspicious of him. How much longer would it take for them to figure out? It was one of the few reasons that Remus didn't want to return for his second year. He didn't want to face them if they discovered the truth.

"Remus, I have one thing I would like to discuss with you." Dumbledore said a few minutes later.

"Yes sir?" Remus looked up at him.

"The full moon." Dumbledore smiled. "How are there here? Are they worst or better than when you are at home?"

Remus thought back to each full moon he spent at Hogwarts compared to the ones at home. At home, he got locked and chained in the basement. Here he got to roam around a house. The transformations at home were horrible because the wolf was fighting with all its strength to break free of the chains and look for prey. This made everything worse at home because the beast was angered because it doesn't like being chained.

"The transformations in the shack are better. The wolf hates being chained and loves being able to roam the house. At home, the wolf gets chained up and it fights harder to get free. The wolf is really mad at home." Remus replied, avoiding his Headmaster's eyes. Talking about what the wolf loves and hates wasn't an easy topic for him.

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "Would you like to come here for your transformations? You can have someone bring you here and I can escort you to the Shrieking Shack. That way the wolf doesn't have to be chained."

"Can I really?" Remus asked, looking at his Headmaster.

Dumbledore nodded his head.

"Thank you, sir. I would love that." Remus said excitedly.

Dumbledore smiled. "Just have someone bring you here a couple hours before the transformation."

"Yes sir." Remus replied.

Dumbledore stood up. "Now, I'm sure your friends are waiting for you. Enjoy your last week here." He motioned to the doors to show that Remus was dismissed.

"Thank you sir." Remus replied. "Enjoy your summer."

"I will. Thank you." Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling.

Remus grinned and left the office. His transformation problem was solved. His mother wouldn't have to worry about her jobs and his transformations now. Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore would be able to help him those nights. Now that he had his problem solved, all he had to do was finish planning the Marauders prank and invite….."Damn it! How could I have forgotten about that?" Remus screamed. He ran down the rest of the way to Great Hall.

"James, Sirius, Peter, I completely forgot to tell you guys something." Remus screamed as he ran towards them.

The boys mentioned looked up as their friend skidded to a halt. "What's that, Remus?" James asked amused.

"Well, the Quidditch World Cup is this summer…" Remus started.

"I forgot about that!" James and Sirius yelled.

"What are you guys yelling about?" Shawn called down to them.

"The Quidditch World Cup is this summer!" James yelled back. "Remus just reminded us."

"But he hates Quidditch. How would he know that?" Bilius asked.

Remus sighed. After his father died, he decided to give Quidditch a chance. Turns out it really wasn't that bad of a game. He did have some fun playing as a Keeper the more he played and got better at it. "I don't hate. I kind of like it now. And right now, that isn't the point!"

"Then what was the point in bringing it up?" James asked, grinning now.

"Well, my uncle is Head of the Magical Games and Sports department at the Ministry and for Christmas he got me prime tickets for the game. I was supposed to invite you lot along to go with me to the game, but I forgot, so I'm inviting you now." Remus replied, shrugging.

James stared opened mouth at him. "You…you! YOU HAVE PRIME TICKETS FOR THE WORLD CUP AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US! WHAT KIND OF FRIEND ARE YOU?" He yelled and jumped over the table to tackle Remus to the ground and shake him violently.

"James….James!" Remus struggled under his friend.

Bilius leaned over the table to see James practically choking Remus. "Uh…..James, he's turning blue. Maybe you should let him go."

James reluctantly let his friend go and stood up. "And to answer your question, Remus, of course we are coming to the World Cup with you."

"You four are insane." Shawn muttered as he walked out of the Great Hall with Angel.

"Being sane is boring!" Sirius yelled after him. He turned around to find Remus sitting down and filling his plate. "What did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?"

Remus looked up. "Oh, nothing important."

Sirius snorted. "Fine, don't tell us, but I know it had to be something important."

Remus rolled his eyes.

After an uneventful week of fireworks being set off every waking hour of the day, dungbombs being thrown left and right at students and teachers, Peeves zooming around the castle and pelting students with various things, and excited talk about the World Cup it was finally the last day of the school year. A feast was happening that night and the students would be leaving on the train tomorrow night.

As for their exams, all of the Marauders passed. James, Sirius, and Remus were in the top ten with Remus being two, James was one, and Sirius was three. Remus would have been higher but his potion grade wasn't really the best and Sirius messed up in Astronomy. He never liked that class. Lily Evans came out as four and Severus Snape was five. Lily was really mad about this and kept glaring at the Marauders. She was really sure that they had cheated. There was no way those three could be the top three. They were always fooling around.

"Before the feast begins, I would like to congratulate Ravenclaw on winning the Quidditch Cup." Dumbledore began.

The table farthest to the right erupted into cheers.

Dumbledore smiled and let them cheer for a few minutes before he silenced. "Yes, well done, Ravenclaw, but now is the time to hand out the House Cup. In last place….oh dear, Gryffindor with negative one hundred and fifty points. How did that happen?"

All the Gryffindors turned to glare at James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus as they burst out laughing.

"Ah, the little pranksters. Yes, they would cause a mess in points." Dumbledore said.

"Don't worry guys. Next year will be better." James grinned.

"Seeing as we don't plan on getting caught anymore." Remus added, smirking.

"How about you four stop all together?" Shawn yelled.

Sirius waved him off. "Where is the fun in that?" He turned back to the Headmaster. "Continue sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Black." Dumbledore said. "Slytherin is in third place with three hundred and twenty points. In second place with three hundred and seventy points is Ravenclaw. And in first with three hundred and ninety nine points is Hufflepuff."

The Hufflepuff erupted with cheers as Dumbledore clapped his hands and the blue and bronze banners changed to yellow and black, the Hufflepuff colors, with a badger on them.

"Ready?" James whispered as everyone was distracted with the Hufflepuff's cheering.

"Yes." Three people replied.

Each boy inconspicuously pulled their wands out and waved them under the table, each whispering a different spell.

Yellow and Black balloons and confetti rained down from the ceiling, gaining everyone's attention, followed by sparkly bubbles filled with mini badgers that were cheering along with the students.

Congratulations Hufflepuff! Job well done!Remus's silver writing said.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake. Not you again!" McGonagall said annoyed as she stood up.

Aw, don't you like us, Professor? We like you. You are our favorite teacher.

McGonagall glared at the writing. "Why are you here this time?"

To offer our congratulations to the Hufflepuff students and we also decided to tell you who we are. We don't feel like keeping it a secret any longer.

"So, then, please inform us all. Who are you?" McGonagall asked.

Give me a minute. We didn't exactly discuss how we were going to reveal this.

"Oh, for the love of….just tell us already." McGonagall growled.

No need to growl at me. It's the last day of term. You should be happy.

"I'd be happier if you would just get on with it so we could begin the feast." McGonagall replied.

Remus looked at his friends. "How do I do this?"

"We'll join you." James replied.

James whispered the spell and started writing. His writing came out red. First, let's say there are four of us.

Peter went next and his writing was blue. We are Gryffindors.

Sirius whispered the spell. His writing came out as gold. And we are troublesome first years.

McGonagall's eyes snapped to them. "Black! Lupin! Potter! Pettigrew!"

The Marauders grinned at her. "Yes Professor?" They asked together.

"Good job, boys." Dumbledore interrupted.

"What?" James asked shocked.

"Your spell work is magnificent. I have never known students your age teach themselves the spells you need for these pranks. Some of them are beyond your years. Very good work." Dumbledore chuckled.

"But that does not excuse everything you four have done. My office now!" McGonagall yelled.

At the Slytherin table, Severus looked on happily. He hated those Marauders and now they were going to get into a lot of trouble, maybe even expelled. He would love that.

"Oh, come on, Professor. It's the last day of term. Let them enjoy the feast." Bilius interrupted. He was grinning at the Marauders. "There were just showing holiday spirit with their pranks and today they were being good sports and congratulating the Hufflepuffs on their win. There never hurt anyone with their pranks. The only one that actually did anything was the Halloween prank and being scared on Halloween is all a part of Halloween."

The Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and the Gryffindors roared their approval. Even though the Gryffindors were mad about not winning the House Cup, they loved the Marauders and their pranks. They thought they were hilarious. The only Gryffindor not cheering was Lily Evans. She didn't think it was fair if the Marauders got away with their pranks and she was mad at them for hexing Severus. The Marauders deserved whatever came their way. She sent a glare at Remus. She thought he was alright, but with the way things are going, she was slowing changing her opinion. How could he be a Marauder? She considered them horrible with their pranks and always embarrassing people.

McGonagall glared at the students. The Marauders have caused so much chaos that year. They needed to be punished.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, it seems punishing them won't go well with most of the students. Let's just give them a warning and begin the feast."

McGonagall sighed disapprovingly, but sat down.

The Marauders grinned and started cheering when they saw they weren't going to be punished.

"Be warned, Marauders," Dumbledore said when the cheering stopped. His eyes were twinkling a lot. "Next year, you won't be getting off so easily if you decided to prank more."

"You have to catch us in the act first!" Sirius called.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Let the feast begin!"

All night the house chatted with each other. Students from Gryffindor and the other house, except Slytherin, came over to the Marauders to congratulate them on a job well done and to thank them for the exciting year. The boys grinned at them. They loved the attention they were getting, even Remus. He couldn't believe how much he liked being accepted by these students. He was loving it.

The next day the boys excitedly got on the train. They were still getting handshakes from the other students who didn't get to congratulate or thanked them the night before.

"This has been a great year." James said as he closed the door to their compartment.

"Just think of what next year will be like." Sirius sighed happily. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. His legs were stretched out in front of him and his arms were crossed over his chest. He looked very relaxed.

Remus shuddered. "I don't even want to. Just think of all the chaos you two will get up to with all the new magic you will be learning."

"I'll be able to bring my broom to school next year." James grinned. "I wish there was a Chaser position open. I really wanted to try out."

"Why not try out for Seeker? You're scrawny enough; just the right build for one." Remus suggested with a smirk.

James glared at him.

"You know he is right, Jamie." Sirius replied. He grinned. "As for me, I'm going to try out for Beater."

"What about you, Remus? Are you going to try out? I know you love playing Keeper." Peter asked.

Remus shook his head. "No, I don't want to play. I like watching."

"We need to plan for the World Cup though." James said. "There is no way that Sirius's parents will let him go if they know it's a Half-blood taking him. No offense Remus."

Remus shook his head. "Why doesn't Sirius just stay at your place before the Cup and the week before the game you guys stay at my house? That way they won't know."

"That should work. What do you think, Sirius?" James asked.

"It's good, as long as my parents don't go to the game. It isn't likely since they don't like Quidditch." Sirius said.

James thought for a moment. "I'll take the cloak, so if they do show up, you can hide under it and they will never know. Remus, who is going to take us to the game?"

"I'm not sure. It's isn't going to be Jason or my uncle. Why?" Remus asked, raising a brow.

"We need to make sure that whoever we take won't slip and let Sirius's parents know that he is there." James explained.

Remus frowned. "Then it will have to be Jason. My uncle will let them know. He's a stickler for rules and such. Jason won't tell. He broke quite a few rules himself at Hogwarts. He wasn't a prankster let us, but he did break rules and thinks it's fun to trick people."

James grinned. "I'm really liking your cousin and I haven't even met him yet."

"Did you guys see Evans yesterday?" Peter asked, jumping into the conversation.

The others turned to him with confused looks.

"She didn't look happy when we got away with everything yesterday. She looked really mad." Peter explained.

"Ah, another stickler for the rules." James sighed. "They are everywhere!"

Peter turned to Remus. "She looked especially mad at you. All through dinner she sent you glares. I'm surprised you didn't notice. I think she's mad that you are a prankster and are hanging around us, instead of more respectable people.

"That girl needs to mind her own business. Remus can hang with whoever he wants." Sirius grunted.

For the rest of the train ride the boys talked about pointless things and played a few rounds of Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess. Occasionally a Prefect would check in on them to make sure they weren't planning anything or a student would come to talk with them to congratulate them. Remus saw that a lot of kids still wanted to talk to them about being the Marauders. They were all impressed with their pranks. A lot of them kept asking questions, only to be disappointed when the boys said they couldn't answer. After all, the Marauders ways were secret.

The boys grabbed their trunks and jumped off the train when it arrived at the station.

"Write to me a lot." Sirius ordered. "I'm going to be miserable there and will need something to distract my mind from being with the family."

"We will." James replied, pushing his glasses up.

"Jamesie!" A voice yelled, making James blush and the other boys to laugh.

A woman looking to be in her sixties with graying hair and bright hazel eyes was walking over to them. She pulled James into a big hug when she reached them. "I've missed you so much. How was your school year?"

"It was fine, Mom." James replied and pulled out of her hug. "These are my friends."

Remus froze when he saw her. He recognized her. She was the Healer that took care of him when he got bit by a werewolf. What was she going to do when she realized who he was? Was she going to tell the school and not allow him to return?

Mrs. Potter saw his gaze and sent a wink at him.

Remus relaxed a little.

"Hello boys. I'm James's mom, Maria Potter." Mrs. Potter told them.

"Hello ma'am, I'm Sirius Black." Sirius held his hand out and shook hers.

"Peter Pettigrew." He shook her hand as well.

Remus grinned. "Bonjour Mme. Potter. Je suis Remus Lupin."

"You speak French?" James asked shocked.

"Oui." Remus replied.

"Well, stop it. We can't understand you." Sirius ordered.

Remus smirked. "Hello Mrs. Potter. I am Remus Lupin."

"Nice to meet you, Remus." Mrs. Potter smiled at him. She always liked him. He was a nice boy. She was sorry for him to have to be a werewolf. It wasn't fair that a nice boy liked him got bitten by a werewolf.

"REMUS!" Jason yelled.

Remus turned around to grin at his cousin. "Hi Jason."

Jason smiled at him. "Are these your friends?"

"Yeah, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew." Remus pointed to each of his friends in turn.

Jason nodded at each of them.

"Jason, what was that important news you wanted to tell me?" Remus asked curiously.

Jason grinned. "I got onto the Appleby Arrows Quidditch Team. I'm their new Beater."

"What? But I thought you were training to be an Auror!" Remus said shocked.

"I finished the training, but then I saw that the team was having tryouts and said 'what the heck' and went to tryout. I didn't think I would actually make the team." Jason grinned.

"Congrats Jason!" James said.

Remus smiled. "Yeah, congratulations Jase."

"Thanks." Jason replied.

"Hey Jason," Remus tugged on his arm. "Are you taking us to the World Cup? You are more fun than Uncle Kaus."

"Yep, I'm taking you." Jason said.

"What's this I hear about the World Cup?" Charlus Potter asked as he reached the group. He was as big of a fan of the game as his son.

James turned to him with a big grin. "Dad, Remus has Prime tickets for the World Cup. Can I go to the game with him?"

"Sure son." Mr. Potter replied immediately.

"YES!" James cheered. He turned to his friends. "This is going to be an awesome summer!"

FINITE INCANTATEM!