“RON! DRACO! JAMES! GET OUT OF BED! NOW!”

One Hermione Granger flew ruthlessly around the room, screaming at the still – slumbering boy. “SIRIUS BLACK! PETER PETTIGREW! UP! NOW!”

Beside her, Remus Lupin smiled in amusement. It was about time someone took control. Chuckling inwardly, he turned back while munching on a chocolate frog.

Ronald Weasley groaned in bed before finally sitting up. After getting the same wake-up call for years from the busy-haired girl, he knew that if he did not get up immediately, the consequences would be... unpleasant, to say the least.

In the next bed, Draco too stood up. However, he seemed cool and composed, much unlike the others. He was already dressed in his school robes; Apparently, he had been reading in bed.

“JAMES POTTER! SIRIUS BLACK! PETER PETTIGREW! I’m giving you one last chance. UP! NOW! You’ve only got five minutes left to get to class!”

Peter sat up, wincing at the noise. Seemingly intimidated by Hermione’s ferocious appearance, he quickly stood up and got dressed.

Hermione’s nostrils flared at the two boys still in bed. Ron backed away, wondering what was going to happen this time.

Hermione quickly waved her wand in quick successions several times before pointing it at the two beds. She mumbled something under her breath, and there was a flash of light.

James and Sirius soon found out that angering Hermione was not a good thing. Tubs of water that appeared from nowhere poured down upon them while at the same time, both found that their hair had been spelled lime green and now flowed all the way to the ground.

James moaned while Harry stood up. “What did you do that for?” he complained.

“You two have class in three minutes!” Hermione thundered. “And if Harry tells me that you two have not attended his class today, there will be ... consequences later. Now MOVE!”

The two quickly shot up, running around the room and randomly pulling on robes.

“Sorry Moony,” Sirius said, digging through a very organized drawer. “I’m borrowing a pair of yours socks. Don’t know where mine went.”

Remus just shrugged before standing up. “Come on, guys. We’ll be late for DADA.”

----A minute later...----

8 Gryffindors hurled along the Hogwarts corridors, trying to get to the DADA class in the next 45 seconds Hormone just seemed to glide along effortlessly next to them. “Hurry up, hurry up!”

“’Mione,” Ron panted. “How can you still have the breath to talk? I’m exhausted!”

Hermione shrugged innocently. “I put a rather... useful charm on myself earlier. And no, Ron, I’m not casting it on you, it’s your own fault you didn’t wake up earlier!”

Ron groaned, but kept on running.

“There! James said, pointing at a blank wall. “Put your hand on the wall, Ron, and say the current password for Gryffindor tower.

Ron nodded, quickly muttering the password. The wall slid open, revealing a dark hallway. James quickly dashed in, the others on his tail.

Exactly 5 seconds later, the 8 emerged from another wall halfway around the school. Draco sighed in relief when he saw that the door of the DADA class was directly in front of them.

Sirius reached out and grasped the handle, and the group skidded into the room.

Harry, Severus, and the rest of the class looked up as the door to the classroom banged open. Harry couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face at the sight of his friends. Jame’s tie was lopsided while Sirius robes weren’t buttoned up properly. Ron’s hair was a mess, as if he hadn’t bothered to brush it. The only ones who looked presentable were Hermione, Draco, and Remus.

“5 points from Gryffindor each for being late,” Severus snapped. He looked like he was about to take off more, but a quick look from Harry stopped him. “Would you please take your seats?” Harry asked, just as James opened his mouth to complain. The boys looked like they were about to protest, but a fierce glare from Hermione stopped them in their tracks. Draco smirked as all of them settled down into their seats.

“Today,” Harry began, “we will be starting on Boggarts. Can anyone tell me what a Boggart is? Yes, Ms, Evans?” He smiled at his future mother.

“A Boggart takes on the form of a person’s deepest fears,” Lily began, “They like to hide in old closets and cupboards where they are often found, No one knows how a Boggarts looks like when it is alone, and the only thing that can confuse a Boggart is laughter, or the Riddikulus charm.”

“Excellent explanation” Harry said, smiling at the red-haired girl. “20 points to Gryffindor.”

Harry then backed up slightly, allowing Severus to speak.

“There is currently a Boggart residing in the cupboard there,” Severus began, sneer plastered on his face. Harry almost smiled at the familiar sight. “Professor Darkice and I will be... demonstrating first.”

At this, Harry stepped out towards the cupboard. When he had discussed this with Severus earlier, it had soon become clear that the Slytherin was uncomfortable at the thought of displaying his fears in front of others. Harry, Not wanting to upset the other, had agreed that he would demonstrate the spell.

Severus walked off to the side of the room. Seeing Harry standing, wand in hand, he gave a quick flick of his wand and the cupboard door snapped opened with a loud click.

The class seemed to be holding their breaths as they watched the cupboard door slowly swing open.

Creak. Creak-creak.

Finally, the door swung open and as the figure inside stepped out, a feeling of heavy coldness overwhelmed them. Harry shuddered as his mother’s voice rang out in his voice.

“No... not Harry... Take me instead!”

Grasping his wand tightly, Harry said firmly, “Riddikulus!”

There was a bud pop, and in the place of the Dementor appeared a small dog, who immediately wagged its tail and began running around, all the while yipping excitedly.

“Professor Snape and I will call out your names. You will come up one by one and attempt the Riddikulus Charm. Maria Adams!”

A brown haired girl came up, and at the sight of her, the Boggart took on the form of a vampire. “Riddiculus!” she cried, and it changed into a chocolate frog.

“Sirius Black!”

His godfather is fear was certainly unique. As it Boggart caught sight of him, it immediately morphed into another Sirius Black. However, the Boggart Sirius had a cruel glint in its eyes. “Avada Kedavra!” it cried.

The beam of green light, being a figment of imagination, bounced harmlessly off of a near by fall.

Sirius faltered slightly for a second before stepping forward determinedly, “Riddikulus!”

The Boggart turned into a certain Bellatrix Lestrange with neon-pink hair and bunny ears. Sirius roared with laughter before stepping back and allowing the next person to come up.

The lesson passed quickly, and Harry noted with some curiosity what everyone’s fears were. Peter had seen his own dead body while James, with similar ideas, saw the corpses of his parents. Lily saw an enormous slug while Remus, as expected, saw the silvery moon.

The Slytherins’ reacts too were very... interesting, to say the least. Lucius Malfoy, to Harry’s amusement found himself face to face with a serpent, while Narcissa Black saw a bandaged mummy. All in all, the lesson passed rather quickly. Quickly. Although several insults passed between the Gryffindors and Slytherins, problems were quickly solved by the deduction of points.

Harry smiled as he watched the Gryyffindor and Slytherin houses troop out. A few min. later, the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff class came in and settled down.

Walking to the front of the room, Harry cleared his throat and began to speak. “Today, we will be starting on Boggarts...”

--------- THAT NIGHT... --------

“Oi! Padfoot!” A quiet voice whispered. “Wake up!”

Sirius Black groaned before opening his eyes. “Prongs? What’s wrong?” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “This had better be good.”

“We need to call a Marauder’s meeting, “ James whispered quickly. “I need to talk to you guys. You wake up Remus and I’ll get Peter.” With that, the raven-haired boy rushed off to the bed in the corner.

Sirius groaned softly before sitting up. He quickly walked to the bed next to his and opened the curtains. “Hey! Moony! Get up!”

“Padfoot?” Moony asked anxiously, sitting up immediately “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“I don’t think so,” Sirius replied. “James said he wanted to talk to us.”

Remus nodded before quickly getting up. By then, James had woken Peter up, and the 4 of them tip-toed downstairs.

The normally noisy common room was silent except for the sound of the merrily cackling flames. Remus settled down cozily into a couch with a sigh.

After a moment, he asked, “Prongs? You wanted to talk to us?”

James nodded. There was another moment of silence before he began. “I know this may seem like a strange question to you,” he asked hesitantly, “but... do any of you notice something... strange about Harry and his friends?”

Sirius mumbled something about ‘waking us up for nothing’ under his breath, but a sharp look from Remus stopped him.

“You know,” Remus began. “Now that you mention it, I realize your right. Sometimes, I get this feeling that... I knew them somehow, before all this. Which is silly, as I’ve never met them before, but it almost seems like they know exactly who we are.”

“I get that feeling too,” Peter added, speaking up timidly. “And for some reason, I think Harry doesn’t like me.” He looked down at his feet.

Remus nodded. “That’s another mystery. Have you noticed how coldly they treat Peter? Especially Ron. They tend to leave you out of their conversations, for some bizarre reason. I can’t understand why.”

James nodded. “Exactly. At first, I thought I was imagining it, but as things went on, I realize some of the things kept happening. Like their attitude towards Peter, for one.” He turned to Sirius. “Padfoot? What about you? Notice anything strange?”

Sirius shrugged. “Nothing in particular, but I noticed the fact that they seemed to know their way around the school fairly well. Which is strange, as Hogwarts is an enormous place. And then, there’s the fact hat Harry’s a Parselmouth.”

“And each of them is an Animagus,” Remus added. “Which is supposed to be extremely difficult to achieve.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “And I just realized... He knew I was a werewolf before I told him about it. Also, he knew of our codenames.”

“Exactly,” James agreed. It’s those little things that I’ve noticed. PLUS the fact that Harry and his friends seem to know about our secrets before hand. And another thing: the group of them just seem so... secretive in general. Like they’re trying to hide something.”

“So...” Sirius continued conversationally. “Any of you have any ideas on what they might be hiding?”

“I don’t know... But... do you reckon it might be dangerous?” Peter asked worriedly.

James shrugged before turning to look at Remus. There was a note of finality in his voice. “All I know that there is something really strange going on here...”

So the conversation dragged on, with the Marauders pondering possible answers to their questions of the mysterious new classmates. Not a single one of them noticed the small shadow watching them from the dorms above.

Harry, for some reason, felt as if he just couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed, trying to drift off, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t help feeling slightly... restless. Sighing, he turned around and faced the wall, willing himself to stop thinking.

He was finally about to fall asleep when a soft whisper caught his attention.

“Oi! Padfoot! Wake up!”

It sounded like James’ voice.

“Prongs? What’s wrong?”

Yup, definitely James. Harry strained his ears, trying to hear what was going on.

“We need to call a Marauder’s meeting. I need to talk to you guys. You wake up Remus and I’ll get Peter.” He heard James shuffling off to the other side of the room while Sirius groaned and headed towards Remus’ bed.

A few minutes later, four figures silently sneaked downstairs towards the Common Room. Standing up, Harry quietly followed them. He stood at the top of the stairs and listened.

“Prongs? You wanted to talk to us?”

James nodded. “I know this may seem like a strange question to you,” the boy asked hesitantly, “but... do any of you notice something... strange about Harry and his friends?”

They were talking about him! Harry drew in a sharp breath, trying to make as little noise as possible as he heard the four Marauders discussing himself and his friends.

So, they had noticed something after all. Harry had known all along that something like this would happen, sooner or later. And now, it seemed as if they were beginning to suspect.

He would have to warn Ron, Hermione, and Draco to be more careful.

He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by the sound of someone coming up the stairs. Panicking, he realized that the Marauders had finished their conversation and were coming upstairs. Quickly, he ran back towards his bed and jumped in, pulling the covers over himself. His heart pounded loudly.

Barely a second later, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter walked in. Each of them settled into their beds before drawing the curtains around their bed.

Harry was awake late into the night, pondering the conversation he had just heard. It was a long time before he managed to fall asleep.