Chapter 1
James took a deep breath. He knew he couldn’t, not fully, not with his binder on but still. He took as deep a breath he could and then continued running. His black hole was back, so that meant that his late night trips to the forest for runs were too. The air wouldn’t come and his vision turned black for a moment. He doubled over and blinked as he panted. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a vaguely doglike shape running towards him. He snapped back up quickly and grasped his wand with shaky hands. Those were new.
“James!” The confused voice of Sirius Black chimed through the air as he seamlessly shifted out of his Animagus form.
“Siri?” James looked equally confused as his best mate sauntered towards him.
“What in the actual fuck are you doing in the forbidden forest at 5 a.m, James?”
“I-I was going for a run?”
“At 5 a.m?”
“Why are you out here, Sirius? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you up this early.”
“Because my dumbass of a best mate was missing from his bed at 3 a.m and I couldn’t find him. How long have you been up?”
“Have you eaten anything yet? You get grumpy when you don’t eat.”
“Don’t change the subject, Prongs.”
“I woke up at like 2:30. I was feeling kind of restless so I went for a run.”
“You haven’t eaten either, have you?”
“Yeah I did! I went to the kitchens before I went for my run.”
“No you didn’t. No you fucking didn’t! You didn’t eat at all yesterday, or the day before that! Why are you lying?” Sirius looked manic and ready to kill.
That was the end of 6th year. This story, however, starts at the beginning of 5th year.
“Prooooongs!” The whiny cadence of Sirius cut through the Gryffindor dorm loudly.
“Must you whine this early?” Remus grumbled from his side of the dorm, his face pressed into his pillow.
“It’s 12 in the afternoon.” James chimed as he emerged from the bathroom. “What is it Sirius?”
“I can’t find my brush.” He pouted dramatically from where he stood beside his trunk.
“It’s quite literally on your bed.” Peter groaned from his bed beside Sirius’s.
“Oh! Well, thanks Wormy!” Sirius answered pleasantly.
“Right, everyone up and getting ready. We have prank planning in an hour!” James chimed pleasantly from where he stood by the bathroom door, herding them out of bed like the mother hen he was.
“Must we?” Remus and Peter groaned in unison.
“If we want to get back at the Slytherins, then yes.” James reminded them of the counter-pranking they were planning. Somewhere in Slytherin they possessed a group of expert pranksters whom the Marauders were dead set on catching. No one had any clue who they were and they were good too. The last prank they pulled was filling the whole of Gryffindor commons with geese and snakes.
"Right, so, we're doing this then?" James looked around at his friends with a grin.
"Let's just hope McKinnon doesn't kill us for it." Sirius gulped as they approached the blonde.
"Heeey, Marlene!" James put an around her shoulder with a friendly smile.
"Hiya sunshine." She answered with a friendly smile.
"How are you?" Sirius chimed in.
"What do you guys want?" Marlene quirked a brow.
"Why do you assume we want something?" Remus answered.
"Because Sirius only asks how I am if he wants something." Marlene looked at the aforementioned person with a glare.
"Right. So, we were wondering if you could set up a meeting with Dorcas for us?" James replied with their intentions.
"What do you four want with my girlfriend?" Marlene observed the Marauders with a suspicious look.
"We have a few questions for her." Peter supplied helpfully.
"Two tins of James's cookies and we have a deal. Also, I am there with you so you don't overwhelm her." Marlene stated calmly.
"Deal." They shook on it and Marlene got her cookies an hour later.
The next day, Sunday, the four boys met up with Marlene and Dorcas in a corner of the library. James cast a silencing charm around them as well as one of disillusionment. This did not stop Sirius's twin, Regulus from observing their meeting. He had downed an invisibility potion shortly before they entered. All Regulus needed to do was make sure Dorcas did not accidentally give their friend group, jokingly dubbed the Slytherin Skittles, as the other pranksters away. Not that Meadowes couldn't hold her own of course, it was just safer this way.
The meeting was calm and civil, at least as civil as the Marauders could be. James stepped out around ten minutes into their conversation. It intrigued Regulus, to say the least, who followed the other boy to the lavatory. Once inside, James cast a door locking charm and dropped to the floor in a panicky manor. Regulus was surprised and began panicking himself when he realised his potion was beginning to wear off. The heart-clenching gasps that escaped Gryfinndor's golden boy were becoming steadier by the second and by the time James lifted his head, Regulus was fully visible.