InsaneJournal

When students read in the peaceful library that evening, they were unaware of the horrors one James Potter was facing.

In a secret passage just beside the restricted section, the Marauder was waiting for his best friend. Moony didn't know about this one--they knew he'd disapprove--so it was James and Sirius's "private spot".

"Bloody Sirius taking bloody forever." James muttered, rolling the Marauders' Map up as he brushed spiderwebs out of his hair. 

Getting to his meeting spot with James had turned into a challenge for Sirius. But was it really his fault that so many adoring...fans had stopped him in the halls? No, of course not...

Slipping into the library he glanced around before slipping behind the tapestry of the tome-reading troll. "Miss me?" He asked with a grin into the dark where he knew his best friend was standing.

"Of course, but I miss Moony's sanity more." He said, leaning against the side of the passage. "And I miss being the only person who looks like me." 

"Has Moony ever really been sane, though? Think about it..." Sirius snickered before sobering up. James did sound a bit upset. "Listen, there's got to be some way we can figure out what's going on."

He nodded. "True, Moony has always been a bit of a lunatic." This was especially amusing, if one considered Moony's condition. "Yeah, but how? They aren't going to tell us anything."

"Depends on how we ask them...no, we can't just come right out and ask why in the world they just appeared at Hogwarts. But we can get to them other ways..." Sirius suggested.

"Seduction? Padfoot, that's really not my forte. You know Lily is the only one for me." James said as he raised one eyebrow. "Plus, most of them are male, I believe..."

"I wasn't talking seduction, you idiot." Sirius managed to find James' shin in the dark and give it a harmless kick. "I just meant we could attempt to Get to Know Them...but really just try to get information."

"But that'll take forever!" James whined. "I want to know now! I mean, what if they're evil and out to murder us? Then waiting and trying to be their friends would be bad. There must be some other way to find out..."

"Bribery? Torture? Veritaserum? Tickle it out of them?" He offered, trying to come up with -something- to quell their curiosity. These kids had to slip somehow!

"I like all of the above!" The messy-haired Marauder replied with a large grin. "Or what if we Polyjuice ourselves to look like two of them, and then trick the others into telling the truth?" He was going overboard again. 

"Well, we -do- know how to make polyjuice potion..." Sirius grinned back, the devious twinkle in his eyes. "But would it really fool them?"

"We could try. I mean, if they won't tell us anyway, it can't hurt." James was smirking now. "We're the Marauders...if we can't do it, can anyone?"

"Of course not!" Sirius snorted. "Wait a minute..." Sirius' smile quickly faded. "Polyjuice takes a long time to brew..."

James cursed under his breath, but then looked back up at Sirius. "But Slughorn was bragging the other day that he had some in his storage...we could just steal it and add some hair?"

"Good point! Right, I've got a plan. You know how he just adores talking my bloody ear off, yeah? So I'll distract him with some nonsense, and you can sneak in with the cloak and grab the stuff."

James nodded, his smirk growing wider. "Sirius, this is perfect! But which students should we impersonate? Maybe not Harry...I think he's the one we want to trick into telling us the truth." 

"What about his friend then, the girl? Hermione I think it is." Sirius began to move a bit in the tiny space. "He seems to trust her...."

"That could work." James said, his eyebrows moving up. "The bookish one? That sounds brilliant, actually. I thought someone mentioned something about Remus meeting her in the library? Maybe we can get Moony to tell us the truth by pretending to be her. But there are two of us, and only one of her...?"

"Yeah, the bookish one. I think I saw her and Remus exchange some odd glances at dinner once, before you got here. But...you realize this also means one of us has to be a girl..." Sirius gave James a sidelong look.

"A girl who goes into the girls' dorms...where Lily is..." James said with a smile so large that it threatened to consume his ears. "I think I'll take this one, mate, if you can get some of her hair for me."

"Oh, you're such a martyr." Sirius drawled sarcastically. "I don't think I'll have a problem getting some hair. She has enough of it."

He laughed, incredibly excited about this idea. "This is absolutely brilliant...Moony would we proud. If we weren't tricking him." He took his cloak out of some inner pocket and put it on. "I'm going to go see if Slughorn is in...if that Hermoninny (or whatever her name is) is bookish, she'll probably be in the library. Go see what you can do. We'll meet up in the dorms later." 

"Will do. Good luck, mate." Sirius saluted his best friend. "We're going to need it." With that he turned back to the tapestry to peek his head out and make sure the coast was clear.

James followed him outside, heading towards the dungeons. 

Meanwhile, in the library, Hermione sat at a table reading a book about time travel (as usual). "Merlin, this is impossible..." She muttered, shutting the book. "I've read every book on the subject twice now...and there's just nothing useful."

"Every book? I didn't think the library was that small..." Sirius inserted himself into the previously one-sided conversation smoothly. "That or you just read very quickly." 

She looked up at him, startled. Awkwardly, she corrected him. "Well, not all the books in the library. Just all the books on time travel, magical history, charms, potions..." She brushed her hair back. "But I refuse to read about Divination. It's so worthless." 

"Couldn't agree with you more there. Mind if I take a seat?" Sirius motioned at the chair across from her, which he was currently standing behind. "Maybe I could be of some help."

She bit her lip. If he saw what this book was about, he'd become suspicious, but if she refused his offer, he'd...become suspicious. "I'm not sure if you can really help me." Hermione said, looking down at the book. "This is the third time I've read it..."

Well, she'd ignored his request to sit down...who cared about manners anyway? Sirius took the seat across from her. He debated whether or not to just grab the book...but no, he had a mission, and that wasn't it. "You know, this might sound crazy since you seem to love books so much, but sometimes they don't always hold the answer." 

"Yes, but they certainly help." She replied curtly, offended on the books' behalf. "And sometimes, when I can't trust people..." She didn't finish. It was time for a change of subject. "So I heard you like pranks?"

Can't trust people...hm..."My reputation precedes me." He grinned a bit. "Yes, I do have a fancy for pranking and the like. Bit of a...hobby, really."

She tried not to laugh. A hobby? The Marauders were practically legends because of their pranks... "What kind of pranks?" Hermione asked with a slight smile, playing along.

"Everything you can possibly think of...and then some." He did love to brag. "Have any interest in it yourself?" His mind was going through ways he could snatch a hair from her.

"I dislike breaking the rules." Hermione answered, closing the book. She failed to notice when a long strand of hair was caught inside. "But my friends--Harry and Ron, they're here too--do it all the time. Once, they drove a flying car into a large tree." 

"No kidding! You wouldn't know it from meeting Harry...seems a bit reserved and all." Guess there was more to these new kids than they thought. Then he spied the hair. He had to grab it before she took the book with her...

"You met Harry?" She asked, not completely surprised. They were in the same dorm--it had to happen eventually. Harry had met pretty much everyone by now. "I heard he, um, looks like your friend James. That's a weird coincidence. Maybe they're cousins or something?" Hermione was slightly concerned about that...

"Well yeah, he lives with us and all...can't avoid him, even if I wanted to." This was what, the third week of school, after all? "He looks a lot like James, yeah. I suggested the cousin thing, but James refuses to believe it. I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually..." Sooner better than later...

Her eyes went wide. "Figure what out?" The brunette asked nervously. "We really are from a plague-filled village...I don't know why everyone refuses to believe that." Maybe because it was a lie? 

Whoa, touchy...a clue? "I just meant we'll figure out why they look so similar. I never said I didn't believe where you all are from. It's just not often new students appear at Hogwarts. S'why everyone's so curious."

She looked down at the table. "Sorry, it's just stressful...all of my family's gone, and it's a new place, and..." The witch took a deep breath. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who can find the cure." 

Oh Merlin, she better not start crying on him... "No offense, but you can't be the -only- one capable of helping out your...village. You're at Hogwarts now, after all. Best wizarding school in the world."

She shook her head. "It's more complicated than that..." She glanced up at him. "I think I should leave." If she stayed, she would risk telling Sirius the truth--something she really couldn't do. Especially after she had told Remus. "Nice speaking to you." Hermione said quietly, walking out of the library--and forgetting the book with the hair inside.

"Bye..." Sirius watched her leave before looking down and seeing the book was still there. He pulled it to him and carefully pulled out the girl's hair. "Brilliant." Hair tucked away in a pocket, he headed back tor Gryffindor triumphantly.