"Honestly that Lily girl is so weird." said Sirius after James explained what he had done to Severus after their detention. "I don't understand why she hangs out with that greaseball anyway."

"Maybe she likes him." suggested Remus looking up from his parchment of planning. "Maybe he's not as bad as he seems."

"Really Remus he's a Slytherin!" James enunciated the last word.

Sirius grimaced at his words, Peter noticing his discomfort said:

"My Aunt was a Slytherin. Not all of them are evil."

"Yeah well Snivelly is." protested James. "If you ask me he's probably the one sneaking around the school. Which is why he knew we were behind the prank. He probably told McGonagall."

"Say Remus is your plan finished yet?" asked Sirius.

"Almost." said Remus scribbling down something else. When James tried to peer over his shoulder the other boy gave him such a sharp glare that James eventually turned away and looked across to the window.

"James how good is your broom?" asked Remus after while.

"It's the Nimbus X."

"That's the second fastest broom so far." whispered Peter awed.

"Okay good." said Remus writing something down. Finally he put down his quill and presented to his friends a parchment with untidy scrawl that barely anyone could read, save for the title Operation Shadow.

"Can't read anything." muttered a frustrated Sirius.

"Well its going to take a while to do." started Remus. "Possibly the whole year. So I've decided the split the plan into a series of steps."

"Why's it going to take so long?" asked Peter.

"Because." said Remus. "We need to be careful. We need to create an image so infallible that we won't get caught and by suspected by the intruder."

"So what's our first step?" asked James.

"You said it yourself. I solemnly swear I'm up to no good. We're going to make everyone think we are the biggest trouble makers to ever step into Hogwarts."

"Aren't we already?" asked Peter.

"Yeah but we need to make it more obvious."

"Won't we be drawing more attention to ourselves?" Asked Sirius.

"No wait I think i got it." Said James. "Alot of the plan involves sneaking around so if the intruder ever catches us they'll assume we are just up to our usual pranks. Besides pranking is fun."

"It just sounds to me you all just want a noble excuse to prank." said Sirius. "I'm in. But how would the intruder know that we're pranking though?"

"That's the catch." said Remus. "They aren't an intruder."

"Wait what do you mean?" asked Peter.

"When McGonagall said you can't apperate in school grounds it got me thinking because this 'intruder' definitely apperated." said Remus. "So I went to up to library and looked up all there was on Hogwarts security."

Remus took in a deep breath before continuing.

"You can't apperate too and from Hogwarts. But there is no reason you can't apperate within Hogwarts."

"That explains it." said James. "But wait that would mean..."

"The intruder is really someone in Hogwarts." finished Remus.

"Remus you're a bloody genius!" cried Sirius. Remus found himself turning red.

"We'll be pranking up until the Christmas break." continued Remus. "And beyond that. But every night one of us is sneaking out under James's invisibilty cloak and we're spying on the masked man. Besides pranking would be a good way to practice our spells, curses, jinxes and hexes."

"You think we're going to come face t face with the intruder?" asked Peter.

"If teh teachers don't belive us we probably do." confirmed Remus.

Peter nodded glumly.

"Well then what's our first prank?" asked James, his excitement starkly contrasted with Peter's sullenness.

"You're going to steal Lucius's Prefect badge."

~~~

"Get him!" cried the the stunned Slytherin prefect as James whizzed away on his broom.

James laughed throwing the badge up in the air before catching it.

"What? Scared Malfoy?"

Lucius looked up at the airborne boy who was grinning atop his broom. His eyes gleaming behind his round glasses. His black hair sticking up in every direction.

"You wish!" hissed Malfoy.

Soon his two cronies brought out brooms. Lucius mounted one and was soon heading straight for James.

"Cruds!" James swore under his breath before whizzing away. Lucius and his cronies hot on his trail.

With the badge in hand and heart racing James raced out of the court yard and past Gryffindor tower. He looked at the window (a terrible mistake) and briefly met Professor McGonagall's eyes and thought Merlin's beard I'm done for!

He found himself racing past the outstretched arms of the Whomping Willow, barely missing behing strangled to smithereens. One of Malfoy's cronies wasn't so lucky. As James turned back he saw that Lucius was still after him. A stream f curse words ran through his head as he swerved deftly to left.

They were still on him.

Suddenly he heard some one call out "Incendio!"

He dodged the spell quickly, thinking I'm going to kill Remus. But it was in this moment that he looked up to see he was heading straight for the Willow again. No wanting his precious broom to be crushed James made a sharp upwards descent. As he did so he felt the badge slip between his fingers landing on the the Willow.

James didn't think it was possible for something so small, hard and compact to be crushed by a tree. But that was the day that James understood the true precise brute strength of the Willow as the Prefect badge was reduced to shards.

~~~

James once again found himself in Professor McGonagall's office, this time Lucius Malfoy was with him too.

"Lucius Malfoy I am very dissapointed in you." reprimanded the Professor. "As a prefect I expected more discipline and refinement. Your behaviour was absolutely apalling."

Malfoy bowed his head a slight furrow gracing his brow.

"Sorry Professor." he said coolly. "I lost my temper, it won't happen again."

"It better not." she warned. "I'm still taking thirty points from Slytherin and Gryffindor for good measure."

Lucius nodded. His tight jaw the only indication that he wasn't entirely pleased.

"You may leave." she told him.

Malfoy stood and walked so briskly out of the room that his pale blond hair almost fluttered behind him. She turned her steely gaze to James.

"It's bare been three weeks." she muttered. "And you and your friends have alreayd broken half the school rules."

James grimaced slightly, but didn't say anything.

"I'll be confiscating your broom." she announced. "I will also be writing to your parents."

His broom. What? She can't take it away it was his pride and joy!

"Alright Professor." he answered sullenly. "When will I get my broom back?"

"I am afraid because if your little joke, brooms could potentially be banned for all first years. There will be a a long discussion on this. I cannot be certain of its outcome. After all you damaged much of the school property."

Everyone's going to hate me! He thought.

He nodded fiddling with the hems of his robe. "How about detention?"

"Not this time Mr. Potter." she stated. "Though I expect to see you at quidditch trials once you hit your seond year. Now off to class."

As James turned to leave he fancied he say a glint of excitement in the Professor's eyes.

~~~

As soon as James came into potions class Sirius grinned up at him.

"Guess how many detentions I have." gloated James.

"At least two nights?"

"None."

"No way!"

James laughed an raised his hand. Instinctively Sirius winced, his body stiffened, he closed his eyes and raised his arms in self defence. Only no blow came his way.

"What the heck man?" said James astounded. Realisation dawned on him and he hastily added. "High-five? Or are your families so against muggles that they ban it too?"

Embarrassed Sirius gave him a rather weak high-five and found that he couldn't offer James an explanation. At least not one that he'd like to share. Luckily James didn't pursue it further instead he kep talking abut his narrow escape from Lucius and the willow.

"He almost set my broom on fire!" exclaimed James as he added six snake fangs to the mortar.

"Pity he didn't." came a natty reply. Sirius was surprised to see Lily glaring icily at James.

"Oh yeah! Then why don't you do it!" retorted James.

"I'm not a stupid as you!"

"But you're stupid enough to be friends with Snivels over there."

"He told me about what you did to his nose, you're a horrid bully!"

"Still letting a girl save your butt Greaseball?" asked Sirius grinning.

"Shove off!" hissed Snape. To which James and Sirius started laughing.

"Mr. Black, Mr. Potter." came Slughorn's voice. "If you don't want detention this afternooon I suggest that you best be quiet and this cure for boils best be near perfect."

"Yes sir..." mumbled Sirius, looking down at his cauldron. Neither boys even glanced at Snape or Lily's direction for the rest of the lesson. James whispered his story under his breath, as soon as Slughorn was at the other side of the room.

"You're guaranteed a spot in the quidditch team next year!" whispered Sirius enthusiastically.

James grinned and Sirius could feel his mate's head inflate with pride.

"Too bad she won't believe us about the cloaked man." sighed James.

"We asked for it." said Sirius. "We shouldn't have played the first prank. And you shouldn't have hexed Snape. But I like this way better. Pranking is much more fun."

"Even so they trust the security of the Hogwarts too much." said James. "They would never have believed us anway."

"Not even Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore probably trusts McGonagall more than us."

"But there is a chance a he might believe us."

James shook his head.

"We alreayd promised each other that we'll do it without the grown-ups. We can't break it."

Clearly eleven year old logic was working at its finest.

"Yeah you're right." affirmed Sirius.

At that moment Slughorn anounced that their potion making time was up and he was coming around to inspect check them.

Remus's and James's potion were often decent though Slughorn had eyes for only Lily and Snape. As much as James hated to admit it, Lily was as Slughorn claimed, the singularly most brightest witch of their time.

As for Sirius, he was glad his potions managed not to get him a detention.

As soon as class was over Remus raced up to James and congratulated him heartily before demanding a whole account on the incident which James gave with pride. As soon as James was finished he said:

"She banned brooms for first years?"

"No...I mean she didn't, Lucius is practically demanding it. There's going to be a whole meeting about it."

Remus nodded.

"Also I've created a roster for who is going to be sneaking out at night. Sirius you'll be up first."

~~~

That night Sirius under the magic of James's cloak walked through the halls. (unfinished)