It was dark and the clouds in the sky rolled in thick and brooding above the castle one night at twilight and only the sound of the owls hooting across the Scottish hills could be heard. Deep in the castle, pale nimble fingers wrapped around the corner of a wall, its nails long and perfectly shaped as they rested on the stone. From the shadows emerged a figure, sort in height and masked by long, black velvet cloak concealing the rest of its body from the sight of any portrait around.

Their head darted from left to right before they began to run down the unlit corridor, their feet barely making a patter on the wooden floor. The cloak floated behind them stroking lightly across the walls as they slipped around the corners of the school, draping across the stairs as they climbed up them with ease, them not moving having fallen into a slumber during the night.

They came to a halt at one particular portrait. The lady in its occupancy was slumped against in their chair, her head hanging back with rolls of snores tumbling from her lips. Raising its arm, light blue wisps trickled from the cuff of the cloak that concealed its hand. The blue coiled around the golden frame of the portrait and it began to glow, clicking open and the portrait pulled forwards. The lady stirred in her sleep, grunting but remaining unknown to the world around her.

It slipped through the hole, the portrait quietly shut behind her and the blue glow softly faded back to its golden colour. The common room dressed in red and gold was dark and cold, the fire not being lit and neither were the candles dotted around the room. On one of the scarlet plush sofa's was a boy hanging half onto the floor, their long raven curls covering their face as another boy laid the other end of the sofa, their glasses crooked on their nose and their hair sticking up in all different directions. On the other sofa was a chubbier boy, round-faced and plumper sprawled across it hugging a cushion to his chest, drool dripping onto it from the corner of his mouth. On one of the armchairs, curled tightly into a ball was a tall blonde boy with scars littering his soft face. Out of the four, he seemed to sleep the most peacefully, hugging his legs close to his chest and leaning his head on the back of the chair, his cardigan draped over his body like a blanket.

The figure slipped past them without a trace, ascending up the stairs out of view from the common room. They climbed up many flights until they reached a door labelled 'fifth-year girls'. It pushed it open slowly, peering through the small crack to find all of the bed curtains drawn and no movement from within. On the floor, many items were strooned around lazily, from makeup and clothes to books and quills. It was a pig sty!

The figure swiftly finished up what they had come to do and left the room disgusted by its state. The door was shut and before the figure left it turned back, raising its arm to the wooden door, blue lights projecting towards it like it had done so with the portrait. It moved its arm slowly, the light following its movements. Satisfied with its work it fled. Down the stairs, out of the common room, throughout the castle, until it slipped into the confinements of the shadows where it stayed or the rest of the night.

"I'm telling you, Prongs, you must dream about quidditch because you kicked me six times last night and shouted pass the bloody quaffle about three!" Sirius Black, a young fifteen-year-old boy with long dark curls, exclaimed to his best friend James Potter as they strolled through the corridors the next day at lunchtime, their stomachs full of food ready to spend their free period doing nothing of much use— or so it was perceived by other people.

James laughed, "I do not, Padfoot, maybe you're just dreaming of me doing so."

"I didn't bloody dream it, I felt it!" Grumbled Sirius, elbowing the boy in the side, " it made my nights sleep awful."

From beside the pair, a tall blonde boy, Remus Lupin, who was adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder, smiled, "well I had a great sleep, didn't you, Wormtail?" He said a yawn following his words despite his long peaceful nights sleep, he glanced to the smaller boy on his right, Peter Pettigrew, who boy nodded his head, too preoccupied with nibbling away at his sausage roll he had snagged as an extra treat from lunch.

"Oh, bugger off, Moony, of course, you two slept alright not having to share with Prongs!"

James was about to cry out in annoyance when he was stopped by a beautiful red-headed girl with dazzling green eyes that glared straight at him. The boy tilted his head in confusion just as the girl pointed her finger at him. "It was you!" She exclaimed, her nostrils flaring and her voice laced with venomness anger.

The boy chuckled puzzled at her confrontation, "me, Evans? What have I supposedly done?"

Lily Evans, the girl in front of his pushed her shoes into his chest, "You and Black tied my shoes to the ceiling, hung Marlene's favourite jumper to the tree in the courtyard, left Dorcas' favourite jeans under a rock and Alice's socks were soaking in the girls' bathroom! Not to mention your vulgar message on our door!"

The four boys looked to one another chewing the insides of their cheeks. "We have no idea what you're talking about, Evans," said Sirius, "what did it say on your door?"

"You know what it said! You bloody wrote it!"

"We really didn't, Evans, for once believe us when we say we're innocent. We were up playing exploding snap until late and fell asleep in the common room. Besides, how do you suppose we got up the stairs to your dormitory?" Asked Peter, rolling up the tissue he had wrapped his sausage roll in and shoved it into his pocket until he could find a bin.

"Black managed to do it when he was with Marlene for the night!"

"Doesn't mean we did it last night."

Lily looked to Remus, "Is this true, Remus, you wouldn't lie to me, but then again, you do sometimes dismiss your prefect duty role for these three menaces."

"The God's honest truth, Lily, we had nothing to do with it all," he said nodding his head, a yawn escaping his lips. Despite, having slept decently his body was naturally tired from the upcoming full moon, his lycanthropy made him tired even if he had slept for twelve hours!

Lily smiled, "thank you, Remus," she turned back to James and Sirius, "I should apologise. I'm sorry for thinking it was you guys. I'll be going now." a short but sincere apology, one that you would expect from Lily Evans especially to people that were not her favourite people but other the years she had softened towards them.

She turned on her heels to walk away but James grasped her wrist, "what did it say? On your door that is?"

"Clean your dorm you group of swines And there was some sort of mark beneath it," Lily muttered.

Peter gasped and James furrowed his eyebrows, "we'll find out who it was, Evans, don't you worry about that. They'll regret doing that."

Lily smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears, "thank you, Potter."

As she walked away from the group, Sirius tugged James to look at him. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

Peter snickered, "you so fancy, Evans!"

"So what if I do? She's gorgeous and intelligent, what more could a bloke want?"

Sirius barked with laughter, "you're not turning all soppy on us, eh, mate?"

"Course not, Pads, I would never. Now, let's go find out who did all that crap."