While Sirius was not sick often, when he was, it was pretty bad. The week prior he had faked sick just to get out of class, but the week, he was actually under the weather. Sirius had been running a fever for the past three days and sniffling constantly, and it was getting on his friends' nerves.

"Good god, mate! Go to the hospital wing if you're sick!" Remus said.

"I'm not even that si–" Sirius was unable to finish his sentence as he was cut off with a sneeze. "Okay fine! I'll go after class."

"You're going now!" James said exasperatedly. "I'll walk you."

"Okay, okay! We can go," Sirius said. The rest of his friends sighed in relief, happy that their friend was willing to go get help for once. Leading Sirius out of the common rooms, James walked all the way down to the Hospital Wing with his friend.

"Excuse me?" James shouted. "Madame Pomfrey?"

Emerging from her office, Madame Pomfrey rushed over to the pair. "Hello, boys! Something wrong?" As usual, she was very cheery but noticeably worried as she scanned them for any visible injuries.

"Sirius here is sick, nothing crazy, but he definitely needs to rest."

Placing a hand on Sirius' forehead she exclaimed, "You're burning up! Might be a case of Dragon Pox?"

"But I've already had it!" Sirius whined.

"Well, in that case, it might just be the muggle flu, it's been going around ever since spring break. My guess is some of the muggle-born students brought it back without knowing." The nurse must have noticed she had been rambling because she shook her head in an effort to dismiss the conversation. "Ah, but no worry! I'll get you back to one hundred percent in no time," She sold the detail with a smile, gesturing to the bed for Sirius to lie down in.

"That's good news!" James said. "I'll stop by with Remus and Peter later to catch you up on what you missed."

"Sounds good," Sirius said. "But come here I have something to tell you."

"What?" James asked once he was close enough for Sirius to whisper.

"I need you to make me a promise, okay?"

"Okay," James agreed with a laugh.

"Every time Evans raises her hand, give her a high-five, just because I'm not there doesn't mean the prank can't be."

"That's genius!" James exclaimed. "She'll never see it coming if you aren't in class."

"My thoughts exactly," Sirius said. "Now go before you're late for class, Merlin knows you cannot afford to get another detention this month."

"Great! I'll be back around dinner with updates," James smiled as he left the hospital wing, heading up to his Defence Against the Dark Arts class before the bell rang.

"How is he?" Remus asked when James finally showed up to class.

"He's fine, now shove over I want to sit in front of Lily"

"Mate, she doesn't like you, but fine." Remus laughed as he moved a seat over to allow James to sit where he was.

"Glad to see everyone is here!" Professor Ulinzi said. "Wait," he paused, noticing the empty chair in the room. "Who are we missing?"

"It's Sirius, Professor," James said. "He's in the Hospital Wing. He's not feeling too well."

"Oh," The professor replied. "Send him my regards. Hold up after class and I'll give you his work so he can complete it at his leisure."

James nodded in response while Remus added, "I'll give him my notes from today as well."

"Perfect! Now with that all sorted, let's move on to today's lesson, shall we?" With a flick of his wand, the chalk floated up to begin writing on the blackboard. It held the word Gytrash written in their professor's sloppy cursive. "Who here can give me a physical description of a Gytrash?"

After a moment with no hands raised, Lily put hers up. Seizing the opportunity while their teacher's back was turned, James whipped around to give Lily a high-five. The look of absolute terror on her face, when she realised Sirius, was not the only person she had to worry about was hilarious. The look was wiped from her face as soon as the professor called on her.

"Oh um. What was the question again?" Lily asked.

"Description of a Gytrash," Ulinzi prompted with a smile.

"Right!" Lily said, laughing it off as to not seem nervous. "They appear dog-like but are most notable due to their forked tail. They are all white, including hair, but have distinct black eyes."

"Correct!" Professor Ulinzi said. "Now does anyone know how to scare away a Gytrash, should you run into one?"

Lily's face looked conflicted. She did know the answer, but she was unsure if her pride could handle another high-five. In the end, she decided against answering the question; instead, Remus was called on.

"It is surprisingly easy to scare away a Gytrash because all you have to do is wave wand light at them and they will retreat."

"Exactly, just for the sake of practice, why don't we go around the room and practice doing the spell for light? I'm sure you could all use a nice break from all the note-taking you have been doing in class. This time of year is usually very busy." The students all nodded rapidly and for the rest of class, they practised the very simple Lumos spell.

As promised James, Remus, and Peter all came to the Hospital Wing before lunch started.

"It was wild, Sirius!" James laughed. "The look on Evans' face was priceless. I thought she would go mental!"

"I knew you put him up to this," Remus exclaimed. "Poor Lily. I think you two might be the death of her." All the boys laughed, reminiscing in their minds about the crazy pranks they had pulled on Lily throughout the year. Once it was dinner time the boys departed, but James ended up grabbing two plates from the Great Hall and bringing them back to the Hospital Wing so he could eat dinner with his friend. Ultimately, this ended up being a bad idea because the next morning James found himself just as sick as his best friend was.

"I knew hanging out with Sirius wasn't the best move. He's highly contagious, now let's go! I'm taking you to Madame Pomfrey. Peter?" Remus said.

"Yes," came the timid response from Peter.

"Can you please inform Professor Flitwick that I might be a few moments late?"

"Sure!" he said eagerly. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

As he dropped James off to Madame Pomfrey, Remus had to make a similar promise to continue the high-five prank on Sirius's behalf. He was not excited to be involved, but as per usual, he always had his friends' back, no matter what.

In Charms, one of Lily's best subjects, Remus found it hard to remember to uphold his promise. Because of that, it wasn't until the class was halfway over that Remus high-fived Lily. Betrayal was etched on her face as she realised that one of her best friends was in on Sirius' joke. Remus muttered a quick sorry to her, but it was obvious that a war was being waged in Lily's mind. For the entire rest of the class, Lily did not answer another question, even their professor was confused.

Before supper, Remus and Peter went to the Hospital Wing with stuff for their friends. Remus, of course, came with notes and classwork so he could make sure his friends did not fall behind in class. On the other hand, Peter brought snacks to make sure that his friends were not hungry while they studied.

As dinner ended for the rest of the school, Peter left to go to bed. None of his friends minded though, as they knew that Peter needed his rest to be functional the next day. Remus, however, was only at the beginning of a long night. He needed to cover five different classes in only a few hours as well as assist his friends with their homework. It was not until the early hours of the morning that they were finally done with the work they needed to do. The next morning, when Remus woke up, he was feeling less than ideal. Perhaps it was because the week prior had been pretty rough for him, but surely the long night had not helped.

Regardless of the cause, it was pretty clear that Remus would not be at his best if he went to class. Before class started, Peter came by to check on his friends. After agreeing to the terms of the prank, he wished his friends well and headed to potions.

It was no surprise to anyone that Lily and Severus knew every answer in Potions class. Lily was not very good at the class, but with Snape by her side, she would always succeed. With the more nefarious Marauders gone, Lily assumed herself to be safe and raised her hand when she knew the answer.

Peter was never the most skilled wizard, in fact, he was quite mediocre. This prank was no different. With Lily's hand raised, Peter got a little too eager and when he turned to high-five her, he missed her hand completely, causing himself to tumble out of his chair. Crouching beside Peter like she intended to help, Lily whispered imploringly, "Come on, Peter. You are so much better than the other three, can you just lay off for the rest of the hour?"

"But– but,"

"Please!" Lily said.

"Okay, fine," Peter said sheepishly. "But don't tell Sirius, he'll think I'm a traitor."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Lily said with a smile before extending her hand to help him back into his seat.

The next day, both James and Sirius were feeling well enough to go to class. Remus, on the other hand, was taking a little longer to recover and, as such, was spending another day in the Hospital Wing. Nevertheless, things were back to normal and the young Gryffindors were seated in the Transfiguration classroom.

James might have been top of the class, but Lily was not far behind. The only difference between the two was that Lily wanted to prove her intelligence, whereas James always downplayed his abilities– a detail that was pretty ironic considering how prideful James was.

Professor McGonagall asked a question, and Sirius was not even paying attention, but the second Lily put her hands up, Sirius gave her a high-five. He had gotten used to it after all this prank had been going on for months now. It seemed this high-five was one too many for Lily because, without even a second thought, Lily's wand was pulled out.

Never in their professor's whole career had she heard such an impressive string of hexes. Even more surprising was who it had come from. Even though Sirius deserved it, McGonagall had no choice, but to give a detention to Lily.

"Mister Potter, please accompany Mister Black to the hospital wing. We don't want any nasty long-term effects from these hexes. Miss Evans?"

"Yes ma'am?" Lily said, she was still shaking with a rage she was not aware she possessed.

"I'd like to speak with you after class so we can organise your detention, you may meet me in the office. As for the rest of you," Professor McGonagall said. "Class is dismissed. Please remember to complete your assignments to turn in next Tuesday."

Sirius Black found that he could not hold in his laughter as James walked him to the Hospital Wing. "Oh, Merlin! Evans is a feisty one, I cannot believe she pulled that off."

"Sirius will you please shut up, you are literally turning green from that hex! But... you do have a point," James laughed along with his friend before dropping him off with Madame Pomfrey. Leaving it to her to take care of him.

That afternoon Lily was sitting quietly in the common room, discussing a book with Remus. It was a nice way to spend a quiet afternoon, but the calmness was disturbed when the rest of the Marauders busted in loudly carrying a tray full of treats.

"Congratulations, Evans!" James shouted.

"On what, may I ask?" Lily was clearly confused.

"Your first detention," Sirius said this like it was so obvious what they were doing. "This is a momentous occasion we must celebrate."

"Of course, you lot would want to celebrate me getting into trouble," she laughed. Lily saw no point in pretending to be mad, what had happened was already over and done. She was going to have detention whether she liked it or not, so in her mind, why not eat some free food? Besides. The house elves must have worked so hard, she could not possibly let it go to waste.

It was pretty clear to the Marauders that Defence Against the Dark Arts was Remus' favourite class at Hogwarts and it was for good reason. Pretty much everyone loved the class and the lesson they were partaking in today was no different. When the students walked into Professor Ulinzi's class they were met with a blackboard wielding one word: Duel.

"Um, professor? Is this allowed?" A small voice piped in and, upon looking, James noticed that it was Clover who asked. Clover was a first-year, same as the rest of them, but was in Slytherin. It did not take long to realise that, above all, Clover valued the rules. This detail about her became quite tiresome over the years and she was the cause of many ruined events.

"No worries, Miss Travers," assured Professor Ulinzi. "I already cleared today's lesson with the headmaster. Also, I spoke to Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn to make sure they knew what their houses' youngest members were involved in."

"Okay," Clover said, but her tone made it seem as though she was not okay with the situation. "I was just checking"

"Your concern for your classmates is greatly appreciated," their professor said sincerely. It always amazed the Marauders at how Ulinzi could be cool under pressure. Children could throw an absolute fit in his presence and he would remain completely in control of the situation, in all honesty, it was quite the skill. It was likely that Dumbledore and their house heads only allowed him to host this class because he was such a good teacher. What is even more surprising was that this school year was his very first at Hogwarts as a teacher.

"So for today's lesson, you all need to pick a partner. Since this is a particularly dangerous lesson I would prefer you to work with someone you are comfortable with. Take a few moments and once you've got your partner, stand next to them."

As unsurprisingly as ever, James and Sirius rushed to stand next to each other. All the teachers, and students, knew that if there was an assignment where you could pick your partners, the Marauders would pair up amongst themselves.

"Have you all got yourselves sorted out?" Ulinzi asked; all the students nodded in confirmation around the classroom. "Great! Everyone pick a table and sit down in with your partners– it doesn't matter if it was the same desk you were sitting in before. You guys are going to come up one pair at a time, that way nothing gets out of hand and I can monitor you more closely. "A big part of today's lesson is the importance of proper duelling etiquette. Dueling goes way back in history and there are a lot of different rules and restrictions on how to go about it. The people involved stand an equal distance away from where they stood originally. And, perhaps the most important detail involved, remember to bow to your opponent before assuming an appropriate fighting stance. Questions before we begin?"

Remus raised his hand and got called on very quickly. "What spells are we allowed to use today? I assume there are some restrictions."

"Ah yes!" Professor Ulinzi exclaimed. "Thank you for the reminder I almost forgot. That would have been quite the event," he laughed, but no one else seemed to find the humour in it. "You are allowed to use the following spells, and don't worry they will be written on the board as well: Expelliarmus, Finite Incantatem, Locomotor Mortis, and Stupefy– though I know many of you are not very proficient in these." Their professor's voice suddenly turned grave, "If you use any spells besides those, you will face severe consequences." Moving back into his normal tone, Ulinzi moved on with the lesson. "Any volunteers for the first pair?"

A very eager Severus Snape raised his hand, seemingly with Lily's approval because she did not seem too upset about it. "Excellent! Come on to the front then," Professor Ulinzi smiled at the pair as they walked to the open space at the front of the classroom. The pair stood, facing each other only a few feet away.

"Wands at the ready," Ulinzi said in a clear voice. Lily and Snape raised their wands before turning around and pacing a few feet. Once they were an appropriate distance apart, they bowed and assumed the duelling stance. "On the count of three! One... Two... Three!"

"Expelliarmus!" Lily shouted.

"Finite Incantatem," Severus countered, dodging Lily's spell. "Stupefy," he tried, but the spell ended up fizzling out because he was not as practised with that spell.

The botched spell gave Lily the upper hand and she once more shouted, "Expelliarmus." This time, Severus was unable to block her spell and his wand flew out of his hand and clattered to the floor a few feet away.

"Well done!" their professor praised. "You may both take your seats."

"We could do better than that," James whispered to Sirius.

"Well then let's go next," Sirius laughed.

"Who wants to go next," Ulinzi asked.

"I do!" Sirius shouted.

"A hand raise would have sufficed, but I appreciate your enthusiasm, come on up! I assume you're working with James." Professor Ulinzi was spot on, as per usual. James and Sirius walked up to the front and brought their wands up to eye level.

"Ready, James?"

James scoffed, "I'm always ready!" Turning on their heels the pair paced several feet away from each other. They both raised their arms to get in their fighting stance and waited for the countdown.

"One... Two... Three!"

"Stupefy!" Sirius yelled casting the spell towards his friend.

"Finite Incantatem," James deflected the spell with a smirk but moved quickly to cast a counter-attack. "Locomotor Mortis!"

At the same time, Sirius cast a Disarming Charm. For a few seconds, their magic collided and they were at a standstill. Eventually, James found a way to break away without getting hit with a charm and quickly cast another spell. "Stupefy!" he shouted, and this time it hit Sirius.

Unfortunately, the spell was not as effective as James hoped, but Sirius still loudly said, "Nice one James!"

"Thanks, mate!" James smiled for a second and Sirius used it to his advantage.

"Expelliarmus," Sirius tried the spell again, but James managed to deflect it at the last second.

"Locomotor Mortis!" The spell James cast finally landed and Sirius' legs locked together causing him to fall.

"That was amazing!" Their professor's voice chimed in. "You both show great promise, if you keep this up you could both make great Aurors."

James thanked his professor and walked over to Sirius, extending his arm to help him up after undoing his curse. Taking his hand with a smile, Sirius stood up.

"Well played," he laughed while clapping James on the back. "Well played!"