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Chapter Eight: Alight With Mischief
It was at breakfast the next morning when they realized the flaw in their plan. James sat down with a thump at the Gryffindor table, one shoe still untied, his hair flying in all directions. Sirius had already loaded his own plate with buttered eggs and kippers, and pushed the half-full bowl across the table at James.
“Looks like it’s gonna snow again,” Sirius noted, waving his fork at the tall, latticed windows.
“It’s not going to work,” James told him, slightly out of breath.
Sirius paused with his fork at the edge of his mouth and raised his eyebrows. “What isn’t?”
“Our plan,” James said, filling his plate with eggs, tomatoes and stuffed olives. “Trouncing Robinson. We can’t do it.” He swallowed a large mouthful of eggs and reached for the water jug that sat in the center of the table.
“Why not?” asked Remus. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and his was face paler than usual. He began spreading butter on a piece of toast, then paused and sniffed the dish of butter. “Does this butter have an odd smell, or is it just me?”
Peter glanced up from his kippers. “It looks okay.”
James raised the dish to his nose and sniffed. “I don’t smell anything.” He looked perplexedly at Remus. “I reckon your sense of smell is sharper than mine.”
“Yeah, that must be it,” Remus said hurriedly, suddenly looking distracted. He bit into his butter-smeared toast and wrinkled his nose. “It tastes alright, I reckon.”
Sirius eyed him. “Why’re you making that disgusted face, then?”
Remus shrugged. “I don’t like toast and butter much, that’s all.”
James shoveled another forkful of eggs into his mouth while he contemplated Remus’ reply. “Why are you eating it, then?” he asked around a mouthful of food. “Have some eggs. Or take your toast with jam.”
“Eggs....” Remus made a face. “Maybe. But definitely no jam.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow at this. “You ate eggs last week with no complaints,” he pointed out, filling his goblet with iced pumpkin juice and taking a large gulp.
“Right.” Remus flushed suddenly, the effect quite spectacular on his unusually pale cheeks. “Well...that was last week.”
“You’re going mad, mate,” Sirius muttered.
If only you knew how right you are, Remus thought. If only you knew.
James, ever the gentleman, frowned at Sirius. “Shut up and finish eating your breakfast.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Sirius said in a high-pitched voice, and proceeded to fill his plate liberally with a second helping of everything except the olives.
James rolled his eyes and turned to Remus. “You’re looking a bit peaky, though. You need nourishment. What do you fancy today?”
“I dunno.” Remus shrugged and grimaced as he broke off another bit of buttered toast and stuffed it into his mouth. “Bacon, maybe. Ham....” he paused, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he considered foods he found tempting. “Beef stew would be good. Also turkey, chicken, steak....”
“Hmm.” Sirius, finally full, pushed his plate away and drained his goblet. “Do we have time to stop at the kitchens after Transfiguration?”
Peter, glad to be of help, quickly dug into his bag and pulled out a worn schedule. “We do. We get ten minutes’ break after Trans.”
James met Sirius’ eyes and nodded. “Good. We’ll stop by the kitchens, then, and get some food for Remus, here.” He nodded in Remus’ direction.
“Oh, you really don’t have to--” Remus started.
“Too late,” James cut in smoothly. “I’ve already decided I’ll be wanting a chocolate éclair after Trans. So we’re going anyway.”
“You’re always wanting an éclair,” Remus muttered, and grinned when James punched him playfully on the shoulder.
Sirius, though his appetite was satisfied, speared a slice of tomato and stuffed it into his mouth. “But what were you saying before, James? Why can’t we do it?”
“Oh. That. Well....” James put down his fork and knife and automatically wiped his mouth on a napkin. Growing up as an only child and having to eat meals with his culturally refined parents gave James some advantages. Compared to most boys his age, James’ manners were flawless. He did have several habits that still annoyed his parents, though. Like spreading jam on his toast while he held it in the palm of his hand. Or spiking a knife into the stick of butter instead of scraping it gently over the surface. Or folding one leg and sitting on it rather than putting both feet on the floor....
“Okay,” James continued, his face serious. “Can you see the Slytherin table? At all?”
“No,” said Sirius, squinting as he tried to spot it through the mass of students that filled the Great Hall. “It’s blocked by about three hundred people. But what does that have to do with...oh. Blimey. I do see a problem.”
James sighed and pushed a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it was already. Levitation was difficult to perform at a distance. And even if they were extraordinarily skilled with levitation, they would still need a clear shot at Robinson. Or his goblet, anyway. If someone at the Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff tables stood just as they did the spell...well. It would be amusing, but for the present, a waste of time. Today they wanted a laugh at Robinson. No one else. And the chances of them getting Robinson while they were at the opposite end of the Great Hall were nearly nonexistent.
Remus pondered this new development. “If you could just stand over there....”
“Oh, and you reckon Robinson will just let me stand there and point a wand at him, do you?” Sirius asked sarcastically.
“No.” Remus gazed at the owls now swooping low over the tables, delivering the morning mail. “You’re right about that. But....” He fell silent, pushing his toast around with his fork absentmindedly.
Sirius flinched as a large gray owl flew past them, and quickly scanned the mass of owls for a flash of black, but it didn’t seem as if the Black owl would be making an appearance this particular morning. Thank Merlin.
Remus shook his bangs out of his eyes. “If only I had some decent food...I can’t think on an empty stomach.”
“If-if we knew an-an invisibility spell,” Peter began hesitantly, “it would be simple to merely stand right next to the Slytherin table....” he trailed off. James, Sirius and Remus were staring at him, openmouthed. Then Sirius grinned and slapped him on the back.
“You’re a genius, mate!” Sirius exclaimed.
“Blimey, how could I overlook something like that?” James said, shaking his head. “I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe I forgot all about it....”
Peter grinned. “You know an invisibility spell?”
“Nah,” said Sirius, rubbing his hands together and grinning. “He has something far better than that, don’t you, James?”
James smiled widely and nodded.
“See,” Sirius continued, “he has an in--”
This sentence was abruptly cut off as James clapped his hand over Sirius’ mouth. “A little louder, maybe?” James hissed. “Does everyone in Hogwarts have to know? Then they’ll all be wanting to borrow it, or worse, steal it.”
Peter’s face reddened. “I didn’t--”
“Oh,” James added hurriedly, “we’re not hiding it from you. We’ll show you upstairs.”
“You have a“what?” Peter asked in a hushed voice.
“An invisibility cloak. Really. My granddad got it for me this past holidays.”
“But-but those are so rare...it must’ve cost a fortune.” Peter gazed at James in awe.
“I suppose,” James said, a tad impatiently. “Do you want to see it?”
“Can I?” Peter asked, his voice reverent.
James smiled and slid off the bed. The leg that had been folded underneath him prickled slightly as walked over to the trunk at the foot of his bed and eased it open. Peter, who had followed him across the room, gasped audibly. James’ trunk was empty.
“It’s been stolen!” Peter whispered, staring into the trunk. When he looked again, he realized that there was one broken quill lying on the bottom of the trunk.
“Whoever’s stolen it left behind evidence,” said James confidently. “Peter, pick up that quill, please.”
Peter leaned down and stretched out his fingers. Two inches into the trunk, his hand was stopped in midair by something that felt soft and cool….He glanced up at James, bewildered.
“Pick it up,” James repeated, grinning widely.
Peter took hold of the smooth, silky substance and pulled…and he was staring down into the messy contents of James’ trunk, underwear and dirty socks mingling with library books and cartons of Kneazle treats. Clenched in his fingers was a shimmering, gray cloak.
“Wow,” Peter said, his voice hushed as he gazed at the cloak in his hands. “Brilliant.”
Peter handed the cloak to James, who wrapped it around his waist. Peter gasped as the bottom half of James’ body disappeared. Then James draped it over his head like a burnoose and left only his right hand outside the cloak, waving it around slightly. Peter’s eyes were open wide as he stared at the spot where the rest of James had been visible just a moment before.
“Okay, enough of the demonstration,” said Sirius, checking his watch and beginning to look slightly bored. “We’ve got to go, James, so put it away.”
James removed the cloak and stuffed it into his book bag. He nodded. “We’ll work out a strategy during class.”
“Okay,” James affirmed as they headed towards the Great Hall for lunch. “Let’s go over this one more time. Me and Sirius are gonna be under the cloak.”
Sirius grinned and flexed one arm, trying to show off nonexistent bulging muscles.
“Peter and Remus,” James continued, “you’ll be standing a few feet away as lookouts. If Robinson figures something out, or the teachers are looking our way, you begin a loud conversation about how lame you think the Chudley Cannons are. Make sure you’re not next to any Cannons fans, though, or you’ll get yourselves into a heap of trouble.”
Remus glanced at Peter and nodded. “Okay.” Then he raised his head, sniffing the air. “There’s beef stew for lunch!” he crowed, and quickened his walk.
“Honestly,” James started, “you care more about food than--”
“Your sense of smell is bloody brilliant,” Sirius said at the same time. “I mean, I can’t smell anything yet. Can you?” he asked Peter.
Peter shook his head. “Nope.”
“Whatever,” James said impatiently, “ but Remus ate nearly an entire chicken less than two hours ago when we stopped by the kitchens--”
And,” Sirius continued, talking over James, “my sense of smell is supposed to be pretty good. I mean, it’s better than James’, anyway.”
James glared at Sirius indignantly and stopped speaking.
“So if you can smell what’s for lunch while we’re a few floors above the Great Hall,” Sirius concluded, “your sense of smell, Remus, is bloody amazing.”
Remus flushed and muttered something under his breath. I need to be more careful.
“What?”
Remus took a deep breath. “Nothing.” He shook his bangs out of his eyes and took the stairs down two at a time, one hand lightly coasting the railing.
“You’ll get your beef stew,” Sirius panted from right behind him. “I’m hungry, too. But first, we’re taking care of Robinson.”
“Of course we are,” Remus answered, and grinned.
“Ouch! Sirius!” James hissed.
“Shut up! What?”
“Get off my foot!”
“Oh.” Sirius glanced down absently and moved his foot.
“Merlin,” James muttered under his breath as he rubbed his foot as well as he could through the sneaker.
“Sorry,” said Sirius. “It’s just hard to walk at your pace and stay under the cloak at the same time....”
“Yeah, I know.” James straightened up and glanced at Remus and Peter, chatting a few feet away. A coterie of Ravenclaw girls were giggling loudly next to them, and Remus and Peter’s conversation was barely audible.
Sirius drew his wand and pointed it at Robinson, who was seated less than five feet away at the Slytherin table. “Wait,” James said hastily, and pulled Sirius back a few feet as a crowd of Slytherins went by in order to get to their table.
The invisibility cloak covering them fluttered slightly, and James pulled it closer, making sure they were both still concealed. “Okay, now,” he whispered. “Swish and flick, remember, and--”
“I know.” Sirius pointed his wand at Robinson’s full goblet, and said ‘Wingardium Leviosa!’ as loudly as he dared. The goblet began rising slowly into the air, and Sirius grinned, pushing it even higher. Just a bit more, and then“
“Sirius!” James’ whisper was frantic. “Move!”
Too late, Sirius turned and saw the Ravenclaw clique heading their way. There was no time....
Thump. Several things happened in quick succession. Sirius fell as a Ravenclaw bumped into him, and landed hard on the stone floor, pulling James with him. The levitated goblet trembled for a moment in midair and then dropped onto Robinson’s lap; he jumped up and cursed loudly, trying to shake the pumpkin juice off his robes before it seeped into the fabric.
And a Ravenclaw brunette who had been giggling with her best mates a moment before scowled at Remus, who was suddenly standing in front of her. “Pardon,” Remus said hurriedly. “I was talking to somebody, and I didn’t see you coming....”
She pushed past him. “Whatever.” She never noticed the stray sneaker lying on its side next to the bench, and didn’t miss it when it disappeared a minute later.
“Idiot,” James moaned as he lay sprawled next to Sirius. “Get up. I dunno how much of us is covered. And we’re bound to get stepped on sometime soon.”
Sirius pushed his palms off the floor and raised himself to his feet, putting out a hand to help James up. They straightened and made sure the cloak was secure, then Sirius grinned and prodded James. “Aw, look at him.” Robinson was scowling and yelling at a fellow Slytherin, gesturing at the wide wet patch on the front of his robes. He strode furiously down the length of the table, presumably heading for his dormitory to change.
“Ooh, look,” a gossipy Hufflepuff next to the doors whispered loudly. “The front of his robes is absolutely soaked...looks like he, er, drank a bit too much and couldn’t hold it.” Her twittering mates giggled at her insinuation and pointed at Robinson, whispering behind their hands.
Robinson’s scowl grew more pronounced as he slouched past them, his ears and neck bright red.
“Yes!” Peter cheered. “We did it!”
“You bet we did,” said Sirius filling his own goblet. “Did you see the look on his face?”
James pushed the bowl of beef stew toward Remus. “All yours,” he said, grinning broadly.
“Remus, mate,” Sirius said, turning to him and slapping him on the back. “That was bloody brilliant, the way you pretended that Ravenclaw bumped into you.
“Ah, it was nothing.” Remus grinned. “Only the work of a genius. I’m surprised, though. My mind usually doesn’t work well on an empty stomach.”
But it wasn’t empty, James thought, bemused. Remus ate plenty when we stopped by the kitchens after Trans.
Remus ladled stew onto his plate and began eating enthusiastically. Beef stew is always good. But near the time of full moon, it’s a lifesaver.... Remus cleared his plate and took a second helping. “By the way,” he started, then stopped, eating his stew pensively.
“Yeah?” Sirius looked up from the baked potato speared on his fork.
“Er. Well,” Remus said, “my auntie’s Augerey Fever has started up again, and my mum wants me home just in case...well. I’m going home day after tomorrow.”
James gazed thoughtfully at Remus, the steam from a cup of freshly steeped tea leaves blurring his features. “It’s her third relapse now, isn’t it?”
“Well...” Remus said uncomfortably, staring out the large windows, through which fat snowflakes could be seen falling, “yes.”
“Blimey,” said James quietly. “I hope she turns out all right.”
“Yeah,” Remus added hastily, “me too.”
Early the next morning, James was woken by a pillow shot at his head. He groaned and sat up in bed, noting the brilliant blue sky outlined in the dormitory window. His eyes lit up. “Is it....?” he mouthed at Sirius, who was standing by the window in his pyjamas.
“Yes!” Sirius cheered. “It’s a perfect snow day!”
James grinned and stretched. The sun had hardened the fluffy snow that fell yesterday just enough for it to be easily sculpted. Tiger leaped lightly onto his bed and nudged his hand with her head until he softly rubbed the fur behind her ears. She purred and settled on his lap.
‘Let’s use the cloak!” Sirius exclaimed.
James wrinkled his forehead in thought. “Hmm....”
“Come on, mate! Imagine, a cliquey group of girls, trying to stay as dry as possible in their designer robes and boots, and we bombard them with snowballs! And, of course, they don’t know what’s happening and they can’t retaliate, because we’re off the path and under the cloak!”
“The cloak won’t cover all four of us,” said James, burying one hand in Tiger’s long, silky fur.
“I’ll stay behind a snowbank and make snowballs,” Remus mumbled from underneath his blanket, “and then I can stand on the path and watch or just stay out of sight.”
James turned his head quickly and raised his eyebrows. “What? You sure, Remus?”
“Yeah, no problem,” Remus replied, his voice heavy with sleep. “There isn’t much strength in my throwing arm, anyway.”
“What are you talking about?” Sirius demanded, throwing himself back into his bed. The bedsprings squeaked in weak protest as his mattress bounced. “Your arm was just fine last week when you wrestled those Every Flavor Beans away from me.”
Remus groaned. “Whatever.” His voice was muffled through the blankets, but James thought he sounded considerably more awake now.
Sirius shrugged and headed for the bathroom, grabbing a towel off his shelf in the cupboard. James raised an eyebrow and stroked Tiger steadily, eyes narrowed at the lump under the covers that was Remus. “Very eloquent, Remus,” he muttered.
Lily, Tami and Dani were moving leisurely over the snow-covered grounds after their Herbology lesson, their feet sinking deep into snow whenever they ventured off the path. “I’m so hungry,” Dani said. “I hope we don’t have that weird squash stew for....” Her voice trailed off. “What’s going on?”
A group of Ravenclaw fourth years ahead of them on the path had just started shrieking and gesticulating wildly. “Are they....” Tami started worriedly, and then her look of concern morphed to one of amusement. “Someone’s throwing snowballs!”
Indeed, Lily could see great blotches of white on the girls’ dark cloaks, and even as Tami, Dani and Lily watched, three more snowballs came pelting out of nowhere. “You think it’s Peeves?” Lily asked.
“Nah. He never comes out of the castle.”
“Then how are they doing it?”
“Well,” Dani said, “if they were invisible--Justin told me about invisibility cloaks, but there are spells for making yourself invisible as well--then it would be really easy to just stand there and throw the snowballs.”
Justin, Dani’s Ravenclaw third-year brother, was always tossing random bits of information her way, which she would run by Scott to make sure they were true. Half the time they weren’t. But that piece about invisibility cloaks was true enough. Though they were really rare and expensive, they did exist.
“Maybe they’re just hiding behind that snowbank,” Lily said thoughtfully, eyeing the thick shrubbery surrounding that particular area. “Let’s go see.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Tami asked, and grinned when Lily high-fived her.
They walked off the path casually and circled around the trees, stopping in a thick cluster of pines about fifteen feet away from where the snowballs were flying. “Ha, we got them,” Dani said quietly, and pointed through the branches at the deep snow. It had been recently disturbed by many footprints, which all stopped abruptly at one point. One footprint broke off halfway through, the toe of the print gone. Even as they watched, another footprint appeared out of nowhere, pressing snow down hard, and a snowball zoomed out over the path.
The girls grinned at each other, and by unspoken agreement they all knelt behind the pines and began building a stockpile of snowballs. Lily knew that there was a chilly breeze blowing“her breath came in clouds as she bent to pack snow between her gloved hands--but she didn’t feel the cold as she regarded the snowbank, planning her shot. An icy wind snuck inside her cloak and she barely noticed, automatically pulling it tighter around her while hefting the snow she held to feel its weight. “Okay,” she murmured. “I’m going first.”
Tami and Dani nodded and stood up beside her, each of them armed with a snowball or two. Their cheeks were pink and their eyes sparkled mischievously, and suddenly Lily fully appreciated that they were her friends. They were assisting her with something that was definitely asking for trouble, and they were enjoying every second of it, just like she was. Lily grinned broadly as she drew her arm back, stepped around the edge of the trees, and flicked her wrist in one smooth motion, sending her missile whizzing at the spot where the snow was most crowded with footprints.
Her snowball hit clear air with a soft thud and stuck there, a flattened blob of snow suspended in midair. “Ow! What was that?” a voice called in astonishment, carrying easily over to the girls.
“Go, Tami,” Lily whispered, and Tami threw. Lily thought the voice they had just heard sounded like Potter’s, but she couldn’t be sure.
“I think--” another voice started, but the sentence ended in a yelp as Tami’s snowball reached its mark.
“Come on,” Lily muttered. “Are you guys wearing a cloak, or not?”
Dani’s snowball, thrown a second later, answered her question. It veered to the right of where she was aiming and caught the edge of the cloak, dislodging it slightly so that half of someone’s head was visible. Definitely Potter, Lily thought jubilantly as she spotted his trademark, messy black hair, disheveled even more than usual by wind and snow.
“Okay,” Dani muttered. “We have maybe one minute before they decide to head over here. I say we each throw one more and then run for it.”
“Excellent,” said Lily. “We’re each only going to get one shot, so let’s try and make them count, shall we?”
James threw the cloak off, exposing Sirius and Peter beside him. His eyes swept over the trees, trying to decide from which direction the attack had originated. As he turned to Sirius with a questioning look on his face, he was just in time to see a large bit of snow land on Sirius’ collar. Sirius shouted as snow began trickling down his neck. Immediately after, James got a mouthful and began sputtering. Peter dropped to the ground and missed the shot that was meant for him, which sank deep into the snowbank behind him.
Their surprised faces were quickly replaced by indignant ones. “Hey!” Sirius shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Same thing you were,” Lily called spiritedly from their hiding place. “Throwing snowballs at people who haven’t a chance of retaliating.”
“I’ll show you retaliate!” James exclaimed, heading for the trees at a run with Sirius and Peter close behind him.
“Let’s go, move!” Dani cried, and promptly fell over a rock. Tami groaned and held out a hand to help Dani up, and there was one frozen moment when Lily thought the boys would reach them before they left, but then the girls were all up and running, leaving the trees deserted. Lily’s laughter emerged in panting bursts as they ran to the wide path milling with students, where they could disappear into the crowds heading towards the castle.
The boys arrived at the path approximately five seconds after the girls did and pulled up short, scanning the faces nearby. But they were too late“the girls were gone. Remus, however, was working his way towards them. “Brilliant,” Remus called, barely containing his laughter. “Excellent show!”
“Just stand there and laugh,” Sirius grumbled. “Awfully nice of you, I must say.”
“Oh, pity you couldn’t watch yourselves,” Remus said, his face red from suppressed laughter. “It was absolutely hilarious.”
“Did you see who they were?” James asked, beginning to smile. Remus’ merriment was starting to rub off on him.
“Sure I did. You can take a guess, though, there aren’t many girls who would’ve done something like that.”
“They were girls!” Peter exclaimed.
“That’s it,” Sirius moaned. “I can now officially die of mortification.”
“I suppose it was Lorens, Evans and that friend of theirs?” James inquired, thinking of how they never acted like typical girls. There was that business about the frogs on the train when they first came to Hogwarts, and throughout the year James noticed how they were always one of the first to jump into any fun situation, even if it involved getting dirty, wet, or jinxed. And if the occasion involved wandwork, they stood their ground, jinxing back and playing dirty if the situation called for it.
“Exactly.”
“All right, I’m dead,” Sirius lamented. “Beaten by a few girls....” He shook his head woefully and removed his soaking wet gloves as they headed for the castle.
“It was you,” James said when they confronted the girls at dinner. “And you’d better apologize, or we’ll--”
“You’ll what?” Dani grinned. “It’s your word against ours. And besides, certain people I know in Ravenclaw wouldn’t mind finding out who the cheeky students were that ambushed them today.”
“And? You think we’re afraid of them?” Sirius demanded heatedly.
“Nah.” Lily smiled. “Why should you be? Of course, they do know lots more curses than you do. And though it’s against school rules to attack another student...well, if they’re angry enough, who knows what they might do....” she let her voice trail off suggestively.
Sirius growled under his breath and glared at them. “What makes you so sure about that? I know plenty of good curses.”
James threw Sirius a look, shook his head, and murmured something, after which Sirius got up and stalked off, James, Peter and Remus right behind him.
Remus grinned at the girls over his shoulder as he left. “I must congratulate you, though. That was some excellent aiming on your part.”
The girls smiled broadly as they focused on the boys’ receding backs. “Yes,” Tami murmured. “That was good.”
“Traitor,” James muttered at Remus after they left the Great Hall, but he smiled. “You’re right, though. Much as I hate to admit it, I can’t find a single fault with the way they handled things today. They used really excellent tactics...pity they were against us.”
Sirius shook his head. “You’re just going to write the whole thing off?”
“Mate,” James replied, slapping Sirius genially on the back, “part of a good strategy is knowing when to back off.”
“Because you’re afraid?” Peter asked.
“No,” said Remus. “Because you’re not.”
A/N: Hello, wonderful reader! Now, I know for a fact that more than half my readers don’t review.... :( If you read this and you liked it, why don’t you drop me a line? I really do appreciate it, you know. :D