"I can’t wait to get in there!” exclaimed James. There was a lot of excited talking around him because the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year had finally arrived and everyone was eager at the prospect of visiting the village. The third years specially were thrilled about being able to go at last after having heard so much about it.
“Today’s gonna be fun,” said Remus as he walked down the stairs with the others. After a hurried breakfast they had collected their bags from the dormitory and were now leaving the castle. “Hogsmeade is the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in the whole of Britain, right?”
“Yeah. That’s the only reason why my parents signed my form,” said Sirius, trying not to sound bitter.
“Cheer up,” consoled Peter. “We had been waiting for this day for so long. It’s here!”
“I want to get into Zonko's,” James moaned longingly as they reached the oak double doors of the Great Hall. There stood Filch with an enormous list in his hand from which he checked the names of the students going to the village. As the four came towards him his eyes narrowed with dislike.
“You four are going too, are you?” he grumbled.
“Yes, Mr. Filch. I’m sure you would be glad to have us away from the castle for a day,” answered James in his politest voice which annoyed Filch more than anything else.
“I would have you away from the castle forever if I could,” growled Filch. He was checking the list as though wishing that their names had disappeared from it. He resented students going to Hogsmeade for they would only bring nasty stuff from there to make his job more difficult.
“Ah now, Mr. Filch. There’s no need to be so rude,” said Sirius playing along.
“I recommend you take a day off yourself and visit Hogsmeade. It would do your temper a lot of good,” suggested James. “I heard Zonko’s is a terrific place. I can hardly wait to go there.”
“See here,” barked Filch stopping his checking of list for a moment. “Most of Zonko’s stuff is banned. If I catch any of you four causing trouble in the castle it will be bad for you. I will get permission from Dumbledore to suspend you by the ankles and…”
“Mr. Filch we wouldn’t dream of disturbing the peace and quiet of this castle,” interrupted James innocently as Filch finished checking the list and ticked their names.
“Honestly, Mr. Filch, we won’t…” Remus had begun when Sirius pulled him away. The four ran towards the castle gates and out towards Hogsmeade where the older students were walking. It sure looked like a promising day.
“I’m glad you decided to come and not stay behind and brood over what happened last night,” said Melody to Lily as they walked down the path that led to Hogsmeade.
“Oh, I am not going to give that idiot the satisfaction of knowing that he’s got to me!” exclaimed Lily.
“I am still surprised at what Potter did last night. I honestly thought he liked you.”
Lily snorted. “I told you he’s only a stupid prat. The most conceited, addle-headed and intolerable being I ever met. I’ll get back at him for what he did.”
They entered Hogsmeade and kept walking while they looked around at various shops packed with Hogwarts students.
“I don’t think you should bother about him at all,” said Melody. “You're just gonna give him a reason to hurt you again. Just forget about him.”
“You are probably right, Melody. But you know I don’t stand nonsense from anyone! I’ll give James Potter what he deserves. I will not let him get away with this. This time, it’s Lily Evans he is up against.”
“Are you seriously thinking of a payback?” asked Alice.
“Yeah. I can’t just shut up after what he did to me. I wanna teach him a lesson.”
“I’ve an idea. Let’s go to Zonko’s and buy some prank stuff to teach Potter a lesson. I’ve heard they’ve got some really good stuff.”
“Hey! That’s an idea!” cried Lily.
“Let the punishment fit the crime!” exclaimed all three together.
“Oh, here’s a pub,” said Lily pointing at the Three Broomsticks. “Let’s drink to the potential ruin of James Potter’s ego and then we’ll go to Zonko’s to carry out the wonderful plan.”
“So this where you transform?” asked Sirius standing near the barbed wire fence of the Shrieking Shack.
“Yeah, looks quite different from the outside,” smiled Remus.
“It’s spooky,” squeaked Peter.
“Cool!” exclaimed James and Sirius looking at each other with a mischievous gleam in their eyes.
“I'm gonna take a closer look,” announced James going forward. The others followed him. They tried to peep in through the windows but they were all boarded up.
“Nothing to see really,” said Sirius.
“Yeah. I can’t wait to become an Animagus,” grinned James.
Remus sighed and Peter was stared around nervously.
“Just think of what we’ll be able to do once we turn into Animagi. We can even go around Hogsmeade and out of the school without anyone knowing,” spoke Sirius excitedly.
“It’ll be wonderful, but we have to figure out how to do it,” said James.
“We’ll be able to come to Hogsmeade whenever we want to through the Whomping Willow passage,” said Sirius dreamily. Suddenly he looked around in excitement. “This can’t be the only passage out of Hogwarts. There have to be more!”
“What are you talking about?” asked Remus.
“Think of this “ we know one passage way that leads out of Hogwarts. Bet there are more like this one,” voiced Sirius.
“That’s a possibility!” exclaimed James.
“There are people coming up the hill. Let’s move away,” said Remus. Peter and Sirius started walking towards the fence with him.
“No, let’s stay,” whispered James suddenly. They looked at him in surprise. “Those guys think the house is haunted, right? What if we haunt it for a while?”
“Awesome! Let’s hide. Quick!” said Sirius. All four of them ran to a thick clump of bushes and hid themselves there. Three Hufflepuff fourth year boys came panting up the hill.
“It seems that very strange noises are heard from this Shack, sometimes in the night,” spoke one of them. “Some vicious spirit is supposed to haunt it.”
Behind the bushes where the four crouched, Sirius yielded to his temptation and let out a long and realistic moan surprising not only the Hufflepuff boys but also Remus, James and Peter. The boys near the fence stiffened on hearing it and looked around amazed. James suddenly got an idea. He pulled out from his bag his most prized possession, his Invisibility cloak that he carried at all times. He put it over himself and stepped out from behind the bushes. He walked slowly for a few paces and stood near the Shack. The boys were now looking scared on hearing Sirius’ ceaseless moaning. Then James began to walk around making as much noise as possible. The visitors were almost trembling. James walked towards the fence kicking stones that were in his way and stepping hard on twigs that lay in his path. When he neared the fence it was the last straw for the boys and turning on their heels they ran down the hill as fast as possible pushing each other out of the way and yelling at the top of their voices about a certain “Moaning Phantom.”
On the hill the Moaning Phantom had stopped his cry owing to the fact that he was doubled up with silent laughter. Sirius was trying so hard to stop himself from laughing loudly that he feared he would seriously injure his ribs. Remus and Peter had water filled eyes. James made sure that the boys had gone and he came back to where the others were hiding. They all burst into loud laughter.
“Let’s get out of here before anybody comes,” said James. They all got up and walked down the hill taking care not be seen by anyone especially the boys.
“Let’s go to Zonko’s. We’ve got a lot of work there. Then we can see the rest of the village,” said Sirius.
“Look for something else. Check the third shelf,” said Alice to Lily.
Lily, Alice and Melody were standing in a corner labeled “Trick Edibles” in Zonko's.
Rainbow Sweets “ Spit in Seven Different Colours (“We don’t need that!” giggled Melody.)
Exploding Toffees “ For Enemies (“Oh no! That’s too dangerous,” said Lily.)
Mothballs “ Mouthful of Moths (“Urgh, no!” said Alice.)
“What are you doing here?” said a voice making all three jump. They turned around to see James standing behind them, his arms laden with Zonko’s merchandise and a look of great surprise on his face.
“What are you doing here?” he repeated. “Zonko’s is not a place for Miss Goody-two-shoes!”
“That’s none of your business, Potter. So why don’t you make like a banana and split!” said Lily in a sweet voice.
“I will,” replied James coldly. “I was only wondering why the slime ball isn’t with you.”
“Slime ball?”
“Yeah. Your boyfriend. Snivelly Snape,” said James.
“What?” yelped Lily. “Severus Snape is not my boyfriend and don’t you go spreading stories like that around, Potter. I’m warning you!”
“He isn’t?” said James, who for some reason sounded exhilarated. “That’s some news!” Before Lily could say anything else he turned and walked away towards his friends.
“I expected him to apologize!” said Alice angrily.
“I don’t need any more apologies from him,” said Lily. “We can keep an even score after this. I wish I could give him an Exploding Toffee. But - no, let’s just look for something else.”
It was dinner time and the Great Hall was filled with a buzz of chatter. Everyone was talking about the Hogsmeade visit and how much fun the day had been. At the Gryffindor table, James, Remus, Sirius and Peter were listening with great enjoyment to a fourth year boy telling everyone about how three of his Hufflepuff mates had encountered a ghost near the Shrieking Shack. While they listened with interest and apparent fright nobody noticed a small white sweet being levitated towards James’ goblet. They didn’t see it fall into his pumpkin juice with the tiniest of splashes. Nobody was aware that Lily Evans’ plan had succeeded.
James ate his shepherd’s pie and unsuspectingly lifted his goblet to drink. He didn’t know Lily was sitting a few seats away hoping that her luck would carry till the end. As James set his goblet down after a drink, there was a loud ‘pop’ and much to the amusement of the people around him, James grew old. He had aged seventy years in one sip and his hair was white. The Great Hall was filled with laughter that was especially loud from the Slytherin table. James was intensely embarrassed and his first thought was that Sirius had done something. But the astonishment with which Sirius was looking at James was a plain indication that it was someone else. James stood up with a plan to exit the Hall as fast as possible. But he really was an old man now and was slowly shuffling along, unable to walk fast. To add to his embarrassment the effect of the drink was over when he had gone halfway down the Hall and he changed into himself. He couldn’t decide if he should just carry on and leave the Hall or go back and face everyone laughing at him. He decided to carry on and left for the dormitory, wondering who had dared to do such a thing as prank him.
“Moltenmelon,” he said and the portrait of the Fat Lady swung forward to admit him. He headed for the dormitory stairs and was about to climb them when the portrait hole shut and somebody spoke.
“So tell me, have I managed to deflate James Potter’s ego at least a bit or is it still the size of Jupiter?”
James felt great surprise and a stab of annoyance and when he saw that it was Lily Evans. Pretty though she was, he felt that she had no right to insult him in the Great Hall like that. In her hand was a box that said, “Grow up “ Act more than your age”. He had seen it in Zonko’s and knew it contained a very small dose of a strong ageing potion. He had even considered buying it to trick someone and groaned.
“It was you?” he said.
“Yes, Potter. It was me. I can’t tell you how nice it feels to see you beaten. I hope you understand now that not everyone you bully is gonna shut up and take it, especially me. I also hope this has taught you a lesson. Now you know how it feels to be made into a laughing stalk in front of everyone."
“Well, Evans, I dunno what lesson you’re talking about. All I can say is that I’m very much impressed. Not by your prank but by your guts.”
Lily gaped at him in surprise. “I…” she began but he cut her.
“Not many people like to mess with me and those who do, get what they deserve. There was this Slytherin who spent the day in the Hospital wing getting his foot long fangs shortened because he tried to hex me. There was another idiot who was trying to fool me and he found himself hanging upside down from a tree...so what do you want me to do to you, ’cause nobody makes a laughing stalk out of James Potter and gets away with it.”
“I am not scared of you,” Lily almost sneered.
“You are the first person to succeed in tricking me and you can be sure I’ll get back at you with something special. I will… eventually… definitely… this time really make you pay …” And turning, he began to climb the stairs. At the top he suddenly turned to her and added, “But... I'm willing to forget it...only if... you go out with me.”
He said it as though challenging her and Lily’s mouth fell open. “You...you presumptuous insect!” she screamed, "No, I will never go out with you! Never!" but he was gone.
Desperation, Determination, Deliberation by james_fever
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