“What just happened? Are they angry with me?” Sirius asked.
“It would appear so, yes,” Remus answered him.
“What did I do?” Sirius asked worriedly.
James shrugged. “What did Jess tell you?”
“Well, we were, er, talking.” Sirius coughed nervously.
“Whatever, Padfoot. It’s not like we don’t know what you were doing anyway.” Peter laughed.
Sirius grinned sheepishly. “Well, anyway, I asked her what they weren’t telling us. And how they got of the castle at night and up to the Shack.”
“And what did she say?” Remus prompted.
“Well, I’m not really sure. I mean, I know what she said, but I don’t see why they’re mad at me. It’s not as if they had a good reason, like we did.”
“What do you mean, Sirius? Had a good reason to what?” James asked.
“I don’t know!” Sirius put his head in his hands. “Why do girls have to be so complicated?”
“I don’t know, but I sure as hell cant help you figure anything out!” Peter told him.
“Yeah, mate. Just tell us, what did Jess say to you earlier?” Remus asked.
Sirius cleared his throat. “Well, as I said, we were, ah, talking, and I asked her how they got out and what their secret was. And she wasn’t paying too much attention to what I was asking,” he said.
“I wonder why.” James said sarcastically and sniggered.
Sirius shrugged, grinning. “Couldn’t tell ya, Prongs. But so, she answered sort of before she realized she wasn’t supposed to be telling me. She said … she said, ‘well let’s just say we were doing some rather complex spellwork of our own in fifth year.’”
“No!” James said.
“You’re lying!” Peter said in disbelief.
Sirius shrugged. “That’s what Jess told me, when we were in the Broom “ uh I mean, ah, a classroom.”
“You don’t think one of them could be …?” Remus asked them.
“Nah!” the other three said in unison. A second later they all looked at each other again. “Could they?”
“Nah!”
“Ahem, now I do believe a certain two Marauders owe me three Galleons each.” Peter grinned, holding out his hand.
The girls trudged slowly down the staircase into the common room, grumbling about “bloody ignorant prats.”
It was well into the early morning by then, and the girls were tired from such a long day. Jess was absolutely exhausted because she had to chase Sirius around the castle to stop him from telling them what they told her not to tell him. As she dragged her feet across the carpet, she eyed the red sofa longingly.
“Go on ahead, guys. I’m a goner. Save yourselves. It’s better this way,” she told them, and flopped onto the sofa dramatically.
“You’re just going to sleep there then?” Emma asked.
Jess snored loudly in response.
“Five Galleons says Sirius will be down her before the end of the night!” Lily laughed.
“Make it three and I’m in,” Kylie said. “He won’t be here ‘til after eleven. You know how he gets about his sleep.” She giggled.
The three girls, leaving Jess behind on the couch, went up to their own dormitory and collapsed onto their beds.
When Lily woke up, it was nearly twelve o’clock. She looked around and saw Emma and Kylie still sleeping. She then proceeded to sit on them until they woke up.
“Did we miss breakfast already? Is it time for lunch yet? I’m starved. I haven’t eaten anything for a really long time. And that’s bad. If I don’t eat, well, I die! Can we go get lunch?” Kylie asked very quickly, all in one breath.
“Yes, we missed breakfast. Yes, it’s time for lunch. No, you are not going to die. And yes, we can go get lunch now,” Lily answered her.
Emma laughed and got out of bed. “I think today feels like a sweatpants day,” she said, pulling on a pair of warm, grey sweatpants and a pink t-shirt.
Lily nodded her agreement as she put on a pair of baggy black sweats, and pulled on a tight, pale blue t-shirt.
“I think every day should be sweatpants day,” Kylie said, yawning, stepping into her own dark blue sweatpants and an orange shirt.
They all stumbled groggily down to the common room where Jess was still sleeping soundly. There was no sign of Sirius anywhere.
”Pay up, Lily,” Kylie said, grinning at her.
“Ok, let’s go eat,” Lily answered, handing Kylie the money.
“Hey, how come you wake us up, but not her?” Emma asked Lily.
Lily looked around at the crowded room. It was crowded, not because it was a weekend, people generally spent the weekends outside, but because it was pouring down rain. Gryffindors of all ages were hanging about, making quite a bit of noise. “If she can sleep through this ruckus, I really don’t think we have a chance,” she said.
Emma yawned her agreement and the three girls started down towards the Great Hall.
Not ten minutes later, Sirius woke up in his own dormitory. He looked at the other empty beds in the room, figuring he had already missed breakfast, but hadn’t quite slept through lunch, or else he would have been doused in ice cold water.
He threw on a pair of jeans and dashed down the stairs, skidding to a stop when he saw Jess sleeping. He wasn’t in the best of moods, considering he was asleep less than two minutes ago, he had a massive headache that made his head feel like it was splitting in two, and the climbing volume in the common room was the cherry on the sundae.
“Hey! HEY!” he exploded. Everyone fell silent and looked at him in awe. He was a Marauder, after all. “I want all you ruddy ignorant gits to look at that lovely sleeping girl right on that sofa. Now think about how loud you wankers just were! I want you all to leave my girlfriend here to sleep peacefully! (At this point, a few girls burst into tears, both from being shouted at by Sirius Black himself, and hearing him call someone his girlfriend.) I don’t care were you go! The library, your own dormitories, the Forbidden Forest! I. DON’T. CARE. But you’re going to go, and you’re going to go NOW!”
Everyone in the room scampered away in a matter of minutes. Sirius smiled to himself in the new silence, and headed off to the kitchens.
When Jess woke up, she opened her eyes briefly, but upon seeing what a rainy day it was, shut her eyes and rolled away from the window. She took a deep breath, and noticed something sweet in the air.
“Mmm.” She groaned and stretched out on the sofa.
“Good morning, beautiful,” she heard someone say. “Care for a spot of breakfast?”
Jess rolled back over and opened one eye grumpily. But she sat up quickly and gasped when she saw Sirius sitting next to the couch, holding a bunch of lilacs in one hand, and a tray of food, presumably from the kitchens, in the other, smiling at her. Sirius put the food on the table and held out the flowers as a peace offering.
Jess took them and threw her arms around Sirius’ neck. “Thank you! Ohmigosh, these are beautiful!” she said excitedly.
“Sleep well?” he asked.
Jess nodded as she tore into a piece of toast. “You?”
He nodded, and then proceeded to make a great show of looking out the window and sighing. “Look at all that rain.”
“So, have any plans for today?” Jess asked him.
“Well, you know, I was thinking, all the Marauds could - ” he began, but was cut off by Jess.
“Marauds? What the bloody hell does that mean?” she wondered.
“Marauds? It’s all the Marauders and Marauderesses. It’s shorter to say.” Sirius shrugged.
“Not when you have to explain it!” Jess snorted.
“Whatever. That’s not the point.” He waved a hand in the air dismissively. “I was thinking, maybe all the Marauds could play a game.”
“Have one in mind?” Jess asked cautiously.
“It’s a guessing game.”
“Called?”
“What Animagi are you?” he said casually.
Jess perked up. “Ok! So where’s everybody else?”
It took Sirius a few moments to compose himself. He had expected Jess to refuse and be angry. “Er, well, they’re probably coming back from lunch just now.”
“Oh, good. So we can play!”
“Well, yeah, sure.”
As if on cue, the other ‘Marauds’ walked into the common room.
“Hey, where is everybody? Why is this place so empty?” James asked.
“I kicked everyone out,” Sirius told him.
Emma raised her eyebrows. “Why?”
Sirius shrugged. “Jess was sleeping.”
Lily, Kylie, and Emma shared a ‘that’s so cute’ look.
“Would you guys do that for us?” Lily and Kylie asked the other Marauders.
James nodded. “Of course,” he smiled at Lily.
“Well, I’d try, but there’s no guarantee people would listen to me,” Remus answered.
“Ok, so we’re all here, and no one else is going to be here for quite some time. We all,” Sirius said, gesturing to himself and the other Marauders, “told you our animagi forms. I think it’s only fair we know yours.”
“Ooh! Wait! Can we try to guess?” Peter asked.
“How would we every possibly guess? It would take days?” James said.
Remus smiled at James’ obliviousness. “There are only four animals they could be.”
James and Sirius gave each other a confused look. “How do you figure that? There are about a million forms they could take,” Sirius told him.
“Think a minute. How many animals have you ever seen around the Shrieking Shack?” Remus asked them.
They thought for a moment. “I know I’ve seen a fox and a ferrety-thing,” Sirius supplied.
“I’ve seen a wolf and a small bear,” James answered.
“I’ve also seen this other thing a few times. It was white, and I have no idea what it was,” Peter told them.
“Well, we’ve been up there loads more than a few times,” Kylie said.
“Ok, so are you lot going to tell us what you are? Or are we going to guess?” Sirius asked.
“I think it would be fun for you to guess,” Emma said.
Jess nodded. “Guess away, gentlemen.”
“Lily, you are a,” James began slowly, “fox.”
Lily pouted. “You cheated.”
“How could I cheat?”
“I don’t know, but you got it on the first try, and that’s not fair,” she said.
“I’m sorry, but it was easy to guess, because you’re so foxy.” James grinned at her.
She laughed. “You’re pathetic.”
“Maybe, but I do have a girlfriend,” he said as he grasped her hand and intertwined their fingers.
Lily’s cheeks flushed a little. “Yes, you do,” she said, squeezing his hand.
“Somebody guess me! Somebody guess me!” Kylie shouted, bouncing up and down.
“C,” Sirius muttered under his breath.
Remus punched Sirius in the arm without bothering to pull his punch. “Watch it, Padfoot. You can’t play ‘Guess that Cup’ with our women. Against Marauder rules,” he said softly so the girls couldn’t hear.
“What was that, Sirius?” Kylie asked, her eyes narrowed angrily.
“Er, I said, uh, see, see how much fun this is, Jess?” Sirius lied.
Jess nodded doubtfully. “Sure you did.” Sirius grinned roguishly at her.
“Are you the bear, Kylie?” Peter asked.
“No!” Kylie growled. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, of course,” she added hastily.
“Are you a wolf?” Remus prompted.
“No,” Kylie looked around the room, as she tried to lie, but failed horribly.
“So, we have Jess and Emma left to be either a bear, or a weasel-type-thing,” Sirius thought out loud. “You a bear, Jess?”
“Nope,” she shook her head.
“So, Emma, you’re the little bear,” James said.
“And Jess, that would make you a, well, a whatever that thing is,” Peter said.
“It’s a mongoose! Golly!” she said, laughing at her new word.
“Like Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” Sirius said.
Jess nodded excitedly. “That was my favorite bedtime story, growing up.”
“I wonder what the plural of ‘mongoose’ is,” Lily mused.
“Mongeese,” James answered right away.
“Maybe it’s mongi,” Peter said.
“Mongooses?” Kylie suggested.
“I don’t think it matters. Have you ever seen more than one mongoose together at a time?” Remus asked them all. No one could answer yes.
“Well, that game’s over. Anyone up for some Truth or Dare?” Sirius asked.
Everyone agreed. “Ok, then. Kylie - truth or dare?” Sirius asked.
Kylie thought for a moment. “Dare.”
“I dare you to sing The Littlest Worm song while wearing a pair of knickers on your head.”
Kylie gasped and blushed furiously. “You’re evil!” Sirius grinned maliciously.
“Do they have to be mine?” Kylie asked.
“Your what?”
“Knickers!” she mumbled.
Everyone burst out laughing, while Sirius nodded.
Kylie disappeared up the stairs for a moment and returned sporting a red, orange, pink, and yellow striped headdress.
“This is a repeat after me song!” she shouted, giggling like mad.
“This is a repeat after me song!” the Marauds gasped between fits of laughter.
“The littlest worm (The littlest worm)
You ever saw (You ever saw)
Got stuck inside (Got stuck inside)
My soda straw (My soda straw)
The littlest worm you ever saw (You ever saw!)
Got stuck inside my soda straw.
He said to me (He said to me)
"Don't take a sip ("Don't take a sip)
For if you do (For if you do)
I’ll surely slip (I’ll surely slip)
He said to me, "Don't take a sip, (Don’t take a sip!)
For if you do, I’ll surely slip.
I took a sip (I took a sip)
And he went down (And he went down)
Into my pipes (Into my pipes)
He must have drowned (He must have drowned)
I took a sip and he went down (And he went down!)
Into my pipes, he must have drowned
He was my pal (He was my pal)
He was my friend (He was my friend)
There is no more (There is no more)
This is the end (This is the end)
He was my pal, he was my friend (he was my friend!)
There is no more, this is the end.
Now don't you fret (Now don't you fret)
Now don't you fear (Now don't you fear)
That little worm (That little worm)
Had scuba gear (Had scuba gear)
Now don't you fret, now don't you fear, (Now don’t you fear!)
That little worm had scuba gear!”
As soon as she was done, Kylie flew up the stairs to remove her stunning headpiece.
She sat back down and looked at her friends. “James. Truth or dare.”
“Dare!” James responded.
Kylie smirked. “I dare you to run a lap around the Great Hall during dinner tonight in just your boxers.”
“Alright,” he complied. “Any particular requests?”
Kylie shook her head. “Just nothing plain and boring.”
“Your turn, Prongs,” Sirius said. The girls missed the wink that passed between Sirius and James.
“Lils, truth or dare?”
“Truth,” she answered distractedly. A minute later, she clapped her hand over he mouth. “Dare! I meant dare!” Sirius smirked.
“Ok. So, before we started going out, when did you most feel like giving in and not pretending to hate me anymore?” James asked her.
Sirius smacked himself on the head. “James! What’re you doing?” James shrugged.
Lily thought for a moment before answering. Probably in fourth year.”
“Tell us about it!” Kylie requested excitedly.
“Alright, take a breath there, Kylie,” Lily said, before telling her story.
Lily stepped out onto the grounds and looked around. It was a beautiful spring day; the sky was a bright blue with puffy white clouds, there was a cool breeze, and the sun beamed down onto her face. She began making her way down towards the Quidditch pitch where Kylie and Jess were saving her a seat.
It was Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff today, and Emma had been Gryffindor team Seeker since second year. Plus, James Potter was on the team.
“So, when does this thing start?” Lily asked as she sat down next to Kylie.
“A few seconds,” Jess said, nodding towards the field. Lily looked down and watched as the captains shook hands, and the game began.
Five minutes into the game, James had scored three goals for Gryffindor, and a large portion of the crowd was cheering wildly. James did a victory lap around the ring, halting in front of Lily.
“Milady, I shall win this match for you!” he told her. “If the noble Gryffindors emerge victiorious from this contest, wilt thou honor me with a date?”
Lily looked over at Kylie. “He’s not talking to me. Is he talking to me? Please, tell me he’s not talking me.”
Kylie laughed at her. “Yes, Lily, he is talking to you. You’re just going to have to say no.”
Lily turned back to James, who was hovering in the air, his eyes darting apprehensively to the Hufflepuff chaser who was in possession of the quaffle. He looked back to her apprehensively. “No, I can’t,” she said.
He zoomed off and the game continued. Hufflepuff scored two goals, and Gryffindor answered right back with two of their own. Everyone held their breath when Emma and Grindalf Periwinkle, the Hufflepuff seeker, raced from one end of the pitch to the other, but nothing came of it.
James scored two more quick goals and flew back over to Lily. “Wouldst thou goest outeth with me now?”
Lily shook her head, smiling to herself as he flew away. He was trying so hard. It was absolutely adorable.
James continued to score all throughout the game, and every two or three goals, he would speed over to Lily and ask her out, using a new ridiculous accent.
The game was nearing on an hour and half, with no further sightings of the snitch. It was getting quite vicious “ beaters hitting people instead of bludgers, people trying, and some succeeding, in knocking others off their brooms.
Lily, Jess, and Kylie watched excitedly as James carried the quaffle down towards the Hufflepuff goal, when Grindalf flew over top of him and kicked him in the back of the head. James dropped the quaffle but managed to get it back and continued towards the goal. Meanwhile, Emma sped over and flew right next to Grindalf. She spun around quickly, hitting him with her broom, and knocking him off backwards.
Grindalf fell to the ground, but got up again, and remounted his broom, despite a rather oddly hanging arm. He kicked off hard, a furious look on his face.
By this time, James had scored yet another goal, brining the score up to an even 250, Hufflepuff trailing behind with 30.
James flew over to Lily for what was the fourth time, at least. “Art thou still disinclined to acquiest my request?”
Lily blinked. “What?” He couldn’t just ask her out properly and say “Lily, will you go out with me?” He hadn’t done so yet, thank God, or else she probably would have said yes. As it was, however, she was amused by his various approaches, and was interested in seeing what all he could come up with.
“Doest thou still refuse to accompany me to Hogsmeade on the next outing?”
“Bloody hell, Potter!” she screamed in frustration. “If I go out with you once, will you stop bothering me?”
James thought for a moment, before grinning guiltily at her. “Probably not.”
“Then there’s no point in it anyway, so no.”
James flew away degradedly, and still the game went on.
Before James could score another goal, though, the seekers began speeding towards the ground. Everyone else in the game stopped playing to watch.
Emma and Grindalf sped closer and closer to the ground, neck in neck. They both pulled out of the dive beautifully, and zoomed towards the Gryffindor goalposts. Emma inched ahead of Grindalf and stretched out her hand. Suddenly, a bludger came spinning out of nowhere, hit Emma’s shoulder, and knocked her sideways, away from the snitch. Grindalf caught the snitch with an extra burst of speed, and landed victoriously. He looked around for his teammates, and when his eyes passed over the scoreboard, his face fell.
The Gryffindor team cheered and flew over to James “ who had undoubtedly won the game for them. “Party in the common room, eh?” he shouted. Everyone cheered again.
Lily stared as James and the rest of the team went off to the locker rooms. Kylie smiled. “Earth to Lily! Come back to us, Lily!”
Lily tore her eyes away from James and looked to her best friend.
“You were staring again,” Kylie told her.
Lily sighed. “I know, I can’t help it! I should have just said yes and gone out with him. He’s amazing!”
“He did win the game for us,” Kylie pointed out. “And he probably asked you out at least five times today.”
“I know,” Lily moaned.
“I still don’t see why you won’t just go out with him already.”
“I want to, Kylie, but I just can’t!”
Kylie shrugged. “Well, don’t come crying to me when he starts liking somebody else. You should just go out with him already, and stop pretending”
Lily was back to staring at the locker room, where she knew James was right now. “I’m not sure I can keep it up for much longer anyway.”
“For not being sure you could keep it up, you did just fine for the next year,” Sirius commented.
Lily shrugged, smiling.
“So, really, how many ways did you ask her out?” Remus asked James.
Kylie giggled. “It must have been a hundred. It was so cute!” she pinched James cheek.
He glared at her. “It was not.”
The other Maruaders looked at him, waiting.
“Oh, alright!” he said grumpily, and they grinned. This was prime mock-material.
James stood in the locker room with his teammates, waiting to go out onto the pitch. It was an important game today.
“Nervous, Potter?” Aubrey Wood, the team captain, asked him.
James looked at her. “Am I ever nervous?”
Aubrey shrugged. “We’ve got quite a winning streak going. And, this is a really important game.”
“I know, I know. Relax, Aubrey. Have I ever lost a game for you?” he said, grinning arrogantly.
“No. Just, do what you always do,” Wood told him, and they followed the rest of the team outside. James swung a leg over his broom, and prepared to take off. The whistle blew and …
“Er, James?” Remus said timidly.
“What?” he answered, irritated they interrupted his story after working so hard to get him to tell it.
“We were all there. We saw the game. We know you were the hero. All we want to know is about you and Lily,” Emma told him.
James glared at them all. “It’s such a good story!”
“Prongs, mate. WE. DON’T. CARE,” Sirius said.
James sighed. “Fine. But if you all ever want to hear about, it’s not problem. I’d love to tell it.”
“NO!” they all shouted together.
James winced, and sulking, picked up his story.
James quickly scored three goals and the Gryffindor section was cheering like mad. James flew a victory lap, stopping in front of the Gryffindors. His eyes scanned the crowd and fell upon the bright smile of a red-haired girl. The smile on her face fell when she saw him.
James didn’t notice, however, and he ran a hand through his hair. “Milady, I shall win this match for you! If the noble Gryffindors emerge victorious from this trial, wilt thou honor me with a date?” he asked.
He watched as Lily turned to her friend next to her. They exchanged a few words and Lily turned back to him. “No, I cant.”
James heard a whistle blow behind him, so he spun around to get back into the game. After he had scored another two goals, and Gryffindor was safely in the lead, he flew back over to Lily.
“Wouldst thou goest outeth with me now?” he asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Hufflepuff chaser score two goals in a row. “Shit,” he swore under his breath, and looked back at Lily quickly.
She shook her head, smiling faintly. James looked over his shoulder, and jerked his broom around, hurrying off again, muttering.
Three goals later, he was back. This time, he had conjured up a pair of dark sunglasses and a mobster hat. “So, uh, is you gonna go out wit’ me, or what? If not, I might have to whack a few people, ya know what I’m sayin’?”
Lily giggled. “What are you, in the mafia?”
“I’m in da family bidness,” he told her.
“Well, no, I’m afraid that lifestyle is a bit too violent for me,” she said, almost regretfully.
James’ hat and sunglasses disappeared, and he returned to the game, smiling to himself. She was giving in. He could tell.
It was nearly fifteen minutes before he had gotten another three goals and found himself in front of Lily Evans again. “Ill-way you-yay o-gay o-tay Ogsmeade-hay ieth-way e-may?” he asked.
“What bloody language are you speaking, Potter?”
“Pig Latin!” he answered. “I thought everyone knew Pig Latin.”
“Well, seeing as I am neither Latin, nor a Pig,” she said.
“You make a strong argument,” James consented.
“I don’t know exactly what you said, but I’m pretty sure I got the gist of it, so no.”
James sighed a flew off again, only to return a few moments later, this time with a cowboy hat.
“Howdy, Miss Lily! How’d you like to come with me to that Hog-town this weekend?”
Lily snorted and laughed. “Hog-town? That really doesn’t sound too nice. I’ll have to pass.”
James came back one more time before Grindalf caught the snitch. “Art thou still disinclined to acquiest my request?”
“What?”
James smiled. He didn’t even know properly what he had said. “Doest thou still refuse to accompany me to Hogsmeade on the next outing?”
He watched Lily’s eyes practically smolder as she let out a scream of frustration. “Bloody hell, Potter! If I go out with you this once, will you stop bothering me?” she asked, almost giving in out of anger.
James flashed her a guilty grin and ruffled his hair. “Probably not,” he answered truthfully.
She smirked. “Then there’s really no point in it anyway, so no.”
James flew off to try to get one last goal, thinking to himself that maybe, maybe she wasn’t worth all the trouble.
Before he could score again, however, the seekers went into a dive, and after a bit of rough play, the Hufflepuff seeker, Grindalf, came up with the snitch.
James grinned, realizing Gryffindor had won, largely due to his efforts, and his smile grew wider as the team crowded around him, congratulating him.
“Party in the common room, eh?” he shouted, and everyone cheered even louder. James sighed. It was nice to be appreciated. The thought brought his eyes back around to look at Lily. He thought their eyes connected for a moment. And in that moment, he disregarded his earlier thought. She was most definitely worth all the trouble in the world.
All the girls sighed collectively, but the Marauders just rolled their eyes.
“That’s so adorable!” Emma squealed.
“And to think, she would hardly even talk to him for the first four years!” Kylie said.
Lily smiled at them. “I had me reasons.”
Jess snorted. “If it was me, those reasons wouldn’t have meant shit after about third year.”
“I’m glad to hear my efforts were appreciated by someone,” James said, glaring at Lily.
“I guess the game is over then,” Peter mumbled.
“It most certainly is not!” Sirius said loudly. “Lily, I believe it would be your turn.”
“Well, since you are so keen on playing, Sirius Black,” she said menacingly, “truth or dare?”
“You really needn’t even ask.”
“Fine. I dare you … ” Lily looked around the room for inspiration. There was a piece of parchment, some books, someone’s school robes … someone’s school robes … “I dare you to wear Jess’ uniform for a whole day. Skirt, jumper, and all.”
Sirius’ jaw dropped. “Do you realize how short Jess’ skirts are?” he asked her in shock. “Not that I normally have a problem with that,” he said to Jess, “but my whole bloody legs will be showing!”
Lily smiled. “Deal with it, Black!”
Sirius’ eyes narrowed as he scowled at her, but brightened immediately when he turned to Emma. “Truth or dare, Emma?”
“Truth,” she answered with a little sigh. She always wanted to pick “dare,” but somehow, it always came out as “truth.”
“Why did you lot become Animagi?” Sirius crowed triumphantly.