Sirius tapped his foot impatiently, glaring at the two empty seats across the round table that should have contained his two friends, James and Peter. Remus sat besides him, swirling around a pile of feathers with his wand.
“I knew I should have gone to the kitchens instead of Peter,” Sirius said breaking the silence. “I bet he got lost.”
“Peter’s not that dense, Sirius,” Remus said.
“Then why is it taking him so long?”
“Use your imagination.”
“I did, and my imagination says he got lost.”
Just then James came strutting into the boys’ fifth year dormitory. “Hello, lads,” James called cheerily. He hadn’t bothered to change out of his Quidditch practice robes yet.
“Did you get the leaves?”
James nodded, and chucked his school bag “ which instead of being filled with books and paper, was filled with fallen leaves.
“I had to double back outside after walking to the castle with the team. I didn’t want anyone questioning why I was taking a bag of leaves back to the castle. So it’s just the bubbles we’re missing?”
“We have that covered too, right, Remus?” Sirius stated.
“All set.”
“I thought it would take over a week for that shop to owl it to us,” pondered James, settling himself in one of the empty seats.
“We’ve got connections,” Sirius said mysteriously.
Remus laughed. “By that he means a Gyffindor first year gave us a bottle of bubbles, and we enhanced it.”
James rolled his eyes. “And we’re missing Peter.”
“He got lost going to the kitchens,” Sirius explained. He leaned back in his seat, tilting the chair back.
“How do you know that?” James asked puzzled. James stood up to light another one of the lamps in the room. The sun was starting to set.
“He doesn’t. He’s just assuming,” Remus said.
As if on cue, Peter burst into the room, out of breath.
“Got lost?” Sirius asked the picture of politeness.
“No,” Peter mumbled. “I was delayed.”
“Why?” Sirius asked. He was interested in why Peter looked flustered by the direction of the topic.
“By Darlene.”
“Who?” repeated Sirius.
“Victoria Dekker’s friend.”
“The really tall one?” James asked Peter.
“Yes.”
“I’m still not sure who you are talking about,” Sirius said.
“You’ve seen her. She has really blonde hair that looks almost white,” James supplied.
Sirius shrugged; the identity of Darlene was still escaping him.
“Guess she’s not that noticeable.”
“I know who she is Peter. I believe she’s in the top five of her class,” Remus said joining in on the conversation.
“Why’d she delay you?” James asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“No…it wasn’t like that,” Peter said turning pink. “You have the wrong idea. She was asking me about Remus.”
“Remus?” Sirius echoed in surprise.
“Me?” Remus gulped looking flabbergasted.
“Now I really want to know who she is,” Sirius said while grinning at Remus.
“What did she want to know?” Remus asked quietly.
“If you were seeing anyone.”
“What did you say?”
“No, obviously. You aren’t seeing anyone, are you?”
“No, I’m not “ but-” Remus said.
“What else did she want to know?” interrupted James.
“That was really the only question she asked me. She just talked a lot about stupid girl stuff “ talked my ear off “ which is why it took me forever to get back from the kitchens.”
“Now that your curiosity about Peter’s whereabouts is fulfilled, can we please move on to why we are here “ to plan a prank?” Remus voiced.
Sirius shook his head in amusement. Only something like talking about a potential love-interest of Remus would get Remus to actually want to plan a prank.
“Yes, lets,” Peter said in agreement, and he began passing out the bottles of pumpkin juice that he had lifted from the kitchens, as well as a basket of sweets that he placed in the middle of the table.
Planning a prank was serious business. It took research, planning, patience, and timing. It involved heated discussions and agreement by all members of the group. It involved innovation and effective use of each person’s talent.
As usual James took the lead. “We’ve got the spell,” James began. “Thanks to the Duplication Spell Remus stumbled upon in the library.”
Remus did a mock bow with his head.
James continued, “We have the supplies -- feathers, bubbles, and leaves. The target?”
“Entire student population, specifically Slytherin,” Sirius stated.
Through this prank they were killing two birds with one stone “ introducing the school to the Marauders and more importantly getting back at the Slytherins for the ambush. It had eased Remus’s conscience by enacting revenge in this way. Despite always ragging on Remus, their friend’s sensibility generally was right on point. They had three safe-guards: one, it would be close to two weeks after the ambush making it less likely to be pinned on them, two, the prank involved the whole school so less likely the teachers and headmaster would think this was planned against the Slytherins, and three, they were not going to take credit for it in any shape or form “ the Marauders would.
“We need to figure out the locations,” James said. “Have we decided on three floors, one for each of the supplies?”
“Or we could double some of the floors,” Peter interjected.
“James brought plenty of leaves.”
“It would cause more chaos,” Sirius agreed.
“Too much chaos,” protested Remus. “It will be complicated enough magic to get all three floors to happen simultaneously.”
“There are four of us. We could each be responsible for setting one off,” Peter explained.
Remus shook his head. “It will look too suspicious if we are all on separate floors “ especially James and Sirius “ when this all goes off.”
“Okay, three floors,” Peter said looking slightly dejected that his idea was being pushed to the side.
James taking the lead again asked, “Which three floors?”
“Dungeons obviously,” Sirius said. “Ground floor? There are some classrooms, the Great Hall, staff room, and Flich’s office.”
“And First Floor,” Remus said. “We’ve got Defense Classroom and History of Magic classrooms there.”
“And McGonagall’s and Keenan’s office!” Sirius said with a grin.
“Dungeons, Ground Floor, and First floor. Everyone in agreement?” reiterated James.
The boys all nodded.
“All that’s left is which supply will be set off in which floor, and what time we want this to go off,” James announced.
“I vote for between breakfast ending and before classes begin. This way there will still be some students in the Great Hall finishing up for breakfast, there will still be students who return to their common room before first class, so the Dungeons will still have large number of Slytherins, and there will also be some students heading to their classrooms early,” Remus said.
Sirius smiled -- he was glad Remus was fully participating in the planning of the prank. Sirius had originally thought that Remus would just sit there silently and only inject his opinion with the things he didn’t agree with, like he usually did.
“Sounds like the perfect time to me,” James said. “I think we could do it this Monday. Remus, you’re comfortable enough with the spell?”
“Yes. Our main roadblock is we need to set it up that night and we don’t want it going off before it is supposed to.”
“Isn’t it possible to put the magic on a timer?” Peter asked.
“Yes, there is,” Sirius said. “I can figure out by Sunday night how to do that.”
“And what will trigger each? Touch or a code word?” Remus asked.
“I was thinking,” James said, “With the feathers we could have them falling down from an archway as students are walking through. It would be set off by them stepping on it or the feathers falling right on them. The Timer Charm would be set to have the feathers actually fall. Then with the leaves we could make a line across the hallway, and place an Invisible Charm on them. The trigger for the leaves could also be touch.”
“Wouldn’t they be able to hear the crunching of the leaves under foot even if the leaves are invisible?” Sirius asked.
“Just switch it then. Leaves falling down and feathers a line on the ground,” Remus suggested.
“And the bubbles could also fall down. If I saw bubbles falling down suddenly from the ceiling I’d try to pop them,” Peter said.
“Touch trigger would work for that as well.”
James looked thoughtful. “So theoretically once the charm is placed, one touch of any of these items would cause the feather, leaf or bubble to duplicate until-”
“Yes it would duplicate until it filled whatever border we decide on. I would just have to trace my wand around the entire floor and it would duplicate until the whole floor “ top to bottom- was filled with the feathers, leaves or bubbles,” Remus replied.
“Last of all, what on which floor?” James said.
“Leaves on Dungeons,” Sirius voiced without hesitation.
“Bubbles on the Ground,” Remus offered next.
“That leaves feathers on the first floor,” James said.
“Fine with me,” Peter said.
“Excellent. Good work gentlemen.”
The rest of the night they practiced the magical spells they’d need to have the prank be successful, worked out some of the minor details, and had all around good time in each others company.
It was a stormy Friday night and most of the Gryffindors had settled in the common room earlier than usual. The level of noise was considerable, but no one objected. Seventh-years had taken over the best and warmest seats by the fireplace, and even James and Sirius who generally felt entitled to getting anything and everything they wanted, weren’t about to kick the older boys out of their seats.
All six of the fifth-year Gryffindor boys, including Terry Keeler and Derek Newbell, were seated tightly around a small table generally only meant for four students.
Peter was telling them a funny story that had happened earlier that morning. The owl who was supposed to deliver a letter to him would not give the letter up and instead kept diving at Peter and anyone who had been standing in the vicinity. Finally an older student had come to Peter’s aide and zapped the owl right out of the sky. The owl’s talons were gripped so tightly around the letter that they had to bring it to the Care of Magical Creature Professor, who half-woke the bird, so that its grip on the letter slackened and the letter could be liberated.
Sirius was amused by the story, but he couldn’t help but be distracted by James “ who himself kept fidgeting and glancing over at the fifth-year girls. When Terry began talking about his own strange owl experience, Sirius tuned him out “ slightly bored with the topic -- and as his gaze wandered he first saw Victoria Dekker, and next to her a very tall and very blonde girl. Sirius elbowed Remus beside him.
“What?” Remus mouthed. Remus always a polite conversationalist had been listening to Terry’s tale with avid attention.
“Is that Darlene?”
Remus glanced up and rolled his eyes. “Yes, Sirius.”
“Oh Darlene!” Sirius called out loudly. Actually very loudly since his voice had to carry over the din of all the other students.
“What are you doing?” hissed Remus.
Darlene froze and glanced over at Sirius with a perplexed look. Darlene wasn’t used to being called on by a boy as popular or even half as popular as Sirius.
“Yes?” she called out nervously, her face turning rapidly red.
“Remus wants to talk to you!” Sirius carried on. He pointed at Remus who had slumped down in his seat.
Darlene stood up suddenly and Sirius realised she really did have a tall and imposing figure. She looked worriedly at Remus when he didn’t make a move to stand up. Sirius pushed his friend out of his seat.
“I’m going to kill you for this,” Remus said in a low voice and then placed a false smile on his face as he motioned Darlene toward a less crowded area of the common room.
“You’ll thank me for this,” Sirius said back quietly, though Remus was too far away to hear.
Sirius turned to his best friend to get his opinion on the Remus-Darlene matter when he noticed James was not beside him. At around the same time Remus had left to Darlene, James had made his way toward the fifth-year girls. Sirius watched James curiously as James ran a hand through his hair and took the last few steps toward the girls.
“Hey Evans!”
Lily, who had been braiding Mary’s hair, jerked her head up in surprise. “Hello, Potter. Can we help you?” Her voice had a chilly edge to it and the girls around her tittered. James felt his resolve faltering. It took all his Gryffindor courage to not turn around and run.
“Are you going to the Slug party?” James was shocked that his voice was steady, and did not betray how foolish he actually felt.
Lily’s eyes widened. She stopped braiding and appraised James. “Yes, I am,” she replied, her voice still chilled.
“Great…Sirius and I are going as well.” James paused placing his hands in his pockets, aware all the girls and possibly half of the common room were waiting for his next question. “Since we are all going, would you want to walk with us there tomorrow night?”
The words came out fast, and for a moment James feared he’d have to repeat them again. Lily’s friends erupted into giggles again, obviously understanding his intent enough to mock him.
Lily blushed, causing James to feel his face heat up as well. “I’m meeting Severus already,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Oh,” James said now wishing desperately he had never left his seat and was still pretending to listen to Terry.
“They are only friends,” Catherine Pierce interjected.
“Catherine!” Lily cried looking embarrassed.
“What? Weren’t you just assuring us yesterday that you did not harbor a secret crush on Snape and that you held purely platonic feelings toward him?” Catherine replied innocently.
“Potter doesn’t need to know that,” Lily protested.
“I think he does,” Catherine said cheekily, winking at James.
Lily sent her friend a murderous look.
“I’ll see you at the party then?” James asked hopefully.
“I suppose,” Lily said with no commitment.
James nodded and returned to his seat between Sirius and Peter.
“What did she say?” Sirius asked, having been unable to hear the conversation.
“She’s walking to the party with Snape,” James mumbled.
“I thought you were asking her to go to the party with you?” Peter said.
James shook his head. “Good thing I didn’t.”
Remus was suddenly walking past them away from Darlene and straight up to their dormitory without a word. Darlene looked confused, embarrassed, and she returned to her friends with her head bowed down.
“What’s wrong with Remus?” James asked.
Sirius sighed. “I’ll go see.”
He stood up and followed his friend up the stairs. Sirius jumped the stairs so quickly that he’d arrived before Remus even had time to get his feelings sorted out privately.
“I don’t want to speak to you,” Remus announced gruffly.
Sirius held up his hands in defense. “I can see things didn’t go well…I was only trying to help.”
“Did you see how she was at least an inch and a half taller than me?” Remus moaned sitting down on his bed.
“So? You’re a werewolf.”
Remus cast him an incredulous look.
“I just mean with her height she wouldn’t be very picky…”
“And I shouldn’t be either? I should lower my standards?” Remus said his voice high and strained with emotion.
Sirius winced; he’d taken the wrong approach. “No. I didn’t mean it in that way. Aren’t I supposed to be the shallow one of the group? I thought you were adult enough to look past her height.”
“I’m not interested in a relationship at the moment.”
“You never are!”
“I’m only fifteen. It isn’t as if I am twenty-five and never been properly with a girl!”
Sirius huffed.
“I have good reasons, Sirius.”
“Don’t tell me you like blokes?” Sirius asked jokingly.
Remus fought back a smile and stated sarcastically, “You caught me. I’m secretly in love with you.”
Sirius laughed, though when he noticed Remus still looked very troubled, asked, “It’s your furry little problem, isn’t it?”
“I know you find it hard to believe, but not everyone is as accepting as you, James and Peter.”
Sirius did not find it hard to believe, after all his family believed werewolves were not humans. “You know, you don’t have to feel guilty about not telling a girl about your problem even after a few dates. You don’t owe that to any girl.”
“I know…but isn’t that starting a relationship on a lie?”
“It’s a necessary lie, and you know it. Any girl that is worthy of you will understand as well.”
“That’s easy to say, but it doesn’t change that fact that I do feel guilty and I am lying. I hate having to lie. I hate pretending I’m normal. ”
“You are normal,” Sirius said. They’d had this conversation before. He felt a bit as a failure as a friend that they still had been unable to really convince Remus that he was normal.
“I’m not,” Remus insisted. “You can’t make something true just by saying it over and over again.”
“Who wants to be normal anyway? Look at me, I’m a blood traitor. My parents certainly don’t believe I’m normal. And James? The way his hair sticks out? That certainly isn’t normal. And his obsession with Quidditch goes way beyond normal.”
Remus smiled.
“Now I would consider Snivellus to be the biggest and weirdest oddball of the entire school, maybe even in the history of Hogwarts. You are a thousand times more normal than he is. And Peter-”
“I get it,” Remus said.
Sirius grinned. “Good.”
“I’m still not interested in Darlene.”
“Fair enough,” Sirius said. “Ready to return to the common room?”
“Sure, better than sulking here the rest of the night.”
“That’s the spirit, mate.”
Severus Snape was anxious for Lily to arrive. He found himself pacing in front of the Great Hall where they’d agreed to meet. As always, the state of his robes “ worn and frayed “ was far from adequate for a Slug party. His mother didn’t see the need for new or fancy dress robes. She didn’t understand how important it was for him, if he wanted to get ahead, to impress the right people. His mother had already put him socially in terms of blood status behind by marrying a stupid Muggle. And the right people cared and noticed things like the quality and expense of dress robes. Severus liked to give the impression he could care less about frivolous things such as the right clothes and haircut, but that was only to cover the fact he couldn’t afford to compete in such areas. Another thing that both Black and Potter beat him in.
Lily’s arrival left Severus feeling breathless. She glided down the stairs in a Muggle dress. Severus couldn’t deny she looked elegant and beautiful in the dress, but he felt a twinge of annoyance. He was always trying to bury his Muggle side, while here his best friend was flaunting it. Severus received enough grief from his housemates about his Muggleborn friend, and it would not help matters by her coming to a wizard party dressed as a Muggle. He didn’t say anything, having learned the hard way that it would only anger her. Their relationship was already strained; keeping quiet on this matter was the safe choice.
“Hello, Sev!” Lily had a large genuine smile on her face. “Who do you think Professor Slughorn will have as his special guest tonight? A vampire? Famous Quidditch Player, perhaps?”
Severus shrugged. He was hoping it would be someone more influential than merely famous.
Lily gave him a side-long glance. “James Potter asked me to walk with him to the party tonight.”
Time came to a complete halt. “What?” he managed to choke out. His throat and chest tightened, and he felt an overwhelming sensation of trepidation wash over him, as if he’d just been doused with a bucket of icy water.
“Apparently he and Black were planning to go to the party “ I don’t think they attended any of Slughorn’s parties last year “ and he asked if I wanted to walk with them.” She laughed nervously. With each word out of her mouth, Severus felt an increasing sense of doom. “Strange, isn’t it?”
Lily’s cheeks were tinged pink as she looked at him for “ Severus wasn’t sure what she wanted. Why had she even told him? She knew how he despised Potter. And she herself had always detested both boys. He only knew that it wasn’t safe for him to speak.
“I suppose it was nice of Potter to offer,” she continued lightly.
“Nice?” Severus hissed unable to suppress his anger any longer.
Lily looked startled.
“I doubt ‘being nice’ was his main motivation.” Severus could think of many reasons why any fifteen year old boy would want to be near a girl as pretty as Lily, and they all made his blood boil. He’d always known he would have to compete with suitors eventually, but never had it crossed his mind that it could be Potter.
“You’re angry,” she stated. “I told him flat out I couldn’t. I was walking with you. I would never stand you up, especially not for the likes of James Potter. Being nice once doesn’t erase all the times he’s been a toe rag. I haven’t forgotten how horribly he treats you. ”
Severus felt slightly mollified. He didn’t dare ask her what her answer would have been if she hadn’t arranged to meet him first.
“Are you ready to go?”
Severus nodded and they began walking silently side by side. He knew at the moment he had one up on James Potter in winning Lily’s affections. Lily considered him a friend and she still held Potter in a mostly negative light. Yet Potter was personable, popular, Quidditch hero, and better looking than Severus and Lily resisting his charms would only encourage Potter to continue to pursue her. He clenched his fists tightly as a silent outlet to the rage against Potter that was building inside of him. He certainly hadn’t needed another reason to despise Potter, and this reason was just the icing on the cake.