As promised, the wait for this fic was shorter than the wait for Damn Good Prank (although I'd still like to apologize that it took so long). There are two more fics coming in this series, entitled "True Prank War" and "Completely Done." I hope you keep an eye out for those, and I hope you enjoy Surprisingly Well!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
The prank was all set up. Peter had checked it, double checked it, and then triple checked it, just to be safe. He didn't want to risk that it wouldn't work, or that it would work in a different way than how he wanted. He needed to prove to the Marauders that he was just as good at pranking as they were.
Peter woke before everyone else and crept out of the dormitory, going down to the Great Hall. There were a few people milling about, but not too many. Peter reached into his pocket for the small vial he had stowed there. He would wait until there were more people around before he put it in the others' goblets. He only had enough for four people, and he didn't want to accidentally prank someone else.
Remus and Lily were the first two to enter the Great Hall, which Peter had expected. He dripped a bit of the potion into the two goblets next to him and the two across, hoping they didn't notice. "Hey, Moony! Evans!" he called across the table. Remus came over with a slight grin, followed by Lily, who looked a little confused.
"Hey, Peter," Remus said, slinging his leg over the bench and sitting next to Peter, thankfully on the side where the potion was. "You're up early."
"Couldn't sleep," Peter lied. "Evans, wanna sit with us?" Lily's eyes widened at the offer. "The prank you and Remus pulled on James and Sirius was great," Peter added eagerly. "Must have been N.E.W.T. level spell work at least."
Lily smiled shyly as she sat down next to Remus. "It wasn't that bad."
"Lily's being too modest," Remus argued, shaking his head. "Her Charms work was incredible." Lily blushed.
"Evans!" James called, sounding shocked as he sat down on the other side of the table. Sirius sat next to him, a smirk on his face. Peter noted with satisfaction that they were sitting in the proper seats for his prank. "What are you doing here?"
"I can sit wherever I please, Potter," Lily replied scathingly, not even giving James a second look. Sirius arched an eyebrow at Remus, who avoided his gaze.
"Pumpkin juice?" Peter asked, holding up the pitcher and hoping to smooth over the awkward moment. The pitcher went around to everyone, to Peter's pleasure. Now, they only needed to drink for his potion to work. It would only take a small amount to take effect.
James took a long, thoughtful sip from his goblet, eying Lily. One. Sirius bit into a piece of toast and washed it down with a swig of pumpkin juice. Two. Remus took a short break from his quiet discussion with Lily to have something to drink. Three. Lily noticed James staring at her and took a huffy sip from her own goblet. Four. Peter took a sip from his goblet to hide his grin. It was only a matter of time now.
"So, Evans," James said smoothly - or, rather, tried to say. No sound came out, to his shock. He cleared his throat, took another sip of pumpkin juice, and tried again. Still nothing.
"Prongs?" Sirius asked, his eyes going wide when he realized he couldn't speak either.
Remus' brow furrowed with concern. "Can any of us talk?" he mouthed exaggeratedly. Lily made her own failed attempt before shaking her head. Everyone turned to Peter.
"I-" Peter realized his mistake as he spoke. James' eyes narrowed.
"You!" he mouthed, jabbing a finger forward. Remus immediately put up a hands in a silent plea for calm. He turned and dug around in his bag before pulling out a quill, ink, and a scrap of spare parchment.
Do you think someone tried to prank us and accidentally hit Lily instead of Peter? he scrawled. As the others thought about the idea, Peter reached into his pocket and gripped the vial. Should he take ownership of the prank or not?
Why not?
"That's not quite how it happened," he stated, pulling out the vial and showing it to the others, a grin spreading across his face at their shocked expressions. "Enjoy your day of silence."
Lily gaped at Peter, her respect for him rapidly increasing. A silencing potion like that wasn't easy, and she would admit that she would have thought it beyond him. Apparently, he was smarter than she gave him credit for. She wouldn't make that mistake again.
One day? Remus scrawled on the parchment, showing it to Peter, who nodded.
"It only lasts twenty-four hours," he replied, glancing down at the potion. "And I did it right. I triple checked it."
Sirius grinned, leaning over the table to clap Peter on the shoulder. "Nice one, mate," he mouthed. James shot him a betrayed look. Sirius shrugged.
"Thanks," Peter replied, looking thrilled at the praise. Lily fished out her own scrap of parchment and borrowed Remus' quill.
That's really impressive potions work. Well done, she wrote, handing the paper to Peter. He looked almost startled at the compliment before grinning shyly at her.
"It wasn't really that big a deal," he deflected, but Lily could tell he was proud of himself, and rightly so.
Sirius pulled out his own piece of parchment and reached over to steal Remus' quill as well, ignoring Remus' silent outrage, and began writing something he promptly showed to James. After that point, breakfast went almost as it usually did, simply far quieter. Lily was forced to search for her own quill to explain the situation to Marlene and Mary, as Sirius didn't seem inclined to return Remus' any time soon. (Remus seemed resigned to that fact, as he had pulled out the Standard Book of Spells and begun reading from it, propping the book up on the jug of pumpkin juice.) Both Marlene and Mary thought the situation was very funny, something Lily didn't necessarily agree with. She had the suspicion that they would have thought differently had they been the ones who couldn't speak for a day.
The bell for classes rang, prompting everyone to stand and leave the Great Hall. As Lily began to make her way to Transfiguration, someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned, arching an eyebrow, only to see that it was James. She almost turned away, but he grabbed her wrist to stop her. Immediately, he began to soundlessly babble, and although she couldn't read lips all that well, Lily could catch the words "Hogsmeade," "weekend," and "date." It was enough.
She shrugged apologetically. "Sorry," she mouthed, making the motions exaggerated enough for him to understand what she was saying. After all, if she pretended she couldn't understand what he was trying to ask, he would be less likely to ask her out again that day. Perhaps that was a positive of the spell; she had a day's respite from James' incessant blabbering.
Or perhaps he would attempt to ask her out in a more elaborate way that didn't require talking and would cause a scene in front of the entire student body. You never could tell with James Potter.
James' face fell, and for a moment, Lily almost felt bad about turning him down. Before that strange feeling could gain any traction in her mind, she turned and made her way to Transfiguration, walking next to Marlene and Mary, who understood her frustration without her having to say a word.
She only hoped she would manage to perform nonverbal spells in class well enough that Peter's prank wouldn't hurt her grades too much.
"Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall stated, walking over near Sirius' desk and distracting him from throwing scraps of parchment in Peter's hair. "You've been remarkably quiet through the lesson, and yet you still haven't gotten anywhere in transforming your toad into a paperweight. Do you care to tell me what you find more interesting than this lesson?"
Sirius put on his most pathetic face, putting a hand to his forehead in a dramatic gesture. Pushing himself to look almost teary, he put a hand to his throat and looked up at McGonagall with big eyes, shaking his head sadly. James snorted. Remus, who had managed to nonverbally transform his toad into a paperweight and back again - he'd been practicing nonverbal spells on his own, the nerd - looked up, his expression almost pained.
"I'm afraid I don't understand your charades," McGonagall replied dryly. "Do you mean to tell me you can't speak?" Sirius nodded eagerly. McGonagall sighed. "I'm going to regret asking this, but how did this happen?"
Sirius gestured at Peter grandly, then draped his arm over his face in a gesture of betrayal. He mimed pouring something into a glass, then drinking from the glass. Then he gripped his throat with wide eyes. For good measure, he gestured at Peter again and mimed stabbing himself in the back.
Peter had sank down practically under the desk during Sirius' elaborate charades. Remus had buried his face in his arms in his usual why-am-I-friends-with-these-morons manner. James was absentmindedly patting him on the back with one hand while grinning at Sirius and giving him a thumbs-up with the other.
"Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall asked, turning to Remus, who promptly sat up. "You're the most responsible of your friends. Care to tell me what happened?" Remus froze before pointing at his own throat and shaking his head. McGonagall's eyes flickered to James, who shook his head as well, the grin still on his face. "Mr. Pettigrew?" McGonagall asked, turning to Peter.
"I can talk," Peter whispered. "It was a silencing potion. It's just a prank."
"Next time, try not to do so on a day when you must attend my class," McGonagall replied dryly. "Is anyone else afflicted?"
"Evans is," Peter breathed. McGonagall turned to Lily, who nodded. Sirius, feeling that it was ridiculous that he'd lost his spotlight, especially when he was doing so well with it, tugged on McGonagall's robes to regain her attention. Giving him an expression that was normally saved for dirt under someone's shoe, McGonagall looked back him.
"Yes, Mr. Black?"
Taking a deep breath and concentrating, Sirius jabbed his wand at his toad. There was a moment of silence.
The toad exploded.
A few shrieks sounded around the room. Remus was staring at Sirius with a wide-eyed look of horror on his face. James almost fell out of his chair laughing. Peter had almost gotten out unscathed, considering how low he'd sunk in his seat. And in the center of it all was McGonagall, covered in frog guts.
"Yes," she stated in an unamused tone, flicking her wand and cleaning herself off. "Mr. Black, perhaps you ought not to attempt nonverbal spells until you understand how to properly do them. For the next lesson, I want a roll of parchment on why delicacy is required in a transformation such as this one and why an unpracticed nonverbal spell will not allow for that sort of delicacy." With that, McGonagall swept back to the front of the classroom.
Sirius stood and bowed for the class to some applause, mostly from James.
"Back in your seat, Mr. Black!"
"Today, class, we will be learning the Silencing Charm," Professor Flitwick stated. Sirius burst into silent laughter next to Remus, almost falling out of his chair. Remus jabbed at him with his elbow, although he too saw the irony. "Can anyone tell me the proper wand movement for this spell?"
Remus almost raised his hand - it was a jabbing motion - but stopped himself just in time. It wasn't as if he could answer the question, thanks to Peter's prank. The prank was clever, immensely so, but Remus hated not being able to answer questions in class, especially when they led to an awkward silence because no one else knew the answer.
"Yes, Miss MacDonald?" Flitwick stated, as only Mary had raised her hand.
"A swishing motion, isn't it, sir?" she asked. Remus let out a silent groan.
"Not quite, Miss MacDonald, and I would not suggest making such a motion when casting the spell. Anyone else?" Flitwick scanned the class. "Miss Evans? Mr. Lupin?"
Lily sighed. Remus rubbed at his throat, hoping Flitwick would get the message. "Ah, yes," Flitwick stated, a grin spreading across his face. "Professor McGonagall did tell me about your unfortunate circumstance today. I must say, Mr. Pettigrew, that is impressive potions work. I wonder if you'll be able to replicate your success with charms." Peter looked horrified at the expectation.
"To answer the question, the proper movement for a Silencing Charm is a jab," Flitwick stated. "Now, we have ravens and frogs here for practice. Some students claim that ravens are more difficult, but I have never found it to be so." Flitwick waved his wand and the caged animals appeared in front of each student except Remus, Lily, James, and Sirius. "You four, come up here please," Flitwick stated, waving them up. Remus went to the front of the class immediately, as did Lily. James and Sirius, predictably, were slower and more sedate about it.
"I don't expect any of you to be proficient enough in nonverbal spells to cast this spell, although Professor McGonagall has told me that the two of you seem to have practiced them, Miss Evans and Mr. Lupin."
"Nerds!" Sirius mouthed, pointing at Remus and Lily. James elbowed him.
"Thus, I don't expect you to perform this charm today," Flitwick continued, "If you wish to attempt it nonverbally in class, you may. Otherwise, I want you to take notes on the passage in the Standard Book of Spells on the spell, and I will expect to see both of you here tomorrow to practice." James let out a dramatic, if silent, groan. "If you wish to practice the spell, you may do so over here." Flitwick waved his wand and a small table appeared with a raven and a toad in cages on it. "If not, you can take notes here." He waved his wand again and another table appeared with parchment and quills. "I will check the notes, Mr. Black, so you must do them," Flitwick added. Sirius deflated.
Remus went over to the practice table, looking curiously at the raven and toad. Lily joined him. Sirius and James went to the other table, but Remus doubted they would take the notes they were supposed to.
Silencio! Remus thought clearly and firmly, jabbing his wand at the toad. Nothing happened. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he tried again, focusing as much as he could. The room was loud, and he was certain that Sirius and James were planning something he'd have to deal with later on, but he forced those thoughts aside and cleared his mind of everything but the Silencing Charm. Attempting again, he jabbed his wand and thought, Silencio!
The toad opened its mouth in an attempt to let out a croak and failed. "Well done, Mr. Lupin!" Flitwick praised. Lily squeezed Remus' shoulder, beaming as she turned to the raven. On her third try, she silenced it as well. "Very impressive, Miss Evans." Remus turned to Lily with a grin. It seemed their practice of nonverbal spells, a curiosity they had indulged a few times when on prefect rounds and bored, had paid off.
Then the table at which Sirius and James were sitting caught fire - Remus wished he could be surprised - and any thoughts of calm or relaxation were immediately gone.
The next morning, James woke up in an almost-empty dorm. Remus being gone wasn't altogether surprising - he almost always woke up before the others - but the fact that Peter had already left was unusual; he was usually the last of them awake. Then James remembered what had happened the day before and jerked upright in bed. It was a good thing that Peter had left, because if not, James would have jinxed him into the next century.
"We can talk again," Sirius called over, pulling his sweater on. "The potion wore off, just like Peter said."
"That little shit," James stated, shaking his head sadly as he hopped out of bed. "How could he betray us like that?"
"Moony betrayed us first. And he went to Evans for help," Sirius stated, distaste in his voice. James decided not to be offended - he had been pissed about that prank too. "We seem to be getting pranked a lot recently." Sirius perched on his bed and began to count off on his fingers. "Remus gets turned into a girl. You and I get shrunk. The three of us plus Evans can't talk for a day. The only one not pranked so far is Peter."
"That's going to have to change," James stated, yanking a pair of pants on. "We're going to have to do something, Sirius."
"Hmm," Sirius replied noncommittally, grabbing his schoolbag and shoving books in haphazardly. Remus would cry if he saw the mistreatment of the poor textbooks.
"We're going to have to pull a prank of our own!" James cried, almost overbalancing and falling on his face in his excitement. "We'll prank the others. And Evans, maybe. But definitely Peter and Remus."
"Any ideas?" Sirius asked. James frowned, thinking hard.
"It needs to be something good," he muttered, pulling on a shirt and buttoning it up. He wracked his brains, thinking about the half-baked prank ideas that he'd been considering doing against the Slytherins. "Maybe we can curse them to only talk in bad poetry for a day."
"Inspired," Sirius stated dryly. James' frown deepened.
"Yeah, that is sort of stupid. We'll think of something better soon." James yanked a sweater of his own on and grabbed his bag, which already had all of his books in it. Grabbing his wand and stowing it in his pocket, he turned to Sirius.
"Well, one thing's for certain. This, Sirius, is war."
"Agreed," Sirius replied. James had a split second of warning - the grin on his face meant nothing good - before Sirius yanked out his wand. "Rictusempra!"
James fell to his knees immediately, laughing madly as he felt the tickling sensation caused by the charm immediately. "T-Traitor!" he giggled, wishing it had sounded a bit more threatening.
"That's the thing about war, James," Sirius stated, kneeling next to James with a huge grin on his face. "All's fair and all that." And with that, Sirius swept out of the room, leaving James to giggle on the floor.
Forget just pranking Remus and Peter, he thought to himself as he grabbed his wand and stuttered out the countercurse, feeling the tickling sensation fade away. James got to his feet, adjusted the strap of his bag, squared his shoulders, and left the dormitory. Sirius is going down.