Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine
Summary: Sirius has the perfect prank idea.
"The Grim" by "I 4 2 write"
Thought you might enjoy this. I wrote thhis just as something fun for Haloween.
"This is our last Halloween at Hogwarts, Moony. We absolutely have to pull off an extra special prank." Sirius stated.
Remus sighed and said "I know we all love pranks, but as a prefect I can't let you pass out blood lollipops, cockroach clusters, and acid pops to the first years."
"Why not?" Sirius asked. "The muggles pass out candy on Halloween."
"But not the kind of candy that tastes like blood, has legs, or can burn a hole in your tongue," Remus pointed out.
"Oh come on Moony. Ever since you got your prefect badge you're no fun anymore," James said.
"I think that's why I was made prefect, to keep an eye on you. Look, any other prank you guys can come up with I'll take part in, but I can't let you do anything that could hurt anyone, especially the first years."
"Oh fine," James said, laying back on his bed and tossing a pillow up in the air. "Hmmm, what about getting some fireworks and setting them off?"
"Definitely fun, but we blew all our galleons at Zonko's, remember? We don't have anything to buy them with, and all our prank supplies are used up for now." Sirius answered.
"Well, whatever we do, we'll have to have it planned by Friday. I'll be a bit preoccupied after that." James said excitedly. "I finally convinced Lily Evans to go to Hogsmead with me next weekend!"
There were cheers from the other three boys and high fives all around. Sirius even turned into a dog and jumped up on James. After the moment of playfulness passed James jumped up.
"Hey wait a minuet. The perfect Halloween prank was right here the whole time."
The other two looked confused but Remus had a look of comprehension on his face.
"Not bad, Prongs. Not bad."
Sirius turned back to his human self and asked "What's not bad? Oh hey, yeah! We must be loosing our touch, not to have thought of this before."
Now three of the Marauders were grinning at each other as if having a telepathic conversation.
"What's going on?" Wormtail asked, still not getting what inspiration the others had.
"Doesn't Padfoot's animagus form remind you of a certain death omen?"
Wormtail looked as confused as he had after their OWLS when the others had joked about the werewolf question.
"Don't you think this Halloween prank is a bit GRIM?" James hinted.
"I sure do, Prongs. But then I've always been a bit on the GRIM side."
Finally Wormtail understood.
"Ooooooohhhhhhhhh. I get it now."
The others rolled their eyes as if saying "How thick can he get?"
"Are you sure you're Ok, Sirius? Maybe you should see Madame Pomfrey for a nerve potion. You had quite a scare."
The Marauders were at the Gryffindor table for lunch at the Great Hall, and Sirius was looking as if he'd been frightened half out of his wits.
"I-I-I-I I'm fine J-James. Maybe it wasn't the G-Grim after all."
If there was an award for a wizard actor, Sirius would have won it. He hadn't wanted to act so afraid. He preferred showing off what a brave Gryffindor he was. He'd wanted Peter to pretend he'd seen the Grim. But although he was in Gryffindor, Peter wasn't known for his bravery, and the others had argued that if he seemed afraid it would be more dramatic than if Peter did it. Besides, it would explain Sirius being absent later. And knowing what he would get to do later helped make up for it. All the students around them looked close to screaming at the mention of such a fearsome death omen. Wizards were known to drop over dead after seeing a Grim.
"Sirius, be quiet. You'll just scare the others. It was probably just an ordinary dog," Remus said. If the other students looked closer they'd have seen he was trying to hide a laugh. Sirius grabbed the werewolf by the shoulders.
"But it was huge Remus! Have you ever seen a dog that size?"
"And it was so ugly, Remus," James added. "No natural dog could look that awful."
Sirius turned to him, looking a bit offended. "Well, I wouldn't have said ugly."
"Was it really a Grim?" one of the first years asked, sounding terrified.
"I'm sure it was. You believe me, don't you?"
"Oh. Y-yes I do," Peter stammered, and the other Marauders tried to look as afraid as possible as they nodded. Sirius did his best to act hysterical.
"It's coming for me! I'll be gone before Halloween!"
Everyone except the other Marauders shifted back from him, and Sirius gave a hidden wink to his fellow mischief makers. Part one of their plan was a complete success.
By Halloween, every student at Hogwarts knew Sirius had seen a Grim. News at the wizarding school traveled faster than the Knight bus, and there were nervous whispers all through the Great hall as a large group of students sat together during a study period. The Marauders had been waiting for this, and most likely James and Sirius would have pulled their stunt during the Halloween feast itself if Remus hadn't pointed out all the teachers would be there for that and they would almost surely be caught. James, under his invisibility cloak along with Sirius in dog form, watched through a crack in the doors until the nervous whispers were at their most intense. Then he threw the cloak off himself, made sure Sirius was completely hidden beneath it, and ran screaming into the hall.
"Sirius is gone! I think the Grim got him!"
Some students screamed, a few jumped up on the tables, but all of them started making a run for it when they saw what happened next. To anyone who didn't know about the invisibility cloak, it looked as if a giant black dog appeared from nowhere.
"Run for it! James, Peter and I will try to hold him off," Remus yelled. The other students were happy to obey as the dog dove after them, growling and nipping at their heels, chasing first one student, then another as the other Marauders sent harmless sparks after him. In short, it was complete chaos until the last student fled the hall. Only then did Sirius turn back to human form, and the four Marauders rolled with laughter on the floor. Later they could tell everyone the heroic story of how they had banished the demon dog and managed to find and save Sirius.