"...and Lily talked to me! I mean, she said, "Shove off, you great, galumphing giraffe," but she talked to me."
James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were doing their homework in the Gryffindor common room. Well, Remus was. James was talking excitedly to Sirius about Lily Evans, who he declared to be "the one and only true love of my life! I'll never love another!" while Peter listened intently.
Sirius swung his legs up on the table next to James' and leaned back. "She got one thing wrong. though. You're not a giraffe."
"Of course I'm not!"
"You're a hippopotamus."
"What!"
Remus looked up from the essay he was writing for History of Magic and grinned.
"Sirius is right. You are a hippopotamus. I would even say a huffy, heavy, hotheaded hippopotamus."
"What makes you insult me so?"
Peter who had only been listening until now spoke. "A hungry, hysterical, huffy, heavy, hotheaded hippopotamus."
"Yes," said Sirius, "A heartless, hungry, hysterical, huffy, heavy, hotheaded hippopotamus."
"I am not a heartless, hungry, hysterical, hi-hu-whatever-you said hippopotamus!"
The other Gryffindors looked up from what they had been doing in surprise to look at James Potter who was becoming quite popular, even as a 3rd year, who had just shouted what was, for many of them, the strangest thing they had heard in their lives.
Sirius, Peter and even Remus started laughing until they had gone red or blue from lack of air and James, already red from embarrassment, joined in, too. Peter, Sirius and James ended up on the ground while Remus slumped on the table above them.
"I can't...laugh...anymore," Sirius breathed, holding his stomach. The other just nodded, too out of breathe to speak.