A/N:
Ok, this is set in 1982 as they're last year at Hogwarts, cause I'm going by
the 'Harry was born in 1986' timeline, even though it may not be correct. It
doesn't really matter anyway. And also, cause I reckon Lily, James and the rest
would have did more than just get out of Hogwarts, hang around for a year or
so, and then croak. And the song, Weir, and Class Celebrities are by Killing
Heidi, DCx3 (the cat song) is by Grinspoon (Australian music rocks, and I'm
kinda in a patriotic mood today, since the Agassi/Rafter game, damn him) Yeah, I
know the songs used in this part are recent, and wouldn't be around back then,
but lets just be ignorant.
Disclaimer:
Not mine.
Music-
Ella Hooper, Killing Heidi, Wah Wah Records, Grinspoon.
Characters/Places
– JK Rowling.
Assorted
miscellaneous people and places – mine.
Anarchistic World Save-age
By
Queen C
Part
1 - Weir
Old
friend of mine, we will never lose the time that we shared all these years,
these years.
Will
you?
Will
you make it in the end, through all the twists and bends? Will you fulfil
you're dreams – not as easy as it seems.
Lover,
friend of mine, we will never lose the time that we covered in our tears, in
our tears.
Will
you?
Will
you make it in the end, through all the twists and bends? Will you fulfil
you're dreams – not as easy as it seems.
Floating
in the weir, and you think you'll never sink, so you forget all your fears,
your fears.
Will
you make it in the end, through all the twists and bends? Will you fulfil
you're dreams – not as easy as it seems.
-Weir,
Killing Heidi
*****
It was the last week of school at Hogwarts for the graduating class of 1982. They had lived through yearly exams (five of them), O.W.L's (4.6 metres, and 3 hours of practical work), N.E.W.T's (7.3 metres and 6 hours), Quidditch finals (six), and detentions (a couple hundred each). After seven years of blowing things up, cursing Mrs Norris to be pink and orange tie dye, flashing Snape's polka dot knickers to the school during the quidditch final, and generally pissing people off while amusing themselves, graduation was looming close to the four Marauders of Hogwarts.
To anyone even vaguely aware of their exploits during the seven years of their 'learning to grow as people into mature responsible wizarding adults', disaster was eminent as the four prepared to leave a worthy legacy and story to tell the grandchildren when they were old, doddery and senile.
It
was for this reason that James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter
Pettigrew were sitting in the musty library for about the second time ever,
during a clear summer day.
James
Potter was tall, a fabulous Chaser, and possessed the cute, but understated
charm that people like him have, and such schmucks as Severus Snape longed for.
He had been near the top of the 'eligible bachlor' lists until (after numerous embarrassing matchmaking
schemes on Sirius' part) Lily. The two had been attached at the hip (or mouth,
on most occasions) since the beginning of their 7th year, prompting
many wiseass remarks about settling down, and grandchildren from Sirius, Remus
and Peter and an idiotic dazed grin from James whenever he and Lily returned to
the common room after a 'session' in the astronomy tower.
Sirius
Black was a Quidditch player also, a Beater, and definitely a full-fledged,
certified member of the 'tall, dark, and gorgeous' species. It was the result
of this that had half the Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff female
population feel the need to sit down when he flashed his mischievous, charming,
sorta bad-boy, wise-arsed, cute puppy-dog grin at them. He was also (proudly)
the textbook definition of 'evil male', having dated and dumped all the girls
on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team by the end of his 5th year, and even
Lily at one point (although she dumped him first, avenging half the female
populus in the process). Certain Hufflepuffs were in fact lost cause, only able
to stare and make a couple unintelligible sounds in his presence.
Remus Lupin was the counterbalance to Sirius, the kinda shy, voice of reason who stepped in times such as when Sirius insisted on blowing up McGonagall's office and writing "down with tartan on the ceiling", or when he felt the need to drop half a bag of dung bombs down the back of Professor Maitra's pants. He was the poster-boy for 'sensitive, mysterious, and caring', and yet still managed to balance top marks with being a reserve keeper and sprouting fangs and fur monthly, something that never ceased to amaze Peter, who spent half his school life being told off by McGonagall for being thick.
Peter
Pettigrew never really had the nerve to do anything more than admire from afar,
and the fact that he admired the dictator of the 'gorgeous, prissy and
untouchable's, Narcissa Rodine, just cemented that fact further. He was fairly
popular by association, but short, round, and as Lily put it 'wouldn't know
brains if they conga-ed up to him, stripped and did The Sound of Music in the
nude'.
"Ok,
so tomorrow," said Sirius, his deep blue eyes shining enthusiastically at the
notion of causing panic and chaos, "we sneak into kitchens and dump those time
delay Filibusters into the scrambled eggs-"
"Do
we have to put them in the eggs? I like eggs," Peter whined.
"Well
we'll put them in the pancakes then"
"I
like the pancakes more!"
"Whatever,"
Sirius said exasperatedly, "eggs it is, anyway, then we set them to go off
right after they appear on the table, and ka-plooh-ey!" He concluded this with
a wide grin, as if ensuing mayhem, followed by four hours of bed pan scrubbing
with a bitter, rumoured ex-nazi slave driver was all in good fun.
"Sounds
ok, that's about it for the week, I think…so Padfoot, which unlucky airhead
will be accompanying our esteemed colleague to the Graduation Ball?" said James
slyly.
"Bonnie
Goldaire," Sirius replied with a smug smile. Remus whistled appreciatively.
"And I don't always go out with airheads…" he added indignantly, and
unconvincingly.
"Yes
you do, I reckon I can even list them in alphabetical order." He saw Sirius'
murderous stare, but went on anyway. "Ok, so far this term is Marion Coleman,
Kimmy Banks, Arianette Fletcher-"
Sirius
interrupted, "She wasn't an airhead, she was just … different."
"You
mean stark raving bonkers."
"Well,
she takes after her dad, doesn't she?"
"She
hexed you with twitchy ears everyday for a month after you dumped her. I'd say
her fathers still out for blood."
"Well,
good for him."
"Going
on now," said James, "Becky Datler, Sasha Datler, Lydia Datler, you got all
three triplets, and they all have matching IQ's of about 53." Sirius opened his
mouth to butt in again, but James went on. "Connie something or other, Allie
Kroll, Carrie something or-"
"Lily."
Sirius added with yet another smug smile. James opened his mouth, and then
closed it again, pursing his lips.
Remus
who had been watching with amusement, decided to say something before James
started throwing things, as they were surrounded by large books. "You're going
with that blond Hufflepuff 6th year? I thought she was going with
Snape?"
"So
did Snape," the smug smile became a smirk.
"Well,
anyway, he's gonna be spitting Bubotuber pus, in fact, he's probably gonna try
and turn you into a grasshopper," James concluded matter-of-factly, forgetting
temporarily about his girlfriend.
"Should
be interesting," added Remus, "considering he can't transfigure for crap."
"Pfft,"
Sirius remarked offhandly, "let him do that. He doesn't know that we're
gonna write 'Maitra's Boy Toy' on the back of his robes."
*****
"How
the hell are we gonna eat after we graduate," Peter moaned at dinner that
evening.
Sirius
answered scathingly "Really, Wormtail, I thought that was the one thing you
didn't need help doing." He was currently bitter that Peter had let it slip to
Snape about his choice of date to the formal. As a result, Snape had attempted
to set Sirius' hair on fire. Fortunately Remus had regained control of his jaw
soon enough after cracking up to put the fire out and usher Sirius away before
he turned Snape into a bright pink platypus.
"You
know, he actually has a point, can any of us cook?" said Remus thoughtfully.
Three
forks froze in various positions between the owner's mouth and plate.
James
furrowed his brow "Bugger."
Sirius'
eyes widened in horror, his irritation about his singed hair forgotten for the
time being.
"Well, maybe Lily or Fi can," Peter ventured
cautiously.
James
shook his head "Nope, Lily's culinary extent doesn't extend much further than
boiling things, and even then she'd probably forget about it, go watch TV, and
burn the house down."
"Well
that's something," said Sirius brightly.
James
snorted "So we'll just live off boiled egg, optimism-boy?"
Sirius
looked wistful "I was talking about the TV, I haven't seen Jerry Springer for
the longest time…"
"Haven't
you? You're probably next weeks feature the "I was dumped by a womanising
deadbeat, and now I'm pregnant with his child, homeless, schizophrenic and
broke." Lily's sarcastic voice broke through as her, Fi, and another friend
Lisa walked over and sat down.
Sirius
glared, then smiled and stood up, bowing eloquently. "Lily, oh goddess of
sarcastic bitch-cracks, how may I serve thy?"
Lily
was nonplussed, "well, for starters you can shut up and brush up on your old
English." She cut herself a slice of pie. "And you can pass the pumpkin juice."
She added as an afterthought.
"Where
have you been," asked James, being the attentive boyfriend
"Can
you cook?" asked Peter, being the attentive walking stomach.
James
forgot about being sensitive and Sirius forgot about glaring, as all four heads
snapped to attention and all looked hopefully at Fi.
"Nope!"
she answered sunnily, "I thought one of you guys could, you know, modern new
age males and all that"
Remus
shook his head remorsefully "Uh, uh. We're all relics of the stone age."
Sirius
just smiled and proclaimed loudly "We are screwed!"
Lily
shrugged carelessly and jammed some mashed potato in her mouth "Oh well, jump
off that bridge when we get to it. You know, this could be the last decent meal
we get…" she concluded ominously, spraying some potato at Lisa, who was sitting
across from her.
And
with that, everyone dug in with increased vigour.
*****
Later
that night, everyone was in various positions in the common room, with James
and Lily having exploited their respective head boy and girl privileges by
evicting the first to third years. So the common room was fairly empty, thereby
setting up the perfect environment for James and Lily to do what they liked to
do best, on the sofa facing out a window overlooking the lake. Remus, Sirius,
Peter, Fi, and Lisa we're sitting a couple of places away, and trying to hold a
civil conversation while being interrupted by quiet moans and obnoxious
smacking noises from the corner.
"That
was one hell of a Quidditch final, that bludger you whacked at Donahugue–" A
contented moan from James interrupted Lisa.
"I
know. I'm good."
Remus
smirked "And not fatheaded or anything." This remark was punctuated by a mildly
grotesque smacking noise.
"Damn
straight, I'm not. Who need modesty when you're an all-powerful sex god like
yours truly?"
At
this, everyone rolled their eyes and Fi whacked Sirius on the head with a
cushion. "You wish, I think sex god comes somewhere a long way after 'schmoozy
playboy'.
Sirius
looked unaffected "What's the diff –" Another moan, longer this time, and
contributed by Lily.
Lisa
rolled her eyes and called out "Would you two overly hormonal time bombs cease
playing 'find the tonsil' long enough to get some bloody oxygen before you pass
out, and while you're at it, stop making those friggin smacking noises!"
The
entire common room burst into applause.
"Yeah,
get a room!" Peter added.
Two
heads popped into view at the end of the sofa.
"You
know, that sounds like an excellent idea." James rolled off the sofa (and Lily)
stood up, and offered his hand to her. Together they walked up the stairs into
the boy's dormitories, James with his glasses askew, and Lily with her coppery
red hair mussed up. Lily paused at the top of the stair, turned around and gave
the common room a little smile before she walked in and Gryffindor tower was
rife with catcalls and encouragement.
Sirius
had a smirk on his face "Well, looks like our Jamsie-boys getting some action."
Fi
stretched and yawned "I don't care what they do, as long as its not here."
"Anyways…where's
everyone heading after graduation?" Lisa asked.
"Auror
College." Fi, Sirius, and Peter all answered in unison.
"But
we still have to take the entrance exam." Fi added.
Lisa
nodded, and sighed, "I'm off to the Ministry. Department of International
Magical Co-operation. Just another boring office drone, but that's something, I
guess. How bout you, Remus? I thought you were going to Auror College too"
Remus
sighed. "I wrote to them telling them about, you know, the werewolf thing, and
they just wrote a nasty letter back about how I was 'incapable of handling my
duties', and such crap. My arse!" he said bitterly. "All that stuff with
Voldemort. I hate that there's a way for me to help, but I can't! The Mathews,
and Emma something, that Hufflepuff yesterday, and you're parents Sirius… but I
guess I never expected to get in anyway."
Sirius
looked slightly unnerved by the mention of his parents. "You got the reply? You
never told us… Forget it, they're just a shit-pile of bigoted morons. The
entire Ministry is comprised of a bunch of stereotyping imbeciles that care
more about staying in office than murders, and would rather judge based on
thousand year old myths and stories than to get to know someone for who they
are, and they wouldn't know how to stop Voldemort if the solution came along
and jumped up their arse!" he scowled darkly, then noticed the 'there's a
psychotic in the midst' looks from the rest of the common room. "No offence,"
he added to Lisa as an afterthought.
"None
taken. But, nice speech. Fudge did always seem like a royal idiot, I met him
during orientation."
Remus
stood up, and walked over and sat down at James and Lily's sofa, and was
staring out the window, at the whomping willow who was thrashing at something
invisible. Sirius exchanged a quick look with the others, and approached Remus
slowly. "I think we gave the tree a paranoia complex." Remus didn't turn
around. "What are you going to do now?"
"I
don't know, I spoke with Dumbledore, he said I could be a teaching assistant
for Professor Maitra…" he said this with an aura of dread.
"Shit,
you'd have to be totally desperate to take that. We've done our seven
obligatory years with the scary midget bitch, even if you are good at
Defence."
Remus
smiled slightly. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I think I'll keep looking
around. I have enough cash at Gringott's for now, anyway."
Sirius
decided to move the topic on "That's cool, have you every wondered why, that
after seven whole years of her, and how she's only as tall as waist-level, and
how she has that little grandmotherly 'cookies and knitting' look, but yet she
still manages to scare the crap out of us all?"
*****
With
Monday, after splattering the entire staff and student body with poultry
product, came a new distraction (besides the detention). The annual 7th
year Graduation Formal. In which the honour roll awards were handed out to the
swots (mostly Ravenclaw), the citizenship awards were handed out to the prigs
(mostly Hufflepuff), the Quidditch awards to the blockhead jocks, and special
achievement awards handed out to a few select breeds of prat. This was
basically how Snape had put it during a little tirade during Potions.
Much
to their chagrin, James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and Fi, were actually in the
running for one, or more of the awards. But more importantly than winning
awards that demanded honour, prestige, and could possibly help a bunch of
galleon-free teenagers gain employment, was the Formal.
The
dress. The shoes. The hair. The make up. The date.
This
was only on the female side of things. The guys were more interested in the
date, and Cambodian Bongo Fever, or something equally obsolete than hair or
shoes (except Gerald the Hufflepuff, who was coming as Priscilla, Queen of the
Desert, complete with feathers).
True
to their gender, at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon, after a day of classes
consisting of throwing things at each other and tormenting teachers, Lily, Fi,
and Lisa, joined the pack of 7th year girls heading up the girls
dormitory stairs.
The
next three hours in the girls half of Gryffindor tower were horrifying.
Petrifying. Chaotic. Well, they were bad.
The
laws by which society lives were rewritten. To borrow ones mascara without
asking ended up with a screaming bitch fight (aka Lily and Marion Coleman). To
jostle another while applying lip liner was deemed assault and battery. To hog
the mirror incurred death by spider bites, or something equally gory and
painful. All nerves were at end, or non-existent.
It
became precariously close at times, but at 5:50 PM exactly, Lily strode down
the stairs clad in indigo blue dress robes, followed by Fi, in soft heather
grey robes of the tight variety, and Lisa, in muted gold, which brought out her
ordinary hazel eyes. It really was notable how coiffed they all could look,
when only half an hour ago, they were shrieking insults at Marion, brandishing
Fi's eyelash curler threateningly.
Sirius
looked all three girls up and down approvingly, James stood there slightly
stunned by the sight of Lily in the robes, and Remus and Peter just nodded
politely.
Sirius
turned to James and muttered, "they don't get much lower than that," gesturing
at Lily's amenities subtly enough to avoid having a very solid transfiguration
book thrown at him.
Remus
muttered, "And if they did get lower than that, you'd know all about it,
Padfoot."
"Hm?"
was James' vacant contribution.
The
group then had to detour off to the Ravenclaw entrance to meet with Marissa,
Remus' girlfriend for the moment, Brian Linton, and Josh Simons, Fi's and
Lisa's date. Then it was onto the Hufflepuffs to meet Sally Shaw, for Peter,
and Bonnie Goldair. Compliments were exchanged, or, in Sirius' case, a
compliment was given, and a giggle and some fluttery eyelashes were returned.
The
group, at this stage was less a group, and more a convoy as they made their way
down to the great hall. They made a minor detour to avoid Peeves who was
pissing people off by putting gaps in the floor, in which girls wearing
excruciatingly high heels twisted their ankles. Finally after some creative
manoeuvring to remove Lisa and her 4-inch sparkly Gucci platforms (which Sirius
volunteered for, annoying Josh Simons a lot in the process), some remarks from
James, and an overpriced shoe thrown by Sirius, the convoy arrived in the Great
Hall. It was decorated with a spring theme – Greenery, and multicoloured
flowers, complete with little birds, and bunny rabbits and fluffy white clouds.
It was evident that the decorating committee had consisted of Hufflepuffs.
"Well,
I'm off to the food before the ceremony starts." Sirius made for the food
followed by Bonnie with a
"But
Si-ri-u-us….. I wanna dance now."
Half
the hall winced at the four syllables and whiny voice.
Evidently,
this was one of Sirius' more moronic romantic selections.
After
the guys had stuffed themselves, and the girls had eaten enough not to pop the
zipper on their robes, the class of 1982 sat down, and prepared to sit through
an hour of mind (and arse)-numbing awards and speeches. Dumbledore took to the
podium first.
"We
are saddened today, bid the class of 1982 goodbye, as they reach the end of
their Hogwarts education, and prepare to enter the wizarding world as
responsible, mature adults." At this part of the speech, Dumbledore's eyes
paused at James, Sirius and Remus in turn at the last three words. He went on.
"Our time here has been of joy, sorrow, triumph, defeat and many other things.
Undeniably, you have all worked hard to get where you are today, and on behalf
of all the professors and staff here, I wish you all the best of luck for the
future.
The
students clapped politely, and Professor Maitra, the deputy headmistress stood
up. Pursing her lips, she pointed her wand at the podium, shrinking it to her
own size, while everyone tittered.
"Most
of you are reasonably intelligent, so when I call your name, come to the front
and receive your diplomas." The professor opened her mouth to call out the
first name, when Professor Flitwick nudged Maitra and gave her a look. Maitra
turned back to the front and grimaced as if she was in pain. "I know you will
all … achieve … things, and … erm… be useful." The staff rolled their eyes in
unison at this typically Maitra remark, but most of the students were fairly
amazed by Maitra saying anything positive, even though it was half-arsed and
forced practically at wand-point.
After
the diplomas were handed out, the professors started with awards.
Dumbledore
had taken the stand again, after Maitra had snapped out the names of all the
students, and stomped out of the hall in a huff.
"I
am pleased to announce our new deputy headmistress is Professor McGonagall, as
Professor Maitra has now decided to hand in her resignation and retire from
teaching." The reaction was part indignation that Maitra had retired after
they'd all endured seven years of her, and the other part ecstatic that they'd
managed to get rid of her at last. "As I was saying, the academic, citizenship,
Quidditch and special achievement awards are to be given out now."
By
the end of the ceremony, James had picked up the Transfiguration, Quidditch
Captain, Head Boy and Most Likely to be Minister for Magic awards. Lily had the
Charms, Head Girl and a special achievement award for the most N.E.W.T.'s (12
698, the school average being 10 000 or so out of 13 000). Sirius had the
Beaters, Care of Magical Creatures, and Most Likely to be Zapped into Oblivion
by Mad-Eye Moody awards, the last of which he was unhealthily proud of,
considering Mad-Eye Moody's reputation. The list for the others went on for a
while.
The
dancing part of the evening was less yawn-worthy, James and Lily spent most of
the time together (predictably)trying to get into each others mouths, Sirius
was having the time of his life resetting his record for 'most girls danced
with in one night', after pawning Bonnie off on some unsuspecting Hufflepuff
lunk-head. Remus was involved in deep, meaningful conversation with Marissa,
and Peter was sitting at the table, and by the looks of it, re-enacting the
Quidditch final with some left over fries while Sally sat next to him glaring.
Suddenly,
the mild pop tune cut out, and the hall was silent, except for some murmurings
about what was going on. "Everyone, I'd like to dedicate this next song to
Marion Coleman." Lily's voice was magically amplified over the hall. A song
blared out from a stereo behind the podium. And a female voice began to sing.
Black mascara smudges your face. You sit in your grassy place. The grass is oh so greener on the other side, but then I wonder why?
Sirius
nodded knowingly, "Ahh, Lily's punk rock collection, come on, mosh pit!" He
dragged the table up and began moshing in the middle of the dance floor, among
the other dancers looking bewildered at how to dance to this.
It's never gonna be that way, cause you're just a pretty face. Not gonna be one of those girls – don't wanna live in that world.
Does popularity come with a make up case? Just think of all the time you waste. See the sporties get their prizes, as we hide in the faculty's demises.
It's
never gonna be that way, cause you're just a pretty face. Not gonna be one of
those girls – don't wanna live in that world.
Remus
who was squashed in the throng of 7th years now all jumping
manically in the middle of the hall, turned and shouted at James and Lily, to
the right of him. "Bit rich isn't it, Little Miss Head Girl?" Lily just
shrugged her shoulders and smiled, unable to make her reply heard.
A
few seconds later, after the closing notes of the song, Lily walked up to him,
after gulping down some water, "I've been wanting to do that since third year."
She grinned widely, and jumped back into the mosh pit, as another mosh song
came on. Remus had just noticed James loitering suspiciously close to the
stereo, when the music cut out, to the groans of mosh-happy 7th
years.
James grinned wider than Lily had, and yelled "Everyone this is for Mrs Norris!"
Guitars
lead in the song.
Dead
cat three times, bet it's out there on a highway line, you tried to deny all of
it, I hang my head when I think, dead cat, dead cat three times
Dead cat, you said that, said cat three times, dead cat
No school three times, cigarettes, sudafed for role call boys, they never
really gave a shit, apologetic hypocrite
Dead cat
Dead cat three times
Dead cat
Said that
Said cat three times
By
the end of the night, a few people were sporting twisted ankles, from moshing
in heels. McGonagall was exercising her Deputy Headmistress powers by giving
Lily and James detention for their musical stunts, even though she was smiling,
and actually glad that Marion 'Snot nosed bimbo' Coleman, had finally gotten
hers, and everyone wanted to ice Mrs Norris.
James,
Lily, Sirius, Remus, Fi, and Lisa trudged up the stairs towards Gryffindor
tower. Some of them limping slightly, and some of them slightly high over
drinking too much butterbeer.
Lily
stretched and yawned, as they stepped into the common room, "ahh, nothing like
jumping up and down to ear-drum blasting music in 5 inch heels, while being
packed between two Slytherin beaters to make a girl tired… G'night." She gave
James a nice and civilized kiss goodnight.
"Same, except the beater part." Fi agreed, as she Lisa, and Lily all walked up the girl's stairs.
Sirus,
Remus, James and Peter headed up their own dormitory.
Peter
turned to James, "James, man, that was inspirational."
James
smiled lazily, "Who could resist a song called 'Dead Cat'?
*****
By
the next morning, it was time to pack and leave Hogwarts for good and return
home to collect their things and move them into their new place.
James,
Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and Fi had decided to go in on a flat in London,
with all six of them in varying states of poverty, being 17 year old jobless
students. The exception to this was James, who could have had his run of the
Potter Estate, but had decided that the embarrassment of living with mummy and
daddy, and the convenience of living with his work partners out weighed the
comfort of being fed, and looked after at home. In the previous Easter break,
they had gone to the wizarding part of London, just outside of Diagon Alley to
search for a house, flat, or anything else habitable. After Sirius had pissed
off three muggle real estate agents for assorted reasons, the six of them had
realised that they couldn't afford anything in an optimum neighbourhood if they
wanted to eat as well. In the end, it was Fi who found it – a rustic (falling
apart), sprawling (big empty rooms with the plaster coming off the walls), and
practically new with only one owner to date, house (it was built half a century
ago, the original owner was murdered in the living room, and the most recent
inhabitants were some raccoons/possums/squirrels a spider infestation, and some
bikies that the local council had evicted). The good thing was that there was
enough room for everyone to exist without getting up each other's noses, or up
anything else. It was also cheap, and there were no nearby houses, so no one
could see them doing magic, or hear Remus each month as he gave a new meaning
to PMS. The bad thing was that it was in the middle of nowhere. That would be a
slight exaggeration. You could be smack-bang in the middle of the city when you
stepped out the front door – after 15 minutes walk, 3 buses, and 17 stops on
the tube. Luckily, they'd all be able to apparate in a month or so, when they
we're going to take their test. Until then, it was either muggle
transportation, or broomsticks with the risk of muggle sightings – their
fireplace was in a tragic state, and lighting a fire in it incurred the risk of
getting you're eyebrows singed off, which made all six of them wince, and
slowly inch a protective hand to their foreheads.
After
packing up their things, and a last look around Gryffindor tower, a last
snogging session in the astronomy tower, a last dung bomb thrown into the
Slytherin common room, and a last train ride through the country, complete with
a visit from Snape making snide remarks.
Fi
sighed as Snape stormed out of their carriage after being hit with the
furnunculous curse by Remus. "I'm gonna miss this."
Sirius
raised an eyebrow from the corner where he was sitting, "What, Snape? Somebody,
has issues."
Fi
glared at him and whacked him lightly with the back of her hand. "Well, yeah,
no. I'll miss pissing him off."
James
nodded gloomily, "Won't we all."
The
train slowed as it neared Kings Cross Station, and as it halted to a stop, the
six of them lugged their trunks onto the platform. James was walking towards
his parents, when he was struck by an idea. He rushed to his father and gave
him his trunk.
"Yo,
dad, mum, things to do, be home in a while." He skidded away towards Sirius
before his parents could tell him off. "Hey, wanna go check out the house?"
Sirius,
who was saying hello to his mother, raised an eyebrow. "Now? Why?"
James
shrugged his shoulders. "Inspiration."
"Kay"
Within
a few minutes, they had gathered up the rest of the gang, and flew over to the
house, Fi doubling on Sirius' broom. Everyone else had their own. They arrived
after around 40 minutes of flying, ducking above the clouds frequently to avoid
the muggles, and hoping that James was as good a navigator as he was a Chaser.
Remus
was shaking his head, "Why did we bother with this? It's getting pretty late-"
He
was rudely interrupted by Sirius, "Screw that!" he exclaimed walking proudly
around the living room.
On
another burst of inspiration, he threw his arms up, to the amusement and alarm
of everyone else, and bellowed, very much in the style of Braveheart.
"Free-dom!"
He
was still grinning happily when the front section of the wall collapsed,
covering them all with a shower of plaster dust.
*****
Much
thanks to my beta readers Zeft (read 101 ways to disrupt harmony), and
StarSerpent (Tommy, darling, are you gay?, and Don't try this at home). The
next part should be out in a week or two if I'm lucky, cause school (barf) is
starting on Wednesday. Its my first story on ff..net, so review, flame, do what
you like.
(the
world save-age comes in the next part or so)
