The Marauders Fly High by Luvscharlie
Warnings: Drug use
A/N: Originally written for Week 22 at the fandom_fridays community on Live Journal where our prompt was drug use.
Hagrid had suspected something was going on. Seeing Peter Pettigrew come stumbling out of the Forbidden Forest was simply the final bit of proof he needed before he went in and pounded the crazy loons.
How many times had he told the lot of them to stay out of the Forest when they were doing this? The centaurs hated the smell; there was likely to be a stampede and if the lot of them got trampled, well it was their own bloody fault. Not to mention if Filch saw them… well, even after all the warnings, Hagrid didn't have the heart to let that happen. They'd never see their way out of detention. And even if it was well deserved, he had a soft spot for the band of troublemakers.
So Hagrid stopped tending his prized pumpkins and started off toward the Forest to see if he could keep the Marauders (he chuckled to himself, as he found the nickname they'd given to themselves to be totally ridiculous) out of detention. It seemed rather harsh that they should spend all their Saturdays until they left Hogwarts in detention. One main reason being because he suspected they just might end up doing detention with him, and he had no desire to babysit them. They were a heap of trouble and he always felt far more punished than they when they served a detention under his watch.
They weren't hard to find. Hadn't even gone very far into the forest to try and disguise their mischief making, the lazy slugs. There James was laid out in some clover, a little cloud of smoke rising from the joint in his hand, Remus beside him. Both of them high as hippogriffs in flight.
"Found Peter did you?" James said with a high pitched giggle. "I told you we should have spun him around a few more times before we turned him loose to see if he could find his way to the kitchens for sweets, Moony. He actually found his way out of the Forest this time then? Good for him. I didn't think the old boy had it in him. Do you know if he made it to the kitchens? I have a wicked case of the munchies."
Hagrid looked at them and sighed ignoring the questions. "Where's the other one?" he asked.
"What other one?" said James, his giggle now uncontrollable, and his attempt to look innocent and ignorant failing miserably. He tried to stand up, got dizzy and dropped back down to the grass still giggling.
"Ya know very well what other one. Now where is he?"
"I think he means Padfoot, Moony. What do you think?" James punched Remus playfully on the arm.
"Maybe so," Remus replied. His tone of voice reflecting total disinterest. "I believe he said he was going centaur hunting. Mentioned he was gonna rope one and keep it as a pet."
"He wouldn't?" Hagrid said with a gasp. "Tell me he wouldn't!"
"'kay," said James, now all agreeable. "He wouldn't… 'cept he totally did." James nodded down at his trainers that were missing their strings. "See made his own rope and everything."
And from deep within the trees, there was a loud cry of, "Up, horsey! Giddy up, I say."
And that was followed by a loud and sickening crunch.
Ronan came to the edge of the Forest a few minutes later with an unconscious Sirius draped over his back. "I believe one of your beasts has gotten free from its cage, Hagrid." He gave his hindquarters a shake and dropped Sirius to the ground like a sack of lifeless potatoes. "Please be sure to keep a closer watch on him next time. He should be glad that he shocked Bane so greatly when he leapt from the tree onto his back so that Bane ran into a tree and knocked them both unconscious. Otherwise, he would not have been so lucky as to leave here with but a few bruises. The students would do well to remember that. Not all of my kind are as forgiving as I—but I must admit that was quite a sight to behold." The usually somber centaur seemed to be having a good deal of difficulty controlling himself, and Hagrid thought he heard a snigger as Ronan galloped away.
"You lot are going to get your idiot selves killed," Hagrid raged. "And you'd best be glad that I'm the one who found you, or you'd be spending eternity in detention. And you'd bloody well deserve it."
And the words had no sooner left Hagrid's mouth than he heard a noise and looked up to see Mrs. Norris running as quick as she could back to the castle. "Oh balls!" he cursed.
The following Saturday
"The first one of you that bruises, smashes or in any way damages one of my pumpkins is going to be wearing a great big knot on his head. You understand?"
"If we have to do detentions, we're always glad when it's with you, Hagrid," said Sirius with a cheeky grin, then tripped Peter so that he fell, his ample bottom splitting and squishing a small pumpkin, as Remus and James looked on hysterically laughing.
"My lucky day, no doubt," Hagrid replied with a groan of disgust.