Hello, dear people! Thank you for choosing my story for a read. This is a translation of a story my own, originally posted in Portuguese. However, as it is my favourite story written by myself (does it even make sense?), I decided I should give it a shot in English.
Apologies in advance for the usual mistakes and murders of the English language - I really tried my best.
Hope you enjoy this"
"Don't you ever get enough, Wormtail?" Remus Lupin asked, his face a mixture of entertainment and disgust.
Peter Pettigrew simply raised his eyes and shrugged while he stuffed his mouth with even more chips. He and Remus were on the Three Broomsticks waiting for James Potter and Sirius Black.
"Where are they, anyway?" Peter asked. Remus drank a sip of his Butterbeer and checked the watch he had won on his 17th birthday.
"They're late," Remus commented before actually answering, "James had to solve some Heads issue, and Sirius... didn't mention where he was going, but I suppose it's got something to do with a girl…"
Peter nodded absently, focusing on his plate once again. Remus sighed and opened the paper, reading only the headlines. The four of them had settled to have lunch and hang out on Hogsmead for the afternoon. Although it was only October, the day had started with a thin frost, and it hadn't got much warmer so far. After Peter's insistent complaints about the need to wear gloves and a scarf at midday before Hallowe'en, Remus suggested they headed for the restaurant and waited for the other two there.
"Want anything else, dears?" Madam Rosmerta asked them. Remus ordered another Butterbeer, whole Peter nodded and made an effort to swallow all the chips on his mouth.
"Wormtail, wait for Prongs and Padfoot to have lunch," Lupin said. Rosmerta chuckled and Peter flushed.
"But I'm hungry now!" The round boy replied while Remus rolled his eyes.
"You're eating a whole plate of chips. By yourself." Lupin said sceptically. "Besides, it's not like you're going to be satisfied soon…" he turned to Rosmerta and asked, "please, another Butterbeer for him too."
Remus watched Madam Rosmerta walk away, and looked distractedly to the door When he heard it opening. He recognized James entering and looking for them while he adjusted his glasses. Lupin raised his hands and waved, getting James's attention to their table. When James saw Remus, he smiled and quickly made his way towards them.
"Merlin, Wormtail, you're eating already?" James asked as he took off his scarf and gloves, and sat down. Peter flushed again.
"Uh, I was, uh, hungry, and didn't know how long till you arrived, so I ordered a snack before lunch..."
"Snack?" Remus asked with a laugh. James grinned and took a chip from Peter's plate, who protested and pulled the plate closer to him. James's face was a bit red from both the cold and the exercise to get to the restaurant.
Madame Rosmerta brought the requested Butterbeers and James ordered another one for himself and more chips as appetizer.
"So, did you solve it?" Remus asked James, who frowned. "The heads issue?"
"Oh, yeah, I did," He replied quickly, "couldn't be more solved. Issue isn't an issue anymore. No more issues."
"What happened?"
"An imbroglio with the detention reports," James answered while he stole another of Peter's chips.
"Imbroglio?" A confused Peter asked.
"And it had to be solved today?" Remus asked simultaneously.
"Imbroglio, problem," James explained," and unfortunately, yes, as Minerva wanted the papers on her desk today before noon, so we had to do those now," he continued, a hand through his hair.
"'We' had to?"
"Yeah, yeah. Lily and I," Madam Rosmert came back with James's order. He winked his thanks and took a sip of his Butterbeer.
"You and Lily? But weren't you working last night?" Peter asked.
"Yup, but yesterday was for na entirely different thing," James replied, eating more chips, "where's Padfoot?"
"Entirely different thing?" Peter inquired, while Lupin answered, "I honestly hope he's close now."
"Yesterday we were making the rounds schedule," James explained, watching as the door opened, "look, there's that dog…"
Sirius Black never were a scarf because he said it hid his 'exquisite' neck. It took him some time to find his friends, but When he finally did, he took determined steps towards their table.
"Hey, chips!" Was his salute, grabbing some before sitting down.
"You're late," Lupin pointed out. Sirius rolled his eyes and ruffled his friend's hair.
"Yeah, I know I am, thanks for warning me, Moony," Sirius replied sarcastically, "it doesn't even matter now; what really matters – OI, Rosmerta!" The woman in question turned to him, "Can I get some Firewhiskey?" She smiled and nodded, as Sirius went, "those chips are really good!"
"What really matters, Pads?" James asked amused.
"What? Oh! You'll never guess who I just found buying green lingerie!"
James and Remus rolled his eyes and groaned, while Peter widened his eyes.
"Please, tell me this isn't another extremely detailed story about some girl's underwear," Remus asked exasperated. For some unbeknownst reason, Sirius enjoyed sharing some sordid details from his dates.
"I suppose this part isn't actually relevant at the present time," Sirius agreed, "but I've got to start at some point... d'you remember that I went out with Keira Mathews earlier this year?"
"Wasn't she the one you took to our dorm on my birthday?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. Sirius smirked.
"What a nice memory you've got, Prongs! That's the one! By the way, have I already apologised for forgetting the silencing spell that night?"
"Yes, but it's never gonna be enough..." Peter mumbled, and the others chuckled.
"Erm, sorry again. Anyway, I told her I'd like another one of those, and she said okay, and that I'd even be allowed to choose her, uh, inner appeal. Acting as the gentleman that I am, I offered to pay for this garment myself, to which I've had a delighted acceptance."
James and Remus shared an incredulous glance, whole Peter stared with admiration ("how can he do that?" was the question on his mind).
"We decided that today would be choosing day – ah, thanks Rosmerta! – that today would be choosing day, so we went to the lingerie store at the end of the road. Fun scheme, I reckoned, and so we met at the old Charms classroom – that is much better than the Transfigurations one for a casual meeting, if you want to know – and then we headed to the store.
"Keira couldn't pick one, asked for my opinion, so we stayed over there for almost an hour. I was losing my patience, so I went to help her. When I got to the green lingerie section, guess who I find there?!"
"Minerva?" Remus asked sarcastically. James snorted and drank his Butterbeer to cover up.
"Min-, Moony don't be so thick!" Sirius exclaimed, "Minerva definitively would wear black."
Remus and Peter sported disgusted looks.
"Who I found, in reality, completely happy, unattended and humming was Evans!"
James spit the Butterbeer he had just sipped and stared at Sirius, who was so focused on the chips that he didn't notice his best friend's reaction. Remus raised his eyebrows and Peter whistled.
"Not that I'm, you know, judging Evans or anything," Sirius complemented, eating the chips, "it's just I didn't know she was seeing someone, to buy a lingerie…"
"Well, you don't have to be seeing someone to buy lingerie," Remus said.
"And you know all about it, don't you, Moony?" Sirius asked with a laugh.
"You won't believe on what our lady friends say when they're drunk and away from you."
"Hm. I'll pretend to believe you. Anyway, I've never pictured Lily wearing a green lingerie."
"You've pictured her wearing any lingerie?" James asked, slowly recovering. Sirius grimaced at the question.
"Well, Prongs, once… twice, tops. She's a beautiful girl, you know, no need to be jealous. It's just the colour intrigued me."
"Maybe it's because of her eyes," James offered and went quiet.
"Yeah, maybe. You alright?"
Remus watched James. It was general Knowledge that James had an enormous crush on Lily Evans. Remus feared that what Sirius told them really meant that Lily was dating someone. He would ask her later, as she was friends with him.
"Me? Yeah, sure. You heard Moony. Lingerie isn't a pathognomonic factor. She could not be seeing someone," James replied, sipping his drink.
"Patho what?" Peter asked, choking.
"It's not a synonymous."
"Synonymous?"
"It's not the same," James explained once more.
"You're talking way too hard, Prongs. Anyway, I'm not sure I completely believe your story, Padfoot," Peter said. Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"You don't believe me?"
"Wouldn't be the first time you make some shit up."
"And why, oh why would I do that, Wormy?"
The reply was cut by Rosmerta asking if they were ready for lunch. Remus gave her the parchment in which he had already wrote down the orders, and she smiled in thanks.
"Well, I reckon just for the fun of our reactions," Peter continued, happier now that lunch was coming.
"Well, there's only one option left, then. To prove I'm speaking the truth, and only the truth. And I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good!"
The other three groaned.
"What are you gonna do, Padfoot?" James asked cautiously.
"Well, obviously, I've got to steal Evans's green lingerie."
The other three groaned again.
"I doubt you'll actually do it," James said, finishing his Butterbeer.
"I accept your bet," Sirius replied, also finishing his drink, "actually," he continued, "actually, we could do something even funnier…"
The other groaned once more.
"No, hear me out! We could do a bet: who can steal Evans's green lingerie first!"
The other three groaned (it's not hard to noticed that groaning is a very common reaction if one is near Sirius Black).
"Blah, complain as much as you want. I evoke the Sacred Oath."
The Sacred Oath was an arrangement between the Marauders that compelled the four of them to do at least one bet or prank in the period of two months.
The other three groaned yet once again.
But they knew they couldn't do anything, except to accept.
And right there, amidst forkfuls of fish, the terms of the Green Bet were announced.
"It's gotta be the green lingerie, no other," Sirius quickly declared.
"And how are we supposed to know if the green lingerie really is Evans's?" Peter asked.
"We don't even know if she's actually bought it…" James added, only to be shamelessly ignored.
"Whoever presents the underwear will drink a bit of Veritasserum," Sirius suggested.
"Alright. We can't ask her friends for help," Remus completed.
"Agreed!" Peter said.
"The three losers pay all the bars and candies expenses of the winner for a month."
"Except during the Summer!" Peter exclaimed, knowing just how much Sirius and James visited bars back home.
When they were satisfied with the rules, Remus wrote them all down on a parchment. Sirius looked at James.
"You don't like the bet?"
"Evans will absolutely murder me," James replied in a resigned tone.
"Well, at least you'll get a shot at seeing her underwear…"
Sirius, Remus and Peter started to laugh, but were cut short by a voice behind them.
"See whose underwear?"
The four boys looked startled and James grimaced. Then they turned to Lily Evans, who carried two bags: one from Honeydukes, and a black one. They looked at her bags, then to her again.
"Minerva's," Sirius answered quickly.
"Minerva as in, Minerva McGonagall, our Transfiguration teacher?" Lily asked in a confused tone.
"I always thought that she wears black…"
Lily narrowed her eyes, but her suspicious expression was replaced by a long yawn.
"Well, I've got absolutely no idea what you're on about, or why you'd like to see Minerva's underwear. I just passed by to let Potter know that we need to solve an issue with the detentions reports.
"Weren't you doing it just this morning?" Remus asked.
"Yeah, but Minerva had to approve. She didn't like it?" James interrupted, looking at Lily.
"Erm, no, actually, no. Something about being unreadable," she replied with a smirk.
"You write them next time," James retorted, but his intention was effectively ruined by a sly wink.
"Tonight, nine o'clock. Don't be late," she said pointing a finger at James.
"Got a date now, Evans?" Sirius asked when the redheaded started to move away.
"None of your business…!" She sang while heading to the door.
James watched her leaving a bit more, calling Sirius's attention.
"Evans gets some really weird times for these Heads stuff."
"Tell me about," James agreed, "I don't complain only because… well, it's Evans."
"What time did you make yesterday, incidentally? I got back late, and you still weren't there."
"I, uh, spent the night at the Room of Requirements. I wanted a break from Pete's snores."
The subject was put away by Peter's protests, claiming he did not do such a thing as snoring, while Sirius vehemently compared the noise to a blend of bear and heavy machinery. To avenge himself from James, Peter remembered all the times James was rejected by Lily.
"… but when she said she'd rather go on a date with the giant squid…! Remarkable!" James rolled his eyes while the other three laughed.
"Yeah, truly remarkable what happened over a year ago," James said sarcastically. He expected his friends to stop laughing, but it was in vain, "Who needs enemies with friends like these…" he retorted, finishing yet another Butterbeer, "laughing at me being rejected by the girl I fancy…"
"It's not the rejection in itself, Prongs, "Sirius explained, "it's more the way she said, you know?"
"Oh, thanks, made it all better now," James said, fixing his spectacles, "actually, it's even worse, considering I've been deprecated by a mollusc."
He soon realised that his input, instead of generating an empathic feeling, caused his friends to laugh even more. He rolled his eyes and got up.
"I don't have to stand this," he said with a sigh. The others called him back, but he waved it away and headed to the loo. Remus quit laughing.
"Ok, maybe we should take it easier with James when it comes to Lily," Remus said. Sirius and Peter agreed.
"He's still on the bet, tho," Sirius added moments later as they went after James.
The Monday in which the bet would begin started early for James. His parents decide to send some chocolate straight to his dorm, which resulted in his owl dropping the package on him. Therefore, while the other Marauders were still rising, James was already up, finishing to pack his books.
"Getting an early start for the bet, Prongsie?" Sirius asked. James chuckled and denied.
"I still need to figure out how I'll try to win this bet without losing my head, Padfoot," James answered, turning to his friend.
"She'll skin either one of us, mate," Sirius replied, "you're not alone on this."
"But I spend much more time with her than the rest of you, don't I?" James said, rolling his eyes.
"You do? Peter asked, still tucked on his covers.
"Well, as far as I know, we're still Heads together, Wormtail. Just imagine how the meetings would be interesting if she ever finds out about this bet," he cleared his throat and thinned his voice to sound girly, "you lost the right to speak when you tried to steal my underwear, Potter."
"Now I'm sort of wishing that she finds out about you trying to get that lingerie," James said with a laugh. James nicely gave him the finger, but couldn't hold back his own laughter.
"I'll take this as constructive criticism for the meetings, and not an insult to your Head Boy."
"You do that," Remus replied in a condescending tone, whole Sirius went for his shower.
"I might even mention it to Evans."
"I can barely wait for the feedback."
James left with a laugh, decided to actually mention Remus's sarcastic critic. However, Lily had yet to arrive, so he chose a random place and got comfortable.
"Are you really gonna try to see Minerva's lingerie?" Was what he heard after 10 minutes.
James grinned when he recognized the voice and looked at its direction, where Lily sat down.
"What's your guess?"
"Well, it's a totally ridiculous notion, but seeing it was Sirius who said, I'd expect any sort of bollocks from him…"
"We won't try to see her lingerie, worry not," James assured her, laughing. Lily cracked a grin in response, "want some?" James offered the candies his mother had sent him, and the redheaded took one, smiling. "Speaking of lingerie…"
He looked at her with the corner of his eyes, while Lily fixed him with a speculative glance and a smirk playing in her lips.
"What about lingerie? Would you like to confess something?"
James smirked and chuckled.
"More of a question, really," he corrected her, sipping on his pumpkin juice, "it's just I've heard a little anecdote involving a green lingerie and your person. Would you care to elaborate on it?"
James had turned to face her, stating at those pretty green eyes, shining while their owner smirked. He couldn't get enough of admiring Lily, even more when the sparkle meant amusement instead of anger. Her smirk grew while she dramatically bit her lower lip and looked at the ceiling.
"To be perfectly honest…" Lily started, but was cut short by Sirius's arrival. James had to hold back his eyeroll, which made Lily giggle.
"Well, well, Prongs. Already bothering poor Lily?" Sirius asked, sitting on James's other side.
"Now you see what I suffer," she replied, winking. James grinned.
"Fear not, dear Evans. I've come to rescue you from my stupid friend. Just like Moony and Wormtail, who should be here any moment."
As if rehearsed, Remus and Peter appeared, accompanied by Mary MacDonald and Marlene McKinnon, and sat near James, Lily and Sirius. What appeared to be a quiet and peaceful breakfast for James soon became a pandemonium with Peter's most recent fall on the stairs. Mary took for herself the responsibility to report and re-enact the episode. Sirius scolded Peter for falling down away from him for the second time, which caused Lily to guffaw loudly.
And so it went on, until Sirius abruptly changed the subject.
"Evans, MacDonald and McKinnon, I've got a question for the three of you."
The other three Marauders stared at Sirius, while the girls agreed to answer.
"Have you ever managed to get a boy on your dormitory? If so, how can it be done?"
Marlene laughed again, while Mary blushed, and Lily raised her eyebrows. The first two quickly denied.
"What about you, Evans?" Sirius pressed on, ignoring James's low warning.
"Why d'you ask?" Lily replied instead.
"Just curious, Red."
"Well, now that you've cleared that up…" Lily commented sarcastically, "Do you really think I'd tell you how to get a boy up my dorm?"
"So you have taken a boy up there?" Sirius asked excitedly.
"I didn't say that. Did I say that? I'm almost positive I didn't say that."
"How would you know if you haven't?"
"I don't need to take a boy up there to know how to do it."
"C'mon, Evans, I'm just curious!" Sirius pleaded, making Lily chuckle.
"You're literally the last person I'd tell how to get up there."
"What?! You'd tell James?" Sirius challenged, pointing at his friend.
"If it was a choice between the both of you? I wouldn't even think about it."
Sirius mouth hang open and James grinned, winking at Lily.
"Thanks, Evans!"
"Eh, don't get so excited. I never said you'd be one of the first either…"
The others laughed at James's pout while Sirius recovered himself.
"Ok, between me and Dumbledore?"
"What a moronic question. Of course Dumbledore. We'd probably chat a bit while he made us some tea, and I wouldn't even have to worry with him going through my underwear drawer."
In Sirius's defence, he didn't try to deny that he'd do it (which everybody there knew he would), he just pointed out that James would do the same.
"Well, he would at least try to be discreet," Lily argued.
"Voldemort or me?"
"Voldemort."
"Voldemort?" Sirius asked incredulously.
"Voldemort," Lily confirmed, nodding.
"But he'd probably hide in your closet to kill you!"
"Yeah, but if he did hide, it'd be to kill me, not to spy me while I change, and this thought gives me a certain relief."
The other girls agreed amidst chuckles, while the Marauders laughed at Sirius. He simply narrowed his eyes to Lily and continued his meal. The girls then decided to head early for class, leaving the Marauders alone.
"You know, Potter, I thought we didn't lie to each other," Sirius said when he was sure the girls could no longer listen. James rolled his eyes.
"What am I lying about, Padfoot?"
"You said you had no plans, but there were you, chit chatting with Evans early in the morning," Sirius explained, sporting an air of gravity and seriousness that didn't go with him.
"And how would that be a plan regarding the bet, Pads?"
"That's precisely what I asked myself," Sirius replied, not looking to his friend and focusing on the food instead, "I couldn't listen to what you were blabbering about, because you were all but whispering away Merlin knows about what. That's when I noticed that there's a flaw on our deal."
"What flaw?" Peter asked anxiously, while James rolled his eyes and resumed his breakfast.
"We said we couldn't ask for Evans's friends… but we said nothing about asking her for help."
Remus and James gaped at Sirius while Peter seemed to consider the thought.
"Sirius, who in their right minds would ask Evans for one of her lingerie?" James asked.
"Well, I've got the distinct impression that you have already asked, mate of mine."
"That was fifth year and I was drunk."
"Remus is so close to her that I wouldn't doubt if he asked and she gave it to him," Sirius continued, ignoring James, "and some people consider it flirting. You know, some people wink, grin, say lines… others ask for underwear."
The other three went quiet.
"Who do you know besides us, Sirius?" Remus asked.
"You think I'm going over the top, but a girl once asked me to wear her knickers. Not that I did it, if you're curious, but I don't judge those who do it. I just don't get the appeal…"
"Padfoot, what this got to do with our conversation?" Remus asked.
"That maybe Prongs had it from someone that Lily's got that fetish and will use it as seducing strategy, and then he'll win the bet."
"Yeah, really, if I did manage to 'seduce' Evans, winning the bet would be the most important fact," James said ironically while they made their way to class.
"That's not what I said, Prongs," Sirius tried to justify, "but the bet would interfere forever on my life, while you going out with Evans would be mildly interesting to me."
The comment obviously was followed by a well planted slap on Sirius head, who tried to complain to Peter and Remus. They agreed with James ('You could've at least have said during the prize, Padfoot', Remus suggested) and Sirius pouted, causing him to pair with Peter at the back of the room.
"You really think Evans's got a fetish for blokes in knickers?" Peter whispered to Sirius a while after class started. They both looked at Lily, who were taking notes.
"I don't know, Wormtail," Sirius replied under his breath, "I'd never thought she liked green lingerie. It's a possibility."
Peter went quiet for a moment then sighed.
"I'm never gonna win this bet…" he mumbled. Sirius looked at him speculatively.
"I get your point, Wormtail. Those two," he pointed to James and Remus, who were taking notes and talking, "have got a huge advantage. Moony is a great friend of Evans, and Prongs has spent a large amount of time with her, so he gets to know her better."
"And you are you. I'd better save my money already…"
"You know what, I think we should make this bet a bit fairer."
"What do you mean?"
"You and I unite. If either of us win, we share a portion of the candies and booze to the other."
"It's an interesting proposition. I'm in."
Sirius smiled and spit on his palm, offering his hand for Peter to shake it.
"I hate when you do that…" Peter complained.
"Don't be such a baby, Wormtail."
Peter sighed, spit on his own hand e shook the one offered to him. Then he conjured a cloth, cleaned his palm and threw it away.
A few chairs ahead, Remus and James also talked about the Green Bet.
"I really don't understand how you could accept this crazy bet, Moony," James said.
"I'm not sure, I was feeling a bit… impulsive on Saturday. It's been a while since we did something different."
"If by 'different' you mean 'dangerous', the full moon was two weeks ago," James replied. Remus grinned, even if he had to look to make sure no one had heard, "I'd rather face a full week of full moon than face Evans if she hears about this."
Remus disguised his laugh in a cough.
"Lily's used by now with me doing crazy shit because of you lot."
"But none of these stunts involved stealing her knickers."
"That is true," Remus agreed, "what's your plan for winning?"
"Honestly? And I'm telling this only to you and begging for secrecy…" James pointed out, staring at his friend, "I'd rather pay everything for the three of you for a month than to risk Evans catching me red handed on her drawer."
"So you're not even gonna try?"
"If I manage to think about something that won't have me in the crime scene, sure, I'll try."
Remus's reply was interrupted by a surprised exclamation from Flitwick, "Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew," he said, "could you gentlemen please pay attention and stop talking?"
"I can't promise to actually do it, Filius," Sirius replied with a smirk, "but I promise to try."
"I can also promise to try not to give you detention, Mr. Black," the professor shot back, causing laughter from the rest of the class, "I believe our promises complement each other."
James noticed Lily staring at his disturbing friends and then on himself, so he winked at her. Lily simply rolled her eyes in response.
"What were you up to?" James asked them When they were out of the classroom.
"Just chatting. Nothing up," Peter replied with a shrug.
This statement proved to be false later that night on the Common Room. James and Remus were focused over patrols schedule, trying to fit Remus in convenient shifts, while Sirius read the Daily Prophet. The quietness of the room was broken by a scream from the girls' dorm and a wailing sound, followed by a light snap.
James stood up at once and made his way to the basis of the stairs, where he found Marlene gasping for air with a hand on her chest, leaning against the wall.
"You alright, McKinnon?" James asked, raising his wand.
"Yes, yes, I just…" she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, "I was just coming down, Mary's waiting for me on the library… anyways, I was coming down when suddenly I saw a rat!"
"A rat?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I… I hate rats!"
"And where's the rat?"
"It flew away!"
"Flew away?" James asked again.
"I must have done some spell unwilling… Ugh, disgusting! I hate rats!"
Marlene left, still not breathing properly, through the portrait hole. James looked for the rat, but couldn't find it. He still had a confused expression on his face when he sat beside Remus again.
"What was that all about?" Sirius asked, looking at James but not lowering the paper.
"McKinnon found a rat on the stairs. Apparently, she hats rats," James explained.
"What about the noise?" Remus questioned, "was there a boy over?"
"No, but she could've set it off by mistake."
"How?"
"She must have done some sort of spell that messed up with the sensor," James replied, "not sure."
The subject was dropped when Lily arrived and collected James and Remus for the prefects meeting. Sirius remained on the couch until Peter arrived.
"You're so idiot, Wormtail!" Sirius exclaimed, causing Peter to jump on his seat.
"What did I do wrong?"
"You were supposed to have waited for everyone to clear off the Common Room before trying. How do you explain the wailing sound out of nowhere?"
"I… I don't know!"
"It's alright, Wormy. I'll fix it."
And that's why the wailing sound made a new appearance at 3 in the morning.
James and Remus (both on sweatpants) quickly appeared on the stairs, where they found Lily (also with sweatpants and a sweatshirt).
"Got a glimpse on who it was, Lily?" Remus asked, yawning. The red-haired girl stared at them with arms crossed.
"No. Just a bloody dog leaving."
"A dog?" James and Sirius asked simultaneously.
"Yeah, a huge black dog."
The Marauders looked at each other and Lily raised an eyebrow.
"This isn't part of a ridiculously elaborated prank of yours, is it?"
"Absolutely not," James quickly replied, "probably a third year who managed to hide or leave…"
The rest of James's theory was interrupted by Sirius climbing through the portrait hole to the Common Room, that was half full at that point.
"Where were you, Padfoot?" James asked with a sigh. Sirius smirked.
"Around. Looking for something green…"
James and Remus rolled their eyes while Lily straightened hers.
"Detention, Sirius. Saturday," James said and turned to Lily, "if you find any clue, let me know, yeah?"
"Any suspects?" Lily asked, uncrossing her arms.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Leave it to me and Moony. We'll take care of it."
Lily smiled and squeezed their shoulders, glared at Sirius, and called everyone back to their dorms.
"Well," Sirius contemplated as he laid on his bed. James and Remus did the same, while Peter popped one eye open, "you can't get up on the girls' dorm on our animagi form, in case you're wondering.
James tried to hold his lopsided grin (the won people said he and Sirius share), but to no avail.
"Oh, shoot. At least people won't wonder about the appearance of a deer on the Common Room…"
Remus chuckled, and Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Pete was useless earlier," Sirius said, "I had to check."
James rolled his eyes and got ready to sleep, ignoring Peter and Sirius discussing how useless Peter had actually been.
As James arrived on the Gryffindor table next morning, the first thing Lily asked him was about the issue from the previous night. He promptly replied that it had been solved.
"It was just a scare. It won't happen again. Moony and I guarantee it."
Lily raised her eyebrows, but she was used by then not to question certain aspects of the Marauders. Besides, she trusted Remus. He was one of his best friends. And everyone knew that.
This fact, however, did not prevent the scene that James stumbled upon on Wednesday night when he left for a long shower on the prefects' lavatory. James was being as quiet as he could, afraid to wake someone up. He didn't expect to find someone already up.
"Er…" he heard Remus mumble to himself, "this doesn't seem to work… er… accio green lingerie!"
Nothing besides Remus cursing happened, and James couldn't hold back his laughter. Lupin turned surprised, but sighed when he recognized his friend.
"Me thinks the founders worried about pervert youngsters who wanted to summon underwear from innocent witches, Moony."
"This was the most inoffensive tactic I came up with."
"Really smart."
"I know it was stupid, but sometimes simplicity is the key."
"Seems to be the wrong for this door, Moony," James looked at his watch, "I, er, should be going. Taking the Map with me."
Remus was still focused on finding other words to use when suddenly Lily Evans appeared, causing a coughing attack on Remus.
"Everything okay, Remy?" She asked.
"Uh, yeah, I just," he cleared his throat, "just choked."
"Yeah, I noticed," Lily replied with a light giggle.
"You heading out?"
"What? Oh, yeah," Remus watched her fixing her muggle clothes, "I'll check the rounds schedules."
"I thought James had done it this afternoon."
"Don't tell him, but I, uh, have got the habit of double checking after him."
Remus raised his eyebrows.
"It's not that I doubt him," Lily explained quickly, "I'd do it no matter who was working with me, but I'm afraid people will think I'm only doing it because it's… well, James Potter.
Remus smiled, and Lily continued her way. The Marauder sighed and gave up the summoning for the night. Maybe new ideas would come on the next day.
Thursday was a quiet day, with no attempts to win the Green Bet. Probably due to a fireworks showing provided by James and Sirius (not that people knew about the Head Boy involvement) that required the full attention of both boys so that that moons and planets were correctly organised.
However, an innocent overheard chat on Friday night between Lily and Marlene gave an idea to Peter.
They were discussing about a muggle superhero called Spider Man.
"Padfoot…" Peter whispered.
"What?
"If we could walk on the ceiling, could we get in the girls' dorm?"
Sirius's blue-grey eyes sparkled.
"Sticking spell, of course, Wormtail!"
It was decided, due to obvious balance reasons, that Sirius would be the responsible to test the theory. Sirius and Peter quickly headed for their dorm to perform the spell on gloves and shoes.
At two a.m., Sirius also did a disillusionment charm on himself on the Common Room, while Peter threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself.
"Not a single noise, Wormtail."
Taking special care, Sirius started to climb on the walls until he reached the ceiling of the stairs that led to the girls' dorm. He advanced slowly, until the now familiar wailing noise started blasting and the stairs became the usual smooth slide, through which Lily arrived at the Common Room as quickly as possible.
"For the love of God, what is happening here?" She asked. Then James appeared, looking extremely sleepy.
"I don't know, but I want to murder the imbecile that's doing this."
He helped Lily to get the students back to their dorms.
"I thought this wouldn't happen again, Potter," Lily said.
"What? Oh. Sorry, Evans. I'll handle it."
"I truly hope so. These false alarms are interfering with my REM sleep."
James was about to question the hell was "REM sleep", but she had already left. He took of his glasses, cleaning them, and waited for his friends to reappear.
"I know you're trying to win the bet, Sirius," he said when Sirius showed himself, "but enough with trying to get in there in the night, alright?"
"Yeah, alright."
When Remus woke up the following morning, he found it weird to find his gloves scattered around on the floor. Even weirder was how hard it had been to pick them up.
That Saturday, Slytherin and Ravenclaw would face each other on Quidditch. James was anxious to watch; first because it was Quidditch, second because he wanted Slytherin to lose, and third because Gryffindor would face Ravenclaw on the next match.
The Marauders always watched the games in which James didn't play together. But this one had already begun and no sign of Sirius and Peter. They appeared when the score was 70-60 to Slytherin (which explained James's scowl).
"Where were you?" Remus asked to his friends. Both shrugged.
"Around."
"Do any of you know why my gloves were glued to the floor today?"
Sirius and Peter looked at each other while James glared severely at both of them
"Relax, Prongs," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "we borrowed them last night, Moony. You can't get in the girls' dorm walking on the ceiling," he added on a nonchalant tone.
Remus groaned and James simply slapped Sirius and Peter on the back of their heads, returning his focus on the match.
When finally the snitch was caught (by Regulus Black, to Sirius great displeasure) and Slytherin, won, the Marauders left the stands. Sirius quickly disappeared (Remus thought he had heard a girly voice calling his friend, but couldn't be sure), while the other three discussed the match.
"May I have a word, Potter?"
James grinned when he recognized the voice and turned to see Lily. She was leaning against one of the supports of the stands.
His grin disappeared when he noticed the serious expression on the girl's face, matching her crossed arms. Remus and Peter waved and continued on their way. James grinned again to Lily, and propped his arm on the same support as she did.
"What's up, Evans?" He asked on a low voice. She raised an eyebrow.
"You have got to control your mates," she said simply. James sighed and shook his head.
"What did they do now?"
"Sirius and Peter were levitating one another for a joke on the Common Room, lost control, and caused Peter to cross the limits of the stairs on the girls' dorm," she explained. James sighed again.
"I'll talk to them, see if I can get something on their heads."
"And something tells me they also were behind the event of last night," she continued, making James grin.
"Hmm, I wonder if you've got a good intuition, Miss Evans?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and making Lily smile.
"I'll figure it out."
"I've got no doubt you will."
"Don't forget about tonight, Potter," Lily said, starting to walk away. James held her by the wrist. Lily turned and raised a questioning eyebrow, but James simply pulled her closer to himself, walking backwards slowly.
"Prongs, is this the correct way to treat a lady?" Sirius exclaimed, putting his arm over James's shoulders, "I've already told you this type of thing doesn't work with Lily."
Reluctantly, James let go of Lily's arm and she giggled.
"Thanks for saving me, Sirius. I was worried your friend would attack me on the space under the stands."
"Ah, it's his favourite spot to snog-attack people," Sirius replied, smirking.
"Personal experience?" Lily asked, matching his smirk. James grinned.
"Maybe. Wouldn't put it on my Top 5, tho. Too tight. I'd rather have a bit more of space…"
They laughed and continued to the castle.
"Maybe you just don't know what to do in tight spaces, Padfoot," James said. Sirius, who was between James and Lily, sighed.
"Prongs, Prongs, I don't quite Believe I need to talk about the broom closet again, do I?" Sirius asked, while James grimaced, "it's just preference. For instance, the old Charms classroom."
James was about to say something, but Lily interrupted.
"Ah, the old Charms classroom. Better than, say, the Transfigurations classroom," Sirius grinned in triumph, while James merely looked at her and fixed his spectacles, "anyway, I suppose it depends on the moment."
"What depends on the moment?" James asked.
"The necessity of space. You won't take a girl to a date under the stands, but if you were to be passing by it for another reason, lack of space might be just dandy."
Sirius laughed while James ran a hand through his hair.
"Evans, Evans, spoken like a true pro."
James stuffed his hands on his pockets and Lily chuckled.
"By the way, what's up tonight?" Sirius asked.
"Potter and I will cover some fifth-years on the rounds," Lily replied quickly.
"You know, I always knew you'd steal Prongs away, just never thought it'd be over head business."
The rest of the weekend went by smoothly, just like the rest of the week. The only intercurrence happened on Thursday, during Potions. Everything was normal; Lily paired with Marlene, Sirius with James, Remus with Peter… when out of nowhere, Snape's cauldron exploded, his potion flying everywhere, including on himself.
The result was a huge confusion on the dungeon, now filled with smoke, while James and Lily (the boy with a huge grin on his face) tried to control the situation.
"Potter, what did you do that for?" Lily asked when class was finished, and they were leaving the dungeon. James widened his eyes in surprise.
"But I didn't do anything!" he said. Lily eyed him in disbelief, "I swear!"
"Then why were you grinning so much?"
"Everybody was. Even Slughorn smiled a bit."
"But you hate Snape."
"A lot of people hate Snape," James replied, shrugging. Then he sighed, "look I truly hate the scumbag, and yeah, I had more fun than the appropriate, but do you really think I'd do that?"
"You've done worse…"
James got closer to her, looking her at the eyes, and held her shoulders.
"Before. You've asked me not to do anything with him anymore. Do you honestly Believe I'd do this after... after everything?"
Lily sighed and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, it's just… well, habit," she said, chuckling. James grinned, "now take your disgusting hands off me and let's go to lunch."
"Besides," James said, while they approached the Gryffindor table, "if I were to do something to him, it wouldn't be in front of you. I'm not that stupid."
He laughed, and Lily hit his head as the only appropriated answer, causing him to laugh more.
When they sat on the table, Remus was giving a hairbrush back to Marlene, who smiled her thanks.
"She dropped it," Lupin explained, shrugging innocently.
His intentions, however, were not that innocent, as it was proved on the next day. Remus said he was feeling unwell during History of Magic and left the class early. James found it weird, but decided to look for him later.
Binns, for some miracle, decided to finish his lesson early on that Friday. James, Sirius and Peter used the time to check on Remus. However, when they arrived on their dorm, they found Marlene.
"Er, Marls?" James called, "have you seen Moony?"
"It's me, Prongs," 'Marlene' replied, "Polyjuice Potion doesn't work to get in the girls' dorm."
The other three laughed.
"And how would you have Polyjuice, Moony?" Sirius asked.
"I might have stolen it from Slughorn. These types of larceny tend to happen when cauldrons happen to explode."
The four of them laughed a bit more and waited for Remus to return to his normal self before heading down.
On Saturday, Remus was on the Library with Peter, helping his friend on the Charms homework when they were interrupted.
"Moony, Wormtail. I've got the immense pleasure to announce that I've won the Green Bet," Sirius said dramatically.
Remus and Sirius gaped.
"C'mon, it's on our dorm. No idea where James is, but we can show him later."
"How did you manage to get in there?" Remus asked, while they climbed the stairs to the Gryffindor Tower.
"I didn't. I was just brilliant."
"Just spill it already!" Peter pleaded.
Sirius denied and said they should wait for James. When they arrived at the dorm, James was already there, reading a book on his bed.
"Prongs, Padfoot's got the green lingerie!" Peter told excitedly.
James raised his eyebrows and closed his book.
"How?"
"Well, I was in the kitchen, happily chatting away with the elves when I remembered they were responsible to wash all the clothes of all the students.
The other three grinned.
"I talked with two or three of them, who were, oh, so glad to help me out. I may or may not have shed a few tears. They gave me the lingerie, and that's how Sirius Black won the Green Bet.
Then he dramatically opened a drawer on his closet and…
"Where is it?" he exclaimed, "Accio Evans's lingerie."
Nothing happened.
Sirius took the Veritasserum, and proved all his story was real. But as he didn't have the lingerie, it was decided that he wouldn't collect the prize.
Later that same night, James was lying down, covered only by the sheets of the bed that had its drapes closed. In his right hand, he held a delicate piece of green lingerie.
"Have you got any idea of how much trouble this little thing caused me?" he asked, still looking to the underpants. A sweet giggle reached his ears, and he felt Lily prop herself on the bed with her elbows, not even bothering in covering herself. James looked at her and smirked.
"I blame your mates."
"If you hadn't bought this, Sirius would never have seen it, therefore, would never have suggested the bloody bet.
"Well, if I hadn't bought this, tonight wouldn't have happened, so…" she shot back, raising her eyebrows. James put a strand of red hair behind her ear.
"Let me rephrase that: if you hadn't let Sirius see you buying this…"
They chuckled, and James pulled her for another kiss.
"So all the times the sirens wailed…"
"All them."
"Even Remus?"
"Evens Remus."
"Wow."
James chuckled and caressed Lily's cheek.
"Just so you know, Remus, the Saint, was responsible for blowing up Snape's cauldron."
"Remus? But why?"
"So he could steal Polyjuice Potion."
"Polyjuice?"
"So he could try to get in here."
Lily laughed.
"And none of them even considered coming in through the window with a broom?"
"Nope."
Lily laughed again, and James had to join her.
"And you? What did you try to do?"
"Me? I took your lingerie to give it back to you as soon as I noticed Sirius had it."
"Good boy."
"It's a very good reward."
She chuckled and raised a bit to kiss James.
"A pity that Sirius ruined the surprised."
"Oh, he didn't. I guarantee it."
Lily giggled and kissed him again.
On the next day, James appeared on the boys' dorm with a huge grin on his face.
"Finally, Prongs! You've got to stop sleeping out, it worries Moony," Sirius said.
"Are you ready to lose a bet, boys?" James asked instead of replying.
The other three raised quickly.
"You've got it? But how?"
James took the blessed lingerie from his pocket and the others gasped.
"Well… none of you said anything about taking the lingerie off her with one's bare hands…"
So how did you like it? Reviews are always welcome and thanks for reading!