Challenge fic

Marauders marauded

Disclaimer: You know the drill. The characters aren't mine, they never were and they never will be. Shame on you if you don't know who they really belong to

Author's note; This is a challenge fic set by my friend R.J Nicoli (link) We set each other ten, six Harry Potter, two Belgariad and two Lord of the Rings. The conclusion of each must be totally feasible, and completely in character. 

The requirements are

Characters: Severus, Sirrus, James, Remus and Peter

Item: A large barrel

Quote: "Sirrus, why are you standing on your head?"

Conclusion: Peter running about on all fours (note: He's not allowed to be a rat)

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The Great Hall was rather deserted, but they had been expecting that. Not many people had signed up to stay over Christmas. Those who were going were all leaving that afternoon, so they were either packing their trunks, or standing by, out of the way, helping their friends pack and saying their goodbyes.

But there were a few not joining in the leaving day rush.

Sirrus Black was grinning like a maniac, running all around the Great Hall, dodging between chairs and tables, or, when the need be, going over them instead with a quaffle filched from their flying professor's office under his arm.

In close pursuit was James, leaping and diving, trying desperately to catch Sirrus, performing some fairly spectacular leaps and bounds in the process

Peter stood off to the sides, hand gripping his wand so tightly his knuckles white, his tongue between his teeth, eyes wide and glassy, watching avidly.

The game had just started to get dirty, the pair yelled at each other, throwing anything they could pick up- plates, goblets, chairs… whatever fell to hand.

Sirrus picked up a jug of pumpkin juice and hurled it at his pursuer, laughing his strange, barked laugh, vaulting over a chair, throwing it backwards as he went.

 James looked alarmed, before whipping out his wand and blasting the jug to pieces, skidding to a halt to avoid smashing into the tumbled chair.

However, he hadn't really considered the fact that the jug WAS in fact full when he blasted it…

Pumpkin juice positively exploded all over the place, soaking now regretful boy, and anything else within a three metre radius from top to bottom.

"FOUL!" He screamed, shaking his hands disgustedly, wringing out his top. "I said foul!" Sirrus skidded to a halt and looked around, frowning slightly at the disturbance.

"Stop laughing, it's not that funny!" he protested as Sirrus took one look at him and collapsed laughing, rolling about on the floor with tears pouring down his cheeks, clutching the quaffle to his chest.
"Peter, that was a foul, wasn't it?" James asked the little chubby boy, his lips quirking, fighting to keep his look of hurt indignance with Sirrus laughing so hysterically.  

Peter looked a little affronted, eyes darting to the positively helpless Sirrus, then back to James, not wanting to displease either of them.

"W-well…" He stuttered, eyes still flicking to both of them.
"N-N-Not a foul…" Sirrus managed to stammer, trying to sit upright

"I-I don't know…" Peter interjected quietly "M-M-Maybe we should…"

"Foul! You're not allowed to chuck things like food, Sirrus!" James said, giving in and grinning.
"What about that goblet you hurled before?" Sirrus objected, finally getting his feet back under him, dusting his back off, muttering a few left over chuckles.

"Well, you didn't say 'Foul'. You have to say it before it's recognised…" James said with mock pomposity.

Sirrus tossed the quaffle at the centre one of three barrels they had set in the middle of the teacher's table as a 'goals'. They had been playing an on foot version of Quidditch, seeing the pitch had been undergoing a resurfacing over the Christmas break.

The quaffle sank slowly into the barrel, finally settling on the bottom with a dull thunk.

"It still counts…" Sirrus objected advancing on his friend, leaping up on the Slytherin table, stomping along its length forcefully.
James laughed at his antic "But YOU didn't get drenched!" He said grinning widely, pulling his top out in front of him and off the skin, wringing it out theatrically
" That's because I'm better then you." Sirrus said, bearing his teeth in a vicious grin.
"I-I think…" Peter interjected wincingly

"BETTER then me?" James said incredulously, enjoying himself immensely, "You just got lucky… probably tripped, accidentally ducking or something."
"You WISH!" Sirrus barked a laugh, kicking several Slytherin goblets off the table. "You're just sour because, you, Gryffindor seeker, couldn't catch my arse…"  Sirrus turned his back on James and wiggled his butt in his friend's direction

James whipped out his wand and mumbled a spell as fast as he could, firing a pale blue jet of light at Sirrus before his friend could realise it was coming. Sirrus whipped around, but wasn't fast enough to dodge it, catching the spell full in the chest, flipping upside down, and hitting the wall behind him, sliding down onto his head
"Couldn't catch your arse?" James mocked, blowing on the tip of his wand mockingly.

The doors boomed open suddenly; making the smug James leapt several inches.
"Hey, hey, clam down! It's just me!" Remus said soothingly. His cheeks were pink from the cold, and he had snow in his hair. "I've just been looking for you everywhere! When you said you were playing Quidditch I thought you were…" He paused, taking in the giant scoreboard painted on the wall, with Peter underneath, the barrels, the sodden James, the carnage and… "Sirrus, why are you standing on your head?" He asked, frowning, deciding to tackle one awkward question at once.

Sirrus slumped, his knees over his face, before groggily getting back to his feet again, rubbing his head

"James…" he groaned wincing as he touched the top of his head checking for bumps.

"A little disagreement about the rules." James said airily. Remus nodded slowly, not daring to ask, but wanting to know… He finally gave in to curiosity

"What rules? What were you doing….?" He asked, as if bracing himself for the worst. Sirrus flung his arms out grandly, obviously overcoming his encounter with the wall.

"Indoor Quidditch!" he announced loudly. Remus opened his mouth, but closed it, obviously deciding against whatever he was going to say, and chose a different tack.
"You might want to get this tidied up, I saw Snape sneaking up this way when I came here… if he sees it like this…"
"We'll string him from the roof by his underpants!" James finished. Remus closed his eyes, as if preying for patience
"No… he'll squeal to a teacher." Remus said with exaggerated tolerance. Sirrus snorted and shrugged
"Their fault the pitch isn't running." He said, nonchalantly.
"The last thing you want is detention on the holidays!" He said, fighting the snap in his voice. "Look, just clean it up… and you can play… tomorrow… Snape's going home for the Christmas this year, so you can do whatever you want… I just don't want any trouble!'

James rolled his eyes and Sirrus intoned a rather whiney "Yeeeees, Reeemuuuus." Before getting out his wand and righting the goblets he'd knocked over before. "But I'll hold you to that 'whatever I want' ting…" He added, irritably.

In all it took only a few minutes to right all that they'd upset in their mad game, and Remus even came out with a handing wash and dry spell for James' pumpkin stained clothing.

All in all they managed to tidy up quite well.
"We might as well go back to the common room seeing old boring britches over there won't let us play." Sirrus said but there was a faint humour back in his voice. Remus gave a little shrug, smiling.
"I've got gobstones!" Peter offered, taking out his bag of them, and waving them about, looking delighted to be able to actually have some input. Sirrus sighed loudly and James wrinkled his nose
"I guess it'll do." James admitted reluctantly.

They were almost at the portrait hole when they bumped into Snape. Sirrus instantly set himself in bravado mode.

"What're you slithering around for at this time, Snivellus?" He asked, eyeing the sallow skinned boy with great dislike. "Shouldn't you be packing for when you slide back down that drainhole from where you came from?"
Snape eyed them all with great dislike. "Already packed, I'm just collecting something I left in the great hall." He said haughtily, shoving past them "Excuse me, but I have better things to do then bandy words with a group of thugs."

He headed off down the hall and James spat where he had moments before stood.
"Jerk, probably seeing if we've left the place wrecked."  He snarled. "Come on."
the walked the last few steps to the portrait of the fat lady in her pink dress. The frame of her picture had been bordered on the inside with winking red and green lights

"Password?" She asked, in a bored tone.

"Plum duff" Remus supplied. The portrait opened slowly

"You know, you guys didn't HAVE to stay Christmas here with me, you know..." Sirrus said, climbing through the hole. James followed, giving his partner in crime a shove in the backside to get him moving faster.
"What, and miss the opportunity to have the run of the castle for a few months? Get off! I'd NEVER let you have that privilege on your own."
Remus climbed in, saying nothing, but when he was almost through there was a tearing sound, and an upset squeak, and he turned around to see Peter, looking horrified as his gobstones bounced all over the place.

"No! How are we going to play! Wait, guys!'" He called, hopping back out, to collect them.
Remus looked once at the pair of hooligan friends now chuckling at Peter's predicament on one side of the hole, to Peter, running about on all fours, collecting his fallen stones from the floor and sighed, sitting sideways in the hole and covering his face. It was going to be one looooong Christmas.