"I'VE TOLD YOU FIFTY BILLION TIMES JAMES, YOU CAN'T PRANK ME! IT'S AGAINST THE CODE!" Demi yelled. For the ninth time in a week, James had taken the opportunity to strike her when she least expected it. On Monday, he filled her pillow with Doxys, on Tuesday he 'accidentally' hid a dungbomb in her favourite armchair, and on Wednesday (James didn't consider it much of a prank, but Demi was livid), he took the bookmark out of the 2000 page novel she was reading. However, at the rate James was at, she would be luck to make it through the next three weeks. Thinking her next step over, logically, she reasoned that the best way to ensure the protection of her sanity was to beat the bloody crap out of her brother. She tore down the hallway, into the kitchen and through the open window and into the back yard, where James was sitting in one of the three Quidditch rings, smiling down at her.
"So I see you've made a decision," he marveled. He too had noticed her lack of enthusiasm towards a good chase. She jumped down and landed in front of her. Smirking, he walked past her and made his way into the kitchen for lunch.
Demi followed behind, which she found quite easy. Although James had grown, there was one department where he was a little short; height. His facial features, however, had matured. He had a slight five o clock shadow and his glasses, which usually seemed too big for his thin face now sat perfectly on his nose. He was more toned as well, spending much of his free time exercising and playing Quidditch. Demi couldn't say the same. She looked slightly chubby, having spent all her time sitting down to read or write. Her smooth, tanned complexion was slightly marred by the few pimples that had cropped up on her forehead and chin. Her eyebrows were somewhat bushy, and her hair was as frizzy and dark blue as ever. Other than that, she looked exactly the same as she did three years ago when she met James. "So, did any of them say when they're coming?" Demi asked. For the past five weeks all she and James could think about was the Quidditch World Cup. Mr. Potter had managed to get ahold of seven tickets for the game, and asked James to invite Sirius, Remus, and Peter. The five of them had constantly been exchanging letters, all of which had something to do with the upcoming match. While Demi was rooting for West Germany, the others were all rooting for Ireland. The boys had planned to stay over for the last two weeks before school began, to get ahead of all the pranking.
"Remus is coming on Friday, Peter on Sunday, and Sirius should be here any minute now," James replied. They sat down at the table. Mr and Mrs Potter would normally have joined them, but the pair had been called in to the Auror office for 'undisclosed reasons.' Normally, James would have a lot more to say about their friend's imminent arrival, but he had a tendency to become slightly worried and quiet when his parents were sent out. Demi and James sat in the kitchen in complete silence.
"I thought you'd be a lot happier to see me," a voice said from behind the pair. They turned around and saw Sirius smiling in the doorway, a huge gash lined the left side of his face, and connected to the left corner of his mouth, like a large thin mouth. He walked over to the pair, who had stood up, jaws to the ground, looking intently at his appearance. "Oh, this?" Sirius asked, pointing to the gash, "it's a long story, I'll tell it to you after lunch."
The trio sat down at the table, which was laden with almost every dish Tingle could make. The elf walked into the room and saw Sirius, "I took the liberty of placing your trunk in your room. After letting you in, I took your shoes to the washers, they were somewhat dirty."
"Why thank you Tingle. I hope you didn't go through too much trouble," Sirius replied as he poured himself some juice. "Why don't you have a seat and join us?"
"May I?" the elf asked, gently gliding a chair out from under the table. The trio nodded furiously and the elf sat down.
After a few moments of silence, James spoke first. "So how did you get that cut?" he asked.
Sirius put his knife and fork down. That's when Demi and James knew this was going to be bad, Sirius never stopped eating when he had the chance, even if he was telling the story. "Yesterday, I was packing up my trunk to come over here. Well, it's not exactly packing, I haven't unpacked since the first year. Back to the story; so I'm packing and my mum wanders into my room. That's how I knew things were weird, because as far as anyone on my side of the family is concerned, I don't exist. So she looks at me and asks where the hell I'm going. So I tell her that I'm coming over here to you lot. Then she begins to get all worked up on why I don't spend time with them. I used to, she taught me how to play some instruments and such. But anyway, she beings to go mad, and starts raging at me. "Why don't you care about us?," "What about tradition?," "We want to help you plan out your future."
"Wait- your future?" Demi interrupted. She knew the Blacks were very interested in the future and Divination, but this was news to her. Ever since Sirius became the stain on the family tree, they were the least concerned about his future, why would it matter now?
"Yeah, my future. So she tells me that she's been looking around. At girls. For me. To get married. When I'm seventeen."
"Woah, you getting married? I can't see it," James said, dropping his fork and looking at Sirius as though he'd sprouted a second head.
"I know. Me neither. Not now anyway, maybe later. But she starts telling me all the names of these purebloods that have girls around my age. She even suggested Narcissa. My cousin!" Sirius shouted.
"But your mum and dad are second cousins, right?" James asked insensitively.
Sirius gave his a dirty look before going back to the story, "so at that point, I stop pretending to be deaf, because let's face it; that's some weird bullshit. So I tell her I don't plan on marrying anyone who is a pureblood. At all. Just to make things worse, I told her I might be gay." The trio and Tingle laughed heartily, wiping tears from their eyes. "Yeah, so at that point, she let me have it. She grabs this silver blade, all the Black women have one, and she pins me down with a few spells. She grabs her knife and drags it from my lip to my temple. Immediately after, she gets up and leaves. So after stemming the bleeding, I grab my trunk and get the hell out of there. I stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for the night, and got the Knight Bus here."
"You complete bum. You just went against everything I specifically told you not to do. Jesus, you never listen," Demi yelled. She grabbed her plate, which was not empty and stalked off into the kitchen. The two boys and the elf could hear her muttering under her breath.
Sirius turned back to James, "how much fun did you have dealing with that?" he asked, jerking his head towards the Kitchen door.
"She's been fine. Just a little, touchy. Other than that she's the same as before."
"I hope so. It'd be a shame if she didn't prank anymore. We can't lose her. She and Remus come up with the best ideas when annoyed enough. Speaking of Remus, when's he getting here?" Sirius asked.
"On Friday," James replied. "But you have to tell me one thing; are you still in for the you know what?"
"Wouldn't give it up for a thing," Sirius replied with a wink. They were, of course, talking about the animagus transformations. So far, the only person who hadn't made the slightest part of the transformation was Peter. Demi had managed to sprout a tail, and changed her hind legs. Sirius had only managed to change his body, and James had managed to sprout antlers. The group were very conspicuous, trying to do their best to keep the whole idea under wraps.
The pair turned back to their meals, as Demi wandered back into the room. "I'm going to go read for a bit." She turned to Sirius, "you should get some rest, and please; fix your face" she added, passing him a small vial of spit-like liquid.
As Demi went upstairs, Sirius uncorked it and rubbed it onto the cut, which immediately dissolved leaving a rapidly fading scar on his face. He peered through the vial and eyed James on the other side, "what do you think this stuff is?" he asked.
"Dunno, probably some quick-healing potion," he responded, picking up his cup and plate and heading to the kitchen.
Sirius quickly shoved the last spoonful of soup into his mouth and followed suit. The pair spent the rest of the day catching up on eachother's- well mostly James'- summer and flying around in the backyard. James' parents hadn't shown up at all that day. James told Sirius, although it seemed as though James was trying to reassure himself, that they had gone for longer periods of time before and that the pair were alright. That night as Sirius laid in bed he reflected in his reaction to seeing his friends after a long time.
Sirius' Point of View
I walked into the room and could sense that James was upset. I hadn't seen his parents at the house, so I assumed they were called in for work. I felt bad for the kid, I mean, he doesn't even get to see his own parents. He sees his house elf more. I made a little joke and made them along with myself smile. I ignored the pain that was running along my face, and waved aside their looks of shock. James looked slightly different. His face looked more mature, and he had a slight beard. His glasses were now proportionate to his head (something Remus and I teased him about daily), and he was more toned and tanned, probably from the time he'd been spending outside.
Demi however, had changed, and not for the good. I thought she was just a little chubby, but after I had sat down and really looked at her, she was fat. Like, she'd gained a bunch of weight. That didn't necessarily mean that I didn't like her, or thought she was ugly. But I was so used to her being average sized, she was never stick thin, or boney, or too lithe. She was average, and it suited her perfectly. She also had a few pimples that had cropped up on her normally smooth skin.
James and I spent the entire day just catching up, while Demi sat inside, her eyes glued to this brick called 'War and Peace.' I tried to engage her in a little conversation, but as far as I was concerned, she didn't seem to want to talk to me. I tried telling myself that it was because that book was so interesting, but a part of me thought it was because of what happened last year. I mean, it was months ago, and the both of us had agreed to pretend it never happened. But a part of me wished she and I had decided to give this relationship a chance.
As I laid in bed, I hoped that she wasn't about to abandon us guys. Yeah sure, she was the only girl who actually lasted hanging out with us and she was really fun and interesting to hang around with, but a part of me knew she probably didn't want to spend all her time with men. She needed some women in her life.
That's when it hit me; she probably isn't going to spend too much time with Remus, James, Peter and I, but rather with Lily, Kiaria, and Alice. I would miss her company dearly, but at the end of the day, we'd still be good friends, just like we'd agreed to be.
The next morning . . .
James' Point of View
I got up and could tell something was different. The smell of chocolate chip pancakes wafted its way through the gap between the door and the floor. I dressed and brushed my teeth quickly, almost spraining myself as I took the steps two at a time. I ran into the kitchen and saw my mum standing at the stove, flipping the pan. My father was sitting at the table, setting up the cutlery. My dad spotted me first, "we got back early this morning. We would've woken you up, but we didn't want to disturb you three."
"Wait, you know that Sirius is here already?" I asked, navigating my way to the table, and sitting down across from my father.
"Well yes, I do know what goes on in my own house, you know" he said, giving me a wink. "Aims, want me to wake the others?"
My mother brought a plate stacked high with pancakes and set them on the middle of the table. "No, they can wake uo and eat when they want. Just leave them some extras, okay?" she said, looking at me in particular. I couldn't help it, mum's food was that good. We sat around the table, as my parents recounted the raid they had taken part in.
"It was terrible, was four of them for every one of us," my father told me as he speared another pancake from the stack with his fork.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked. I knew it was a tough job, and people got hurt on a daily basis. I was concerned because I knew almost the entire fleet of Aurors. Some of them had stayed with us for days at a time, and some I had met briefly as a child, when my mum and dad had taken me to work on their office days.
"Some small injuries. I think Kennedy and McKinnon ended up at St. Mungos, but they'll be out of there in a few hours," my mum replied.
I thought of Marlene McKinnon. She was my age, but was homeschooled by her parents, who were somewhat protective of her. The last time I had seen her was the year before I had started Hogwarts, at the Ministry's New Year's Ball. She told me how sad she was that they weren't letting her go to Hogwarts. It was around that summer that You-Know-Who had gained power, and was becoming stronger While a majority of parents sent their children to Hogwarts, knowing Dumbledore was there, a few believed having the all of Great Britain's wizarding youth in one place was too risky, and decided against sending their children away. "How are the McKinnons?" I asked.
"They're fine. I heard Arlene (Mrs. McKinnon) is having another baby," my mum said. She sounded somewhat sad. I kind of knew why. While Mr. McKinnon was an Auror, Mrs. McKinnon held a desk job in the Ministry's Law Department. Therefore, the pair had an ample amount of time to spend together. My parents however, were unlucky. The head of the Auror's Department thought it would be wise to leave one parent at home with their child at all times. This meant that my parents rarely saw each other, except on holidays, weekends, and late nights. "It's a boy," my mum added.
"That's nice," a voice said. We all turned around (like yesterday) and saw Sirius and Demi standing in the kitchen, grabbing two extra sets of plates, cutlery, and glassware. They joined us at the table and we began to talk about our plans for the upcoming year.
"So what are you taking Sirius?" my father asked.
"Well, basically the same stuff as James and Demi; Defence Against the Dark Arts, Divination, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Astornomy, History of Magic, and Muggle Studies." The last class made Demi and I laugh as we knew of Sirius plans to annoy the crap out of his family with muggle facts for the next summer.
"What's so funny?" my mum asked us.
"Well my mum and dad aren't all that keen on me taking a muggle course. But I think it would be fun. I'd be doing two things at once; learning about muggles, and annoying my parents. I like to do things as efficiently and as lazily as possible, you see."
"Yet you three, and Remus come out with the top marks each year, how does that work I wonder?" my mum asked, while my dad laughed at Sirius' response.
"We pay attention as well. That and we borrow Remus' and Lily's notes before tests," the three of us replied simultaneously.
"You lot sound like a synchronized machine. How much time do you spend together at school?" my father asked.
"Almost every waking second," we replied in unison.
"Except I actually have other friends besides these bums. You can't spend all your time talking about completely useless things," Demi said sarcastically.
Sirius, however, didn't detect the sarcasm in her voice, "oi, you're one to talk. What did you ask Slughorn last month?"
"What did she ask?" my parents asked quickly, hoping it wasn't anything stupid.
"She asked him if he was bald, to which he replied yes. Then she asks ' Sir, if you're washing your face, how far up do you go on your forehead?'" Sirius recounted, doing an uncanny impression of my sister.
"Hey, that was a legitimate question. I was up all through the previous night trying to figure it out," she replied quickly.
The two began bickering instantly, until my mother silenced them. "Are you two always like this?" she asked curiously. Sirius had come over before, like the previous summer, but even then the pair of them never argued that instantaneously.
"Well, we only do so when Sirius starts being a dolt," Demi said, taking all the empty plates and placing them in the sink.
"Hey, I'm not a dolt. Who helped you study for the Astronomy exam last year?" he asked, getting up and collecting all the glasses.
"It wasn't you, that's for sure. It was Remus," she replied, as she began to wash the dishes.
Sirius grabbed a towel and helped dry them as they got cleaned. "Wait, I swear I helped you with that."
"No," Demi replied patiently, "you and James were too busy trying to make Jeremiah's hair change colours, remember?"
Sirius' eyes instantly glazed over and he had a faraway look on his face, "oh yeah. Good times."
"No, they weren't. He avoided me for a full week after that incident. Did you know he's actually intimidated by you lot," she said, as she passed Sirius a plate.
"Wait, he's scared of us?" James asked, beginning to laugh, which naturally set Sirius off.
"Well, yes. I mean the pair of you along with Remus practically gang up on him. Obviously he's going to be a little afraid."
The two boys laughed even harder, while James' parents tried to figure out what was going on. "Wait, who's this Jeremiah?" Mrs. Potter asked.
"Well he's –er" Demi stammered. She wasn't used to older people, especially parents asking her about her personal life. But when you live with James, nothing is ever personal.
"He's this guy she's going out with," another voice said. James, Sirius, and Demi looked around before spotting Remus in the exact spot where Sirius was standing when he showed up. He'd clearly grown a good six inches. His sandy brown hair was slightly cropped, and he had a brand new scar right across the bridge of his nose. He walked towards them, with a slight limp in his left leg, most likely due to an injury sustained by the previous full moon. He gave Demi a quick hug, nodded to his two best friends, and turned to the Potters, "morning Mr and Mrs Potter. How are you?"
"Fine, Remus. Have a seat and grab something to eat," Mrs. Potter replied. Mr. Potter summoned a bowl, spoon, cereal, and milk to the table.
"How has work been? I would assume that all the raids have taken quite a toll on your spare time?" Remus asked as he poured himself some Confundo-Charms.
"Well, you're quite right. We haven't gotten a full night's sleep in three weeks. That is until last night. But I have a feeling we're going to be hauled in to work full time when you lot head on back to school," Mr. Potter stated.
They all sat in silence, the only sound coming from Remus' spoon scraping the bowl.
"Why didn't you invite Lyall in? We haven't seen him since June?" Mrs. Potter asked.
"He had to head off to work. The Departments been taking in more cases than ever. This morning alone he had over twelve completely different cases to prepare for, and they're all consecutive throughout the day, but in different courtrooms," Remus replied, as he stood up and placed his bowl in the sink.
"Wanna play some Quidditch Remus?" James asked, nodding to the nice weather outside.
"Sure, do you've a spare broom?" he asked. James nodded feverishly and the trio headed out the door. Before going out to join the others Remus turned around to Demi, who was the only one left in the kitchen as Mr and Mrs Potter got ready for work, "are you coming?"
"Why not?" she replied, grabbing her wand from the counter and following Remus out of the house.
"Okay, we've got two versus two. Sirius and I, versus Remus and Demi," James stated. They were all huddled in a group in the middle of the pitch, each holding their brooms. "We'll all be chasers, it'll be a bit easier."
They nodded and assumed their positions. James tossed the quaffle into the middle of the pitch and the practice began.
One hour later . . .
The teens all piled into the kitchen, sweating, but exhilarated. "Did you see that catch?" Sirius kept asking. In the second half, he had managed to catch the Quaffle between his feet and throw it into the highest ring, earning him and James ten points. Overall, the pair had killed Demi and Remus who were almost 100 points below.
"I think you should try out for the team this year Remus," Sirius said as they grabbed some water from the fridge and sat down at the table.
"Yeah, we've got more spots to fill on the team. You'd make a fair chaser or keeper," James said as Demi nodded.
"I dunno, I like to play, but not competitively. Who knows? There could be a better person out there for this," Remus replied as he took a gulp of water.
"You wouldn't know unless you tried," Demi stated simply as she stood up. "I'm going to have a shower. And James, the water will be set to cold." She walked down the hall and vanished up the stairs.
"Honestly, this morning, I nearly froze to death. I mean, who showers like that?" Sirius asked as James and Remus nodded.
"She's been doing that for as long as I can remember," James said. "I asked her about it the first time and she looked at me like I was crazy for showering with warm water."
"Speaking of crazy, she hasn't played Quidditch with us since I've gotten here," Sirius stated openly.
"She didn't play before that as well. At first I thought she was mad at me, but then I noticed she spends all her time in her room. Alone. Literally, the only time I saw her in a day was for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I thought she was mad at me, but I still don't even know what's wrong," James said.
"Really? And your parents haven't said anything," Remus asked.
James shook his head. "They told me not to worry about it and not to pester her about it."
Sirius sat back, "well isn't that something."
"Have you tried to see what she's been up to?" Remus asked.
"No, didn't feel like I should. Don't want to make her angry at me for life," he replied simply.
"Then I'll check, I mean, she's always mad at me," Sirius replied. He got up from the sofa and walked down the hall. Remus and James exchanged looks of horror and amazement before following their friend. The climbed up the stairs, and tiptoed down the hall, past the washroom door, where the water was still running. At the end of the hallway, they reached Demi's room. Slowly, Sirius turned the door handle and opened the door.
Her room looked the same as it always had. The red and gold sheets were folded neatly, the clothes in the drawers, the windows open, letting the light shine in. However, there was something new in the corner; a desk. A little lamp stood in the corner of the desk, which was still wrapped up in plastic- it had never been used. They walked towards it, before noticing it was covered with papers, everywhere. Long rolls of parchment were stretched over the surface, thousands of small sticky notes, a few quills, empty ink pots, hundreds of files and papers. James would have thought this was normal, and that she was probably doing the summer homework that their teachers had assigned. However the more he studied them, the more he realized this wasn't the case. Everything that was written, was written in a different language. A language, he'd never seen before.
"What do suppose this means?" Sirius asked Remus and James, pointing to the weird shaped symbols all over the papers.
James shrugged, "Runes maybe?"
"No, these aren't Runes. I've seen Runes and these are nothing like them," Remus said. He picked up a small scrap of parchment. "It has numbers followed by shape-y things. Maybe it's an address."
"Maybe it's none of your business," an angry voice said. They turned around and saw Demi standing behind them, dressed in a tank top and jeans, her wand in her hand, and her sopping wet hair around her waist. She looked extremely angry. As she walked towards them, they noticed her eyes. They weren't their usual chocolate brown, but black, like a giant pupil. She ripped the note out of Remus' hands and stick it in her back pocket. "Honestly, you guys cannot leave anything alone, can you?"
"Demi we were just-" Sirius was about to explain before she turned to him, instantly shutting him up.
"No. Shut up Sirius. You've intervened in everything you oughtn't to have. When I got sent to the hospital in the beginning of second year, I told you about the thing. Later that year you meddled in my relationship with Lockhart. Now you're meddling in my relationship with Jeremiah. Now this," she said, gesturing to the papers. "I get that you guys care. But sometimes, you care too much. Honestly, you don't see me prying into your life. So stay out of mine."
"What life, love? You don't really have much of a life," Sirius said. He shut his mouth quickly as Remus and James groaned.
James and Remus watched as Demi's eyes changed colour again. This time they were blood-red, which was always a warning sign. "What?" Demi asked, her voice shaking. "What did you just say?"
"You were out on the streets for the first five years of your life. Then you lived with the headmaster and his brother. Now you live with James and his family. You can't exactly say you have a life for us to intervene in. We at least have families, even if we don't like them," Sirius said angrily.
Demi sat down in the chair at the desk and put her head in her hands. He shoulders began to shake slightly and Remus put and arm around her while crouching down. "We weren't trying to mess around with you. We just wanted to know why you weren't spending any time with us."
"I wasn't trying to avoid you guys. I was just a little wrapped up in myself for the past few weeks," she replied.
"Wait, then why were you always upstairs. We wouldn't mind if you constantly kept talking about yourself. I mean, James does it all the time," Sirius said.
"Hey-" began James, but Remus shushed him.
"I was trying to figure stuff out," she said.
"What stuff?" the three boys asked simultaneously.
Demi took a shaky breath and sat up, moving her hands from her face. The three boys were glad to see that her eyes were back to their normal colour and she was no longer crying. "Just things I needed to know. If you don't mind I'd really like to get back to what I was doing before."
They nodded and walked out of the room. Before leaving Remus turned around and saw her flipping through the pages, scanning them carefully. "We're here for you," he said.
Demi looked up and smiled. "I know. Now can you be here for me, but from afar?" she asked jokingly. He laughed and nodded before shutting the door.
Demi turned back to her work and sighed. They were so close to figuring it all out, she thought as she slipped the crumpled piece of parchment that she'd take from Remus out of her pocket. She stared at it for a moment before putting it down on her desk and continuing to flip through the sheaf of parchment on the left side of the desk.
"James, Peter's here" Mrs. Potter yelled from the front hallway. The three boys bounded down the corridor, as Demi ran down the staircase, two steps at a time. The short boy, was now just 5'6 and wasn't as plump as he was stocky. His mousey blonde hair was just past his ears and his eyes were more blue than watery.
He gave the other three boys a nod before giving Demi an awkward hug. "How've you all been?" he asked.
"Good, you?" they replied.
"Very. How about you Mrs. Potter? I'm sure having the four of them must have been quite tough on you and Mr. Potter."
"No, it's been lovely. Why don't you come into the kitchen, we were just about to have lunch," she said. "Tingle do you mind doing us one more favour before going on vacation?"
"Yes Mistress Potter," the elf said. Tingle appeared by the suitcase and levitated it. "I assume you'd like me to place this in our guest's room?" he asked.
"Yes Tingle, that is all," Mrs. Potter replied. The elf disappeared, taking the trunk with him. "Follow me, Peter," as they made their way down the hall and into the kitchen, where Mr. Potter was reading the newspaper at the table.
"Did you know that they've a temple in India covered in gold?" he said out loud. He placed the paper down and looked at Peter, "Hello Mr. Pettigrew, how are you?" he asked shaking his hand.
"God sir, and you?" Peter replied, as he and the others each took a seat.
"Good, good. Did you know there was a temple in India covered in gold?" he asked. Peter shook his head no.
"Seriously Mr. Potter? I swear you took muggle studies. They have an entire section dedicated to religions," Demi said, as Remus nodded. The pair, while playing Quidditch, talked about the textbooks they had picked up over the summer for their classes. One of the ones the pair liked the most, was the muggle studies textbook. Both of them had encountered the muggle world several times within their lives, yet decided to take the course a) because it would be interesting to study muggles from a magical perspective and b) because all their friends were taking it.
"It's called Harmindar Sahib. It's a temple for Sikhs, but everyone from all religions is allowed to visit," Remus added, as he poured himself some Brussel sprouts. Everyone except Demi turned to face him, with inquisitive looks on their faces. "Oh, come one, you lot know all I ever do is read!" he said back. They all looked at each other's faces before turning back to their food.
"What time are we leaving tomorrow, Mr. Potter?" Sirius asked, as he passed him the kumquats.
"Well, we have to be at the portkey by ten, and the location is about a half an hour's walk away. So I think we'd have to leave at 9-ish. Just so we have some stretch time and don't have to rush," he replied. "So Peter, who do you think is going to win?"
"Ireland!" he said, as all the others cheered and clapped along with him. Demi shook her head and smiled. "Still haven't changed your mind yet?" Peter asked her.
"Nope. Still supporting Germany," she replied, as she took a sip of water. "I reckon it'll be a long game though. I mean, last time it lasted just over seven hours."
"Yeah, I remember that one," James said as Peter nodded. "I had to go to the bathroom midway, but held it in because I didn't want to miss anything."
"You held it in that long? Mate, I'm surprised you didn't die," Sirius said, dropping his cutlery and clapping slowly, beaming at James with feigned proudness.
"You know that's bad for you, right?" Demi said, raising an eyebrow.
The guys all laughed and clapped, as James stood up, "nothing is a problem for me. I have a bladder of steel." Everyone laughed a little louder.
"I don't think we all want to hear about your bladder during lunch," Mrs. Potter said, as she gave James one of her withering looks. He immediately sat down and began to eat in silence. "So, did any of you see the game between Luxembourg and Nigeria?"
"Yeah, Nigeria slaughtered Luxembourg. Didn't surprise me too much, though. Luxembourg's team has been a little slow since Boeres left," Peter replied as the others nodded.
"Why did he leave?" Remus asked.
"Apparently he wants to have a family now, so he's taking some time off," Sirius said.
James shook his head, "that's stupid. I mean, you're an international Quidditch player. Why give that up? He was amazing."
"Sometimes, you have to do things for yourself rather than those around you," Mr. Potter said. "When you're older you'll know."
"Pfft. When I'm older. How old do I have to be to understand all this? I mean, am I going to be fifty and suddenly a bunch on knowledge hits me in the head like a ton of broomsticks?" He asked.
"No, you'd have to be like a thousand years old to understand all this James. The thing is you have to be mature, and knowing you, it'll take a long time before any of that happens," Demi said, causing everyone to laugh.
James grumbled, "well, if it takes me a long time, imagine how long it'll take you."
"Probably next year," she replied snidely, before standing up and rinsing her dishes in the sink. "I'll be-"
"-upstairs," Sirius, James, and Remus said for her. She looked at them and smiled before going down the hallway and up the stairs, back to her room.
"What's up with her?" Peter asked, pointing his fork in her direction.
"Nothing," the three guys said as they finished up their food and headed out to play a round of quidditch. They each gave one another a quick look, but decided against telling Peter what was going on. After Demi's reaction to the three of them finding out, they doubted she'd appreciate it if they kept on blabbing.
The Next Morning . . .
"Get up James," Sirius heard Demi's voice say. Sirius rolled over slightly and saw her standing over James' bed, hands on her hips, fully dressed in a West Germany shirt and black jeans, with red Converse, and a small black bag was slung across her body.
"Mhmmm" James mumbled, head buried in his pillow.
Demi shook her head exasperatedly and turned to Sirius, "mate wake up. It's time to go."
Sirius nodded and began to side out of bed. Demi turned around and was about to leave the room, before turning to face James, who once again, had fallen asleep. "Wake up. Wake up, James."
"Bloody hell," James shouted, as he jumped out of bed.
"Honestly, get dressed. And don't go back to sleep. Come on, James! Your mother says breakfast's ready," she said as she shut the door of the room.
The four of us (apparently Demi had woken up super early) slowly got dressed as the other three stood by the table, clicking their tongues as we scrambled to eat our breakfast. "What's the time?" Sirius asked, as he rinsed out his dishes in the sink.
"er, 8:59," Mr. Potter said checking his watch.
Hours later . . .
"Jeremiah!" Demi squealed as she hugged her boyfriend. None of the guys could lie, he was quite handsome.
"I'd go out with him," Sirius mumbled to James, who nodded. Remus stood there and eyed the man with great dislike.
"What's up guys?" Jeremiah asked, making his way over to the four guys.
"Nothing much," Peter said. "You?" The other three guys looked at him with disgust.
"Same here. Just been excited for all this," he said, gesturing to the crowds of people and the pitch in the distance.
"How'd you manage to get tickets?" James asked interestedly.
"Oh, my mum works up in International Magical Cooperation. Their department was in charge of international relations. She managed to get me a volunteering spot here. To help manage the crowds and keep the magic under control. It's pretty cool, I've gotten to meet a whole bunch of people." He turned around quickly as a young girl flew over their heads on a small broomstick, "gotta go." He gave Demi a quick kiss before following the child yelling "Jesus mate, slow down! THIS IS AGAINST THE RULES!"
Demi looked back at the other three guys who were still annoyed by Jeremiah's impromptu appearance, and Peter's warm conversation. "We have no idea what you see in him" they said simultaneously."
"Come on he isn't that bad," she said. "I mean, Peter doesn't have a problem with him. Do you Peter?"
"Not really. I'm just afraid that if I'm rude to him, he'll beat the living crap out of me," Peter stated oblivious to the fact that Demi was looking for a positive remark.
She shook her head exasperatedly, and walked back to the tent. The four boys trailed behind, all muttering threats against Jeremiah under their breaths. They stopped immediately in their tracks as a group of teenage Russian boys walked up to Demi. "Znayete li vy, gde ministr Rossii yest'?"
Sirius walked up to her and asked, "what did they say?"
Demi ignored him and answered the guys, "Prover'te razdel 32 , pryamo toy bol'shoy flagom Nigerii."
"Spazibo," they all said, before heading off in the direction she'd given them. A few turned around and gave her a once over, winking, before turning back the way they were going.
"You speak Russian?" Remus asked, as they carried on from the well, back to the tent.
"Yeah, I spent some time there with Uncle Aberforth when I was nine. I liked it, it's really beautiful. But they've got a few strange customs and laws. But then again, who doesn't?" They found their way to their tent, which was edged between those of the Lovegoods and the Weasley and Prewitts.
"Hey, Gideon, look who it is!" A voice yelled. Two boys, roughly in their late teens with flaming red hair burst out of the Potter's tent (where they were presumably having tea), and lifted Demi up on their shoulders. "How've you been Blue?"
"Good, good. Hope the Order's been treating you well," Demi replied as they placed her down on the ground.
"Ah, yeah, they've been real keen on letting us in on everything that's been going on," Fabian said, running a hand through his long locks, and looking rather worried. "What about you four? She hasn't been going off at you, has she?"
"Nah, she's been fine. Just helping us wreak havoc on some students and the staff," James said, throwing an arm around Demi's shoulders.
"Yeah, a few people told us about that arm trick last year. Wish we'd thought of that" Gideon said, as Fabian nodded his head, smirking. "So what have you got in store this year?" they asked simultainously.
"You'll hear about it soon enough. How's the baby?" Demi asked.
"Yeah, little Bill is just fine. Molly doesn't know who she wants to name as godmother or godfather, so right now that little suckers getting loads of gifts. Fat lumpsie," Fabian said.
"Are Arthur and Molly here?" James asked.
"Yeah give me a moment . . . "Oi Molls, get out here. Oh and bring Arthur as well," the pair yelled.
A small smash was heard from within the tent, followed by a stream of slurs. The flap quivered slightly and the pair emerged from the tent. Molly's red hair was tied back into a little ponytail, and Arthur's was cropped short. They could just see the tip of a new belly on Molly.
"How are you lot?" she asked in a motherly tone. Although she was only nineteen, looked slightly worn down and extremely tired.
"Good," they all answered.
"James, Demitria (who flinched when her full name was used), who are your friends?" Arthur asked.
"Er- this is Remus Lupin, Peter Petigrew, and Sirius Black," James said.
Molly looked slightly outraged, "Black, as in the Noble Family of Black?" Arthur's usual smile turned into a small frown.
"Yeah. But believe me, he's the black sheep of the family" Demi said.
"Hard to believe. You must be Orion and Walburga's son, correct?" Arthur asked in a slightly dark tone.
"Yes, but they've practically disowned me. It's like Demi said, they don't associate themselves with me. If it were up to them, I wouldn't exist," Sirius said.
"Oh, well, I'm sorry for having been so judgmental. It's just that the Blacks haven't been so kind to me. We're related through some long lines, but as far as they're concerned, us Weasley's are just a bunch of blood traitors," Arthur said. Fabian, Gideon, and Molly were on their way back into their tent, as Bill had just started to cry. "We'll see you later. And we've heard the stories, you lot'd better behave." He laughed and went into the tent. As he lifted the flap, a stream of slurs once again flew outside.
"Jesus Bill, shut the f*** up. You've eaten all the bloody food," Fabian was yelling.
"Yeah, just watch mate. Your're going to be the reason we all f****** die of starvation! Fat a**" Gideon added.
"Fabian, Gideon, stop swearing at my son!" Molly screeched.
Arthur turned back to the five teens, "lovely this family. Really" he cringed as more yelling started and entered the tent.
It was around 7 in the evening, and the humidity of the Isle of Man was lowering. The sky turned a wonderful shade of gold and there wasn't a single cloud in sight. Everyone was piled into the amphitheater. Half the lot covered in green and the others in red, yellow, and black. The group had just settled down, but Demi had already made conversation with the group of German supporters next to them. The entire crowd, which was previously buzzing with conversation was quieting down. Everyone turned their attention to the middle of the pitch were a group of referees were standing with the two ministers for magic on a small dais.
The British Minister for Magic, Lorcan McLaird held the microphone, next to him was the Minister for Magic of West Germany Kole Albrecht. "Welcome to the final of the four hundred and second Quidditch World Cup. Let the match . . . BEGIN!"
A huge roar was heard and the two teams came swopping up from small doors on the pitch and both bludgers, the snitch, and Quaffle were released.
"Hhalved has possession of the Quaffle, moves on to Klaus, who gives a nice pass to Sven, who aims, shoots, and SCORES! Twenty points to Germany. Klaus in possession, stolen by Quigley, who throws in to Thomas, who gives it a nice little spin to the German goal posts. Too easy for Adlerfold, who throws it back to Hhalved, who takes it crossfield. Oh, nasty bludger from Astley, hits German beater von Ivan in the back, penalty to Germany. Adlerflold takes it, throws, TOP HOOP! Forty-nil. German seeker Navels is swooping, Irish seeker Langley seems to have spotted something. Navels is close behind, Langley speeding towards the ground, I think he's spotted it. Ah, pulls up last minute, not too good for Navels. Ah, nice Wronski Fient from Langley. Navels' nose is smashed. Blood everywhere, but he's still going. Ah, nice doge from a bludger by Irish chaser Iverson, who throws the Quaffle in, 20 points for Ireland."
Three Hours Later . . . .
"Good doge from Iverson, who scores, brings the point count to 650 Ireland and 630 West Germany. Looks like things are getting tense between Navels and Langley. Navels' just holding on loosely, lost a lot of blood. Half the fields probably red. The pair are at it, Snitch close ahead, some budging and shoving ahead. Not too in understandable, seeing as Ireland is desperate. Rough tussle, foul, Navels' tossed from his broom! But he's got it! NAVELS HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! WEST GERMANY WINS!"
Alf the pitch went wild. Navels was covered in blood but in his hand, people could see the faint glint of gold, his teammates swarmed around him, hugging tightly.
"WOOOOW" Demi screamed as the rest of her friends lowered their heads in shame. She hugged the German girl sitting next to her.
"Wir haben es geschafft . Wir haben gewonnen . Ha , nehmen Sie , dass Irland . Dessen bekam die bessere Mannschaft ? Wir tun!" the German girl said as the rest of her group cheered.
September 1st, 1974 . . .
"Make sure you don't do anything stupid. Don't mess around too much. Try not to get as many detentions. Don't prank anyone. We've gotten several letters about some Snape boy. Be nice. Do your homework. Get good grades. And stop harassing that girl you like, okay?" Mrs. Potter said, as she tied her red hair up in a ponytail.
The four kids were standing by the door, luggage in hand. Mr. Potter had headed off to work already and left the teens in his wife's hands, knowing he'd only make them late.
"Ready everyone?" She asked one more time.
"Hey Pete, got your wand?" Sirius asked, as James snickered.
"Shut up Sirius" Peter said, before checking his back pocket. Sure enough this was enough to cause the rest of them to laugh, and it took at least another ten minutes for them to calm down enough to head off to the train station.
They each held a part of Mrs. Potter's bag which was standing on the table, bracing themselves for the most uncomfortable feeling in the world: apparition.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Just do it" James said, his eyes squeezed shut, and gritting his teeth.
After a moment of discomfort and nauseating pain, they appeared in the middle of the platform, which was packed with people rushing around and young kids crying.
"This is where I leave you lot. Get on the train and don't screw around, okay?" Mrs. Potter said. They all nodded and in another pop she was gone.
The five of them wheeled around and walked into the train, heaving their trunks on to the carriage, and down the narrow aisle. They entered the first empty compartment they could find, loaded their trunks on the racks, and slid down into a seat. Remus had already taken out a book and began to read. Demi had pulled out a book with no cover and was curled up in the corner by the window. James, Peter, and Sirius looked around not knowing what to do.
"So what do you think our prank should be this year?" Sirius asked everyone generally.
"I think we should create a huge bonfire in the middle of the air and have a load of marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers on the tables," James said.
Peter and Sirius exchanged looks, "what good will that do?" they asked.
Remus looked over at James from his book, "I didn't know you knew what S'mores were?"
"I saw a bunch of people making these sandwich things when we were at the match," he stated, "they looked pretty good."
"So how exactly will we be able to make this possible?" Peter asked.
"Simple," Remus said. "We summon fire, a lot of it, and we get the house elves in on it, so they can send all the food to the tables."
"Or," Demi interrupted, "you could get a giant ball of fire, and have the s'mores already cooked, to shoot out of the fire, and land on people's plates."
The four boys looked at her in shock, "that's not such a bad idea," they all said.
"But how are we going to do all this in such a short amount of time. It's not like we've got the library that we can just use the books to find all this information," Sirius said.
"Well, it's just your luck that I found a few spells back when we did the arm trick. I wrote them down somewhere, it's in my trunk." She pulled out her wand, "Accio."
A small piece of parchment tugged itself out of her suitcase and into her outstretched hand. "Okay, we'd need to compile the fire summoning spell, and the food enchantment spell. So we'd need to send a letter right now to the elves, and get them to make the food-"
"Why can't we summon that too?" Peter asked.
"According to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration –" Remus began.
"Oh, speak English, will you?" James asked.
"It's impossible to make good food out of nothing! You can summon it of you know where it is, you can transform it, you can increase the quantity if you've already got some, but you cannot just create it," Demi explained heatedly.
"Okay, so we get the elves to make some, and we multiply it, and summon it through the fire," Remus said intellectually.
The five of them set to work. Loud bangs and spurts of fire were emitted from their compartment, but many of the older students just ignored them, knowing that they were up to something.
Occasionally, a few people dropped by, like Alice and Frank, Kiaria, Jeremiah, and at one point (although many believed it was an accident, Lily. She'd stopped by to see Demi, the pair having sent thousands of letters to one another throughout the summer.
"Honestly, I thought you lot would have grown up by now" she said distastefully. In the last two months, she'd gotten taller, curvier, and her red hair and eyes were brighter than ever. Unlike Demi, her skin was as soft and clean as ever.
"Well Evans, it might interest you to know that this takes a lot of planning and dedication, as well as various skills," James said, trying to show off. Luckily Lily could see right through his act.
"You lot are just a bunch of –of- of bloody Marauders," she said, shutting the compartment door behind her.
"I like that," James said. "Marauders, it has a nice ring to it."
"What, are you planning on changing your name James?" Demi asked, as she and Sirius scribbled some facts on a piece of paper and handed them to Remus.
"Well, we're always together, we're all planning to become, you-know-what's, and people always have to stand there and say all of our names together. Why don't we just call ourselves; the Marauders and see if it sticks."
"We can test it out tonight by having some fireworks burst out at the end and spell it out," Peter suggested. "You know, brought to you by the Marauders."
They all exchanged looks before turning to the only pair that would be able to tell them if it was possible. Remus and Demi looked at one another and smiled. "It's completely possible."