Feathers on the Brain
Disclaimer: The usual, not mine, never will be mine, no profit being made, no copyright infringement intended. Sorry JKR, Warner Bros! And sorry, faithful reader, for having to read this every time. Credit also goes to punkheid who inspired Sirius' plot bunny to pester me.
AN: Inspired by a text or two. Short Marauder nonsense, reasonably plotless. And James' PoV, in case you couldn't guess. So R&R!
"You know something, James?" Sirius was kneeling on a chair, positively bouncing with excitement. "My bed... has WHEELS!!!"
I looked at him, bleary-eyed. Herbology was getting at me. "So?"
"So?" he squealed. "So? SO?" His voice was getting higher with each word, as were his eyebrows. "SO... so." A smug and self-satisfied grin was sent my way.
I sighed inwardly and nodded. Remus had pointed out it was a good idea just to humour Sirius when he got like this. It got rid of him quicker. And, frankly, I didn't have the energy for more of his wild schemes at the moment. The exams were tomorrow, and I still couldn't tell the difference between a flitterbloom and devil's snare.
Sirius subsided into happy silence opposite me, staring into the common room fire as he thought of the many pranking possibilities his incredible revelation offered. I glanced to my left. Remus hadn't raised his eyes from his Potions book throughout this entire exchange.
"D'you think we should... you know..." I muttered at Peter, nodding in Remus' direction.
"Naaah... he looks quite happy, like that. It's probably the most sleep he's had all week..." Peter grinned as I reluctantly turned back to my Herbology.
So, the exams were over and we were all just biding our time until the holidays started... by having a pillow fight.
Thwack!
Remus' pillow hit Sirius with terrifying power – I didn't know Remus had it in him – and I got a faceful of feathers. And we'd been doing so well... no yells, no ungainly thumps, no breakages, and no torn pillows...
Sirius staggered backwards into my bedside lamp, which... slowly... toppled... onto the floor. And broke. Despite my best Seeker's attempt to catch it.
And just as Sirius was getting his balance back, Peter picked his moment and gave him the deadly pillow-to-the-nose routine.
Ungainly thumps and yells all round, then, as Sirius was forced into a retreat, landed heavily on his bed, sat up – slightly breathless – and shot out the door.
Oh yes, he'd told me his bed had wheels.
"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."
"HOLY-" bang- "BUCK-"crash "-ET OF"crunch "FLY-ARGH!-" thump-th-thump-thump-thump "-ING COWS!!!"
We listened, frozen in horror, for any more clattering. No... it seemed to have stopped. Peter poked his head out the door.
"All clear, guys. Will we go and see how he is?"
Silence.
"Oh, come on, he might need help!"
I opened my mouth. No sound came out.
"ROLL YOUR EYES WITH PEPPER-IMPS!"*
We all flinched. Remus tore his eyes from the now-open door and looked at Peter and me. We nodded, straightened our backs, and went down to duel with the dugbogs**. Like men going to their execution.
It turned out not to be as bad as we'd expected. Sirius was still upright, and still smiling. Maybe he'd bashed his head so hard that he'd forgotten how to scowl.
"DID YOU SEE THAT?!" he exploded.
Remus, Peter and I kept our distance.
"WASN'T IT AMAZING?"
He'd just skidded out of the dormitory at uncontrollable speed, bouncing off the walls as he clattered down the stairs and out the common room, wheeled madly through various secret passageways, careered down several more staircases, and finally shot out through the Entrance Hall, which some poor, stunned Hufflepuff had carelessly left open, coming to a halt inches from the lake.
And he thought it was fun.
Sirius was waiting for a reply. He looked at me. I looked at Remus. Remus looked at Peter. Peter looked at Sirius. "You've got feathers in your hair."
"Yep!" Sirius beamed. "Wanna try it again?"
"Feathers in the brain, I think," murmured Remus.
I nodded. That was our Sirius alright.
*wizard idiom
** and another one