Author's Note: Sorry to keep you all waiting for this chapter! But it's
finally here, so read, enjoy and review, please!!
~ Marauder Gals
~*~*~*~*~
Rachie.V.: James yawned and rolled over onto his stomach, the comfy mattress underneath him feeling like a cloud. He kept his eyes shut, glad that it was the weekend, and that his alarm wouldn't screech out at 6 a.m., making him jump two metres into the air. Suddenly, a humongous snore ripped through the air of the seventh year boys' dormitory.
"SIRIUS BLACK!" James yelled into his pillow without looking up, knowing who just let rip with that snore.
"Mummy, I don't wanna go to school today." Sirius replied groggily, still asleep. James got up (rather grumpily) and stormed over to Sirius' bed. He punched the figure that was buried beneath the red blankets. The figure lurched to the side, and the blankets fell to the carpet. A pale teenager of seventeen in boxers and no t-shirt suddenly opened his eyes, his black hair looking as wild as James' always was; and that was saying something. This teenager was Sirius Black, and he was not in a happy mood.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT?! I WAS HAVING A DARN GOOD REST JUST THEN, AND YOU GO AND PUNCH ME! IT'S TOO EARLY FOR ME TO GET UP, DIMWIT, SO LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Rachel suddenly jerked awake, a shout disturbing her slumber. It was coming from the boys' dormitory. She tumbled out of bed, her pale blue pyjamas ruffling. She quickly picked up a brush, straightened her hair in two seconds flat, made sure no one was watching her, then stumbled towards the boys' dorms, her bare feet making no sound on the soft, carpeted floor. The shouts reacher her ears more clearly.
". I ONLY PUNCHED YOU COZ YOU WERE SNORING!"
"SORRY FOR BREATHING! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE, IT'S TOO EARLY TO BE AWAKE ON A SATURDAY MORNING!"
"IT'S NOT TOO EARLY, IT'S MIDDAY!"
"EXACTLY! "
"HEY!" Rachel shouted.
"Rachel?" the two guys said in wonder at the same time, turning to the door.
"Yay, you remembered my name," she said falsely excited, then carried on, "who do you think you are, both of you, picking a fight this early?"
"Well who do you think you are, barging into the boys' dorms?" James asked.
"A person who's stopping two particular people from making the whole castle wake up!" Rachel replied. James gave up; he was too tired to pick a fight with anyone else. Lily walked into the room, just then, yawning.
"What's all the noise for?" she asked.
"Nothing important!" all three said in unison, knowing that Lily would give a lecture for arguing about petty things.
"Okay.." she replied suspiciously, then glanced at her watch. "OH NO!" she cried, "WE'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR THE HOGSMEADE TRIP!!!"
Lily had spoken the magical words. Within five minutes, the whole group of friends were showered, dressed and running to the carriages before they set off.
As he undid the zipper on his black jacket, Sirius grumbled about no breakfast, as they didn't have time to eat before they left; they'd grab something in a restaurant. He had a red t-shirt underneath the jacket, and his black cargo pants were baggy, complete with the black joggers. He stuck his wallet in the right side pocket, dreaming of bacon and eggs. He yawned and ran a hand through his hair that he didn't have time to brush, so he made it look like he'd stuck it up with gel, even though it looked like that when he'd woken up. It still looked good.
James was wearing grubby joggers, baggy jeans and a navy shirt (long sleeves and buttons with a collar) with Nike written across the front in white writing with the famous Nike tick. He didn't need his glasses for the trip, and his hair was always messy, which made him look cute, "Just like Sirius," as Rachel would say, or, "Pretty darn ugly," as Lily would say, but everyone knew she was only teasing.
Remus was going a bit more casual: a plain white t-shirt, normal joggers, khaki-coloured cargo pants.
Ellie Belly shook her head; Remus couldn't look more different from Ellie who was wearing low-hanging black-purple jeans, a diamante belt strung casually across her hips, a shimmery, sleeveless purple top, leather jacket, purple bandana and big black combat boots. Watery purple eye shadow was streaked across her eyelids and her lips were coated in dark purple lippy. Silver glitter was sprinkled across her cheeks. She called it the "Purple punk" outfit.
Rachel wasn't a punk, or purple for that matter, she was black and blue. Black hipster jeans that flared, a dark blue t-shirt that showed her bellybutton, dark blue trainers with black edges along the bottom, blue body glitter on her showing stomach and cheeks, pink lipgloss that wasn't bright and that made her lips appear shiny. The outfit was completed with dark blue eye shadow. Her outfit was called "Rainy Days".
Lily went green. Dark green bellbottom pants, light green halter top, dark green trainers, green eye shadow. Apart from pink lipgloss and normal colours on her body, she went green. Her outfit was named "Rainforest Style".
The guys hopped into a carriage, and left the doors open for the girls to get in. They looked out the door, and saw three cute teenagers charging down the stairs, across the front lawn all the way down to the carriages. Ellie got in there first.
"Ellie Belly! You remind me of a flower at the rock concert!" Remus commented, helping Ellie inside.
"It's the 'Purple Punk' outfit, from the Ellieucci collection," Ellie told him snootily, then giggled. Rachel came next.
"Oooooooooooooooooooooh!!" gasped Sirius, helping Rachel inside, "you look stunning, baby."
"My outfit is called 'Rainy Days'," Rachel said, punching Sirius on the arm gently by a sign of greeting. Lily arrived.
"Hey.what's with the green?" James said, reluctantly helping Lily inside, then let go of her hand as soon as she got in, wiping it on his jeans, gagging.
"It's called 'Rainforest Style', you bucket of dung," Lily snapped.
"Touchy, touchy. I would have called that outfit, 'Gooey Snot'!" James laughed. Lily smacked him across the face, and then sat next to Ellie, who had Remus on her left. Sirius was next to the window opposite Remus, with Rachel next to him opposite Ellie, and James next to Rachel.which meant Lily was opposite James. They poked their tongues out at each other.
Sirius got up, shut the door to the carriage, and was about to sit down again, when a knock came to the carriage door. Sirius opened it, and saw Rita Skeeter, the girl who had a massive crush on him. He groaned.
"What now, Rita?"
"Oh, Sirius! You look soooooooo cute.I was just wondering, would you like to join me alone in the Three Broomsticks tonight?" Rita asked, and with that, kissed Sirius on the cheek. Rachel stood up in rage.
"Who do you think you are, Rita Skeeter?! That's my boyfriend you're kissing, so get your filthy lips off him!" she yelled. Rita scowled.
"Get lost, you fool!"
James stood up.
"Rita, leave Rachel and Sirius alone! Sirius is my best friend, and he shouldn't have to take this garbage off annoying fleas like you! Get lost!"
Rita giggled, leaned upwards and kissed James on the cheek. James pulled away, sickened. Lily stood up furiously.
"GET YOUR LIPS OFF HIM!" Lily shrieked, the same time that James yelled, "GET YOUR LIPS OFF ME!"
Rita vamoosed.
Lily and James looked at each other.
"I'm sorry, that wasn't any of my business.I shouldn't have yelled at her." Lily apologized. James grinned.
"No problem, Lily.I'm flattered that you cared for me like that."
"Believe me, I do care.I do." Lily said softly. James lowered his head a teensy bit.
"That's charming to know.because I care too."
"Yeah." Lily said, and leaned upwards. Their heads were millimetres away from each other.suddenly, the carriage jerked alive, and lurched away on the road to Hogsmeade. Lily and James plunged into their seats.
Everyone else looked at each other, all thinking the same thing: Lily and James nearly kissed! It looked as though their plan was going to end perfectly.but they should have known better.
Devils Angel: The trip was silent. Ellie and Remus were giving each other excited looks. Rachie and Sirius were completely off the topic, and were gazing into each other's eyes in a lovesick way. But it was Lily and James who were glancing at each other shyly, then looking away, blushing.
Finally, the carriage stopped and everyone fell to the back. "Argh!" grumbled Lily. "Have these people heard of limousines?"
"The best stuff for the best person, huh?" blurted out James.
They all looked at him. He blushed, the crimson gradually spreading across his face.
"Er. where do you guys wanna go?" asked Sirius, covering up the embarrassed silence.
"Zonko's!" cried James.
"I'm with you, James," said Sirius.
"Rags to Riches!" cried Rachel. (A/N: I just made that up. It's a clothing store). "I need to get something for the Yule Ball."
"I'll come with you, Rachel," said Lily.
"HONEYDUKES!" roared Ellie and Remus at the same time, then laughed.
"Well, since we all wanna go different places, how about we meet at the Three Broomsticks in say, fifteen minutes?" said Sirius casually.
"Yep, sure," everyone said.
~*~*~*~*~
"Ooh, look at this!" cried Lily, holding up a bottle green-coloured tank top that had criss-cross straps at the back and a matching skirt. "Do you think James would like this on me? I mean..."
Rachel grinned. "Go and try it on, and see."
Lily grinned and disappeared into the change room. Rachel searched through the racks. She found a dark blue, strapless dress with a matching light blue feather boa. Wonder what Sirius would think? She wondered.
She was about to go try it on when Lily timidly called out, "Rachel?"
Rachel found Lily's dressing room and nearly dropped the dress she was carrying. The green dress looked fantastic on Lily. The top hugged her slim waist and the skirt drifted below her knees. The green drew attention to Lily's green eyes. "Wow!" cried Rachel.
"Perfect fit!"
~*~*~*~*~
"What do you think will make Lily laugh?" asked James abstractedly. "I mean."
Sirius couldn't help smiling. "Wait, she's not a practical joke person, is she," muttered James, and moving to a different section of the store.
He looked along the shelf. There's gotta be something here that Lily will love, thought James.
He reached out and pulled out a quill that wrote in shimmery colours. She'll love this, thought James. But will she love me?
He shook his head, wondering why that particular thought popped into his head and looked at Sirius, who was experimenting with a bit of parchment that printed insults on it instead of what you actually wrote.
~*~*~*~*~
Fifteen minutes later, they all met at the Three Broomsticks- except for Ellie and Remus. "Gee, I wonder where they are?" wondered Sirius. "Rachie, let's go look for them."
"Okay," said Rachie. "We'll be right back," she said to Lily and James.
They walked out and quickly rounded a corner, where Ellie and Remus were hiding. Ellie was clutching her stomach in pain. She had eaten too much chocolate.
"Hi," said Sirius. "They're in there."
He pointed to where they were sitting. "Now we play the watching game," said Ellie. "Geez, I don't feel so good."
~*~*~*~*~
Lily looked at James. "Er. what did you buy?" she asked.
James pulled a thin box out of his bag. "This quill that writes in different colours," he said.
Then he remembered why he'd bought. "I, uh, bought it for you," he said shyly.
"Oh! Thanks!" cried Lily. "That's sweet, but I haven't bought anything for you."
"That's ok," shrugged James.
"No no, I'll get something. hey! I know. I'll be right back," said Lily, quickly getting up from the table.
She returned after about five minutes, holding a small brown bag. "Wow, thanks," said James. "That's really nice of you."
Lily smiled at him, and his insides turned to jelly.
He pulled out a heart shaped box from the bag. James's mouth dropped open in surprise. Remus, Ellie, Rachel and Sirius's all dropped open too.
James lifted the lid, and inside were many different coloured chocolates. "Yum, Lily, thanks heaps," he said.
He picked one up and took a bite out of it.
All of a sudden, his face twisted. "Argh!!" he cried. "Yuck!! This tastes like. salt!"
The four around the corner gasped.
Lily laughed. "I got it from Zonko's!"
Despite the horrible taste in his mouth, James started laughing. Lily joined in.
The four around the corner breathed out.
James stopped laughing, then said, "Lily, I've got something to ask you."
The four around the corner looked at each other eagerly.
Lily looked at him curiously. "Sure, ask away," she said.
Rachie.V.: James stood up and put on a fake accent, but still blushed as he said, "Lily, may I have the honour of being your partner for the Yule Ball?"
Lily grinned, stood up, turned her back on him and said snootily, "No, you may not."
James pouted. "Why ever not, madam?"
Lily turned around, grinned and said, "I'm kidding, James!" She ran over to him and threw her arms around him. "I've been dying for you to ask me to the ball, but I never said a word about it, scared that you wouldn't ask me!"
James grinned. "Well, you better look good, otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to dance with someone else!"
Lily looked up at him and scowled. "Who else?"
"Maybe somebody by the name of.Rita Skeeter!!!" James mocked, then gave a fake cackle. Lily smacked him playfully.
"You wouldn't do that, you hate her as much as I do," Lily said.
"Too true, Lily," James replied. That's when he realised she still had her arms around him, and somehow, his arms had worked their way around her waist. They pulled away from each other, blushing furiously.
The gang watching them had to use great self-control not to burst into giggles. Rachel and Sirius were dying to laugh so hard that they had to bite their knuckles to keep quiet, while Ellie and Remus kept their mouths shut, smiling.
"Hey, Sirius, maybe we should go back in, now, since we said that we'd be right back," Rachel said quietly to Sirius, spluttering with the first few words as they were half giggles, half words. Sirius nodded, stopped biting his knuckles, snorted, put his hands over his mouth, got a whack around the back of the head from Rachel (who also hissed, "SHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!") and Remus and Ellie followed them around the corner to the door, as it was them who Rachel and Sirius were looking for. They entered with normal faces (Sirius was kept under control by the glares Rachel and Remus kept shooting at him), and Ellie said, "Sorry we're late, we kinda lost track of time. Happens all the time, in Honeydukes. Rachel and Sirius found us."
James and Lily nodded, both sitting far apart form each other, blushing. Lily got up and the group followed her to Honeydukes (Ellie and Remus groaned), where a few Galleons were spent each, and then to the park, where they hung out until night descended slowly upon them. After the performance in the Three Broomsticks, James and Lily had kept away from each other and were rather quiet the whole night, replaying in their minds the special moment they had shared.
The friends rested on the grass, staring at the stars, Ellie and Remus studying the different shapes that they could see, Rachel and Sirius leaning against each other while holding hands, Lily and James staying quiet. The whispers of the night breeze ruffled through Lily's hair, making it softly float around her. James noticed this and desperately tried to prevent himself from thinking how beautiful she was, but failed.considerably. He sighed softly. Why was he feeling like this?!
Devils Angel: Lily was lost in her own thoughts. She gazed at the stars, but in the corner of her eye she could see James. Her heart beat considerably faster as she smiled at his floppy hair, his smile.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star," sang Sirius sleepily. "Daddy bought a motor car."
Rachel giggled. "Ooh, we'd better go, it's a bit late," she said, kissing Sirius on the cheek.
"And see that one, that's Ellie the insane," joked Remus, pointing to a cluster of stars.
"Oh, I see, but that one's Remus the idiotic!" cried Ellie and they both cracked up.
They all stood up and caught the carriage back to the castle. It bumped so forcefully along the road that everyone was bouncing around and laughing.
"Whee!" yelled Rachel, flying through the air but crashing into Ellie.
"Oops!" cried Lily, landing right on James's lap.
They blushed.
~*~*~*~*~
Finally, they stopped at the castle. The six of them stumbled out of the carriage and trudged up to the common room.
Rachel and Sirius relaxed in front of the fireplace, talking and giggling (and kissing of course). James, Lily, Ellie and Remus were yakking away about the Yule Ball.
"So who are ya going with, Lils?" asked Ellie casually.
Lily grinned. "I'm going with James," she said, smiling at him and holding his hand.
James was a happily surprised, but he squeezed Lily's hand. Lily blushed.
What is it with these people and blushing? Wondered Remus.
"Who are you going with, eh Ellie?" asked James.
Ellie squirmed a bit. "Well erm ah." she muttered.
"She's going with that Ravenclaw guy called Ron," blurted out Remus.
(A/N: Nothing to do with Ron Weasley! It happens to be my boyfriend's name!)
"Oh geez," said Ellie, embarrassed. "Well, he asked me and I said yes. I mean, he's kind of cute isn't he, Lily?"
Lily grinned. "You go girl!" she said. "Hey Remus, who're you going with?"
"Dunno," shrugged Remus. "Guess I'll go by myself."
"Aww, come on, man, you can't go alone!" said James. "Say, I'll set ya up with. RITA SKEETER!!"
"Aaaagh!" screamed Remus.
They laughed. "Ahh, I'm tired," yawned Lily. "Goodnight everyone."
"'Night, Lily," they said and she started walking towards her dorm.
James walked after her and put his hand on her shoulder. She turned around and looked at him questioningly. "Um. goodnight, Lily," said James softly.
He nervously leaned forward and kissed her quickly and delicately on the lips. This time it was Lily's turn to be happily surprised. She smiled, and skipped happily into her dorm. Her head was spinning and butterflies fluttered crookedly in her stomach.
Remus, Ellie, Rachel and Sirius all looked at each other, eyes wide open. James kissed Lily!
"A historical moment, folks," said Sirius quietly.
Rachie.V.:
~*~ The next day ~*~
"Hey, Lily!"
Lily turned around in the hallway, her bag swinging wildly. Snape was standing behind her, his greasy hair even more disgusting as usual.
She sighed.
"Yes, you idiot?"
"You might not want to insult me once I tell you something interesting." Snape replied, grinning mischievously.
"And what could you possibly know that is of any interest to me?" Lily snapped.
"Well.it's about James." Snape said quietly. Lily raised her eyebrows, but stepped closer, people bustling by and knocking against her elbows.
"You know how he used to be your mortal enemy, then changed his attitude way too suddenly?" he said softly, studying her face. She nodded.
"Well.he's still your enemy. You only like him because he put a Love Potion in your goblet a few weeks ago!"
Lily gasped, then set her face straight to hide her shock. She usually wouldn't have believed this slimeball, but it was suddenly so obvious! Feelings just can't bounce around so suddenly.
Lily pretended that she didn't believe him.
"Prove it," she hissed.
Snape waved his wand in the air, muttered a spell that Lily couldn't hear, and an image shot out of his wand. It was James, and he was hunched over something. The view twisted and moved, so that Lily could see that he was hunched over a goblet. He was pouring something into the goblet, then he stood up, grinned, and ran away. A few seconds later, an image of Lily came into the room that was the Great Hall. She was running and laughing, then she sat down with Rachel and Ellie at the table. She drank out of the goblet that James had put the potion into. The image flickered, then went out.
"So, convinced?" he asked softly. He suddenly reached out, and twisted a lock of Lily's hair around his fingers. Lily jerked backwards, sickened, and cried, "I don't know what your game is, Snape, but I do know that you're lying! Now get out of my way!" With that, she barged past, tears stinging in her eyes. She actually remembered sitting down a few weeks ago the way she had in the image, and had wondered why the drink tasted odd. She thought that maybe the house-elves had a problem with the pumpkin juice.but now she knew why it was odd. There had been a Love Potion in it. Lily wiped away her tears. She knew that Love Potions worked for exactly three weeks, and it had been three weeks since she had drunken the potion to last night. Lily was now outside her Charms classroom, and she was late. She cautiously opened the door, stepped inside and apologised to Professor Flitwick. He accepted her apology and told her to find a partner, because they were just about to start a new spell. Immediately, Rachel and Sirius sat next to each other, Remus and Ellie partnered up.which left James. Lily bit her lip, then looked at James, who smiled and beckoned her over. Anger flowed through her veins. She walked over to him, plonked her bag next to the stool, sat down and growled at James.
"What's up, Lily?"
"You, that's what!"
"What have I done?" James was baffled by Lily's strange behaviour.
"You put a Love Potion in my drink a few weeks ago!"
"What?!" James cried, then kept his voice down after a warning glance from Flitwick. "What do you mean? I never did that!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! Lily, didn't you realize last night that I like you a lot? I like you too much to hurt you like that!"
"Snape proved it, he showed me the images through some spell! He caught you red-handed, Potter!"
"So now you're believing the worst Slytherin of the lot instead of a friend?!"
"It doesn't matter who I believe, but it was proved to me that you are a liar!"
James scowled at Lily, then said quietly to himself, "I'm gonna get that Snape so bad he won't know what hit him!"
Devils Angel: "It's so cool how Lily and James are together," said Ellie to Remus, as they walked to Potions.
"I can't believe that rotten, stinking. dragon butt!!" complained Lily, coming up behind them.
Remus looked at Ellie with a raised eyebrow. "I hope you're talking about Professor Verte."
Lily gave a dry laugh. "I'm talking about Potter the Poo head!" she burst. "He put a love potion in my goblet!!"
The two gasped. "Oh my god," whispered Ellie. "When did this happen?!"
Lily tossed her hair back. "Three weeks ago I think," she said. "But I don't give a pumpkins knob. I'll go with someone else to the Yule Ball."
Remus looked at her. "I can't believe how well you're taking this."
Lily shrugged. "I don't care," she said. "'Life can go on without sloshing around in misery about a disgusting pig!"
She stopped. "Hey, I think that stupid potion's wearing off!" she yelled gleefully.
She quickened her pace and left Remus and Ellie, open-mouthed.
~*~*~*~*~
Lily hurried along the hallway, trying not to think and furiously kept back tears. I can't believe this, she thought over and over. All this time I thought I really loved him.
Or do I? she wondered.
It was all getting very confusing.
She slumped into her chair and buried her face into her hands. She wasn't aware that James was looking at her. He couldn't stand to see her so miserable. He wanted to put his arm around her and hold her. but he knew what would happen if he did.
~*~*~*~*~
After Potions, it was lunchtime. Snape was talking to Malfoy and they were both sniggering away. Remus walked past them.
"The stupid bimbo actually believed that Holo Spell!" laughed Snape.
Remus's eyes widened. So it had all been a trick! The Holo spell was merely a magical hologram.
He broke in to a run to find James and Lily.
Rachie.V.: "But I'm telling the truth, Sirius!!" Remus cried. He hadn't been able to find James or Lily, but Sirius could help him.that is, if he believed the truth.
"Remus, come off it! I mean, yeah, what James did is horrible, but there's no point trying to patch it up between them!" Sirius replied, leaning against the banister of the marble staircase.
"Sirius, it's true!! Would I lie to you?" Remus crossed his arms.
".I guess you wouldn't - you're not like me."
"Exactly."
~*~*~*~*~
"James! There you are!! Come with me," Remus said to James, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him away from the Quidditch pitch where he had been practicing.
~*~*~*~*~
"Lily! There you are!! Come with me," Sirius said to Lily, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her away from the Library where she had been studying.
~*~*~*~*~
Remus and James bumped into Sirius and Lily on the Astronomy Tower. Lily immediately screamed and tried to attack James, but Sirius was too strong and kept a firm hold on her arm.
"Lily, James, we have to tell you something." Remus started.
Remus explained how Snape had framed James (while Sirius interrupted every now and then with insane comments on how Lily had reacted to certain things - such as how she used a certain spell that turned James' hair green in one particular Charms class). After Remus (and Sirius) had finished, there was a long, surprised silence.
Finally, James spoke: "I told you Lily: I like you too much to hurt you like that."
Lily staggered forward and broke Sirius' grip. She ran over to James, who expected to be slapped anyway, but Lily threw her arms around him.
"James, I'm so, so sorry!!!" She started sobbing. "I should've trusted you!!"
"Hey, no problem! Now stop crying before my robe gets soggy!"
Lily replied by kissing him on the lips.
Devils Angel: Sirius wolf-whistled at them. Lily rolled her eyes but said nothing.
James gave Lily a hug, and they all trooped downstairs.
~*~*~*~*~
"Got a jack?"
Rachel grinned cheekily. "Go fish."
Ellie grumbled and reached for a card. Remus, Sirius, James and Lily all climbed through the portrait hole.
Remus immediately plonked himself next to Ellie, as did Sirius to Rachel, and they gave the girls the low-down.
"We must take action!" cried Ellie. "Snape is such a freakin' jerk!"
Rachel nodded. "What he did was seriously low," she said. "I say we get him back somehow."
She casually glanced at Sirius. "You looking at me?" asked Sirius in mock surprise.
Rachel grinned, kissed his cheek and said, "Reckon you boys can think of a cool prank to pull on Sleazy Snape?"
Sirius smiled evilly and pulled James and Remus into a huddle.
~*~*~*~*~
The three boys were quiet and secretive for the rest of the day. No matter how hard the girls begged, they wouldn't tell them their plan. Actually, they hadn't finished planning it yet.
It wasn't until the next morning they all found out.
The group were walking early to the first lesson when James pulled them all behind a large wall.
"We've thought of a plan," he said, grinning. "Remus?"
Remus pointed his wand at the wall. A chart popped up, with funny diagrams and writing. The girls looked in amazement at it.
"Our first step," explained Sirius, "is to make a very powerful Love Potion."
He tapped his wand at a diagram, and it started moving. a hand stirring a cauldron.
"Our research has found that to make a temporary spell permanent is to throw a nugget of gold in it," said Sirius.
"But we're are we going to get a nugget of gold?" asked Ellie.
"And since when did you guys research?" muttered Lily.
"Easy peasy," grinned James. "My uncle is a gold miner, and he sent me a nugget of gold for my last birthday."
"Next step," said Sirius, "is to put a drop of this concoction-"
"Ooh, big word," whispered Rachel.
"-into the goblet of our dear friend Rita Skeeter."
Ellie rubbed her hands together. "I'm liking this," she said.
"Meanwhile, we have stolen something from Snape and told him that this lovely lady has it," said Snape.
He tapped his wand on a picture of a teddy bear in Rita's arms. He noticed Lily's eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, he has a teddy bear," he said, keeping a straight face. "His name is Mr Booboo. Ahem! We tell Snapey-poo as soon as Rita has drunk her goblet."
Sirius grinned. "James, take it away."
"With pleasure, my good man," said James. "Snape walks over to Rita. the first male she sees, she falls in love with!"
They laughed and cheered. "Perfect!" cried Rachel.
She turned to Sirius. "I knew you wouldn't let me down," she said, and kissed him.
~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Mwuahahahaha, what will happen to the delightful Miss Skeeter? Wait til the next chapter! Heh heh. Review!
~ Marauder Gals
~*~*~*~*~
Rachie.V.: James yawned and rolled over onto his stomach, the comfy mattress underneath him feeling like a cloud. He kept his eyes shut, glad that it was the weekend, and that his alarm wouldn't screech out at 6 a.m., making him jump two metres into the air. Suddenly, a humongous snore ripped through the air of the seventh year boys' dormitory.
"SIRIUS BLACK!" James yelled into his pillow without looking up, knowing who just let rip with that snore.
"Mummy, I don't wanna go to school today." Sirius replied groggily, still asleep. James got up (rather grumpily) and stormed over to Sirius' bed. He punched the figure that was buried beneath the red blankets. The figure lurched to the side, and the blankets fell to the carpet. A pale teenager of seventeen in boxers and no t-shirt suddenly opened his eyes, his black hair looking as wild as James' always was; and that was saying something. This teenager was Sirius Black, and he was not in a happy mood.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE PLAYING AT?! I WAS HAVING A DARN GOOD REST JUST THEN, AND YOU GO AND PUNCH ME! IT'S TOO EARLY FOR ME TO GET UP, DIMWIT, SO LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Rachel suddenly jerked awake, a shout disturbing her slumber. It was coming from the boys' dormitory. She tumbled out of bed, her pale blue pyjamas ruffling. She quickly picked up a brush, straightened her hair in two seconds flat, made sure no one was watching her, then stumbled towards the boys' dorms, her bare feet making no sound on the soft, carpeted floor. The shouts reacher her ears more clearly.
". I ONLY PUNCHED YOU COZ YOU WERE SNORING!"
"SORRY FOR BREATHING! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE, IT'S TOO EARLY TO BE AWAKE ON A SATURDAY MORNING!"
"IT'S NOT TOO EARLY, IT'S MIDDAY!"
"EXACTLY! "
"HEY!" Rachel shouted.
"Rachel?" the two guys said in wonder at the same time, turning to the door.
"Yay, you remembered my name," she said falsely excited, then carried on, "who do you think you are, both of you, picking a fight this early?"
"Well who do you think you are, barging into the boys' dorms?" James asked.
"A person who's stopping two particular people from making the whole castle wake up!" Rachel replied. James gave up; he was too tired to pick a fight with anyone else. Lily walked into the room, just then, yawning.
"What's all the noise for?" she asked.
"Nothing important!" all three said in unison, knowing that Lily would give a lecture for arguing about petty things.
"Okay.." she replied suspiciously, then glanced at her watch. "OH NO!" she cried, "WE'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR THE HOGSMEADE TRIP!!!"
Lily had spoken the magical words. Within five minutes, the whole group of friends were showered, dressed and running to the carriages before they set off.
As he undid the zipper on his black jacket, Sirius grumbled about no breakfast, as they didn't have time to eat before they left; they'd grab something in a restaurant. He had a red t-shirt underneath the jacket, and his black cargo pants were baggy, complete with the black joggers. He stuck his wallet in the right side pocket, dreaming of bacon and eggs. He yawned and ran a hand through his hair that he didn't have time to brush, so he made it look like he'd stuck it up with gel, even though it looked like that when he'd woken up. It still looked good.
James was wearing grubby joggers, baggy jeans and a navy shirt (long sleeves and buttons with a collar) with Nike written across the front in white writing with the famous Nike tick. He didn't need his glasses for the trip, and his hair was always messy, which made him look cute, "Just like Sirius," as Rachel would say, or, "Pretty darn ugly," as Lily would say, but everyone knew she was only teasing.
Remus was going a bit more casual: a plain white t-shirt, normal joggers, khaki-coloured cargo pants.
Ellie Belly shook her head; Remus couldn't look more different from Ellie who was wearing low-hanging black-purple jeans, a diamante belt strung casually across her hips, a shimmery, sleeveless purple top, leather jacket, purple bandana and big black combat boots. Watery purple eye shadow was streaked across her eyelids and her lips were coated in dark purple lippy. Silver glitter was sprinkled across her cheeks. She called it the "Purple punk" outfit.
Rachel wasn't a punk, or purple for that matter, she was black and blue. Black hipster jeans that flared, a dark blue t-shirt that showed her bellybutton, dark blue trainers with black edges along the bottom, blue body glitter on her showing stomach and cheeks, pink lipgloss that wasn't bright and that made her lips appear shiny. The outfit was completed with dark blue eye shadow. Her outfit was called "Rainy Days".
Lily went green. Dark green bellbottom pants, light green halter top, dark green trainers, green eye shadow. Apart from pink lipgloss and normal colours on her body, she went green. Her outfit was named "Rainforest Style".
The guys hopped into a carriage, and left the doors open for the girls to get in. They looked out the door, and saw three cute teenagers charging down the stairs, across the front lawn all the way down to the carriages. Ellie got in there first.
"Ellie Belly! You remind me of a flower at the rock concert!" Remus commented, helping Ellie inside.
"It's the 'Purple Punk' outfit, from the Ellieucci collection," Ellie told him snootily, then giggled. Rachel came next.
"Oooooooooooooooooooooh!!" gasped Sirius, helping Rachel inside, "you look stunning, baby."
"My outfit is called 'Rainy Days'," Rachel said, punching Sirius on the arm gently by a sign of greeting. Lily arrived.
"Hey.what's with the green?" James said, reluctantly helping Lily inside, then let go of her hand as soon as she got in, wiping it on his jeans, gagging.
"It's called 'Rainforest Style', you bucket of dung," Lily snapped.
"Touchy, touchy. I would have called that outfit, 'Gooey Snot'!" James laughed. Lily smacked him across the face, and then sat next to Ellie, who had Remus on her left. Sirius was next to the window opposite Remus, with Rachel next to him opposite Ellie, and James next to Rachel.which meant Lily was opposite James. They poked their tongues out at each other.
Sirius got up, shut the door to the carriage, and was about to sit down again, when a knock came to the carriage door. Sirius opened it, and saw Rita Skeeter, the girl who had a massive crush on him. He groaned.
"What now, Rita?"
"Oh, Sirius! You look soooooooo cute.I was just wondering, would you like to join me alone in the Three Broomsticks tonight?" Rita asked, and with that, kissed Sirius on the cheek. Rachel stood up in rage.
"Who do you think you are, Rita Skeeter?! That's my boyfriend you're kissing, so get your filthy lips off him!" she yelled. Rita scowled.
"Get lost, you fool!"
James stood up.
"Rita, leave Rachel and Sirius alone! Sirius is my best friend, and he shouldn't have to take this garbage off annoying fleas like you! Get lost!"
Rita giggled, leaned upwards and kissed James on the cheek. James pulled away, sickened. Lily stood up furiously.
"GET YOUR LIPS OFF HIM!" Lily shrieked, the same time that James yelled, "GET YOUR LIPS OFF ME!"
Rita vamoosed.
Lily and James looked at each other.
"I'm sorry, that wasn't any of my business.I shouldn't have yelled at her." Lily apologized. James grinned.
"No problem, Lily.I'm flattered that you cared for me like that."
"Believe me, I do care.I do." Lily said softly. James lowered his head a teensy bit.
"That's charming to know.because I care too."
"Yeah." Lily said, and leaned upwards. Their heads were millimetres away from each other.suddenly, the carriage jerked alive, and lurched away on the road to Hogsmeade. Lily and James plunged into their seats.
Everyone else looked at each other, all thinking the same thing: Lily and James nearly kissed! It looked as though their plan was going to end perfectly.but they should have known better.
Devils Angel: The trip was silent. Ellie and Remus were giving each other excited looks. Rachie and Sirius were completely off the topic, and were gazing into each other's eyes in a lovesick way. But it was Lily and James who were glancing at each other shyly, then looking away, blushing.
Finally, the carriage stopped and everyone fell to the back. "Argh!" grumbled Lily. "Have these people heard of limousines?"
"The best stuff for the best person, huh?" blurted out James.
They all looked at him. He blushed, the crimson gradually spreading across his face.
"Er. where do you guys wanna go?" asked Sirius, covering up the embarrassed silence.
"Zonko's!" cried James.
"I'm with you, James," said Sirius.
"Rags to Riches!" cried Rachel. (A/N: I just made that up. It's a clothing store). "I need to get something for the Yule Ball."
"I'll come with you, Rachel," said Lily.
"HONEYDUKES!" roared Ellie and Remus at the same time, then laughed.
"Well, since we all wanna go different places, how about we meet at the Three Broomsticks in say, fifteen minutes?" said Sirius casually.
"Yep, sure," everyone said.
~*~*~*~*~
"Ooh, look at this!" cried Lily, holding up a bottle green-coloured tank top that had criss-cross straps at the back and a matching skirt. "Do you think James would like this on me? I mean..."
Rachel grinned. "Go and try it on, and see."
Lily grinned and disappeared into the change room. Rachel searched through the racks. She found a dark blue, strapless dress with a matching light blue feather boa. Wonder what Sirius would think? She wondered.
She was about to go try it on when Lily timidly called out, "Rachel?"
Rachel found Lily's dressing room and nearly dropped the dress she was carrying. The green dress looked fantastic on Lily. The top hugged her slim waist and the skirt drifted below her knees. The green drew attention to Lily's green eyes. "Wow!" cried Rachel.
"Perfect fit!"
~*~*~*~*~
"What do you think will make Lily laugh?" asked James abstractedly. "I mean."
Sirius couldn't help smiling. "Wait, she's not a practical joke person, is she," muttered James, and moving to a different section of the store.
He looked along the shelf. There's gotta be something here that Lily will love, thought James.
He reached out and pulled out a quill that wrote in shimmery colours. She'll love this, thought James. But will she love me?
He shook his head, wondering why that particular thought popped into his head and looked at Sirius, who was experimenting with a bit of parchment that printed insults on it instead of what you actually wrote.
~*~*~*~*~
Fifteen minutes later, they all met at the Three Broomsticks- except for Ellie and Remus. "Gee, I wonder where they are?" wondered Sirius. "Rachie, let's go look for them."
"Okay," said Rachie. "We'll be right back," she said to Lily and James.
They walked out and quickly rounded a corner, where Ellie and Remus were hiding. Ellie was clutching her stomach in pain. She had eaten too much chocolate.
"Hi," said Sirius. "They're in there."
He pointed to where they were sitting. "Now we play the watching game," said Ellie. "Geez, I don't feel so good."
~*~*~*~*~
Lily looked at James. "Er. what did you buy?" she asked.
James pulled a thin box out of his bag. "This quill that writes in different colours," he said.
Then he remembered why he'd bought. "I, uh, bought it for you," he said shyly.
"Oh! Thanks!" cried Lily. "That's sweet, but I haven't bought anything for you."
"That's ok," shrugged James.
"No no, I'll get something. hey! I know. I'll be right back," said Lily, quickly getting up from the table.
She returned after about five minutes, holding a small brown bag. "Wow, thanks," said James. "That's really nice of you."
Lily smiled at him, and his insides turned to jelly.
He pulled out a heart shaped box from the bag. James's mouth dropped open in surprise. Remus, Ellie, Rachel and Sirius's all dropped open too.
James lifted the lid, and inside were many different coloured chocolates. "Yum, Lily, thanks heaps," he said.
He picked one up and took a bite out of it.
All of a sudden, his face twisted. "Argh!!" he cried. "Yuck!! This tastes like. salt!"
The four around the corner gasped.
Lily laughed. "I got it from Zonko's!"
Despite the horrible taste in his mouth, James started laughing. Lily joined in.
The four around the corner breathed out.
James stopped laughing, then said, "Lily, I've got something to ask you."
The four around the corner looked at each other eagerly.
Lily looked at him curiously. "Sure, ask away," she said.
Rachie.V.: James stood up and put on a fake accent, but still blushed as he said, "Lily, may I have the honour of being your partner for the Yule Ball?"
Lily grinned, stood up, turned her back on him and said snootily, "No, you may not."
James pouted. "Why ever not, madam?"
Lily turned around, grinned and said, "I'm kidding, James!" She ran over to him and threw her arms around him. "I've been dying for you to ask me to the ball, but I never said a word about it, scared that you wouldn't ask me!"
James grinned. "Well, you better look good, otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to dance with someone else!"
Lily looked up at him and scowled. "Who else?"
"Maybe somebody by the name of.Rita Skeeter!!!" James mocked, then gave a fake cackle. Lily smacked him playfully.
"You wouldn't do that, you hate her as much as I do," Lily said.
"Too true, Lily," James replied. That's when he realised she still had her arms around him, and somehow, his arms had worked their way around her waist. They pulled away from each other, blushing furiously.
The gang watching them had to use great self-control not to burst into giggles. Rachel and Sirius were dying to laugh so hard that they had to bite their knuckles to keep quiet, while Ellie and Remus kept their mouths shut, smiling.
"Hey, Sirius, maybe we should go back in, now, since we said that we'd be right back," Rachel said quietly to Sirius, spluttering with the first few words as they were half giggles, half words. Sirius nodded, stopped biting his knuckles, snorted, put his hands over his mouth, got a whack around the back of the head from Rachel (who also hissed, "SHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!") and Remus and Ellie followed them around the corner to the door, as it was them who Rachel and Sirius were looking for. They entered with normal faces (Sirius was kept under control by the glares Rachel and Remus kept shooting at him), and Ellie said, "Sorry we're late, we kinda lost track of time. Happens all the time, in Honeydukes. Rachel and Sirius found us."
James and Lily nodded, both sitting far apart form each other, blushing. Lily got up and the group followed her to Honeydukes (Ellie and Remus groaned), where a few Galleons were spent each, and then to the park, where they hung out until night descended slowly upon them. After the performance in the Three Broomsticks, James and Lily had kept away from each other and were rather quiet the whole night, replaying in their minds the special moment they had shared.
The friends rested on the grass, staring at the stars, Ellie and Remus studying the different shapes that they could see, Rachel and Sirius leaning against each other while holding hands, Lily and James staying quiet. The whispers of the night breeze ruffled through Lily's hair, making it softly float around her. James noticed this and desperately tried to prevent himself from thinking how beautiful she was, but failed.considerably. He sighed softly. Why was he feeling like this?!
Devils Angel: Lily was lost in her own thoughts. She gazed at the stars, but in the corner of her eye she could see James. Her heart beat considerably faster as she smiled at his floppy hair, his smile.
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star," sang Sirius sleepily. "Daddy bought a motor car."
Rachel giggled. "Ooh, we'd better go, it's a bit late," she said, kissing Sirius on the cheek.
"And see that one, that's Ellie the insane," joked Remus, pointing to a cluster of stars.
"Oh, I see, but that one's Remus the idiotic!" cried Ellie and they both cracked up.
They all stood up and caught the carriage back to the castle. It bumped so forcefully along the road that everyone was bouncing around and laughing.
"Whee!" yelled Rachel, flying through the air but crashing into Ellie.
"Oops!" cried Lily, landing right on James's lap.
They blushed.
~*~*~*~*~
Finally, they stopped at the castle. The six of them stumbled out of the carriage and trudged up to the common room.
Rachel and Sirius relaxed in front of the fireplace, talking and giggling (and kissing of course). James, Lily, Ellie and Remus were yakking away about the Yule Ball.
"So who are ya going with, Lils?" asked Ellie casually.
Lily grinned. "I'm going with James," she said, smiling at him and holding his hand.
James was a happily surprised, but he squeezed Lily's hand. Lily blushed.
What is it with these people and blushing? Wondered Remus.
"Who are you going with, eh Ellie?" asked James.
Ellie squirmed a bit. "Well erm ah." she muttered.
"She's going with that Ravenclaw guy called Ron," blurted out Remus.
(A/N: Nothing to do with Ron Weasley! It happens to be my boyfriend's name!)
"Oh geez," said Ellie, embarrassed. "Well, he asked me and I said yes. I mean, he's kind of cute isn't he, Lily?"
Lily grinned. "You go girl!" she said. "Hey Remus, who're you going with?"
"Dunno," shrugged Remus. "Guess I'll go by myself."
"Aww, come on, man, you can't go alone!" said James. "Say, I'll set ya up with. RITA SKEETER!!"
"Aaaagh!" screamed Remus.
They laughed. "Ahh, I'm tired," yawned Lily. "Goodnight everyone."
"'Night, Lily," they said and she started walking towards her dorm.
James walked after her and put his hand on her shoulder. She turned around and looked at him questioningly. "Um. goodnight, Lily," said James softly.
He nervously leaned forward and kissed her quickly and delicately on the lips. This time it was Lily's turn to be happily surprised. She smiled, and skipped happily into her dorm. Her head was spinning and butterflies fluttered crookedly in her stomach.
Remus, Ellie, Rachel and Sirius all looked at each other, eyes wide open. James kissed Lily!
"A historical moment, folks," said Sirius quietly.
Rachie.V.:
~*~ The next day ~*~
"Hey, Lily!"
Lily turned around in the hallway, her bag swinging wildly. Snape was standing behind her, his greasy hair even more disgusting as usual.
She sighed.
"Yes, you idiot?"
"You might not want to insult me once I tell you something interesting." Snape replied, grinning mischievously.
"And what could you possibly know that is of any interest to me?" Lily snapped.
"Well.it's about James." Snape said quietly. Lily raised her eyebrows, but stepped closer, people bustling by and knocking against her elbows.
"You know how he used to be your mortal enemy, then changed his attitude way too suddenly?" he said softly, studying her face. She nodded.
"Well.he's still your enemy. You only like him because he put a Love Potion in your goblet a few weeks ago!"
Lily gasped, then set her face straight to hide her shock. She usually wouldn't have believed this slimeball, but it was suddenly so obvious! Feelings just can't bounce around so suddenly.
Lily pretended that she didn't believe him.
"Prove it," she hissed.
Snape waved his wand in the air, muttered a spell that Lily couldn't hear, and an image shot out of his wand. It was James, and he was hunched over something. The view twisted and moved, so that Lily could see that he was hunched over a goblet. He was pouring something into the goblet, then he stood up, grinned, and ran away. A few seconds later, an image of Lily came into the room that was the Great Hall. She was running and laughing, then she sat down with Rachel and Ellie at the table. She drank out of the goblet that James had put the potion into. The image flickered, then went out.
"So, convinced?" he asked softly. He suddenly reached out, and twisted a lock of Lily's hair around his fingers. Lily jerked backwards, sickened, and cried, "I don't know what your game is, Snape, but I do know that you're lying! Now get out of my way!" With that, she barged past, tears stinging in her eyes. She actually remembered sitting down a few weeks ago the way she had in the image, and had wondered why the drink tasted odd. She thought that maybe the house-elves had a problem with the pumpkin juice.but now she knew why it was odd. There had been a Love Potion in it. Lily wiped away her tears. She knew that Love Potions worked for exactly three weeks, and it had been three weeks since she had drunken the potion to last night. Lily was now outside her Charms classroom, and she was late. She cautiously opened the door, stepped inside and apologised to Professor Flitwick. He accepted her apology and told her to find a partner, because they were just about to start a new spell. Immediately, Rachel and Sirius sat next to each other, Remus and Ellie partnered up.which left James. Lily bit her lip, then looked at James, who smiled and beckoned her over. Anger flowed through her veins. She walked over to him, plonked her bag next to the stool, sat down and growled at James.
"What's up, Lily?"
"You, that's what!"
"What have I done?" James was baffled by Lily's strange behaviour.
"You put a Love Potion in my drink a few weeks ago!"
"What?!" James cried, then kept his voice down after a warning glance from Flitwick. "What do you mean? I never did that!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! Lily, didn't you realize last night that I like you a lot? I like you too much to hurt you like that!"
"Snape proved it, he showed me the images through some spell! He caught you red-handed, Potter!"
"So now you're believing the worst Slytherin of the lot instead of a friend?!"
"It doesn't matter who I believe, but it was proved to me that you are a liar!"
James scowled at Lily, then said quietly to himself, "I'm gonna get that Snape so bad he won't know what hit him!"
Devils Angel: "It's so cool how Lily and James are together," said Ellie to Remus, as they walked to Potions.
"I can't believe that rotten, stinking. dragon butt!!" complained Lily, coming up behind them.
Remus looked at Ellie with a raised eyebrow. "I hope you're talking about Professor Verte."
Lily gave a dry laugh. "I'm talking about Potter the Poo head!" she burst. "He put a love potion in my goblet!!"
The two gasped. "Oh my god," whispered Ellie. "When did this happen?!"
Lily tossed her hair back. "Three weeks ago I think," she said. "But I don't give a pumpkins knob. I'll go with someone else to the Yule Ball."
Remus looked at her. "I can't believe how well you're taking this."
Lily shrugged. "I don't care," she said. "'Life can go on without sloshing around in misery about a disgusting pig!"
She stopped. "Hey, I think that stupid potion's wearing off!" she yelled gleefully.
She quickened her pace and left Remus and Ellie, open-mouthed.
~*~*~*~*~
Lily hurried along the hallway, trying not to think and furiously kept back tears. I can't believe this, she thought over and over. All this time I thought I really loved him.
Or do I? she wondered.
It was all getting very confusing.
She slumped into her chair and buried her face into her hands. She wasn't aware that James was looking at her. He couldn't stand to see her so miserable. He wanted to put his arm around her and hold her. but he knew what would happen if he did.
~*~*~*~*~
After Potions, it was lunchtime. Snape was talking to Malfoy and they were both sniggering away. Remus walked past them.
"The stupid bimbo actually believed that Holo Spell!" laughed Snape.
Remus's eyes widened. So it had all been a trick! The Holo spell was merely a magical hologram.
He broke in to a run to find James and Lily.
Rachie.V.: "But I'm telling the truth, Sirius!!" Remus cried. He hadn't been able to find James or Lily, but Sirius could help him.that is, if he believed the truth.
"Remus, come off it! I mean, yeah, what James did is horrible, but there's no point trying to patch it up between them!" Sirius replied, leaning against the banister of the marble staircase.
"Sirius, it's true!! Would I lie to you?" Remus crossed his arms.
".I guess you wouldn't - you're not like me."
"Exactly."
~*~*~*~*~
"James! There you are!! Come with me," Remus said to James, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him away from the Quidditch pitch where he had been practicing.
~*~*~*~*~
"Lily! There you are!! Come with me," Sirius said to Lily, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her away from the Library where she had been studying.
~*~*~*~*~
Remus and James bumped into Sirius and Lily on the Astronomy Tower. Lily immediately screamed and tried to attack James, but Sirius was too strong and kept a firm hold on her arm.
"Lily, James, we have to tell you something." Remus started.
Remus explained how Snape had framed James (while Sirius interrupted every now and then with insane comments on how Lily had reacted to certain things - such as how she used a certain spell that turned James' hair green in one particular Charms class). After Remus (and Sirius) had finished, there was a long, surprised silence.
Finally, James spoke: "I told you Lily: I like you too much to hurt you like that."
Lily staggered forward and broke Sirius' grip. She ran over to James, who expected to be slapped anyway, but Lily threw her arms around him.
"James, I'm so, so sorry!!!" She started sobbing. "I should've trusted you!!"
"Hey, no problem! Now stop crying before my robe gets soggy!"
Lily replied by kissing him on the lips.
Devils Angel: Sirius wolf-whistled at them. Lily rolled her eyes but said nothing.
James gave Lily a hug, and they all trooped downstairs.
~*~*~*~*~
"Got a jack?"
Rachel grinned cheekily. "Go fish."
Ellie grumbled and reached for a card. Remus, Sirius, James and Lily all climbed through the portrait hole.
Remus immediately plonked himself next to Ellie, as did Sirius to Rachel, and they gave the girls the low-down.
"We must take action!" cried Ellie. "Snape is such a freakin' jerk!"
Rachel nodded. "What he did was seriously low," she said. "I say we get him back somehow."
She casually glanced at Sirius. "You looking at me?" asked Sirius in mock surprise.
Rachel grinned, kissed his cheek and said, "Reckon you boys can think of a cool prank to pull on Sleazy Snape?"
Sirius smiled evilly and pulled James and Remus into a huddle.
~*~*~*~*~
The three boys were quiet and secretive for the rest of the day. No matter how hard the girls begged, they wouldn't tell them their plan. Actually, they hadn't finished planning it yet.
It wasn't until the next morning they all found out.
The group were walking early to the first lesson when James pulled them all behind a large wall.
"We've thought of a plan," he said, grinning. "Remus?"
Remus pointed his wand at the wall. A chart popped up, with funny diagrams and writing. The girls looked in amazement at it.
"Our first step," explained Sirius, "is to make a very powerful Love Potion."
He tapped his wand at a diagram, and it started moving. a hand stirring a cauldron.
"Our research has found that to make a temporary spell permanent is to throw a nugget of gold in it," said Sirius.
"But we're are we going to get a nugget of gold?" asked Ellie.
"And since when did you guys research?" muttered Lily.
"Easy peasy," grinned James. "My uncle is a gold miner, and he sent me a nugget of gold for my last birthday."
"Next step," said Sirius, "is to put a drop of this concoction-"
"Ooh, big word," whispered Rachel.
"-into the goblet of our dear friend Rita Skeeter."
Ellie rubbed her hands together. "I'm liking this," she said.
"Meanwhile, we have stolen something from Snape and told him that this lovely lady has it," said Snape.
He tapped his wand on a picture of a teddy bear in Rita's arms. He noticed Lily's eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, he has a teddy bear," he said, keeping a straight face. "His name is Mr Booboo. Ahem! We tell Snapey-poo as soon as Rita has drunk her goblet."
Sirius grinned. "James, take it away."
"With pleasure, my good man," said James. "Snape walks over to Rita. the first male she sees, she falls in love with!"
They laughed and cheered. "Perfect!" cried Rachel.
She turned to Sirius. "I knew you wouldn't let me down," she said, and kissed him.
~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Mwuahahahaha, what will happen to the delightful Miss Skeeter? Wait til the next chapter! Heh heh. Review!