Again, I do not own Harry Potter (a part of me wonders why all fanfics start each chapter with this, since they claimed it in the very first chapter, but I'm nothing if not consistent. If anyone who reads knows why we do that, please let me know, I'm genuinely curious).
Chapter 3
Saturday, the day of the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor Quidditch match, had arrived. The students of Hogwarts awoke to a crude but elaborate display just outside the Great hall that read "Go Gryffindor! Lions eat Ravens!" in red and gold paint. This was complemented with a poorly drawn moving picture of a lion eating a raven and blood spurting everywhere. Curiously, next to the graffiti was another set of drawings which depicted a raven clawing said lion's eyes out, but less graphically. The lion had x's where its eyes were supposed to be, and the raven's claws were tinged red, so that the idea was there, but nothing was shown. Above the drawing was elegant writing that flashed silver and blue that said "Go Ravenclaw! Be victorious!" The students thoroughly enjoyed the artwork, laughing and commenting on it as they passed. James and Sirius, upon discovering that there was a competing image, looked at each other and burst out laughing, applauding whomever had done it. Remus and Peter both joined into the laughter, pondering who had done it. "Heads up, McGonagall is coming," Remus informed calmly. Peter immediately ceased laughing and started twitching nervously. McGonagall glared at each of the boys in turn, resting on the twitching Peter. "Is there something you wish to tell me, boys?"
"Nah, Professor. We're just enjoying the extravagant artwork on display today," Sirius replied with a grin. Noticing that Peter was twitching, he threw an arm around him and proclaimed, "Wormtail here's just anxious about the game today. It is the Quidditch Cup match after all. Isn't that right, Wormtail?"
"Yes, that's right! It's been anticipated for so long, I'm a nervous wreck for who will win!" Peter exclaimed, jumping onto Sirius' explanation gratefully. McGonagall glared at them all again, then stated, "Well, nonetheless, it was a tactless show of support by defacing the Great Hall foyer. I do hope that whomever's responsible can be found, and punished accordingly." Since she didn't have any evidence that the boys were involved, she couldn't punish them. However, she promptly noticed a smear of what looked like red paint on Sirius's hands and called him out on it. He attempted to brush it off as being residue from an art project gone wrong, but McGonagall saw right through it and issued detention to him. Sirius, being used to getting detentions, just shrugged it off with a smile. After the debacle in the foyer had been cleared, the boys headed into the Great Hall for breakfast before heading down to the pitch.
The match was close, but Gryffindor won 250 to 200. However, they didn't earn enough points to surpass Slytherin for the Cup and regrettably came in second. As the teams headed back to their respective common rooms for celebrations (which were a bit subdued as neither teams that played won the Cup), Silver appeared by Peter's side. "Quite a match, huh, Peter? Shame you guys lost the Cup though." Peter jumped at her voice, then chuckled at her statement. "Aren't you more disappointed that Ravenclaw didn't win? It is your House, after all." Without realizing it, the two of them drew away from the rest of the crowd to talk in relative peace. "I suppose I should be more disappointed, but it was such a close match it doesn't matter all that much. I'm not a huge fan of Quidditch; I just come to the games to support my best friend Mary." Peter nodded in agreement, "It's the same for me. I do like Quidditch, but not as much as some of the other boys in my house, like James. He eats, sleeps, and breathes Quidditch. He's bloody brilliant, though, so I don't really blame him." Silver murmured agreement, and then replied, "You and the lads did all right on the graffiti, but the Ravenclaw one was much better, don't you think?" She had a slight mischievous glint in her eye as she awaited his reaction. As soon as he understood the implication, he nearly tripped over his own feet in shock. "You did that? It was magnificent, but I didn't think you'd be able to do it. You're such a-" he broke off, afraid of offending her. "Such a teacher's pet?" Silver asked. Peter hesitantly nodded. "Yeah, I know, I just felt a bit more...rebellious than usual yesterday. I remembered you saying something about drawings, and I saw you all walking around with badly concealed paint buckets in your rucksacks yesterday so I drew my own conclusions. It turned out I was correct, and then I wanted to better the garbage that was on the wall, so added my own." she smirked after she finished speaking, amused at Peter's still shocked face.
Regaining control, Peter chuckled and asked, "Would you want to do it again sometime? I'm sure my friends wouldn't be too opposed to you joining in on one of our pranks, especially if it's related to drawing." Silver had already started shaking her head before he finished speaking, and responded with, "No, I don't think so. Befriending one Marauder's bad enough, but if I befriend four? You would all corrupt me badly enough I'll think it's normal to carry dungbombs everywhere I go instead of notebooks and quills. By the way, what are you doing next weekend?" Peter had gotten warm at the thought of Silver calling him her friend, that he didn't hear the question at first, only answering after she had been staring at him for a few moments. "Oh, next weekend I had plans to raid Hogsmeade with the boys. Why do you ask?" Belatedly, he realized she might be trying to ask him out, and the thought made him stammer as he added, "But I-I can change the plans if you wanted to do something with me." Silver softly smiled at his sudden nervousness and replied, "I just wanted to know whether I'd be seeing you there or if you had other plans. I-I actually have a date already, because he agreed to go with me a couple weeks ago. But I'll definitely keep an eye out for you and your mischievous friends." By this time, they had reached the inside of the castle and were near the northern stairs leading to the Gryffindor tower. "I should go. It was nice talking to you, Peter. I'll see you later." With a wave of a hand and a smile, she walked off towards the Ravenclaw tower.