(A/N): Yay! Another chapter! A heartfelt thanks to those who reviewed chapter three (Jott, WhiteTiger3944, and superwoman1234). Much love to you all. Bonus points go to WhiteTiger3944 for suggesting character names. Thanks! Both names made it into the story and fit very well with my plan. I like this reader suggestion system, so for next go round, how about suggesting names for the Divination teacher (Trelawney's predecessor), with bonus points going to those who can provide a clever name origin. That's it. Enjoy the chapter! -HPLadyBelle
Disclaimer remains the same.
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The boys reunited in the Entrance Hall to go to their next class, Herbology. Sirius had decided to drop the class because he just didn't want to take it. He instead continued his foray into the field of Care of Magical Creatures. So that left Peter, James, and Remus as the only Marauders to brave the N.E.W.T greenhouse.
When they arrived at the greenhouse, Professor Sprout set them an assignment straight away. They would be cultivating Venomous Tentaculas this term. To no one's surprise, it was no easy task to pot a seedling of this particularly nasty species.
"Why did I take this class?" Remus whined, after receiving a nice little nip from the teething Tentacula.
"Why did any of us take this class?" Peter wondered aloud, passing Remus a handkerchief to clean up his bite.
"Because Lily took it," James said, to no one in particular.
"Well, that still doesn't explain my temporary insanity," Remus said. He tilted his head to one side, as if viewing the plant from a different perspective would make things easier. "Is immobilizing it against the rules?"
"Well, if it keeps us alive, I think it should be fine," Said Peter.
This was good enough for Remus. He whipped out his wand and shouted, "Immobulus!" at the plant. It instantly froze in place, its tentacle like vines stretched out after an attempt to grab hold of James' wrist. It was a good thing Remus cast the spell when he did, for James was still staring over at Lily Evans and not paying the slightest bit of attention to the Tentacula.
Remus and Peter grumbled through the rest of the class. Immobilizing their own Tentacula was a good enough idea, but that didn't stop the Tentacula that belonged to the group at the next table from hopping off the tabletop and attacking Remus' shoe. James seemed to be the only one in the entire Herbology class not complaining because he just wasn't paying attention. Even Lily was a little put off by the assignment.
When class was finally dismissed all the N.E.W.T. students heaved a very loud sigh of relief and cleaned up in a hurry. Remus and Peter were no exception, though they had to haul James out by his collar, as he was still in a Lily-centric daydream.
They were very glad that the day was over. They returned to the Gryffindor Common Room to put their things away and rest before dinner. Sirius was there waiting for them. He was sitting with a gaggle of third years, including the three that he'd talked to earlier in the day.
"Hey guys," Sirius said, "Look! I've made some new buddies!"
The three other boys looked at each other skeptically. Weren't these the third years Sirius had been rude to only a few hours before?
When Sirius did not introduce them, the puff-chested boy from the corridor took the initiative himself.
"Hello, there, I'm Adrian," he said. "Adrian Hagleworth."
"Well, I'm James, and this is Remus and Peter," James said, indicating his friends individually.
The girl next to Adrian was bouncing in her seat. She looked as though she were having a very difficult time containing herself. She waited for James to finish before she chimed in.
"And I'm Addison!" she said, in an excited voice.
Sirius laughed. "Look," he said, "they're twins. Third year twins who worship us!"
Adrian made a disgusted face and arched his eyebrows. Obviously, this wasn't completely true for him. Addison, however, blushed fiercely and giggled.
"Sirius was just telling us that you lot are starting a band," Addison said, continuing in her excited tone.
"Was he?" James asked, raising his eyebrows as the boy called Adrian had just done.
"Yeah, Jamesie, I'll sing lead vocals, you'll play the guitar, Remus'll be drummer, and Pete can round it out by playing the two-string harfnuckle," Sirius said, matter-of-factly.
"Is there even such a thing?" Peter asked.
Remus laughed. "And what will this band of ours be called?" he asked.
"I was thinking we'd call ourselves 'The Diagon Alley Dudes'," Sirius said.
"Are you serious?" James asked.
"Well, of course he is," Adrian said.
"We know his name already!" James said loudly, getting irritated. "I meant the name!"
"Well, there's no need to get shirty, mate," said Sirius. "Honestly, you'd think you were still deaf."
"Well, how about 'The Brass Cauldron Boys' instead?" Addison asked, not so much excited this time, but cautious, like she was wary of James' reaction.
James considered it for a moment. The entire group of third years sitting nearby held their breath as James mulled it over. One small boy turned a faint shade of blue and fell off the arm of the chair where he'd been sitting. Another exhaled loudly before helping his friend up off the floor.
"It has potential," James said. "But do we really need a harfnuckle?"
"Yeah, man," Sirius said, "it's like the quintessential instrument. It's our key to success."
Remus laughed at this. "Well, we can talk about this later," he said, "It's time for dinner."
Lily Evans has obviously gotten the same idea. She has just come down from the girls' dormitory and was on her way out of the Common Room.
"Hiya Lily!" Addison said, returning once again to her excited voice.
Lily stopped and turned around. She smiled at the girl.
"Hello Addison," Lily said, speaking only to the girl and once again ignoring the look she was getting from James. "How was your first day?"
"Very good, you?" Addison replied.
"Just good," Lily said. "Well, um, see you at dinner then."
"Okay, see you," said Addison, gleefully.
Lily went out through the portrait hole. James shifted his gaze over to Addison. She was friends with Lily. This was going to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
"Hey, Hagleworths," James said, "how about you hang with us for awhile?"
Addison positively beamed and Adrian smirked about contently. Several of their friends let out jealous groans or scoffed. The boy who had fallen before did so again. It seemed he had passed out just thinking about the mere prospect of possibly being associated with the Marauders one day.
So together the boys called Marauders and twins called Hagleworth went down to dinner. It was a tasty, yet altogether uneventful dinner. James sat thinking up ways to use little Addison to get close to Lily and wasn't much for conversation. Remus and Peter talked to Adrian about their classes, while Addison simply hung on every word that Sirius said, much to his enjoyment.
After dinner, the boys returned to their dormitory to tackle their homework. It was very crowded in the common room and they had decided to move up to their dormitory to avoid being overheard in the chance that future pranks would be discussed. After homework, the boys got into bed and went to sleep.
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A few hours later…
"AH!" Remus shouted.
He shot straight up in his bed. The three other Marauders woke up and looked about groggily.
"Ruddy Tentaculas!" Remus said. He threw off his covers and clambered out of bed.
"Moony, what's going on?" Sirius asked.
Remus only grumbled, mumbling something that sounded an awful lot like 'stupid little devil plant.'
He was by now rummaging about in his trunk. Once he'd found what he was looking for, he stood up straight and turned to the others.
"Peter, come with me to set fire to the greenhouse!" he said.
"But, why me?" Peter asked, a little bit shocked by the request.
"Because you're the only flammable person I know!" Remus said, sounding exasperated.
He had marched over to Peter's bed and was about to drag him out of it, when James spoke up.
"Now, now, Moony, it was only a dream," he said, "You can't go setting fire to the greenhouse."
"Yeah, Moony, you're a prefect!" Sirius said. Although he was never against a good prank, vandalism wasn't really his thing. Besides, he just wanted to get back to sleep.
Remus heaved a great sigh and returned to his bed, mumbling and grumbling the whole while. He pulled out a book, lit his wand tip, and began to read. Even when he was mad, you see, he was still a bit of a nerd.
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So there it is, the end of the first day. The names suggested by WhiteTiger3944 were of course, Addison and Adrian.
Thanks for reading! Show me some love and review. Submit your suggestions before the next chapter's posted to get naming credit!