"I still think you should wear a pink, frilly, dress as Mercutio on stage, Padfoot." James joked. "It'd be hilarious."
"No way am I going to do that. Not in front of my Fan Club anyways." Sirius replies. "I mean… if we keep it in the Gryffindor Common Room… fine by me, a laugh is always good, but just not in front of those creepy fangirls."
"Then it's decided. You are wearing a dress to the cast party." James said.
"Wait… what?" Sirius said… "You can't be serious!"
"Of course not. You are the only Sirius in the school. How can I be you?" James said.
"Argh! This is not the time for puns!" Sirius said. "Alright. Let me rephrase this: you are joking, right?"
"Of course not. And we'll be doing this with you…we'll all wear dresses!" James said. "Friends do everything together."
To his surprise, even Remus and Peter nodded. Sirius sighed. "I give up. I'll wear the dress." He told them. "But not the pink and frilly one. Not a million years in Hell."
"Fair enough. Now let's get down to rehearsal," James said as he jumped off his bed and grabbed a sandwich out of the paper bag that Peter brought up, opening the door for his dorm mates.
"The costumes are finished. Please go to Miss Artemis Kyo to pick them up and try them on. We will have rehearsal with the costumes on today." Professor McGonagall announced after all of the cast members arrived at the Charms classroom.
As the Marauders arrived the rehearsal room late, they were the farthest away from Artemis's corner and received their costumes last. That gave them time to talk to Artemis.
"Oh, and Art, we want some dresses for the cast party." James said after a 5 minute conversation about random topics as Sirius puts his Mercutio costume on behind a curtain.
"Why?" Artemis said, rather amused. "You are not wearing one, are you?"
"You hit the spot there." James grinned. "The four of us plans on going to the cast party wearing dresses. You know… to be amusing."
"Alright. I believe I have your measurements so it won't be a problem." Artemis laughed. "Now… ah. Sirius is done. I believe it's your turn now, Peter."
Peter went behind the curtains to change as Sirius came out, fully dressed in his Mercutio costume.
"What's with those girls drooling at my direction?" Sirius asked Artemis as Peter entered the changing area. "Seriously…"
"Oh… I don't know… maybe they find that you look good in your costume and that they already have a long-running crush on you?" Artemis said with a slight hint of sarcasm. It was very widely known that Sirius was rather popular with girls.
"Well yeah… but how the hell do they know I was changing?" Sirius said. "This is a rather remote corner of the room, after all."
"Hmm… let's see… are you sure you are not over six foot tall?" Claudia said, "tall people tend to stand out more, y'know."
"I think I broke the six foot line two years ago." Sirius said. "I like my height."
"Prooooooongs! Your turn!" Peter shouted as he came out of the changing station (behind a few curtains) wearing a dress and a wig. He was the Nurse after all.
"You make a good woman, Wormtail." James laughed as he took his costume and went in to change. Remus, Sirius, and Artemis were laughing too. Peter chuckled as he saw himself in the mirror. He did pass off for the Nurse rather well.
"Hey Wormtail. I think you should start crossdressing from now on." Sirius suggested. "You are a natural for it." He laughed. Peter turned bright red.
"Stop teasing him, Padfoot." Remus said even though he cannot help laughing himself.
"Anyways… Sirius, make sure that Regulus doesn't really kill you." Artemis said. "It does not please me to have my pupil killed on stage. All that sword fighting lessons for nothing!"
"I won't let him really kill me. I don't think the teachers are, either." Sirius smiled. "Ah. There's James. Your turn, Remus. We still have 20 minutes before the rehearsal really starts, so take your time."
In another changing area near the Marauders, Artemis, and Claudia, Lily has just finished changing into her dress. It was dark green, with a black corset and lace trims on the sleeves and the collars.
"Excuse me." James has clearly seen her and was walking over to her to compliment her beauty. As well as asking her out for the four-thousand-nine-hundred-and-thirty-sixth time. However, James saw Regulus walk over to her from his seat. He was not suspicious, however, as Lily was very pretty and it's normal for her to get compliments, even from those from the Slytherin house.
"You look beautiful." Regulus said.
"Why thank you." Lily replied warmly. After all, even though Regulus was a Slytherin, he was an all around nice guy(besides the rift between his brother), so he was not hated as much as his fellow house mates.
"May I ask you to go out with me?" Regulus asked politely with a slight bow.
Before Lily can consider, both James and Snape lost control and jumped on poor Regulus and started beating him.
"Ah, complimenting pretty girls is built in the genes of the Black family men. But dear lil' bro took it too far." Sirius commented. "The time is come that I, as his older brother, will save his butt."
"I'll help you." Artemis said as the two went over to the fight. Lily looks absolutely horrified, but was unable to help. With great effort, Artemis and Sirius pulled James and Snape off of Regulus, who was bleeding and bruised.
It was the first time anyone has heard Sirius yell at James. "What were you thinking, Prongs? Are you effin' out of your mind?" He yelled. "You just reduced your chance of hooking up with Lily!"
"I was not thinking, you were right." James said.
"And you owe Regulus and Lily an apology." Artemis said as she pulled Regulus up.
"He provoked me into beating him up in the first place." James said.
"All he did was ask out Lily. All's fair in love and war. Maybe you'd have more of a chance if you contained yourself and didn't beat him up." Artemis said. "Apologize or I kick you."
"Fine. I'm sorry. I was out of my mind. I did not know what I was doing, Black." Was all James could manage as he ran off to apologize to Lily, who just slapped Snape. Regulus was already unconscious.
"I'll take him to the Hospital Wing." Artemis said. "Give me a hand here, Claudia. And Sirius, give James some emotional support, will you?"
"Lily… I'm sorry! I don't know what possessed me to do that. I am really… really… sorry…." James apologized for the 5th time. "Please! Just accept my apology!"
"No. After what you've done?" Lily said. "Plainly unacceptable! I will see that you get a week of detention at the very least!"
"I deserve the detention, that I will not deny. But accept my apology, Lily!" James said. "I beseech you!"
"Lily? Since when have I allowed you to call me by my first name?" Lily said. "And that is not to be forgiven!"
"If you be taken, my grave is like to be my wedding bed." James said darkly, quoting Shakespeare while changing a few words to make sense for the situation and his personal feelings. "I'm sorry, L… Evans, I just cannot stand the sight of another man wishing for your hand in a date."
"Which translates to that he's jealous." Sirius commented on the side. "I do not think what James did was right, even though he's my best friend, but he did it out of his love for you." He said. "So on mine, Remus's, Peter's, Claudia's, and Artemis's behalf…. Please accept his apology."
"Wow. Padfoot really is a genius when it comes to words." Peter said in awe.
"I never thought that Padfoot, out of all people, is capable of such thoughtful words." Remus said. "I was going to help to mediate them… but it seems so unnecessary now."
Lily's anger seemed to have cooled down, as she is no longer yelling. "But he will not go unpunished." She said to Sirius.
"No need to tell Sirius that. I'll hand myself over to McGonagall to do whatever punishment she bestows upon me." James said as he started to walk away when Artemis and Claudia came back.
"Madam Pomfrey said that he'll be okay, given that they are all only flesh wounds. Thank Merlin he didn't get any innate injuries." Claudia said. "So it's not the worst that could've happened."
"Glad to hear that." Lily said. "Don't bother handing yourself in, Potter. I'll punish you myself. We can't afford to lose another lead when the performance is so close."
"I guess for his absence, I'll have to take over Tybalt for this rehearsal. It's not like Regulus played servingman number one or something… Tybalt is a major role. As bad as my acting may be, my swordsmanship will make up for it." Artemis said. "But we'll have him back for the next."
"Good plan. So what punishment will thee bestow upon my head, m'lady?" said James.
"It can wait until we get back to the Gryffindor Tower." Lily said coldly. "Now get yourself in shape. Rehearsal's about to begin."
"Act one, Scene one, please prepare for your parts." Came the voice of tiny Professor Flitwick.
"Argh. I'd better get ready. Glad I made some extra costumes just in case." Artemis said. "It's good that I'm good at passing off as a guy."
"It's time for me to give you your punishment, Potter." Lily said in the Gryffindor Common Room after the 2-hour rehearsal.
"I'll take whatever punishment you give me," said James. "I deserve it after all."
"You may not ask me out for a month straight." Lily said. "break this and you lose all prospect of EVER dating me."
"That means there's still hope for you, Prongs." Remus said. "Just behave yourself for a month, okay?"
James nodded. It's exactly a month until the performance. He still has a chance.
