Though Sirius and James fought before bed, by morning it seemed as if nothing happened the night before. Each of us prepped for the day as per our normal routine. We didn't talk about the prank much seeing as we all knew what we were to do and where we were supposed to be in order to pull it off. The plan was set for after Charms, just before lunch. Throughout the week, James reassured me that it was really a harmless prank. It was that idea that kept me from trying to stop the prank, along with the concept that I did not want to lose the friendships I had formed.
Breakfast passed uneventfully that day, though we did exchange looks when Lily passed by. Charms also passed without a hitch. I don't remember what the lesson was on, but that wasn't exactly the memorable part of the day. Rather, the events that followed the class were.
Lily was one of the first to leave the classroom. James and Sirius gave a look to Peter, meaning for him to follow Lily out and catch her to, 'ask a question'. The rest of us followed shortly after. I didn't take long to spot Lily, her flaming red hair causing her to stick out in any crowd, and sure enough, there was Peter talking to her, but it seemed like he was losing her fast.
"Why don't you just ask, Remus?" demanded Lily, with her brow furrowed, as she looked accusing and suspicious of Peter, who was faltering a bit.
I stopped without hesitation or thinking and stepped into the conversation with the words, "Ask me what?" As I stopped to save Peter, for which he looked grateful, James and Sirius continued on. If this prank was to pull through, we needed to keep Lily in one spot and Peter's attempt didn't look promising. That was where I came in, keeping the prank from going out the window, like my towel did a couple of weeks prior. The situation of the failed prank would have been about as uncomfortable as having to put clothes on wet. I knew this prank was more important than just some fun. It was the first thing that James and Sirius got along on and if the peace were to be kept in the dorm, I felt that this prank had to be a success.
"Peter wanted to know about the levitating charm, I told him to ask you. You're his friend after all and the first one to do the charm. Why he didn't ask you in the first place is beyond me." Lily said, gazing at us suspiciously.
"You did complete the charm right after me," I admitted. "I think it was a matter that I said the spell a bit faster than you did."
"That still doesn't explain why Peter is asking me rather than you. You are his friend after all," countered Lily, giving me a suspicious eye. I think she was starting to suspect something was up, she just didn't know what.
"That's something you'll have…to ask Peter," I faltered as Lily's freckles were beginning to turn green. I never expected them to turn such a bright vivid green. I could feel my face start to burn with embarrassment and guilt, as I most certainly had a hand in the prank, more than just gathering information. Lily's eyes didn't rest on me for long as she turned to look at Peter in an expectant manner, waiting for an answer. As Lily's focus trained on him, the last of her freckles were turned bright neon green. Peter's eyes grew to the size of saucers as he stared at Lily, speechless, gaping at her.
"Well?" demanded a now impatient Lily of the mute Peter, whose mouth was opening and shutting like a cod fish. I'm certain Lily would have demanded to know what was going on, as Peter and I were looking more and more guilty by the second, until Sirius stuck his head around the corner.
"Are you two coming or not? Hurry up, that classroom gives me the creeps. I hate sitting still," he shuddered in mock horror as he beckoned for us to follow him. "Hey, Evans," he said, acknowledging her with a big grin and a nod.
Sirius' words were enough to snap me back into focus. My eyes flitted down the hall to James and Sirius. It was now or never in making our escape before Lily discovered what had happened to her.
"Come on, Peter," I said, purposely not making eye contact with Lily as I grabbed Peter's sleeve, pulling him down the hall. It was at that moment that people began to notice Lily's green freckles. We approached James and Sirius who were holding matching grins in appreciation of a well-accomplished prank.
We had just managed to round the corner when we heard a high pitched scream of frustration. We exchanged quick looks, and then made double time to reach a lower level away from the wrath of Lily Evans. James was in the lead and led us down a corridor away from the stairs.
"Where are we going?" panted Peter, as we all came to a dead end. James smiled mischievously, and pushed a low-lying brick in the wall with his hand. The wall swung inward into a passageway.
"My dad told me about it," he shrugged before leading the way in, wand alight. "Don't think it's a good idea to eat in the Great Hall," James remarked as he continued on down the passage, all of us in tow. He seemed to relish being the leader and knowing the most about the castle.
"Then how will we get lunch?" demanded Peter, who still seemed to be winded from our run.
"The kitchens," came James' cool answer, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The elves are always happy to help," added James knowingly.
"Not if it's Kreacher," mumbled Sirius in a dark manner.
"Kreacher?" I asked, picking up on Sirius' remark. My ears are rather sharper when it nears a moon and that was only a few days off.
Sirius gave me an odd look, more than likely wondering how I heard him, before he explained the name, "Our house elf. His greatest ambition in life is to have his head cut off and hung on our wall. We've done that to all our house elves." he explained, as if this was a perfectly normal thing to do.
"Here we are mates," announced James, bringing our group to a stop. "Just outside the Hufflepuff common room." He continued to lead the way, right up to a portrait of a bowl of fruit. James had a bit of a commanding sense about him as he reached up and tickled the pear in the bowl, which giggled and became a door handle.
"Are you sure we're allowed to do this?" asked Peter, who had finally caught his breath, although he was still red in the face from our sprint.
"Does it matter?" asked Sirius pointedly, stepping into the kitchens first. It seemed like he was done allowing James to be the lead. Upon entering, the elves flocked to us, eager to serve what we wished, calling each of us master or sir. We ordered the worst sorts of food imaginable, all of them being high in sugar, but none of us cared, we were celebrating. The elves were quick about getting us our food, and periodically would ask if there was anything else they could get for us. Sirius wound up making the remark that he could never see Kreacher working in a place like this.
As lunch neared the end, James suddenly made a remark, "You know what the major problem with that prank was?" He allowed the question to hang in the air for a moment as a wicked grin played on his face, "Not seeing Evan's face when she found out."
Sirius let out a bark-like laugh while Peter tittered with amusement. I gave a half-laugh, so as not to draw attention to myself. As I munched on a chip, I began to think about the prank and feel bad for what we did. The prank was "harmless" as James told me many times, but it still didn't make it right.
"You alright there, Remus?" asked James, slapping me on the back a few moments later.
"I'm fine," I lied. "Just tired, I suppose." It was a half-truth really, because my insomnia was taking it's toll, seeing as the moon was drawing near.
"Haven't been sleeping much have you?" remarked Sirius, looking at me with a discerning eye.
"No, I haven't," I responded, a surprised look on my face, not sure how Sirius knew that I hadn't been sleeping too much as of late.
"Seen you get up to read once or twice," he explained, with a shrug.
After our lunch, we headed for Potions, where Lily was conspicuously absent. It made me feel like there was lead in the pit of my stomach. I really began to wish I hadn't helped with the prank, but what was I to do? Say no and lose my friends? The afternoon and evening seemed to drag on as I continued to feel rather guilty. James would periodically ask if I was all right and I would respond that I was just tired, which of course I don't think James believed for a second.
Eventually, I grew tired of being asked and decided to take a walk. I thought maybe if I owled my mum and dad for advice and I knew neither of them would approve of that. I even worried if I did send such a letter that my dad would tell me I shouldn't keep the friends I currently had. He'd already hinted at it in his most recent owl, mentioning their potential bad influence on me. I admit the guys did have a bad influence on me, but I liked them, and they were my first real friends (Sirius included). Not to mention, they were my dorm mates and there was no way of getting away from them, entirely.
As I walked along the corridors, it seemed that everyone was being especially quiet today, there wasn't the usual din that pervaded the castle halls. I had only passed two other students during my stroll, so it was safe to say that the halls were dead, thus it was no surprise that I could here a faint sniffling noise on the other side of the door that led to the clock tower. I poked my head in out of curiosity and my surprise, it was Lily Evans, sitting on the stone steps, crying. She no longer had green freckles, but her face was streaked and blotchy looking from crying. She quickly wiped away a few tears with a tissue that was in her right hand as she tried to conceal a letter that was in her left. It looked like it was tear stained. Walking in on Lily, like I did, made me feel even more guilty.
"What do you want?" she demanded with a sniff, as she defensively went for her wand, though we both knew it would do no good, seeing as defensive spells weren't taught for another week or so.
"I don't want anything," I meekly answered, stepping further in, yet respecting Lily's space. " I wanted to say, I'm sorry," I mumbled, looking at my feet.
"Come again?" answered Lily looking confused and defensive at the same time. It was clear that she had not heard me the first time, so I had to repeat myself, saying that I came to apologize.
"Why don't I believe you?" asked a still skeptical and defensive Lily.
"I know you don't have a reason to trust me after what happened today," I answered, "but I promise this isn't another set up and I really am sorry for what happened today."
"You came in here just to apologize?" asked Lily blinking her green eyes in disbelief.
"Pretty much." I gave a shrug before admitting, "I heard a person crying first."
"So you're just apologizing because you caught me crying?" demanded Lily, slightly offended.
"No," I quickly responded, "I've actually been feeling bad about what we did to you. James thought it was funny and then Sirius joined…" I trailed off, realizing I was rambling a bit. Lily probably wouldn't understand my reasoning for not stopping the prank in the first place, much less participating in it. It was the first thing Sirius and James agreed upon and were able to get along and it made me feel like I belonged to a group. It was selfish of me to allow Lily to suffer just so I could fit it, but it was over and done with.
"Why me?" demanded Lily, "Is it because of my red hair? Or because I'm a mudblood? I get enough..." Lily seemed like she was on the verge of a heated tangent, as she gestured with her letter that she had tried to hide earlier, but she stopped herself short and blushed a bit.
"None of those reasons," I answered, knowing James hated the term mudblood and judging people based on blood. He nearly slugged Sirius for using the term. I only say nearly slugged for the sole reason that Sirius just managed to dodge James' punch.
"I don't know exactly why you were picked," I answered honestly, "but I'm sorry."
Lily simply nodded and focused on the ground. There was an awkward silence that settled between us until I spoke up, "I should," I gestured to the door behind me, "probably get going." Lily's eyes darted up at me as I made my exit. I still felt bad for pulling the prank on her, but at lest I did feel better for apologizing to her.
