A/N: Merry Christmas, everybody! Or happy holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas. I'm adding the dedications/mentions at the end of this chapter, because I've got so many! Hehe, thank you to all of those story alerters, favouriters and reviewers! I appreciate it a lot :D
A/N: Oh, yeah, I lied – I didn't get time to add the Prefect meeting in, or James thinking about his very eventful day. -.- Sorry sorry! I'm going to work on it right after :D
Chapter Ten
When James returned, shaking with anger, to the Transfiguration classroom, he immediately spotted Sirius sitting and sulking in a corner.
"Uh, Padfoot?" asked James, temporarily forgetting about the 'incident' in the library.
"What?" replied Sirius, looking as though he was talking to the wall.
"Why are you hiding in a corner?" asked James.
"Because Williams sent me here. Where's Evans?" asked Sirius, still looking at the wall.
"Uh… I dunno. We got on each other's nerves at the library. She yelled at me because she thought that I poured water all over her when her back was turned, which I didn't! I don't think we'll be talking to each other much… Man, the Prefect Meeting tonight will have so much tension that I think they'll all just walk out in fear of being suffocated by it," said James, placing his bag down beside a desk next to Sirius. Sirius turned around and James sat down, facing him.
"It was that bad, huh?" asked Sirius sympathetically.
"Yeah. One of the worst. I'm pretty sure that we would've gotten kicked out anyway if I didn't leave."
Sirius clicked his tongue.
"So, the plan isn't working out for you, yet?" asked Sirius, leaning against the wall and stretching out his legs.
"I haven't even started it because I thought she was going to turn around in her own way – remember how she was talking to us before?"
Sirius nodded.
"She was kind of like that after Charms. We started talking instead of fighting. It was… nice. But now, I'll have to use the plan. Not today, though. She needs to cool down. I'll start it tomorrow."
"So… what now? What're going to do at the Prefect Meeting?"
"I'm going to carry it out like I was planning to before – act like a responsible, dedicated Head Boy who reads out the prefect rounds and duties, asks them if there are any queries or problems, reminds them that they can only take points off students and that it only works if there is a valid reason, reminds them that they can give out detentions, but only if there's a valid reason, asks them if there are any suggestions for things to do after school or during Halloween or Christmas, such as a ball or whatever, and… that's about it. The rest is up to Evans," said James with a shrug.
"That sounds… very Head Boy-ish," said Sirius.
"It's meant to."
"Mr Potter," said a voice that sounded remarkably like Professor McGonagall behind him, "Where is Miss Evans?"
"I honestly don't know, Professor. I last saw her at the library – I packed up early because I have finished my part," replied James, turning around and looking at the Professor earnestly. It was partly true – James had been about to pack up anyway before Lily gone and started the shouting match. Professor McGonagall pursed her lips.
"I'm sure she's fine, Professor. She is quite capable to look after herself," James added. Yeah, she can shout the ear off an insect, he thought.
"Just remind Miss Evans that we will only work on this for two more lessons then the rest is for home work," said Professor McGonagall before turning around and marching to the center of the classroom.
"That is all for today, students! We will only work on this assignment for two more lessons, and then the rest is for home work!" said the Professor over the noise of all the students packing up their things.
"Freedom," muttered Sirius, standing up and stretching.
"Almost freedom. There's only Divination and History of Magic left," James reminded Sirius.
"Yay," Sirius replied sarcastically, picking up his bag and waiting with James outside the Transfiguration classroom for Remus and Peter.
"So, Remus," said James, slinging his arm around the boy in question's shoulder once he had emerged from the crowd of students, "How was Transfiguration?"
"It was great! Now get off me and let's go to Divination."
"I still don't understand why take Divination," said Peter as they all walked the long journey to the North Tower.
"Well, Wormtail," started Sirius, "We take Divination because it's the easiest class that you can get at Hogwarts. That's where we do our deepest thinking and it's where we can doze off – well, History of Magic is another lesson that you can doze off in, but we're talking about Divination at the moment. All you need to do is say something about luck, happiness and wonderful pretty ponies with a hint of sadness and despair, and you've got yourself an O."
"I still can't believe you told old Redthorn that 'this class is totally bitchin', but I've gotta go to the Hospital Wing because I've practically burned my finger off because of your evil tea leaves.'" James said to Sirius with an amused shake of his head.
"Where did you get the term 'totally bitchin' from, anyway?" asked Peter.
"When you hang around girls as much as I do – " started Sirius.
"You pick up a few things," finished Remus, Peter and James.
"Now you've got the hang of it!"
"Just shut up, Padfoot."
"…This alignment obviously means that you're going to win the lottery, but you're going to spend it all… and this alignment means that you will find true love soon, but he will either lose his life or cheat on you, my dear…"
"Wake me up when this is over, please," yawned Sirius, sinking further into his seat.
"Only if you wake me up when this is over," replied James, also sinking into his seat, the fumes from the heavily perfumed fire and the dimness of the room affecting him as much as it was probably affecting Sirius.
"That doesn't even make sense," said Sirius, his eyelids drooping.
"I know," replied James sleepily, before yawning and letting sleep take over him.
And suddenly, James was no longer in the Divination classroom with Professor Redthorn droning on about alignments, no longer hearing the excited gabble of Sybill Trelawney, an avid Divination fan, and he was no longer in his comfy chair, snoozing the lesson away.
In fact, he wasn't in the castle at all.
A panic settled in his stomach. Where was he?
He looked left, then right, and then he realised that he was by the lake on Hogwarts grounds. Then he realized that there was an arm curled around his and that he was sitting down. A warm, summer breeze tickled his cheek and the sky was stained with the colourful, dying rays of the sun.
"James," said a voice next to him. The owner of the arm was speaking.
"Yes?" asked James, without looking at the person beside him.
"You love me, right?"
At these words, his head immediately snapped to the person beside him. Lily was looking at him, with wide eyes. This is definitely a dream, thought James.
"Yeah…" he said warily, wondering if it was the right answer.
"Good," sighed Lily, relaxing against his side.
They didn't speak for a while, James slightly shocked. Even if it was a dream… it was very realistic – ridiculously realistic, in fact.
James started to shake his head.
"I-I have to go somewhere," he said, getting up and shaking his arm out of Lily's grasp.
"Where?" asked Lily with a small pout across her face.
"Uh, I have to go find Sirius."
"Well then, I can go, too!" said Lily happily, getting up. She was about to reattach herself to his arm when, quite suddenly and without any warning, James turned into a stag. He blinked up at Lily, her figure frozen and her face confused.
Then, a Christmas hat floated onto James' head and Peter was crawling out of the Forbidden Forest and shouting, "BLASPHEMY! IT'S BLASPHEMY IN THERE, I TELL YOU!"
"What's blasphemy?" asked James, confused. However, Peter didn't look up and suddenly Lily disappeared with a flash of green light and Peter raised his hand. All of his fingers had gone.
"BLASHPEMY!"
"What's going on?"
As if on cue, a small baby wrapped in a soft blue cotton blanket fell from the sky and it landed in the lake.
Immediately, James charged after it, but as soon as he reached the lake, Sirius' dog form immediately collided with him.
"What the hell are you doing, Prongs?"
"A-A baby fell into the water!"
"You've had too much cheese."
"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"Whatever. You believe what you wanna believe. I'm out," said Sirius before exploding in a cloud of dust.
Suddenly, Professor Dumbledore came hurrying down to James from the castle and yelled ecstatically, "I'M WEARING NEW SOCKS!"
"What the?" asked James, backing away into the lake. A slimy hand grabbed his two back legs and James struggled, trying to get away. He was slowly dragged into the water, and once he was fully submerged, he knew that he was going to drown. So, he closed his eyes and waited…
"…Mr Potter, do wake up, I'd rather have my students awake and listening, for this could be potentially be on your NEWTs exams!" a voice trilled.
James just about leaped one foot into the air, and he unfortunately dislodged his glasses and they dropped onto the floor.
"Aw man," he whined, his voice sounding rather peculiar. James cleared his throat, then used his hands to hunt for his glasses.
Thank god that we're not using tea leaves this lesson, thought James as he patted the table and felt the charts that they were meant to be working on.
"Oi," hissed James, shoving the person next to him.
"What?" a voice next to him snapped, sounding much like Sirius.
"Can you help me find my glasses?" he asked.
"Why can't you find them?"
"Hello! I can't see a darn thing!"
"Fine."
James heard muttering and rummaging, when, quite suddenly, his glasses were shoved into his hands.
"Thanks," said James, sliding them back on.
"You're welcome," said Sirius, leaning back into his chair, "Now, will you let me go to sleep in peace?"
"Alright," said James with a shrug, "I'm warning you though, if Redthorn wakes you up, I'm not taking the blame."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Sirius, waving his hand dismissively and closing his eyes with a yawn.
"I told you so, Padfoot," said James, shaking his head half an hour later.
"Shut up, Prongs," replied Sirius with a miffed expression on his face.
"No. You know why? Because I told you so!" sang James.
"How was I supposed to know that that old bat would come up behind me and bang a gong as loud as she could?"
"You were in Divination, you're meant to predict these sorts of things!"
"But I'm not an almighty Seer, am I?"
"Obviously not, otherwise you would've predicted it!"
"Just shut up, the both of you," said Remus, rubbing his temples.
They both fell silent immediately.
"Look, Binns is opening the door – we'd better run," said Sirius, pointing to the open door at the far end of the hall.
"For some odd reason, I feel really tempted to run in there as animals and terrorise everyone then walk out and slip back in as us and pretend to be shocked when people tell us that we missed everything," said James thoughtfully.
"Gasp! I thought you were being responsible, James!" said Sirius, covering his mouth with his hand in a shocked expression.
"A responsible person can still have fun… responsibly," replied James.
"Let's do that, then," said Peter, "We won't get caught. We need to time it for about 5 minutes after we attack the classroom."
"Alright. If we time it, what's the harm in that?" shrugged Remus.
"Gasp! Remy the Prefect really wants to do this?" asked Sirius, resuming his 'shocked' pose.
"Why not? It'll be boring as heck, anyway. Binns said last lesson that this lesson would be a 'for fun' lecture – background stuff that's unnecessary for the exams," said Remus, shrugging again.
"Fine, I'll do it, too," said Sirius, pulling out his wand, "Stand still Remus."
James pulled out his wand too, and together they transfigured Remus into an eagle.
"Where will we put our bags?" asked Peter.
"Over here, by the wall. I'll put the Invisibility Cloak on it," replied James, pointing at the designated area and dumping his bag there. Sirius put plunked his and Remus' and Peter put his there, too. Then, James covered it with his
"You can fly into the classroom, first," said James, picturing the scene in his mind's eye.
"Then Peter goes in, then Sirius dashes in, trying but failing to catch Peter. I'll go in last – I need to cast an enlargement spell on the door before I go in, because of my antlers," said James.
Peter and Sirius shrugged, and Remus nodded and saluted with his wing. After their race in the Forbidden Forest, Remus attempted to fly several times before finally being able to. With a flash of light, Peter and Sirius turned into their Animagi forms.
Remus took off, Peter and Sirius dashing after him. Immediately, James could hear shouts and shrieks of terror.
"Engorgio," muttered James, directing his wand at the doorway of his History of Magic classroom so that it was large enough for his antlers to fit. Then, he turned into a stag and dashed towards the doorway and entered the classroom, which was in a chaotic stage. Professor Binns didn't move or do anything – he looked like he was in a state of absolute shock.
James reared onto his hind legs, almost kicking a Gryffindor student in the back. Several students stopped screaming and stared at James, a symbol of strength, courage and power, yet one of elegance and grace.
Then, James jumped onto a desk and kicked all of the parchment, quills and textbooks off the table, sparing the ink because some of them cost quite a bit.
The screaming and the panic started up again.
Remus was flying around Bridget and KayCee's heads and Peter was running under students' desks (most girls and a few guys were leaping up out of their seats, screaming their heads off) and Sirius climbed onto a desk in the center of the room and was barking madly.
After about ten minutes of trashing and disrupting the room, James stood at the doorway, and jerked his head – a sign that the Marauders had to go. One last woof, and Sirius leapt off Professor Binns' desk and was out of the room, and one last spin around a Gryffindor's head and Remus flew out of the room, and one last nibble of one students' ankle and Peter tore out of the room with a squeak.
The Marauders dashed down the hall, exhilarated to the max, and one by one, they transformed back into humans, and James and Sirius reversed Remus' transfiguration.
"That was really fun!" exclaimed Sirius.
"Shh!" warned James. They still weren't that far from the classroom – they were just far enough to make it seem as though they were walking to class.
"So, what's our excuse?" asked Remus.
"We'll just say that Redthorn kept us back to do an errand and that students were already coming into the classroom, so she didn't have time to write as a note," invented James.
"Yeah, OK, let's go," said Sirius, picking up his bag from under James' Cloak.
"Wait! Three more minutes!" exclaimed Peter.
"No, I think it's fair enough to say that we can go there now," said Remus.
"Fine, let's go."
James finished his dinner with a big sigh and he checked his watch. 5:50 pm. It was time to head off into the empty Charms classroom that was the designated area for the Prefect meeting that night.
"You done?" he asked Remus, shifting in his seat. For some reason, James had butterflies in his stomach.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm done," replied Remus, immediately getting up and checking his watch.
"OK, let's go. See you later, Padfoot and Wormtail."
"See ya," said Sirius with a wave. Peter gave them a short wave too and they headed off, James still feeling the butterflies in his stomach. The prefects were waiting for their leaders.
A/N: So! Here are the dedications/mentions:
Reviewers: DreamWeaver0509, harry potter is my muse, harrypotter554, jwtwifan, janedoe101, JenniDCP, harrysgirl24, sunshiniite, J-star Black, and ArtemisDianaApollo. (Big thank you to the most regular reviewer… jwtifan! Not that I don't love all your reviews :D)
Favouriters: sunshiniite, PhantomPotterGirl, harrypotter554, ShawdowOfMyLight, girly-ish, Weasley-and-Proud, The Stolen Tears, ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm, Paigeeykins, LilyLunaEvans, L00ve-Joanna, JenniDCP, RAINAraina, Angels In The Dark, harrysgirl24, 3AllTimeLowLover3, MilloinPages, maryam hashim, HoAinazumiku, ArtemisDianaApollo, Twilightgirl105, Dark Kisuna, Drizzle Orton, SunflowerNDraco, Lilmidge15, MegzieBeth, .lee, winterchip, DevineOne, MWPPgirl13, and J-star Black.
Story Alerters: PhantomPotterGirl, LJ Dreamer, Lessa-the-Lioness, jwtwifan, Jen2626, harrypotter554, starlit888, ShawdowOfMyLight, Romantically Hopeless, Heart of the Phoenix, girly-ish, CrazedConfusion, The Stolen Tears, ProudMudblood42, JenniDCP, gimarkley2013, Sparkle Ninja27, RAINAraina, Bekah Kaye, RozesRRed, L-U-N-A-654, purplepozz, jamesandlily4ever, ., 3AllTimeLowLover3, Thepinkhouseowner, MilloinPages, isabellasvl, hoperrocks98, ArtemisDianaApollo, HalfBloodMoose, emmettcullenlover45, .lee, Phub, Lilmidge15, brit123abc, iamnumbernine, winterchip, KayInInk, and Calliope Muse.
A/N: Yay! All done! Now, every ten chapters, there'll be a dedication/mention. So, if you're not mentioned now… then you can be mentioned later on!
A/N: THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU my loverly I LOVE YOU, GODAMMIT readers! Hehe, that's a lot of capital letters… Anyway, you should all know that every story alert, favourite and review makes me ridiculously happy – as it does for all writers on FF, or any other website. So, I thank you so very much… especially since during the summer holidays, the only emails I get are these notifications -.- (Y u no email me, friends? T.T) Love ya all (Platonically, of course)! Bye for now!