They met in the Common Room at midnight Saturday. They were all wearing black and both girls tied their hair back to make sure it didn't get in the way. James quickly pulled the cloak around as many of them as he could. Very quickly, they realized a problem.
"Um James, seven of us aren't going to fit under there." Peter meekly pointed out.
James nodded, "I know Peter. That's why Sirius, Ursula, and I aren't going under the cloak until later. The four of you should fit under there." James said as he handed the cloak to Ben. Ben accepted the cloak and covered himself and the other's. Elyse wasn't fitting correctly but they quickly solved that problem when she jumped on Ben's back and he gave her a piggy-back ride through the hallway.
They moved stealthy through the hallway, James leading the way with Ursula and Sirius right behind him. They stopped at the landing of the third staircase, the one that allowed a person visibility of all the other stairs in the area.
"Alright, Peter, Elyse, this is your stop." James whispered to them as he crouched down to avoid any detection from the portraits. Immediately, Peter moved from under the cloak and sat down where he had been instructed earlier that day. Ben tried to pry Elyse's arms off his shoulders when she didn't budge.
"Elyse?"
She was frozen in a vision and they couldn't tell how long it would take.
James swore and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He took a deep breath before he changed his plan, "Here's what we are going to do now. Peter, you're going to take Elyse back to the common room. Use the cloak. The rest of us are going to go finish the prank without it. And since we're losing this lookout post, we're going to have to go down to one person at the main one." James tone left no room for argument. Quickly the others reassembled as Peter and Elyse disappeared under the cloak and presumably went back to Gryffindor Tower.
"Let's do this," Sirius whispered as he started forward again.
James smirked and clapped Sirius on the shoulder. "That's the spirit. Hell, it's more fun like this."
Remus snorted as softly as he could, "You won't be saying that in detention if we get caught."
Either James didn't hear of he simply decided not to grant that comment a response. Quickly, they scattered down the stairs and they left Remus to be watch out near Slughorn's office. Ursula walked up to the wall that held the Slytherin Common Room was whispered, "Salazar."
The stone door opened and the four Gryffindors stepped into their enemy's territory. The Black Twins were distinctly reminded of their home on Grimmauld. Green and silver was everywhere. The detail that went into everything was highly elaborate and practically screamed old, ancient, and tradition. A large portrait of a mean looking sleeping man hung over the fireplace that didn't offer the same warmth as the one in Gryffindor did. The room had an eerie look to it caused by a combination of the dim candles and the fact that their windows were against the Black Lake.
They stood in the entrance for a moment, trying to take it all in. Ursula shuddered when she thought of the fate that her mother had wished for her. She would leave Hogwarts if she had to live there and judging by the look on Sirius's face, he agreed with her too.
"Kind of ironic," Ben noted softly as they carefully made their way towards the boys' staircase (they assumed it was the same side as Gryffindor) in the dim light.
"What?" Sirius hissed, his mind completely focused on the task at hand.
Ben motioned towards the glass wall, "The water."
The other three almost laughed out loud. Instead they settled for smirks. Quickly, they separated into the dorms of their 'victims'; Ben into the second year dorm, Sirius and James into the third, and Ursula to the fourth. The boys were hesitant to let her go alone into the dorm, but she stubbornly refused to be treated differently.
It had only been about ten minutes that Remus had to play look out for his friends when he heard the sound of feet making their way down the hall. His advanced hearing helped him identify the steps as his friends. He pushed against the wall and he quickly joined their fast jog back to the safety of their common room.
"Did you do it?"
James smiled evilly, "Let's just say the Slytherins are going to be feeling the heat tomorrow."
"You know what they say right?" Ben asked them.
"If you can't stand the heat," Ursula began.
"Get out of the kitchen," Sirius finished.
Ben smirked and victoriously said, "And we just set the kitchen on fire."
When Ursula climbed up to her dorm, Elyse was sitting cross-legged on her bed. She was sketching in her vision journal but she perked up when she heard the door open.
"Did it work?" She whispered.
Ursula nodded, "We got them, don't worry about it. And if we caught, you don't have to worry about detention."
Elyse looked upset, "I don't care. I wanted teh go wit yeh's."
"Don't worry about it," Ursula said. "There wasn't much to do except the spell. Besides, I'm sure your vision was more important than what we were doing."
The red-head shook her head. "Yeh's neva want teh see woot I saw."
With that, Elyse flopped down on the bed and with a flick of her wand closed the curtains of her bed. Ursula stood there a moment before she shook her head and got ready for bed. She wouldn't let Elyse's odd behavior bring her down; a twisted smile formed on her lips when she thought of the nice wakeup call the Slytherins would get the following morning.
That night, Elyse had a horrible nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare, per say, but her vision over and over again in her mind.
Benjy Fenwick was on his knees, chains holding him to the ground. He was skinny and he was practically covered in blood. A particularly horrible cut drenched the side of his face. His honey blonde hair fell over his eyes and he stared in defiance at the cold stone floor. His only movement was his whole frame shivering slightly in the freezing dungeon.
"You have resisted us so far, a strong will," A high nasally voice said from in front of him. "But we will break you. Now, for the last time, give me the locations of all the Order members' homes."
Benjy shook his head.
"Crucio," Lord Voldemort hissed.
The young man fell to his side as every single muscle in his body clenched and he fell to the ground. He convulsed and twitched but he never made a sound. When he was finally released from the spell, he let out a ragged breath and tried to even out his breathing.
"I will never," he gasped out, "betray the Order."
Voldemort looked amused by that. He turned to some of the Death Eaters that stood around the edge of the room to watch their master. "The fool," he began with a laugh, "actually believes Dumbledore."
The Death Eaters roared with laughter and Benjy looked calm. He looked up and with a small smile on his lips, asked, "Is that why you're scared of him?"
The laughter cut off abruptly. Lord Voldemort looked at Benjy as though he had never seen them before.
"What?"
Benjy seemed to relish in the fact that he knew something Voldemort didn't know and he looked positively thrilled to have the upper hand. "I follow Dumbledore because he cares about every single student that ever went through the school. The people he leads go to him because they respect him. The people that follow you joined just because they're scared of you."
Lord Voldemort didn't look fazed at all. "Tell me what I want to know and I will be merciful and allow you to leave."
Benjy looked livid. "What? I tell you where you can find all my friends to murder them and then I'll eventually get killed. Even you're not stupid enough to think I would go through with that."
He smiled evilly, "I thought you might say that. Bring her in!"
The heavy iron doors swung open to reveal two Death Eaters holding onto the arms of an unconscious girl. Her short, pixie cut hair was matted to her head and her clothes were torn.
Instantly, the effect on Benjy was obvious. He sprung to his feet and fought viciously against the chains. "LET HER GO YOU BASTARD!" He continued screaming obscenities at the darkest wizard known to mankind who just silenced Benjy.
"I am giving you a choice; tell me where all the Order members live or watch Mrs. Longbottom die."
Someone had evenerated Alice by that point so she heard the offer. Her legs gave out from under her but she didn't cry. She closed her eyes and looked pained for a moment before resolve settled on her face. She moved her hands so that they were gently resting on her stomach. Benjy's eyes widened and looked lost at what to do.
"So what's it going to be? Your friends' lives or young Mrs. Longbottom here? Need I remind you of her…delicate condition?" He asked with an evil smile as he knew that he had Benjy trapped. Choose between the lives of many and the life of his best friend's pregnant wife.
"Who's going to die?" Lord Voldemort asked once as he twirled his intricate wand around his fingers.
Benjy looked at Alice's accepting face and turned towards Lord Voldemort with his own face set with determination and acceptance.
"Me."
Lord Voldemort honestly looked surprised. "My, my, what do we have here? A little badger trying to die like a brave lion?."
"Rather die like a Gryffindor than a Snake," Benjy spat with all the venom his voice could possibly possess. "Now let Alice go."
Alice, who had been stunned silent, found her voice at that very moment, "No! Don't you dare do this Benjy! I'll stay- you can take both of us prisoner. The Order is already looking for Benjy and they saw me get taken so they're going to hunting you down!" She shouted as she tried to threaten/bargain for Benjy's life.
Benjy just shook his head, "Alice, don't suggest that! Get the bloody hell out of here!"
"Frank-"
"Will understand. He and I made a deal, Alice. And I'm about to fulfill my end."
"Ah, Fenwick, you should have realized by now that when you make a deal with a Gryffindor, they somehow always end up with the better end of the deal." Voldemort hissed. "Take the girl outside so we can fulfill our deal."
Alice was dragged out, kicking and screaming the entire way. They slammed the iron door shut and Alice continually hit the door with as many spells as she possibly could. She made a small chinch in the door and looked through just in time to hear Lord Voldemort shout, "REDUCTO!" and see an ungodly amount of blood spatter cover the wall.
"Elyse, Elyse, ELYSE!"
Elyse sat up and screamed, still caught in the vision that plagued her the entire night. Ursula was standing over her with her grey eyes filled with concern. The other girls had been woken up by her yell and they were all looking at her with worry. The second that Elyse saw Alice's bright baby blue eyes that were still full of innocence and so carefree, she jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. She feel against the door and tried to control her breathing. How was she going to deal with this one?
It turns out that her friends offered a wonderful distraction. After telling the girls that she had a nightmare and they woke her up at the worst time, they understood and left her alone about it. Alice skipped ahead of them while Marlene and Lily stayed in the middle and Ursula and Elyse brought up the rear.
"You had a vision, didn't you?" Ursula whispered to her.
Elyse nodded, "It was teh one I 'ad last night. It kept on replayin' 'n replayin'."
Ursula just wrapped her arms around her shoulder, "Don't worry about that. I think that our little prank is going to light up the mood."
Elyse could help but laugh at the pun.
"Oi! Wait for us!" Sirius shouted from down the hallway and the two girls stopped while the boys ran over to them.
Elyse raised her eyebrows at their disheveled appearance, "Who set a fire under yeh's pants?"
All four boys smiled at that comment. They piled into the Great Hall and started stacking their plates full of breakfast.
"No one really," Ben said, answering Elyse's question, "James was just burning to go."
James wasn't amused, "Liar, liar pants on fire." He said in a sing-song voice.
"Here's some water Peter," she said as she pushed a goblet closer to the red faced boy, "You look like your scorching."
Peter mumbled his thanks under the rest of the group's laughter.
"Oi! Evans!" James said loudly to get Lily's attention. The red head turned towards the group and was about to ask what he wanted when he continued on, "Are you feeling okay?"
She looked at him oddly, "I feel fine." She said slowly as if he was going to do something that would cause her to be definitely not fine.
He just smirked, "Because you're smoking hot!"
Lily slammed her utensils to the table and looked murderous at all seven of the now laughing teenagers. "What is with the fire references! Honestly, what did you do!"
Sirius leaned towards her and smiled roguishly, "Let's just say that a few little snakes are going to learn that when you play with fire-"
"You get burned." Ursula finished with a matching grin on her face.
It was as if the timing gods were smiling upon them because at that instant, Mulciber, the burly fourth year Slytherin, jumped from his seat with his robes on fire. Instantly, several Slytherins sent aguamenti charms his way and when they all stopped, her looked like a drowned rat. He stood their sputtering while the rest of the school roared with laughter.
Lily turned her furious gaze at her seven house mates. "You did that!"
"It's only the people that hexed Elyse," Remus tried to explain.
Ben nodded next to his friend, "And it's not like it will even hurt them." He added.
Lily looked at them as if she didn't know whether to shake their hands or throw them all off the Astronomy Tower for such disregard to the rules (and cruelty). It was a tense moment and the hard look in her eyes softened a bit. "It won't actually burn them?"
Ursula shook her head, "The flames are still there but they won't actually hurt them," she confirmed.
"Much," James muttered under his breath. Ursula's response was to elbow him in the ribs causing him to double over in pain.
Suddenly Regulus too was jumping up from the table and the older Slytherins quickly helped him put out the flames. But something else happened when the jets of water stopped. Not only did he look like a drenched puppy, where the robes had burned there were now the words, "Traitor", "Selfish", and "Brat" were a few of the words.
Ursula turned to look at Ben who was calmly sipping on his pumpkin juice. She was about to interrogate him and why he did that to her brother when Alice distracted her.
"What triggers it?" She asked. Six of them turned to look at her (Elyse stared at her waffles) and the other two girls sitting near them.
"A word." Remus started.
"They have to say it." Ben clarified.
Lily tilted her head to side and looked at them slightly impressed, "Wow, that's really advanced. What's the word?"
They all looked at each other, figuring out who was going to say it. Finally, Sirius sighed in defeat and looked at Lily in such as serious way that she looked honestly worried and surprised at the same time.
"The word they have to say is…m-" Sirius looked like he had just eaten a sour grape, "Mudblood." He finished in a soft voice.
Marlene's, Alice's, and Lily's mouth dropped open in shock from hearing the word of out of Sirius's mouth and from knowing that the two that had caught on fire had already used the word and breakfast wasn't even over yet. Suddenly, Lily's eyes filled with sadness and she quickly gathered her things. It didn't take long for the remaining teenagers to see what caused her such distress.
Snape was standing up and looking at disgust at his now charred robes.
"That bastard," James hissed. He was about to stand up and yell something at Snape (and possibly hex him since James pulled out his wand) when a large hand forced James back into his seat. James was about to yell at the person but when he looked up, he was looking right at Jacob Spinnet.
"What was that for?" James cried out. "I wanted to hex that little bastard!"
Jacob smirked but rolled his eyes, "I can't have one of my chasers in detention for the first practice, can I?" He questioned.
James, for all his faults, knew a losing battle when he saw one. He didn't mind losing terribly because he now had Quidditch to look forward to. James opened his mouth to respond but Jacob cut him off.
"It's next Friday at six p.m. Make sure you bring all your gear."
James nodded excitedly, thrilled that Quidditch was starting soon. "What about the rest of the team?"
"Clara sprained her wrist over the summer so she's going to be doing some light exercise. Cormac and Liam are still our beaters. They said that they went to a camp over the summer so we'll see how that helped them. Sean is still bloody amazing; I played with him this summer."
He nodded once at James before he turned and started walking away. Ben looked at the retreating form with a small crease above his brow, "He didn't say anything about-"
"OH! Black, you better owl order a good broom for next week! I want everyone on a Nimbus this year!" Jacob turned around and shouted.
Ursula sat in shock a moment before she realized what he had said, "Does that mean I'm on the team?" she shouted back.
Jacob smiled widely, "Welcome to the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, Black." He winked before he spun around and continued onto his destination.
There was a beat of silence before James threw his arms around her in a death grip hug. "YOU MADE THE TEAM!" He screamed in her ear.
She didn't even wince. Ursula just continued smiling like a complete idiot, the euphoria of making the Quidditch team filling up her entire being. Sirius was cheering obnoxiously next to her while Ben, Remus, Peter, and Elyse offered their more tame congratulations. James finally let go of the death grip but he still kept one arm around her waist.
"You know what this calls for?" He asked the group.
"What?" Sirius asked.
James smiled widely, "A Celebration! I think that I found a passage to Hogsmeade. It's this statue and there were some Runes I had to decipher but I was able to see where the tunnel leads and I think it's a bar in Hogsmeade."
Sirius looked at James indignantly, "And you didn't bother to tell us this! I told you right away when Peter and I found the kitchens! I can't believe-"
Ursula cut off Sirius's ranting with a simple, "Let's go."
James squeezed Ursula's shoulder a little bit, "That's the spirit!"
"Besides," Ben said as he pulled at the collar of his robes, "It's getting a little hot in here." They all snuck a glance at three Slytherins on fire and the teachers scanning the hall furiously to see who had their wands out to catch whoever was setting the Slytherins on fire.
"Just a wee bit," Elyse agreed and they all quickly scampered out of the hall as quickly and inconspicuously as they could. But of course, just as they stepped foot outside of the Great Hall, a very stern and very angry McGonagall shouted after them, "POTTER! BLACKS! WHITE! LUPIN! PETTIGREW! O'BRIAN! GET BACK IN HERE!"
"Run!" James shouted and they all instantly started sprinting away. By the time McGonagall got to the doors, all that could be heard was the distant echoes of their laughter.
Hey guys! I hope that everyone liked the revenge that I concocted for our dear little Slytherin friends. I was stuck between this and another idea, but I decided to save that idea for later in the series so I hope that you liked this one.
Oh, I have a huge favor to ask each and everyone one of you. On my profile there is a poll question. This question is something that I have been debating in my mind since I began writing this so I would like some readers' input. I would highly appreciate it if you took less than a minute of your time to vote.
Before you vote, don't forget to review! I have mixed feelings about this chapter so I would like to hear (technically read) what you think.