Chapter 30
It was close to Easter and all of the second-years had to decide what classes they were going to add to their schedule the next year.
Peter kept reading and re-reading the course descriptions. "I just don't know what to take. What are you guys taking?"
"I'm adding Ancient Runes and Arithmancy," Remus stated confidently. "I want to travel. Maybe be a curse breaker for Gringotts." As an afterthought, he mumbled, "Provided I can even get a job…"
"I don't know what I want to be," James said. He'd never really thought about it. His parents had been saving money for him since before he was born, he really hadn't planned on getting a full time job right away. He wanted to travel some – see the world. "Maybe play Quidditch…"
"Well," Peter said morosely, "That's not really an option for me. But what classes are you taking?"
"I dunno. Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies, maybe. Maybe Arithmancy. What are you taking, Sirius?" When Sirius didn't answer, James called, louder this time, "Sirius!"
"Huh? Oh, uh… Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures," he answered distractedly. James watched him suspiciously as he wrote on a scroll.
"What do you want to do, Peter," Remus inquired. "That might help you decide what to pick."
"I always imagined I'd get a job in the Ministry somewhere."
"Well, you might want to take Muggle Studies, then. What else are you interested in?"
"Arithmancy?" It sounded more like a question than something he was absolutely interested in. Peter really figured he had the best chance of passing class if he was in it with Remus. And, truth be told, he'd rather share a class with James than Sirius. Sirius got frustrated with him more easily than the others and it made him feel stupid.
Remus spocked an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything.
"Sirius, what are you doing?" James couldn't contain his curiosity any more. James moved so he could see the scroll Sirius was working on, but the other boy let out a low growl and shifted to hide what he was doing.
This caught Remus' and Peter's attention as well, and the three sat staring at Sirius. They watched as he stuck his tongue out in concentration, pausing every so often, and then writing again.
Sighing frustratedly, Sirius looked up. He seemed to notice for the first time that his friends were watching him intently. "Okay, so I have an idea, but I need suggestions."
James hesitantly asked, "What is it?"
Sirius sat up straighter and got the excited puppy-dog look that he got when planning something. "A scavenger hunt!"
"Huh," Remus said thoughtfully. In fact, this was rather tame compared to Sirius' usual plots. "That's not a bad idea. What do you have on the list?"
"Well, that's where I need suggestions. I could only come up with five good things."
"Why don't we ask for suggestions? Put out a box or something and have people enter suggestions of things to find."
Sirius grinned broadly. "And that's why I love you, Moony."
Remus glanced around nervously. "What?"
Sirius was concentrating on his scroll again, "Moony… you know, moon boy… moony."
"Shut up!" Remus hissed.
"What?" Sirius looked up at his friend, not understanding why he was so upset. "Oh relax. It's not like anybody's going to know what it means."
"You don't know that."
"Mmm… I have an idea," Sirius said, his Cheshire-cat smile returning.
James glanced at Remus. One never could tell what Sirius was going to do when that look crossed his face.
Sirius stood up and called out, "Attention everyone. Attention!"
He's not actually going to tell people? Remus was near panic.
"My good friend, Remus, here, has put forth a challenge. I have agreed to said challenge."
"What?" Peter whispered. He felt like he missed something again but, looking at James and Remus, he realized they were just as lost as he.
Sirius, having the full attention of the common room, turned his back to everyone, fiddled with something nobody could see and then… dropped trow – fully mooning everyone in the common room.
Chaos ensued. Girls squealed and/or screamed. Guys burst out laughing and applauding. Remus was hiding behind his hands; James was laughing hysterically; and Peter was sitting with his mouth hanging open in shock. Ward, the ever- faithful prudish prefect, stormed over to where Sirius now stood, pants back in their proper place.
Ward was so flabbergasted that he could barely speak. "You… I… Detention! And I will be taking this up with Professor McGonagall!"
Sirius nodded, trying his best to look abashed. Once Ward walked through the portrait hole to find McGonagall, Sirius broke into a grin.
Remus looked up at him, smiling. He tilted his head to the side and gave a half-nod, "Moony it is."
The next morning, as the Marauders walked to their table for breakfast, scattered whispering broke out throughout the hall. While Sirius didn't acknowledge it in word, he did seem to carry himself a little taller than usual.
As they were eating, Daly and a few of her Hufflepuff friends walked by Sirius and James, waving and giggling as they went.
They smiled back appreciatively, and that's when James heard the "tut" from a little farther down the Gryffindor table. He searched the table and saw that Lily was shaking her head in disgust. She was leaning in and whispering to her friends.
"What's the matter, Evans? Rough morning?" James goaded.
"Not as difficult as your mornings must be," she replied coolly.
"My mornings are just fine. Why would you think they're difficult?"
"I just think it would be hard to lift that head of yours off your pillow," she smirked at her own cleverness. Her friends watched the exchange in disbelief.
James chuckled, tingeing it with mock hurt. "You wound me so. I think you're just jealous of competition."
"Competition? I'm in a competition? What do I win?"
"Me, of course."
"Oh. Well that's disappointing. I was hoping for… I don't know… something useful, like a quill… or even something nice, like a flower."
"Ah, but I'm much more useful than a quill, and why give you a flower when your beauty would only put it to shame."
Lily stared at James a moment before bursting out laughing. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said wiping away a tear. "Did you actually think that would work?" She continued giggling as she gathered her books and prepared to leave the table. Her friends followed suit. She sighed and paused next to James on her way out. "You know, you boys might be right. Watching someone make a fool of himself can be funny."
Without looking up from his food, Sirius interjected, "Yes, that's why we find you so funny." His tone was cool, lacking the warmth of a playful barb. Sirius usually enjoyed watching James and Lily spar. He even enjoyed watching her take him down a peg or two every so often. But he felt slighted, on behalf of his friend, by her last comment. Perhaps it was the protectiveness of being an older brother, but he felt compelled not to let it slide.
Lily faltered, sensing the change in mood, and wondering if she had gone too far by insinuating that James was a fool. She glanced at James, who was pink in the face. She didn't know if it was from what she said or what Sirius said. Unsure what to do, she hooked her arm through Gillette's and walked away.
The rest of breakfast was eaten in silence. James had not been that bothered by what Lily said and he was surprised by Sirius' reaction. But he was also flattered that Sirius had come to his defense.
Later that evening, as the boys were in the common room once again, Sirius stood on a table to make another announcement. A few of the students snickered and the girls started giggling.
Sirius held up his hands. "No worries, everyone, this is not that kind of announcement. The Marauders are going to hold a scavenger hunt, but we would like suggestions from our fellow Gryffindors for things to hunt. We are setting this lovely box," – here Sirius turned and allowed Remus to model the box for the students; it was a rather gaudy-looking thing, covered in glitter and paint to make it vaguely resemble gold and jewels; and continued, "in the corner by the notice board. Any and all suggestions are welcome. We will choose our favorite fifteen items in two weeks' time. Thank you, and good night." Sirius bowed deeply and hopped off the table.
"I can't wait to see what we get," James smiled slyly, trying to imagine some of the creative suggestions they would receive.
Two weeks later, Sirius gathered the "bloody annoying" box of suggestions. Ward had dubbed it that since the boys had enchanted the box to "cha-ching" every time a suggestion was dropped into it. It only took him one night of hearing the intermittent "cha-chinging" before he came over and demanded the boys silence the box or he would blast it, suggestions and all (according to Sirius' version of the story), or call in Professor McGonagall, because they were disrupting the studying of the students in the common room (according to Remus). Sirius divvied up the scraps of scrolls amongst the friends, and the Marauders went through the suggestions to determine which items would make the cut.
"You know, we're going to have to come up with a prize, too." Remus tossed out the statement.
"An apple? What kind of scavenger hunt item is 'an apple'?" Sirius said in disgust. "And I don't need a prize. Winning will be enough of a prize for me," Sirius smiled cockily.
"I think we should do two prizes," Peter suggested. "One for the most items and one for the most-difficult-to-obtain item."
"I like that idea," James agreed. "Though, that still leaves us with the problem of coming up with suitable prizes. And how are we going to create the teams?"
"Teams?" Sirius asked.
"Well, we can't exactly have twenty people, or more, stealing… 'a trophy from the trophy case.'" James read off one of the suggestions.
"Good point. Well, how about each of us lead a team?" Sirius proposed.
James chuckled. "Sounds good to me."
"Now," Sirius waved his pile of suggestions in the air, "we still need to come up with the items for the list. 'Owl feathers'?"
"We need an easy item for the list… besides, have you tried to pluck a feather from an owl?" James asked.
"Why would you need to pluck a feather? Go to the Owlry. I'm sure they molt."
"Well, for one, the owl feathers on the floor are covered in poop, and we could always stipulate that it has to be plucked or a tail feather or something," James defended.
"Yeah, okay. Ever heard of scourgify?"
"Fine. Pick something else."
"How about something a little harder, like… Oh… How about toilet paper? Or ... or handkerchiefs," Sirius laughed at his friend's expense.
"Or grass," Remus muttered, while looking over his stack of items, making Sirius laugh even harder.
"Thanks a lot Remus! Betrayer," James huffed.
Remus looked up as if he hadn't realized he had spoken out loud. "I meant that really thick… rare grass… you know… That you can only find…" Remus was shut up by the sofa cushion James threw at him, but it didn't stop him from chuckling.
The final scavenger list comprised of each team having: a freshly plucked feather from an owl (more to irritate James than because it was difficult to obtain), a crystal ball from the Divinations classroom, a runed item from the Ancient Runes classroom, a telescope from the Astronomy tower, a niffler (as that was the current animal being studied by the Care of Magical Creatures class), a hedgehog from Transfiguration, one of Slughorne's crystal vials, a bouncing bulb from Herbology, a toaster from Muggle Studies, a cursed hat from DADA, a pillow from Charms, a student robe from each house, chains from Mr. Filches wall (they were going to steal some of Mrs. Norris' cat food, but no one knew for sure if she ate cat food or not), a trophy from the trophy case, and the golden snitch. Sirius thought James had a distinct advantage for the last item, but he allowed it on the list anyway. He was just going to make sure Weatherton was not on James' team.
As it turned out, the entire house did not actively participate in the scavenger hunt. Several of the students were either too scared to steal all of those items, or simply didn't care to. Most of the fifth- and seventh-year students were so stressed about the end-of-term OWLs and NEWTs that they didn't want to take time away from studying. Of the seventy Gryffindors, only about twenty participated, including the Marauders. The boys were surprised when Addison joined in the hunt, as well as Lily, who were both on Remus' team. Longbottom joined his fellow teammate, but Alice, Longbottom's girlfriend, was on Sirius' team. Gillette was, begrudgingly, with Peter.
They planned the hunt for a Saturday, when they naturally had the most free time. A good portion of the school knew something was going on when the infamous Marauders did not sit with each other at breakfast. Instead, they sat with their teams to discuss strategy and who would be going to get what items. Each team also had to find its own secret cache until scoring time.
While Sirius was eating with his group, he noticed Daly and her friends get up to leave the Great Hall. "Excuse me," he said to his team, "I'm going to get our first item."
Curious, the rest of his team dropped their food and followed after him.
He followed Daly out of the hall and, before she left the entrance hall for the corridor that would take her to the Hufflepuff common room, Sirius called to her. "Daly!"
She turned to Sirius and smiled. "Moira."
Sirius nodded and donned his most charming smile. "Moira. We," he turned and motioned to his fellow Gryffindors, "are participating in a scavenger hunt. We… require… a robe from a Hufflepuff student…"
"And you would like to borrow mine." Moira was still smiling, but the friendly smile of before was replaced with something else – something that made Sirius' stomach flutter, and he hesitated for just a moment.
"Yes, if you would be so kind."
The fifth-year seeker spread her arms out to her sides. "Take it."
Sirius flushed and repeated, "Take it?"
"Mm-hmm," she nodded, not taking her eyes off of him.
Sirius glanced behind him. His fellow Gryffindors were watching in rapt attention to see what he would do. Nodding once and summoning his courage, he whispered, "Right." Sirius, who was slightly taller than Moira despite their age difference, walked up to her and stood within six centimeters of the girl, also never breaking eye contact. He gently grabbed her robe at the sides of her waste and started pulling it up. Once it got high enough, she lifted her arms so he could pull the robe over her head. With one arm, he finished removing her robe, the other arm he wrapped around her waste so both would remain balanced. It was her turn to blush. Once she was free of her robe, Sirius took a step back, took her hand in his and kissed it. "Thank you." Though his insides trembled and he felt that oxygen was suddenly a precious commodity, he turned from Moira and, waving the robe over his head to the cheers of his teammates, he walked proudly away.
Sirius handed the robe to Alice who folded it and put it in her bag. The group went back into the Great Hall to finish their breakfast. They were still cheering and clapping Sirius on the back when they sat down. Alice leaned over to Sirius and said, "You keep that up, we'll have all the robes for sure."
"Nu-uh. I'm not doing that again if I can help it." He was blushing again and, now that the adrenaline had worn off, his hand shook as he reached for his juice.
Alice laughed, giving him a knowing look. "Don't worry, I have a friend in Ravenclaw. I'm sure she'll help us without… making a scene."
James, who had observed the return of his friend, asked casually, "What are you all so happy about?"
"We got our first item," Sirius replied, looking smug. Turning back to Alice, he said, "It's the Slytherin robe that's going to be tricky." The rest of the team nodded in agreement.
James was competitive by nature and the news that they were already behind frustrated him. "Come on, team. Let's get crackin'." His group left their breakfasts behind. Their leaving caused an exodus of the other teams as well.
Members of James' team also knew people in the other houses, but like most Gryffindors, none of them were friends with Slytherins. While two of his teammates were niccing the pillows and a plucked owl feather, James and Frank waited outside for some unsuspecting Slytherins to arrive. Much to James' delight, Snape was walking across the lawns with Avery. They approached the two boys from one side, while Sirius and Johnson, one of his teammates, approached from the other direction.
When they were close enough, Sirius called to James, "Oi, James. What do you reckon? Two of them… One for each of us." James nodded in agreement.
Avery looked nervously at the two pairs of students approaching, while Snape pulled out his wand. "What do you want?" he snarled.
Sirius grinned maliciously. "Your robes."
"What?!" Snape exclaimed in surprise.
"We're doing a Scavenger hunt and we need Slytherin robes."
"Just try it," Snape challenged.
"Accio robes," Sirius and James said at the same time. Avery and Snape's robes whooshed off their bodies and landed at the Gryffindors' feet, leaving the two Slytherins standing in their underclothes.
"Thanks," James saluted with his wand.
Snape hurled a curse at James, who was just quick enough to dodge it. Sirius yelled, "Expelliarmus!" and Snape's wand flew from his hand.
Frank tugged on James' sleeve. "Come on. We got what we came for. Let's go before a professor comes."
"What do you think we should do with him?" Sirius asked James.
James put both Snape and Avery in a full body bind before walking away.
Sirius smiled and waved. "Later then, Snivellus."
By the time lunchtime came around, the school was buzzing with the knowledge that the Gryffindors were doing the scavenger hunt. Some students from the other houses tried to help out, acting as lookouts or distracting the professors. Some were taking bets on which team would win. And some Slytherins were doing their best to frustrate their efforts – mostly by tattling. This, obviously, alerted the teachers to what was going on, which made sneaking about the castle more difficult and fun.
Extra security measures were put on the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Not knowing what was on the list, but hearing about the other items that were disappearing around the school, the professor didn't want to take any chances that the students would try to nic anything from her room and come across the dangerous hats. As it turned out, none of the teams were able to get past the security on the room, so all of the teams failed to acquire that item.
Peter's team hadn't found a way around extra security measures. They couldn't get close enough to Filch's office either, to nic any of the chains hanging, well polished, from the wall. They had trouble getting the telescope, too. Gryffindors are known for their bravery, not their brains, and once they finally freed the troublesome telescope from its attachment on the tower, it took two of them to carry it. Unfortunately, this was very awkward and rather conspicuous and they had to abandon the telescope at the bottom of the tower or risk getting caught by a patrolling prefect.
Peter did have a plan for the school robes, however. When Gillette asked him how they were going to get the house robes, he replied, "That's easy. I know where laundry is done. We can nic the robes from there." Also, his memory for the layout of the castle made sneaking around quite a bit easier. He knew all of the secret passages to use to avoid the wandering teachers.
Remus' team was only able to get three of the robes they needed; no one knew anyone in Slytherin well enough to ask for a robe and he couldn't remember how to get to the laundry room. He showed his team how to shrink items for safekeeping. Not only would the items be hidden, but it removed the need to find a secret cache in which to store their precious booty. They had much more success acquiring their telescope than Peter's team. Once they got it unscrewed from the tower, Lily shrunk it and carried it in her pocket. The tricky items, because of not having the secret cache, were the niffler and the hedgehog. Addison proved to be fairly competent at Transfiguration, so when Remus showed him how to transfigure the niffler into a pin cushion, he did the same thing to the hedgehog.
With some careful timing, and the help of a few first-years acting as lookouts and distractions for Mrs. Norris, Remus was able to break into Filch's office and snag one set of chains. He gave an involuntary shudder as he shrunk them and put them in his pocket. Lily looked at him oddly, but said nothing.
Time was running out and James' team had one more item to get – the Golden Snitch. He would have gotten it earlier, but nobody on the team wanted to risk losing such a precious item. It was not difficult for him, since he was on the Quidditch team, to go to the locker rooms, sneak into the supply closet and pull out the trunk with the balls. He carefully opened the trunk, but to his surprise, the snitch was already gone.
He returned to the room where they had gathered their stash and his jaw hit the floor. Everything was gone.
Frank stood next to him, "What the bloody…?"
"Sirius," he growled. "Fine, if he wants to play dirty… Accio crystal ball." In less than a second, James felt like he had been punched in the gut and he heard something heavy, like a bowling ball, clunk to the floor. "What the…?" He glanced at Frank.
Frank bent down and began to feel around. After a moment he placed his hands around something and lifted. Pulling out his wand he said, "Finite Incantatem" and their crystal ball appeared.
"Bugger," James mutter, then started smirking. "Find the stash. It's gotta still be here. Git!"
"Excuse me?" Frank said, thinking James was referring to him.
"Oh, not you, Frank. Sorry," he said as he continued to search the room. "I was talking about Sirius. This had to be his doing."
Sure enough all of the items were still in the room where they had been originally placed, but a spell had been cast on them to make them invisible.
"Excellent! Let's go," James commanded.
- - - - -
A/N - Thank you to those who let me know that something was amiss when I loaded this chapter. Stupid Word - giving me fits. Anway. Thank you much. Hopefully, I got it corrected. Ha. Teach me not preview my chapter.
(Original) A/N - Sorry about the odd break here, but this chapter was getting long and the next is already quite long - didn't want to mash the two together. Anyway, thanks once again for the lovely reviews. And thank you for the suggestions for places to look for information on the first war (shout out to SWaddict1986, there). Thank you also to my editors and beta - Mom, mei mei and J.A.Carlton. Wonderful.
Nonair - Thanks again for the very kind words. And for the suggestion of the Lexicon. Actually, that's where most of my info comes from. And I've discovered I've still got some of it wrong because I didn't think to varify there first.