A/N: This chapter is a lot shorter than the other ones, but I really felt like it was the best place to cut it off. A huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited or subscribed to this - it really means a lot to me. One reviewer pointed out that James' best subject was not Charms, and it's sparked off a few different ideas for this - basically, even the smallest thing can change this, spark off a new direction, etc. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Halloween was soon upon them, and the two weeks before it had been the busiest of Remus' life.
Sirius and James had cornered him mid-October, asking him to help them come up with a prank for Halloween. At first, the boy had been reluctant, but they had pestered him until he had agreed.
"This is a third year spell," Sirius protested, when Remus outlined his ideas. "And for this one, we'd need a fourth year potion!"
Remus glanced down at the parchment he'd written his ideas on. Sirius was right; the ideas he'd had all involved spells or potions that were above their level. He frowned, flicking through the book he had on his lap. The four boys were gathered in the dorm, sitting on Remus' bed, able to get some privacy as both William and Michael were in the Common Room.
"I think I could do this one," he had told Sirius, pointing to a fifth year spell. "Maybe."
James leapt up from the bed, standing to the side and facing Remus. "Try it on me."
Remus nodded, pointed his wand at his friend and whispered the spell, his hands making the complicated shape with the wand that was needed to go along with it. James winced, his eyes squeezing shut tightly as he felt a tingling in his scalp, stretching down over his face and body.
"Wow," Sirius gasped, staring, open mouthed, at James.
James' body had turned a strange, transparent white colour, and the other three boys were able to see through him to the rest of the dorm.
Remus whispered the counter spell and James' robe turned black once more, his skin returning to its natural colour. His grin stretched across his face, revealing his teeth.
"Now we've just got to figure out how to hit the whole Slytherin table with that," Sirius muttered gloomily, as Peter whooped.
During the two weeks, they had found a disused classroom and practised the spell in there, Remus teaching it to them over and over.
"You should become a teacher," Peter said, one evening as James shot him with the spell, turning the lower half of his body transparent. "You're really good, Remus!"
Remus had thanked him, before moving to James' side and adjusting his hand position. They had a week left to Halloween, a week left to perfect the spell so that all four of them could unleash it at the same time. James' invisibility cloak sat on the desk, pushed up against the back door. Outside, the sky was a stormy grey, and Remus was glad that the full moon fell at the start of November, just after Halloween; he wouldn't have to miss out on the prank.
His first full moon had gone, well, as well as it could have; it had passed by without comment, the boys accepting that he had to go home at the end of the first month of the term. Madam Pomfrey had taken him down to the tree known as the Whomping Willow and he'd gone through the tunnel until he'd reached the abandoned house at the other end. The wolf had loved it – it had had more freedom than it ever had before, and it had run around the house, enjoying the new space.
Now, Remus glanced up at his friends and took a deep breath, before going through the basics of the spell with them once more. James was good at Charms, but even he was struggling with it.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Remus groaned, glancing down at his foot, through which he could see the floor. "It's too advanced."
As he let out a sigh and reversed the spell on his foot, he heard James cry the spell and aim his wand at Sirius.
All four of them let out cries of joy as Sirius became transparent.
"Sirius! You look like a ghost!" James laughed, glancing towards Remus with a large grin on his face. "You were saying something, Lupin?"
Remus shook his head, but was unable to hide the smile creeping over his face.
The Great Hall was decorated for Halloween.
Remus had never seen such extravagance; even at Christmas, at home the house was decorated lightly and sparingly. Now, he was confronted with live bats flying around, with cobweb-like tinsel hanging around the hall and he found himself staring around at the huge amount of pumpkins placed around the hall, each one with a different face carved into it, some even made to look like the teachers or famous witches and wizards.
Even the ghosts, who the students rarely saw, got into the spirit of the evening. They would hide behind the statues of knights, or linger high above the tables, darting out or down onto unsuspecting students. Laughter filled the Great Hall as the students came in.
Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, floated over to the end of the table, where Sirius, Remus, James and Peter sat, and hovered there, smiling at the boys.
"Oh, I do love Halloween!" he exclaimed, then let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Oh, but it does remind me of my death!"
Sirius' head snapped up from the food, grinning at Nick with a morbid grin. "How'd you die, Nick?"
"Beheading," he wailed. "On the 31st October. It's a painful day for me."
"But you said you loved Halloween!" Peter squeaked, his mouth full of food that looked, on the plates, almost inedible. Even the food was decorated for the event, but the boys, after tasting the green sausages and blood red meat, found that despite appearances, it was delicious.
Nick glared at him, and Peter shrank back. "I used to. Back when I was alive." Another sigh escaped the ghost. "You young do not appreciate life."
"I do!" Sirius grinned. "I'm glad I'm not dead, ergo, I appreciate life!"
Nick rolled his eyes. "That is not what I meant, Mr Black. Oh look, there are some fifth years at the other end and let me tell you, they are much more interesting to talk to. They appreciate all I have seen!" he scoffed, before drifting through the table and coming to a stop beside the group at the other end.
James and Sirius glanced at each other, shrugged, and then dug back into their food.
Remus pushed his sausage around his plate, musing over Nick's words. You do not appreciate life. He didn't think he even knew how to appreciate it, not really. Not with the pain he had to go through every month.
"Hey, Rem," Sirius cried, attracting the smaller boy's attention. "You going to finish that sausage?"
"No," Remus sighed, pushing his plate towards Sirius. He let out a whoop before digging into Remus' leftovers.
Once deserts were almost finished, James gave a curt nod. At once, the four boys, under the table, pointed their wants towards the Slytherin's table and, as one, whispered the spell.
Sirius had finally got the hang of the spell a few days before; Peter had only managed to cast it fully a few times the night before. The spell hit, and though a lot of the Slytherins turned transparent, looking a lot like the ghosts who floated around, some remained half-transparent and half-not. It was a brilliant sight to behold, and the Great Hall erupted into laughter.
Remus couldn't help but glance at the teacher's table, as Professor Slughorn leapt off his seat and barrelled towards his students. Sirius' cousins were screaming bloody murder as they gazed around the hall, determined to find the culprit. Everyone was looking at the Slytherin table, everyone except for Professor Dumbledore.
Remus was pretty sure he was the only one who noticed when the headmaster glanced towards them, a strange twinkle in his eyes and a half smile on his face before he stood up and called for quiet calm. He pointed his wand at the Slytherin students, muttered something under his breath and performed the counter spell.
"Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, if you could..."
Both professors nodded and stood up, performing the counter-spell alongside Dumbledore. Soon, all of the students had been returned to their original forms, and were crying out for punishment.
"I guarantee a full investigation..."
"Professor Dumbledore."
The voice cut through the Great Hall, and everyone turned to see a tall figure standing at the door of the Great Hall, a man who looked to be in his early thirties, and who cut an impressive figure. The hall fell deathly silent as he walked up, between the tables, towards Professor Dumbledore.
It was the first time most of the students had actually seen Dumbledore look scared, but it wouldn't be the last, and none of them were aware that this was just the beginning.