Here is THE chapter! Our school year has begun, and with that comes more spaced-out updates. We hope you like what we write so far, and check back every Friday or Saturday for new chapters. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!
Dinner was uneventful as always, and the Marauder's were cheerfully unaware of their imminent doom waiting back in their dormitories. Lily and Jane ate with more enthusiasm than usual, a pumpkin juice toast by Alice who was overjoyed by the news that Jane had gotten on to the Quidditch team and the three girls were so happy nothing seemed to diminish their euphoric giddiness.
That is, until Sirius Black and James Potter strayed to their side of the table, followed by a small crowd of obnoxiously eager boys and Sirius demanded to woo Jane right in front of the whole of the Great Hall.
"Never before have I seen a better Quidditch player than Jane Mackenzie; this girl is a gift to the Gryffindor team! Watching you on a broom is electrifying. I underestimated you Jane, darling, you are exactly what the team needs. A natural." Sirius boasted, and Jane blushed.
"A true player born to be on a broom, I look forward to seeing you play in the future, Jane. You're a very talented Chaser, I never knew it would be in you. But I suppose you surprised us all with your techniques." James elbowed Sirius, who winked at Jane, and the small crowd of boys, many of whom she didn't even know, were congregating around the blonde girl, who on that night received more relationship invitations than she could fathom getting in one hundred years.
"Everybody loves a good-looking and star Quidditch player. And Prefect." Alice smiled secretly to Lily, who was calmly watching the mass of boys lessen and lessen with each refusal from Jane. She felt kind of bad for the boys, some of which were bashful to begin with, only to be rejected, and others who simply came to congratulate her even though she had never seen them.
"Thank you, that's very sweet of you, oh thanks!" She awkwardly waved everyone away, turned back to her friends, who simply burst out laughing at how red Jane's face was. "I feel like someone just stuck me in an oven to get baked. I'm so ashamed." Lily patted her back and reminded her that Thomas Brown was just waiting around the corner.
"I guess you'll be catching his attention soon enough. Then voila, there's your date to Slughorn's party and your boy-toy." Jane flushed and slapped Lily on the arm.
Marauder's POV
James had returned to his table, but his gaze lingered on a certain red-head, watching Lily laugh with her friends and smiling. She had a marvelous smile, James thought. It brightened up the entire room and those green eyes sparkled when she was happy. He was so consumed by his observation that a hand on his shoulder, Darcy's slender hand, snapped him out of his trance harshly.
"Are you alright? You've been acting very odd today…" Darcy's cool blue gaze was soft and worried, but James hoped beyond hope she didn't see him pretty much checking out Lily Evans. If there was one thing he was afraid of, it was making her upset. She was scary but in a lot of ways she had a motherly sort of care that made him feel guilty. James was in a deep denial with his feelings. One, Darcy was his pillar of support after his mum died. Sure, Sirius had been there for him, but that was until he broke up with Charlotte and James was too confused to talk to him about it. Darcy had pulled out all the stops and even though he knew she was just his girlfriend and nothing else, he kind of owed it to her to stay. If not, he would end up hurt. Darcy should've gone in Slytherin, she could intimidate anyone.
She was still waiting for an answer, and James had taken a while to answer.
"Eh? Oh, yeah I'm fine."
"It's Evans isn't it?"
James internally cringed. Here it comes.
"Huh, so she changed and now it's her looks isn't it? If you want to talk to her, that's fine. Go find the mudblood and have fun." Darcy got up and James held his head in his hands. This couldn't be happening right now.
"Darcy? Darcy where are you going?" ("Bless Remus's soul")
"Just going to talk to Charlotte. We have a lot of catching up to do." Sirius had frozen when he heard Darcy's voice and if anyone could pick up on Darcy's trouble tone, it was Sirius.
The Marauder's end of the table went from a sunny day in paradise to absolutely freezing cold. They all watched Darcy walk away to Charlotte, her wavy black triangle of hair bouncing with each step she took.
Sirius took one look at James and gulped. James had become very quiet, Remus itching to do something and Pettigrew just staring at Sirius and James in horrid confusion.
"So uh, I think it's time we go back to the dorms."
"I need a drink right now. Alcohol preferably." James was very pale.
"Oh come on, Potter, lighten up. She'll get over it."
"Pray she does, Sirius, pray she does. Or else I'm screwed."
"I'm gonna-"
"-go see Frank." Lily and Jane said at the same time.
Alice smiled and stuck out her tongue. Lily and Jane waved, giggling, as Alice left and blew them a kiss over her shoulder.
Dinner was over and Lily and Jane left together, smiles permanent fixtures on their faces and Jane had to split and go off on her evening patrol of the halls, bidding farewell to Lily who turned away and down the hall to the girl's dormitory.
Only to run into James Potter.
"Oh, sorry Potter." Lily had to bite her lip hard to not start laughing. "You should be going to your dormitory, or were you going to visit Darcy?"
"I need to ask you something." Lily paused and looked seriously at James who didn't even grace her with a proper response. "Do you like tulips?"
Lily opened her mouth, closed it, and then blinked furiously. "Yeeeessss…" she slowly drawled out, tentatively.
James's eyes blew up and Lily was scared for a moment. She slowly moved her hand to her wand to hex him but he breathed out a relieved sigh that sounded like a breathless laugh.
"Thank goodness. Thank you, thank you Lily." Lily looked frightened, and Sirius was barely containing his laughter where he was "hiding" behind a corner. Lily glared and wrenched herself from James's grip with more force necessary, but added: "Yeah, no problem freak. Tulips are my favorite flower, if you planning on sending me some to burn in a fire."
James swayed on the spot at the response and burst into a truly gleeful smile. Warmth spread over his chest and he waved and called a "good night and sweet dreams, Miss Evans. Think of me." James danced back to Sirius and the rest of the Marauders.
"She likes tulips. No, her favorite flowers are tulips."
"She probably thinks you were gonna play a prank on her, you blustering fool, going in like that. You need to work on being a smoother player James."
"Let's go back. I think it's time we do play a prank on them, though. Good ideas, Sirius."
They went back, and as planned, Sirius took a swig of the water in his bottle and fell into bed with a heavy sigh. James took a sip and capped his own bottle, but that wasn't yet the extent of their great fall.
Remus usually didn't drink from other people's bottles, but he had no idea where his bottle went and he was thirsty. He shrugged and took James's bottle ("less chance of contracting something that I could get from Sirius") and took three long gulps that emptied his bottle. James smacked Remus across the head, and then, for absolutely no reason whatsoever, Pettigrew thought it was okay to drink the remainder of Sirius's. They didn't feel anything. Yet. They all said goodnight and slept deeply.
That night James the dream again. It was about his mum.
When he woke up, he would expect to see her smiling face as she brushed his hair away from his face but he only saw the top of the canopy bed he slept in. He sighed and turned toward the left side of his bed.
To be greeted 2 centimeters away by Sirius's dreamy-eyed stare.
"James." If it was any other day, James might've yelped and fallen off the bed but he was suddenly swamped, literally mentally and physically, SWAMPED, by the need to curl up and cuddle Sirius like a cat. His entire being moved closer to Sirius's warmth, and he inhaled the smell of...body odor, but he liked it. He liked it a lot.
"Hmm...you're so warm Sirius." Sirius hummed and stroked James's hair slowly and thoughtfully, shoving his nose into James's soft brown hair and inhaling his scent. That wasn't all.
"Your hair is so soft, James, I just want to touch it all day long."
"I'd let you."
"..."
"I love your hair too, Sirius. It's soooo long and sexy. Just like your mysterious fucking eyes."
"Not as sexy as your hair, James. Your eyes make me melt into puddles of warmth."
"Everything about you Sirius is sooooo sexy. I can't believe I never saw how beautiful you were before."
"Me either, James, you're smoking HOT and every time girls look at you it makes me burn with jealousy. You're mine and only mine."
"Oh Sirius…"
"Let's get up, James. Breakfast is waiting for you. You need to be fed."
"But I want to stay here with you, Sirius."
Sirius dragged James out of the bed and hauled him into the bathroom, urging him to change and get downstairs. James never changed so fast before and he yanked open the door to be met with Sirius's face and James smiled dopily back. Sirius had apparently changed and they were latched at the hip as they stumbled down to breakfast. Remus joined them shortly afterwards, looking far more wild-looking than he usually looked. He took one look at Sirius and growled like a wolf.
"Get away from him, you bloody git." Sirius looked murderously at Lupin. "You wish, Moony. Get out of our way."
"Not until you let him go."
"Stop it Remus!" James pushed Lupin away and Remus looked hurt.
"James, have I told you lately how much I love you? I woke up this morning and Merlin, I realized I live every day to see your face, and I can't bare seeing you with anyone else, just come here." James looked appalled, and then Peter appeared.
More like he pounced like a lion on James and dug his nails into his skin, making him howl in pain, and Sirius threw a punch to Peter's face, ("NO ONE TOUCHES MY DEAR JAMES!") which made Remus throw a hex in Sirius's direction, ("SAYS YOU YOU BASTARD!") and James weeped in pain and fear as his dear Sirius was fighting Remus off, ("SIRIUS I LOVE DON'T GET HURT, STOP REMUS YOU'RE RUINING EVERYTHING!") so James yanked Remus off only to have Peter finish the job and lift Sirius up off bridal style, ("AHAH YOU'RE MINE SIRIUS") only to fall (Sirius was heavier than he looked) a look of manic glee in Peter's eyes as he toppled on top of Sirius with dreamy eyes.
"Oh Sirius, look where we are now. Let me love you." Sirius looked disgusted and then Peter kissed him, James screaming and yanking him off, ("NUHOOO!") James replacing Peter's lips with his and then Remus tackled James off ("NUHOOO!") to kiss James then was thrown off by Sirius who continued their earlier kiss.
Let it be known that all of this transpired in a crowded hall, in front of none other but hundreds of shocked students, many weeping girls ("They're GAY?!",) Darcy Chester, who usually met the boys before breakfast, only to be greeted by pandemonium in return. She had a restless night and this, THIS, was exactly what she didn't need. She was doing good until James locked lips with Sirius and her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted into the arms of her clique. Somewhere in the distance, Charlotte was screaming and sobbing.
Of course, this was going more than to plan with the girls, who had purposely maneuvered themselves in the shadows near the boys dormitory, a muting charm held over them as they cackled with tears of laughter and Lily was laughing so hard she was on the floor clutching her stomach, Jane's face was tinged dark red and Alice was breathless, unsure what to feel about poor Lupin and Pettigrew getting dragged into this but blimey, blimey it was a mighty good laugh.
Then there was the massive wooing contest.
"Oh Sirius, I would do anything for you!" -James
"Oh Sirius, just being next to you for the rest of my life would be enough for me!" -Peter
"Shut up, he's mine PETTIGREW!" -James
"AGH GET AWAY FROM SIRIUS YOU VERMIN!" -Peter
"Oh James, forget everything and marry me! We could leave everything behind just for each other!" -Sirius
"Oh James, I'd protect you and love you until we'd grow old together, your beauty deserves to be cherished until the end of time, don't let your heart be broken by a fool like Sirius!" -Remus
"This is getting too out of hand!" Lily turned, as McGonagall sweeped in like the heroine she was, flashing her wand this way and that, until the four boys were stuck in place, still thrashing and hissing at each other like bathed cats.
"Will you boys snap out of it?! What has gone into you four?" Remus growled again, this time at McGonagall, who gasped in horror, along with many a girl who had never seen Remus so much as glare in the wrong way at them, and she spluttered in shock. "Oh dear, Mr. Lupin, how preposterous! What a transformation! My oh...detention! All of you! You poor boy. Peter, don't you DARE make another face like that toward Mr. Black or all of you are to report to Dumbledore. This is OUTRAGEOUS!" Minerva McGonagall huffed in exasperation and magically dragged the four of them away from the crowd of shell-shocked and traumatized onlookers.
A few girls openly sobbed, Sirius's fanclub, and most of the boys who were caught in the traffic from dormitories to breakfast were trying to comfort them, like fisherman caught in a sea of fresh fish. Since now the Marauder's were now off limits. Some girls, were squealing and swooning ("Oh my god, that was so adorable! They were ready to risk their lives for each other! That's so sweet! Real love right there!") that the love...quadrangle of their conspiracy dreams had come true. Others, the skeptical ones, were already narrowing down a list of worthy opponents of the Marauder's who could have amortentia-ed them.
It was only a matter of time before the potion wore off and the Marauder's were going to come after them with a burning vengeance.
"Time to get out of here. Did you girls grab breakfast beforehand like I told you?" Lily asked her friends, Jane and Alice nodding back.
"Marvelous. Come along Jane." Alice waved goodbye and left for her class, looking back for some last laughs, and Lily and Jane made their way down to the dungeon. They were still giggling and walking away from the crowd when someone grabbed Jane's arm and separated her from Lily, who kept on walking.
"WHO-"
"Shhh…"
She looked up into the face of Thomas Brown, and her heart gave up and fainted like Darcy five minutes before.
"Uhh..."
"Heyyy sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. Jane Mackenzie right? Thomas Brown." He extended a hand and smiled so perfectly Jane had to press the pause button on her life and take a minute to weep in happiness.
"Uhh...uh Hi! Hi...Hi!"
Thomas laughed and Jane kicked herself hard. Good job Jane!
"Hi, hi, hi to you too, Jane. So I was wondering, um, would you like to hang out this weekend? I have a few friends coming with me to Hogsmeade, and your name came up. I don't know you very well, but I want to-" Jane zoned out after that. If she was staring into eyes, she didn't care, just that the words "hang out" and "I want to" ringing in her ears made her want to die on the spot.
Unreal. She barely knew him. They were going to hang out.
"So...do you want to?" ("Who gave him permission to be so charming? UGHH…") Jane was nodding slowly, thinking that nothing could possibly stop her from saying yes, so she did.
"Great!...erm...I guess that's-"
"Oh hey! Hey, um, so...I'm going to this party, like not NOW, but near Halloween I think? It's for Slughorn-"
"Oh yeah, I've heard of it."
"YeAH," Jane's voice cracked and Thomas laughed as Jane blushed like no tomorrow, with another awkward laugh she finished, "Iwasthinkingifyouwanttocanyoucomewithme?Totheparty?Likeasadate?Foronenight?" Thomas Brown's eyebrows shot up and Jane knew it, she blew it. She was given one chance at this in life and she blew it by being an overeager puppy instead of taking it slowly like most sane people did.
"Of course. Why not? I don't think I have anything planned that night. But if I do, I'll cancel it for a pretty girl like you." ("OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod")
"HEH, ehem, thanks! I-er-I...I didn't actually think you'd, like, say yes. But uh...wow, huh, I mean no one else would go, and I thought since like, you're a boy!" ("Merlin's beard, Jane Mackenzie, could you be any MORE awkward?")
"Yes, I am. But I'm sure any boy would've gone with you if you asked."
"Well, you're not like any b-BY THE WAY! Um, I'll tell you the details when I see you next weekend maybe? I hope I won't be intruding on anything right? We like, hah, don't know each other very well? But yeah...um...got to get to class?" Jane needed to get out of the same breathing space as her crush or else she was gonna get crushed by the impending storm of emotions that were short-circuiting her brain at the moment.
"Okay, I'll see you. Come meet us at the Leaky Cauldron then? Oh and congratulations on making the Quidditch team, Jane!" He walked away, and Jane said a quick "thanks and goodbye" to Thomas before calmly sprinting the hell out of there. Her legs gave out just as she made it to her seat in potions, and after sighing loudly, making a few people stare her way, (Lily, I'll tell you everything later…) she started laughing, slowly, but steadily gaining more and more volume as she remembered that James and Sirius weren't going to be in potions today.
Here's a little summary of what happened that day.
In the med bay, Darcy had recovered from her blackout and proceeded to cross a few beds down to where James was, bruised and battered from his beating from Peter, who vehemently apologized once he came to, but now back to normal, and slapped him across the face. Sirius chuckled, holding a bag of ice to a nasty bruise to his jaw and Remus simply glared at him, face still red after a long scolding from McGonagall followed by a few pitied pats on the back. A few minutes later, Sirius's fanclub crowded around with flowers and cards as if he had gone and died and weeped over his "coming out of the closet" proposal to James. James blushed and groaned, trying to suffocate himself with a pillow but only proving to hurt his bruises even more. The Marauder's missed a full day of classes, with only one day to make up two day's worth of coursework.
Quidditch practice that day was cancelled for "obvious reasons" ("You are to attend detention for every day for the next two weeks, and no fooling around. Quidditch will have to stay on hold." McGonagall's words of doom made James and Sirius protest "MINNIE NO YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" at the same time.)
Lily, Jane and Alice agreed to never let the Marauder's live this day down in Hogwarts history. It was going to be their great fall, the darkest day, the worse moment of their short lives. If one thing was for sure, though, the girls could all agree.
"They deserved it, those pompous slimeballs."
Alternatively called: "The Chapter where the girls get everything they want". Like always, please review, follow and favorite :D