Goodness me. This chapter is not only short, but unfeasibly crap. I apologise! I'd write a better one but this one has taken me SO FRICKING LONG to write!
Hopefully a better one next time (Oh, hold on, I'm getting déjà vu.)
Love all of you. :D
"Good Christmas?"
"It was... feasible," smirked Sirius. He looked at James with a wink. "It picked up towards the end."
"What happened at the end?" asked Peter in a voice that didn't sound vaguely interested.
"Justice happened at the end, Pete," Sirius smiled. "How about you? You seem pretty low."
"Oh, just Mum, y'know," Peter said with a forced grin. "Nagging and stuff."
"Oh," Sirius said, his gaze lingering on Peter a moment as he said, "how about you, Remus?"
"Good thanks," Remus smiled. He seemed to reconsider this. "Although, I was rather chocolate deprived, actually."
"Pray tell," Sirius said, cocking an eyebrow.
Remus grinned. "My mother decided to try and make a chocolate gateau."
"A chocolate what-oh?"
"Gateau," repeated Remus. "It's a cake."
"Why didn't you just say cake? That'd have been easier."
"Anyway," Remus said loudly, "being my mother, she forgot to buy a cake mix. And being my mother, she decided that she would start the cake from scratch by using some of my Honeydukes chocolate. Needless to say, by the time she was finished, both the chocolate and the gateau were inedible."
"Oh, you poor little boy," James said in mock sympathy. "Ill-deprived; were you forced to eat vegetation like the common British wizard?"
"I love a man with a healthy appetite!" Sirius said in a high-pitched voice.
"Thank you to our excellent house elves for that wonderful feast," Professor Dumbledore said as quiet began to fall around the hall. Peter had fallen asleep on his plate; luckily he had left no food to dirty his cheek. "It was indeed scrumptious, and pleasantly filling. Indeed, I am drowsy now, so I won't keep you all too long. I am sure you are anxious to catch up in your common rooms tonight." His eyes twinkled knowingly as a titter of laughter passed through the hall. "For now though, I would like to heed a warning.
"Last night, several Death Eaters tried to penetrate the Hogwarts wards. Of course, thanks to our excellent staff, none of the students in the castle or any of the teachers or residents of the forest received any harm.
"However, they came frighteningly close to seizing the castle, which brings to me to lay down a few extra rules for your safety. Students should under no circumstances leave the castle past eight o'clock in the evening. Whilst they are still free to roam the castle until their year's curfew, the grounds will be prohibited."
Sirius poked Peter with his fork; Peter awoke with a little yelp, looked wildly around and glared at Sirius, before attempting to jam his own fork in the other boy's hand.
"As for now, we assume that the common rooms are the safest place in the castle, in case of another attack."
"Gryffindor's is safest, though," James whispered to Sirius, who was holding Peter's arm away from him in an attempt to try and rescue his hand from danger. Sirius turned to raise his eyebrows at him.
"I know I'm no Voldemort," he said, rolling his eyes when Peter flinched visibly, "but I doubt the Dark Lord of All Iniquity will take on a Hufflepuff for his Evil Protégée."
"Fair enough," James shrugged.
"And finally," Dumbledore said, and James was absolutely certain his eyes were glinting at him, "It appears that we must, once again, remind our students that the Forbidden Forest is not just a name. The Forest is inevitably forbidden, and this applies to all of you. Whether you think it is chivalrous, or whether it is for a deeper reason, such as friendship or loyalty, I must remind you that the Forest can be very dangerous at times. The Whomping Willow is planted to ward off the Forbidden Forest for a reason other than to look pretty, or to play brash games with." He was definitely looking at James now, who grinned at him. There was a small crash from next to him; Peter had given up trying to fight Sirius again and had collapsed in a tired heap on the table.
"And I think that is enough from me. Alas, I see row upon row of blank faces, and fork related maladies." He smiled. "I think that it is time for us to all go to bed."
"Hear hear," Peter mumbled sleepily from his dinner plate.
"Excellent, Muggle Studies," Sirius said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them enthusiastically with a beam.
James looked up with a disgusted face. "Muggle Studies is as boring as shit," he said pointedly.
"Yes," Sirius agreed impatiently, "but MacDonald stayed at Hogwarts this year, and she can't keep her mouth shut."
"I don't get it," Peter confessed.
Remus rolled his eyes. "He wants to know what went on at Christmas, probably so that he can swear a lot about his family and whinge about them until our ears are bleeding."
"You read my mind." He looked out of the window wistfully. "If they ever attack school when we're in it..." He let the thought tail off.
"Is it wise to strike conversation with Mary at the moment?" asked Remus wisely.
"Oh, on first name terms with her, are we?" Sirius teased with a raised eyebrow. "Myrtle won't be pleased."
"Shit," Remus said, "Myrtle. We said we'd visit."
Sirius groaned.
"We promised, Sirius," Remus said flatly.
"Yeah," Sirius sighed.
"Am I missing something?" Peter asked with a frown. Sirius shook his head.
"She's missing Remus," he told him. "That's all you are required to know."
Peter harrumphed.
"I don't think I can stay awake any longer," yawned Peter. "I h-h-hate Astronomy. Why does it have to be so late?"
"Our own little star's fast asleep," James smirked, gesturing at Sirius who was curled into a ball in the armchair, grey eyes restless beneath his shadowed lids.
"It's all that hard work he's been doing lately," Remus said, good humoured sarcasm in his voice.
"I'm surprised they made him continue with Astronomy," James admitted. "All the times he fell asleep at the telescope..."
"Saying that, it's strange they allowed you to carry it on, what with the 'incessant tomfoolery'," said Remus with a smirk, quoting Professor Crane in a good mimic of his wispy little voice. James grinned.
"Well, you can't expect me to just let him sleep, when it's such a great joke opportunity, can you?"
"There's this thing called restraint," Remus said sarcastically. "It might come in handy for this lesson because I don't think someone's going to be able to stay awake for it." He glanced over at Sirius, who hadn't stirred at all.
"Do you know what a-annoys me the m-m-most?" Peter said through another yawn. He sat waiting expectantly for someone to say "What, Peter?" in interest. When no-one spoke, he continued. "How he can sleep through absolutely anything."
"I know what you mean," agreed Remus.
"Then you understand my need to wake him up?" James asked hopefully. Remus raised his eyebrows.
"Go on then," he said, as if he was allowing a small child to pick a tube of sweets from Honeydukes costing two sickles or less. "We need to go soon anyway."
James grinned, before launching himself on top of Sirius, who jumped so violently that he fell off of the chair and smacked his head on the sharp edge of the marble fireplace.
"Shit!" he gasped, his hand flying to his injured head. "Bloody hell, Prongs, what the hell did you do that for?"
James laughed, and helped Sirius to his feet, the boy still groaning.
"It's Astronomy, dearest," James said brightly.
"Can't we have a night off?" asked Sirius miserably. "I'm cream crackered."
"Have you done your star chart?" Remus enquired with a raised eyebrow.
"No," moaned Sirius. "Was it important?"
"Sirius, it's going to be graded."
"Bollocks." He looked up and blinked blearily. "Please can I bunk?"
"If I have to go, you're going too," snapped James. "I'm not facing Evans alone."
"Evans," groaned Sirius. "She's gone all deep on me."
"Oh, you've been having conversations with her, have you?" the other boy said, eyes inching up into his hairline. "Quite friendly with her, are we?"
"Lay off, James," Sirius mumbled. "I feel rotten."
Remus snorted at this, but said nothing, merely led the way out of the common room.
"Where's Professor Crane?"
They had just entered the classroom in the tower, waiting to be dragged out onto the cool platform, only to notice that the withered old man had disappeared, and had been replaced by someone a lot younger, thinner and more formidable looking.
"Professor Crane?" the woman asked with a small laugh. "Professor Crane's family were attacked by the Dark Lord. He has gone to spend time with them."
"And Dumbledore hired you?" Sirius asked bluntly.
The woman surveyed him coldly. "Sirius Black, I suppose? I remember you. Still obnoxious?"
Sirius shrugged. "Why do you call Voldemort the Dark Lord?"
"That's his name, isn't it?" she said with a shrill and humourless laugh. "Sit down, Sirius."
Sirius didn't move. "I thought that's what the Death Eaters called him."
"Sirius, need I ask you again?" she asked, forcing a smile on her face.
"You could call him Voldemort," suggested Sirius. "Nobody minds much, do they Remus?"
"Mr Black, could you and your friends kindly seat yourselves?"
Sirius scrutinized her face as if trying to recognise her.
She glared at him. "Sit down, or I'll make you."
"Don't threaten him," snapped James. "Who do you think you are?"
"Your teacher," she replied sternly. "Sit down, all three of you."
James brushed past her with one last glower, before seating himself in a desk, Remus swift on his heels.
"Your parents were right about you," the woman said with a raised eyebrow to Sirius. "You're a headcase."
She turned to the front of the class and pointed her wand at the board, causing silky white letters to web out onto it, displaying her name. Professor Avery.
"It is uncertain as of this moment how long I will be here for," she said, and Sirius was unsettled by her smile as she explained the reasons of her employment. He realised he recognised her from the infamous dinner party; she thought he was insane just like every other pureblood in the country thanks to his dear parents. He slouched miserably in his chair.
Professor Avery sat on the edge of her desk and gazed out at each of the students. "Well, where are your textbooks?" she asked pointedly. "How are you supposed to learn without those?"
"You could teach us," Remus suggested. She threw him a glare like daggers.
"Okay," she said, not taking her eyes from him, "I have just the lesson to do." She straightened up and turned to the board, tapping it again. "The lesson today shall be theory work. I do not expect-"
"Will we be going outside at all today?" interrupted James, looking at her.
Avery turned to gaze at him. "No." She tapped the board brusquely. "Get learning."
Remus looked up at the subject, his mouth falling open.
Lunar Cycles In Accordance With Magical Beings
"What?" Sirius was heard to say loudly from the back of the classroom.
"Is there a problem, Black?" Avery asked coldly.
"Yes, there's a fucking problem," Sirius snapped, before he caught Remus's glance and stopped.
"Would you care to elaborate?" she asked with a smirk.
"Oh, no," Sirius said with a forced smile. "My illness, you know." He hated her.
"So, we'll start with you, Mr Lupin," she said in a silky voice. "Do you know of any beasts that depend on Lunar Cycles?"
"Well," Remus said, and he scratched his chin. "Centaurs use the Lunar Cycle in accordance with their Myths."
Sirius grinned as Avery looked rather taken aback.
"Is there any other creature that more specifically relies on the moon, Lupin?" she asked, her voice slightly cross sounding.
"The Moon Rabbit," Lily Evans said suddenly, catching all four of the boys' attention.
"The what?"
"It's an Asian Myth," she continued. "I learnt about it for International Day, and when I came here, Professor McGonagall said that all Muggle Myths are based on truth. So, the Moon Rabbit." She stared defiantly at Avery, who was now glaring at her.
"Number one, Miss..."
"Evans," Lily told her.
"Miss Evans," Avery said with a forced smile. "Number one, Miss Evans, you spoke out of turn, which is both discourteous and unacceptable. And number two, when referring to International Day, I do suppose you are inferring that you are of Muggle origins?"
"Yes," Lily said, her voice growing a little colder at this. "Is there a problem with this, Professor?"
Avery laughed. "Muggle fairytales are in no way based on truth. Muggles fail to see everything or anything. You can hardly count on a fairytale anyway, Evans, needless to say a Muggle one."
"That's prejudice," Sirius said loudly, but Avery snapped across him.
"Shut up Black. Five points from Gryffindor." She turned back to Remus. "Any other beasts, Lupin? One that is perhaps proven to be real and perhaps, mutates? A werewolf, for instance?"
"Did you just deduct five points because you were being racist?" Sirius asked angrily.
Avery ignored him. "A werewolf has what characteristics, Mr Snape?"
Snape cited the characteristics a carbon copy from the characteristics. Sirius was sure smoke was beginning to fume from his ears.
"Good," Avery said. "Figg, your opinion on werewolves."
"Is this Defence?" asked James angrily.
"No, this is Astronomy."
"This is discrimination," Sirius said sourly.
"Mr Black, since you seem to have an opinion on everything," Avery said in a voice that sounded like she was struggling to keep control over, "Why don't you answer the question? What do you think about werewolves?"
"I don't think anything about them," Sirius said. "They're not all crowded round in a classroom at the moment going 'your opinion on Centaurs, Fenrir?' and being all hoity-toity and prejudiced, are they?"
"Why do you defend them so, Black?" sneered Avery. "Are you one? That'd explain why you seem rabid."
"Rabid?" James snorted. "He might be a little bit on the odd side, I'll give you that. But rabid? Is he foaming at the mouth or something?"
"What's your name, boy?" she asked him.
"James Potter," he replied. "And you're bang out of order."
"Bang out of order?" repeated Avery with raised eyebrows. "For expressing my opinion? Your friend does it so frequently, and you do not demand that he stop."
"And what is your opinion?" asked Remus audibly, catching all three of their attentions.
Avery smirked. "That they are vile animals that only Muggle filth and their spawn worship like they are a gift from God himself when they would kill them as soon as look at them."
"Now that is discrimination!" Sirius yelled at her, standing up so suddenly that his chair clattered to the ground.
Avery glared at him. "Get out of my classroom," she instructed.
"What? That's unfair!" James piped up.
"Evil bitch!" Lily snapped, surprising everyone. "He may be an arsehole but he doesn't deserve that!"
"Potter, Evans, get out as well." She glared at the rest of the class. "I will not have misbehaviour or disrespect in this classroom. Is that understood?"
They were at war.
Oh, good God, that took a long time to write! Sorry, we've been decorating, and the little work I have done on FF was not for this story.
I'm working on four super long one-shots for each of the Marauders and have so far done Remus's alone. (Shameless advertising much? :D) I'm working on Peter's next, and you know when you have to bridge one idea to the next but you don't know how and so it's just verbal spew? Yeah, that's what I did here :D :D
I've got to go tidy my room now.
Anyway, I have an ISA tomorrow, and so although that in itself is bad, it ensues no homework, so hopefully I should have written another chapter to post soon-ish. (But it's not an unbreakable vow because otherwise I'll be like Charles Dickens and this will be my Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Btw, thank you for all your lovely reviews! It was nice to know that you liked my serious chapters and also the character heavy ones! I'll try and get in some character heavy ones for the other three as well; I love James and Remus, and Peter is... Well, I'll try to write one for Peter.
Byeeeee :D