This was originally meant to be one chapter, but it was taking so long to write and I figured the wait for the next chapter had been long enough, so I decided to just split this in half. I'm not sure if it's that good, but hopefully it's worth the wait. I figured that I've dragged this story on for a long enough time, and so I figured there will only be a couple more chapters left before it's over. I mean it this time! It's been going on for TWO YEARS! The plot bunnies have been attacking me over the weekend, and I'm working on a VERY AU Harry Potter story.
I'm sorry about the long wait... has it really been more than a month since I updated last? It seems so much shorter than that... I suppose you're wondering what my excuse is THIS time. Well, I was busy trying not to fail science, and I'm proud to say I have a C in that class now! That, AND I've been outside enjoying the warm weather God blessed this part of the world with. It's about time, is all I have to say! :)
Thank you to future-famous-jen, LoganLover8128, GroowyL, and Soreye for reviewing! You guys rock! :)
Disclaimer:
Me: See last chapter.
Sirius: HEY! THAT'S NO FUN!
Me: Well DEAL WITH IT!
Sirius: Geez, who hasn't had their medicine today?
Me: You're the one who bounces off the walls every day!
Sirius: Well... uh... FALL OUT BOY IS ON MY IPOD!
Me: That's... random... very random...
Chapter Twenty: Senior Skip Day part 1
The next day was, unfortunately, a school day. James and Sirius had just been woken up by Remus, who was the morning person of the group (except on nights after the full moon).
"Do we to go to class?" Sirius whined, yawning.
"Yes, we do," Remus said, firmly.
"I have an idea," James said, smirking.
"You have an idea! What's your idea?" Sirius asked, immediately recognizing the look in James' eyes.
"Oh, no," Remus muttered.
"Let's make today Skip Day!"
"Awesome!" Sirius grinned.
"Where would we go?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows.
"How about someplace Muggle?" James thought aloud. "We could make it a field trip!"
"Like a… Muggle amusement park? I've always wanted to go to one of those," Sirius suggested, excited.
"Perfect!" James shouted, high-fiving Sirius.
"Now, which one do we go to?" Sirius asked.
"Remus? You're the one most familiar with Muggle things," James looked at him, expectantly.
"Well, there was one in America I went to once on vacation with my family, before I got my... FLP," Remus said, slowly.
"What was it called?" Sirius questioned.
"Umm, let me think for a moment. I think it was... Cedar Point...? Yes, that's it! Cedar Point, in Ohio!"
"It looks like we have our day planned out, then!" James grinned, excited.
"Should we invite the others?" Remus asked.
"Of course! Although I doubt Lily and Hermione would be too happy with this," James answered.
"We need some Muggleborns to help us out with the money and everything, anyways," Sirius replied.
"I can't wait!" Sirius grinned.
"Let's go see what they think," Remus said, and James and Sirius followed him out of the dorm and down to the Common Room, where Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lily were waiting for them.
"We have an idea!" James burst out, when they arrived. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lily looked at them, waiting for them to continue.
"Well, are you going to tell us or not?" Lily asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"I'll have you know I was pausing for dramatic effect!" James mock-glared at her, dawning a hurt expression.
Lily rolled her eyes, and said, "Go on, then. What's your great idea?"
"Well, neither of us wanted to go to class today-," James started to speak.
"Meaning me and Jamsie," Sirius added.
"So I suggested we have a Ditch Day!"
"And that we all go to Cedar Point, in Ohio-,"
"And spend the whole day there!"
"What's a Cedar Point?" Ron asked.
"A Muggle amusement park," Remus replied, cutting in before James or Sirius made a remark.
"Ooohhhh, I love those!" Lily exclaimed, grinning.
"Rollercoaster's aren't exactly my thing, but it'll definitely be fun!" Hermione added.
"Will there be pie?" Harry asked. Everyone gave him a weird look.
"I want PIE!"
"Yeah, there'll probably be pie there..." James said, uncertainly.
"Then let's go!" Harry bounced up and down, excited for the amusement park. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had taken Dudley to one once, (he wasn't allowed to go and was forced to be babysat by Mrs. Figgs) and Dudley had hated it mainly because he couldn't fit into the seats, he was that fat. Because wittle Duddikins had hated the amusement park, they had never gone again.
"Don't we need to make an excuse?" Lily asked.
"One more detention won't kill us, Lily," Sirius replied.
"Does anyone have American money?"
"I do!" Harry shouted as American money appeared in thin air. As everyone stared at him, he looked at them and said, "What? It's my dream. You guys can have some too!"
Everyone cheered as American money appeared. However, another problem faced them.
"James?"
"Yeah, Sirius?"
"How do you count American money?"
"Lily?" James turned to her.
"God, don't you ever pay attention in Muggle Studies?" Lily asked, rolling her eyes.
"Nope! He's too busy staring at you the whole time!" Sirius answered, cheerfully.
"Sirius!" James, embarrassed, hit him on his shoulder lightly.
"Do we have enough money?" Ron asked.
"Yup," Sirius answered.
"How do we get there?" Harry asked, eyes widening as he thought of another dilemma.
"Apparating!" James responded, lightly.
"So we're set and ready to go?" Lily raised her eyebrows, surprised the Marauders had thought of just about everything.
"Oh, wait! What's our cover?" Harry got one last question in.
"We are the Marauders! We don't need cover!" Sirius said, insulted by the question.
"It would be good to have a cover story," Remus sided with Harry.
"Sirius, what's our cover?" James asked him.
"Ummm, James' mother was sick so you went to take care of her, and I came along. Remus has the... chicken pox and his mother wanted him to come home. Harry, you injured your leg in Quidditch practice and went home so you wouldn't be a burden to Madam Pomfrey. Ron's brother has cancer, so you left school so you could be with him. And for Hermione..." Sirius paused for a second, "your father has the... swine flu, so you left to be with him! Yeah, that's it! The swine flu!" he finished, crossing her arms with a superior look on his face that only grew when she saw the shocked looks on everyone else's face.
"What about Lily?" James asked, the first to recover.
"Lily? Umm, how about..." Sirius frowned as he thought of another excuse, "Lily's sister's wedding with her cow of a fiancé is today, and her parents are making her go to it... yes, that'll do very nicely!"
"How do you think of these things?" Harry asked, in awe.
"From the Book of Excuses!" Sirius answered, holding up a book.
"The only book he's ever read," Remus said, shaking his head.
"You really should be used to it, Moony," Sirius responded, smirking.
"Now that that's all set, can we go now?" Harry whined.
"I don't see why not!" James chirped.
A FEW SECONDS LATER IN CEDAR POINT, OHIO...
It was an unusually warm, bright and sunny day for the people at Cedar Point. Everything was basically under control, for an amusement park. One could see the screaming baby in the background, and the overwhelmed mother trying to shush it.
There were little kids running around, going crazy as THEIR haggard mothers tried to catch them. You could also see the occasional couple making out in the shadows. This ordinary American scene would soon change after the arrival some certain wizards and witches from England…
There was crack, and there someone with an English accent said loudly, "I am NEVER apparating again!"
Then a voice, probably female, who also had an English accent, said, "Well how else do you plan to get back to Hogwarts, Ronald?"
"Will you two stop arguing?" a frustrated voice exclaimed. The voices grew louder as they walked towards the entrance gates, and people couldn't help staring at the strange foreigners, who were arguing like mad.
An observer could see that they were teenagers, probably in their late teens. Two boys had messy black hair and glasses. Another boy had black hair, two others -a boy and a girl- had bright red hair, a girl had bushy brown hair, and the last boy had sandy brown hair.
"Sorry, Harry," the two chorused, although only the girl actually sounded sorry.
"Dude, this is freaking amazing!" Sirius crowed, staring at the many roller coasters in awe.
"It's Cedar Point, what do you expect?" Lily said, rolling her eyes. She had been here once before with her family on vacation, before she received her Hogwarts letter.
"Do you have the money?" James asked Lily. She had been picked to keep track of the money, since she had the most experience with it.
"Of course, James," Lily replied, showing him the money that she was keeping in her purse.
"Okay, good. Now let's go in!" Sirius said eagerly, bouncing up and down excitedly.
"Will he ever grow up?" Lily whispered in Remus' ear.
"Probably not, if things keep on like this. But then again, he wouldn't be Sirius if he ever did," Remus whispered back, careful not to let anyone else hear that.
"Where do we go now?" Ron asked.
"AGAIN, with the stupid questions! Honestly, look over there!" James said, exasperatedly pointing to where the employees were letting people in.
After they got their tickets, Lily asked everyone, "Where do you want to go first?"
"I WANNA GO ON THE DRAGSTER!" Sirius exclaimed, drowning out anything anyone else said.
"Which one is that?" James asked.
"That one!" Sirius pointed at a really tall ride further into the park.
"OOOHHHHH, I second that!" James said, excitedly.
"I guess it's settled then," Hermione shrugged, catching Remus' eye. He made a lot of confusing gestures that she didn't understand before he gave up and dragged her over into a more private area.
"Do you want to spend the day together?" Remus asked, a little nervous.
"Sure!" Hermione's eyes lit up at that idea.
"Okay, let's go," Remus smiled, and taking the lead, they went deeper into the amusement park.
"What about the others?" Hermione asked.
"Live a little, 'Mione," Remus grinned. Hermione thought about it for a while, before she said, "Let's do this!"
"I KNEW hanging out with us would rub off on you eventually!" Remus smirked playfully.
Hermione mock-glared at him. "You know, I could always head back to the others."
"Fine, fine. Which one do you want to ride first?" Remus sighed.
"I don't know. How about that one?" Hermione pointed to one.
"Alright," Remus agreed, pulling out the map of Cedar Point.
"Which one is it?" Hermione asked, looking over his shoulder.
"I believe this is the Raptor."
"Sweet!"
Together, the couple made their way over to the line. A very long line, Remus noticed with a little irritation. Oh well, that meant more time he could spend with 'Mione. He leaned in to kiss her...
MEANWHILE...
Meanwhile, the rest of the group was heading over to the Dragster. Or, more specifically, as Lily pointed out, the Top Thrill Dragster.
"Isn't it kind of stupid to have a ride that just goes up and down?" Ron asked.
"IT GOES ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILES PER HOUR!" Sirius shouted, as if that put an end to the discussion.
"AND IT GOES FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY FEET IN THE AIR! HOW CAN YOU CALL SOMETHING LIKE THAT STUPID?" James chimed in, glaring at Ron.
Ron crossed his arms and pouted, glowering at James and Sirius the rest of the way to the ride.
"Hey, where are Hermione and Remus?" Lily's eyes widened as she thought of them.
"Probably making out somewhere," Sirius guessed.
"Awww, look at the line," Ron groaned, as they approached it. "We'll be here for HOURS!"
Sirius glared at Ron, and said firmly, "The ride goes 120 miles per hour in less than FOUR SECONDS!"
"And the ride goes 420 feet into the air! You can't pass this up, dude!" James added.
"It better be worth it," Ron frowned, not liking always being ganged up on by James and Sirius.
"Oh, it will be," Sirius smirked at James, who sniggered.
"Are you two planning something?" Lily asked, suspiciously.
"What? No, my dear Lilykins!" James said a little too quickly. Sirius smacked his hand on his forehead at what a terrible liar James was.
"Do you WANT to get thrown out?" Lily narrowed her eyes at James.
"Err, no Lily, but-,"
"Come on, relax Lily. You can even ride it with James," Sirius said, trying to calm her down.
"Fine. But I'm NOT letting this go, you hear me?" Lily said, compensated for now. FOR NOW.
"Who are you going to ride it with then?" James asked.
"Harry, of course!"
"Then who am I gonna ride it with?" Ron pouted.
"You can ride it, with… LAVENDER! Yeah that's it, Lavender!" Harry smirked.
"But how can you do that?" Ron asked, clueless.
"Um, I thought we had covered this already. IT'S MY DREAM!" Harry replied, getting a little tired of having to answer that question.
A few seconds later, Lavender appeared next to Ron. A few MORE seconds later, and James and Sirius shouted, "Get a room, lovebirds!"
AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER...
"I can't believe we actually rode the Dragster! It's the best roller coaster EVER! Can we ride it again?" Ron asked, jumping up and down.
"No, NOW we go ride-," James began to speak.
"The Millennium Force!" Sirius finished for him.
It went on like this throughout the day, with James and Sirius' conspiring, Lily shooting suspicious looks at them, Ron and Lavender snogging, or as the kids here called it, making out, and Harry talking about random things, like pie and pickles.
THE END.
NOT! Do you really think I would just leave you, the reader, hanging like that? That ending was not funny in the least. Where are the pranks, the laughter? And what of Remus and Hermione, whatever became of them? No, the REAL ending to the chapter goes a little more like this:
After what seemed like forever, they were finally at the beginning of the line for the Dragster. As it pulled up, Sirius, James, and Harry were all bouncing up and down, looking like little boys at Christmas. Lily was trying to look like she didn't know them, and Ron and Lavender were making eyes at each other.
"Do you have them ready?" James whispered to Sirius, inconspicuously as possible.
"Yup, this is gonna be great!" Sirius said, as quietly as he could without drawing Lily's attention.
"I can't believe that we're actually at the beginning of the line! We're up next!" Harry exclaimed, drawing Lily's attention away from the two Marauders.
"I hope no one's looking for us," Lily said, worriedly.
"Lily, you worry too much. Just for this day, let it go and enjoy it," James said.
Lily opened her mouth to reply, but it was cut short when the next cart arrived.
"Yay! We get the red one!" Ron said, happily.
"For Gryffindor!" Lavender said, giggling at Ron's silliness.
Once they were all on the ride, Lily looked at James nervously.
"Are you scared?" James asked, noticing how tense Lily was.
"I'm scared to see what prank you and Sirius are going to pull. I know you well enough to know when you're up to something." Lily said.
"Of course you do," James grinned knowingly, putting his arm around Lily.
"So what are you and James going to do?" Harry asked Sirius. They were directly behind Lily and James.
"Lily has EARS, you know!" Sirius said; alarmed Lily might overhear.
"Well SOOOOOORRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY for asking the obvious!" Harry snapped back.
"Well, okay. I suppose it WOULD be better if there were more people. This is what we have planned..."
Behind Harry and Sirius, Lavender and Ron were snogging.
"I love you, Lavender," Ron said, looking into Lavender's wide eyes.
"I love you too, Ron!" Lavender grinned, and leaned in to kiss him.
"When will this goddamn ride start so I don't have to watch these kids making out?" the overworked-looking man behind Ron and Lavender exclaimed. His wife attempted to make soothing noises that did nothing to ease his stress.
Before they knew it, it started. The ride instantly shot out from its previously still position, shooting them into the air.
"IN FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE!" James shouted, and dropped the water balloons off of the top of the Dragster. Sirius and Harry did the exact same thing! Lily shrieked, clinging to James as if he was her lifeline. Believe it or not, Ron and Lavender were still making out.
MEANWHILE, ON THE GROUND...
"I can't believe we just did that!" Hermione giggled. She pulled up her bra strap and ran a hand through her bushy hair, trying to smooth it out.
"Neither can I! Do you want to get in line for the Dragster?" Remus asked, laughing.
"Of course! Just after this," Hermione smiled, and kissed him. Remus eagerly kissed back, but was interrupted when something came out of thin air and hit them!
"What the hell?" Remus exclaimed, staring up at the sky.
"I think it was a water balloon!" Hermione said, holding up the pieces of the water balloon.
"How could a water balloon—I'm going to KILL James and Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, realization hitting him.
Hermione's eyes widened as it made sense, and added, "Don't forget Harry!"
"He's all yours."
"Awwww, thanks baby."
"You're welcome, love."
"So how are we going to get revenge on them?"
"I have a few ideas up my sleeve..."
"I can't wait to see them."
"This is going to be fun!"
"Oh yeah!"
Hermione kissed Remus, hardly believing she had such a great guy as her boyfriend.
In case you're unfamiliar with Cedar Point rides (which IS a real place in Sandusky, Ohio), go to wwwDOTCedarPointDOTcom to get a look!
Just replace the DOTS with a '.' and it should be fine. If the link doesn't work, let me know and I'll do something about it.
And as always, thanks for reading!