Dedications: This chapter is dedicated to Padfoot's Mate/Ela and lavender-sykes! Thank you lavender/Tina for being the 400th reviewer and finally hitting the mark! A huge thanks goes not only to these two people but to all my reviewers and readers for helping me hit the 400 mark and making writing this story worthwhile.
Remember: Every Review Counts! Heh. I love you all!
1972, 1st Year
Remus Rants:
Quote of the Day: "You, Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew, are a bunch of good-for-nothing-dim-witted MARAUDERS!" (Yes, we do realise that this quote has been used before but Mr. Padfoot insists that we use it again in the actual chapter that it was said)
The day of Sirius' birthday had finally arrived. It was a Friday, the last day of school for the week, and you know what happens on Friday – nobody wants to do any work because they just couldn't be bothered because it's going to be the weekend very soon.
This was very true of Sirius.
And James.
And Peter.
And since it was Sirius' birthday he was extra excited, and more insane than normal.
If that's even possible.
So, sitting in Charms (the last lesson of the day) that afternoon, I was the only one actually practising the charms out of the four of us. Professor Flitwick had given up trying to make Sirius do his work because he knew there was no way possible to make him, and since it was Sirius' birthday Flitwick wasn't too hard on him.
The fight that we had had over Mundungus was no longer an issue, and both Sirius and I chose to forget about it and we were back to normal.
Sirius was currently in the process of telling anyone who'd listen that it was his birthday.
"Guess what day it is!" Sirius was talking to Alexandra, a brown haired Gryffindor first year, one of Lily's friends.
"Friday?" she said, knowing full well what day it was.
"Yes, it is Friday, but what is so important about this Friday, Alex?"
"It's the day before Saturday?" she grinned.
"It's my birthday for crying out loud!" Sirius said, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.
"All right Sirius, no more harassing the girls," James said, trying to drag him away from where Lily and Alex were sitting.
"But I was only telling them a crucial fact which they should know!" Sirius said, throwing a charming smile at them. Lily rolled her eyes and looked at James.
"I daresay that they already know Sirius," James said.
"Please take him away before I jinx him," Lily said to James.
James grinned, "Hear that Sirius? Lily will jinx you if you don't stop annoying her."
"You too Potter," Lily said, the corners of her mouth tugged in a slight grin.
"Oh but I'm saving you from the terrible clutches of Sirius Black!" James said.
"We don't need saving," Lily replied.
"Just take him away," Alex said, smiling. James flashed them a smile and proceeded to drag him away.
"Oh! But I haven't told Aidan about it yet!" Sirius said, nodding at Aidan Yates, a first year Ravenclaw.
"I'm sure he knows already too," James said, dragging him back over to where Peter and I were practicing our charms.
"I was only informing people of a special event that only comes once a year, why'd you drag me away?" Sirius asked James as they sat down.
"Because you were annoying them," James replied.
"Since when do you care if I annoy people anyway?" Sirius said.
"I don't. I wanted to ask you if everything's all right for tonight, like the fireworks and that," James replied.
"Sure are," Sirius said, "You'll just need to go get them off Dung," he added.
"Me!" James asked, "I don't even know him! You get them."
"But it's my birthday! You're meant to do things for your friends on their birthdays." Sirius said.
"I've been doing things for you all day Sirius, in case you hadn't noticed." James replied, rolling his eyes. This was true – ever since the morning Sirius had been demanding things of us, such as 'Pour me some orange juice!' 'Open this envelope,' 'Hand me that bit of toast', and when we'd say 'Get it yourself,' he'd reply, 'But it's my birthday'.
He was milking it for all it was worth.
Typical Sirius.
"Well it is my birthday, in case you hadn't noticed," Sirius smirked.
"Well I don't want to go get the fireworks. Get someone else to do it." James said.
"Remus?" Sirius turned to me; the puppy dog eyes look on his face.
Pitiful.
I rolled my eyes, knowing exactly what was coming, "What Sirius?"
"Would you pretty please get the fireworks from Dung seeing as it's my birthday?" Sirius asked.
"No." I replied. I didn't necessarily mean it, but I wanted to see what he'd do.
"But Reeeeeeeeeemus!" Sirius whined, "It's my birthday! And friends do things for friends when it's their birthday! I'd do it for you if it was your birthday!"
"I'll remember that," I replied.
"Come on Remus. Please," Sirius begged.
I gave in, "Fine! I'll pick up your stupid fireworks for your mangy hide."
Sirius grinned, "You're the best!" then he proceeded to hug me.
"Geroff!" I said, pushing him away.
"I just wanted to thank you. You're such a great friend Rem. I knew you'd do it! Unlike other people," Sirius said, glancing at James with a mock-scowl.
"Where do I pick them up?" I asked.
"In that abandoned classroom that Dung and I were in the other day," Sirius replied, "Dung will be there at about four thirty," Sirius said.
"And what are you going to give him in return?" I asked.
"I've already given him a bit of money, he's only making me pay half because its my birthday and it'd provide him with a bit of entertainment as well, isn't that great!" Sirius said.
"Yes, great." I replied.
"So how exactly are we going to pull this all off?" James asked.
"I dunno," Sirius replied nonchalantly, "I thought you had that organized."
"Sirius!" James groaned, "I thought you organized it!"
"Should I have?"
James shook his head; "I'd curse you if it wasn't your birthday."
"Feeling the love, Jim," Sirius smirked.
"So how are we going to pull it off then?" Peter asked, putting his wand down and joining the conversation.
"Well we could hide somewhere and levitate the fireworks into the Great Hall and then set them off with our wands," James suggested.
"Hmm," Sirius considered this for a moment, "We could, but out of a thousand or whatever people I think at least someone would notice fireworks hanging over their heads," he said sardonically.
"Oh I don't know," James joked, "half of them are pretty stupid," he laughed.
"True. But one of the teachers is bound to notice." I said.
"I know!" Sirius said suddenly, "Let's make them invisible and put them in the Great Hall and then set them off!" Sirius said triumphantly. It was a brilliant idea of course. But none of us had the foggiest idea of how to make things invisible.
"And how exactly do you propose we make them invisible?" I asked, bringing Sirius back down to earth.
"Um…" Sirius thought for a minute, "Don't you know a spell for that sort of thing?" Sirius asked me.
"Nope."
"Oh. Damn." Sirius replied, then his eyes lit up again, "Let's use James' cloak! That'd make them invisible!"
"Over my dead body!" James said instantly, looking horrified at using his cloak as an object for pranks. Which is ironic, seeing as we use it every time we do a prank.
"That can be arranged," Sirius laughed.
"I'd rather my cloak in perfect condition thank you. I do not want it burnt to a crisp just so you can make fireworks invisible." James said huffily.
"Damn. There goes that idea." Sirius said, as if it was even propositional in the first place. "Well does anyone have any idea how to make things invisible without a spell or using James' cloak?" Sirius asked.
"Nope." James said.
"Hey- wait a minute… There is something that makes things invisible," Peter said suddenly.
"Go on," Sirius said eagerly.
"Well when I was little my cousins put this powder stuff on my favourite bear so that I couldn't find it. Maybe there's something similar for that…"
Sirius looked as if he could kiss Peter, "Of course! You're a genius Pete! I know that powder! It's called invisibility powder or something like that!"
"No kidding?" James said sarcastically.
"The question is; where do we get some?" I asked.
"Maybe Dung might have some. I'm sure he'd have something like that."
"And if he doesn't?" James asked.
"Well we'll just have to work something else out then," Sirius replied.
I shook my head. Sirius always left planning and organizing things to the last minute. And what was more surprising was that they nearly always seemed to work out.
"You, Sirius Black, are a nutter." I said. And with that, the signal for the end of class went.
"Showtime!" Sirius said far too gleefully as we all exited the classroom and made our way to the Gryffindor tower where we deposited our bags and had an hour before dinner free.
When it was about half past four I stood up and put my shoes on to go get the fireworks.
"I better come with you," Sirius said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I've got to ask Dung about the invisible powder, and he doesn't really know you." Sirius explained.
James rolled his eyes, "Now you want to go! You could have just gone by yourself in the first place."
"Well I didn't know about the powder then, did I?" Sirius said.
"Well let's go then," I said, as I made my way over to the door, Sirius following closely behind me.
When we were out in the main corridors most of the students were out of class and making their way to their house dormitories.
"So you're going to meet Dung," Sirius said as we walked down the corridors to the classroom that Sirius and Mundungus had met in before.
"Yes." I said, and then, "Why are we meeting in that classroom anyway?" I asked.
"Because it's hardly ever used, the teachers all have their other classrooms and none of them really need this one," Sirius explained as we walked up a flight of stairs.
After a while we arrived at the empty classroom and opened the door to see Mundungus Fletcher leaning on a table, a box and a cage sat on the floor in front of him.
"Ah, Sirius." He said as we entered the classroom and walked over to Mundungus.
"Dung," Sirius returned the greeting, "this is Remus Lupin," he said, nodding at me.
"Hi." I said to Mundungus.
"Lupin," Mundungus grunted in greeting.
"So everything's here?" Sirius asked.
"Yep." Mundungus replied.
"Cool." Sirius said, "Oh, and would you happen to have any invisibility powder that we could use?" Sirius asked.
"Sure do." Mundungus answered.
Sirius grinned, "See Remus, I told you he'd have some. So do you have it here then?" he asked.
"Nah, I'll have to get it from me room," Mundungus replied, then continued, "What are you two planning? Invisibility powder? Fireworks? Pixies?" Mundungus raised his eyebrow at us.
"You'll see," Sirius replied.
"I bet I will," Mundungus said, shaking his head. "Mind you, them pixies are a right pain, been makin' noise ever since I got 'em."
"Where'd you get them?" I asked looking at the cage full of pixies who were pulling faces at us and making high pitched noises.
"From a man who runs a shop in Knockturn Alley," Mundungus replied.
"Knockturn Alley? Isn't th-"
Sirius silenced me with a look.
"Sorry for all the trouble Dung." Sirius said quickly.
"Ah, s'not that bad." Mundungus replied, "Well I'll go'n get the powder then, stay here, I'll be back in a couple of minutes. The common rooms not that far," Mundungus said, then left the room.
"He's getting this stuff from Knockturn Alley," I said after Mundungus left the room.
"So?" Sirius asked.
"Well…" I was going to say something, but then decided against it. I didn't want to have another fight with Sirius, especially not on his birthday. "Nothing." I said.
"Good." Sirius replied brightly.
After about five minutes Mundungus was back with the powder, "Here ya go," he said, handing Sirius a sachet with the label 'Instant Invisibility! Just sprinkle on any object and instantly its invisible!'.
"Thanks!" Sirius replied. "So how much does this cost?" he asked, looking at the sachet of powder.
"Ah, I'll give it to ya for free, I think," Mundungus said.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. But whatever you're planning, it better be good." Mundungus grinned.
"Don't worry, it will be."
"Good." Mundungus replied. "Well, I can't hang around here all afternoon; I got more business to do, so I'll see you two later." Mundungus said, and after we said goodbye, he left.
"Well, we've got everything we need!" Sirius said happily.
"Um, Sirius?"
"Yes?"
"How exactly are we going to get all of this down to the Great Hall?" I asked.
"Well that's easy; we'll just start planning it now. I told James and Pete to meet us in that small room where we first went before our Sorting so we can leave the pixies there. And we can just make the fireworks invisible now so then we can levitate them down to the hall and set it up before dinner," Sirius explained. So he did have it all organized.
We set about making the fireworks invisible with the invisibility powder.
When we had made half the fireworks invisible a problem occurred to me, "Er Sirius, how exactly are we meant to see what we're levitating?" I asked.
"Oh. Good point," Sirius said, rubbing his chin and thinking. He had clearly overlooked this factor.
"You know what would have been easier."
"Yes."
"James' Invisibility cloak."
"You're just lucky Sirius doesn't do all the organizing around here." A voice suddenly said from behind us. Both Sirius and I jumped and turned around to see James and Peter.
James held his Invisibility cloak in his hand.
"James! Will you stop doing that for Merlin's sake! You sneaky little git!" Sirius said.
James and Peter laughed.
"Here I am saving your mangy hide and you insult me! That's the last time I help you," James joked.
"Well stop sneaking up on me," Sirius said, "well we may as well get these down to the Great Hall." he nodded at the fireworks and pixies, who were cackling.
Sirius grabbed the box of fireworks and I picked up the cage of pixies (who instantly tried to grab whatever they could get their hands onto, including my cloak), James then put the cloak over the four of us.
It was very hard to walk anywhere with the four of us under the cloak especially with two of us holding a box of fireworks and a cage full of pixies.
We tried to walk to the door, and managed, until we discovered that half of Sirius' legs could be seen because the cloak wasn't covering them properly.
"This isn't going to work." I said finally, after many attempts at trying to walk with the cloak covering all of us.
"Well how are we going to get everything down to the hall then?" James asked.
"How about just you and Sirius walk under the cloak with the pixies and fireworks, that'll be much easier, and then if the pixies make too much noise then we can cover it up." Peter said suddenly.
"Good idea," Sirius said as James and Peter slipped out from under the cloak and opened the door for us.
It was slow going walking down to the Great Hall.
James and Peter had to walk in front of us so they wouldn't run into us from behind.
The pixies were making a considerable amount of noise and more than once James and Peter earned some strange looks while Sirius and I dodged the people around us. We took the corridors that weren't used as much so it took even longer to get to the hall.
Once, when the pixies were making a considerable amount of noise, Professor McGonagall stopped James and Peter to see what all the noise was about.
"What's all this noise? Potter? Pettigrew?" McGonagall demanded, peering behind them and straight at us.
"Oh you mean this noise," James then proceeded to make strange high-pitched pixie sounding noises, which, if not for the situation at hand, would have made me laugh very hard indeed.
McGonagall gave James a strange look. "Yes, it sounded like that," she said, "it sounded strangely like Cornish pixies." McGonagall said suspiciously.
The pixies were still making a racket no matter how hard we tried to shut them up. Unfortunately we did not know how to perform the Silencing charm yet.
Peter was making high-pitched noises in an effort to cover it up while James tried to convince McGonagall that she was hearing things.
"There aren't any pixies around here Professor! It was just me and Peter making noises. We're trying to imitate the exact call of a Cornish pixie," James made up. Sirius and I tried our hardest not to burst out laughing.
McGonagall stared at James as if he was losing his marbles. "May I ask why?"
"Well, in some countries people believe that the high pitched sounds of Cornish pixies will - er- ward off evil spirits," James replied.
This was too funny.
McGonagall gave James an even stranger look, "Are you feeling all right Mr. Potter?"
"Just dandy Professor!" James replied while Peter kept on making noises.
"I assure you there are no evil spirits in the castle."
"Oh I don't know about that. Consider Peeves for example, he's quite a nasty piece of work," James replied gravely.
"Yes but I'm quite certain that the call of a Cornish pixie won't deter Peeves," McGonagall said.
"You never know Professor, it just might work." James said.
McGonagall gave James one last strange look then dismissed him.
When McGonagall was finally out of the way Sirius and I burst out laughing.
"Trying to imitate the exact call of a pixie!" Sirius laughed.
"Shut up, I couldn't think of anything else," James murmured.
"I didn't know the call of a Cornish pixie could ward off evil spirits," Sirius teased, "we'll have to try it some time."
"Well you try making up a story with McGonagall demanding an answer as to why there are strange pixie noises around you," James retorted.
Finally, without any further ado we made it to the Great Hall and went into the small room off the side of the hall to leave the pixies there.
"Well, everything's going to work," Sirius said as he finished pulling the fireworks out of the box and making them invisible.
"You should have put the fireworks in the hall where you want them first and then made them invisible," I said logically.
"Well, too late now," Sirius said.
"How are we going to know where they are so we can let them off?" Peter asked.
"Has anybody got anything we can stick on them so we know where they are?" James asked.
"Nope." Peter and I replied.
"I have something!" Sirius said, putting his hand to his mouth and pulling out a piece of bright green chewing gum.
"Ew." Peter said. I quite agreed.
"We can't put that on there! That's just gross," said James.
"There's nothing else to put on it, this'll just have to do," Sirius grinned and begun to pull apart the gum into different pieces and sticking them onto separate fireworks so that the gum looked like it was floating in mid air.
"You can put them in the Great Hall then." I said, not wanting to touch Sirius' fireworks.
"Oh don't be such babies," Sirius replied. "Anyway, we're going to levitate them in there, otherwise people will trip over them. We'll just have to use that spell we used for that prank we did a while ago and make them float up in the air so their less noticeable and no one will walk on them." Sirius explained.
"Good. I won't have to touch them." Peter said, quite relieved that he didn't have to touch something that had been is Sirius' mouth. I, for one, didn't blame him.
"Okay. Let's do it. Its show time Mischief Makers." Sirius said gleefully as he started to charm the invisible fireworks into the air, guided by his bright green chewing gum.
We all followed his lead and started to charm the rest of them into the air.
"Right? Is that all of them?" Sirius asked, as he finished the last one.
"I hope so," I replied. If not, then there would be some very frazzled first years next year if anyone happened to set it off. Which, despite being wrong, could be very amusing indeed.
"Good, let's go then," Sirius said, as he opened the door and we walked into the Great Hall, wands up, levitating the fireworks into the hall. Luckily there was no one in the hall just yet so we wouldn't have gained any more strange looks or have to explain anything to the teachers involving levitating chewing gum and why we were here so early. Though I'm sure James would have made up a very amusing, if not plausible, explanation all the same.
"Here?" I asked, as we levitated the fireworks up into the air in the middle of the hall.
"Yep," Sirius said as we all finished levitating the fireworks into the said spot, "we just have to get a seat close enough so it'll be easier to set them off without anyone noticing."
"Let's sit down now then, it's pretty close to dinner," Peter said with a smile, as if he could smell it already.
We all sat down as close as we could under the fireworks.
"So when are we going to set them off anyway?" Peter asked Sirius.
"Well, when people are just getting into dinner, it'll be funnier that way," Sirius chortled, "I'll give a sign," Sirius said.
"And what's the sign?" James asked.
"Um, well…" Sirius thought for a moment, "I know, I'll drop my fork under the table and you all do the same and we can set them off under the table."
"And how are we going to let the pixies out?" Peter asked.
"Well I'll get under the Invisibility cloak while I'm under the table and run to the room and then let them out into the hall and then run back under the table. No one will notice the difference," Sirius explained.
It seemed like a flawless plan. (Note the word - 'seemed')
"And they won't know what hit them," Sirius grinned roguishly. "I can't wait!"
"Well it looks like you don't have to wait long," I said as students started to come into the Great Hall and the tables before us suddenly filled with delicious food. That most would go to waste.
Peter instantly started shoving food into his mouth.
"Pete! We'll have plenty of food in the dorm, don't worry about eating now," James whispered to him as Sirius looked in the direction of the entrance.
"Oh…" Peter put down his fork sheepishly. "I forgot."
"So you got the food then?" I whispered to James so Sirius wouldn't hear.
"Yes. We went down to the kitchens and got it while you were with Mundungus," James explained as Sirius watched the hall slowly fill up, by now he was grinning broadly.
"Is everything set up in the dorm then?" I whispered.
"Yes," James replied.
Finally it seemed like all the students and teachers were there, all of them now filling up their plates and eating. As yet nobody had noticed the inconspicuous bright green chewing gum levitating in the air above their heads.
Sirius, James, Peter and I all pretended to be eating. Well I was pretending, Sirius, James and Peter were all eating, waiting for the right time to strike. The hall around us bustled with noise; people were laughing, sharing jokes, and talking about their day. The atmosphere was light and relaxed, quite a stark contrast to what it was about to be like.
Then suddenly, Sirius, with a wide smirk and a devious twinkle in his eye, 'accidentally' dropped his fork with a dramatic 'Oops!' and crawled under the table to retrieve it. No one noticed it, as they were all too busy eating or gossiping with their neighbours. James, Peter and I all followed Sirius' lead and crawled under the table.
"You ready?" Sirius whispered. We all nodded and whipped out our wands.
We crawled to the edge and pointed our wands towards the levitating chewing gum.
"On three," Sirius whispered, holding out his wand with a smirk, "One…" they weren't going to know what hit them, "two…" they hadn't even noticed the bright green chewing gum, "three!" Sirius said gleefully.
"Ignitious" we all whispered, our wands pointed at the chewing gum and invisible fireworks.
The spells hit in full force and suddenly there was a loud tremor which made every occupant of the hall jump about thirty feet in the air in shock, (including us who had been expecting it,) and instantly after that the fireworks started to bloom and explode into many different colours and shapes with ear-splitting cracking noises.
In an instant Sirius grabbed James' cloak and was off running towards the small room which held the pixies and a couple of minutes later hundreds of little blue pixies were flying into the hall wreaking havoc upon student and staff and dancing around the bright fireworks, which were now hurtling around the hall in full speed alarming everyone in their paths.
I looked around at the chaos we had created. I knew it was wrong, I knew we shouldn't have done it, but hell, it was hilarious.
Every kind of firework was now exploding and whizzing lethally around the hall, some were exiting through the doors and out into the corridors. Bright purple Catherine wheels were hurtling around the air bouncing off the walls and flying at frazzled students and horrified teachers. Fluorescent blue and yellow dragons were soaring around the hall; shocking pink fireworks shaped as birds were flying around; firecrackers filled the whole hall and were exploding everywhere with loud bangs; and sparklers were fizzling around to add to the chaos.
The pixies that Sirius had let out seemed to be having the time of their lives as they flew around madly in the disarray and pulled at people's hair and clothes, others flew and danced among the fireworks gleefully whilst others rode on the dragons adding to the noise with their high pitched squeals of glee.
And then there were the students and teachers. Everyone except for the four of us was running around in a mad frenzy trying to dodge the fireworks and the pixies at once, which of course, did not work. The teachers were trying frantically to order students around and attempting to get rid of the fireworks.
It surely was a sight to behold.
"I'm saving this vision forever!" Sirius said gleefully as he beheld the chaos before him and suddenly whipped out his camera that he had received for Christmas from his Uncle Alphard. "This is the absolute ultimate way to celebrate a birthday!" he said as he held the camera to his eye and started snapping pictures happily.
I smiled. Typical Sirius.
"And look at Snivellus! And Crevan! Oh this is just gold!" Sirius looked in the direction of the Slytherin table with a malicious satisfaction.
I followed his gaze. I had to admit, it was gold. Crevan, in his usual fancy clothing which included frilly material that looked like it was from the 18th Century, was unsuccessfully trying to swat the many pixies away that had grabbed hold of his cloak and were pulling at it with squeals of glee, others were flying around his head and pulling at his hair and the frilly lace that hung around his neck. He looked furious.
Then I looked over at Snape, who seemed to be in the same situation as Crevan. He was dodging fireworks as pixies flew around him grabbing fistfuls of hair and poking his rather large nose, he had his wand out and was cursing the pixies with every curse he knew of, which only enraged them and encouraged them to wreak more havoc upon him.
"It needs just one more thing," Sirius said, pulling out his wand then, aiming it at the centre of the hall he muttered a spell and bright red letters came shooting out of his wand; they all floated to the centre of the hall and formed the sentence:
'THIS PRANK PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MAGICAL MISCHIEF MAKERS'
Then James pulled out his wand as well and muttered a spell, pointing his wand at the sentence Sirius had made, letters streamed out of his wand and flew to form a phrase under Sirius' sentence, it read:
'HBSBUNFRPJ'
"Jim, what the hell does that mean?" Sirius asked James, bewildered.
"It's an abbreviation, it stands for: Happy Birthday Sirius Black You Nutter From Remus Peter and James!" James said.
Sirius looked at James as if all his birthdays had come at once. Well one of his birthdays had come at once. Whatever, he looked at James with a mixture of friendship, gratitude and joy in his eyes.
Then, without warning, he grabbed James, then me, then Peter and pulled us into a group hug. Do you know how awkward and hard it is to have a group hug cramped under a table while pandemonium reigns around you?
"Aw! You guys are the best!" he said joyfully. "You're the best friends a person could ask for!"
"Well you ain't too bad yourself mate," James replied, grinning, "Just don't hug me ever again." he joked.
"Yeah Sirius, you're a great friend," Peter said.
"A true friend," I said, "even if you are extremely annoying and babble absurdly in your sleep," I added with a grin.
We let go of each other, and before Sirius could so much as say thank you, suddenly the table cloth was whipped up and we all looked out to see Professor McGonagall standing there, a look of utter rage on her face.
We had been discovered.
777
"Black – Potter – Lupin - Pettigrew!" McGonagall fumed, "Come with me at once!"
We sheepishly crawled out from under the table. Luckily no one really paid any attention to us as they were all either fighting off pixies, screaming, or dodging fireworks.
Or all of the above.
I looked around, the fireworks were still hurtling about, by now some of them had hurtled into the other corridors, the pixies were still flying around gleefully and everything was in a general bedlam. I looked over at Dumbledore, who was busy performing spells to get rid of the fireworks and catch the pixies. He did not look angry at all, if anything, he looked happy. He had a slight smile on his face and despite the pixies pulling at his long beard and hair; he seemed to be enjoying himself and he chuckled when a particularly bright sparkler exploded in the middle of the hall.
Sirius, James, Peter and I all followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall and down corridors.
I knew exactly where we were going.
We were going straight to the Headmaster's office. Once we arrived at the stone gargoyles McGonagall said the password and we stepped onto the revolving stairs and then we were shoved into Dumbledore's office.
After we had all sat down McGonagall bored down on us, a look of utter rage on her face. The first thing she said was:
"You, Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew, are a bunch of good-for-nothing-dim-witted MARAUDERS!" she yelled in a rage. This had to be a new record, I thought as I stood there not knowing what to say, neither of us had seen McGonagall this angry before. And none of us really wanted to.
Sirius suddenly grinned, "Marauders!" he murmured as if a flashing light had just flicked on in his brain.
"What did you say Mr. Black!" McGonagall screeched.
"Nothing! Nothing! I was just - it was nothing!" Sirius said quickly.
"Do you have any idea of the chaos you have just caused?"
"Well… yes…" Sirius admitted, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
McGonagall glared daggers at him.
Suddenly Peter started to talk. We all groaned and I stepped on his foot in an attempt to make him be quiet, to no avail. Peter's nervous babbling would only get us into more trouble. And that was something we did not need.
"Well see… Professor McGonagall… we didn't mean for this to happen… what I mean is, we didn't know it would happen, we didn't make it happen," Peter babbled, "what happened was that someone else must have put the fireworks there and set them off, and those pixies, they must have flew in the window into the Great Hall because they must have been attracted to the fireworks, that's what really happene-"
James cut him off, "Professor, Peter gets really nervous when he's in trouble, and when he's nervous he doesn't know what he's saying, please don't take any notice of wha-"
McGonagall cut him off, "Be quiet all of you!" She screeched in a fury, "I've seen enough evidence to give you detention for a month and thirty points from Gryffindor- each!"
"But you didn't see us do anything!" Sirius said.
"Are you questioning my authority Mr. Black?" McGonagall looked at him icily.
"Er, no, but what I was saying was that… there is no evidence… that we done that- it- the prank…" Sirius replied.
"I have seen enough evidence Mr. Black, and I know a guilty face when I see one! I know what you- Mr. Potter and Mr. Pettigrew, were doing when I seen you in the corridors just before dinner, you had Cornish pixies with you, trying to cover up their sounds. I don't know how you hid them, I don't want to know, but I know you did that prank. I, along with other teachers, saw the magic words come out from under the table where you four were hiding!" McGonagall said furiously.
So that's how we were discovered.
"You four are getting three weeks worth of detention and twenty points from Gryffindor each! I am absolutely appalled at your behaviour! I expected better from all of you! And if this happens again you'll be facing more than detention! Do I make myself clear?" McGonagall asked shrilly.
We all nodded.
Then suddenly the door opened and Professor Dumbledore entered, he didn't even give us a glance as he sat down in his usual chair behind his desk.
"Thank you Professor McGonagall. I trust you have given out punishments?"
"I certainly have Albus," McGonagall said furiously.
"Good." Dumbledore said, "I can handle it from here Minerva, thank you."
McGonagall, with a last glare at us, turned and left, slamming the door behind her.
"Well…" Dumbledore said.
A silence followed.
"That was certainly entertaining," he said finally. We all exchanged looks of disbelief.
"Professor Dumbledore Sir, we're sorry," James said, "We… we just wanted to have a bit of fun," he said honestly.
"I'm not going to yell at you, or be angry," Professor Dumbledore said. Sirius grinned.
"You have already been punished. But I must say, next time, could you leave the pixies out of it? They are rather irritable." Dumbledore said.
"Certainly Professor!" Sirius replied, grinning.
"The fireworks were rather enjoyable. It's been quite a while since I've seen fireworks. And in the Great Hall as well. A spectacular feat. Maybe we should have a fireworks show one of these days," Professor Dumbledore smiled, "but with considerable warning, I think."
I exchanged glances of amazement with James, Peter and Sirius.
"Professor Dumbledore, Sir, do we really have to get twenty points off of Gryffindor, I mean, it did provide you with some entertainment. We don't have to have that many points taken off the house, do we? I mean, we've got to win the House Cup," Sirius said.
"Ah. Sorry Mr. Black, but it's not my decision as to your punishment. That is Professor McGonagall's decision. But I must say, I admire your regard for your house," his eyes twinkled as he looked as Sirius.
Sirius smiled. "Thank you Professor."
"That's quite all right. But I must add one more thing, try to keep your heads out of trouble please, McGonagall would like Gryffindor to win the House Cup this year as well," Dumbledore said.
We all nodded.
"Well, you are free to go, remember what I've said," Dumbledore said.
We said our thank you's quickly and left.
"I can't believe he was so easy on us!" James said as we stepped off the revolving staircase.
"Me either!" replied Peter.
"McGonagall wasn't though," I said as we walked down the corridor.
"Guys, I've got it!" Sirius said suddenly, as if he hadn't even been listening to what we were saying.
"Got what?" Peter asked, puzzled.
"I've got what we can be called!" Sirius said, beaming.
"Well, what is it?" I asked, eager to know.
"It better not be as bad as 'Sirius Black and his sidekicks'," James muttered.
"'The Marauders!'" Sirius said, as if announcing something very big. "It's perfect! Don't you think! It's everything we want it to be! It suggests mischief, it suggests mayhem, it suggests bedlam and pranks in only two words!" Sirius said happily.
"'The Marauders.'" James repeated, a smile on his face, "It does have a certain ring to it, doesn't it?" James said.
"I like it," I said.
"Me too, sounds good," Peter said.
"And it's all thanks to our favourite Professor, Minerva McGonagall!" Sirius said, "Who would have thought it?" he grinned.
"Certainly not me," James said as we walked up a flight of stairs.
"We can be 'The Marauders: The Magical Mischief Makers'!" Sirius said, holding up his arms and waving them around to emphasize his point. "It sounds brilliant!"
It did have a nice ring to it.
"People won't forget that in a hurry," James said.
"I know!" Sirius replied happily.
"So what now?" Peter asked.
"Well I reckon we should go back to the dorm, before someone puts us back in detention for being in the corridors after curfew," I said, glancing at James.
"Yeah, let's go," James said, grinning at me. Sirius didn't know it yet, but we still had some celebrating to do.
"Oh but I really don't feel like it just yet! The night is young my friends! Let us wreak more havoc upon unknowing victims!" Sirius said.
"There's just no stopping him!" Peter said, shaking his head at Sirius.
"But its chilly, I want to go to bed," James said.
I took his lead, "Yeah, me too, I'm exhausted."
"Oh come on guys! Don't be such babies! I want to make some more mischief, and it's more fun with friends," Sirius pleaded.
"But I don't really feel like it," James said.
"James! What's wrong with you? You disgrace me! Since when has James Potter not wanted to make mischief?"
"Well I'm really tired," James said, and to emphasize the point he yawned widely.
Then I had an idea.
"Okay then. Seeing as it's your birthday and everything I suppose we should do something," I said. James and Peter both looked at me questioningly.
"Now that's more like it! See, Remus knows how to have a good time!" Sirius said.
"But let's go to the dormitory first. After all, we need to get more supplies," I said. James and Peter smiled knowingly.
"Yeah, we have more dung bombs up there, we should go get them," James said.
"Okay then." Sirius consented. Then James slipped the cloak over us and we made our way towards the Gryffindor tower.
When we arrived at the tower and opened the portrait hole the common room was still half-full and most of the Gryffindors were talking about the prank we had pulled.
"I wonder who it was," A second year girl with blonde hair wondered, as we walked past them silently under the cover of the cloak.
"I know who it was," another said.
"Who?" the first girl asked.
"It was that Sirius Black and James Potter, and the other two," the second one said.
"We're famous!" Sirius whispered excitedly.
"How do you know that?" the blonde-haired girl asked.
"Because I saw McGonagall come to get them, they were under the table, and that's where those words came from," the second one explained.
We made our way past them and up the staircase to the dormitory.
Finally, when we arrived at the door, we slipped the cloak off and I opened the door.
A dazzling sight met my eyes. I looked around as Sirius let out a gasp of surprise and joy, there was glitter and confetti absolutely everywhere, floating around the room in the air and covering every space possible, on the floor there was a heap of food that James and Peter had brought up from the kitchen, every food that Sirius had ever mentioned he liked (which was a lot if you think about it, and put it all in the one place) was there, and across the wall a banner was draped that read 'Happy Birthday Sirius, You Nutter. From James, Remus and Pete' (James insisted adding the 'nutter' part when we were making it), and streamers of every colour was thrown over the bed posts and tied in every place possible. It looked like chaos but it also looked festive, which suited Sirius perfectly. Organised chaos.
"Wow," was all Sirius could say as we pushed him into the room and closed the door.
"So, do you like it?" Peter asked Sirius as we all sat down on Sirius' bed.
"Do I like it!" Sirius said as he picked up his favourite pudding from the floor and started munching on it, "It's perfect! I love it! I can't believe you guys would do this for me!" Sirius said cheerfully.
"Well I can remember you saying something along the lines of 'I want a good birthday this year or one of you are going to get it,'" James laughed.
"I never said that!" Sirius replied, his mouth full of pudding.
"No, but that's the general vibe we were receiving from you all week," James said, "Right Remus?"
I nodded, "It sure was."
Sirius laughed, "Well, you know, I just wanted to have a good birthday for once…"
"We know Sirius," James replied.
"A birthday that I could remember and look back on and grin, not mope or wish it never happened," Sirius said.
And that's exactly what Sirius Black got.
A birthday he could look back on and remember with a smile instead of a frown.
A birthday that he shared with family, his real family, James, Peter and me. And he was going to remember it for the rest of his days because it was the first birthday that he ever spent feeling happy that it was his birthday, and the first birthday he ever spent in the company of the people that cared for him the most.
And that has made all the difference.
Jeanie: Thanks very much, I'm glad you liked it, and the DADA lesson where Prof. Bones helps Remus, yay for nice teachers! I'm glad it makes you laugh a lot:o)
LupinLover99: Heh, thanks very very much! You are brilliant also! I'm glad you like the Remus chapters, Remus chaps are always fun!
BlindedOneHeh. Patience my friend, paaaaatttience! Heh. You will find out soon enough, just enjoy the other chaps in the mean time:oD. There's only about 4 more chapters to go till they find out! Woooooooooooo! Heh.
Carlie Black: Thanks! Glad you liked the chapter, and good old Dung. Heh.
Writer Of Fantasy: Yes, I'm glad we agree as well! Glad you liked the chapter. Yes writers block is extremely annoying! Thanks very much!
Janet Lily: Hey, it wasn't that long since I updated! Heh. :D. Very glad you liked the chapter. Yes, I do focus on friendships a bit more than the normal routine at Hoggie Warts, but I'm interested in seeing the friendship between the four, not the normal routine at Hogwarts, their friendships are so strong and unique and that's why I wanted to write about that so glad you like it. Glad you liked the quote of the day!
French Chipmunk: Thanks very much! Supposedly doing your IPT essay, eh? Heh, glad you found it! Thanks again!
BrennQTNo you're not the 400th reviewer but I still love ya all the same! Glad you liked the conflict between Remus and Sirius, I thought it was about time to show that not everything was hunky dory between the four, that all friends have their mishaps but it sort of makes the friendship stronger afterwards. Thanks very much again, and I really appreciate your reviews!
ThehpgangThanks very much! I'm glad the update came faster than you expected! Wow, I'm glad that Remus seems just normal, and that you sometimes forget he's a werewolf, I try to portray him as a normal person as well. Haha, well your little sister just might be on to something when she says 'theres no such thing as normal', hehe. Dumbledore agrees with her. Thanks again!
AnaraneThanks! I'm glad you liked the ending! Yes, Sirius and Remus both have it bad, but as long as they've got their friends and Hogwarts everything won't be so bad for them. Thanks very much! I love your reviews!
FlamingteenThanks very much! I'm glad you like the idea!
Padfoot's Mate: Aw, that's okay! I wanted to dedicate it to you! Thanks very much for reviewing! Every review counts! Heh. Thanks again!
Elvenwolf123321: Heh, don't worry I love your reviews! I hope you liked this chapter. I don't know if he ever went to school, I guess I just assumed that he did, well if he did I can see him supplying MWPP with things for pranks. The story will be very long, that is the whole seven years if I can manage it!
VisualpurpleAw its okay! You were soooo close! 399! But I love you all the same! I really appreciate all your reviews and everything! Well I also have a ton of chapters as well! I'm glad you like the chaps about friendships and that, and there's nothing wrong with a bit of mush, I seem to throw a lot of that in here as well! Thanks very much again!
Lavender-sykes: YAY! You're my 400th reviewer! Congratulations! Well thanks a bunch, and I'm glad you hit the 400th mark cause I was waiting and waiting and it seemed that I'd have to post another chap before I even hit 400, but seeing as you reviewed I didn't! I love you! Hehe. I'm glad you like the story and the friendships! Once again: THANKYOU! Woot woot:D