*wave of salutation*

I have come to the conclusion that I do not have enough Kayla/Marley moments, so I put one in. Not this chapter, but next chapter. How do I know? Because I've already written it.

Cheers!

~Ice

36 – Escapading Isn't A Word

Kayla

'Am I allowed to ask why James and Sirius are wandering around the common room beneath brightly spotted sheets?' Kayla asked as she stuck her head through the door to the boys' dormitory. It was two weeks since they had returned to Hogwarts and there had been a few odd things happening in regards to those two, but Kayla felt that this sight was strange enough that she needed to ask about it.

Remus, who was half way through pulling off his tie, raised his eyebrows and crossed the dormitory over to her. 'What did you say?'

'Your friends have mental issues.'

Remus blinked. 'Is that supposed to be news to me?'

'Well, to top it off, Peter is hurrying around after them, claiming that the spotty ghost lord is demanding their presence. Then Sirius replies by saying that they only answer the call of the purple spotty ghost lord.' She crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame.

'Is there such thing as a spotty ghost lord, let alone a purple one?' Remus asked slowly.

'No. But you should get them doing something productive. Their homework, perhaps. McGonagall gave us mountains today.'

Remus grimaced. 'That's not going to happen.'

She laughed a little. 'Funny, that. But come on; you should see this.'

Remus sighed, then undid the top button of his shirt, before tossing his tie onto his bed and walking down the stairs with Kayla.

'Oh Merlin.'

The spotty-ghost-lord business had turned into a full-blown ghost chase. Peter was waving around a poker he had taken from the fireplace, while James and Sirius overturned tables and chairs, running away from him. The sheets were still over their heads.

'YOU MUST OBEY THE LORD OF SPOTS!' Peter cried.

'NOOOOOOOOO!' The noise came from beneath Sirius' sheet. 'RECEIVE ORDERS FROM THE PURPLE LORD FIRST!'

'YOU'LL NEVER TAKE US ALIVE!' James shouted, his voice muffled through a mouthful of sheet. 'NEVER!'

'RAAAA!' Peter put on a burst of speed, still sprinting after them, and both James and Sirius let out loud, girlish screams. James tripped on the edge of the rug before the fireplace, and Sirius stumbled on his ankles, falling as well. They went down with a lot of yelling, and Peter dove on top of them, triggering a lot of moaning. Most of the other common room inhabitants (not many – they had begun clearing out when this all started) were watching on with incredulous looks on their faces.

'They're madmen,' Remus said, his eyes shining with tears of laughter. 'Madmen.'

'Remind me why you spare them your time?' Kayla managed through clutching a stitch in her stomach.

'Beats me.' He walked forward, so he was standing over his pile of friends. 'What are you lot up to?'

James looked up. 'Hey, Moony,' he grunted through obvious efforts to lift the weight on top of him. He turned to look at Sirius, who was sporting no desire whatsoever to get off his back. 'Merlin, Padfoot, you're so fat. Move, would'ja?'

Sirius pulled a face of horror. 'How dare you, Prongs!' he cried. 'We're brothers! You can't say that!'

'I just did,' James said flatly, now wriggling about on the rug like a worm. 'Now MOVE!'

With one swift motion, he rolled sideways, effectively dumping Sirius and Peter on the ground, leaving him able to get up.

'Now,' he said, brushing himself off, 'Moony and I are going on an adventure. If you two care to join us, follow along.'

'Excuse you?' Remus spluttered. 'I have – homework -'

'Which can wait,' James finished smoothly. 'Let's go, lads.'

He disappeared out the portrait hole without another word. Sirius and Peter followed in suit.

Remus shook his head incredulously, looking at Kayla.

'Go,' she said. 'I'll look over your homework for you.'

'Don't do that,' Remus said. 'I'll do it -'

'Later. You'll do it later. Now go and have some fun.' She grinned at him. 'You're going to start getting moody soon – your time of the month's coming up. Enjoy yourself while you still can.'

Remus crossed his arms and pursed his lips, evidently thinking. He then looked up, saw Kayla's expression which was daring him to object, then shrugged.

'I suppose blowing up statues couldn't be too bad,' he mused.

'Good boy,' Kayla said, patting him on the top of the head. 'Now go. That's an order.'

Remus gave a mock salute. 'Yes ma'am.'

He scurried off after his friends.

James

'I wanna get Snivellus real good this time,' James said, as the four of them walked down the corridor towards the dungeons.

'Is it necessary?' Remus asked, but he was cut off almost immediately by Sirius nodding violently and streaming out a list of ideas.

'Exploding breakfast – doxys in his bed – a horklump in his trunk – shampoo his hair – hex his shoes so all he can do is tap dance for an entire week – toss him off the Astronomy tower -'

'I like that one,' James put in.

'NO, James,' Remus said immediately.

But Sirius continued on. ' – Confund him – turn his entire dormitory hot pink – hex him so everything he says to Evans comes out as an insult -'

James grabbed him by the arm, wide eyed. 'You're a genius, Padfoot!' he said excitedly. 'One of the stupidest geniuses on this planet!'

Sirius looked pleased, but after a moment he realised there was an insult in there too. 'Hey!'

'We can sneak in, hex him, and sneak out again,' James continued, 'and his "friendship" with Evans will go to trash – he doesn't deserve her anyway, the slime, and I can have a party because it leaves all opportunities with her wide open!'

'Obsessed, much?' Remus muttered, but James was too enthusiastic to care. He just pointedly ignored him.

'Just one problem,' Peter said quietly. James paused, and turned to look at him.

'Oh?' He was using a disbelieving tone, and an eyebrow had crept up his forehead.

'Well, yeah,' Peter said, shrugging a little. 'I mean, we know where they are – in the dungeons, that is – but do we know how to get in?'

'We'll figure it out,' Sirius said lightly, brushing it off. 'And if we can't do it tonight, we'll hex Snivelly in the morning.'

'Atta boy, Padfoot,' James praised. 'Now let's go. We don't have all night.'

'Can't we do homework first?' Remus mumbled, but once again, his comment went ignored. The four boys went down into the dungeons, and right before they started walking into one of the passages branching out, James fished around in his back pocket, before withdrawing the Invisibility Cloak. Without another word, he tossed it over the four of them, and they continued on their way. Sirius was now navigating, because as he claimed, Regulus had talked about the whereabouts of the common room before.

When they reached a blank stretch of wall, Sirius stopped.

'Bugger,' he muttered.

James looked inquiringly at him. 'What?'

'There's a password,' Sirius grumbled. 'I just remembered.'

'We can guess,' Peter offered.

'Yeah,' James put in. 'It's bound to be something Slytherin-ish . . . or pureblood-ish, for that matter.'

Remus groaned from behind him. 'James . . .'

'Uh, Slytherin is awesome?' Sirius tried, looking up at the wall. It sounded like a question, the way he said it.

A low, echoing sound reverberated around them, before fading off down the corridor.

'That doesn't sound good,' Remus murmured.

' . . . purebloods are awesome?' Sirius tried again.

There was another noise, and James whirled around, looking to see where it was coming from.

'Apple pie?' This came from Peter, and Sirius whirled on him.

'What kind of a password is that?' he asked incredulously. But apparently three times struck out.

A loud, siren-like wail rang around them, echoing off the damp stone.

'Run!' James yelled, and the four of them bolted, before anyone would come out of the door and stumble into them. They tore up the staircase out of the dungeons and down corridors, not looking where they were going. James shoved open a door and finally they all piled inside, lost for breath.

'That was close,' Remus panted. 'Who would have known they had a security system like that?'

'Damn it, Wormtail,' Sirius grumbled, taking in heaving gasps. 'Why did you have to waste a password attempt?'

'We wouldn't have – have gotten it – anyway,' James forced out, plopping down on the floor.

'Well -'

'What are you doing here?' The four of them whirled around to see Moaning Myrtle hovering just above them, looking at them irritably.

'Hello, Myrtle,' Remus tried feebly, but Myrtle was looking elsewhere. The grumpy expression faded off her face when she saw someone.

'Oh, hello James,' she said, grinning a little. James raised his eyebrows.

'Erm, hi . . . Myrtle.'

'What brings you here?' she asked, and James could have sworn a silvery blush crossed her cheeks.

'Uh . . . we're . . . escapading.'

'That isn't a word,' Remus muttered. But James shot him a look, before looking back up at Myrtle. He hadn't the slightest idea about where in the castle they were, but maybe he could work this to his advantage.

'Say, Myrtle,' he started, and she widened her eyes a little, regarding him. 'You wouldn't happen to know which way the Gryffindor tower is, would you?'

Myrtle blinked, before saying. 'Well, I could show you . . . but . . .' She trailed off, cocking her head to the side. 'I'd like it if you were dead. Then I could see you all the time.'

'I . . .' James didn't know whether to feel offended or flattered. 'Thanks?'

'You're very handsome,' she added, the blush intensifying. Sirius made a noise of outrage.

'Excuse you!' he spluttered. 'I'm the attractive one here!'

Myrtle just brushed him off. 'You're too good,' she said absently. 'Even Olive Hornby wouldn't have to guts to talk to the likes of you.'

Judging by his expression, Sirius was clearly just as baffled as James felt.

'Um, Myrtle,' Remus said, finally stepping forward. 'We really need to get back to Gryffindor tower. James can always come and pay you a visit in your bathroom – he'd be more than happy to.'

James shot Remus a look of horror, but the other boy continued looking up at the ghost imploringly.

'Fine,' Myrtle sighed. 'Come on then, boys - James.'

Then she did something that made James feel like his insides had been fried. She winked.

Kayla

'Hey, Marley, have you seen the boys?' Kayla asked as Marley surfaced from the bathroom later that night.

She shook her head. 'Nope. Was I supposed to have?'

Kayla just shrugged, and continued the elaborate braid she was currently weaving Lily's hair into. 'No. They just went off earlier, and I was wondering if they'd come back yet.'

'I can go check,' Marley offered. Without waiting for an answer, she disappeared out the door.

'Anyway, Lily,' Kayla said. 'What were you just saying?'

Lily had been sitting on the floor in front of Kayla's bed while she was doing her hair, relaying a story about her latest spat with Snape.

'I guess it doesn't really matter,' Lily mumbled, 'but I hate those boys he hangs around with. They're evil, Kayla. Not stupid, like Potter or Sirius, evil. I saw them tormenting a first year earlier, and Sev was with them, egging them on. I yelled at him for it, and his friends . . . they called me that word again.'

Kayla pursed her lips, tying the braid off with a hairband. 'They did that to me the other day, too. Yelling every "mudblood" related insult they could think of. I rather graciously told them to go and bother someone who actually cared, and they threatened to hex me.'

Lily turned to look at her friend, wide eyed. 'You never told me that!'

Kayla shrugged offhandedly, getting to her feet. 'It's not that important now. They do that to everyone like us. You know that.'

'I know,' Lily said, also standing up. 'But you should tell a teacher. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with that.'

'I'm not five, Lily,' Kayla said tiredly. 'I don't tell on people. I never have, actually. But there is absolutely no satisfaction I'm going to get out of doing that, and in reality all I'll be doing is signing my death sentence.'

'Don't talk like that,' Lily said, frowning and crossing her arms. Kayla was about to reply, but Marley poked her head back in, her cheeks pink with laughter.

'Oi, you two. You've gotta come look at this.'

Kayla and Lily exchanged a glance full of raised eyebrows, but followed Marley down the stairs.

Curled up on the rug in front of the fireplace were all four of the Marauders, limbs tangled together, and quite obviously asleep. Sirius and James were shirtless, and all of them were bare footed.

'Aww,' Kayla said, before she could stop the sound from coming out of her mouth. A wide grin spread across her face. Marley was in fits of laughter, practically clutching a stitch in her side, and Lily was taking in the sight, wide eyed.

Kayla approached the boys, mainly looking at Remus, and sat down beside his head, still smiling. They all looked so peaceful and angelic – not like the ferals they were by day.

'Lily, I'm grabbing your polaroid camera,' Marley said, and dashed up the stairs. Lily stood just above the boys, and though she was obviously trying to refrain from doing so, her eyes kept wandering to James' bare torso – he had pretty nice abs for a thirteen year old. A heavy blush settled in her cheeks, and Kayla pretended she wasn't noticing. She just focused her attention on Remus.

'I'm surprised they don't snore,' she commented, just as Marley bounded back down the staircase.

'Me too,' Marley said, snapping picture after picture, and collecting all of the photographs into a pile. 'But this is gonna be fantastic blackmail.' She was sporting a wicked grin on her face. 'They're cuddling.'

Lily laughed. 'Merlin, Potter's so much better when he's asleep. He doesn't talk.'

Marley cackled, prodding Sirius' backside with her toe. When there was no response, she added, 'And they sleep like logs.' She gathered all of her photographs together, eyeing them evilly, and said, 'Right. Well, that's that, then. They can cop the results of this in the morning.'

'Wait,' Lily said. She crouched down beside James, and slipped her wand out of her pocket. She muttered an incantation, and the words World's Biggest Git wrote themselves across his forehead. She then waved her wand again, and they started flashing bright colours.

Marley whooped and clapped her hands appreciatively as Lily stood up and admired her handiwork, while Kayla just grinned and rolled her eyes.

'That shouldn't come off for an entire week,' Lily said with a smile. 'Unless, of course, he begs me down on hands and knees for the counter curse. Alright, ladies. I think we're done here, no?'

And with that, the three of them went back up the staircase, leaving the boys sleeping on the rug.

Aww. I love the boys.

Question: What pets do you have (if any)?

Answer: Three cats and a dog. I got two sixteen week-old kittens on Wednesday, and my other cat I've had since I was about . . . six? I've had my dog since about October, I think. I think. Merlin, I'm terrible with dates.