"I feel like we've spent forever in my first year," I had to complain.
It even felt like it took a year to go over it. Which was ridiculous because it had really only been a few weeks. And I hadn't even been here for some days because of work. Actually, if you thought of it that way, it took shorter than I thought. Weird. Time was definitely weird in this house. No wonder Sirius disliked it so much.
"You had a lot of big events or new things happening," Remus pointed out. "It makes sense that that would make you have more memories from that period of your life.
"I suppose," I said doubtfully.
Though, what he said rang true. The reason I had so many memories from when I was eleven was because of the number of firsts I had (whether good or bad).
Sirius didn't seem to think that there was anything wrong with it and looked very eager for more stories.
"You still have stories from second year, right?"
"Yeah..." I said slowly, not entirely convinced.
The memories could be from third year or even fourth for all I knew. Those years all kind of blurred together.
"Take your time to remember," Remus encouraged. "There's no rush."
"Except to keep my boredom at bay," Sirius complained and yelped as Remus smacked him on the back of his head.
"Don't pressure her," he scolded.
Sirius pouted and rubbed him head. "Who's pressuring her? I'm not pressuring her. Am I pressuring you?" my cousin directed that last bit at me.
"Um..."
How was I supposed to answer that?
"See, Padfoot!"
"There was an unacceptable amount of pranking in your first year," he proclaimed.
"Sirius, there was no pranking in my first year."
"Exactly! Unacceptable!"
"Padfoot, not everyone spends their time at school pulling more pranks than essays given."
"More fool them."
I couldn't help but laugh at them. But, seriously? The number of pranks they pulled exceeded the number of essays they were given? Impressive. And more than slightly terrifying.
Remus sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.
"Most people don't rank their years at school by the pranks they pulled."
"That's just not a life worth living."
Trust Sirius to value pranks above everything else. I don't know why I would have thought differently. Though, mum did mention something about him being a lady's man so he could have said something along those lines as well.
"Don't be dramatic," Remus scolded.
"Dramatic is my middle name, Moony."
I couldn't help but giggle at that.
"Tonks, please tell me you pulled some pranks," Sirius all but begged. It was kind of ridiculous looking.
"Now, I'm sure Nymphadora was a very well-behaved young lady," Remus said optimistically.
I rolled my eyes at that at sent him a mild stinging jinx. He yelped and jumped which was a bit dramatic considering how underpowered it was.
"What was tha-?"
"Don't call me Nymphadora!" I scolded.
Honestly, he should really know this by now. Remus sighed and shook his head. He probably wasn't going to give up on this, was he? Nope, the look on his face said no. Great. It was kind of infuriating. Even if it did sound kind of nice coming from him. Nope. I wasn't going to think like that or I'd let him get away with calling me Nymphadora which was embarrassing and I definitely didn't need to give Sirius any more fuel to tease me.
"Must you have such a childish reaction to your name?" He demanded in an irritated tone.
Maybe the stinging hex was too much... but he didn't seem to learn!
"Yes," I replied while going my arms. "Because it's such a horrid name."
"It's a lovely name."
I raised an eyebrow. How in Merlin's name did he manage to say that with such a straight face? I know I certainly wouldn't have been able to and it was my name!
"It is!" He insisted and turned to Sirius. "Tell her, Padfoot."
"It's as Black as they come," Sirius said solemnly.
"Sirius!"
"What?"
"That's not what I meant!"
I was laughing again as they argued. Again. Honestly, it seemed like they argued more than they acted civilly with each other. It was all in good fun though so it was all good. And amusing to watch. Pity I didn't have any popcorn.
"Back to the important things," Sirius broke in as Remus shook his head in disgust.
The two of us looked at him questioningly which made him make an exasperated noise. He sounded a bit like teapot letting off steam.
"Pranks!" Sirius exclaimed, waving both hands in the air for emphasis.
"Because pranks are the most important thing in the world, aren't they?" Remus said in a deadpan voice.
"Exactly! Especially for a young Hogwarts student."
I decided to put Sirius out of his misery and shoot down Remus' hopes.
"I did pull some pranks in school," I admitted.
Actually, I had thought I had pulled a lot (the amount of detentions I received certainly was proof of this) but comparing it to the Marauders' track record it was probably a pitiful amount.
"Yes!" Sirius pumped his fist in the air.
"I thought were a nice, young lady," Remus said morosely.
"Yeah, no."
That got Sirius laughing. I had to join in because Remus' fed up look was just so funny. It was kind of a mixture of mum's and Professor Sprout's.
Actually, that reminded me of the first time I saw that look on Professor Sprout's face...
"I have a talent with Dungbombs," I proudly told the men on either side of me.
When had I ended up between them? I couldn't remember moving.
Sirius gave me a perplexed look. "How can you have a talent with Dungbombs?"
"There's not exactly a lot you can do with them," Remus added, also looking somewhat confused.
I gave both of them a smug look. Ha! And I thought they were meant to be the geniuses of pranking?
