This was written for the Moonlight Forgotten Year 7 THC/ The House Competition 2021
Round 7
House: Gryffindor
Class: Muggle Studies
Category: Standard
Prompt(s) chosen: [Speech (Multiline)] "No way!" / "I'm in!"
Word Count: 1185
Teddy was finishing his homework in the Common Room when James Sirius came in.
He tilted his head over Teddy's work. "Are you busy, Teddy?"
Teddy narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
"I had the best prank idea," James said triumphantly.
"No way!"
"Come on, Teddy," James implored.
"James, we're not playing a prank," Teddy said firmly.
"Please. It's not even all that bad. We would just sneak out to the Slytherin Common room ..."
"The Slytherin Common Room! That definitely changes my mind, James."
"Let me finish. I meant that we would spray 'GO GRYFFINDOR' outside their Common Room wall and that's it," said James, as if trying to convince himself this was a small endeavour
Teddy controlled himself from snickering. That did sound kind of amusing, but he still needed to keep up appearances. "No, James. It's wrong."
"And what's wrong with doing something wrong once in a while? We got to live a little. No one would be hurt from this. Promise. Please. For me." James clasped his hands together, begging Teddy to come along.
"Alright." Teddy shook his head, grinning. James had always known how to convince him. "I'm in".
"Yes! Thanks, Teddy. You're the best," James said, throwing his arms around Teddy's shoulders. "You won't regret this."
Teddy and James quietly sneaked out with James's invisibility cloak over them and the Marauder's map in Teddy's hand. The map was now Teddy's, as the rule of succession Harry decided on was that the map would be with the oldest Marauder descendant at Hogwarts. Teddy would have to hand it down to James when he left Hogwarts.
They quickly reached the Slytherin Common Room, took out James's spray cans and began spraying their intended phrase on the wall.
Teddy and James looked at their accomplishment with satisfaction and high-fived each other. This satisfaction was short-lived, however, as they heard Filch and Mrs. Norris coming their way. They ran as fast as their feet could carry them, entered a corridor, and hid there. Their hearts thundered against their ribs as they put on the Invisibility Cloak.
Filch had approached the crime scene and was examining the "GO GRYFFINDOR!" they had sprayed on the wall outside the Slytherin Common Room wall in shiny scarlet letters. He picked up the spray cans and Teddy's Head Boy badge that they had dropped on the floor while running.
"James Potter," Filch read the name on the bottles.
"Shit," James muttered. He knew they were busted.
Teddy glared at James. He didn't know anyone else who would label their spray cans.
"It seemed like a good idea when I thought of it," James reasoned in a whisper.
"You had to write your name on the bottles," Teddy hissed. "Who does that?"
"It was so I would know if anyone stole them," said James.
"And this Head Boy badge must be Lupin's, Mrs. Norris. They wouldn't be the first Potter and Lupin to pull a stunt like this together," said Filch.
"Shit," muttered Teddy as he glared at James again.
They hadn't seen Filch approaching while doing their prank as they had put the Marauder's Map down while spraying and made the mistake of not constantly looking at it. Fortunately, James had managed to grab the map with them while running way.
"I'm probably going to get my Head Boy Badge taken away," Teddy hissed.
"I swear, it really seemed like a good idea. I had no idea we'd get caught like this," said James, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
Filch continued looking but failed to spot James and Teddy who were safely hidden under the Invisibility Cloak. They breathed sighs of relief when Filch finally left, but they knew they were in big trouble.
The next day, James and Teddy were seated in front of a glaring Minerva McGonagall in her office.
"Mr. Lupin, you're Head Boy. I expected better from you," said McGonagall, her eyebrows were furrowed in disappointment.
"It was all my fault, Professor. I made Teddy pull that prank with me," said James.
"Well, you wouldn't be the first James Potter to convince a well-behaved Lupin boy to misbehave," said McGonagall. "In fact, your grandfather and his friends, including Mr. Lupin's father, pulled this exact same stunt during their 4th year."
"Really?" asked James excitedly, he knew very little about his grandfather's pranking history, but he fell silent at McGonagall's glare.
McGonagall did her best not to smile. She was simultaneously fond of and exasperated by the Marauders and their descendants, all of whom had a penchant for rule-breaking.
"Mr. Potter, I ought to make you skip the next Quidditch game," said McGonagall.
"Professor, please. Punish me some other way. Not just for me, but for Gryffindor. I'm the Seeker and we'd lose if I didn't play," said an alarmed James.
"Fortunately, Mr. Potter, your crime was not that severe for me to be that drastic. But I'm taking 50 points each from the both of you. You can explain to your fellow Gryffindors as to why you lost 100 points," said McGonagall.
"100 points?" James and Teddy said together in shock.
"But professor, it was just a minor prank," Teddy tried to appeal.
"That was just for you both being out of bed after hours, Mr Lupin. For your prank, you will both receive detentions," said Professor McGonagall.
"Professor, you should just punish me. Teddy only did it because of me," said James. "I convinced him, even after he warned me that it would be a bad idea."
"Mr. Potter, as admirable as your gesture is, I believe Mr. Lupin was in a conscious mind to refuse. He has to bear responsibility for his actions," said McGonagall.
"Am I still Head Boy, Professor?" asked Teddy.
"Unfortunately for this school, you still are. But be mindful of letting Mr. Potter influence you. As Head Boy and the older student, you should've been a better influence on him," said McGonagall.
"Yes, Professor," said Teddy.
Later that day, in the Gryffindor Common Room, Teddy and James were met with hostility by their fellow Gryffindors. Word had gotten out quickly that they had lost 100 points for Gryffindor.
"I just committed social suicide," said James dramatically.
"Well, I'm in the same boat as you," said Teddy.
"I'm sorry, Teddy. I really thought we could get away with it. It really seemed like a good idea when I thought it up two days ago. In any case, I should have done it alone. I shouldn't have dragged you with me and gotten you in trouble. I'm sorry," James said, his tone filled with apology.
"It's alright. It wasn't all your fault. Like Professor McGonagall said, I, as the older one, should have known better. I really did appreciate you trying to take the whole blame for yourself back in McGonagall's office," said Teddy.
"That's what brothers are for," said James.
"We'll be outcasts together for the time-being," said Teddy.
"As Head Boy, they can't really ostracize you though," said James.
"Well, that's true. But we'll stick together, anyways," said Teddy tugging James in for a hug.