James yawned. They had been up all night, laughing and talking, filling their bellies with chocolate and planning the perfect prank for them to pull on their worst enemy.
After a long time discussing the issue, they had agreed that Snape may have suspicions about Moony, but nothing concrete to base them on, and therefore had decided to throw him for a loop. Sirius's idea was actually to confuse him til madness ensued, but James had managed to reason with him and bring the intensity down a bit, for Lily's sake.
It was a harmless, innocent prank, because they couldn't risk awaking a need for retaliation in Snivellus, just in case he did know more than he led on. It was just the right amount of subtle yet ambitious, and James was over the moon knowing that he had managed to surround himself with such brilliant mischievous minds.
He yawned again, and McGonagall shot him a severe look. James grinned at her before going back to his half finished transfiguration. He had successfully vanished his snail's shell, but not the actual animal, which was now squirming across the desk, trying to escape another unwanted disappearing.
James was usually amongst the best student in transfiguration in his year, but today his sleepless night and the fact that Lily was sitting at the desk in front of him did not help his focus. He decided to give up on his snail for the moment, comforting himself by looking at Peter's snail, which had turned a bright yellow.
Remus and Sirius were seated on the opposite corner of the classroom: McGonagall had wisely chosen to separate the Marauders in her class, since what was remembered in Hogwarts' history as "The Great Rabbit Incident".
Still, if he stretched his neck, James could see Sirius laying back in his chair, looking profoundly bored, and Remus's furrowed brow as he tried to understand the complicated instructions on the chalkboard.
Each of their subjects had been getting increasingly difficult, except maybe for History of Magic, which had always been nightmarish. James was even debating on whether or not he should join a study group led by a seventh year Ravenclaw, Dennis Grant. On the one hand, he would be teased mercilessly by Sirius, and on the other hand, his parents were counting on him for his OWLs, and he hated to disappoint them.
The bell rang and he delayed his decision making, throwing his bag on his shoulder and getting up at once to run to his friends.
"Bloody hell, I thought this period was never gonna end, I swear McGonagall enchanted the clock to make it slower," said Sirius with a pout.
"Awwh you're just saying that cause you missed me," teased James, as he winked at him.
"Prongs, we would all be lost without you," replied Sirius, deadpan.
Lily, walking out of the classroom, passed behind him at that very moment and snorted at the words. Remus and Peter tried to maintain a serious face but failed upon seeing James's indignant expression.
"She'll see it too, one day," he said, trying to look more confident than he felt.
Their next period was free, so they made a quick detour to the Gryffindor tower to grab the cloak and the map before heading down to the dungeons for the beginning stage of their plan.
"How much do you think we'll need Prongs?" asked Peter, scurrying behind them.
"Dunno," James answered cheerfully. "But we'll make sure we get enough, don't worry Pete."
The dungeons were significantly colder than the rest of the castle, and the stones were moldy from the humidity and the lack of sunlight. It was a dark and gloomy place, and James could not think of a reason as to why classes were held there. Potion making could be so much more fun and entertaining in the higher levels, away from the spiders who always seemed to make their beds at the bottom of empty cauldrons.
Once they reached Slughorn's office, Remus and James slipped under the cloak and waited for Sirius and Peter to knock. They entered the office together, Sirius taking his time to close the door to make sure his invisible friends had followed him.
It was a quick and easy job, and five minutes later they were out, Remus still concealed under the cloak with the massive bottle of Polyjuice they had managed to steal.
"Everything good on your end? What did you talk to him about?"
"Oh, Peter and I had Ds on our last assignments, so we asked him if we could redo it cause we knew he would say no," laughed Sirius. "What about you? You replaced the bottle right?"
"Yup, with pumpkin juice I transfigured. Hopefully he doesn't need to change into someone else anytime soon."
Remus was stuck on something else Sirius had said.
"Padfoot you got a D in potions? I helped you with that assignment!" he whispered.
"Forgot to turn it in," Sirius grinned. "Sorry Moony."
The disgruntled sound Remus made echoed through the dungeons and they all laughed before splitting up to their respective classes.
The second part of their plan was less delicate but everything was up to Remus. Having managed to get out of Muggle Studies early, James was waiting for him, pacing in front of the door of the classroom, barely able to contain his excitement.
When the bell finally rang, the door flew open and James couldn't stop himself from smiling upon seeing his friend's triumphant face. They made small talk on their way to the Gryffindor tower, deliberately avoid the subject they most wanted to talk about, just in case anyone was listening.
James didn't get the occasion to ask about it until they got back to their dorm, where Peter and Sirius were already waiting for them.
"Did you get it?" they all asked at the same time.
Remus smiled and didn't say anything, but unfolded his fist to show them what he had been holding. A long wavy auburn hair. The three of his friends stared at him in awe.
"We're really doing this."
On the day of the full moon, they were all feeling an equal mix of nervousness and excitement, and when the evening came James's anxiety skyrocketed and he could suddenly see everything that was wrong with the plan. It felt so rushed and there was so many things that could go wrong, things that were illegal, and things that only relied on people maintaining their habits.
He took a deep breath and tried to keep a composed attitude. Too late to back out now.
On the floor of their room, Sirius and Remus were leaning over the Polyjuice, which they had separated in several different containers. Only two doses were needed today, but if everything went well nothing could stop them from doing it again.
James looked over at Peter, who seemed just as nervous as him, and sighed. He was gonna have to put on his usual self-assured mask and pretend everything was easy, in order to reassure Peter.
"Do it Black, we don't have all night!" said Remus, impatiently.
James slid from his bed to sit on the floor next to his friend. Sirius, looking incredibly focused, dropped Lily's hair in one bottle, and one of Remus' hair in another. The first one bubbled for a minuted before turning a lovely light purple colour, while the second one very slowly adopted a glowing silver.
"Which one do you want?" asked Sirius quietly, though no one could hear them.
James rushed to grab the silvery drink. He had absolutely no desire to find himself in Lily's body. It felt so wrong and so personal, especially considering the fact that Lily had no idea what they doing. James had tried convincing his fellow Marauders to use someone else's hair, but in the end it was his single voice against three, and he was forced to admit that Lily had more power over Snivellus than any other girl.
Peter took the lilac drink reluctantly. He had been very vocal about wanting to go to the Shrieking Shack alone with Moony, but his Animagus form was too small and did not allow him to control the wolf and stop it from hurting itself, so logically the role was attributed to Sirius.
James stared down at the glass he was holding, then back up to his friends, who were all looking at him eagerly. He raised his glass to them.
"Here goes nothing."
The potion in itself didn't taste bad, but the sensation that came with it made him wonder if he was going to throw up. Incapable of controlling his body, he felt his hands clutching at his stomach, while his insides seemed to have a marvelous time, dancing and twisting around. His skin felt like he was on fire and a painful itch all over his scalp told him his hair was making its way back into his head.
When he opened his eyes, he realized he had collapsed on the floor from the pain. Peter looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.
"Hurts that bad, huh?" Sirius held out a hand and helped James back to his feet. "Godric, that was scary."
Still a bit shaken, James looked down at his hands, to see that they were not his hands anymore. They were whiter, thinner, and covered in a multitude of small silver scars. He took off his glasses Remus's eyes had no use for, and rushed to their shared bathroom.
His messy raven hair had been replaced by beautiful golden brown curls, and the face in the mirror in front of him was reassuringly familiar, but not his. It took him a minute to realize that his skin felt tight and hot on his flank, just above his right hip, and when he put his hand on it over his robes he realized that it was the spot where Remus had been bitten at the age of five. He quickly took his hand off it, as if he had been burnt.
He decided he didn't like being in anyone's body except his own. He felt like an intruder, but at least Remus was his friend. James suddenly felt very secured in his decision to not assume Lily's body.
He took a second in front of the mirror to ruffle up Remus's hair, then headed back to the bedroom, where he froze and had to hold on to the door frame to not lose his balance. Lily was standing in the middle of the room, stunning as usual, and James blinked a few times and looked away in a desperate attempt to stop his heart from beating so fast.
She turned to him, with Peter's eternal cloying look of admiration, and James winced. It was Lily's face, but it wore the expression that was the furthest from her and James hoped he would never have to see such a look on her face again.
"This is magic!" Remus exclaimed, amazed, staring at James.
"Moony, ol' pal, I have some news about what type of school we're going to," grinned Sirius, patting Remus's back before winking at James. "Prongs you look way better like this, I have to admit."
James felt himself blush.
"Come on, let's move! Like Moony said, we don't have all night! It should take about an hour for the potion to wear off, and you Remus have to be in the Shrieking Shack in under twenty minutes, so let's go."
As they all left the room, Peter, in Lily's form, locked his arm around James's.
"Gotta look the part," he shrugged, and James couldn't help himself but shiver at Lily's voice. They walked down the staircase together, Sirius and Remus hidden under the cloak, and James realized it was probably the weirdest thing they had ever done.
Praying that the real Lily wouldn't decide to go for a walk after curfew, they crossed the common room and slid through the portrait hole.
"Good luck," whispered Sirius at James's ear, before leaving to the Shack with Remus. James didn't answer, too focused on scanning the nearby shadows for Snape.
The goal was to find him as soon as possible, and for him to see who he thought was Remus, fully human under the moonlight, so that his suspicions would be cleared once and for all. The Lily element was Sirius's idea, as it was bound to infuriate Snivellus.
It only took them about thirty seconds to find him thanks to the Marauders Map. He was hiding in an alcove, behind a tapestry, just outside of the Gryffindor tower, obviously on the lookout for werewolf related activity.
Deliberately not looking in his direction, James and Peter passed in front of him loudly. After shooting a discreet glance at the map, James leaned towards Peter and whispered in his ear.
"It worked, he's following us! Pretend I just said something really funny!"
Peter giggled, and it was Lily's beautiful laugh that filled the hallway. He passed a hand in Lily's soft hair and smiled up at James, who had to remind himself for the hundredth time since they drank the potion that it was his friend holding on to his arm, and not the girl he was mad about.
"Oh Remus, you're so funny! And you're the smartest guy in our year, I can't believe my luck that you were free tonight."
James smiled. Peter was playing his part very enthusiastically despite his nervousness at the beginning of the operation. James answered louder than necessary, not wanting Snivellus to miss a word of the discussion.
"I'm always there for you, Lily. Just have to ask."
With a tug in his stomach, James found himself wondering if he would ever be able to say these words to the real Lily, in his own voice. Distracted, he approached a gentle hand to Lily's face and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, telling himself that it was for Snape and not for him.
Then he took a step back, reminding himself once again that this was cheating. The real Lily would have hexed him had he tried something of that nature, and it was not fair of him to take advantage of the Polyjuice, even for such an innocent gesture.
"I'll ask then." Peter continued in Lily's voice, unaware of James' inner turmoil and leaning towards him. "Would you go to the next Hogsmeade trip with me? I usually go with Sev, but he's been a drag recently, and besides, he's not as hot as you."
A deafening sound suddenly filled the hallway, waking the portraits around them, and causing them to cover their ears and look around, alarmed.
"What was that? Was it Peeves?" whispered Peter, and James felt his heart swell, because it was Lily's face looking up at him, it was her green eyes filled with worry, and it was her hand grasping his own.
"No, I don't think so," he whispered back, letting go of Peter's hand to pull out the map.
Severus Snape was walking away from them and heading back to the dungeons. He had apparently thrown a blasting curse to an armor in a fit of rage, which explained the noise that still rung in James's ears. Well, Remus's ears.
"We have to go, Flinch is gonna be here soon!"
James folded back the map, shoved it in his pocket and, allowing himself to forget for just a minute, took Lily's hand and ran back to the common room. Her hand was small and fit perfectly into his, and he was sad to let it go. The common room was warm and welcoming, but there was something missing in his heart.
So he promised himself that he would hold this hand again, and that this time it would really be Lily's.