The first week of the semester went by very slowly. Classes were harder than ever and all the teachers were on edge, irritated and often frustrated by the lack of results in their students. James would blame it on the stress of fifth year and the OWLs approaching but he knew better. There was a war on after all.
It wasn't easy to forget, even locked away in a safe place, far from any type of battlefield. The newspapers only brought stories of death and worry. Smiles were rare at the breakfast table during the morning paper delivery.
The Marauders were all back on speaking term but their conversations carefully avoided upsetting subjects such as the war. Sirius seemed as though he was trying to deny its existence entirely. It was probably unconscious, James thought, Sirius was so used to pretend his family didn't exist, it simply extended to everything related to the Blacks. And the Blacks' involvement in the war was undeniable.
To counteract that state of perpetual anxiety residing in the castle, the Marauders had decided it was time for them to step up to their reputation and restore even a little bit of lighthearted fun in the school.
They had started slow, during the second week, without even concerting each other. James had taken up the habit to dye the walls, floor and ceiling of the corridors he walked in on his way to class bright pink. Peter, usually right behind him, enchanted the portrait so that each of their words would just project blue bubbles on the person in front of them. Remus had mastered a spell which produced an extremely strong smell of his choice in a very large area and Sirius was having fun dying every teacher's hair bright orange.
Fair to say it was very simple to know where they were at all times, one only had to follow the pink path and the bubbles. Their spells were lacking in power and intensity though so they wore off pretty quickly and were extremely easy to break, but the teachers seemed to enjoy this distraction and rarely ever bothered with a counter spell.
No one was oblivious to the identity of the people responsible either, but it became a running joke in the school to wonder out loud about the strange phenomenon.
"There must be a leak in some pipe, it reeks of lavender around here."
"This castle is always full of mysteries. Bubbly mysteries."
"I'm really sorry I forgot my essay in my dorm Mr. Weasl.. Mr. Slughorn sorry."
It was hard to maintain a gloomy atmosphere in these conditions and soon enough everyone's good mood was boosted. The Marauders quickly realized that small and simple things helped making people happier. But the four boys weren't meant for small and simple things.
"We need something bigger. We need to combine our strengths. We need the whole castle to be pink and bubbles to be everywhere." Sirius was sitting on his bed, agitating his hands as the idea unraveled in his head. It was a rainy Sunday afternoon and Quidditch practice had been canceled by a bitter Alice, who hated bad weather even more than she hated losing.
"I don't know... If we're gonna do something bigger it might as well be something we haven't done before," answered Remus, pensive.
Laying on the floor playing with his snitch, his legs propped up against his own bed, James smiled. It took a while for things to be normal again, and sometimes it still wasn't because not all was forgiven, but at least this moment felt like they were all back in first year, excited about this newly found and wonderful friendship.
They would come back stronger from their fallout. If they could get over this important of a betrayal and a near-death experience, they could get over anything. The Marauder's era was far from being over and James couldn't be happier about it.
"I agree we need to do something different, but that's still fun and harmless," said Peter, looking up from his charms textbook. "We still have the Polyjuice after all."
"No, not the Polyjuice, not now," James intervened. "Severus knows about Moony and he's seen him human on the full moon, remember? With Lily? He's bound to ask questions. Too dangerous."
"Too dangerous? Who are you and what have you done with James Potter?" asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow playfully. "You used to live for danger, you were the best trouble maker out of all of us.."
"And I still am," interrupted James. "And I still love the thrill of danger, but I'm not risking getting us expelled. I'm putting my foot down, no Polyjuice."
"Fine," sighed Sirius. "You've got a better idea genius?"
"Actually, yeah I do."
They started preparing for the prank that very night. D-day was only a couple of weeks away and there were many components involved. While Remus stayed in their dorm doing research in his many books of Herbology and Charms, James, Peter and Sirius headed out to Hogsmeade with the cloak and a new sense of wonder. Having a new big project to focus on together filled them with joy and Sirius was skipping in the tunnel to Honeydukes.
"This is gonna be awesome! I can't believe we've never thought about doing something like this before!"
"Thank Godric you have me, right?" sighed James, rolling his eyes playfully.
"I've said it before and I will say it again, we would all be lost without you Prongs."
James ruffled up his hair with an exaggeratedly confident smile and Peter laughed.
"We're here boys!" he giggled.
"Great!" said Sirius excitedly. "Prongs give us the cloak, we'll need it more than you. And you'll probably be done before us so you don't have to wait for us to go back to Hogwarts."
"Yeah that's fine!" replied James, handing him the cloak and opening the trap door leading to Honeydukes' cellar. Despite his immediate agreement, he found the request a little weird. The path from Hogsmeade to the statue of the humpbacked witch was long and could be extremely boring when walked alone, that was why they usually came in pairs. He was more than willing to wait until his friends were done so that they could walk back together but he didn't dare to question Sirius's reasoning. Their newly repaired friendship was strong, but James still thought it best to avoid arguments when he could.
"I'll see ya when I see ya!" He waved his friends goodbye as they left the shop.
Time for business, he thought as he turned around to face the mountains of sweets piling up from floor to ceiling. Thousands and thousands of bright colored candy, wrapped in packages that came in all shapes and sizes, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Fizzing Whizzbees, chocolate frogs that croaked faintly inside their boxes, Ice Mice, Tooth-Splintering Strongmints, Remus' most treasured Sugar Quills and James' favorite Pink Coconut Ice. There was so much and everything looked so good.
James didn't know what to look at, where to start. After a good ten minutes of intense inner debate, he decided on three enormous crates, respectively overflowing with Flavour Beans, Chocolate Wands and Exploding bonbons. He would have to come back every night for more, because three crates was all he could levitate at a time, especially all the way back to the castle.
Before leaving, James pulled out his wallet and started calculating mentally just how much he owed the store. Thanking his incredible luck to have been born in such a wealthy family, he just about emptied his pouch on the counter and left a note explaining what he had took. A reverse receipt, he thought, smiling to himself.
And he went back on his way. Levitating the huge boxes in this tiny tunnel, James understood why Sirius had not wanted him to wait for them. His way back took him twice as much time as his way there. His arm hurt from keeping it up straight but had to be precise in his wand movements, leading the crates. Several times he accidentally knocked them into each other and a few Chocolate Wand packages fell, but he didn't bother picking them up. They would be a nice surprise snack for Sirius and Peter when they made their own way back.
Finally at Gunhilda's statue, James put his hand in his pocket, unconsciously looking for the map to check if anyone was around or on the way to the Gryffindor tower. Then he remembered he had lent the map to Sirius, and that he didn't need it anyway. As per usual, Remus had taught them the prefect patrols, which he scheduled. None of the other prefects loved planning, organizing and administration tasks as much as Remus and it became very useful for The Marauders to walk around the castle at night, knowing exactly which path to avoid and when.
The entire Gunhilda's corridor was supposedly empty for the next thirty minutes, so it was in blind trust that James levitated the crates out of the hole before lifting himself up onto the ground of the third floor.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Shit. The voice was familiar, too familiar. And that strong smell of apples wasn't Remus's doing but the smell of a shampoo James knew too well. Accepting his fate, he turned around to face an amused Lily Evans.
"Well Potter I didn't think today would be the day I'd witness you crawling out of a hole, but I guess I was wrong."
James laughed nervously. Lily's beautiful hair was a bit messy and her smile looked sad. Like every other muggleborn, the war was taking a toll on her and she seemed more tired than usual.
"There's a first time for everything," James shrugged.
"If you say so," replied Lily, pulling on a string of her hair. "Now, may I know why the hell you're out after curfew, looking like you just robbed Honeydukes?"
James bit his lip and suddenly realized what his friends had done. Remus had scheduled Lily to be here at that exact time. Sirius and Peter had encouraged him to go back to the castle without them. This was a set up to get him to be alone with Lily. He took a second to fully acknowledge how inventive and evil and amazing the Marauders were before answering.
"Details are confidential but there may be some minor pranking involved."
"Minor pranking uh?"
"Don't ask and I shall tell no lies."
James was prepared for this, he had spent the last four years of his life dreaming of a one on one with Lily. This was the best late Christmas present he had ever received. But yet he felt hot and sweaty and his heart suddenly started beating really fast. Probably from all the walking and the levitating he had done. He ruffled up his hair and smiled at her, trying to look confident.
"Where are you planning on putting this anyway?" Lily gestured to the three crates behind James. "Because I guarantee you that you will die if you try eating all of it."
"It's not all for me," answered James. He really did not want to lie to Lily so he wasn't going to. "And I'll stock it in the abandoned classroom on the second floor."
"Peeves' room? Good luck with that."
"Oh he's in on it, he always lets us borrow his room for storage!" said James with a smile. "Besides it's the only room everyone avoids, so no risk of getting caught. I think Peeves kinda likes us actually."
He levitated the crates once again and started walking towards the closest staircase, in the mindset that she would have already given him a detention if she was going to. Lily sighed and followed him down the dark corridor.
"No wonders. Sometimes it seems like there's five poltergeists in this school instead of one."
"Can't argue with that. We love poltergeisting."
Apparently Remus had planned Lily's patrol to trace exactly the path he had planned for James, so she followed him down to the second floor and even helped him settle the crates in a corner of Peeves' room.
"You sure he won't mess with it?"
"Don't worry about it, Peeves keeps his promises."
"Somehow I found that hard to believe."
They walked back to the Gryffindor tower together, talking about the ghosts and their different encounters with them. James realized with surprise that Lily was very easy to talk to, she was fun and the conversation flowed effortlessly. She scrunched up her nose when she laughed.
Time flew by and soon enough they found each other in front of the Fat Lady's portrait. James would have gladly kept walking and done at least a dozen laps around the castle just enjoying Lily's company and talking about everything and nothing, but she didn't see it that way.
"To bed you go Potter, I have other rulebreakers to catch," she said pointing to the portrait. "And I better not find the rest of your friends roaming about with half a ton of candy."
"Can't promise that you won't," James winced playfully. "Consuetudo."
The portrait swung back and just before James slid through the hole, he turned around to watch Lily walking away. Her beautiful red hair bounced behind her and James felt a pinch in his heart. The last fifteen minutes were the happiest he had been in a long time.
He went back to his room with butterflies in his stomach and a brain full of thoughts. Sirius and Peter hadn't come back yet but Remus was waiting for him by the door. He really was a timing genius.
"So?"
James laughed at his friend's impatient expression and sat on his bed.
"Went really well. Surprisingly well. Candies arrived safely. Got caught by Lily but she didn't give m detention and I don't think she's gonna tell anyone."
"Lily was here?" said Remus faking innocence. "What a coincidence, I must have mixed up the shifts."
James threw his shoe at him and they both burst out laughing.
It took four weeks for them to collect and grow all the materials they needed. James, Sirius and Peter went down to Hogsmeade twice a week in order to complete everything in time. Peeve's room was completely filled with candies from top to bottom, but the ghost had kept his word and didn't mess with it one bit. James had dug a serious hole into his allowance to pay for everything but it was worth it and Sirius had helped him from time to time.
When the day of the prank finally came, the four boys could barely contain their excitement. Sirius couldn't sit still in class and his fidgeting got him a few severe glances from McGonagall. James was so nervous he dropped the vial containing his potion right before handing it in to Slughorn.
When the bell finally rang the end of class they all practically ran towards the Great Hall. They sat at the Gryffindor table grinning from ear to ear, waiting for all the tables to fill up. The food in front of them looked delicious but the knot in James' stomach prevented him from eating anything. He crossed his fingers under the table for the Teleportation spell to work correctly. It remained their one unstable component, very complex magic that Remus had spent hours and hours perfecting. In all situations Moony was their engineer, and contrary to popular belief, he was the great conductor of all the Marauders' pranks.
The four boys were staring intensely at the entrance of the hall, refusing to miss their window of action. They were all so on edge they were unconsciously leaning forwards, mouths agape. Finally Severus Snape made his way in the dinning hall and Remus drew his wand under the table swiftly. The wordless spell hit its target perfectly, and before anyone could blink all hell broke loose.
Thousands and thousand of lilies came flying out of underneath Snape's robes, from behind his ears and greasy hair. He kicked around and patted himself with a terrified look on his face, unable to understand where the flowers came from. It was a continuous flow and it didn't seem like it was ever gonna stop. Everyone in the Great Hall was looking, laughing and pointing at him, or watching the lilies dances above their heads with wonder. It was a beautiful dance that Sirius was leading with his wand from under the table, pink, white and yellow melting together like fireworks.
When the flowers finally stopped coming, Snape tried running out of the hall to escape the laughs, but after a couple of steps he was tripped by a Nougat Chunk. Then another one. Then another one. Soon enough he was incapable of running any further, paralyzed by the hundreds and hundreds of candies escaping from his robes.
Fudge Flies, Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Slugs, Pumpkin Pasties, Sugared Butterfly Wings and about everything ever sold at Honeydukes came crashing on all the tables in an explosion of colour. Laughs and excited screams filled the hall as the students (and a few teachers) filled their pockets with everything that had fallen in front of them.
In the middle of all of this chaos, Dumbledore had stood up and opened accepting arms.
"Happy Valentines day everyone! Thank you Severus for your generous presents."
The Great Hall burst in cheers and applause. At each table, students were raising their glasses and toasting to the statement.
Getting maybe a bit carried away by the collective euphoria, James picked up a lily that had fallen close to him and raised it in Lily's direction. Their eyes met and they smiled at each other, a dozen seats apart.
"Happy Valentines day," James whispered, hoping she couldn't read lips.
He would have sworn she had blushed before turning away and in that moment, in a rainstorm of lilies and sweets, James Potter and Lily Evans were the only two people in the world.