AN: It's chapter four of year two already! Hagrid makes his first – uh, second – appearance in my fanfic. Nothing much to say except please read and review ^_^
bunny chan
Disclaimer: I hold no ownership against everything I didn't invent.
The Marauding Five : Year Two
Chapter 4: Hagrid, The Gamekeeper
It was another day at Hogwarts and the Marauders are having Transfiguration classes with Professor McGonagall. Lily was glaring furiously at her desk. She did it once at home, but why didn't it work now? Remus, her partner was staring at her with amusement.
'Knuts for your thoughts, Evans?'
'I don't get it. Why won't this table turn into a polar bear? I did it in the holidays and I even did it last year during Christmas break!'
'Maybe you're not concentrating?'
'Maybe. Get James here. He's best at Transfiguration.'
Lily was scowling hard when she said this, and Remus knew that when she's scowling, she's in bad mood. Living with James, Sirius and Lily from childhood days does pay, but knowing that his friend has a really flaming temper is a sign to stay away whenever she's furious. Remus waved James, who was snapping with his bear, over.
'What's up? Lily, why hadn't you transfigured that table yet?'
'It just won't change.'
'So? Just concentrate.'
'Tried. How come when I managed to do this in my first year, I can't manage it this year? I even turn the fridge into an elephant!'
'Here, let me try,' James offered as he tapped at the table softly. Instant polar bear. He changed it back.
'Unfair!' Lily kicked the table hard, tapping it with her wand just once more. Her eyes hold a determination sentence. If this doesn't work, I'll slash this table into pieces, Lily's green eyes glared warningly. Remus gulped as he inched slowly away from his friend.
To Lily's delight, the table turned into a polar bear.
'Lily, try not to kick the table any more. See, the polar bear has got black footprints on his back,' Remus said after close inspection on the white bear.
'Who cares?' Lily waved her wand. Instant white.
'Lily? Mind helping me here?' Tally voice floated from the next table. Lily transfigured her table back before turning to Tally.
'Sure. See, just tap it here,' Lily said, tapping the table. The table swirled itself into a polar bear.
'Hey, how come you can do it on Tally's table and not yours?' Sirius' amused voice came over. Lily just glared angrily back at her table.
'Well, that stupid table wants to be ignorant, so I thought I'd kick it a little before turning it into a full polar bear.'
'Oh. And those black shoe prints on it's body?'
'Sad thing, really. See, I'd taken into painting onto it's body, letting it look like someone kicked it.'
'You did.'
'Who cares? He wants to be ignorant, he has to pay dearly for it.'
'I thought you were against cruelty to animals.'
'I am, but the table isn't exactly an animal. I just transfigure it from a table.'
The bell rang, signifying the end of the last lesson of the day.
'Potter, Evans, Black, Lupin, come over now,' McGonagall's strict voice called clearly. Dan, Thomas, Tally, Sita, Nina and Pertsy turned to the Marauders instantly, each having the same thoughts in their head. What had they done now?
The Marauders walked over to the professor's desk.
'Yes, Minnie?'
'What's this concerning about?'
'We hadn't done anything, in case you're wondering.'
'And we're purely innocent today.'
'Well, I'd decided on your detention. Go to Hagrid this evening and see what he have for you. That, will be your detention for singing at the Sorting Ceremony. And stop calling me Minnie!'
'The hat sang every year. And we even have a band!'
As if calling the ghosts, five pearly white figures landed gently in front of McGonagall, leaded by Peeves the Poltergeist.
'Hoho! That's right! Disrupting our heavenly music!' Peeves cried, swirling himself all over.
The other ghosts nodded.
'Dumbledore had said, music is magic itself,' The Grey Lady said with a faraway tone.
'Simply magnificent! And you disrupted it,' Nearly Headless Nick said gloomily.
'Sad, Minerva. I thought you like music,' Fat Friar put in with a sigh.
'What more can I say? I totally agree on that,' Bloody Baron snapped.
'Out out out!! All of you! Get back to your houses!' McGonagall screamed loudly as the ghosts floated off and the Marauders returned to their common room, McGonagall calling after them.
'She asked us to get back to our houses,' Remus said happily, skipping his way to the Gryffindor Tower.
The others smiled at their friend. Rarely he was seen this happy, and him skipping? Even rarer. He must've gotten a pot of sugar, Sirius think happily as he join his friend skipping to their common room. James and Lily just beamed.
'Anyway, we'll be doing that so-call detention,' Lily said happily. 'Hagrid's nice, from what I'd heard from Elley.'
'You're still in contact with her?'
'Yep! Tally's her cousin. I just found out.'
'Tally and Elley? Cousins? Elley never talked about having a cousin.'
'No. Tally told me. They're half cousins. Pretty close, too.'
'You're friends with Tally?'
'Yes. Why not?'
'Nothing. Just wondering what had gotten into your head.'
'Well, Tally at least isn't as bad as the rest of the girls, I found out. More like Sirius' kind,' Lily said thoughtfully. The rest just nodded. So long as Tally isn't like the bossy Nina, they're fine with whomever their younger 'sister' is friends with. The Marauders were just like siblings, since their parents – uh, grandparents - knew each other from their childhood, too. They grew up together and did everything together. Gram had once said that she, too, had been great friends with James, Remus and Sirius' grandmothers. The four families had sticked together as one, rivaled Snape (an unforgettable trait) and were all famous Gryffindors.
The Marauders reached the Fat Lady's portrait and called the password at her. They climbed into the common room, only to be greeted by two sixth years; Catherine Forgerys and Terrykinns Splatters.
'Hey! First Quidditch practice is tomorrow, okay? We'd booked the who field already,' Terrykinns, the Quidditch house captain for Gryffindor called to James, Lily and Sirius.
'Right. Have you told Droville and Billy?'
'Yeah. I just met Thomas a while ago. Said he'll pass his brother the message. He was kinda down, since he didn't made it to the Quidditch team because of his grades.'
'Thomas' grades are hopeless. Seems unbelievable that his brother managed to get his lessons perfect when his younger brother couldn't even perform a spell to save his life.'
'Sad.'
'Right. We tried tutoring him, but he just couldn't get a grip on it.' Sirius shook his head in disappointment.
'Oh well, it's getting late and we must study for our OWLs. See ya!' Catherine waved them goodbye as they left for their dorms. The Marauders look at each other and plopped onto the beanbags.
'Okay, what are going to talk about?'
'Me.'
'What about you?'
'I want you to stop treating me like a two year old toddler!'
'Well, you're the youngest Li.'
'Can't you at least try treating me like a twelve year old?'
'No.'
'Why?'
''Cause you're still the youngest, little Lily.'
'Forget this subject! Change it.'
'Into…?'
'Uh…'
'Li, how about James?'
'Huh?'
'Y'know… last Christmas…'
'Come to think of it, maybe I should hang myself right now and become a poltergeist like Peeves. I bet he'll love to have a partner in crime. All thanks to James.'
'What about me?'
'You? I had to wake you up last year, remember??'
'I wanna be a poltergeist too!'
'Why? Wanna join your girlfriend, James?'
'What do you mean, Re?'
'Well… Sirius?'
Sirius, grinning, whipped out something from his robes pocket. Lily and James snatched it and look at it. Dated, according to the photo, was last year, second of September. From what they can see, it was taken in Binns' droning History of Magic class. The subject of the photo was sleeping contently on each other's shoulder and the subject are James and Lily.
'JUST WHAT IS THIS?' the two subjects screamed loudly, their face flushing red.
'What's what?' Tally came down from the stairs.
'Nothing,' James said hurriedly.
'Nothing?'
'Oooh! It's something Tally! Here!' Remus grabbed the photo and shove it into the girl's hands. Tally looked at the photo. She did a double take at it. She rubbed her eyes and look again.
'Lily, you didn't tell me about this,' Tally began slowly.
'Obviously, I don't even know about this!' Lily cried, as she tore the photo from her friend's hands before ripping it into tiny little pieces. Sirius whined as he whimpered at the ripped shreds of the photos.
'Oh well, I have the negative,' Sirius said sourly.
'Hand it over,' James said dangerously. Lily's look could kill one, so Sirius timidly handed the negative. Rolling it open, they stared at the black and white pictures. Each one of them were of Lily and James, sleeping peacefully. Tally grabbed it quickly and scanned the pictures before breaking into a smile.
'You guys looked cute together!! Hey Sirius! Have you any of the real photos?'
'Yep! But I can't show it now or Lily'll rip them all again.'
Muttering, Lily burned the negative.
'So, James Potter, you admitting it?'
'Admit what? Oh, it's already six! Time for our detention!' James said, grateful for the evening detention as he scrambled quickly out of the portrait hole, following by Lily.
'Well, next time, share the gossip with me before passing it to Lily,' Tally whispered to Sirius and Remus. Sirius grinned and gave her a wink.
'Sure! Lily says that you're almost like me, and I think she's right about that!'
The remaining duo ran after their friends. Tally just blushed at what Sirius had said. She? Like him? No, that just won't do. But knowing her new friend, she'd do almost anything to push her. But then again, she was a little like Sirius Black. Just a tiny bit only, where they both like looking for their friend's secrets. Lily was right there. Shaking her head, she turned to her dorm.
**
The Marauders headed towards the hut nearby the Forbidden Forest, grumbling about having detention for absolutely nothing.
'It's so unfair, why didn't they sentence the Sorting Hat to a thousand years of detention each time it sings?' Lily grumbled as she stomped her feet hard.
'It sang for a thousand years since the founders, Godric, Rowena, Helga and Salazar were here. Hah! It's about time since it start it's first detention!' James added grumpily as he kicked a small stone.
'Well, it's a hat so you just can't ask it to do anything,' sensible Remus put in.
'Sensible, Rem, really sensible. Ask a hat to sort us and yet not give it detention for singing. We, on the other hand, got detention for just singing once. Hey, we all wanna show our talent!' Sirius growled.
'Y'know, you sound almost like me after I got bitten by that werewolf!' Remus added in an amused tone. 'I growled most of the time.'
'Really? Well, not only werewolves growl, Rem. Dogs do, too, and since my name's Sirius, I'm also a dog.'
Sirius is the brightest star in the constellation major, and it's also known as the Dog Star.
'I don't study Astronomy for nothing, Si,' Lily put in carefully.
'Right. And to hear you talking about stars just like Sinistra is giving me the headache,' James joked.
'Serious, you talking about studies? Outside of class? Where's Sirius?' Lily asked as she pretended to look for her friend. James and Remus started searching, calling Sirius' name as they 'hunted' for their friend in the bushes, behind the rocks and under some stones. Sirius watch them with an amused expression written all over his face. Finally…
'Oh well, guess he went to join Sinistra or the centaurs,' Lily said sadly with a shrug.
'Who cares? Let's get over to Hagrid's. Maybe he'll give us pumpkin juice,' James said joyfully.
'Well, I'm really thirsty, so why not?' Remus said as they walked off, leaving Sirius looking sad.
'Hey! That's what you'd do when a Marauder goes? I can't believe you!' Sirius cried unhappily at them.
'Oh, so there you are! Where'd you been?' Lily asked as she knocked Sirius' head lightly.
'Bad boy, bad!' James added as he, too, knocked Sirius.
'Next time, never run away anymore, kay? Want a sweet?' Remus asked.
'Fine, Momma, Papa, Uncle,' Sirius replied, referring to Lily as Momma, James as Papa and Remus as Uncle. Lily and James flushed at this comment, but Remus only grinned.
'We're late already!' Lily whined, looking at her wizard watch which says "You're Late!".
'Who cares?'
'Hagrid?'
'Let's just go!'
The four reassumed their route to Hagrid's hut. Upon reaching, James knocked on it sharply.
'Hey! Get all yeh things outta here! Yer moving out!' Sirius imitated a gruff voice. Lily giggled silently as Remus and James tried to stifle their laughs. The door flew open and a man – wait, a giant – loomed before them.
'Well, well, what 'ave we 'ere?' Hagrid asked kindly as he waved them in. They gulped and swallowed in deeply, for inside, is a huge boarhound, gnarling its large teeth at them.
'Now, Fang won' bite. He ne'er does!' Hagrid chimed good naturedly. Sirius took a gulp. Can he trust this giant?
'Don' worry! Fang'll never hurt yer.'
Putting his foot forward gingerly, Sirius went in cautiously, step by step, tiptoeing when he's near the dog. Following his example, James and Remus wormed their way in. Only Lily stood outside alone, face white with fear.
'Come on in! Fang won' bite yeh,' Hagrid invited her in again. To Lily, it was like walking into her deathbed. What if the dog hates girls? What if it bites? What if it killed her? Right there? Right now? She wormed her way. Not in, but out.
'Come in Lily, I don't think Fang will bite you,' Sirius said, exasperated.
'Hey, don't blame her! She's kinda afraid of dogs. Big ones, I mean. And having one snarling at her isn't exactly her type,' James said kindly as he got up to help Lily in. He stood in front of Lily, carefully leading her into the hut, far from the growling hound. He walked back to pat the dog lightly on his head. The dog smiled at him. He shrugged it off. Which dog smiled? He carefully placed Lily on the couch. When Lily sat on it, she fainted.
'So, what ar' you 'ere fer?' Hagrid asked as he got up to make them some tea.
'Detention,' Remus answered gloomily.
'For singing-'
'At the Sorting ceremony.'
'I 'eard tha' song. Very interesting. Who wrote it?' Hagrid chuckled merrily as they drank their tea.
'Li did. She always did these sort of things like organizing our plans, making sure everything has no flaws and all,' Remus answered, drinking his tea gratefully.
'The bossy one. Very egoistic, but smart, nonetheless,' Sirius continued as he refilled his cup.
'She's not of those, Si. She's smart, yes, she's the organizing one, yes, and she's also the one who helped us with all of our studies!' James put in.
'That's right,' Remus nodded in agreement.
'That's wrong. You did all the studying, Jam.'
'But someone has to pull me to it, Si.'
'And Li was always the one? Not Re?'
'Right.'
'Right.'
'Int'esting. Yer See? An' yer Reh? An' yer Jam? An' she's Lee?' Hagrid asked, interested, as he pointed to each of them.
'No. He's Sirius the Joker, Remus the Sensible, Lily the Brains and I'm James the Head Gang. We're the Marauders,' James said, correcting the man who shook his head as he tried remembering them.
'That's right! Oh look! Li's awake!' Remus called as they moved over to Lily. The boy checked her pulse. Still weak, but at least alive.
'Who appointed you to be our leader, Jam?' Sirius hushed.
'Don't call me a "Jam". I sound like a spread for breads. Everyone but you appointed me for a leader, does that satisfy you?' James hissed.
'AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Lily's scream echoed through the hut and the nearby castle when she saw Fang standing next to her, looking sorry for itself.
'Now, now, Fang won' hurt yeh,' Hagrid assured the girl as she searched franticly for her friends.
'James? Sirius? Remus? Where're you?'
'Right here, Li!' Remus said next to her. James and Sirius waved at her from the table. She breathed with relief. At least her friends are here and they can help her. Suddenly, a wet something brushed over her hand. Slowly, Lily turned her head, only to let out another ear piercing scream. Come to think of it, maybe boggarts should better extinct and I think I'm afraid of boarhounds more, Lily said to herself.
Fang backed away sadly. 'Now, Lily, Fang's sorry tha' he frightened ya!' Hagrid said, waving a huge hand in reassurance. Gulping, Lily nodded. 'How 'bout patting the ol' boy? There,' Hagrid said as Lily tried to pat it. Being friends with a huge dog is better than being bitten by one. To her surprise, the dog turned it's head about her happily, nuzzling her hand and licking her.
'You'd a gift wi' animals, Lily!' Hagrid said happily. 'Fang doesn't lick e'eryone an' let anyone hug 'im!'
'Lucky you, Li,' Sirius said sadly. He'd tried to pat the hound, but it snarl angrily at him. That wasn't what he'd expected. The dog had buried itself under Lily's cuddles. Maybe Fang isn't all that bad after all, Lily said to herself gleefully as the dog licked her hard.
'What's our detention, Hagrid?' James asked, looking at Lily cuddling the ferocious boarhound.
'Detention? None!'
'Really?'
'Yep!'
'Good, 'cause my mum wants my record clean this year,' Sirius and Remus were heard muttering. Both Sirius and Remus' mum had strict rules to clean records and high studies, which is completely the opposite for their fathers.
'It's late now. I'll send yer back to the castle,' Hagrid said looking at the clock. Lily checked her watch. The one hand was pointing on "Dinner Time!". She didn't really want to leave, now that she'd got acquainted with Fang, who didn't seem as ferocious as he look. Sadly, the four got up and Hagrid left them at the castle.
'Come again tomorrow fer tea after yer last lesson! Fang'll be joyful ter see yer!' Hagrid said as he waved them goodbye. They waved back, promising that they will.
'Well, Fang is actually tame!' Lily announced brightly.
'No he isn't. He almost bit my hand off!' Sirius snapped.
'Fang isn't all that bad, but like Hagrid had said-' James started.
'Lily has a gift with animals, so all explained,' Remus finished.
'There!' Lily cried triumphantly.
'Why must you take on her side?' Sirius asked sulkily.
''cause Fang isn't bad. He licked me – uh, Remus included, so us – when we left Hagrid's.'
'HAH! You're on your own, Si!'
'Who cares? I can stand on my own, thank you very much. And who fainted?'
Lily flushed.
'Who wouldn't? He looked fearful enough to eat a man! And for Fang, I'll gladly add in the muggle phrase: Never judge a book by it's cover!'
'Fine, Li. I'm not in a mood to fight as my stomach's rumbling. Let's just go to the kitchens.'
'Okay.'
'Fine with me.'
'Where's it already?'
Sirius led them to the bowl of fruits painting before trying to tickle each fruit. Finally, the pear let out the high pitched giggle and open up the kitchen entrance.
'I'd like Fang boiled with onion crisps, french fries, toasts, fifteen different types of vegetables, roast chickens, thick gravy-of-the-day, fifty tomatoes and throw in cabbages,' Sirius said to the house-elves. They looked puzzled at his request.
'Fang, mister?'
'No! Give him a turkey!' James cut in, seeing Lily's face. Lily was boiling with rage already for she'd taken quick liking to the dog.
'Jam!'
Without any word, James quietly indicated his finger to Lily, who was placing orders for her dinner. Sirius nodded frightfully. Lily's bad side was certainly never his favorite side of her.
'… and add in a few minced chops, kay? Thanks sweetie!' Lily said gleefully as she waited for her food, all anger forgotten.
Weird girl, Sirius said to himself as he noted mentally never to offend Fang. Maybe he'll befriend the hound later on.
They waited patiently for their dinner to come, and when it did at last, they attack it with relish. The house-elves happily refilled their plates each time everything was eaten.
After what seems like forever, the four patted their bloated tummies in glee. Sirius had about twenty refills and he smacked his lips happily, grinning eagerly as they waited for their pudding. Lily, James and Remus each had a huge helping to treacle tarts, frosty puddings, strawberry and cherry pies, streaming yogurts and rolling ice-creams. Sirius, who had a bottomless stomach (as he call it), attacked everything.
Lily, James and Remus stared at him hard.
'What?'
'You realize that that was your fifth helping on deserts?'
'Yes.'
'And you already had fifty six helping on the side course?'
'Yes.'
'And you also had sixty five helpings for the main course?'
'Yes and I don't see what you mean.'
'You ate much more that us three.'
'You really have a bottomless stomach!'
'Lily, how about this roast pudding? It's fabulous!'
'Looking after your girlfriend, Jam?'
'GIRLFRIEND?' Lily and James screeched. The house-elves looked amused at this.
'Si's right.'
'Forget it. Anyone who wants me to be their girlfriend can say hello to my goggling curse,' Lily said.
'And unless I invite them, whoever who wants me to be their boyfriend can bid themselves bye bye, 'cause I'm turning them into a hog!' James snapped triumphantly.
Remus and Sirius just shook their heads.
'They're in love already!'
'I resent that!' the two cried through their mouthfuls of food.
**
Yawning, Lily stumbled her way back to the second year girls' dorm, only to be greeted by Tally.
'Hiya Tally! Mind if I sleep? I think I had too much for dinner…'
'No Lily. Dinner? What dinner? Neither of you Marauders turned up! All the Gryffindors are worried and McGonagall seemed really nervous! You didn't have any dinner!' Tally cried as she lectured her friend.
'Cool it, Tally. I had my dinner, so no worry.'
'How can we not?'
'I'm eating in the kitchens.'
'I don't think Hogwarts have a kitchen especially for the Marauders,' Nina's bossy voice called over. Of all the girls Lily hated, she hated Nina most. The girl was the bossiest, fussiest and the most show off girl Lily had ever met. Lily could've sworn that her ego is much bigger than Sirius' one, which is so big it could fill the whole of Hogwarts castle and have leftovers enough to fill the lake, Hagrid's and the Forbidden Forest.
'Shut up Nina!' Pertsy's voice called in the darkness.
'Right!' Lily stared at this. Sita was usually the most timid out of them. She'd scream when she see an ant and she rarely stood over Nina, being her shadow and all.
'That's good, but I believe that Hogwarts do have a kitchen specially for the Marauders,' Lily said as she list off the dishes she'd ate. The girls listened, mouths watering at what they're listening at.
'So Lily, about you and James…' Tally started.
'What about us?' Lily adopted a cold voice.
'You're going out?'
'Sorry. Nope. Nada. Never had, never will. I'd award the goggling curse at whomever who wants to be my boyfriend and a poison for those who even try to propose me.'
'But James is so cute!' Nina's voice cut dreamily.
'And your point is? What'd you do in my place then?'
'I'll marry him.' Lily smirked at Nina's reply.
'If you're me, Nina, you certainly will not cause I'm not.'
'What about Sirius?' Pertsy asked. 'He's dreamy.'
'I'll never marry him either. I promised to poison whomever who wanted to marry me. Remember Thomas? Him choking at the food Sirius gave him?'
The girls all nodded.
'Well, Sirius thought he'd try me and he proposed to me. I poisoned his food.'
They looked wide-eyed at her.
'Seriously, you did that? I can't believe you Lily! Sirius is so cute! I'd agree if he asked me to marry him!' Tally cried.
'I did what I said,' Lily said smugly. 'Besides, they're my childhood friends! They couldn't have feelings for me!'
Tally sighed. 'Lily, you need to learn. Besides, you're too childish for your age! You need to learn, Lily, and come to me once you're ready, okay?'
'Whatever Tally. G'nite!'
And the lights went off.
AN: these days I write short stories, don't I? L well, I couldn't much help it, but I'm really really sorry!! I'll try and get the next part longer! I promise! I'll stretch the ends, pull the strings and I'll make it long! But before the next chapter, please review for this one!