~Gum-Chewing Cheerleaders~

By Rachie.V.

Author's Note: This is my first ever METMA Challenge fic. Enjoy! :)

*~

"SIRIUS BLACK AND JAMES POTTER! Report to my office right NOW!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang through the Great Hall.
"She must have found the dungbombs in the Slytherin Common Room," James said, grinning to his friend as the two ran to the Professor's office past the sniggering students of Hogwarts.

A giggling Lily Evans shook her head as the two grinning troublemakers went to get their twenty-second detention in the first month of their fourth year at Hogwarts.

"Geez, those two must be the only people to have that many detentions in the first month of a school year!" Lily's best friend, Josie Banks, said, trying not to laugh too loud.

The two girls and Remus Lupin headed off towards their class, but were soon followed by James and Sirius.
"How come you're back already?" asked Lily.
"Oh, McGonagall gave us a detention then told us to leave, and then had a Panadol," said Sirius, sticking a pencil in his right ear.
"I'm not surprised she needed a Panadol," muttered Josie, eyeing the two boys who were now arguing over what the best Quidditch team was. Lily giggled again.

*~

"This store!"
"No, this one!"

The group were on a Hogsmeade weekend, and Lily and Josie were arguing over what store to go to.

"Let's go to Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour," James said, grabbing Lily's hand. (She was his date.)
"Yeah! I'm hungry," said Sirius, grabbing Josie's hand. (She and Sirius were dates.)
"You're always hungry!" Remus remarked, walking with Gabby Andy, a girl in their year who was very sweet. She and Remus had gotten along almost instantly, as they were both kind, thoughtful and a little shy.

"I know, but ice-cream sounds good, doesn't it?" Sirius asked, pouting.
"S'pose. C'mon, Lily," James said.
They went to the ice-cream parlour; James having his chocolate, Lily with her strawberry, Josie with her vanilla and chopped nuts and Remus and Gabby with their vanilla topped off with hot fudge. Sirius had his usual all-you-can-eat deal, with a bowl the size of a small elephant.

After a disaster where Sirius accidentally spilled his bowl on the floor, nearly drowning them all, the group set off shopping. But halfway down the road, a snowflake landed on Lily's hair. Then a couple more onto the road, then several, then a flurry, then sheets of snow! It was a blizzard! Five of them scurried into the Three Broomsticks, while Sirius danced around outside, trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue.
"C'mon, you dolt!" Josie cried, running outside, grabbing Sirius' collar of his Hawaiian-style shirt and dragging him inside.
"My ears are cold," he commented, rubbing his pink ears.
"Well, that's your fault," Josie scolded, shaking snow out of her hair and going off to order six butterbeers.

The six teenagers finished their butterbeers and walked outside. The blizzard had calmed down and had turned into a pleasant afternoon where snowflakes drifted down from the skies above and onto their head, or, in Sirius' case, their tongues.

"Hmm...I need a new hat," Lily decided, and dragged them off into a small store with a wind chime next to the door.
Inside were racks of clothing and shelves of jewellery, and a shelf of hats. Caps, fisherman hats, floppy sun-hats and many more types of hats were what Lily filed through, until she cried, "Aha!" and pulled out a small sun-hat that was lilac and was reversible to a light-blue side.

"Don't you just love my new hat?" Lily asked, swinging around her bag that held the hat, nearly killing a striped tabby cat that was walking along a wall.
"Lo, ani lo ohevet ha covah sheloh!" Josie said back, grinning.
"Eh?" Lily replied.
Josie wiggled her eyebrows, while James and Sirius shrugged at each other, while Remus and Gabby walked away, lost in their own world.

*~

"CHEAT! I saw you! You cheated! Liar, liar!" James cried that night over a game of wizard chess against Sirius.
"DID NOT!"
"DID TOO!"
"DID NOT!"
"DID -"
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP? YOU SOUND LIKE SECOND GRADERS!!" Lily yelled over the argument.
"Yes, Mrs Potter," Sirius replied, grinning. James hit him over the head.
"She's not even my girlfriend! We only went on that Hogsmeade date because you forced us!" James cried.
"Suuuuuuuure," Sirius murmured, knowing darn right he had forced them into going as dates.

They continued the chess game.
"You know, we really need a name for us," Sirius commented, while watching James make his move on the chessboard.
"What do you mean? A name for who and what for?"
"For you, me and Remus and because we always cause trouble around the school. We need a name, like a gang's name," Sirius replied.
"Hmm...how about 'The Rebels'?" Remus spoke up.
"'The Pranksters'?" asked Josie, who was listening with Lily.
"Nah...how about 'The Marauders'?" James suggested.
"PERFECT, JAMSIE-BOY!" shouted Sirius, ruffling James' hair.
"Oh, and Sirius?" James asked.
"Yeah?"
"Checkmate."

*~
"And now, I give you The Marauders!" Molly Weasley cried, spreading an arm out the Great Hall doors at breakfast the next day.
Filibuster Fireworks cracked into action around the doors, and a group of cheerleaders danced around the Great Hall, singing a chant, popping some bubble-gum obnoxiously in between a few words.

The Marauders waltzed into the room, with Peter Pettigrew one of them.
"What's that Slytherin Pettigrew doing with the Marauders?" Lily hissed at Josie while they watched the chaos from the Gryffindor Table. (The girls didn't want to be part of the Marauders.)
"Dunno," Josie answered.

Three of the Marauders walked over to the Gryffindor Table, while one (Pettigrew) walked back to the Slytherin Table.
"What's the big idea of having that slimy git in the Marauders?" Lily demanded.
"Oh, we need him to be the bait when we need it in our pranks. None of us ever likes being the bait, but Pettigrew said he didn't care what he did, so long as he got popularity for doing something 'cool' around the school," James replied.

Sirius chucked a dungbomb over at the Slytherin Table. It was soon clouded by green fog that smelled like a busted sewer pipe. Pettigrew squealed and ran from the Table, making the whole Hall ring with laughter. From that day on, he was known as the Smelly Coward or The Stinker.

And that, folks, is how the slimy git Pettigrew got into the group of Marauders.

*~
Author's Note: Well, I hope you liked it. Please review!!! It would be really nice. And for once, I will allow you to give me flames, but remember: One who flames has limited vocabulary - which basically means you're stupid if you flame. :)

Oh, and I would like to thank Geoff (who never reads these anyway...Lol) for being such a good best friend to me, through thick and thin and his and my ups and downs. I'll miss ya, buddy! (He'll be moving at the end of this year. **Sniff**. YES, a HE, but not a boyfriend. :))

Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, apart from Josie and any more not mentioned in the books. :)