DISCLAIMER: In this one I own absolutely nothing mentioned. It all belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. And honestly folks, if I did own any of this, would I be posting it here? No. I'd be making millions selling it to people like myself. Now, on with the show......
Sirius, disguised as the huge black dog commonly known as Snuffles, sat at Harry's feet in the Common Room late one winter evening. Mischief was afoot; Sirius could smell it even before either of the young men spoke.
"You think we can do it tonight?" Ron asked eagerly peering at Harry, whose glasses had a glare that obscured his eyes.
"Of course we can. All we need is the Map and the cloak and we're all set. Although, Hermione might be a good addition to this expedition. She's a bit more careful than either of us and heck, even better at making excuses," Harry said, leaning forward, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Good point.....HERMIONE!!!!!!!!!!"
Sirius, had been human, would have grinned, thinking about the many times years ago he and James had had similar conversations. They always ended with himself bellowing for poor old Remus, the cautious one, to come and save their necks in the newest prank.
"Sirius, I just don't understand how you think we're going to get in the Ravenclaw Common Room, set off dungbombs, wait for their Prefects, put itching powder in their pajamas and get back here without anybody noticing it was us. You know we don't work real fast under my cloak when there's more than one of us in there. First off, they'll hear us, second, you know someone's going to step on one of the edges of the cloak and pull it off of us, and third, do you know how many Howler's I've gotten in the past year? My all time record, eight!!! Mum's ready to perform an Unforgivable if I'm not careful," James said, trying to talk some sense into his friend.
"We'll think of it when we get there, let's go!" Sirius said, completely ignoring the rather long winded statement James had just made. Reacting to the rather peeved look that appeared on James' face Sirius tried another tactic, "Alright, calm down. Let's get Remus to help us, since he usually plans better than we."
"Go get him then, I'm warming my feet," James said, pulling a face at Sirius.
Sirius wasn't about to move either so instead of walking up to speak with Remus, he screwed up his face and screamed up the dormitory stairs, "REMUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"What do you want now Ron?" an exasperated voice said from the foot of the stairs. Sirius turned his head to see a ruffled Hermione still clutching a book with her other hand on her hip.
"Come over here and we'll tell you. I'm not yelling this across the whole Common Room," Ron said, rolling his eyes as she huffed over to them.
"I was reading a very good book. This had better be important," she said crossing her arms when she reached the smirking boys. "Hi Snuffles," she said, reaching down to pat Sirius' shaggy head.
"We were wondering if you had any ideas, Hermione, that could help us execute our plan," Harry said, smiling his sweetest smile at her.
"You got me down here because you need help figuring out a way to get out of a mess you haven't even created yet?" she said eyeing both of them critically, and after a few silent seconds gave a defeated sigh, "What's the plan?"
"Well, first we get into the Slytherin Common Room and bewitch everything purple and bronze, instead of silver and green--" Harry was cut off.
"Then we find Malfoy's dorm and try out a new prank Sirius told us about, which involves Malfoy being harassed by much of the school!" Ron said gleefully.
"Where am I involved in this mess?" Hermione asked, slightly confused, "You seem to have it all worked out quite well this time."
"Where am I involved in this mess?" Ah, what a common phrase that used to be around the Gryffindor Common Room on boring evenings. It was the answer to, "Remus, we're going to try to get more food from the kitchens," and, "Tonight Snape will know the meaning of the word revenge."
"....And that is how you do the charm to completely change the room. About the Cloak, I think we need to just move slowly, although I'm now quite sure that's the best idea, it's all I have right now. How do we get in by the way?"
"Sirius has the answer," James said, looking at Remus in an exasperated way.
"Sirius?" Remus prompted, after a moment of silence, in which Sirius had shown no interest in actually revealing his source of information.
"What?.... Oh, well, I was talking to a certain red headed mischief maker who just happened to overhear it when she was walking back from Arithmancy. It's 'Odyssey'. Or at least it was this morning," Sirius said, looking particularly smug.
"She told you and not me??" James asked, sitting upright in his chair.
"Ginny only told me because I'm her brother. And don't you get all flustered about it pal, she was trying to find you. It seems she's in on our plot once again..." Ron hinted, pointing his gaze toward Harry.
"It must have slipped or something, I swear," Harry stammered.
Slipped?? Sirius thought. No, sorry godson of mine, you told her. I was there! Just like the time James 'slipped' news of our Animagi accomplishments to Lily. Yeah, he was just trying to impress her. He really should have kept better track of that Cloak of his.... Sirius mused, mulling his memories over and over in his mind.
"Well guys, we're ready to go," Harry said, walking up to the pair seated on the couch. He was carrying his silvery Cloak, the Marauder's Map and a piece of parchment that said "KICK ME""
"That's subtle Harry," Hermione said looking at the sign.
"Actually, I charmed it so only Gryffindors and Ravenclaws can read it. Most Hufflepuffs would be nice and tell him he was wearing a "Kick Me" sign, so they're out. To them and any of those slimy snakes, it's just black and blends in with his robes," Harry said puffing his chest out proudly.
Sirius was still watching from the floor. I came up with that one kid. We got the best laughs out of that one for our entire fifth year.James almost died laughing when Dumbledore gave Snape a healthy kick in the butt before telling him about the sign. The funniest part was the fact that being a Slytherin, Severus couldn't actually see what it said. His face had been livid, actually accumulating color as he swelled with anger.
"POTTER!!!!"
"Yes professor Snape?" Harry said looking up innocently from his cauldron. He moved his head just in time to see Malfoy get a swift kick on the backside from Seamus Finnigan.
"Your cauldron is boiling over. Fifty points from Gryffindor!!!!" Harry wondered if Snape actually understood the joke that was being played on Malfoy. He hoped not. Harry just looked down and kept stirring, it was the only thing left to do.
Anyway, Harry had more important things on his mind, like his meeting with Ron to discuss the possibility of becoming Animagi. Sirius had told him about a book, lodged somewhere in the back of the Restricted Section that might help them. Harry imagined himself in Animagi form and the astonished looks on the faces of his classmates.....
In Gryffindor Tower Sirius flopped down on Harry's bed as Snuffles and dog-smiled through his fatigue. Harry certainly was James' son; there was no doubt about that. Sirius couldn't wait to ask Harry about how the prank had gone off, and began to ponder another one that just might work on old Snape himself..... If we can get into the Muggle Studies classroom......
As a side note...... I'd love to thank Alissa for beta-ing this for me. Hun, you're a godsend... and yes, Sirius will be over in a few minutes to take care of a few things....
I'd also like to thank those of you who Reviewed last time....... Drum roll please..... Ivy, Voltora, Cloudzi, OrcaPotter, julie, Mailee, Katie, KittyAngel & StarFig, Lily Vance, Amy, Padfoot Lover, Hermione2001, Aurora, the seraphim, Winterbloom, and last, but certainly not least, peachylaura!!! Thank you all so much!!!!