The next day, James woke up to find a very ugly, very green face staring
straight back at him. James yelped, and jumped, but then stopped, and
stared at the figure with the face, listening closely to the familiar
laughter seeping from the very plastic mask.
"Sirius! I'll get you for that!" James shouted, and ran at his best friend, a look of determination and amusement on his face.
"AUGH!!!!!!!" Sirius shouted, as he toppled to the floor from James' bed, with James on top of him.
"That wasn't funny! You scared the living hell out of me!" James exclaimed.
"Good. Now there's just heaven to get out of you," Sirius retorted, as he wriggled free from James' grasp, and ran for the boys' bathroom, locking the door behind him.
"Alohomora," James muttered, pointing his wand at the doorknob. The door flew open, and James saw Sirius crouched in a corner, his head down, shaking in what looked like fear, "Sirius?" James asked lightly.
"Yes?" came a voice from behind him. James turned, and sure enough, there stood Sirius.
"But- how did you- what- I'm," James sputtered out, clearly confused. Sirius started laughing, and pointed towards the still-shaking figure in the corner. James walked almost angrily to the figure, and pulled up the head. It was-
"Remus! What the hell is going on here?" James shouted, anger replacing the shock he had shown earlier.
"You should've seen your face!" Remus exclaimed, laughing uncontrollably. It was clear to James that the figure he had thought to be Sirius was not shaking in fear, but shaking in laughter.
"Wait. So you were pretending to be Sirius the whole time?" James inquired. Remus nodded, "But you sounded exactly like Sirius!"
"Yes. I've been perfecting his voice over the summer. I just thought I'd try it out," Remus shrugged, as if it were perfectly normal.
"Well, Remus," James replied quickly, a sudden idea occurring to him, "I heard that they were going to be serving tree-shaped pancakes for breakfast!"
"Really?!?!?" Remus exclaimed, his face lighting up with eagerness, "Well, we mustn't let others eat it all before we even get there! Let's go!"
He jumped up, and ran out the door to the common room, and clearly, he was headed for the Great Hall.
"Nice one, James," Sirius commented, slapping James a high-five.
"I know," James replied, a grin on his face.
The boys got dressed, and headed down to breakfast, only to meet a rather disgruntled Remus, seated with Lily and Peter.
"'Morning, all!" James greeted, sitting down beside Peter, the farthest away he could get from Remus without being out of conversation-distance.
"Good morning!" Lily replied cheerily, her smile faltering a little when she realized where James had sat down. It was highly unusual for him not to sit between everyone, so as to get as much into the conversation as possible. Obviously, Remus hadn't told her about the pancake incident. Lily looked like she was about to ask what was going on, but thought better of it, and handed out pieces of parchment.
"What are these?" James asked while reaching for the paper Lily was handing to him.
"Timetables. Professor McGonagall came around and handed them out before any of you came down," Lily explained.
"What have we got first?" Sirius asked, not bothering to look at his own timetable.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I've got Divination," James replied. They all looked, and sure enough, they all had Divination together.
When they had all finished eating their meal, they went to their dormitories to get their things, and headed up to the Divination classroom, which took quite a while. When they got there, they climbed up the stairs and found themselves nearly suffocated by the aroma of perfume and heat mixed together. Through the dim lighting, James could see numerous pouffes and chairs, some scattered, most around small tables of five.
James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and Lily sat down at a nearby table by what appeared to be the back of the room, and set their things on the table.
After a few minutes, the whole class was seated, but there was still no sign of a teacher anywhere. The Gryffindors were just starting to get worried that something had happened to the teacher, when-
"Good morning, dears," came a sickly-sweet voice from behind a curtain. The Gryffindors stared at the curtain, and suddenly a woman stepped out from behind it and walked towards the front of the classroom. The eyes of the students followed her, and saw that she looked nothing like they thought a teacher should. This teacher had a long, broom-skirt, trailing behind her on the floor, and a rather frilly shirt. She was wearing loads of jewellery, half of which James thought had to be fake. Her eyes were misty, and her head looked weighed down by large, gaudy-looking earrings.
Ten minutes later, the teacher, whose name they learned was Professor Sybil, had talked for ten minutes, droning something about how great they could turn to be. No one was really listening, as more than half the class was asleep from the intoxicating mist of perfume and heat surrounding them.
Dear God, will this never end? James thought to himself as he listlessly stared up at the ceiling. Quite suddenly, he felt a weight on his right shoulder, and when he turned to look, he saw that it was just Remus, who had fallen into a deep slumber. James shook Remus off his shoulder, and Remus, instead of waking up, banged his head onto the table, still asleep. The noise, however, seemed to have jolted Professor Sybil out of her speech, because she suddenly seemed to realize that the only person who was somewhat listening, or at least was awake, was James.
"Dear me! You children must have gone to bed quite late last night!" Professor Sybil stated quite loudly. Or at least loud enough for most of the students to wake up with a dazed expression on their face, "You should really be getting some sleep! I know that the lesson has barely begun, but I simply cannot teach with only one person listening!" Professor Sybil announced, looking pointedly at James, "Off you go. Get to bed! Get some sleep so you can stay awake through your next lesson!"
The students didn't protest. They gathered their things and left the room, and as soon as they did, they felt fresh air around their bodies. Remus, who had been practically dragged out by Sirius was still half asleep, but as soon as he stepped out of the classroom, he suddenly seemed alert, and certainly looked more attentive.
"What's happened?" Remus questioned as the Gryffindors headed down to their common room.
"Everyone fell asleep except James here," Sirius explained, nodding towards James, "So Sybil let us off and told us to get some rest."
"How did you stay awake, James?" Peter asked, a look of awe on his face.
"I guess I'm prone to perfume," James shrugged, "I mean, what else would you expect when my Aunt Delores comes over to visit for two weeks every summer? All that perfume in there is about how much she puts on every hour. I usually stay in my room when she comes, but sometimes I can get my mom to put an air-freshening charm on the house so we don't have to bear the stench as much." They all laughed at this.
They had some time to kill before their next lesson, Herbology, so they wandered around aimlessly for half an hour or so, before finally heading outside towards the greenhouses. This time when they got there, the teacher, Professor Sprout, was ready and waiting. She started out by calling roll, and then began the usual introductory speech that all the students were used to on the first day each year.
"Good morning. As you all know, on the first day, I like to tell you what sorts of things we will be learning this year, and also, what sorts of thing you would like to learn this year. Let's begin," Professor Sprout started. The lesson flew by, and before they knew it, the Gryffindors were headed to lunch.
"What's after this?" Peter asked curiously, stuffing his pudgy face with some chicken.
"Er…All we have left is Transfiguration," James replied, digging into his soup, but then noticed something on his timetable that shocked him, "Oh, and then we have…potions."
"With the Slytherins again?" Lily asked cautiously. James merely nodded.
"Great," Sirius sighed. There was a moment of silence and then, "Why the hell do we always end up having classes together with the Slytherins!?!? It's not fair! I mean, we've already had two years worth of classes with them! I don't think I can take much more with those f***ing b****es any longer!"
He said this loud enough for heads to turn all through the Great Hall. It was lucky there were no teachers around. However, numerous Slytherins stood up and glared heavily at Sirius. But Sirius just stared back. After what seemed like ages of eating, every so often looking up to see the Slytherins pointing and jeering at them, it was time to head for Transfiguration.
"I wonder who the new teacher will be," Lily said, trying to make conversation as they headed towards the assigned classroom. There was still tension from Sirius, and this had brought James' spirits down. Remus had a dazed expression on his face, while Peter was glancing worriedly at the others. The only reaction to Lily's statement was a grunt from Sirius. Lily took this as a bad sign, and the rest of the route was walked in silence.
As the Gryffindors waited for their new Transfiguration teacher's arrival, James resorted to mindless doodling, since his friends weren't in their usual upbeat mood.
Suddenly, a figure walked into the room. It had a human shape, which James was thankful for, and the figure was wearing a navy blue cloak. James fixed his eyes on the figure, much like his fellow Gryffindors, as the figure let down the hood of their cloak.
It was a young witch, and when she took off her cloak completely, James saw that she was wearing black robes. She had her dark hair in a tight bun, and her mouth was formed in a tight line. She set her things on her desk, and stood in front of the staring students.
"My name is Professor McGonagall, and I will be taking over the Transfiguration job. Just because I am new here, does not, under any circumstances, mean that I will allow any horseplay. You are here to learn, and I am here to teach. Let's leave it at that," Professor McGonagall started curtly, as she surveyed the students seated before her, "Now, we will begin with calling roll."
The students were taken aback by her upfront attitude, and were very surprised to see that she was not at all nervous, something that they had not been expecting.
"Sounds like she means it," Lily muttered to her friends.
"That's not going to stop us from pulling anything," Sirius replied, a sly smile creeping along his face.
"That's right," James agreed, his confidence building after the new teacher's speech.
"Boys! In the back! You are not to talk while I am," Professor McGonagall snapped. A few of the students in the front row recoiled slightly, nervous looks on their faces.
After what seemed like hours on the edge of his seat, waiting for class to end, end it finally did, and James walked quickly out of the room with his friends.
Then, realizing what class they had next, James moaned, and wished to be back in Transfiguration. The five friends walked slowly to Potions, nearly being late for class, but they just made it on time, and received a cold stare from the Potions' teacher, Professor Zimmer. They didn't take this less-than-friendly greeting to heart, as Professor Zimmer was like that with all of his students. Including the Slytherins, which was hard to believe sometimes, as he was Head of Slytherin House.
Surprisingly, the Slytherins did not appear to be angry with Sirius for his outburst earlier in the Great Hall. No more angry than usual, of course. They said nothing to the Gryffindors whatsoever, although James was sure he had heard Malfoy whispering something to Snape, and he thought it sounded a lot like 'Sirius'.
When class ended, Sirius exhaled loudly, "Well, that was bearable. I don't know about you, but the only irritating voice I heard the whole time was Professor Zimmer's. Surprising, since the Slytherins always seem to have something to say." They all let out a small laugh, and then headed to their common room.
The next few days went by quickly, and as it turned out, teachers gave third years much more work than they had in second year, so the students were engulfed in homework. Peter was especially having problems. He was a slow reader, and really, slow in general, so it took him awhile to think. While his friends were on their last piece of homework, he was still on his first. This caused him to whine a great deal, so much, that the others were about ready to strangle him.
The Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts caught up to them, and soon James was persuading his friends to help him practise for the tryouts. He was going to try out last year, but was stuck in the hospital wing with lumps all over his body from a recent hex from Malfoy. He would've liked to try out for Seeker, but the Gryffindor team had already had a Seeker, and so he had trained to become well rounded in all the positions.
Day in and day out until the day before the tryouts, James' friends were releasing Bludgers, seeing how fast and hard he could hit them, timing how fast he could catch the Snitch, helping his with his passing and receiving as Chaser, and pelting Quaffles at him from every angle, improving his saving skills as Keeper.
By the night before tryouts, Sirius was saying, "Well James, with our help, you've become such a good player at every position, you have every chance at making it."
"Yeah, you could be your own team," Remus joked. Out of nerves, James didn't even smile at his friends' attempts to raise his hopes.
"Don't worry about it. You'll do fine," Lily repeated for about the thousandth time since they had started training.
"Yeah. But will that be good enough?" James muttered, loud enough for the others to hear, but, not knowing what to say to this statement, they pretended they heard nothing as they walked from the field to the Gryffindor common room.
The next morning, at breakfast ("Magenta-coloured marmalade! With green toast!" Remus had exclaimed), James was as nervous as they came, and hadn't said one word all morning. It didn't help that people were staring at the five of them as they ate their breakfast.
"James?" Lily greeted tentatively, almost frightened of his mental state. James merely stared into her green eyes. Lily opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it, and looked at her cereal as she mushed it around with her spoon.
No one said a word until the end of breakfast, though the staring from the other students kept on coming. Suddenly, Lily blurted out, "James! This is ridiculous! Not talking won't solve anything! If you're nervous, then talk to us! We'll help!"
At this remark, James burst out laughing.
"What?" Lily asked, a bit concerned, her brow creased. Remus, Peter, and Sirius held similar looks on their faces, as they stopped what they were doing and stared as James clutched his stomach. Finally, after a few minutes, he gained his composure and opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated.
"Dear God, just say something!" Remus replied, clearly fed up with waiting.
"I'm not nervous at all. The only reason I wasn't talking to you guys, is so I wouldn't blurt out the reason why everyone is staring at you," James replied, a grin on his face.
"Staring at us?" Peter repeated, eyes wide, "I thought they were staring at you!"
James chuckled, "Why would they be staring at me?"
"Why would they be staring at us?" Sirius retorted.
"Simply because you guys keep changing colour," James replied, as he picked up his spoon once more, and dug in on his cereal.
"What? No we aren't!" Remus, Peter, Lily, and Sirius exclaimed at once, sending him a look that they clearly thought he was mad.
"Well, not to you, you aren't. See, anyone who has the spell put upon them cannot see himself or herself changing colour by the naked eye. And they cannot see the colours changing on anyone else, either. Which makes it a perfect spell to place on someone," James explained with a grin, "Think of it as a thank-you for all the help you've given me over the past few days."
"You call this a thank-you?" Lily cried out, looking consciously at the still-staring people.
"He's just pulling our leg," Sirius stated.
"There's no spell like that," Peter said, doubtfully.
"Do I look good in orange?" Remus asked, clearly liking the idea of changing colours.
"This isn't a very good thank-you!" Lily exclaimed, clearly distraught at the thought of changing colours all through breakfast without her knowing it.
"You ARE just kidding, aren't you James?" Sirius asked, not as confident as he was before.
"IS there a spell like that, James?" Peter questioned.
"Seriously, because I've always thought I looked dashing in orange, but others have always given me strange looks," Remus stated.
Lily was just about to say something, when James broke in, "Lily, it's a very good thank-you. You look quite good in all the colours, if I do say so myself," Lily blushed, "Sirius, I can assure you, I am NOT pulling your leg," Sirius sank into his chair, becoming very aware of the strange looks people were giving them, "Peter, you've probably never heard of it. That would be because I invented it," Peter suddenly looked at James as if he had just said he had created energy from dirt, "And Remus, no you do NOT look dashing in orange. Quite frankly, you look better in blue." Remus beamed, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Quidditch tryout to attend."
"Wait just one minute! Aren't you going to change us back?" Lily asked, somewhat angrily, as James stood from his chair.
James grinned, "Maybe, maybe not."
"WHAT?!?!?!?" Sirius shouted, standing up, while in the process, knocking over his orange juice. Every student in the Great Hall turned to stare at him. He looked around, blushed and sat back down, "What?" he asked, more quietly this time, but anger still filled his voice, "Why won't you change us back?"
"Isn't it obvious?" James asked, a look of mock puzzlement masked onto his face.
"If it were, would I be asking?" Sirius answered in a flat voice.
"Good point," James smiled, "I'm not going to change you back for numerous reasons. One, is that it's really very amusing to be sitting with my friends who are, for one moment, orange, and the next moment, yellow, and green, and blue, and purple, and red, and then back to orange. Two, because it's utterly hilarious to see the four of you staring around at everyone like they're seeing you without any clothes, and three, because I can't wait for you all to thank me when I get you some clothes for Christmas. This experience has shown me what colours you look best in." And with that, he walked out of the Great Hall, leaving his best friends still sitting at the table, completely awestruck.
"Harrumph! Well, I'm certainly not going doing HIM any favours anytime soon," Lily stated stubbornly.
"Likewise," Peter agreed.
"I don't know. Maybe it WAS a good idea. Now I know not to wear those orange pants around anymore…" Remus said thoughtfully.
"Remus, any one of us could have told you that if you'd simply asked," Sirius replied.
"Well, that's wasn't a very nice thing to say, even if it is true," Lily cut in.
"Yeah! You tell him, Lily!" Remus exclaimed.
"Oh shut up, Remus," Sirius retorted, "Go eat some toast."
"Glad to oblige," Remus replied, and grabbed some more of the green food.
"Well, even if we are a tad angry at James, can we please go watch the tryouts?" Peter asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I guess we should. Especially since we spent so much time helping him train," Sirius said, although it was clear to his friends that her just really wanted to see James make the team, no matter how ticked off he was.
As they walked, Peter said, "You know, maybe we shouldn't be mad at James. People are certainly giving us a lot of attention. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole school knows who we are by now."
"They would know anyway," Lily remarked, smiling, "There's not one student who James and Sirius haven't played a prank on. I'm sure they're on everyone's hit list."
"True," Sirius said with a smile.
"But you're right, Peter, we shouldn't be mad at James. But we're certainly not going to let him get away after this stunt," Lily replied, her eyes glinting, as a sly smile crept along her face.
"I like that look," Sirius said, smiling, "What have you got in mind?"
"Sirius! I'll get you for that!" James shouted, and ran at his best friend, a look of determination and amusement on his face.
"AUGH!!!!!!!" Sirius shouted, as he toppled to the floor from James' bed, with James on top of him.
"That wasn't funny! You scared the living hell out of me!" James exclaimed.
"Good. Now there's just heaven to get out of you," Sirius retorted, as he wriggled free from James' grasp, and ran for the boys' bathroom, locking the door behind him.
"Alohomora," James muttered, pointing his wand at the doorknob. The door flew open, and James saw Sirius crouched in a corner, his head down, shaking in what looked like fear, "Sirius?" James asked lightly.
"Yes?" came a voice from behind him. James turned, and sure enough, there stood Sirius.
"But- how did you- what- I'm," James sputtered out, clearly confused. Sirius started laughing, and pointed towards the still-shaking figure in the corner. James walked almost angrily to the figure, and pulled up the head. It was-
"Remus! What the hell is going on here?" James shouted, anger replacing the shock he had shown earlier.
"You should've seen your face!" Remus exclaimed, laughing uncontrollably. It was clear to James that the figure he had thought to be Sirius was not shaking in fear, but shaking in laughter.
"Wait. So you were pretending to be Sirius the whole time?" James inquired. Remus nodded, "But you sounded exactly like Sirius!"
"Yes. I've been perfecting his voice over the summer. I just thought I'd try it out," Remus shrugged, as if it were perfectly normal.
"Well, Remus," James replied quickly, a sudden idea occurring to him, "I heard that they were going to be serving tree-shaped pancakes for breakfast!"
"Really?!?!?" Remus exclaimed, his face lighting up with eagerness, "Well, we mustn't let others eat it all before we even get there! Let's go!"
He jumped up, and ran out the door to the common room, and clearly, he was headed for the Great Hall.
"Nice one, James," Sirius commented, slapping James a high-five.
"I know," James replied, a grin on his face.
The boys got dressed, and headed down to breakfast, only to meet a rather disgruntled Remus, seated with Lily and Peter.
"'Morning, all!" James greeted, sitting down beside Peter, the farthest away he could get from Remus without being out of conversation-distance.
"Good morning!" Lily replied cheerily, her smile faltering a little when she realized where James had sat down. It was highly unusual for him not to sit between everyone, so as to get as much into the conversation as possible. Obviously, Remus hadn't told her about the pancake incident. Lily looked like she was about to ask what was going on, but thought better of it, and handed out pieces of parchment.
"What are these?" James asked while reaching for the paper Lily was handing to him.
"Timetables. Professor McGonagall came around and handed them out before any of you came down," Lily explained.
"What have we got first?" Sirius asked, not bothering to look at his own timetable.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I've got Divination," James replied. They all looked, and sure enough, they all had Divination together.
When they had all finished eating their meal, they went to their dormitories to get their things, and headed up to the Divination classroom, which took quite a while. When they got there, they climbed up the stairs and found themselves nearly suffocated by the aroma of perfume and heat mixed together. Through the dim lighting, James could see numerous pouffes and chairs, some scattered, most around small tables of five.
James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and Lily sat down at a nearby table by what appeared to be the back of the room, and set their things on the table.
After a few minutes, the whole class was seated, but there was still no sign of a teacher anywhere. The Gryffindors were just starting to get worried that something had happened to the teacher, when-
"Good morning, dears," came a sickly-sweet voice from behind a curtain. The Gryffindors stared at the curtain, and suddenly a woman stepped out from behind it and walked towards the front of the classroom. The eyes of the students followed her, and saw that she looked nothing like they thought a teacher should. This teacher had a long, broom-skirt, trailing behind her on the floor, and a rather frilly shirt. She was wearing loads of jewellery, half of which James thought had to be fake. Her eyes were misty, and her head looked weighed down by large, gaudy-looking earrings.
Ten minutes later, the teacher, whose name they learned was Professor Sybil, had talked for ten minutes, droning something about how great they could turn to be. No one was really listening, as more than half the class was asleep from the intoxicating mist of perfume and heat surrounding them.
Dear God, will this never end? James thought to himself as he listlessly stared up at the ceiling. Quite suddenly, he felt a weight on his right shoulder, and when he turned to look, he saw that it was just Remus, who had fallen into a deep slumber. James shook Remus off his shoulder, and Remus, instead of waking up, banged his head onto the table, still asleep. The noise, however, seemed to have jolted Professor Sybil out of her speech, because she suddenly seemed to realize that the only person who was somewhat listening, or at least was awake, was James.
"Dear me! You children must have gone to bed quite late last night!" Professor Sybil stated quite loudly. Or at least loud enough for most of the students to wake up with a dazed expression on their face, "You should really be getting some sleep! I know that the lesson has barely begun, but I simply cannot teach with only one person listening!" Professor Sybil announced, looking pointedly at James, "Off you go. Get to bed! Get some sleep so you can stay awake through your next lesson!"
The students didn't protest. They gathered their things and left the room, and as soon as they did, they felt fresh air around their bodies. Remus, who had been practically dragged out by Sirius was still half asleep, but as soon as he stepped out of the classroom, he suddenly seemed alert, and certainly looked more attentive.
"What's happened?" Remus questioned as the Gryffindors headed down to their common room.
"Everyone fell asleep except James here," Sirius explained, nodding towards James, "So Sybil let us off and told us to get some rest."
"How did you stay awake, James?" Peter asked, a look of awe on his face.
"I guess I'm prone to perfume," James shrugged, "I mean, what else would you expect when my Aunt Delores comes over to visit for two weeks every summer? All that perfume in there is about how much she puts on every hour. I usually stay in my room when she comes, but sometimes I can get my mom to put an air-freshening charm on the house so we don't have to bear the stench as much." They all laughed at this.
They had some time to kill before their next lesson, Herbology, so they wandered around aimlessly for half an hour or so, before finally heading outside towards the greenhouses. This time when they got there, the teacher, Professor Sprout, was ready and waiting. She started out by calling roll, and then began the usual introductory speech that all the students were used to on the first day each year.
"Good morning. As you all know, on the first day, I like to tell you what sorts of things we will be learning this year, and also, what sorts of thing you would like to learn this year. Let's begin," Professor Sprout started. The lesson flew by, and before they knew it, the Gryffindors were headed to lunch.
"What's after this?" Peter asked curiously, stuffing his pudgy face with some chicken.
"Er…All we have left is Transfiguration," James replied, digging into his soup, but then noticed something on his timetable that shocked him, "Oh, and then we have…potions."
"With the Slytherins again?" Lily asked cautiously. James merely nodded.
"Great," Sirius sighed. There was a moment of silence and then, "Why the hell do we always end up having classes together with the Slytherins!?!? It's not fair! I mean, we've already had two years worth of classes with them! I don't think I can take much more with those f***ing b****es any longer!"
He said this loud enough for heads to turn all through the Great Hall. It was lucky there were no teachers around. However, numerous Slytherins stood up and glared heavily at Sirius. But Sirius just stared back. After what seemed like ages of eating, every so often looking up to see the Slytherins pointing and jeering at them, it was time to head for Transfiguration.
"I wonder who the new teacher will be," Lily said, trying to make conversation as they headed towards the assigned classroom. There was still tension from Sirius, and this had brought James' spirits down. Remus had a dazed expression on his face, while Peter was glancing worriedly at the others. The only reaction to Lily's statement was a grunt from Sirius. Lily took this as a bad sign, and the rest of the route was walked in silence.
As the Gryffindors waited for their new Transfiguration teacher's arrival, James resorted to mindless doodling, since his friends weren't in their usual upbeat mood.
Suddenly, a figure walked into the room. It had a human shape, which James was thankful for, and the figure was wearing a navy blue cloak. James fixed his eyes on the figure, much like his fellow Gryffindors, as the figure let down the hood of their cloak.
It was a young witch, and when she took off her cloak completely, James saw that she was wearing black robes. She had her dark hair in a tight bun, and her mouth was formed in a tight line. She set her things on her desk, and stood in front of the staring students.
"My name is Professor McGonagall, and I will be taking over the Transfiguration job. Just because I am new here, does not, under any circumstances, mean that I will allow any horseplay. You are here to learn, and I am here to teach. Let's leave it at that," Professor McGonagall started curtly, as she surveyed the students seated before her, "Now, we will begin with calling roll."
The students were taken aback by her upfront attitude, and were very surprised to see that she was not at all nervous, something that they had not been expecting.
"Sounds like she means it," Lily muttered to her friends.
"That's not going to stop us from pulling anything," Sirius replied, a sly smile creeping along his face.
"That's right," James agreed, his confidence building after the new teacher's speech.
"Boys! In the back! You are not to talk while I am," Professor McGonagall snapped. A few of the students in the front row recoiled slightly, nervous looks on their faces.
After what seemed like hours on the edge of his seat, waiting for class to end, end it finally did, and James walked quickly out of the room with his friends.
Then, realizing what class they had next, James moaned, and wished to be back in Transfiguration. The five friends walked slowly to Potions, nearly being late for class, but they just made it on time, and received a cold stare from the Potions' teacher, Professor Zimmer. They didn't take this less-than-friendly greeting to heart, as Professor Zimmer was like that with all of his students. Including the Slytherins, which was hard to believe sometimes, as he was Head of Slytherin House.
Surprisingly, the Slytherins did not appear to be angry with Sirius for his outburst earlier in the Great Hall. No more angry than usual, of course. They said nothing to the Gryffindors whatsoever, although James was sure he had heard Malfoy whispering something to Snape, and he thought it sounded a lot like 'Sirius'.
When class ended, Sirius exhaled loudly, "Well, that was bearable. I don't know about you, but the only irritating voice I heard the whole time was Professor Zimmer's. Surprising, since the Slytherins always seem to have something to say." They all let out a small laugh, and then headed to their common room.
The next few days went by quickly, and as it turned out, teachers gave third years much more work than they had in second year, so the students were engulfed in homework. Peter was especially having problems. He was a slow reader, and really, slow in general, so it took him awhile to think. While his friends were on their last piece of homework, he was still on his first. This caused him to whine a great deal, so much, that the others were about ready to strangle him.
The Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts caught up to them, and soon James was persuading his friends to help him practise for the tryouts. He was going to try out last year, but was stuck in the hospital wing with lumps all over his body from a recent hex from Malfoy. He would've liked to try out for Seeker, but the Gryffindor team had already had a Seeker, and so he had trained to become well rounded in all the positions.
Day in and day out until the day before the tryouts, James' friends were releasing Bludgers, seeing how fast and hard he could hit them, timing how fast he could catch the Snitch, helping his with his passing and receiving as Chaser, and pelting Quaffles at him from every angle, improving his saving skills as Keeper.
By the night before tryouts, Sirius was saying, "Well James, with our help, you've become such a good player at every position, you have every chance at making it."
"Yeah, you could be your own team," Remus joked. Out of nerves, James didn't even smile at his friends' attempts to raise his hopes.
"Don't worry about it. You'll do fine," Lily repeated for about the thousandth time since they had started training.
"Yeah. But will that be good enough?" James muttered, loud enough for the others to hear, but, not knowing what to say to this statement, they pretended they heard nothing as they walked from the field to the Gryffindor common room.
The next morning, at breakfast ("Magenta-coloured marmalade! With green toast!" Remus had exclaimed), James was as nervous as they came, and hadn't said one word all morning. It didn't help that people were staring at the five of them as they ate their breakfast.
"James?" Lily greeted tentatively, almost frightened of his mental state. James merely stared into her green eyes. Lily opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it, and looked at her cereal as she mushed it around with her spoon.
No one said a word until the end of breakfast, though the staring from the other students kept on coming. Suddenly, Lily blurted out, "James! This is ridiculous! Not talking won't solve anything! If you're nervous, then talk to us! We'll help!"
At this remark, James burst out laughing.
"What?" Lily asked, a bit concerned, her brow creased. Remus, Peter, and Sirius held similar looks on their faces, as they stopped what they were doing and stared as James clutched his stomach. Finally, after a few minutes, he gained his composure and opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated.
"Dear God, just say something!" Remus replied, clearly fed up with waiting.
"I'm not nervous at all. The only reason I wasn't talking to you guys, is so I wouldn't blurt out the reason why everyone is staring at you," James replied, a grin on his face.
"Staring at us?" Peter repeated, eyes wide, "I thought they were staring at you!"
James chuckled, "Why would they be staring at me?"
"Why would they be staring at us?" Sirius retorted.
"Simply because you guys keep changing colour," James replied, as he picked up his spoon once more, and dug in on his cereal.
"What? No we aren't!" Remus, Peter, Lily, and Sirius exclaimed at once, sending him a look that they clearly thought he was mad.
"Well, not to you, you aren't. See, anyone who has the spell put upon them cannot see himself or herself changing colour by the naked eye. And they cannot see the colours changing on anyone else, either. Which makes it a perfect spell to place on someone," James explained with a grin, "Think of it as a thank-you for all the help you've given me over the past few days."
"You call this a thank-you?" Lily cried out, looking consciously at the still-staring people.
"He's just pulling our leg," Sirius stated.
"There's no spell like that," Peter said, doubtfully.
"Do I look good in orange?" Remus asked, clearly liking the idea of changing colours.
"This isn't a very good thank-you!" Lily exclaimed, clearly distraught at the thought of changing colours all through breakfast without her knowing it.
"You ARE just kidding, aren't you James?" Sirius asked, not as confident as he was before.
"IS there a spell like that, James?" Peter questioned.
"Seriously, because I've always thought I looked dashing in orange, but others have always given me strange looks," Remus stated.
Lily was just about to say something, when James broke in, "Lily, it's a very good thank-you. You look quite good in all the colours, if I do say so myself," Lily blushed, "Sirius, I can assure you, I am NOT pulling your leg," Sirius sank into his chair, becoming very aware of the strange looks people were giving them, "Peter, you've probably never heard of it. That would be because I invented it," Peter suddenly looked at James as if he had just said he had created energy from dirt, "And Remus, no you do NOT look dashing in orange. Quite frankly, you look better in blue." Remus beamed, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Quidditch tryout to attend."
"Wait just one minute! Aren't you going to change us back?" Lily asked, somewhat angrily, as James stood from his chair.
James grinned, "Maybe, maybe not."
"WHAT?!?!?!?" Sirius shouted, standing up, while in the process, knocking over his orange juice. Every student in the Great Hall turned to stare at him. He looked around, blushed and sat back down, "What?" he asked, more quietly this time, but anger still filled his voice, "Why won't you change us back?"
"Isn't it obvious?" James asked, a look of mock puzzlement masked onto his face.
"If it were, would I be asking?" Sirius answered in a flat voice.
"Good point," James smiled, "I'm not going to change you back for numerous reasons. One, is that it's really very amusing to be sitting with my friends who are, for one moment, orange, and the next moment, yellow, and green, and blue, and purple, and red, and then back to orange. Two, because it's utterly hilarious to see the four of you staring around at everyone like they're seeing you without any clothes, and three, because I can't wait for you all to thank me when I get you some clothes for Christmas. This experience has shown me what colours you look best in." And with that, he walked out of the Great Hall, leaving his best friends still sitting at the table, completely awestruck.
"Harrumph! Well, I'm certainly not going doing HIM any favours anytime soon," Lily stated stubbornly.
"Likewise," Peter agreed.
"I don't know. Maybe it WAS a good idea. Now I know not to wear those orange pants around anymore…" Remus said thoughtfully.
"Remus, any one of us could have told you that if you'd simply asked," Sirius replied.
"Well, that's wasn't a very nice thing to say, even if it is true," Lily cut in.
"Yeah! You tell him, Lily!" Remus exclaimed.
"Oh shut up, Remus," Sirius retorted, "Go eat some toast."
"Glad to oblige," Remus replied, and grabbed some more of the green food.
"Well, even if we are a tad angry at James, can we please go watch the tryouts?" Peter asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I guess we should. Especially since we spent so much time helping him train," Sirius said, although it was clear to his friends that her just really wanted to see James make the team, no matter how ticked off he was.
As they walked, Peter said, "You know, maybe we shouldn't be mad at James. People are certainly giving us a lot of attention. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole school knows who we are by now."
"They would know anyway," Lily remarked, smiling, "There's not one student who James and Sirius haven't played a prank on. I'm sure they're on everyone's hit list."
"True," Sirius said with a smile.
"But you're right, Peter, we shouldn't be mad at James. But we're certainly not going to let him get away after this stunt," Lily replied, her eyes glinting, as a sly smile crept along her face.
"I like that look," Sirius said, smiling, "What have you got in mind?"