Chapter 10: Second Year

We met on the Hogwarts Express and sat in the same spot as last year, only this time, Lily and Erin sat with us. We talked about going back to Hogwarts.

"I hope they've fired Beaker," said Sirius. "He hates me."

"He hates all of us," James pointed out. "And I don't think Dumbledore ever fires anyone. At least not without good reason."

"He's insane! That should be reason enough!" said Sirius. We laughed.

"So, Sirius, since you're the expert, I hope you've got some good pranks for Snape," said James.

"Don't worry," said Sirius. "I have plenty." Lily and Erin rolled their eyes.

"Why can't you just leave that stupid kid alone?" asked Lily.

"No, Lily, you don't understand," said James. "It's funny. As in making people laugh. Hahaha. You know."

"You're so immature," Lily moaned.

"Well, were only twelve," I pointed out.

"Actually, I'm thirteen," said James. "Today's my birthday."

"Really?" I said. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Are you serious?" asked Peter. Sirius moaned.

"Yes, it's my birthday," said James.

"Prongs, I wish you would have told me. I could have baked you a nice cake," Sirius joked.

"No!" Peter, James and I shouted in unison. We'd seen enough of Sirius's terrible cooking abilities to know that a cake would have been a disaster. Sirius laughed.

"Well, how are we supposed to get you anything for your birthday now that we'll be in school?" I asked.

"Don't worry about it," James insisted.

"Happy Birthday to you…" Lily and Erin began singing. We joined in, even James.

"Happy birthday to me!" he finished.

"Oh, so it's your birthday? How nice," said a familiar sarcastic voice from the door. We turned to find Snape standing there, listening to our conversation.

"Yeah, it is," said James. "What's it to you?"

"So, a little party in the mudblood section. How nice," asked Snape sarcastically.

"Shut up, Snape," said Sirius.

"Oh, little mudblood's going to try to defend his little friend the Pothead," said Snape. Sirius looked at James, who nodded and pulled out his wand. A second later, Snapes hair was bright green. We laughed, even Lily and Erin, who failed at their attempt to hide it.

"What? What is it?" asked Snape.

"Go look in the mirror," Sirius laughed. "And be careful, it might break." Snape stormed off.

"Nice one guys," I said to them.

"Oh that's nothing compared to some of the things I've thought of over the summer," said Sirius. "I'll tell you guys later."

"You know, we can try out for quidditch this year," said James. "You guys up for it?"

"Yeah," said Sirius.

"I don't know," I said.

"Oh, come on, Moony," said Sirius. "You know you're good at flying." He was right. I was better than average at flying. Not as good as James and Sirius, but better than a lot of people. I would have tried out if it hadn't been for my needing to be away at the shrieking shack so often. I would have missed too many practices.

"No, I don't think it's a good idea," I insisted quickly.

"Why not? You'd be good enough," said Peter.

"I-I just don't want to. I mean, I might get too far behind in classes," I said.

"You will get too far behind in classes if you keep on leaving all the time like you did last year," said Sirius. My stomach did a funny jolt at his words, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I didn't know how to respond.

"Whatever sparks your wand," James said shrugging. "I guess it'll just be Sirius and I then. Unless, of course, Peter is trying out?"

"I can't even stay on a broom for two seconds!" said Peter.

"We know," said Sirius. "But face it, not all of us are meant to fly."

"Yeah, some of us are meant to have pink hair," said James, flashing a grin.

"No!" shouted Peter, darting out of the compartment, closely followed by James.

"They're so immature," muttered Lily.

About five minutes later, the compartment door slid open. James and Peter were accompanied by the food cart witch, who didn't look pleased.

"The two of you had better remain in here for the rest of the train ride, understood?" she demanded. James and Peter nodded. "And if I catch either of you making raucous again, I'll report it to your headmaster."

The train ride went by quickly. We continued having weird conversations. Snape didn't show his face again. When the food cart came by, we bought all kinds of candy and ate it all, so we were very hyper. Later on, James thought it would be fun to try to use the spell he'd used on Snape to turn Lily's cat, Daisy, pink.

"Hey, Lily," he said. "Let me see Daisy."

"No!" Lily shouted, grasping the cat in her arms.

"I'm not going to hurt it," James said, pointing his wand. "I just want to –er –experiment with the color a little."

"You're not changing the color of my cat!" shouted Lily.

"He likes a girl, so he traumatizes her cat," Sirius sighed. "When will he learn?" James was now chasing Lily and the cat. He shouted the spell, but Lily was running, and his aim was a bit off. Lily's hair turned neon pink. We all went silent and stared. James's face fell.

"What?" Lily asked. "What did you do?" Sirius pointed at her hair. She grabbed some of it and pulled it into her view. She shrieked.

"Wow Lily, pink is really your color," said Sirius jokingly. Lily ignored him.

"James Potter! You change it back right now!" James shook his head and laughed.

"I mean it, James! Change it now!" her face was threatening.

"Nope," James grinned. "Not unless you'll be my girlfriend."

"Oh, now there's some expertise," said Sirius sarcastically.

"Freak," Lily muttered as she stormed out of the room. Erin, looking surprised, followed.

"Oh, good one Prongs," I said.

"Yeah," said Sirius. "There's the way to win a girl's heart. Attack her cat and turn her hair pink. I'll have to remember that one."

"Oh, shut up," muttered James. "I'm an idiot."

"Yeah you are," said Sirius. "But don't worry, it's Lily. She'll forgive you."

"Yeah," I mumbled. "Three thousand years from now."

"You didn't honestly expect her to say yes?" Sirius asked.

"Well technically, she never said no," pointed out James.

"Prongs, what were you thinking?" asked Peter.

"We don't want to know, trust me," said Sirius.

"Shut up," said James.

The compartment door slid open. Standing in the doorway was the food cart witch, a frown stretched across her wrinkled face.

"Did I not tell you to behave yourself the rest of the train ride?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," James replied.

"I've got no choice other than to report you to Professor Dumbledore," she said.

"Yes you do," said Sirius brightly. "You could not report him to Professor Dumbledore." The witch glared at him briefly, before turning her attention back to James.

"Now what's your name?" she asked.

"Severus Snape," James replied without missing a beat.

"Okay, the headmaster will be certain to hear about your misbehavior, Severus," said the witch, scribbling something down on a bit of parchment before leaving the compartment. We burst into laughter. I couldn't wait to see the look on Snape's face when he got into trouble.

James sulked for the rest of the train ride about Lily. We'd never seen him that way before. He really liked Lily. But she didn't seem to feel the same way about him. She and Erin didn't come back for the rest of the ride. By the time we arrived at Hogwarts, James seemed to have forgotten the whole thing. We got on a carriage, and spotted Lily and Erin. Lily's hair was back to its normal color, and James was back to his staring.

"He'll never get over her," said Sirius quietly. I shook my head. We arrived at the large wooden door at the front of the door, where we were allowed into the Great Hall. We spotted the first years, rowing their boats across the water. I laughed recalling the year before. That had been us.

We once again claimed our usual seats at the Gryffindor table and waited for the Sorting Ceremony to begin. The first years paraded in, terrified expressions on their faces.

"Do you think we looked that bad?" asked Peter.

"You looked worse," said James.

"Shut up," said Peter. We watched each of them try on the hat, and cheered for the new Gryffindors. Finally, sorting was over and the feast began. After eating as much as our stomachs could hold, we went to the Gryffindor common room, and back to our dormitory. The room hadn't changed a bit. Our things were already there. We took the same beds as last year, and went to sleep.

We went to our classes the next day. We still had potions with Slytherin, and Beaker was still the teacher. Our other classes weren't that bad. McGonagall liked to give us lots of homework, but transfiguration class wasn't that hard. Defense Against the Dark Arts was still my favorite, though.

Two weeks after school started, quidditch tryouts were held. Peter, Lily, Erin, and I went to watch James and Sirius. They did really well. The team would be posted in the common room the next day.

"I really hope we got it," said Sirius.

"You guys both did really good," said Lily. James blushed.

The next day was Saturday. James and Sirius dragged Peter and I to sit in the common room all day, waiting for the results to come.

"You know, I really should be working on that transfiguration homework," I said.

"Oh, lighten up, Moony. We've got plenty of time. And this is actually important," said Sirius. Twelve-o clock came.

"Lunch time," said Peter.

"Nope," said James. "We're not going anywhere until we see the results."

"But I'm hungry," said Peter.

"Live with it," said Sirius. Peter was ready to object when Professor McGonagall emerged into the common room, with a sheet of paper in her hand. Sirius and James went running over to her instantly.

"Is that the quidditch team?" asked James.

"Yes," replied McGonagall, as she placed the paper on the wall and left. Peter and I joined Sirius and James.

"All right!" shouted James. "We both got it!" Sirius cheered, and so did Peter and I. Sirius was a beater, and James was a chaser.

"Now, can we eat?" asked Peter.

"Okay," agreed Sirius. "Just one more thing, though." He checked the teams for the other houses.

"Ha! Snape didn't make the Slytherin team!" he laughed.

"Stupid greasy git," muttered James as we headed to the Great Hall.

Second year started off smoothly. Lily and Erin actually became good friends with us that year. Lily forgave James about her hair about three after school started. The only trouble came about on the day of the first full moon.