Untitled (still need help…)
A/N: Argh! I still need help on the stinkin' title… but anyways, I'm not going to hold you here for as long as I held you up in the first chapter, this is a really good story, honest! And my goal for chapters is 54, but, if I can get enough encouragement, I will write more than that. Thank y'all.
James: Now on with the story!
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And Lily had been right; it would be quite the year. The Marauders this year had some of the best pranks out there, and the Quidditch was starting up soon, making all the Quidditch team members ecstatic. And that caused an effect on everyone's schoolwork. They were so excited about Quidditch, the schoolwork never got done. And you can imagine how the Professors felt about that.
This year James had been announced Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor, and was still Seeker, and had been for 4 years so far, since he was in second year. Lily loved watching the Quidditch with her best friend, Arabella Figg. Arabella usually choose to cheer on Sirius, and Lily always cheered on the entire team. Sirius was a Chaser, and had also been on the team since second year.
Lily had been noticing more and more about Remus as they became closer and closer friends with the Marauders. He seemed tired and rugged for part of the month each month, and Lily got worried. She had talked to Arabella about it, and Arabella had absolutely no idea what was going on.
The Marauders on the other hand didn't seem to see anything wrong with Remus at all; it was as if this was a normal thing for Remus, to be tired and rugged for parts of the month each month of the year. Lily had tried to ask the boys, but all they did was brush it off as if it were nothing. So all Lily and Arabella could do was sigh, and just hope that their friend would be all right.
Before they knew it, it was Christmas. Lily was to be picked up by her parents on December 1st, and she realized she really wanted her friends to come with her. But Arabella already had plans to have Sirius stay over.
Currently Lily was sitting in the Gryffindor common room on one of the
armchairs in front of the fire, her legs dangling over one arm of the chair,
and her head resting on the other. She
was thinking all of this over. She was
going to invite James, and Remus. She
didn't want to invite Peter over for the holidays. He was too… rat-like, as
Arabella had put it for Lily.
And Lily had to have whole-heartedly agreed to that. But, Lily still had a dilemma… she didn't have an owl to send her letter asking her parents if James and Remus could stay for the holidays…
Already Remus and James had asked their parents if they could go to Lily's, and if her parents said no they said that they'd just stay at the school, and their parents said it was perfectly fine. As Lily thought this over, she was aimlessly swishing her wand, and just as the Marauders walked into the common room, and accidentally she turned Sirius into a person with webbed, blue hands, and webbed, blue feet and fan-like blue ears.
"Oops… sorry Sirius…" she said, blushing a bit out of embarrassment.
James and Remus laughed at the sight of the 'fish man'. "And I shall call you, Fish Man," James said to Sirius, and Sirius glared at him, and when he opened his mouth to speak, only bubbles came out, and that caused James to near fall over out of laughter.
Lily did the counter-curse, and Sirius glared at James. "Prongs… you're gonna get it…" James stuck his tongue out at Sirius, and Sirius tackled him. Both boys were now in a fully-fledged wrestling match on the floor of the Gryffindor common room.
Remus laughed as he watched them, and Peter let out some tiny squeaks and snorts, which Lily could only assume was laughter.
"Hey, c'mon you two, break it up," Lily said, as she walked over to them. The boys grinned up at her, and stopped their wrestling. "I still have that problem, Remus, James. I can't owl my parents, I don't have an owl, and all the school owls are being used."
"Why don't you use my owl?" James asked. He still had that elegant Great Horned Owl from when she had first met him. She found out the owl's name was Devlin. Why she hadn't figured that out yet…
"You'd let me use your owl? But Devlin won't listen to me…" Lily said, and James shrugged.
"Yeah, but he'll listen to me, all you have to do is write the letter, I'll send Devlin to your parents with it. I mean, that's the easy part," James said, and Remus nodded simply. Lily thought this over a bit, and then nodded in agreement.
"Okay then, Potter, I'll use Devlin, just let me go and write the note, you boys… do whatever you were planning on doing…" Lily said, getting up to find some parchment and a quill, and to start writing the letter at a table. She was done the letter faster than she had thought she would be, and was just reading it over as James left to get Devlin.
Dear Mom and Dad,
How have you two been doing? I've been doing fine here at school. This year I have become close friends with the Marauders. We were friends before, but were distant, now we're all close friends.
We're like a posse that includes Arabella Figg, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James Potter, and me. And occasionally a boy named Peter Pettigrew, but he's really annoying, and reminds me and Arabella of a rat. Anyways, I was wondering if possibly James and Remus could come and stay at our house? James Potter is the boy that showed me how to get onto the Platform back in first year. Anyways, do you think they could possibly stay over at our house for the Christmas holidays?
They're allowed, I just have to ask. If you say no, they said they'd just stay at the school. I asked if Arabella would like to, but she already has Sirius staying at her house for the Christmas holidays.
Ooh, and daddy, don't worry, James Potter and Remus Lupin, as mischief making as they are, are really nice boys, and they won't hurt me, or any of you, including Petunia, in any way, shape or form, I promise. And if they do, I'll kick them out for you. Devlin doesn't accept thank you treats from anybody, so just reply to the letter, give it to him and he'll leave, he doesn't need any bacon or anything, he won't even accept any from James!
Love,
Lily
Lily smiled at her note, then rolled it up, and tied it closed with a red and green ribbon. Just as James and Remus came in with Devlin. "Thanks a lot James, and I sure hope they say yes to you two." The boys smiled and nodded, and James gently took the note from Lily and tied it to Devlin's leg.
Devlin then flew out the window, not to be seen for 3 days.
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Three days later, Devlin returned, during the post in the morning at breakfast. He dropped a letter in Lily's lap. Another owl flew behind him, and dropped a red envelope in Sirius's lap. Sirius got all nervous looking, and James gulped. "A howler… how'd you get a howler this time?"
"I dunno…" Sirius said, and opened the envelope reluctantly.
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT PULLING PRANKS ON THE SLYTHERINS MISTER BLACK? HMMM? YOU HEARD ME! I SAID DON'T DO IT THIS YEAR, AND DON'T TORMENT THE FIRST YEARS! AND YET HERE I AM, GETTING A LETTER FROM PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL TELLING ME YOU STARTLED THE FIRST YEARS THIS YEAR AND ON THE FIRST DAY ALONG WITH COUNTLESS OTHER OCCASSIONS! I TELL YOU IF YOU WEREN'T GOING TO – "
And the ending was the part Sirius had dreaded… the entire school would know…
"ARABELLA FIGG'S HOUSE FOR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS, I WOULD HAVE YOUR HEAD SERVED FOR OUR CHRISTMAS DINNER CENTER PIECE! NOW DON'T DO IT AGAIN! Love you dear; do well on your exams. And good luck to you too James." And then it stopped.
Arabella and Sirius were blushing furiously, and James blinked, so did Remus. The rest of the hall was laughing hysterically, along with Peter, who James smacked in the back of the head, and Lily just watched in awe as the envelope ripped itself up.
"Ouch…" James said softly, and looked at Sirius. "Well that was harsh, especially knowing your mom…" Sirius shrugged, but then smiled slightly.
"Well, it could have been worse, right?" he said, and James and the group nodded in agreement to that, then went back to their breakfasts like everyone else had. But then Lily remembered her note, and stopped eating to open it. Remus and James looked at her, to wait for her to tell them. Lily read the note from her parents.
Dear Lily,
We're doing great dear, and it's nice to hear you've made some friends. Who's owl was that? Magnificent bird, beautiful, polite as well. Of course, Petunia didn't like him one bit. Petunia also didn't like your suggestion. Already she has her fiancée coming over for the Christmas holidays, but only for one week. I'll assume that you and your friends will be here for just a little over a month, am I correct? Well, of course your friends can come. It's not fair to only have Petunia allowed to have someone over for the Christmas holidays. Your father's a bit nervous about it, but he said it was all right. We'll see you in a couple of days dear; we'll meet you at the train station like we always do. Good luck, and happy early Christmas.
Love,
Mom and Dad
Lily grinned. "You two can come!" she said happily, and James and Remus's eyes lit up excitedly.
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And soon they were waiting patiently for Lily's parents just outside the train station, and soon her parents got there.
"Hello Lily!" Mrs. Evans said, and hugged her daughter. Lily grinned, and hugged her father afterwards. Her mother hugged James and Remus, and both boys returned the hug politely and smiled. Her father shook hands with both boys.
"Hello James, Remus," Mr. Evans greeted politely, and both boys smiled.
"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Evans," they said in unison, and the parents smiled. These boys were much politer than Vernon, Petunia's fiancée, had been. At least, they were politer, but were they more hard working?
"So, Petunia's getting married?" asked Lily as she opened the boot of the car, but James and Remus already began to load her luggage along with theirs in there, so Lily took the opportunity to talk to her parents.
Her mother nodded. "Yes, and she's so excited about it. Vernon's quite a business man, but he's not very hard working when it comes to physical activity… but James and Remus certainly seem to be…"
Mrs. Evans was watching the boys, and watched as James let Devlin out of his cage, and then loaded the cage in, and Devlin flew ahead. Remus then helped James close the boot and both boys walked over to Lily and her parents. Lily smiled.
"She says you boys are hard working in the physical department," Lily said, looking at them, and both boys grinned.
"Thank you," they said.
"No, thank you for putting my stuff in the boot, now let's get going," Lily said, and got into the car, sitting between James and Remus in the back, while her father sat in the driver's seat and her mother in the passenger's seat.
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When they got to Lily's small, but comfortable house, Devlin was already there, perched on the front steps, and Petunia was trying to shoo him away, but he just hooted at her. When James got out of the car he whistled, and obediently Devlin flew to him, landing on his shoulder and nipping his ear affectionately.
James reached up a hand and stroked Devlin's head once, and then helped unload Lily's, his and Remus's stuff from the boot of the car. Lily got to work dragging her stuff up to the house, and so did James, and Remus.
Devlin flew to Lily's mother, and perched on her shoulder. Mrs. Evans seemed slightly surprised, but then smiled, and walked into the house behind Mr. Evans, and Petunia followed, scowling at the large, beautiful owl, who hooted at her again.
"Here, I'll show you two where you get to sleep. C'mon," Lily said, dragging her stuff up the stairs. Remus and James followed, dragging their own stuff.
She showed the boys to her room first, and put her trunk at the bottom of her bed. "I'll show you boys where you're sleeping, and then I'll come back and unpack my stuff. You two can unpack as well."
She then lead them to two separate rooms, one was painted green, and one was painted light blue. "Remus, you can sleep in the blue room, and James, you can sleep in the green room. Both are spare rooms, since Petunia is usually at her fiancée's house, and so when she is here she sleeps on the couch or on my bedroom floor, or in the basement."
James and Remus nodded, and James went into the green room, and Remus into the blue one. Both boys put their trunks at the bases of their beds and began to unpack.
Lily went to her room and unpacked, and when she was done, she lay on her back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. This would be a great Christmas. As polite as James and Remus were being to Lily's parents, Lily knew that James and Remus would pull one, or two pranks on Petunia. Simple, muggle pranks of course, but still pranks.
She couldn't wait to find out what she was getting for Christmas. Before she knew it, it was time to go to bed. She curled up under the covers of her bed, and fell asleep.
Petunia and Vernon were sleeping in the basement, her parents were sleeping in the room across from James's, and James and Remus, she knew, knowing them, were probably already asleep, or at least Remus was.
James was probably trying to fix one of his prank potions for the Slytherins. She could hear him moving around in his room, and heard the faint 'poof' of the potion.
After a while though everything in James's room quieted down, and he had fallen asleep. Not to wake until morning.
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A/N: My God I don't know how long I'm gonna be able to put up with writing long chapters…
James: As long as you want/need to…
Sirius: I swear to drunk I wasn't God when the moon jumped over the cow…
James and BT (BengalTiger): Freak… oO and =^oO^= Meow…