A WALK TO REMEMBER
Summary – The summer before his fifth year, Harry Potter stumbles across his father's old journal from his seventh year at Hogwarts and he reads about the continuous adventures of him, the Marauders, and his mother, Lily Evans; how they met, how they fell in love, and what brought them to their horrendous deaths. This story is based on the movie and book called A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks.
Disclaimer – Unfortunately, I own absolutely nothing. All of the characters and their names belong to author JK Rowling and the plot and character traits belong to Warner Brother's and author Nicholas Sparks.
Chapter 2 – A Prank That Went Too Far:
James Reginald Potter grabbed his broomstick; a Lightning Bolt 1000, and opened the window of the Gryffindor seventh years boy's dormitories. His best friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were all behind him, following his lead, with their own broomsticks; all of the latest models. The four boys, whom they called themselves the Marauders, hopped on to their broomsticks and flew out of the window and towards the Quidditch Pitch on the other side of the grounds.
In the distance James could see their friends Achelle Marshall and Fiona Tompson already on the Pitch with their own broomsticks, clearly waiting impatiently. The boys lowered their brooms and jumped off in a clear attempt to show off their talent. Sirius jumped off of the broom and walked right over to Fiona and started kissing her passionately and extremely inappropriately. Remus mumbled something about 'getting a room.'
"So, where is this bugger?" James asked impatiently, running his hand through his messy jet-black hair that stuck up at all angles. Sighing, he pushed his square glasses up the bridge of his now sweaty nose, which framed his dancing hazel eyes. Many of the girls at Hogwarts always admired the rugged boy look that James strutted around with.
One of those girls who admired James' look was Achelle. Achelle was a pretty seventh year Gryffindor girl with shoulder length blonde hair, big blue eyes, and way too much make-up. When she tried to seductively walk closer to James, he could not help but roll his eyes at her behavior. To be honest, he thought it was rather pathetic. He and Achelle dated during their sixth year but had broken up over the summer. James found himself constantly wishing she would get it through her thick head that it was over between them.
"Hey Jamie," said Achelle smiling as she swayed her hips in front of James. It did not make an impression on him, but it made Remus look her up and down. James once again rolled his eyes and grinned reluctantly back. "You want to go dancing after we're through with this yutz?"
"You know I don't dance," James hissed, folding his arms across his chest, clearly annoyed. "Besides, even if I did dance, where in the bloody hell would we go dancing, Achelle? The Forbidden Forest? Or maybe the Giant Squid would like a show?" Peter and Remus laughed heartedly and Leanne frowned openly at them before walking away to go stand closer to the kissing Sirius and Fiona.
"She's bloody gorgeous, Prongs," whispered Peter when Achelle was out of earshot. "And she bloody wants you! Why not just go for it?"
"Because it's over between us, Wormtail," snapped James impatiently. Remus laughed and slung a rough arm around James' neck.
"Yeah, Prongs is looking for something more than looksin a woman," teased Remus, ruffling his already messy hair. James laughed. "When did you get so deep, Jamesy?"
"Bugger off, Moony," he said with a smile, jokingly pushing his friend away.
Then they heard a sound in the distance. When the six of them all looked up, they were thrilled to see another broom coming towards the Quidditch Pitch. Riding on it was a seventh year Hufflepuff by the name of Amos Diggory. He was a handsome boy and a talented Quidditch player, but he absolutely had no sense of style and had a reputation for being gullible. In short, he was the perfect candidate for the Marauders' latest prank.
"Hey, Diggory!" Sirius shouted as Fiona kissed inappropriately at his neck. "We're down here." Amos saw them and immediately flew down to join them.
"You're late," said Peter stiffly as Amos approached them. "We thought we said to be here at eleven…"
"I'm sorry but I ran into Filch-"
"We didn't ask for your excuses," Fiona said coldly, as came up for some air.
"When we say be here at a certain time," started Peter, "you better damn well be here. It's part of the many rules of being a Marauder. Is that understood?" Amos narrowed his eyes at the group of them for a mere moment, but in the end, he nodded obediently. This caused the six of them to subtly catch each other's eyes and grin.
"Now, Diggory" started Sirius, "if you want to become a Marauder, you're going to have to perform a little…task."
"A task…" repeated Amos; though it was not a question. "What kind of task?"
"You're going to have to dive head first into the Great Lake while your broomstick," said Remus casually with his hands in the pockets of his robes.
"That's it?"
"That's it!" said Sirius, grinning. "And then you're one of us. So, are you ready?" Amos nodded hesitantly. "C'mon!" Sirius hopped on to his broomstick, as Fiona got on behind him. Achelle climbed on her own broomstick as James and Remus got on there's. Amos hesitated for a minute, but hovered off the ground watching the others fly away towards the Great Lake. James hung back to see if he was alright.
"Diving headfirst into the Great Lake while on your broom sounds pretty dangerous," said Amos uncertainly. "The four of you…Remus, Peter, Sirius, and you…you all did this…this…task?"
"We all did, Diggory" said James shrugging. "Achelle and Fiona didn't. Then again, they're not Marauders, no matter how much they like to think they are. But, if it'll make you feel better, I'll do the dive with you."
"You will?"
"Yeah, why not?" asked James with a shrug. "I've done it before. It's what friends do, right?"
"I appreciate it…"
"No problem."
When the seven of them finally reached the lake, James dismounted his brook and took off his robes, leaving him in just a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Amos followed his lead and they got back on to their brooms and both flew high into the air above the Great Lake, while the other five watched them closely.
"Are you ready?" asked James, watching Amos closely. Amos took a deep breath, sighed and nodded uncertainly. "On three…One..."
Amos bit his lip and narrowed his eyes.
"Two…"
Amos was now clutching on to the handle of his broom so hard that his knuckles were turning white. James used all of his will power to hold back his laugh.
"Three!"
Both James and Amos dived at top speed, plunging towards the Great Lake. They were almost towards the surface and they could hear Sirius, Remus, Peter, Achelle, and Fiona screaming incoherent words at them.
At the last second, James grinned maliciously and pulled up towards the sky, being a very fast and talented Quidditch player, he could easily perform a Wronski Feint without a problem and he did not touch the cool surface of the black water. Amos on the other hand, was not as talented of a Quidditch player, and plunged right into the depth of the Great Lake. James flew away and hovered above his friends; they were all laughing coldly. They waited a minute for Amos to resurface so that they could taunt him some more, but he never came up. That is, until Fiona saw his lifeless body floating on the surface.
"Sirius! James!" Fiona shouted, pointing towards the body floating on the Great Lake. "He's not moving! I think…Oh Merlin! Is he dead?"
"Bloody hell, what are we going to do?"
James swore loudly and, without thinking, dived into the Great Lake after Amos. The rest of the Marauders, Achelle, and Fiona could hear the footsteps of the staff coming towards the Great Lake and they all panicked.
"We've got to get out of here!" Peter hissed in a panicked voice. Sirius nodded in agreement, and he and Fiona hopped on to his broomstick and flew off, followed closely by Remus, Peter, and Achelle.
James would have fled too but he was too busy pulling Amos out of the chilled water and towards the surface. When he got him on the dirt, James laid him down near the water's edge. Once he made sure Amos was still breathing, which he thankfully was, he grabbed his own broomstick and flew off into the night with the Hogwarts professors on his tail. James rode frantically on his broom to try and avoid the professors and getting into trouble.
After a few minutes of quick and fancy flying, James turned around to see how far off, or behind, the professors were and was not watching where he was flying. As a result and despite his immense talent on a broomstick, James crashed right the Whomping Willow and fell to the ground with a loud and sickening crunch.
When he finally regained his composure, James heard McGonagall's voice mutter "Lumos" and the light reflected directly on his guilty, bruised face.
"Well, good evening Mr. Potter…"
"James, what are we going to do with you?" Professor Albus Dumbledore asked his Head Boy as he stared out the window in deep contemplation. James just gently patted the cut above his right eye with a wet cloth and shrugged helplessly. What else was he supposed to do really? "You are Head Boy, James. You need to set an example and you're not doing a very upstanding job at that."
"Yes sir," he muttered.
"You understand that this incident cannot go unpunished," explained Dumbledore, finally turning from the window to look at him. James simply nodded as Dumbledore finally took his seat at his desk. "After speaking with Anna I have decided to not take your Head Boy Badge away or your position as Quidditch Captain." James felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"So instead," continued Dumbledore, "you will spend every Saturday morning tutoring the first and second years in Transfiguration since you seem to excel in that subject." James inwardly groaned. "You will serve detention with Mr. Filch every Monday and Wednesday, and you will participate in this year's Spring Play."
"Wait, what? I have to participate in the Spring Play?" asked James incredulously.
"There will be no arguments or negotiations on his, James," said Dumbledore firmly with no usual twinkle in his bright blue eyes. "It's either that or you turn in your Head Boy Badge and your duties as Quidditch Captain immediately. You decide."
James sighed in defeat as he rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. He knew that his mother would be very disappointed if he lost his Head Boy badge; she was absolutely thrilled when she had found out he had been appointed the position. And he definitely did not want to lose his spot on the Quidditch team; James lived for the sport, so he just nodded and agreed to Dumbledore's punishment.
It was at this point that Dumbledore also sighed and rubbed his temples in a tired manner, as though he was frustrated with the student sitting before. And the truth as, he was. Finally, the professor looked at James, clearly disappointed.
"James, you must understand that playing harmless pranks is one thing, but a prank that can endanger someone else's life is not funny. I hope you understand the consequences of the situation," explained Dumbledore in a somber voice. "Thank heavens Mr. Diggory survived and that he and his parents are not pressing any kind of charges. You should be thankful too, because you could have been in a lot of trouble James; a real lot of trouble. I can only hope you will not perform a so-called prank like this again?"
James shook his head.
"Thank you, James," he said. "Your punishments will start next week. You are dismissed."
James walked out of Professor Dumbledore's office muttering unpleasant words and profanities under his breath and frowning deeply.
A note from the Jitterbelle. Here is another revised chapter. I know Sirius, James, and Remus seem like jerks, but after reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix I always imagined them as big jerks who eventually grow up. Either way, I hope you're enjoying the story so far and please don't forget to review! They are greatly appreciated. A big thank you to those who have!