^_^ No disclaimer here this time!
Sorry for the very long delay. I've just uploaded a new story and begun planning a book, so I haven't had much time to write this story. I hope this chapter is worth the wait!
I won't blab much this time. This chapter begins to introduce the plot, but doesn't really get to the point. I was going to do that in this chapter, but I decided not to because the chapter would be too long, so it will be in Chapter 4.
Anyways, here it is!
Chapter 3: In Which Wormtail is a Nosy Idiot (Among other things)
Dumbledore quickly jumped up, whipped out his wand, and swished it, muttering something. Remus slowed down--- and fell on top of none other than his rival Arabella Figg.
"Ack! Get off me!"
Remus smiled charmingly up at Arabella's quickly becoming-red face. "No, I don't believe I will. Your lap is rather comfortable."
"I'll hex you!"
"You try."
"Hey," Sirius muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "look at this. What a cute picture."
"Not any more," Lily pointed out tactfully. Remus's hair was frozen and leeks were sprouting out of his ears, and Arabella was on the floor trying to curse him but failing from laughing so hard.
Amused, Dumbledore stood up. "Finite Incantatem." Remus's head returned to normal and Arabella stopped laughing, and they stared daggers at each other before turning their heads away, pointedly refusing to look at each other. Lily laughed, elbowing Sirius in the ribs--- they were pouting like a bunch of 6 year olds. "Thank you all for tonight's entertainment," said Dumbledore. When no one said anything and the silence was becoming unbearable, he smiled weakly and continued. "Please don't fret about what I told you tonight, and please do not tell anyone about it. We will get back to you later. Now, you may disperse to your respective dormitories, but will the Head Boy, Mr. Black, and Mr. Lupin please stay for a moment?"
As Lily walked out, she smirked her infamous "I-told-you-so smirk" at the boys, who simultaneously stuck out their tongues at her, as was their wont.
Soon, after all the students left, the teachers began yawning. The boys raised their eyebrows at each other and tried to hold in their laughter as Professor McGonagall ambled sleepily through the doorway, accidentally crashing head-on into the door. Professor Thestral, the former Auror and new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, stumbled twice over the table legs, the second time tripping and falling flat on his face in front of Professor Tibbet, the pretty Arithmancy teacher, causing her to trip over him. Professor Flitwick, the fairly young but extremely short Charms teacher who had just come to Hogwarts last year, was squeaking something in his high voice to Professor Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and not looking where he was going, so he too joined the catastrophic pile-up on the floor. When Professor Trelawney, the widely despised Divination teacher who gave herself airs, tripped over Professor Kettleburn's leg and crashed into a table while muttering something in her lofty voice about "such incomplete, pitiful auras", the three boys lost all control and began laughing hysterically. Remus quickly pulled out his camera and began snapping pictures, which James and Sirius snatched up and laughed even harder over, as the teachers' actions were even more ridiculous in the photos.
Finally only James, Sirius, and Remus were left. When they saw Dumbledore walk down from the High Table, Remus quickly stashed the camera and photos beneath his cloak, and they turned to the descending Headmaster with the most solemn and pitiful (which was not very, as you can imagine) expressions they could manage. Their trademark puppy-faces had wormed them out of trouble once or twice, and it couldn't hurt to try them on the Headmaster.
Dumbledore laughed when he saw their faces. Before anyone could open his mouth, he said, "No, boys, you aren't in trouble. I'd like to ask all of you a favor concerning--- Lily Evans."
When James jumped slightly at the mention of Lily's name, Dumbledore grinned. "Yes, Mr. Potter. Our Head Girl, Lily Evans. What I am going to tell you may or may not come as a surprise. You know Lily is Muggle-born, right?"
They nodded silently, and the Headmaster continued.
"Well, because she is Muggle-born and an extremely powerful witch, none other than Voldemort himself wants her on his side. I think we all know Lily well enough to say that there is no way she will join him. He will stop at nothing to get her, of course, but if all fails, you know his motto--- if he doesn't get her, no one else will." Dumbledore paused momentarily, waiting for the news to absorb. He knew he had been blunt, painfully blunt in telling that to those he knew cared about her, but he had never been one to mince words and he thought it would be easier for them to absorb. Even if they were troublemakers, they were responsible, intelligent, and very powerful wizards. They were right for the job.
"You and I both know you all are very powerful wizards." They smiled faintly at this (for the Headmaster was not known for being free with praise), but as this was an inappropriate situation to smile, they quickly wiped their faces clean of any happiness, leaving three very solemn, determined boys. "Would it be too much to ask for if I asked you to help protect her? Lily would be a valuable asset to the Ministry or the task force of Aurors. We can't afford to--- lose her."
The last sentence was enunciated slowly and clearly to let the seriousness of the matter sink in. Lily could be killed.
Dumbledore looked at the grim and determined expressions on their faces and knew he had been right to chose them. They would fight to the death for her, though he had no intention of letting anyone get hurt, much less die.
"Why did you pick us, Professor?"
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "You all seem to be rather close to Lily, especially you, Mr. Head Boy." When he winked roguishly at James, James felt himself blushing furiously. "It may or may not help you by bringing this up to a more personal level, but if it does interfere, you can of course ask me to withdraw. Do you think it will it be a problem, gentlemen?"
When they all shook their heads, the Headmaster continued. "I have not deemed it necessary to move Lily to the boys' dorm yet, but should the present condition of the situation worsen, I may have to. Unless all of you would like to move to the girls' dorm?"
Sirius snorted. "No problem, Professor. Jamsie here tiptoes in and out of the girls' dorm nightly anyways." When James glared daggers at him, Sirius winked cheekily and continued. "He goes to gaze longingly at his true love---"
Even Remus, who had fought to keep a straight face thorough the entire ordeal, could not restrain his laughter when he saw James's pink-becoming-red face. He was hissing "Shut up!" at Sirius while signaling "I swear I'll get him later" to Remus.
The Headmaster just smiled knowingly at James, who blushed even harder and muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
"Well, I think that's it for tonight. I will inform you if anything new arises. Oh, one last thing, boys--- I would appreciate it if you didn't mention this to anyone, especially Lily. As far as I know, she doesn't know that Voldemort is after her, and I would like to keep it that way. Alright, boys?"
With that, the three nodded and turned to leave.
~*~*~
When they were out of earshot, Sirius turned to them and asked incredulously, "What? I thought our performance in the Great Hall merited two detentions each, at least. Now I'll never reach my goal," he added mournfully.
The three laughed at Sirius's heartfelt claims of woe and began to walk towards Gryffindor Tower.
~*~*~
Up in the seventh year boys' dormitory, Remus, James, and Sirius sat around on their respective beds, clad in only their boxers.
"Hey, Prongs, now you have a good excuse to get all close to Lily-honey---"
"Oh, shut up, Padfoot," said a blushing James. "Don't forget that I'm doing this to protect her." He hesitated momentarily, then added quietly, "I would lay my life on the line for her."
The room grew quiet. "That much, James?" asked Remus softly.
James was about to answer when a panting Peter Pettigrew (A/N: DIE, Wormtail, DIE!!! Ah, as you hopefully noticed, the author does not like Pettigrew very much, but has no choice but to put the loser scumball in) crashed through the door, rambling on and on about something and completely oblivious to the fact that Sirius and Remus were glaring at him for interrupting James.
"Hey guys! My dad couldn't give me a ride to King's Cross, so he flew me here later on his brand-new Shooting Star. You haven't done any pranks yet, have you? Wait! What am I saying? Of course you haven't done anything yet, because you can't without me! Ha! So---" Pettigrew kept talking animatedly, his fat chest swollen with his exaggerated sense of self-importance.
Sirius could barely conceal his contempt. Pettigrew obviously thought that they--- the Marauders--- had chosen him as a member for his extreme cunning and intelligence. Truth be told, it was only out of pity. He was of practically no use to them whatsoever. The number of times he had gotten them caught were countless, yet each time he would refuse to admit it was his fault and go blaming something else. There were times--- like this one--- where Sirius truly wanted to kick Peter out of the Marauders and beat him on his pudgy, empty head with his Thunderbolt. (A/N: Go Sirius! Kick Peter's ***!)
James stood up and stretched, interrupting Pettigrew's rambling. "Well, I'm tired. That's it for tonight, guys."
"James---" Remus began.
James yawned, shaking his head slightly. Remus nodded and shut up.
"What?" Pettigrew asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
"Nothing," said Remus, also standing up and stretching. "Good night, guys."
"What aren't you telling me?" Pettigrew's beady eyes narrowed upon Sirius, who backed up involuntarily.
Rather than answer Peter, Sirius yawned (or should I say howled?) exaggeratedly and crawled beneath the covers, hugging his stuffed poodle Dinny to his chest.
Grumbling, Peter stalked over to his bed and began to change into his nightgown. What weren't they telling him?
~*~*~
"What's going on, guys?"
"Nothing."
~*~*~
"What aren't you telling me?"
"Hey, Wormtail, you've got lettuce in your teeth."
~*~*~
"C'mon guys! I'm a Marauder too! I have a right to know what's---"
"Hey, look! It's Snape making out with Narcissa, that blond-haired Hufflepuff! Eeew! Gross!"
~*~*~
"Hey, guys, why are you following that girl--- what's her name--- Milly something-or-other, around like dogs?"
"Don't forget, Wormtail--- Padfoot is a dog."
Peter stomped off in a huff.
~*~*~
Lily too noticed something odd about the three boys. At least one of them, though usually two or all three, was always in sight wherever she went.
She supposed they could have been part of her previously non-existent fan club--- boys who drooled, made lovesick faces at her, and followed her everywhere pledging eternal love whenever she was within hearing distance--- but it really didn't fit. There was something about the way they shadowed her--- something like duty---
Lily laughed. Duty? Why would it be anyone's duty--- much less theirs--- to follow her? She giggled, imagining the three of then in polished armor riding atop unicorns and brandishing their wands to protect her, the young innocent maiden, from the big bad werewolf (that was how wizard fairytales went).
No, she mused, they were different. Even the teachers treated them differently--- at least once a day, Professor McGonagall rounded up Lily's fan club and gave them a stern scolding about their lovesick behavior (not that it did much to deter her suitors), but she never even once chastised James, Sirius, or Remus. It was as if there was one major conspiracy going on, one Lily had no idea whatsoever about.
~*~*~
"Hey, guys, why are you following me?" Lily decided to face them once and for all. She had been about to take a stroll by the lake when she spotted the three of them following her not-quite-inconspicuously.
"Following you? Lily my dear, I have no idea what you are talking about. We merely wanted to take a walk outside, because of the beautiful weather, and you just happened to be here."
Lily felt her anger rise. "Sirius Black, I am not stupid. Either you tell me right now or one night my hand will accidentally slip some Veritaserum into your pumpkin juice. So what will it be, sir?"
Sirius gulped. "Ah…" He didn't doubt for a minute that Lily would do that, and if anything about Remus or their becoming Animagi got out, they would be in so much trouble, but Dumbledore had told them not to tell her. Sirius cast Remus a pleading look for help.
"Ummm, Lily…"
"Remus, stay out of this. Well, Mr. Black?"
When Sirius continued to stutter, Lily threw up her hands in exasperation and turned on James. "Care to clear this up, Mr. Head Boy?"
"Ah…"
Then, Sirius regained his composure. He threw a half-smirk, half- apologetic grin at James, then cleared his throat. "Jamsie-boy here won't tell you anything, Lily my dear---"
"Since when did I become 'Lily my dear'?"
Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "Since two minutes ago. Or would you prefer 'Lily darling' or 'Lily honey'? I don't suppose you would like 'Lily baby'? Then again, I can hear James calling you---"
James turned a pinkish color and began to cough loudly, making Remus snicker.
Glancing at James, Sirius grinned even wider while Lily tapped her foot impatiently, wondering what in the world was going on. "You see, Lily---" began Sirius in a tone one would use with a stubborn child to coax him into doing something.
"No, I don't see, Sirius Black. Get to the point," Lily snapped.
Trying to look bored, James reached inside his cloak and brought out his specially customized Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs's Bouncing Ball, which he began to toss leisurely up and down. He, Sirius, and Remus had developed these in their third year after their Charms professor had taught them Exploding Charms--- if someone dropped the ball, it would create a very loud and messy explosion (with the help of some Filibuster Fireworks and Dungbombs) and throw out random charms, spells, and hexes.
"--- yes, my dear Lily, getting to the point, ah, Jamsie-boy here---"
Up went the ball, shrieking and giggling madly. On its way down, James deftly caught it with a slight flourish of his wrist (one he had developed to make his catching of the Snitch during Quidditch games even more dramatic), spun around like a magician at his most showy, and tossed it up again. He wasn't worried at all about the situation--- if Sirius could worm their way out of detention, he most certainly could get them out of this little predicament. He would probably say they were going down to the lake to tickle the giant squid, that they were looking for Remus's lost camera (it actually was lost--- well, not really, because James had hidden it in the Head Boy/Girl's bathroom in retribution), or something like that. Up went the ball, and James spun around, hand outstretched to snatch the ball on its way down---
"--- is head-over-heels in love with you. Remus and I just follow him around to make sure he doesn't walk off the edge of a cliff in his blind love searching for you---" Sirius winked. "---and we have to act as his chaperones when he does find you."
Half-way through his twirl, James froze at hearing that. Poof! Remus's, Sirius's, and Lily's laughter mingled with the little ball's shrieks of glee as James was showered with ashes and Dungbombs.
"Any moment now---" gasped Sirius between fits of hysterical laughter, "---the ball will start throwing out random spells and curses. Let's see what James gets. We've entered in some good ones, like the Curse of the Bogies and---"
"Crucio!" a voice roared.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Well, we got somewhat closer to the real plot with that. This chapter provided the background information.
Please do review and tell me what you think of this. Ah--- is the ending a cliffie? Sorry about that then; I just thought I would end it there because I thought it… provoked some thought. ^_^
60 reviews for the next chapter! Yes, that is a bit much, but I do need time to write it.
A NOTE TO ALL MY FELLOW AUTHORS/READERS OUT THERE: Does the penname 'Strawberry KoolAid', now changed to "Mr. Shingles" ring a bell? All she does is flame people unnecessarily and write L/J things (they don't count as fanfiction stories, trust me) that are absolutely outrageous, horrid, and degrading. If you don't know what I mean, read her stuff. It would be for the best if we could kick her out of the ff.net community. And if you are reading this, Strawberry KoolAid, I hope you see how much we all love you.
She was originally on ff.net as "Seapooper", then changed to "Radio Tower", then changed to "the ice cream perveyor", but we got her kicked off. However, she just uploaded the same pathetic, disgusting stories under her new penname with different titles and summaries.
One thing, pay no attention to her if she flames you. She's just jealous, plain and simple. Two, contact me somehow (review or e-mail) if you want to help us try to kick her off ff.net. We've already got together a nice little task force, specifically for the purpose of ridding ff.net of the most disgusting, perverted, mentally- deranged people.
=^_^= Merlin's Quill