Simply Sirius
Chapter 5
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything here, as we all know, because all of these characters belong to the people who created them!!!! All of this material is not mine, and I do not own it. (Well, except for the characters I created. I do own those.) Thank you!
*Again, as you know by now, this is from Sirius Black's POV.
Since we were now allies with the Unicorns, (hey, now I know why they called themselves that!) we decided to let them in on our little prank. They, surprisingly, loved it. In fact, Lily, who was top-hole at Charms, would be the one to levitate the potion and pour a generous amount of it onto our Slytherin friends' food.
"Wingardium leviosa," she whispered, flicking her wand at the potion vial. Slowly, carefully, she guided it with her wand towards the Slytherin table. Fortunately, Quinn had thought to put an invisibility spell on it first. If she hadn't we probably would have been caught.
Anyway, since Lily Evans was doing the spell, it ended up taking a few more minutes than it would have if we had done it. Her excuse was that she was being "careful". Uh-huh, sure, Lils.
"So, when did you guys think of this?" she whispered to James to distract him from his whining at how slowly she was working.
"Oh, we had a summer reunion at Remus's and planned a bunch of stuff," he answered.
"No pranks for us, I hope?" Rika asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Well, I didn't want to, and neither did Pete, but James, and Sirius-" Remus began, but was interrupted by yours truly.
"Me and James weren't there when they were debating that, but when we came, and they asked us, we said no, definitely not," I interjected smoothly. Hey, so they wouldn't buy it, but it was better than nothing on a last minute call!
"Yeah, suuure, Sirius. Like we would believe that YOU of all people wouldn't want to pull pranks on us," Juniper replied, rolling her eyes at me. "So all you did was plan tricks? Geez, don't you have lives?"
"What's the point? It's fun not having a life...You get to laugh at the people who do," Peter said suddenly, shrugging. The rest of us looked at him for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"That was a good one, Pete," James admitted between laughs.
"Can you keep it down, now? It's almost there," Lily said. I looked over, but realized that it was pointless, as Lily was charmed to be the only one who could see it. At any rate, it must have only taken a few moments, because suddenly, Lily was holding a nearly empty bottle.
"Kereoke, anyone?" she asked, waving it with a grin.
"What's that?" James questioned.
"Oh yeah…..muggle thing," she replied.
"It's where only the music part of a song plays, and you sing instead of the real singer," Quinn explained.
"That sounds like fun! Could we do that here?" I exclaimed.
"Haven't you read Hogwarts, A History? Well, apparently not. Because if you did, you'd know that you can't use any sort of electronic things here," Juniper commented.
"Um…what's 'alectronec'?" I said uncertainly.
"Electronic…the energy force that makes a lot of muggle machinery work," Lily described.
"Oh. So no kereoke?" I frowned, feigning extreme disappointment.
"Nah, but if we get together during the summer, I have a kereoke machine, so we could do it then, if you REALLY want," Quinn said.
"Sounds fun," Remus said glaring at James and I when we simply looked at each other.
"So…well, when will the potion kick in?" Peter asked, clearing up the silence. We all looked expectantly at James for the answer to this.
"Hey, why should I know?" he exclaimed, holding up his hands defensively.
"You're the one who got the idea and the potion, genius," I reminded him, rolling my eyes.
"And your point is….?" James responded.
"Okay, quit it with the dumb arguments. Let's just enjoy ourselves in the meantime, because otherwise we might be suspected," Rika said loudly. I glared at her when she looked away, but she was right, so I did as she suggested.
So for several minutes, we simply sat there, eating, and chatting. Then I noticed that James was being quiet. Most unlike himself.
"Um…Prongs? You okay?" I asked quietly.
"What? Oh. Yeah, actually, it's nothing big. I just have this really stupid question in my head," he shrugged.
"Is it just the question that's stupid?" asked Lily, who happened to have heard us.
"I'm not stupid! I just don't always like to show my intelligence," James pointed out. "No, what I was wondering is, why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo?"
I looked at Lily. She looked back at me.
"Um…" I began, not sure how to finish.
"Well…"she started, also unsure of what to say.
It didn't matter, though. We were, in fact, saved by the bell – er, bad sound, rather, that started just a millisecond later.
"I love you, you love me, we're a happy family!!!"
"Man, I feel like a woman!"
"I'm a slaaaaave….for you!"
Everyone, save our two gangs, stared at the four Slytherins in shock as they suddenly burst out singing. The looks on their faces were priceless: eyes open wide in surprised horror, mouths singing ridiculous songs without being able to stop. The eight of us were laughing as we never had laughed before. It wasn't only the looks on Snape, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's faces, but also the songs. We had never heard them before, but they were so incredibly stupid, that it was hard not to laugh. After a moment, we were joined by everyone else in the Great Hall. The four singers left in panic, voices still going strong.
"I…forgot to…tell you," Juniper said between laughs. "The songs…they have to sing…are from…the future. Oh, God, and….they were matched…according to their…..personalities…and the songs…!!!!!"
"Wait…so Nico Malfoy feels like a woman?" Peter asked.
"I can see Crabbe and Goyle loving each other and feeling like a family," Remus mused.
"Snape…a slave for who?" Quinn laughed. I was in tears of amusement, and couldn't say anything. It was quite some time and quite a bit of the teachers yelling before everything got calmed down and straightened out.
The teachers all tried to seem furious, but couldn't. Even Professor Dumbledore couldn't suppress a smile. "I don't know who did this, even though I have a rather strong inkling," he announced when it was quiet. "But I implore all of you not to do anything of the sort from this point on. It would be most kind of you to oblige this rule, because our current Transfiguration teacher, Professor Taleyes, is retiring after this year, and would highly appreciate it if you would all make her last year a good one." There were many mutters at this, most excited. I personally didn't particularly like the professor, but she wasn't my least favorite either. Our gang exchanged glances, and went back to our food because Dumbledore was done speaking.
Later on that night, myself and the rest of the Marauders were sitting discussing the day in our armchairs near the fire, as usual. Now, however, four more had been added, making a total of eight. (Which was a huge coincidence, considering the fact that our group was now eight people, because the Unicorns were sort of part of it…hmm…Dumbledore?) At any rate, we were griping because the first class of the day tomorrow would be double potions with Slytherin.
"I do think there'll be some trouble tomorrow," I said, shaking my head, but grinning.
"Well, of course, I mean, Snape and his cronies will be there, and even they could guess that the little bit of entertainment they provided was courtesy of us," James said, shrugging.
"True, but that's not exactly what he meant, I think," Peter countered.
"Ten points to Pete!" I shouted.
"Okay…then why'll there be trouble?" Remus asked, rolling his eyes.
"Actually, I have no idea, but how unlikely is it that we won't think of something else to do to them by class time?" I answered, turning on my smile full blast. Remus simply snorted.
A few moments later, the girls entered. "Hey guys," Quinn said, smiling at us. They sat down in the empty armchairs, and our conversation soon drifted to other topics.
"Are you kidding? The Basilisk Brothers are freaky, not cool!" Rika shouted, wrinkling her nose at James' comment.
"No, they're awesome! And they always have those wicked special effects onstage!" he countered. "Everyone else agrees. Right?"
"Definitely! They rock," I agreed.
"Yeah, I like them too, I guess," Pete shrugged.
"Okay, I have to say, that though I think their music sucks, the special effects are cool," Remus admitted.
"Being Muggle-born, I have never heard them, so I can't say a word," Lily said.
"Same. Well, I've heard of them, but we don't get the wizarding wireless network, so I haven't heard their music, and therefore can't add my opinion," nodded Quinn.
"What about you, Juniper?" I asked.
"They're okay, I guess…I'm not really into heavy stuff, but I don't exactly hate them," she answered.
"Well, what are you into?" I asked teasingly.
"The Weird Sisters!!" she exclaimed.
"SPELLBOUND!" yelled Lily, Quinn, and Rika at that.
"Oh, god…"James smacked his forehead. "Girl music!"
"Well, that's only logical, as we are girls, right?" Juniper retorted with a grin that could nearly rival mine. (Nearly, okay? NEARLY…so not quite!)
"Ah true…well, it's not that bad of a song, really," I commented.
"Never heard it," said Remus. "I'm Muggle-born too, and I've only seen some stuff through wizard books and magazines."
"Really?" asked Rika, looking surprised. "Well, aren't your parents lucky ones, then! Their child isn't non-magical…he's a werewolf, and a wizard!"
"Shhh!" he hissed. "I don't want anyone else to hear."
"Oh…sorry, Moony."
The conversation had started to bore me (have I mentioned yet that I have a short attention span?) so I spaced out for a minute. In the center of the circle of armchairs was a table. On it there was a small bowl of fruit, a few magazines, a deck of cards, and a bowl of toothpicks. These were not any toothpicks, however. They were brightly colored sword shaped toothpicks. I grinned as an idea popped into my mind.
"Prongs," I said, picking a red one up, "I challenge you to a non-magical duel."
"Hey! Where'd you get that?!" he exclaimed.
"Sirius, only you would think of something like that," Juniper said, rolling her eyes.
"Of course…I'm very unique, aren't I?" I replied.
"Um…suuurrree…" she said, trying to hide a smile.
By this time, James had figured out that the "swords" were on the table, right in front of him. He picked up a blue one and said, "On guard!" He waved it at me, and everyone burst out laughing.
I was not to be outdone. "Back, you savage beast!" I shouted, parrying at him. "Back, I say!"
"Save us, Sirius," Lily pretended to faint in fear.
"Worry not, fair lady, for I shall save thee from this dreadful monster!" I said, whacking James' sword with mine.
"Me, the dreadful monster? Look who's talking! No, fair lady, I shall save thee, from this evil villain!" James said, poking me.
"Oooh, Lils, you got two heros on the scene for you!" Quinn said slyly to Lily.
"Which one shall be your champion?" Rika asked.
"Let's see…I think I'll chose whichever is the nicest person," Lily smiled at the two of us. We glanced at each other for a moment.
"Okay, well, never mind, I'll save another fair lady," I said, and thrust my sword at James' shoulder.
"Same," he added, and quickly blocked my move.
"What?!" said Lily, feigning hurt. "Am I not beautiful enough?"
"Um…would you hurt me if I said yes?" answered James.
"HEY!" she shrieked at pretended to slap his cheek.
"Oowwww!!! That hurt!" James whined.
"She didn't even touch you," I laughed.
"But it still hurt!" James continued, pretending to be in agony. "You know, Padfoot, I think I would've preferred a whack from your sword to this torture!"
"Oh, you big baby! What, does it need a kiss?" Lily said sarcastically.
"What'll you do if he says yes?" Juniper said mildly, as if commenting on the weather.
"And James, what'll you do if she actually does it?" Remus added.
Neither James nor Lily said anything. They glanced at each other, blushed a little, and looked at the rest of us, unsure of what to say.
"I think we have a little intrigue here," Pete announced.
"I'll say!" put in Rika.
"Well, Moony, no more ending arguments for us, I think," Quinn said.
That brought back Lily and James' voices. They began protesting loudly.
"No way, what are you thinking, Quinn?"
"Bloody hell, no! Not her!"
"God, how could any of you think that?"
"Moony, you're dead for this!"
"June, I am so gonna kill you!"
"I could never like Little Miss Fire-And-Ice!"
"And I could never like Little Mister I'm-A-Jerk James Potter!"
"Excuse me? I'm not a jerk!"
"Well then, what are you, an idiot?"
"I wouldn't be talking!"
"Puh-lease! Not the brightest crayon in the box, are we, Mister Potter?"
"We includes you! But I guess what you do is considered normal in some cultures!"
"James, give me a break, and try not to let your mind wander, as it's too small to be out by itself!"
"Well, Lily, I hope you know, you have the right to remain silent, so please shut up! Or are you one of those people that starts talking and finds that they can't shut up?!"
"I'm not going to stop! Besides, this isn't Burger King, so you can't have it your way!"
James paused to think. "What's Burger King?"
"UGH! You are so hopeless!" Lily muttered through clenched teeth.
" Not as hopeless as you!"
"Okay, both of you are being idiots, so just stop it right now!" Remus commanded.
"Geez…is it such a bad thing to stop fighting?" Quinn said.
"That's not what-" Lily started.
"Okay, I know, just quit it," Quinn stopped her.
"You know, I think it's time we went to our dorms," Rika said, glancing around.
"Yeah. James needs his beauty sleep," I said.
"No, I-" James began.
"Shut up James. Come on, Marauders," Remus said, leading us to the stairs to the dorms.
"And they were doing so well for a while," Juniper sighed as we trudged up the stairs.
"I know. Pity, isn't it?" I replied.
"Definitely," she agreed.
"But you know," I continued, "I bet they'll end up liking each other, really."
"What makes you think that?"
"I dunno. Just a feeling. I mean, isn't it always said that opposites attract?"
"I guess…"
At that point, Rika and Peter turned around. "Lily and James, together? In what lifetime?" she asked skeptically.
"No kidding! Those two hate each other! Geez, Padfoot…I knew you were stupid, but not that stupid!" Pete added, trying not to grin too much.
"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups," Juniper said, shaking her head.
"So basically, never underestimate the power of blondes in large groups!" I laughed.
"Let's not start on that, thank you!" Rika said.
"No kidding! I must admit, I am a little bit slow…but as we've been saying, I am a blonde! What's you're excuse, Sirius?" Pete said.
"Hey!" I objected. Before the argument could really continue any further, I realized that we were at the top of the stairs. "Oh, darn, you we have to split up, and what fun is an argument without the rest of the team?" I said as James and Remus went into our dorm, and Lily and Quinn went into the girls dorm.
"Oh, Sirius, nice try. I may be on you're side, but even I could see past that!" Juniper smiled.
"I know…sorry, June. In the event that we ever continue this argument, think about this: when you're arguing with an idiot, make sure that the other person isn't doing the same thing!" I replied. She laughed, and Rika and Pete did too. "Well, g'night June, night Rika."
"Goodnight Sirius, night Peter!"
"G'night Rika, goodnight Juniper."
"Good night guys! See ya in the morning!"
And with that, we went our separate ways.
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"SIRIUS!"
"Wassamatter? It wasn't me!" I muttered groggily at whoever had awoken me from a very good dream I had been having.
"Oh really? Then who, exactly, d'you think put a large picture of Lily, in a heart shaped frame, no less, next to my bed?" James asked me sarcastically.
For once, I didn't quite know what to do. My first instinct was to laugh, which is what I did. James glared at me. Then, I thought, I know I didn't do it, unless I've started sleepwalking, so assuming that I haven't…who did?
"Well?" James said, glaring at me furiously.
"No. I mean, it wasn't me," I shook my head. "I swear, I really didn't do it!" I protested, holding up my hands in defense.
"Right, and I suppose it was Remus and Peter, then?" James replied skeptically.
"Damn! How did he figure it out?" Pete murmured, poking his face out from under the sheets.
"WHAT?!" James thundered. "I cannot believe the two of you!"
Pete tried to hold back a smile. It didn't work. I sniggered.
"Oh, shut it, Padfoot," James muttered, shaking his head. "Wait a second…MOONY!!!! GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE!!!"
There was a sigh from the bathroom, and a second later, Remus strolled out. "Pete, did you spill?" he said.
"Sorry…I had to! Really! Well, actually, James had already guessed. So I thought I should admit, you know…I mean, it was the honest thing to do," Pete shrugged.
"Yeah. Right. Well, Prongs, old boy-" Remus began, but was very quickly cut off.
"WHAT IN BLOODY HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?!" James roared.
"Oh, come on, it was only a joke. Where's your sense of humor today?" Peter asked quizzically, searching through his bureau for clean robes.
"What do you mean, my sense of humor? You two-"
"Were just having a bit of fun."
"Yes, but-"
"You're being a whiny baby, James."
At this, James couldn't say anything. It was probably the first time anyone other than his mother or sister had called him a "whiny baby" in such a serious tone, and he had no idea of quite how he should react.
I couldn't
help it. I sniggered again. James whirled around, and glared at me. "That
wasn't funny," he said rather sourly.
"Then why am I laughing?" I
asked, and stopped holding back a fit of laughter.
"Alright – that's it," James said, shaking his head. "PILLOW FIGHT!" With that said, he ran at me, and started whacking me with his pillow. I eagerly hit him back, and soon, we were in a full out pillow war, with Remus and Peter joining in.
About half an hour later, Remus paused to look at his watch. "Bloody hell, we've got class in ten minutes!" he yelled. That brought us back to our senses. Hurriedly, we got dressed, grabbed our books, and dashed out of the dorm room.
"We made it," Peter panted as we rounded the corner to Charms.
"Yeah…and with a minute to spare!" Remus added, grinning. "Wonder what we'll be doing in class today."
"I don't know, but I know I can do it better than Little Miss Fire-and-Ice!" James muttered savagely.
I looked at him in shock. "James," I said, "you know she's best in Charms, right?"
"Doesn't mean a thing," he answered, unperturbed.
"What doesn't mean a thing?" Lily said, walking up with the rest of the Unicorns in tow. "Hello Peter, hi Remus, hey Sirius…hi James," she added, smiling especially at James.
"Hey girls," I said, grinning at them. "I was just about to go in the classroom….right now," I continued with a meaningful glance at Remus and Peter.
"Oh, yes…us too," Remus nodded quickly, and dragged Pete along with him. Towards the door.
"Ahm, we'll go in, too," Juniper said and motioned to Quinn and Rika.
The six of us rushed in before Lily and James could realize what we were doing. Unfortunately, they did before the door was closed, so it was rather pointless. But still…it was a good idea.
"You three….dead…" James growled at me, Peter, and Remus.
"What? We just didn't want to be too late for class, and you were too slow," Peter replied innocently.
"Since when do you care about being on time? No, let Remus make an excuse…it's more believable when he says it," I whispered loudly to him.
James gave us a death glare. I grinned, then looked around for the best seat. The girls had already taken their seats, and other students were quickly filing in. I gave a mad dash for a seat close to the window, next to Juniper.
"Hey Sirius," she said, grinning at me. "Did James bite your head off completely, or did he leave you the bit of brains you have? Because I have a feeling we're going to have to be partners today, and unlike Lils, Charms isn't my strong suit."
"Well," I said slowly, "he did take off a large chunk…I'm not sure what's left, really…but I think we can manage. I mean, Lily is right in front of us…"
"Sirius Black, there is no way you are—"
"Is someone sitting here?" asked a voice rather stiffly. We looked up and saw James standing next to Lily, indicating the empty seat by her side. I stifled a rather rude laugh.
"Um…no, no one's sitting there," she replied just as stiffly. He dropped his books and slumped into the seat. Lily thought for a moment. "Why didn't you find another seat when you first came in?" she added.
"Stupid Peter…kept me at his seat asking questions about the homework. All other seats were taken," James mumbled, glaring back behind me at Peter, who was too engaged in conversation with Rika to notice.
"Um…just out of curiosity, why aren't you girls sitting next to each other?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Oh, because it's much easier to pass notes, or talk this way. The professors never suspect that you're trying to communicate with anyone that's not directly next to you," Juniper explained.
I thought about this. It seemed reasonable to me, but before I could respond, Professor Flitwick came in, and class started. I was oddly disappointed that, as I was sitting next to her, I couldn't talk to Juniper during class. I mean, I would've, but now that she had explained the whole conversations-with-people-sitting-next-to-you thing, I couldn't. Well, not a lot, anyways.
"Good morning, class. In honor of the fact that Halloween is right around the corner—"
"WHAT?"
"—we will be studying simple glamour charms today. Now, a glamour is generally a magical disguise, sort of like a second skin. A complex one covers the entire body, includes a change of voice, and is permanent unless removed with a certain spell. We won't be studying those until fourth year at least, maybe later. The ones we will be doing today are simple face masks, and will require the use of a partner."
"Hmm…you were right. Damn."
"What you will do is cast a glamour of your face onto your partner's face."
"Hah! Lucky you."
"Shush! He'll hear you!"
"No he won't."
"To do this, simply keep a clear image of your face in mind, point your wand at your partner's face, and with the old swish-and-flick, say 'desicosa masquero'. All right, then? Okay, let's get to it!" Professor Flitwick said enthusiastically.
Before June would say a word, I jabbed Prongs in the shoulder. "Ow…what was that for?" he scowled, rubbing the spot.
"You didn't remind me! Halloween is in a few days!" I said, pretending to be hurt.
"Well, I forgot too," he retorted, looking a bit distressed.
"Oh." I considered this. "Oh, I know why. It's okay then, don't worry, we still have time to plan stuff."
"You better not be thinking what I hope you're not thinking…" he said, intensifying his glare.
"I was about to say the same thing. You know, Sirius, I think this year we should call a draw to our inter-group pranking," Juniper interrupted.
"Call…call a draw? To pranking?" I said, aghast.
"No, not entirely…just work together against everyone else instead of it being The Marauders vs. the Unicorns Show," she replied, shrugging.
I contemplated this, then looked at James for support. He was too busy arguing with Lily to offer any. "Well…I really can't speak for James, but…" Here I took a deep breath. "I guess that sounds fine with me. Well. Within reason, I mean, we might pull something small, but nothing nearly as extensive as last year," I finished.
Juniper grinned. "Great. I guess the same goes for us. Now, as reluctant as I am…it's time for me to wear your face."
Several days later, it was Halloween. We Marauders had exchanged trick sweets with the Unicorns, and had a plan set for Snape, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Things were looking great.
Our tricky treat for them was being sent by a small owl we borrowed from Joanna. She was very nice about letting us use it, and promised not to tell anyone who had used the owl for that delivery. "Thanks, Rowling," James said, winking at her with what he thought was irresistible charm." She simply smiled, and rolled her eyes.
What was being delivered was a pouch of powder. It was something specially concocted by yours truly with some help from Lily and Juniper. The three of us had figured out a good combination of herbs and charms that was very close to the Explosion Potion, only this form of it was a powder that, when mixed with pumpkin juice, would cause a minor explosion. Juniper had then drawn four packets and made them appear to contain Instant-Rum powder. Hopefully, our favorite Slytherin boys would fall for this.
We waited excitedly at Gryffindor table during the feast. The food was excellent, but nothing could distract our eager ears. The end of the feast was approaching when Joanna's owl arrived at the Slytherin table. The eight of us tried to glance casually over every now and then instead of staring the entire time and making a scene. Precious minutes passed without mishap from the other side of the Great Hall, and I began to worry that Snape and his cronies weren't ever going to use the powder. Seconds ticked away in my brain, and all too soon, it was time to go back to the dorms.
My heart sank, and I looked at James. He seemed to be just as disappointed as I was at least. With a sign, I got up. The eight of us were halfway to the exit when we heard a large BANG! I jumped a bit, then whipped around to see what had happened.
Snape, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing with their goblets in one hand and an empty powder packet in the other. The goblets were letting off a bit of foul-smelling, bright pink smoke. Covered from head to toe in pumpkin juice, a foul expression on each of their faces completed the look of being freshly drowned just moments ago. There was complete silence in the hall.
Okay. So we all know I have huge issues with self control by now, right? Well, I wanted to – and should have – waited for someone else to start the laughing. Because then either Snape would suspect them of having done the joke, of at least not have been as onto us as he really was. Yes – I admit it – I was the stupid one who broke the silence with a ridiculously loud laugh, thereby receiving a very evil death glare from Severus, and starting the laughter from everyone else.
I really hadn't meant to, because I hate being discovered, it was just that he reminded me of Warren, my brother. When we were much younger, I think I was four so Warren was about ten then, Warren wanted to experiment with Mum's wand. While she was busy talking to someone in the fireplace, he grabbed it off the counter in the kitchen and waved it at his cup of water that was a bit aways on the table. I think he was trying to Summon it, but the actual result was the safety lid flying off, and the cup knocking over in a way that enabled what seemed to be all the water to splash onto Warren. He looked like as much of a wet rat as Nico Malfoy did, with the exact same expression as Snape.
So you see, my incriminating laugh really wasn't that much of my fault. I think if anyone else was in my position, they would've laughed too. But…no one else was. I knew that since we had been discovered, we could very safely expect retaliation of some sort. So, as we made our way back to the tower, I prepared myself for a very interesting Hogwarts career.
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As it turned out, the Slytherins must have been rather bad pranksters, because their revenge wasn't in the form of a prank – it was worse. You see, it had taken me from the beginning of November to the beginning of December to convince my mum and dad to let me stay at Hogwarts with the rest of the Marauders and the Unicorns. I really wanted to spend this time just having fun with them, which I knew I wouldn't be able to do if at home. Sadly, it was actually Crabbe and Goyle that managed to get the promised payback and undermine my scheme.
It was stupid, really, because they cheated quite badly – and it wasn't even artful cheating, as I would've done! During potions, Quinn and I somehow ending up as their partners. We were making a rather foul-smelling Swelling Solution, and everything went fine until Malfoy and Snape intervened. They were sitting behind us, and quietly slipped some Fillibuster's fireworks to Crabbe and Goyle. They then ignited the fireworks and dropped them into the potion, causing an instant explosion. Somehow, both Quinn and I managed to avoid any damage from the potion, which only made it harder for us to say that it hadn't been our fault.
The stupid potions professor believed Crabbe and Goyle when they said it was our fault, and said he would take off fifty points for each of us. At this, we began loud protests.
"Do you disagree with me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and glaring.
"Well, no, but—"
"But what? You two have been nothing but trouble this year, and I truly do not appreciate this subordination. I will not tolerate it. Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, would you like to suggest a further punishment for these two?" he asked silkily. Crabbe and Goyle grinned stupidly at us.
"Uh, yeah, uh…we, uh…" Goyle said, getting too excited to talk straight.
"Yea, uh, we want, uh, we want…" Crabbe continued just as intelligently.
"Tell them to, uh, what was it…go home, yea, go home!" Goyle exclaimed, finally getting it out.
"Yeah, tell them to go home!" Crabbe emphasized this further.
"Hmm…order them to go home for break…well, that's not even a big punishment. All right then," the professor said, smiling at them. He then glared and us. "Thompson, Black…consider yourselves lucky. This is nothing compared to what I would've chosen. You should thank these two. Now, finish your work. You'll want to hurry…maybe you'll have extra time at the end of class to write home about how you're not going to be away for the holidays after all." He smiled evilly and turned to tend to those who had gotten affected by the potions' explosion.
"Stupid git…spoiled out plans," I growled in frustration.
James came over and patted me on the back. "It's okay Padfoot. I think all our mums and dads would be happy if we all go home. I think we all will, and we can visit each other or something during break."
I sighed. At least I knew they wouldn't all be having fun at Hogwarts without me, but I still wished we could have all stayed.
All too soon, Christmas break came. We said our goodbyes, promising to owl each other with gifts and letter to arrange a meeting at some point, and took off to our homes. It was nice to be home, I must admit, but one can only take so much of one's relatives ooohing and aaahhing over what a big boy he has become. Before long, I was aching to go back.
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Okay….*whew*. That took WAAAYYYY too long, didn't it? oh well….hope you all enjoyed it….sorry it took so long! So, questions? Comments? Email me…new addy: ksingco@thacher.org , ok? I'd LOVE to hear from people. Now…GO REVIEW!!!! Luv u!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tora