The next morning Remus woke up early, itching everywhere. He knew immediately what it was from, and he was about to growl angrily at the sleeping boys in the beds next to him when a better idea struck him. He rummaged around looking for his wand and scratching furiously at every part of his body he could reach. When he finally found his wand he had to concentrate hard to remember the spell that got rid of rashes. Finally he got the itching to stop, although his body was still red, and he vanished the rest of the itching powder from his bed.
He went back to sleep, waiting for the opportunity to wreak his revenge on his best friends. He was awakened a few hours later by Peter wailing at Sirius and making a fool of himself by trying to scratch everywhere at once. Remus opened his eyes just in time to see Peter launch himself at the taller boy who sidestepped him easily. He pretended to be asleep until James and Sirius, still laughing, walked off toward the showers.
As soon as they were out of sight he swung out of bed. "Here, Pete." he whispered as he used the same spell on the smaller boy that he had used on himself earlier.
"Thanks, Remy." Peter sighed with relief as Remus walked over to James and Sirius's beds. He grinned evilly as he vanished all of their clothes, leaving nothing but empty drawers. He hid all his own clothes so that the other boys couldn't steal them and walked just far enough into the bathroom so that he could see the two piles of pajamas outside the shower stalls. It was too easy. He vanished those also, and the towels for good measure, before getting dressed and sauntering out of the dorm.
Five minutes later Remus and Peter were sitting armchairs in the common room, after checking them carefully for fireworks, itching powder and anything else they could think of, when they heard James's voice bellow "Remus Lupin, you prat, get your ass in here!"
"Why don't you come out here, James?" Remus called innocently.
James just made a frustrated sound. By then everyone in the room was staring at Remus and Peter who suddenly looked up to find Sirius standing in the doorway soaking wet and wrapped in a sheet. It was a Sunday, so most of Gryffindor house was in the common room. Most of the younger girls blushed at the sight of Sirius Black with his hair wet and wearing nothing but a bed sheet. "Ok, one chance to give me my clothes before I have to get ugly." Sirius threatened, but his voice was light and he looked amused.
"Oh don't worry, Sir, you're already there." Remus taunted.
Sirius put on a highly offended expression, and threw one hand over his heart dramatically. "Now you've gone too far, Lupin."
"What you gonna do about it, Black?" Glittering amber eyes met baby blue, twinkles of amusement mirrored in both, and Sirius sprung from the doorway. Remus jumped up so fast that he knocked over his chair, jumped over an empty one, and ran to the other side of the room laughing.
"Be careful your sheet doesn't catch on something, Siri. I'm sure McGonagall gives detentions for indecent exposure."
The girls blushed and giggled at that, but Sirius just shrugged.
"What McGonagall doesn't know won't hurt her." he said flippantly. "Besides I've already got detention for fighting with Snivellus."
Remus cackled at that as he continued to run from Sirius whose agility was severely impeded by the long sheet tied around his waist. "Good one, who came up with it, you or James?"
"That one was all mine. Doesn't it fit him well though?"
"Perfectly. Where is James anyway?" he jumped over a first year girl, causing her to squeal.
"Sulking in bed, too modest to let the girls see him without his clothes on." Sirius snickered.
They continued their game of cat and mouse until Remus made a wrong move and cornered himself between a wall and the fireplace. Sirius pounced on him and tickled him mercilessly. Remus squirmed on the ground trying to get away, but Sirius used his superior weight to keep him pinned.
"Peter, help me!" Remus called out to the smallest Marauder.
"Sorry mate, but Sirius is a little bigger than me." Peter grinned, obviously not sorry at all. That was a bit of an understatement; Sirius towered over Peter by about eight inches, but at the moment Remus didn't care.
"I helped you out with the itching powder!" Remus gasped between fits of laughter as Sirius continued to tickle him.
"And I really do appreciate it." Peter said, his grin widening.
"Traitor! I'll get you, Peter!" Peter laughed outright at that, but he didn't find it half so amusing that night at dinner when Remus slipped Singing Solution into his drink and Peter found himself unable to stop singing at the top of his lungs.
After awhile Sirius gave up trying to get Remus to return his clothes, and threw himself down in one of the chairs still wrapped in his sheet. James, however, was not as accepting; after a few minutes he called down to Sirius to see if he had gotten their clothes back yet. When Sirius said no he began yelling at them as loud as he could. A wicked grin spread over Remus's face.
"Ok, James, I give up, come get your robes." he called as the robes materialized in his hand.
"Bring them up to me, you stupid git!" James bellowed back.
"For that comment, I think I'll make you come get them." Remus yelled. He threw one pair of robes to Sirius, who put them on and pulled the sheet out from underneath them.
"How 'bout some boxers, Remy?" The girls turned bright red again as Remus flicked his wand casually and a pair of blue and green boxers appeared in Sirius's hand. He pulled them on as though it was no big deal to be getting dressed in a crowded room as James's head appeared in the doorway.
Remus held up the robes. "Come on, don't tell me you're afraid of what the girls might think." he teased.
James flushed, but he squared his shoulders and marched out into the common room wearing a sheet just like Sirius had been. He reached for his robes, but Remus pulled them away.
"Even?" he asked
James glared at his friend, but agreed. Remus handed him the robes which he pulled over his head. "The rest of your clothes are back in your dressers." Remus told them as he muttered a few choice words and flicked his wand. James turned around and dashed back to his room.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Remus was bored. In fact, he couldn't remember ever being this bored in his entire life. It was the first bright, sunny day they'd had in ages and here he was cooped up in History of Magic, the most boring subject at school. He glanced around him and found, not to his surprise, that no one was paying the slightest attention to the droning voice of their professor.
In the seat next to him, James was using his automatic quill to take notes and was absently doodling with Sirius's quill on a spare piece of paper. On the other side of James, Sirius was balancing his chair on its back legs, staring blankly out the window. On Remus's other side, Peter was trying to practice the Color Changing spell they had to perform in Charms next. He kept muttering the incantation and tapping his quill, which was still as white as ever, but starting to smoke slightly.
Behind Sirius, Krissy and a black haired girl named Jenna were watching him stare out the window and giggling as they whispered in each other's ears. No doubt they were talking about how hot Sirius looked when he was bored out of his mind. Remus was sure he would never understand how girls' minds worked. In the back corner, Lily Evans and Lindy were talking seriously about something, and the ghost of Professor Binns droned inexorably on in his monotonous voice.
What everyone needs, thought Remus, is some excitement. He looked around for a potential target, his eyes coming to rest on the girl in front of him. Her name was Alice, and she was a nice girl with a healthy sense of humor. She wouldn't mind being the victim of an innocent joke to save her class from being bored to tears.
He pulled out his wand, and muttered a spell under his breath. Alice's long auburn hair immediately began to change; starting at the roots and moving toward the tips, it began to turn green, locks of hair turned into one thick piece and it stiffened until it was standing up on her head. After a moment it was obvious that her hair was turning into flower stems, and the stems began to sprout blossoms.
Soon her head was covered by all sorts of flowers; there were bluebonnets, snap dragons, poppies, daffodils, and even a Venus Fly Trap. The class had just started to come out of its stupor to notice the change. People began murmuring, and some started giggling. James looked up and snorted with laughter, drawing the attention of Sirius who nearly fell over backwards in surprise and Peter whose quill had finally turned grey, though that was probably because it was burnt.
Alice noticed the funny stares of her classmates, and frowned in confusion. She put a hand to her head and felt what had once been her hair. She looked surprised for a moment before she started laughing. She raised her hand, but Professor Binns didn't look up; he hadn't noticed anything, which wasn't that surprising considering the fact that he had never even noticed his own death.
"Um, Professor Binns, sir? Could I go to see Madam Pomfrey? I have flowers growing out of my head."
The entire class broke out laughing, even Lily Evans who hated the Marauders, and Professor Binns looked up. He'd clearly been wrong footed by the interruption and didn't know what to do. "Madam Pomfrey, yes I suppose so." He muttered, sounding confused.
Alice packed up, as she headed out the door, she glanced over at the Marauders trying to figure out who it had been. They were all wearing identical grins, and she couldn't decide who looked guilty. As the door closed behind her, James clapped Remus on the back.
"That was bloody brilliant! How'd you do it?" he asked.
Remus laughed. "I just mixed a little of what we learned in Herbology and a switching spell and turned her hair into flowers."
Professor Binns looked like he was about to resume his lecture, so Sirius pulled out this wand and mumbled something under his breath. The books on the shelf behind Professor Binns started throwing themselves of the shelf and flying around the room.
Professor Bins looked even more confused, but tried to ignore the flying books and continue teaching. Eager to stop the monotonous professor from getting back into his swing, James took Sirius's lead and made the maps on the wall tear themselves down and join the flying books.
Some of the other Gryffindors joined in and by the time the class ended, anything that was light enough was zipping around the History of Magic classroom and Professor Binns hadn't been able to regain his train of thought.
As they piled out of the classroom, the students were jabbering about the best History of Magic class they had ever had.
"I think that's the best thing that's happened to old Binns in a century!" Sirius crowed.