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Author's Note: Sorry for the uncharacteristic wait, everyone, this chapter had a lot in it that had to come together..I hope you like it!
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That morning, with delightfully full stomachs and winsome smiles on their faces, the four Gryffindor boys slept. Cushioned by their wonderfully soft mattresses and comforted by their soft down pillows, morning went on with out them. The thick, heavy maroon curtains kept out all traces of sunlight, leaving them to the world of dreams and miracles. Frank, who got up in time for breakfast, went down to the Great Hall without them, but returned after breakfast to try and awake his peers before Potions. Nothing Frank did, shouting, screaming, dumping cold water on their faces, could do anything but rouse the boys for a few lousy minutes before they slipped back into sleep. Remus even fell asleep in the act of brushing his teeth, leaning over the sink with his head on his chest. Finally, Frank gave up and went down to breakfast alone.
At around 2 o clock, James finally opened one eye. "Sirius," he groaned, the curtains around his bed still drawn "what time is it?"
Sirius, still half asleep, snorted in reply.
"We've missed breakfast," Peter replied sleepily.
"We've missed Potions...and transfiguration..." Remus replied groggily. "Maybe we should get--"
Suddenly, Sirius threw back his curtains and grinned like a maniac, the impression intensified by his hair, which was sticking straight up on oneside and by his crusty eyes.
"I*VE GOT IT!" Sirius exclaimed, all traces of sleep gone as his shriek startled the four boys.
"Got what?" Remus asked, rubbing his eyes as he too pulled back his curtains.
"I got a migraine," James supplied, reaching for his bags of candy that he had left on his nightstand. "Nothing some sugar can't clear up."
"Actually, you really shouldn't have sugar if you have a migraine--" Remus began, pulling the sheets off of himself.
"Shove it, Remus." James said through a mouthful of chocolate frogs.
Meanwhile, Sirius glared at them, from where he was sitting on his bed. "Hello?" he exclaimed, and then grinned. "I've got it!"
"Got *what*?" Remus repeated.
"IT!"
James shut his eyes wearily, and finished chewing his chocolate frog. He dropped his head back on the pillow and dragged the sheet back over his head. With his fist, he pushed his curtains shut. "Goodnight, Sirius."
"REVENGE!" Sirius shouted gleefully, his voice ecstatic, bouncing off the stone walls of their round common room. The room seemed to shake with his voice, the poster of Puddlemere United Qudditch Team hanging near James's bed shuddering. One of the beaters stopped his flying to wave his fist menacingly at Sirius, but he ignored it.
"Vengeance! Retribution! Settling of scores! Payback! Justice--"
"WE GET IT!" Peter bellowed, uncharacteristically hushing Sirius. Sirius looked at him. Remus raised his eyebrows, and even James raised his head slightly at his out of character remark.
Peter smiled weakly.
"Anyway," Sirius said turning his back to Peter, ignoring him with a cold glance. "I have it--"
"We know that Sirius."
"--the perfect means of retribution against the girls. It's classic, it's brilliant, and I am a genius."
James, from underneath the covers, spoke in a muffled voice. "Care to explain?"
Sirius frowned suddenly. "It's kind of spiteful though. I mean, we'd be using their mother's against them--"
Remus mouth dropped partially open. "Their mothers?!"
"What makes you think their mothers would help us prank them?" James asked, peering sat Sirius through the covers. His dark hair was tousled, sticking straight up in the back, but that was pretty normal for James. He squinted at the blurry image of his friend, finally locating his glasses and shoving them on his face.
"Well, my less then intelligent friend, they won't know they are aiding us Magical Mischief Makers."
"And, my brainless buddy, what exactly are we, Magical Mischief Makers, going to be doing?"
"Baby pictures!" Sirius exclaimed, beaming. "*Their* baby pictures, to be exact! We'll use the Muggle baby pictures, because they don't move, so the people in them can't hide. We'll replace them with every portrait in the school--"
A slow smile was spreading across James's face. Remus, looking slightly apprehensive, slightly awed, was smirking. Peter was pouting because Sirius's back was turned to him, but he's not important anyways. (lol)
"--we'll have them flash each girl's most embarrassing baby picture. And that's not all--"
"Of course not," Remus muttered.
"We'll also take our flashing little collage of Lilykins and darling Cleo, Laurel, Jessica and Em and put it on Hogwart's greatest stage..."
"Hogwarts has a stage?" Peter asked stupidly.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "No, you nit-wit...The Enchanted Ceiling."
Silence followed his words and he looked around, apprehensively. "Well?" he prompted, slightly let down that they weren't cheering and declaring this day Sirius Black Day. "What do you think?"
"Sirius, m'boy," James said slowly, finally pulling his head out from the covers. "You are a genius."
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Immediately, the boys went to put their plan into action. Remus and Sirius were dispatched to the infirmary to acquire notes for why they had missed the days lessons (Sirius and James both agreed that, though they still had double Charms left, they could do with missing Flitwick's pop quiz) which Sirius and Remus would have to bribe Madam Pompfrey for. James and Peter headed towards the Owlery, to begin one what they liked to call Phase One.
James immediately noted Courage had left already, cursing silently because he had wanted to write a thank you note to his dad. He would have to remember to do that later. Reaching for Apollo, Sirius's smaller, sleeker, no doubt more expensive owl, he handed him a biscuit, informing him with a smile, "We've got work to do."
With parchment and a quill, he sat on one of the ledges, using his knees as a desk.
"Dear Mrs. Evans, My name is James Potter and I am a close friend of your daughter Lily here at school. I am writing because of a little project we are doing here. For one of our classes at school, we are required to bring in baby pictures. I won't bore you with the magical details, but eventually we will get the pictures to move. I'm afraid Lily has forgotten to bring in hers, and was so embarrassed by the lecture the Professor gave her that she was ashamed to write home and ask. So, like the good friend I am, I thought I would do it for her. Any picture will do, but uncomfortable ones are best. Thanks again and please reply as soon as possible! --James"
Peter stared intently and nodded at everything James said, and just as James was finishing reading aloud, Sirius and Remus walked in, clutching several sheets of paper. James could just make out Madam Pompfrey's messy scrawl on them, excusing the four boys from class. "Did you get them?" He asked.
Remus nodded, grinning. "Lovely letter, by the way."
James grinned and gave a mock bow, handing the letter to Sirius. "I know, brilliance."
Beaming, Sirius tapped his wand to the sheet of paper and then tapped it on four other blank pieces of paper. The entire letter, minus the words 'Evans,' and 'Lily' appeared on the paper. Sirius quickly filled in the other girl's names, then attached Lily's letter to Apollo's leg. With a soft, affectionate hoot and a playful nip of Sirius's fingers, Apollo took flight, his glossy black feathers fading into the distance of the bright, biting fall day. They used school owls for the other 4 letters, and very soon, Phase One was completely underway.
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"Oh, isn't that sweet!" Rose Evans cooed, holding a slightly weathered letter in her perfectly manicured hands. She leaned out, shutting the bay window and ushering in a tiny black owl. "If you wait just one minute," she told it hesitantly, unsure if it could understand her, it's gold eyes watching her intelligently, "I'll have your reply." The owl cooed softly and Rose smiled, deciding to take that as a yes.
She walked out of the living room, glancing back at the owl one last time as if to make sure he wasn't about to steal her china. Pausing thoughtfully, she walked into the den, to a broad mahogany trunk with silver lining next to the television. Charles Evans, her husband, a prominent looking man with light brown hair and emerald eyes, looked up. "Rose, darling, what are you doing?" he asked, a tad bit impatient as she stood in front of the television set where he was trying to watch ESPN. "It's for Lily, sweetheart," she explained, scooting out of the way and heaving the top of the chest open, revealing several dusty but full photo albums. She reached for the top one, and frowned. "No, this isn't it," she muttered to herself. Reaching in, she pulled out a photo album cast in bubble gum pink, with tiny frills and bows. "Ah, here it is!"
"Lily?" Charles questioned his expression changing immediately from impatience to one of distinct pride as he regarded his tiny wife, with her flaming red hair and dark eyes. "Has she written then?" He asked, glancing at the letter his wife still held in her hands. "No, one of her friends has," Rose explained, smiling fondly as she glanced down at a picture of three year old Lily in the bathtub. "Well, darling what do they want?"
"Pictures. Apparently Lily forgot she needed them and left them at home, so a nice boy named James decided to write us and ask for them so she wouldn't get in anymore trouble. Sweet, isn't it?"
"A boy?" Charles grumbled. "She's 11!"
"They're just friends, Charley, honestly." Rose said, a smile in her voice. "Ah, here we are!" she proclaimed, straightening.
She held up a normal sized photo of a tiny girl who looked to be about two years old. The girl was shirtless, bald, beaming a toothy grin, her emerald eyes squinting. Her face was covered in chocolate and she had a bright yellow rain hat on. Spittle of drool worked its way down her chin, and one finger looked precariously close to being shoved up her nose.
"It's perfect," Rose grinned fondly. Charley raised a brow. "You sure Lily wants that picture floating around her school?"
Rose scoffed. "Of course. It's adorable."
Charley shook his head and reached for the remote again. "If you say so, darling."
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Back at Hogwarts, Frank Longbottom was just strolling back towards the Gryffindor Common Room, fresh from his last class, Potions. He chose the long way to the Gryffindor Common Room from the dungeons because he meant to stop by the Great Hall and see if anything was left over from lunch, which he had skipped because he had been trying to wake his lazy friends up. Whistling a new tune he had heard on Wizarding Wireless, smirking to himself when he imagined Remus's reaction when he heard they had a quiz tomorrow in Transfiguration, he was in all actuality, a very good mood. His dark eyes glittered with happiness as he recalled all the good things about Hogwarts...he met new friends...he got away from his overbearing mother...he learned new things...and abruptly, a cold voice behind him reminded him very suddenly of some of the bad things about Hogwarts.
. "Where you going, Longbottom?" Lucius Malfoy's sharp voice drawled. "Don't want to stay and play?"
Frank restrained from rolling his eyes, but slowly turned around. His eyes widened. Not only was it Lucius Malfoy, but Snape, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Avery, Manicar, and a selection of other Slytherins Frank didn't know. He didn't *want* to know them, for that matter. His hand very casually slipped to his wand as he regarded the malicious, almost hungry look on their faces.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he asked, his voice rather calm and steady though his heart was beating inside his chest.
Lucius raised one blonde brow. "Want, Longbottom?" he said easily. "What I want...well, that's a very general question, don't you agree, Snape?"
Snape smiled forbiddingly. "Very."
"What do I want," Lucius continued musing, his eyes now narrowed dangerously. His voice echoed in the empty corridor, and Frank was suddenly very, very sorry he'd decided to take the long way to the Gryffindor Common Room, down a long lonely corridor that anyone rarely took. "What I want is to make Black and Potter pay for getting me detention and making me a laughing stock yesterday," Lucius said suddenly. "What I want is to hurt Black and Potter."
Frank raised his eyebrows, his sweaty hand gripping his wand tightly now and he slowly took it out of his robes to let it dangle loosely at his side. He saw Snape's eyes fasten on it as he questioned bravely, "Oh yes? What's that got to do with me?"
"Well," Lucius drawled still, and his minions took a step tighter together. "I"ve decided something about Black and Potter. Do you know what is it?"
Frank frowned, and took a slight step backwards. "I haven't got time to play your games, Malfoy," he snarled. "Just go back to that hole you crawled out of."
"Manners, Longbottom, manners," Lucius taunted, his eyes gleaming suddenly. "Don't you want to know what I've found out about Black and Potter?"
"What?" Frank spat.
"The easiest way to them," Lucius hissed softly, and Snape raised his wand. The others soon followed. Frank raised his uneasily, preparing to fight or flee. "Is through others. And since you're the first one of their friends, we've found...well..." he smiled sadistically. "We're going through you."
"Petrificus Totalus!" Snape bellowed at the same time Frank yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
Snape's wand flew out of his hand, but Lucius was ready and before Frank could react, quickly repeated the same spell Snape had spoken moments before. Avery, on his right, thundered, "Densaugeo!" While Nott hissed, "Furnunculus!"
Frank fell, frozen, backwards, laying face up as Lucius causally handed Snape back his wand, smiling. Frank tried to frown, but found he couldn't, and suddenly felt the oddest sensation in this mouth. He glanced down at his teeth, which were suddenly growing at an alarming rate, past his chin and down to his chest, realizing one of the spells he had just been hit with had been a hex. Unfortunately, he also began to feel a peculiar and a tingly feeling on his skin, realizing boils were popping out everywhere. Had he been able to, he would have groaned.
"Well, well, well," Lucius hissed smirking, "Are we ready to play now?"
Frank could only stare up helplessly as they turned and left him there, great ugly boils popping out of his skin in every which direction and his front two teeth now well past his knees. They sniggered, apparently greatly pleased with themselves.
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Up in the dormitory, Remus, James, Peter and Sirius were all having a hushed discussion, sitting on Remus's bed, the thick curtains half drawn.
"The only thing is how do we get all the pictures on every portrait in the school?"
"A Simple switching spell can take care of that," James assured them, but Remus arched a brow. "Switching spells? That's 4th year work it is, isn't it?"
Sirius shrugged. "It's Transfiguration though; it's bound to be easy. What I'm worried about is how we get it up on the Enchanted Ceiling."
"Well, we don't have to put it on the Enchanted Ceiling, rather we can put it *over* it...Use an enlargement charm and then put a Hoover charm on it..."
"Brilliant," James grinned. "Now when do you think--" But he was suddenly interrupted by a loud rap on the window. He exchanged a startled look with his friends. "It couldn't be the owls back already, could it?"
Remus shook his head. "It must be an owl for Frank; go get it, Potter."
"Oh, alright." James climbed down from the bed and over to the window, reaching out and grabbing with his fists a tiny little ball of feathers rapping loudly on the window. It hooted excitedly, sticking out its leg, apparently very proud of itself. James chuckled. "Yes, yes good job. Now go on up to the Owlery, I haven't a food for you here."
With a reproachful peck, the owl took flight, leaving several letters in James's hand. Tearing the top one open, James's eyes widened slightly as he skimmed the first paragraph. "There from his mum," James said in a would be casual voice. "I'll go see if he's in the Common Room then, Potions ended about 45 minutes ago."
"Alright," Remus said absently, his nose buried in a book where he was trying to find the incantation for a Hoover Charm. Sirius read over his shoulder, while Peter glanced at James. "I'll come with you!" he offered. James shrugged. "If you want."
Together they headed downstairs, but Frank was no where to be seen. "Oy, anyone seen Longbottom?"
Lily looked up, frowning. "Aren't you supposed to be deathly ill, Potter?"
James ignored her. "Have you seen Frank lately?"
"Who wants to know?"
James rolled his eyes, exasperated. "The Easter bunny. *I* want to know!"
"Didn't know you were masquerading as the Easter bunny, James."
"Evans, just shut up. Was Frank in Potions, Em?"
Em rolled her eyes but nodded.
"Did you see which way he went after?" James persisted. Laurel spoke up. "Yes, actually. He took the long way to the Gryffindor tower because he wanted to go past the Great Hall."
James's brow furrowed, the letters clutched tightly in his hand. "Why? Is something wrong?" Cleo spoke up, but James waved them away. "Nothing I can't handle," he answered absently, heading towards the Portrait hole. Lily rolled her eyes. "See what I mean!" She exclaimed loudly. "He thinks he's superman!"
James, with Peter following close behind, set off down towards the dungeons. "Is everything alright, James?" Peter asked worriedly and James shrugged. "Frank's dad is really sick. I thought he might want to know."
Peter just nodded. "Will his dad be alright?"
James shrugged, his mouth open as if to reply, before he stopped dead.
"What is it?" Peter asked, banging into him from behind. James broke into a dead run.
"Frank! Frank! Are you alright?!" James quickly fell to his knees at Frank's side, where Frank had been lying in the middle of the corridor, his teeth at his ankles as his face almost undistinguishable but for his normally bright eyes, which were currently clouded over with rage.
Frank merely looked at him, and James shook his head. "Frank? Talk, buddy, it's okay now."
"He can't..." Peter said with dawning comprehension. "Malfoy's put the full- body-bind on him."
James looked up, incredulously, his hazel eyes begins to see the sparks of cold fury. "How do you know?"
"He's done it to me before," Peter said miserably. "Last week. But Frank found me before you guys did and promised not to say anything."
James's eyes were with shock. "Why didn't you want us to know?"
Peter just shrugged.
James sighed. "I think I know the counter-curse," he said thoughtfully. "But if its not it, you may end up growing a second head."
Frank's eyes widened, but slowly he brought his pupils up and down, signaling a nod. "Yes?"
Frank just continued to bob his pupils.
"Okay." James quickly preformed the spell, and Frank at once sagged to the floor, his hands flying to his face and teeth.
"My feefth--" he muttered furiously. " 'ook fhat fey fid fo my feefh!" (Look what they did to my teeth!)
"I know, bud," James said heavily, throwing his arm around Frank to help him to walk. Peter too slipped a arm under Frank's, heaving him up to his feet. "We'll take you to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey will fix you right in a jiffy."
Quickly they headed up to the infirmary, down the long gray halls until they found the large room. Madam Pomfrey was bustling about, making some potion or another, but she dropped the vial she was holding when she saw Frank come in the door. "Merciful Merlin!" she exclaimed. "What in the gods name happened to you?" Whirling on James, she said suspiciously, "What did you do to him?!"
James shook his head, immediately. "Madam Pomfrey, would I do that?" he asked, flashing her his charming grin. Her stance melted a little. "No, it was Malfoy and his slimy gang of Slytherins."
"It fas, Fadam Fomfrey, fonest!" Frank exclaimed, clutching his teeth. She patted his back consolingly. "Don't worry, Frank, I'll be sure to speak to Perkins about it."
At the mention of Perkins, James and Frank both rolled their eyes, but Madam Pomfrey pretended not to notice. She eased Frank onto a bed, and held up a mirror. "I'm going to shrink your teeth back to normal," she told him. "Just tell me when to stop."
Soon, Frank's teeth were back to normal, but his boils had begun to puss and she frowned. "No quick fix for those, I'm afraid," she said, almost sympathetically. "You'll have to spend the night in the hospital wing."
Frank groaned as she held out a white jar of salve. Smoothing it all over his face, arms and legs, he laid down stiffly. "This'll make for a fun night," he said grumpily.
James grinned. "I'll bring you some chocolate frogs later."
"Oh yeah?" Frank said curiously. "How'd you get those?"
"Well," Peter interjected, "we were wandering about last night with--"
"With Sirius and Lupin and we found someone's secret stash," James filled in hurriedly. Peter shot him a puzzled look, but said no more. "By the way," James said, eager to change the subject, "you got some letters. That's why we came looking for you."
"Thanks," Frank said, cocking his head and indicating James should leave them on the bedside table. "I'll open them later."
James did as he asked, but couldn't take his eyes off Frank's. In the backround, he could hear Madam Pomfrey consoling someone, "Don't worry dearie, they'll grow back on. It's an occupational hazard, you see."
"But Frank," he said softly after a moment, "what happened?"
Frank sighed. "I was coming back from Potions and I met Malfoy..Snape..Avery, Crabbe, Nott,..you know, his usual posse. I tried to head them off with expelliarmus, but there were too many of them," he finished miserably.
"Aw, Frank," James said consoling him. "Don't worry about it. We'll make sure they get what they deserve," he promised immediately. As an afterthought, he asked suddenly, "Why'd they attack you, anyway?"
Frank glanced at him for a moment, his dark eyes flickering into James', and James paused. Sudden comprehension dawned on his handsomely boyish face, as he asked in a hushed voice, "it was because of us, wasn't it?"
Frank didn't answer. "They're trying to get at us through our friends, aren't they?" James pressed, now positive, taking Frank's silence as a yes.
Again, Frank was silent. "I'll see you guys back at the Common Room," he said sullenly. "I'm going to be here for a while."
"Frank, is that it?" James insisted, ignoring his subtle dismissal. Frank sighed and with a shrug, gave the barest of nods.
James let out such a vehement exclamation that Madam Pomfrey shrieked to drown out the rest of his words. "LANGUAGE!" she shrieked, "LANGUAGE, JAMES POTTER!"
James looked up sheepishly. "Sorry, Madam Pomfrey," he mumbled. She glared at him.
James leaned closer to Frank, their eyes locked. "I'm going to get them back for you," he said severely. "I promise."
"James, don't--" Frank began, but James shook his head, taking in the picture of one of his good friends covered in boils and healing lotion because of the Slytherins. The elven year old boy suddenly felt very old. Reaching back and messing up his hair, a habit he tended to have when he got nervous or angry, he gave a lopsided grin, standing at Frank's bedside. His robes were crooked and tousled from heaving Frank up the stairs and added to his messy, disorganized air, but somehow it just made him seem quirkier. "So, Chocolate Frogs or Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?"
Frank studied him for a moment, taking in the cold fury in the lines of James's face, ignoring his laughing grin. "James, you don't have to do anything for me."
James just smiled. "Chocolate Frogs it is then."
--------------
Sirius wiped his eyes, his stomach aching from laughing so hard. He rolled off the bed with a dull, 'thump', the 8 by 4 picture still clutched tightly in his hand. "Careful not to crumple it," Remus warned through his chuckles, glancing down at his friend from his perch on the bed. Sirius grinned, rolling on the floor to straighten up to his feet, letting out a laugh like a bark as he glanced down at the picture of 2 year old Lily Evans he held in his hands.
"This is one of my greatest ideas yet," Sirius said, through his chuckles as he handed the picture back to Remus.
"Thank goodness their parents are prompt," Remus muttered as he regarded all five pictures he held in his hand, each more embarrassing then the next. "Otherwise this could have gone on all year."
Sirius was about to reply when James threw open the dormitory door with a bang. Muttering furiously to himself he stalked over to his trunk, tore out a book, and threw himself on his bed. Slamming the curtains closed, they could just hear his heavy breathing and furious snips of words like "no good greasy git" and "oh, purple bubbles, bet you'd like that".
Sirius and Remus glanced at each other. "James?" Sirius ventured carefully. "Everything alright."
They heard him slam the book shut and his furious mutterings continued, but there was no reply. A second later, Pettigrew walked in sheepishly. "Pete," Sirius said calmly, one eye on James's bed. "What the hell just happened?"
"We found Frank," Peter said unhelpfully and Remus rolled his eyes. "Did you get into a row?" he said wonderingly, but that didn't make sense. James would never talk that way about Frank, no matter how furious he became. James had a very high opinion of Frank, Remus could tell by the way James listened when the smaller had something to say and always took it into consideration. But then what..
"Longbottom had a little rendezvous with Malfoy," Peter explained grimly, plopping down on Remus's bed. "We found him in the full body bind, with his teeth down past his knees and boils popping up all over the place."
Sirius face paled, then flushed with fury and Remus's mouth dropped open. "But..Malfoy..Frank can take Malfoy! He's excellent at DADA!" (Defense Against the Dark Arts)
"Yeah, but it wasn't just Malfoy. Snape, Avery, Not and Crabbe and Goyle helped too, I expect. He was outnumbered by a lot."
"Okay," Sirius allowed, "so he was outnumbered. And Malfoy's a git, we know that. This is nothing new. Why's James so upset?"
Peter looked uncomfortable. "Well, it's more the reasons behind the hexing that got James in a foul mood."
They heard a scoff from behind the curtains and Remus and Sirius exchanged looks. "'Foul mood'" Sirius echoed. "I think that's an understatement."
"Peter, what are you going on about?" Remus said, frowning.
"Malfoy attacked Frank to get to Sirius and James," Peter admitted hastily. "That's what got James so upset."
Sirius froze. "What did you say?" he asked slowly. Remus watched carefully, his face suddenly very pale. "Frank was attacked because Malfoy knew it would piss you and James off," Peter explained miserably again. "Frank never would have told James, but Potter wouldn't let up."
Sirius was very still. "James," he said, sounding very serious. "Get out from your bed. This is no time to be hiding."
James flipped the curtains back slightly, so that his face was at least visible. "What are we going to do?" He asked, his voice as quiet as Remus had ever heard it. "They won't get away with this."
"We need a prank," Remus said suddenly. "A good one -- well thought out."
"I say we stroll right up to those slimy, repulsive gits and WHAM!" Sirius made punching gestures in the air, but James shook his head. "We'll be expelled if we do that mate. No, we need something trickier...we need to get in their Common Room."
"And then do what?"
James frowned thoughtfully, his face half cast in shadow. "We could..um..."
Suddenly, a pearly white ghost floated through the wall. He looked to be about 40, but his ruffled shirts and pants betrayed that he hadn't been counted among the living for a very long time. Nearly Headless Nick, resident ghost of the Gryffindor tower, at your service. His translucent light lit up the small room, playing strangely off of the serious faces of the usually cheerful young boys.
"Hullo, Nick," James said glumly.
"Why, hello, Mr. Potter," Nearly Headless Nick said politely, seeming pleased to see him. "Is Mr. Longbottom about?"
"Why?" Sirius said instantly, and Nick, looking quite taken aback, answered, "I have a message for him from Dumbledore."
"Well, he isn't here," Peter snapped. "He's in the hospital wing."
"Why?" Nick asked, looking quite alarmed.
"He's sick," James answered shortly. Nick raised his eyebrows but nodded. "Ah," he said carefully. "I see. Well, I'll just be going then--"
"Wait!" Remus exclaimed, as if struck with a sudden idea. Nick stopped, looking over his shoulder. "Nick...you know where the Slytherin Common Room is, don't you?"
Nick looked apprehensive. "Yes..I know where all the Common Rooms are."
Remus smiled. "Perhaps you can help us then...."
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That night, the boys worked like they had never worked before. They studied new charms and hexes, practiced and toiled, created and discovered. They even skipped dinner to continue in their planning -- well, Peter did sneak down to the Great Hall and grab a biscuit, but Peter was really more in the moral support group then the active planner group anyway. By the time 10 o clock rolled around, all four boys were ready to topple over from exhaustion. The amount of effort they had put forth was staggering, and it still wasn't done. Sirius was just in the middle of trying to work a Silence charm that muffled footsteps instead of just voices, when his eyes slouched over. He slumped against the wall, sleeping standing up until James used magic to help him into his bed, complaining loudly about how there was so much work still to be done, how could Sirius be sleeping at a time like this? When he turned around, however, he saw Remus too had suddenly lost consciousness, his hair falling into his eyes as his head fell forward onto his chest. James sighed, groaning loudly, knowing once Remus was asleep there was nothing on heaven and earth that could move him until he was ready. Shrugging, he grabbed his Charms book, positioning himself on the cold, hard floor to keep him awake. The candle light danced off the pages, casting a comforting orange glow into the tiny room and suddenly, James's eyes felt very heavy...he couldn't keep them up much longer. He tried to focus on the words, reading aloud to himself, "Switching spells are a form of transfiguration..." but before the end of the sentence he too was asleep. Of Peter, you ask? Well, he'd been sleeping since 9.
But at midnight, thunder snapped and cackled through the sky. Peter gave a sharp yelp, his eyes snapping open as he glanced around worriedly, trying to locate the source of the obnoxious noise. The candles had burnt out, and outside the window the world as dark and cold. His small, pointed eyes found the pane, rain slashing in driving sheets against the glass. Lightening split the sky and Peter's eyes opened wide as the room was illuminated.
On the floor, two stacks of photos piled up, almost ready to topple over, but not quite. Every few seconds the photo would flash a different picture. As Peter watched, it changed from a little girl in a rain hat to a chubby baby naked in the bath, her thumb in her mouth. Next to it was a list of charms and incantations, presumably ones to help in their revenge of the girls, Peter assumed as even from his bed he could see, in Sirius's messy scrawl, the words "Hoover Charm". Next to that was a rough drawing of a map, hastily done but nonetheless effective. It led straight from the Great Hall to the Slytherin Common Room along with the word, "Gallons." Peter didn't understand what Gallons had to do with the Slytherin Common Room, but maybe he was reading it wrong. A 4th year Transfiguration book and a 3rd year Charms book lay open to random pages. Peter yawned, rubbing sleep out of his eyes as the full makings of his friends plans came back to him. Tonight was the night it would all happen, he thought grumpily, his mind on the sleep he could be having, and his friends weren't even up.
He rectified that in a few minutes though, and though they were grumpy, the Gryffindor boys were awake and ready. Yawning, James grabbed his cloak, passing it to Sirius, who was blinking rapidly, his eyes shining with excitement in the eerie glow of the lightening.
"You know what to do," he mumbled to Sirius and Remus, who out of the four, had the hardest jobs. They nodded tensely.
"Let's go."
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Three hours and 2 floors later, James and Peter were near collapse. "How many more do we have to do?" Peter groaned, glancing down at the photos in his arms. The pile had diminished greatly but there were still about 20 left, and Peter was so tired that the cold stone floor was beginning to look comfortable. Peter and James, since they didn't have the invisibility cloak, had to work in silence and stealth, slipping in and out of shadows, holding their breath when Filch past and praying that no one heard them.
But so far, their plan had been a complete success. The completely embarrassing photos of the girls had been switched with every portrait in Hogwarts that James and Peter could find, minus the portraits that guarded the portrait holes (Thanks to Nearly Headless Nick, they knew which ones these were) because otherwise no one would be able to get in to their dormitories. The people in the portraits, those who were awake for that matter, were quite disgruntled when they saw another picture being placed over there's, but James, smiling charmingly and looking innocently abashed, explained the reason and made a deal with all of them that the pictures would fade away come tomorrow at Midnight, a nifty little charm Remus had uncovered. Looking back at the candle lit corridor, a slight orange glow shining softly, James could just make out 9 Portraits, all of which showed a nonmoving picture of a little girl standing on her head. Her bright yellow dress with polka dots had fallen down to reveal underwear with a bright purple dinosaur on them ("Barney," Peter had explained, then paused at the look on James's face. "It's a Muggle thing.") Her dress was long, but stopped just under her chin, showing the squished, red face of a otherwise cute little blonde. On top of the picture, in Sirius's messy scrawl, the letters shining softly because James had placed a simple Illuminating Charm on them, it read, "Laurel of Gryffindor. It's a girl thing." As James watched, grinning, the picture switched to a girl, asleep in her bright pink crib. A puddle of drool was gathered around her pillow and her hair was sticky from it. Her eyes were half open, her mouth still drooling slightly, and she was clutching her teddy tightly. "Emmeline -- Yes, that's really her name," it read in the corner. James grinned, motioned to Peter, and they quickly headed back towards the shadows. "Only a few more left," James assured Peter, who gave a dramatic sigh of relief as thunder clapped. "Almost done..."
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Meanwhile, Sirius and Remus were having a bit of a more difficult time even with the Invisibility Cloak. Filch seemed to be lurking wherever they needed to be, and Snape was hovering around the Slytherin Common Room. How were they suppose to whisper the password, ("Gallons"), and climb through the Portrait Hole without Snape noticing the portrait was miraculously opening by itself? They waited until 1:30 until Snape finally slithered off -- what he had been doing standing around the whole time Remus and Sirius didn't know, or care.
The Slytherin Common Room was cold, and unwelcoming. A dull fire was lit, but its soft embers provided barely any heat and light. In the corner, two shapes were blending into one shadow and strange sucking sounds could be heard. Remus merely raised his eyebrows but Sirius couldn't suppress a snicker and immediately, the shadows broke apart.
"Whose there?" a voice growled, and it sounded strangely familiar. Remus and Sirius both exchanged horrified looks and stopped dead, right in front of the stairs as Lestrange glared around the empty room. "Well?" he prompted impatiently.
A girl's voice, purposefully soft and comforting, whispered in reply. "Oh, come on, you're imagining it, now one's there." She moved out of his embrace to give a quick glance around the room, and the firelight, however dim, cast her features into sharp relief. She was pretty, Remus observed, but something about her eyes...heavy lidded and cold...stole much of her beauty.
Sirius gagged. "Ew!" he muttered silently as the two went back to whatever they were doing, convinced they were quite alone. "What is it?" Remus breathed as they tried to remain still. "That's my cousin! Bellatrix!" Sirius said, his voice disgusted. Remus shot him a look. "How many cousins do you have around here?" he asked, partially amazed. Sirius rolled his eyes.
They waited a few more minutes, then tiptoed up the stairs to the First Year dormitory.
Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, Snape and Malfoy were all sound asleep. Sounds of their breathing and loud, obnoxious snoring assaulted the pair of Gryffindors as soon as they opened the door. Sirius took one look around, his nose wrinkled in disgust, and set to work.
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An hour and a half later, everything was complete. The sheets were died gold and red, Malfoy had red streaks in his beautiful mane of platinum blonde hair and all of their robes sported proud pictures of Gryffindor Lions chowing down on Slytherin Snakes. And the best part was that the spells weren't visible to anyone who slept in that dormitory -- another of Remus's nifty little discoveries.
But Sirius's favorite part was his added little touch. Sneaking over to Snape's bedside, he waved his wand. Gold sparks shot out, forming gold letters. Sirius whispered something inaudibly and the glowing letters, now forming the phrase, "I COULD TELL MY PARENTS HATED ME WHEN THEY GAVE ME A TOASTER TO PLAY WITH IN THE BATH" melted themselves onto Snape's forehead.
Slipping over to Avery, Sirius did the same thing, except the letters were silver and the formed the phrase, Somebody's boring me. I think it's me.
Sniggering to himself, Sirius made his way around the room, while Remus shook his head, laughing silently. Phrases such as, "There is something about me that makes a lot of people want to throw up," and "I could have been a much bigger fool than I am now, but I lacked ambition." or "I spent all day yesterday hitting myself. You see, I hate everybody and I'm no exception," (that one was for Malfoy) quickly tattooed themselves onto the Slytherin's faces.
As they headed out the door, Sirius paused. It was just so...beautiful. How could they let a thing like this go unclaimed?
But if they left a mark, Perkins, that git, would find a way to trace it back to them and they would probably be expelled. No, it was best this way.
But soon enough, the pranks would be become so frequent and outrageous, that everyone knew it could only be one innocent little group of boys, often at times found collaborating right under their noses.
Sirius smiled. Yes. It was just so beautiful.
Author's Note: Sorry for the uncharacteristic wait, everyone, this chapter had a lot in it that had to come together..I hope you like it!
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That morning, with delightfully full stomachs and winsome smiles on their faces, the four Gryffindor boys slept. Cushioned by their wonderfully soft mattresses and comforted by their soft down pillows, morning went on with out them. The thick, heavy maroon curtains kept out all traces of sunlight, leaving them to the world of dreams and miracles. Frank, who got up in time for breakfast, went down to the Great Hall without them, but returned after breakfast to try and awake his peers before Potions. Nothing Frank did, shouting, screaming, dumping cold water on their faces, could do anything but rouse the boys for a few lousy minutes before they slipped back into sleep. Remus even fell asleep in the act of brushing his teeth, leaning over the sink with his head on his chest. Finally, Frank gave up and went down to breakfast alone.
At around 2 o clock, James finally opened one eye. "Sirius," he groaned, the curtains around his bed still drawn "what time is it?"
Sirius, still half asleep, snorted in reply.
"We've missed breakfast," Peter replied sleepily.
"We've missed Potions...and transfiguration..." Remus replied groggily. "Maybe we should get--"
Suddenly, Sirius threw back his curtains and grinned like a maniac, the impression intensified by his hair, which was sticking straight up on oneside and by his crusty eyes.
"I*VE GOT IT!" Sirius exclaimed, all traces of sleep gone as his shriek startled the four boys.
"Got what?" Remus asked, rubbing his eyes as he too pulled back his curtains.
"I got a migraine," James supplied, reaching for his bags of candy that he had left on his nightstand. "Nothing some sugar can't clear up."
"Actually, you really shouldn't have sugar if you have a migraine--" Remus began, pulling the sheets off of himself.
"Shove it, Remus." James said through a mouthful of chocolate frogs.
Meanwhile, Sirius glared at them, from where he was sitting on his bed. "Hello?" he exclaimed, and then grinned. "I've got it!"
"Got *what*?" Remus repeated.
"IT!"
James shut his eyes wearily, and finished chewing his chocolate frog. He dropped his head back on the pillow and dragged the sheet back over his head. With his fist, he pushed his curtains shut. "Goodnight, Sirius."
"REVENGE!" Sirius shouted gleefully, his voice ecstatic, bouncing off the stone walls of their round common room. The room seemed to shake with his voice, the poster of Puddlemere United Qudditch Team hanging near James's bed shuddering. One of the beaters stopped his flying to wave his fist menacingly at Sirius, but he ignored it.
"Vengeance! Retribution! Settling of scores! Payback! Justice--"
"WE GET IT!" Peter bellowed, uncharacteristically hushing Sirius. Sirius looked at him. Remus raised his eyebrows, and even James raised his head slightly at his out of character remark.
Peter smiled weakly.
"Anyway," Sirius said turning his back to Peter, ignoring him with a cold glance. "I have it--"
"We know that Sirius."
"--the perfect means of retribution against the girls. It's classic, it's brilliant, and I am a genius."
James, from underneath the covers, spoke in a muffled voice. "Care to explain?"
Sirius frowned suddenly. "It's kind of spiteful though. I mean, we'd be using their mother's against them--"
Remus mouth dropped partially open. "Their mothers?!"
"What makes you think their mothers would help us prank them?" James asked, peering sat Sirius through the covers. His dark hair was tousled, sticking straight up in the back, but that was pretty normal for James. He squinted at the blurry image of his friend, finally locating his glasses and shoving them on his face.
"Well, my less then intelligent friend, they won't know they are aiding us Magical Mischief Makers."
"And, my brainless buddy, what exactly are we, Magical Mischief Makers, going to be doing?"
"Baby pictures!" Sirius exclaimed, beaming. "*Their* baby pictures, to be exact! We'll use the Muggle baby pictures, because they don't move, so the people in them can't hide. We'll replace them with every portrait in the school--"
A slow smile was spreading across James's face. Remus, looking slightly apprehensive, slightly awed, was smirking. Peter was pouting because Sirius's back was turned to him, but he's not important anyways. (lol)
"--we'll have them flash each girl's most embarrassing baby picture. And that's not all--"
"Of course not," Remus muttered.
"We'll also take our flashing little collage of Lilykins and darling Cleo, Laurel, Jessica and Em and put it on Hogwart's greatest stage..."
"Hogwarts has a stage?" Peter asked stupidly.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "No, you nit-wit...The Enchanted Ceiling."
Silence followed his words and he looked around, apprehensively. "Well?" he prompted, slightly let down that they weren't cheering and declaring this day Sirius Black Day. "What do you think?"
"Sirius, m'boy," James said slowly, finally pulling his head out from the covers. "You are a genius."
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Immediately, the boys went to put their plan into action. Remus and Sirius were dispatched to the infirmary to acquire notes for why they had missed the days lessons (Sirius and James both agreed that, though they still had double Charms left, they could do with missing Flitwick's pop quiz) which Sirius and Remus would have to bribe Madam Pompfrey for. James and Peter headed towards the Owlery, to begin one what they liked to call Phase One.
James immediately noted Courage had left already, cursing silently because he had wanted to write a thank you note to his dad. He would have to remember to do that later. Reaching for Apollo, Sirius's smaller, sleeker, no doubt more expensive owl, he handed him a biscuit, informing him with a smile, "We've got work to do."
With parchment and a quill, he sat on one of the ledges, using his knees as a desk.
"Dear Mrs. Evans, My name is James Potter and I am a close friend of your daughter Lily here at school. I am writing because of a little project we are doing here. For one of our classes at school, we are required to bring in baby pictures. I won't bore you with the magical details, but eventually we will get the pictures to move. I'm afraid Lily has forgotten to bring in hers, and was so embarrassed by the lecture the Professor gave her that she was ashamed to write home and ask. So, like the good friend I am, I thought I would do it for her. Any picture will do, but uncomfortable ones are best. Thanks again and please reply as soon as possible! --James"
Peter stared intently and nodded at everything James said, and just as James was finishing reading aloud, Sirius and Remus walked in, clutching several sheets of paper. James could just make out Madam Pompfrey's messy scrawl on them, excusing the four boys from class. "Did you get them?" He asked.
Remus nodded, grinning. "Lovely letter, by the way."
James grinned and gave a mock bow, handing the letter to Sirius. "I know, brilliance."
Beaming, Sirius tapped his wand to the sheet of paper and then tapped it on four other blank pieces of paper. The entire letter, minus the words 'Evans,' and 'Lily' appeared on the paper. Sirius quickly filled in the other girl's names, then attached Lily's letter to Apollo's leg. With a soft, affectionate hoot and a playful nip of Sirius's fingers, Apollo took flight, his glossy black feathers fading into the distance of the bright, biting fall day. They used school owls for the other 4 letters, and very soon, Phase One was completely underway.
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"Oh, isn't that sweet!" Rose Evans cooed, holding a slightly weathered letter in her perfectly manicured hands. She leaned out, shutting the bay window and ushering in a tiny black owl. "If you wait just one minute," she told it hesitantly, unsure if it could understand her, it's gold eyes watching her intelligently, "I'll have your reply." The owl cooed softly and Rose smiled, deciding to take that as a yes.
She walked out of the living room, glancing back at the owl one last time as if to make sure he wasn't about to steal her china. Pausing thoughtfully, she walked into the den, to a broad mahogany trunk with silver lining next to the television. Charles Evans, her husband, a prominent looking man with light brown hair and emerald eyes, looked up. "Rose, darling, what are you doing?" he asked, a tad bit impatient as she stood in front of the television set where he was trying to watch ESPN. "It's for Lily, sweetheart," she explained, scooting out of the way and heaving the top of the chest open, revealing several dusty but full photo albums. She reached for the top one, and frowned. "No, this isn't it," she muttered to herself. Reaching in, she pulled out a photo album cast in bubble gum pink, with tiny frills and bows. "Ah, here it is!"
"Lily?" Charles questioned his expression changing immediately from impatience to one of distinct pride as he regarded his tiny wife, with her flaming red hair and dark eyes. "Has she written then?" He asked, glancing at the letter his wife still held in her hands. "No, one of her friends has," Rose explained, smiling fondly as she glanced down at a picture of three year old Lily in the bathtub. "Well, darling what do they want?"
"Pictures. Apparently Lily forgot she needed them and left them at home, so a nice boy named James decided to write us and ask for them so she wouldn't get in anymore trouble. Sweet, isn't it?"
"A boy?" Charles grumbled. "She's 11!"
"They're just friends, Charley, honestly." Rose said, a smile in her voice. "Ah, here we are!" she proclaimed, straightening.
She held up a normal sized photo of a tiny girl who looked to be about two years old. The girl was shirtless, bald, beaming a toothy grin, her emerald eyes squinting. Her face was covered in chocolate and she had a bright yellow rain hat on. Spittle of drool worked its way down her chin, and one finger looked precariously close to being shoved up her nose.
"It's perfect," Rose grinned fondly. Charley raised a brow. "You sure Lily wants that picture floating around her school?"
Rose scoffed. "Of course. It's adorable."
Charley shook his head and reached for the remote again. "If you say so, darling."
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Back at Hogwarts, Frank Longbottom was just strolling back towards the Gryffindor Common Room, fresh from his last class, Potions. He chose the long way to the Gryffindor Common Room from the dungeons because he meant to stop by the Great Hall and see if anything was left over from lunch, which he had skipped because he had been trying to wake his lazy friends up. Whistling a new tune he had heard on Wizarding Wireless, smirking to himself when he imagined Remus's reaction when he heard they had a quiz tomorrow in Transfiguration, he was in all actuality, a very good mood. His dark eyes glittered with happiness as he recalled all the good things about Hogwarts...he met new friends...he got away from his overbearing mother...he learned new things...and abruptly, a cold voice behind him reminded him very suddenly of some of the bad things about Hogwarts.
. "Where you going, Longbottom?" Lucius Malfoy's sharp voice drawled. "Don't want to stay and play?"
Frank restrained from rolling his eyes, but slowly turned around. His eyes widened. Not only was it Lucius Malfoy, but Snape, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Avery, Manicar, and a selection of other Slytherins Frank didn't know. He didn't *want* to know them, for that matter. His hand very casually slipped to his wand as he regarded the malicious, almost hungry look on their faces.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he asked, his voice rather calm and steady though his heart was beating inside his chest.
Lucius raised one blonde brow. "Want, Longbottom?" he said easily. "What I want...well, that's a very general question, don't you agree, Snape?"
Snape smiled forbiddingly. "Very."
"What do I want," Lucius continued musing, his eyes now narrowed dangerously. His voice echoed in the empty corridor, and Frank was suddenly very, very sorry he'd decided to take the long way to the Gryffindor Common Room, down a long lonely corridor that anyone rarely took. "What I want is to make Black and Potter pay for getting me detention and making me a laughing stock yesterday," Lucius said suddenly. "What I want is to hurt Black and Potter."
Frank raised his eyebrows, his sweaty hand gripping his wand tightly now and he slowly took it out of his robes to let it dangle loosely at his side. He saw Snape's eyes fasten on it as he questioned bravely, "Oh yes? What's that got to do with me?"
"Well," Lucius drawled still, and his minions took a step tighter together. "I"ve decided something about Black and Potter. Do you know what is it?"
Frank frowned, and took a slight step backwards. "I haven't got time to play your games, Malfoy," he snarled. "Just go back to that hole you crawled out of."
"Manners, Longbottom, manners," Lucius taunted, his eyes gleaming suddenly. "Don't you want to know what I've found out about Black and Potter?"
"What?" Frank spat.
"The easiest way to them," Lucius hissed softly, and Snape raised his wand. The others soon followed. Frank raised his uneasily, preparing to fight or flee. "Is through others. And since you're the first one of their friends, we've found...well..." he smiled sadistically. "We're going through you."
"Petrificus Totalus!" Snape bellowed at the same time Frank yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
Snape's wand flew out of his hand, but Lucius was ready and before Frank could react, quickly repeated the same spell Snape had spoken moments before. Avery, on his right, thundered, "Densaugeo!" While Nott hissed, "Furnunculus!"
Frank fell, frozen, backwards, laying face up as Lucius causally handed Snape back his wand, smiling. Frank tried to frown, but found he couldn't, and suddenly felt the oddest sensation in this mouth. He glanced down at his teeth, which were suddenly growing at an alarming rate, past his chin and down to his chest, realizing one of the spells he had just been hit with had been a hex. Unfortunately, he also began to feel a peculiar and a tingly feeling on his skin, realizing boils were popping out everywhere. Had he been able to, he would have groaned.
"Well, well, well," Lucius hissed smirking, "Are we ready to play now?"
Frank could only stare up helplessly as they turned and left him there, great ugly boils popping out of his skin in every which direction and his front two teeth now well past his knees. They sniggered, apparently greatly pleased with themselves.
----------------
Up in the dormitory, Remus, James, Peter and Sirius were all having a hushed discussion, sitting on Remus's bed, the thick curtains half drawn.
"The only thing is how do we get all the pictures on every portrait in the school?"
"A Simple switching spell can take care of that," James assured them, but Remus arched a brow. "Switching spells? That's 4th year work it is, isn't it?"
Sirius shrugged. "It's Transfiguration though; it's bound to be easy. What I'm worried about is how we get it up on the Enchanted Ceiling."
"Well, we don't have to put it on the Enchanted Ceiling, rather we can put it *over* it...Use an enlargement charm and then put a Hoover charm on it..."
"Brilliant," James grinned. "Now when do you think--" But he was suddenly interrupted by a loud rap on the window. He exchanged a startled look with his friends. "It couldn't be the owls back already, could it?"
Remus shook his head. "It must be an owl for Frank; go get it, Potter."
"Oh, alright." James climbed down from the bed and over to the window, reaching out and grabbing with his fists a tiny little ball of feathers rapping loudly on the window. It hooted excitedly, sticking out its leg, apparently very proud of itself. James chuckled. "Yes, yes good job. Now go on up to the Owlery, I haven't a food for you here."
With a reproachful peck, the owl took flight, leaving several letters in James's hand. Tearing the top one open, James's eyes widened slightly as he skimmed the first paragraph. "There from his mum," James said in a would be casual voice. "I'll go see if he's in the Common Room then, Potions ended about 45 minutes ago."
"Alright," Remus said absently, his nose buried in a book where he was trying to find the incantation for a Hoover Charm. Sirius read over his shoulder, while Peter glanced at James. "I'll come with you!" he offered. James shrugged. "If you want."
Together they headed downstairs, but Frank was no where to be seen. "Oy, anyone seen Longbottom?"
Lily looked up, frowning. "Aren't you supposed to be deathly ill, Potter?"
James ignored her. "Have you seen Frank lately?"
"Who wants to know?"
James rolled his eyes, exasperated. "The Easter bunny. *I* want to know!"
"Didn't know you were masquerading as the Easter bunny, James."
"Evans, just shut up. Was Frank in Potions, Em?"
Em rolled her eyes but nodded.
"Did you see which way he went after?" James persisted. Laurel spoke up. "Yes, actually. He took the long way to the Gryffindor tower because he wanted to go past the Great Hall."
James's brow furrowed, the letters clutched tightly in his hand. "Why? Is something wrong?" Cleo spoke up, but James waved them away. "Nothing I can't handle," he answered absently, heading towards the Portrait hole. Lily rolled her eyes. "See what I mean!" She exclaimed loudly. "He thinks he's superman!"
James, with Peter following close behind, set off down towards the dungeons. "Is everything alright, James?" Peter asked worriedly and James shrugged. "Frank's dad is really sick. I thought he might want to know."
Peter just nodded. "Will his dad be alright?"
James shrugged, his mouth open as if to reply, before he stopped dead.
"What is it?" Peter asked, banging into him from behind. James broke into a dead run.
"Frank! Frank! Are you alright?!" James quickly fell to his knees at Frank's side, where Frank had been lying in the middle of the corridor, his teeth at his ankles as his face almost undistinguishable but for his normally bright eyes, which were currently clouded over with rage.
Frank merely looked at him, and James shook his head. "Frank? Talk, buddy, it's okay now."
"He can't..." Peter said with dawning comprehension. "Malfoy's put the full- body-bind on him."
James looked up, incredulously, his hazel eyes begins to see the sparks of cold fury. "How do you know?"
"He's done it to me before," Peter said miserably. "Last week. But Frank found me before you guys did and promised not to say anything."
James's eyes were with shock. "Why didn't you want us to know?"
Peter just shrugged.
James sighed. "I think I know the counter-curse," he said thoughtfully. "But if its not it, you may end up growing a second head."
Frank's eyes widened, but slowly he brought his pupils up and down, signaling a nod. "Yes?"
Frank just continued to bob his pupils.
"Okay." James quickly preformed the spell, and Frank at once sagged to the floor, his hands flying to his face and teeth.
"My feefth--" he muttered furiously. " 'ook fhat fey fid fo my feefh!" (Look what they did to my teeth!)
"I know, bud," James said heavily, throwing his arm around Frank to help him to walk. Peter too slipped a arm under Frank's, heaving him up to his feet. "We'll take you to the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey will fix you right in a jiffy."
Quickly they headed up to the infirmary, down the long gray halls until they found the large room. Madam Pomfrey was bustling about, making some potion or another, but she dropped the vial she was holding when she saw Frank come in the door. "Merciful Merlin!" she exclaimed. "What in the gods name happened to you?" Whirling on James, she said suspiciously, "What did you do to him?!"
James shook his head, immediately. "Madam Pomfrey, would I do that?" he asked, flashing her his charming grin. Her stance melted a little. "No, it was Malfoy and his slimy gang of Slytherins."
"It fas, Fadam Fomfrey, fonest!" Frank exclaimed, clutching his teeth. She patted his back consolingly. "Don't worry, Frank, I'll be sure to speak to Perkins about it."
At the mention of Perkins, James and Frank both rolled their eyes, but Madam Pomfrey pretended not to notice. She eased Frank onto a bed, and held up a mirror. "I'm going to shrink your teeth back to normal," she told him. "Just tell me when to stop."
Soon, Frank's teeth were back to normal, but his boils had begun to puss and she frowned. "No quick fix for those, I'm afraid," she said, almost sympathetically. "You'll have to spend the night in the hospital wing."
Frank groaned as she held out a white jar of salve. Smoothing it all over his face, arms and legs, he laid down stiffly. "This'll make for a fun night," he said grumpily.
James grinned. "I'll bring you some chocolate frogs later."
"Oh yeah?" Frank said curiously. "How'd you get those?"
"Well," Peter interjected, "we were wandering about last night with--"
"With Sirius and Lupin and we found someone's secret stash," James filled in hurriedly. Peter shot him a puzzled look, but said no more. "By the way," James said, eager to change the subject, "you got some letters. That's why we came looking for you."
"Thanks," Frank said, cocking his head and indicating James should leave them on the bedside table. "I'll open them later."
James did as he asked, but couldn't take his eyes off Frank's. In the backround, he could hear Madam Pomfrey consoling someone, "Don't worry dearie, they'll grow back on. It's an occupational hazard, you see."
"But Frank," he said softly after a moment, "what happened?"
Frank sighed. "I was coming back from Potions and I met Malfoy..Snape..Avery, Crabbe, Nott,..you know, his usual posse. I tried to head them off with expelliarmus, but there were too many of them," he finished miserably.
"Aw, Frank," James said consoling him. "Don't worry about it. We'll make sure they get what they deserve," he promised immediately. As an afterthought, he asked suddenly, "Why'd they attack you, anyway?"
Frank glanced at him for a moment, his dark eyes flickering into James', and James paused. Sudden comprehension dawned on his handsomely boyish face, as he asked in a hushed voice, "it was because of us, wasn't it?"
Frank didn't answer. "They're trying to get at us through our friends, aren't they?" James pressed, now positive, taking Frank's silence as a yes.
Again, Frank was silent. "I'll see you guys back at the Common Room," he said sullenly. "I'm going to be here for a while."
"Frank, is that it?" James insisted, ignoring his subtle dismissal. Frank sighed and with a shrug, gave the barest of nods.
James let out such a vehement exclamation that Madam Pomfrey shrieked to drown out the rest of his words. "LANGUAGE!" she shrieked, "LANGUAGE, JAMES POTTER!"
James looked up sheepishly. "Sorry, Madam Pomfrey," he mumbled. She glared at him.
James leaned closer to Frank, their eyes locked. "I'm going to get them back for you," he said severely. "I promise."
"James, don't--" Frank began, but James shook his head, taking in the picture of one of his good friends covered in boils and healing lotion because of the Slytherins. The elven year old boy suddenly felt very old. Reaching back and messing up his hair, a habit he tended to have when he got nervous or angry, he gave a lopsided grin, standing at Frank's bedside. His robes were crooked and tousled from heaving Frank up the stairs and added to his messy, disorganized air, but somehow it just made him seem quirkier. "So, Chocolate Frogs or Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?"
Frank studied him for a moment, taking in the cold fury in the lines of James's face, ignoring his laughing grin. "James, you don't have to do anything for me."
James just smiled. "Chocolate Frogs it is then."
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Sirius wiped his eyes, his stomach aching from laughing so hard. He rolled off the bed with a dull, 'thump', the 8 by 4 picture still clutched tightly in his hand. "Careful not to crumple it," Remus warned through his chuckles, glancing down at his friend from his perch on the bed. Sirius grinned, rolling on the floor to straighten up to his feet, letting out a laugh like a bark as he glanced down at the picture of 2 year old Lily Evans he held in his hands.
"This is one of my greatest ideas yet," Sirius said, through his chuckles as he handed the picture back to Remus.
"Thank goodness their parents are prompt," Remus muttered as he regarded all five pictures he held in his hand, each more embarrassing then the next. "Otherwise this could have gone on all year."
Sirius was about to reply when James threw open the dormitory door with a bang. Muttering furiously to himself he stalked over to his trunk, tore out a book, and threw himself on his bed. Slamming the curtains closed, they could just hear his heavy breathing and furious snips of words like "no good greasy git" and "oh, purple bubbles, bet you'd like that".
Sirius and Remus glanced at each other. "James?" Sirius ventured carefully. "Everything alright."
They heard him slam the book shut and his furious mutterings continued, but there was no reply. A second later, Pettigrew walked in sheepishly. "Pete," Sirius said calmly, one eye on James's bed. "What the hell just happened?"
"We found Frank," Peter said unhelpfully and Remus rolled his eyes. "Did you get into a row?" he said wonderingly, but that didn't make sense. James would never talk that way about Frank, no matter how furious he became. James had a very high opinion of Frank, Remus could tell by the way James listened when the smaller had something to say and always took it into consideration. But then what..
"Longbottom had a little rendezvous with Malfoy," Peter explained grimly, plopping down on Remus's bed. "We found him in the full body bind, with his teeth down past his knees and boils popping up all over the place."
Sirius face paled, then flushed with fury and Remus's mouth dropped open. "But..Malfoy..Frank can take Malfoy! He's excellent at DADA!" (Defense Against the Dark Arts)
"Yeah, but it wasn't just Malfoy. Snape, Avery, Not and Crabbe and Goyle helped too, I expect. He was outnumbered by a lot."
"Okay," Sirius allowed, "so he was outnumbered. And Malfoy's a git, we know that. This is nothing new. Why's James so upset?"
Peter looked uncomfortable. "Well, it's more the reasons behind the hexing that got James in a foul mood."
They heard a scoff from behind the curtains and Remus and Sirius exchanged looks. "'Foul mood'" Sirius echoed. "I think that's an understatement."
"Peter, what are you going on about?" Remus said, frowning.
"Malfoy attacked Frank to get to Sirius and James," Peter admitted hastily. "That's what got James so upset."
Sirius froze. "What did you say?" he asked slowly. Remus watched carefully, his face suddenly very pale. "Frank was attacked because Malfoy knew it would piss you and James off," Peter explained miserably again. "Frank never would have told James, but Potter wouldn't let up."
Sirius was very still. "James," he said, sounding very serious. "Get out from your bed. This is no time to be hiding."
James flipped the curtains back slightly, so that his face was at least visible. "What are we going to do?" He asked, his voice as quiet as Remus had ever heard it. "They won't get away with this."
"We need a prank," Remus said suddenly. "A good one -- well thought out."
"I say we stroll right up to those slimy, repulsive gits and WHAM!" Sirius made punching gestures in the air, but James shook his head. "We'll be expelled if we do that mate. No, we need something trickier...we need to get in their Common Room."
"And then do what?"
James frowned thoughtfully, his face half cast in shadow. "We could..um..."
Suddenly, a pearly white ghost floated through the wall. He looked to be about 40, but his ruffled shirts and pants betrayed that he hadn't been counted among the living for a very long time. Nearly Headless Nick, resident ghost of the Gryffindor tower, at your service. His translucent light lit up the small room, playing strangely off of the serious faces of the usually cheerful young boys.
"Hullo, Nick," James said glumly.
"Why, hello, Mr. Potter," Nearly Headless Nick said politely, seeming pleased to see him. "Is Mr. Longbottom about?"
"Why?" Sirius said instantly, and Nick, looking quite taken aback, answered, "I have a message for him from Dumbledore."
"Well, he isn't here," Peter snapped. "He's in the hospital wing."
"Why?" Nick asked, looking quite alarmed.
"He's sick," James answered shortly. Nick raised his eyebrows but nodded. "Ah," he said carefully. "I see. Well, I'll just be going then--"
"Wait!" Remus exclaimed, as if struck with a sudden idea. Nick stopped, looking over his shoulder. "Nick...you know where the Slytherin Common Room is, don't you?"
Nick looked apprehensive. "Yes..I know where all the Common Rooms are."
Remus smiled. "Perhaps you can help us then...."
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That night, the boys worked like they had never worked before. They studied new charms and hexes, practiced and toiled, created and discovered. They even skipped dinner to continue in their planning -- well, Peter did sneak down to the Great Hall and grab a biscuit, but Peter was really more in the moral support group then the active planner group anyway. By the time 10 o clock rolled around, all four boys were ready to topple over from exhaustion. The amount of effort they had put forth was staggering, and it still wasn't done. Sirius was just in the middle of trying to work a Silence charm that muffled footsteps instead of just voices, when his eyes slouched over. He slumped against the wall, sleeping standing up until James used magic to help him into his bed, complaining loudly about how there was so much work still to be done, how could Sirius be sleeping at a time like this? When he turned around, however, he saw Remus too had suddenly lost consciousness, his hair falling into his eyes as his head fell forward onto his chest. James sighed, groaning loudly, knowing once Remus was asleep there was nothing on heaven and earth that could move him until he was ready. Shrugging, he grabbed his Charms book, positioning himself on the cold, hard floor to keep him awake. The candle light danced off the pages, casting a comforting orange glow into the tiny room and suddenly, James's eyes felt very heavy...he couldn't keep them up much longer. He tried to focus on the words, reading aloud to himself, "Switching spells are a form of transfiguration..." but before the end of the sentence he too was asleep. Of Peter, you ask? Well, he'd been sleeping since 9.
But at midnight, thunder snapped and cackled through the sky. Peter gave a sharp yelp, his eyes snapping open as he glanced around worriedly, trying to locate the source of the obnoxious noise. The candles had burnt out, and outside the window the world as dark and cold. His small, pointed eyes found the pane, rain slashing in driving sheets against the glass. Lightening split the sky and Peter's eyes opened wide as the room was illuminated.
On the floor, two stacks of photos piled up, almost ready to topple over, but not quite. Every few seconds the photo would flash a different picture. As Peter watched, it changed from a little girl in a rain hat to a chubby baby naked in the bath, her thumb in her mouth. Next to it was a list of charms and incantations, presumably ones to help in their revenge of the girls, Peter assumed as even from his bed he could see, in Sirius's messy scrawl, the words "Hoover Charm". Next to that was a rough drawing of a map, hastily done but nonetheless effective. It led straight from the Great Hall to the Slytherin Common Room along with the word, "Gallons." Peter didn't understand what Gallons had to do with the Slytherin Common Room, but maybe he was reading it wrong. A 4th year Transfiguration book and a 3rd year Charms book lay open to random pages. Peter yawned, rubbing sleep out of his eyes as the full makings of his friends plans came back to him. Tonight was the night it would all happen, he thought grumpily, his mind on the sleep he could be having, and his friends weren't even up.
He rectified that in a few minutes though, and though they were grumpy, the Gryffindor boys were awake and ready. Yawning, James grabbed his cloak, passing it to Sirius, who was blinking rapidly, his eyes shining with excitement in the eerie glow of the lightening.
"You know what to do," he mumbled to Sirius and Remus, who out of the four, had the hardest jobs. They nodded tensely.
"Let's go."
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Three hours and 2 floors later, James and Peter were near collapse. "How many more do we have to do?" Peter groaned, glancing down at the photos in his arms. The pile had diminished greatly but there were still about 20 left, and Peter was so tired that the cold stone floor was beginning to look comfortable. Peter and James, since they didn't have the invisibility cloak, had to work in silence and stealth, slipping in and out of shadows, holding their breath when Filch past and praying that no one heard them.
But so far, their plan had been a complete success. The completely embarrassing photos of the girls had been switched with every portrait in Hogwarts that James and Peter could find, minus the portraits that guarded the portrait holes (Thanks to Nearly Headless Nick, they knew which ones these were) because otherwise no one would be able to get in to their dormitories. The people in the portraits, those who were awake for that matter, were quite disgruntled when they saw another picture being placed over there's, but James, smiling charmingly and looking innocently abashed, explained the reason and made a deal with all of them that the pictures would fade away come tomorrow at Midnight, a nifty little charm Remus had uncovered. Looking back at the candle lit corridor, a slight orange glow shining softly, James could just make out 9 Portraits, all of which showed a nonmoving picture of a little girl standing on her head. Her bright yellow dress with polka dots had fallen down to reveal underwear with a bright purple dinosaur on them ("Barney," Peter had explained, then paused at the look on James's face. "It's a Muggle thing.") Her dress was long, but stopped just under her chin, showing the squished, red face of a otherwise cute little blonde. On top of the picture, in Sirius's messy scrawl, the letters shining softly because James had placed a simple Illuminating Charm on them, it read, "Laurel of Gryffindor. It's a girl thing." As James watched, grinning, the picture switched to a girl, asleep in her bright pink crib. A puddle of drool was gathered around her pillow and her hair was sticky from it. Her eyes were half open, her mouth still drooling slightly, and she was clutching her teddy tightly. "Emmeline -- Yes, that's really her name," it read in the corner. James grinned, motioned to Peter, and they quickly headed back towards the shadows. "Only a few more left," James assured Peter, who gave a dramatic sigh of relief as thunder clapped. "Almost done..."
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Meanwhile, Sirius and Remus were having a bit of a more difficult time even with the Invisibility Cloak. Filch seemed to be lurking wherever they needed to be, and Snape was hovering around the Slytherin Common Room. How were they suppose to whisper the password, ("Gallons"), and climb through the Portrait Hole without Snape noticing the portrait was miraculously opening by itself? They waited until 1:30 until Snape finally slithered off -- what he had been doing standing around the whole time Remus and Sirius didn't know, or care.
The Slytherin Common Room was cold, and unwelcoming. A dull fire was lit, but its soft embers provided barely any heat and light. In the corner, two shapes were blending into one shadow and strange sucking sounds could be heard. Remus merely raised his eyebrows but Sirius couldn't suppress a snicker and immediately, the shadows broke apart.
"Whose there?" a voice growled, and it sounded strangely familiar. Remus and Sirius both exchanged horrified looks and stopped dead, right in front of the stairs as Lestrange glared around the empty room. "Well?" he prompted impatiently.
A girl's voice, purposefully soft and comforting, whispered in reply. "Oh, come on, you're imagining it, now one's there." She moved out of his embrace to give a quick glance around the room, and the firelight, however dim, cast her features into sharp relief. She was pretty, Remus observed, but something about her eyes...heavy lidded and cold...stole much of her beauty.
Sirius gagged. "Ew!" he muttered silently as the two went back to whatever they were doing, convinced they were quite alone. "What is it?" Remus breathed as they tried to remain still. "That's my cousin! Bellatrix!" Sirius said, his voice disgusted. Remus shot him a look. "How many cousins do you have around here?" he asked, partially amazed. Sirius rolled his eyes.
They waited a few more minutes, then tiptoed up the stairs to the First Year dormitory.
Avery, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, Snape and Malfoy were all sound asleep. Sounds of their breathing and loud, obnoxious snoring assaulted the pair of Gryffindors as soon as they opened the door. Sirius took one look around, his nose wrinkled in disgust, and set to work.
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An hour and a half later, everything was complete. The sheets were died gold and red, Malfoy had red streaks in his beautiful mane of platinum blonde hair and all of their robes sported proud pictures of Gryffindor Lions chowing down on Slytherin Snakes. And the best part was that the spells weren't visible to anyone who slept in that dormitory -- another of Remus's nifty little discoveries.
But Sirius's favorite part was his added little touch. Sneaking over to Snape's bedside, he waved his wand. Gold sparks shot out, forming gold letters. Sirius whispered something inaudibly and the glowing letters, now forming the phrase, "I COULD TELL MY PARENTS HATED ME WHEN THEY GAVE ME A TOASTER TO PLAY WITH IN THE BATH" melted themselves onto Snape's forehead.
Slipping over to Avery, Sirius did the same thing, except the letters were silver and the formed the phrase, Somebody's boring me. I think it's me.
Sniggering to himself, Sirius made his way around the room, while Remus shook his head, laughing silently. Phrases such as, "There is something about me that makes a lot of people want to throw up," and "I could have been a much bigger fool than I am now, but I lacked ambition." or "I spent all day yesterday hitting myself. You see, I hate everybody and I'm no exception," (that one was for Malfoy) quickly tattooed themselves onto the Slytherin's faces.
As they headed out the door, Sirius paused. It was just so...beautiful. How could they let a thing like this go unclaimed?
But if they left a mark, Perkins, that git, would find a way to trace it back to them and they would probably be expelled. No, it was best this way.
But soon enough, the pranks would be become so frequent and outrageous, that everyone knew it could only be one innocent little group of boys, often at times found collaborating right under their noses.
Sirius smiled. Yes. It was just so beautiful.