ATTENTION. JUNE 4, 2004 IS THE DATE FOR HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN MOVIE! CAN'T WAIT… THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK OF THE SERIES SO FAR, MAINLY BECAUSE IT INTRODUCES THE MARAUDERS AS A WHOLE… WITH MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, AND PRONGS. I CAN'T WAIT!! YEAH! ANYWAY ON WITH THE STORY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As the weekend past, things got back to normal. For James, Sirius, and Remus, however, they experienced a different perspective after a notorious prank. For the entire weekend, the three boys were now known for falling victim to the prank that Lily and her friends pulled on them. Remus was salty about it, but got over it good-naturedly in a day. James and Sirius… well they didn't For the entire weekend they moped around the castle, without the life and energy they once had. The two boys were being laughed AT, instead of the ones that the school was laughing with. In fact, on that same night when the Gryffindor girls walked into the Great Hall, the entire school pretty much heard about it and clapped. The Gryffindors gave a standing ovation for the four girls. Even the Slytherins clapped a little. I mean, it was a good prank.. "The best of the year." a Hufflepuff shouted. James and Sirius didn't take this comment too lightly, and they moped around because of it. Remus tried to cheer them up but it was no use. It seemed as if James Potter and Sirius Black have lost their touch. During class, they didn't even get into trouble once in all three of their classes. Even Lily, Penny, Carly, and Jade were concerned at this. They felt bad, but then again, they felt good because of all the attention. That and the fact that they finally got their revenge on the three Gryffindor boys. After classes James, Sirius, and Remus went down to the common room to work on the dreaded potions essay that was due the next day. Their discussion wasn't on potions, though.
"I don't believe this. This sucks." muttered James.
"Yeah I know. We're the laughing stock of the school!" replied Sirius.
"Aww come on, mates, it was only a joke. It was a good one too you have to admit that. Besides, you have always been the laughing stock of the school!"
"Yes we already established the fact that it was a good prank. Still though, before we were the ones that caused the laughing. We weren't necessarily the reason for it. I don't know… it just feels… it feels different."
"Feels different because we got beaten. You know, I can't believe it. We got beaten by girls."
"What did I tell you before, Sirius, we didn't get beaten by any ordinary girls. Those four are the best of the best. Lily Evans is already a shoe-in for Head Girl!!!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" was all that James could say. He didn't want to think about 'that Evans girl' right now. He totally despised her after seeing her smiling face… well to him it was a frown because he was floating with his head closest to the ground. "I don't know…. I don't think this pranking business is any fun anymore. Maybe we should give up."
"JAMES HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING!" shouted Sirius. Everyone else in the common room looked at him like he was crazy, so he shrunk back in his chair.
"James… don't say that. This can't come from you. You're our leader." said Remus.
"Yeah, but… how can we top them? The only way to claim our place back is if we beat them. I don't know if we can do that anymore."
"Come to think of it, I can't think of any pranks anymore."
"Me neither." mentioned Sirius.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the rest of the week, the three boys did nothing but behave. They stayed quiet in class, and took notes when they were awake. Remus tried to get the boys together again, but it was no use. The magic in James and Sirus' eyes were gone, and it forced Remus to go into a bad mood as well. The girls then began to worry about the guys. They didn't think they would take it this bad. They couldn't help but feel guilty for what they did after a week went by, and there was no sign of mischief anywhere coming from the boys. Lily, Jade, Carly, and Penny missed the old trio. The ones that always got them all riled up. They especially missed the way James and Sirius would make them laugh. Jade always counted on Sirius to make her day with a good joke or two, or by just being stupid and daft. Even Lily, as much as she despised James, missed him terribly. The glow in his eyes was no longer there, and she missed the way he annoyed her. She couldn't hate him if he didn't do anything to her. Remus was somewhat normal, but the familiar happiness he had was still missing in his eyes. He barely said anything when he talked to Carly, and this troubled her. For once, they knew the reason why Remus was sometimes moody. Because of the recent absence of havoc, the Slytherins took advantage of this and ridiculed James and his group at every chance they got. Instead of retaliating, all they did was walk by without saying a word. It got worse, and they began to spread rumors about the three. This was not accepted by Lily and her friends, and they confronted them right away. With their new reputation, the Slytherins knew to not mess with them in public, but they had plans for them later on. The Gryffindor girls told them off for saying such horrible things, and Carly even slapped Lucius Malfoy in the face because of the things he said about Remus. Lucius didn't take this lightly and lunged at the girl, only to be hexed by Lily. The Slytherins wanted revenge alright, and they were gonna get by the end of the year.
The three boys needed someone, or something to cheer them up. Obviously, they couldn't do it themselves, and they most certainly didn't want the girls to do anything. Just looking at them brought back memories for James and Sirius, especially. They never really guessed that their prayers would be answered in the form of a small, chubby, boy with blonde hair named Peter Pettigrew. If you remember, Peter was involved in the food fight, and he wanted to get the girls back. He secretly planned some pranks himself for the girls, and it was all going to fall into place as soon as the girls walked into the Great Hall for dinner. Peter walked in and sat next to the boys, snickering.
"What's the matter with you, Pete?"
"Nothin, James, I just can't wait for the girls to get here."
"Ohh.. fancy one of them, eh Pete."
"Shut up Sirius… only you would come up with something like that."
"So why are you waiting for them anyway?" asked Remus.
"Ohh you'll see…."
Lily, Jade, Carly, and Penny walked in the Great Hall and right away everyone turned to look at them with wide eyes. Slight giggles turned into snickers. Snickers turned into chuckles. Chuckles turned into laughter, and finally, it wasn't just laughing. Most people in the Great Hall could hardly breathe from cracking up. Lily's arms began to bulge, swelling up into three balls, and her chin stuck out…. she looked like a redheaded Popeye the Sailor Man. The other three girls swelled up, too growing larger until they were six foot tall. Their arms bulged as well, but not like Lily's, and they started to grow tons and tons of facial hair. Penny, Carly, and Jade were trying to scream out loud, but all they did was sing the theme song to popeye… with Lily 'toot-toot'-ing on her cue with a pipe that appeared in her mouth. As soon as they finished, Lily let out a 'toot-toot' and a type of smoke came out of it shaping into letters that said:
Brought to you by: PPJames, Sirius, Remus all turned their heads to each other, and started bursting out laughing. The other students were laughing as well, and the four girls ran back to the dorms in embarrassment. Peter merely smiled as the three boys turned towards him.
"You did that, Pete?" asked James.
"Of course, why do you think it said P.P.?"
"Ohhhhhh, so it stands for Peter Pettigrew!"
"Exactly."
"That was bloody brilliant, Peter." mentioned Remus.
"Yeah, never knew ya had it in ya!"
"R-r-really?? You really mean it Sirius? Remus?" The two boys nodded happily.
"You think so too, James?"
"OF COURSE PETE! That was just what we needed. We forgot that you were in the room as well during the food melee. Pete, how come you never told us you were so good at pranking like this?"
"Well…. I figured you three wouldn't take anyone else in, since you were so happy together. I hung out with Frank, but now that he's with Alice, he's becoming some sort of a sap with all the kissing and hugging. I felt really alone for a while, but when you guys asked if you could borrow a few of my muggle money, I was glad to help. Then when I got pelted by Penny, I knew that I had to do something after seeing you guys not doing anything. So I did!"
"Wow, Pete, that was just fantastic. Still, though, all you had to do was just come up to us. We would've taken you in, regardless if you were good or not at pranking." said James.
"Yeah, besides, I had a feeling that the three of us just didn't seem fit." said Sirius. "I mean, yeah we were a good team, but I don't know, it just didn't feel like we were great, yet."
"Nonsense!!! You, James, and Remus are the greatest troublemakers ever to step foot in this castle!" exclaimed Peter.
"Nah, I think now with this prank, Pete, a new beginning is at hand. Pete, the only thing I regret is not being able to let you join us until now. Welcome to the group, Peter!" shouted James.
Peter blushed as he happily got patted on the back by all three boys. They walked back to the rooms, and once inside they saw the four girls and immediately dashed for their dorms before Lily and her friends could lay their hands on them. They were fuming with anger and knew exactly who 'PP' was. For hours, James and the others told Peter about their adventures and secret passageways. Remus reluctantly told him about his secret, and at first he took it the wrong way. He called Remus a monster, and this earned stern looks from the boys. He quickly apologized however and said that he was just acting off of impulse. He didn't really mean what he said. Remus forgave him because he was a very forgiving guy. James and Sirius decided to forget it ever happened and forgave Peter as well.
Days past, and the four boys were back in action. They started little by little --- throwing dungbombs at Filch, cursing Slytherins food to avoid their utensils when they tried to eat it, turning Lily's hair into a spaghetti-like substance (this was James' idea) --- slowly but surely, the three along with the accompany of Peter started getting back into the game. The girls noticed this and were happy to see them back in action again. The boys were full of happiness, and it radiated throughout the whole group of first-years. Even Lily had to smile to herself when she saw the James' beaming smile before she chased him around the room in a fury. They were back. Still, the boys couldn't think of a prank that would top the girls' prank, but they weren't worried about that now. They were just happy to be back to their normal, weird, stupid selves (minus Remus on the 'stupid' part… most of the time anyway) and knew that the day would come when they would get the girls back, thereby claiming back their rightful reputation as the greatest pranksters in Hogwarts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry, short chapter. Couldn't think of anything else really, and I felt as if it was the proper ending anyway. More to come soon!! Reviews are still up and positive. Thanks a bunch. Peace.