Chapter four: Midnight Snack Anyone?
Disclaimer: I've been forgetting, but I'm sure everyone realizes that I OWN THE MARAUDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA::cough, hack, wheeze::HAHAHAHA! Or not. ::Sighs dejectedly:: The boys belong to Mrs. Rowling. Andromeda belongs to Mrs. Rowling. ::eyes well up with tears:: Even Alice, Frank, Narcissa and Bellatrix belong to her! Wah! Wait... she can have Bellatrix ::kicks Sirius's evil cousin:: Hehe... on with the show!
The First Year boys' dormitory was silent. The peaceful quiet of night wrapped around every corner of the castle, and everyone slept quietly; except for Sirius Black and James Potter. The boys were just getting back from their first night of another week of detention courtesy of the Transfiguration Professor. They clambered rather noisily up the stairs, stirring some portraits as they ascended.
Remus Lupin was wide-awake and waiting for his two friends to return from their happy school service. The sound of ungraceful footsteps and laughing told him his wait was over.
"Have fun?" he asked, wearing a smug smile as the two rather messy boys clambered into the room. Sirius and James glared at the tawny haired boy for a second then started laughing all over again.
"You're pretty damn clever, Rem; I don't understand how you wormed your way out of that," James said through fits of laughter. Matt Chandler sat up groggily.
"Shut up, you twats," he grumbled before he once more hit the pillow. The three glanced over at the now sleeping muggle born and sniggered.
"Let's go down to the common room," Sirius suggested as quietly as he could muster.
Once they were downstairs, the boys plopped down into the squishy chairs scattered about around the waning fire. The moment Remus sat down, his chair swallowed him up.
"I don't know how you get out of detention so easily," Sirius said offhandedly, reviving the subject James attempted to start.
"The two of you have a bad rep with the teachers already. I, on the other hand, have a cleaner record over the past month," Remus answered, smiling in his usual maddeningly calm way. James chuckled, then his eyes widened suddenly.
"I have just been struck by genius!" he exclaimed, before his stomach grumbled loudly. He chuckled slightly, "And hunger," he added. Sirius's eyes suddenly went hazy and dreamlike.
"I propose," he said, imitating grandly the third year Ravenclaw girl Artemis DeMaar with a dreamy air, "That we raid the kitchens."
James and Remus laughed at their crazy friend's impression.
"I think that's a good plan," Remus agreed after he stopped laughing. A couple of fourth year girls had appeared at the top of the stairs of the girls' dorms and were glowering at the first year boys angrily.
"Normal people do like to sleep at this time of night," one of the girls snapped. Sirius couldn't resist a retort,
"Who said we're normal?" he asked innocently. The dark-haired girl glared menacingly at him.
"Just shut up," the first girl with ginger hair said curtly before she and her friend returned to the dorm.
"Stupid little first years," the boys heard one grumble. James beckoned towards the portrait hole,
"Shall we journey then, lads?" he inquired in a sophisticated voice.
"I do believe we shall," Sirius returned, tipping an invisible hat. The group headed for the portrait hole when James suddenly stopped in his tracks and retreated up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. Remus threw Sirius a curious look,
"What was that about?" he asked. Sirius thought a moment and then seemed to realize why.
"His cloak. His mum and dad got him an Invisibility cloak for Christmas last year," the dark-haired boy explained. Sure enough, James came careening down the stairs again with a shimmery cloak under his arm.
"Now we're ready," he said, holding it proudly for them to see. The three boys slipped out of the portrait hole stealthily then James unfolded his cloak and threw it over them. A prefect was standing against the wall just ahead. Sirius turned to James and Remus and put a finger to his lips; the other two nodded in confirmation. As though they weren't even there, the three first years sneaked pass the Prefect without him ever noticing. Once they rounded the corner they pulled the cloak off and snickered quietly amongst themselves.
"We need to go get Pete!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed as the other two motioned for him to be quiet.
"Do you have any idea where the Hufflepuff dorms are?" James whispered. His best friend just shook his head.
"Ah, but I know where to find all of the Houses," Remus smirked triumphantly, when James and Sirius cast him inquisitive glances.
"You've known where all the Houses are? How long?" the bespectacled preteen asked.
"Since last week," the tawny-haired boy replied.
"I'm not going to even asked how you know," Sirius muttered offhandedly, "But instead of asking questions, tally ho boys!" And with that they once again vanished.
The trio journeyed down corridor after corridor, through portatraits and walls before they grew tired of crouching under the cloak and felt it was safe to emerge. Walking along somewhat carelessly, the boys never noticed that a Gryiffindor Seventh year girl was now following them. She tiptoed behind them tactfully, never stepping too hard until she was ready to reveal her presence. Wasting no time, the wiry blond launched herself at Sirius and hugged him tightly from behind, lifting him off the ground. All three boys screamed, forcing the Seventh Year to put a silencing charm on them and pull them underneath the Invisibility cloak. In no time at all, the caretaker, Filch, and his faithful sidekick; the skeletal gray cat Mrs. Norris, came huffing down the hall. The four held their breaths as the cat approached them. The invisible group stood stone still, none daring to move, hoping Mrs. Norris would move on.
"More nasty children out of their rooms again, my sweet?" old Filch wheezed to Mrs. Norris. Suddenly there was an almighty crash coming from a floor above them and Peeves's shrieking laughter followed. Filch and his cat departed from the spot immediately, with the old caretaker muttering under his breath all the while. The four students exhaled sighs of relief, then took of the cloak and turned to the girl. She grinned somewhat sheepishly as she meekly waved at them.
"Hi," she said in a nervous chuckle, then once again grappled Sirius in a bear hug.
"Hi Sirius! I haven't seen you in so long you've gotten so big I can't believe you're already a first year!" she suddenly rambled in one breath. Sirius, meanwhile had begun to turn blue. He very weakly patted her shoulder as he gasped,
"Great to see you too, Andy. Please let go- I can't breathe."
She suddenly seemed to realize she was strangling the dark-haired boy and dropped him unceremoniously on the spot.
"Thanks," Sirius rasped.
The girl looked in James's direction before another wild grin flitted across her face. The bespectacled youth dove behind Remus, but the Seventh Year seized the Potter boy anyway.
"James Potter! You've gotten so tall you're almost as tall as Siri I can't believe you two have grown so much!" she wailed dramatically, crushing James in her impressive grip. Remus backed away slowly, hopping the madwomen wouldn't notice or know him.
"Andy, you're squishing Jimbo," Sirius commented casually, and the girl dropped James also. Remus inched over towards his eccentric friend,
"Who is she?" he questioned uncertainly. Sirius grinned.
"This, Remy my friend, is my cousin, Andromeda Black," he answered, beaming proudly. Andromeda took a rather ungraceful bow.
"I'm the oldest of the Black girls," she said in a chipper manner.
"Her sisters are my cousins Narcissa, and Bellatrix," Sirius mumbled with a grimace. Remus gaped at Sirius and Andromeda.
"They're your cousins?" he asked incredulously, "I mean, sure they're also Blacks, but-but... Wow; I feel for ya mate," he finished, and then patted Sirius on the back.
"Yeah, I've felt sorry for him for a while," James said. Andromeda began to pout.
"What about me? Don't you guys feel sorry for me? They're my sisters! I have to live with them!" she whined pathetically, "And what's worse is that Narcissa is already engaged to Lucius Malfoy! She'll graduate after next year and they plan on being married as soon as she's out of school.
"I'm going to be related to a Malfoy," she added now really on the verge of tears. Sirius backed away in slight horror at the news.
"Malfoy? I'll also be related to him! Oh God, related to Malfoy. What did I do to deserve a family like mine?" the First Year Black also fell into a sulky mood. Remus and James exchanged glances uncertainly; and Remus walked over to Sirius.
"We still have to alert Peter and raid the kitchens," he reminded his sullen friend. The young Gryffindor perked up at remembering the raid. He looked over at his cousin who was tracing the stone floor with her finger miserably.
"You wanna come, Andy?" Sirius sympathetically asked his dejected cousin. She looked up at him grinning.
"Raid the kitchen? Really? I'd love to!" she squealed excitedly, then jumped up completely recovered. Remus looked at her in a mildly amused expression.
"What year are you?" he asked.
"Seventh," she replied, still grinning in a manner eerily reminiscent of Sirius's, "Who are you?"
"Remus Lupin," the tawny-haired boy answered. Andromeda slung her hand towards Remus, who shook it uncertainly; then was unexpectedly pulled into a massive hug by the Seventh year.
"So nice to meet ya," Andromeda chirped as she freed Remus from the deadly grip. Sirius and James sniggered before the crazy girl came over and slung her arms over the considerably shorter first years' shoulders.
"Let us forward then gentlemen!" she happily stated. Remus joined the odd trio.
"All clear Mr. Black?" he asked the grinning young man. Sirius looked down the corridors and returned to the group mock saluting Remus.
"All clear, Mr. Lupin," he replied over exaggerating a serious tone. With that, they followed Remus's lead to the Hufflepuff Commons.
Fifteen minutes later they arrived outside a suit of armour.
"This is it?" Sirius asked unamused.
"This would be Hufflepuff," Remus answered, "Slytherin's is a stone wall."
"And the password is....?" James questioned trailing off. Remus stood before the suit of armour and spoke.
"Pixie Wings," he said.
The wall slid back with the suit of armour retreating also, and now an opening in the wall revealed the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room. The trio stepped over the threshold. Remus walked forward leaving the others behind. When he entered the Common Room, a Fifth Year girl was sitting in front of the fire pouring over a textbook frantically. No doubt, she was studying for O.W.L.s. He cleared his throat quietly to get her attention; and the girl jumped about a foot off of her chair. She whipped her head around towards Remus, with a hand over her heart.
"Excuse me? What do you want?" she panted.
"Er… Is Peter Pettigrew around?" the amber-eyed boy asked quietly. The girl rolled her eyes.
"Pettigrew?" she asked in a tone dripping with disdain, "He's in his dorm.
Oy, Jennings!" she shouted to a Fifth Year boy who had just descended from the boys' dorms, "This kid wants Pettigrew, could you get him?"
"Sure," the boy said willingly, "Be back in a minute." A few minutes later Peter came tromping down the staircase. When he saw Remus in the Common Room, a large grin broke out on his face.
"What are you doing here?" he asked excitedly, and positively squeaked with glee when he saw the others step forward, "All of you? What's the occasion?"
To be continued in chapter 5!
A/N: I wrote this chapter after having the world's worst case of writer's block; it's called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I hate chapter thirty six. Sorry, had to go through chapters one an two and change some info on Sirius and his relations. I really don't like chapter thirty-six. Hufflepuff's aren't necessarily the loyal hard workers. They're also the ones that don't really fit in the other houses. The sorting hat's new song said it that way, that Helga Hufflepuff took the remainder students that the others didn't. Anyhoozles, Andromeda's coolies. It's raining. I like rain. Do you like the story? I've got a fab idea involving the showers and Bohemian Rhapsody...
You guys know the drill: love the fic, hate it, have a suggestion? Give me some feedback peeps!
Oh! Before I forget, shout-outs!
Thanks Eagle Lord for being there every chapter!
Alesca who doesn't really count because I know her in real life and made her read my fic,
Oneiros Lykos for being the first to review;
And all anonymous and random people who gave me 18 comments! My biggest hit story so far! Thanks sooo much you guys! This chapter was for you! Oh! Belandra dear, you are so right about Sirius. ::sigh:: I get all teary just writing about him. I can't blame Mrs. Rowling though; I do the same thing to my own characters... Sora-doragon now black*sparrow; girl your review didn't show up! Terribly sorry! Lil smartass's review didn't appear either...
Thanks to everyone also who put my story on your favorites list! I feel so special! ::trips and falls on face:: Okay, special feeling gone...