A/N: Ok, thank for all the reviews guys! Tashmania: good guess…but not so good- read on to find out the real reason! Pensive puddles: *snatches Sirius from her death-bringing arms* mwhahahaa! Mundungus Fletcher: *drools over chocolate* how about maraudertastic? Mione lover: favourite's list? Really, really?! Anne: mwhahaha…in this chapter all will be revealed! Yassy: *salutes* aye, aye! The one and only amy: thank you! *gives Sirius to her for a hug*. Sammy- I might have told you to come and r&r but thanks all the same. Kitsune oni: I thought you had gone forever *sniff*, glad you like. Orli's Personal Pirate: Thankie, I love new reviewers! Joint the strange following! FrankieBGoode: it's not Lily, I fooled you all! I've got a better idea for Peter though…
…I will turn him into a flea and then I will put that flea in a box, then that box into another box, then that box into another box, then mail it to myself and SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!!!!
Announcement of dedication of chapter: Well, Prowling Wolf DEFINITELY doesn't get it because she insists on rewriting my whole chapter in each review *sticks out tongue*. Ary doesn't get it for putting the corrections in an unnoticeable red, but I WUV YOU ALL THE SAME!
It goes to Prongsies my lovely dedicated and beautiful reviewer whose name I have just added to the computer in my dictionary *beams*.
Chapter 6- Transfiguration
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'Spit it out, Snivellus!' Sirius yelled at Snape, tightening his grip on the front of his robes with menacing strength.
Snape, who looked exactly as though he was going to let them draw it out of him, suddenly garbled.
'I want James to lose the Quiddich match against Slytherin.'
James's mouth hung open at the unexpected demands. It was certainly strange that Snape would waste one of the best opportunities just for his house. Was he really about to waste his chance when he had the marauders at his mercy?
Sirius beckoned James and Remus into a huddle, out of reach of Snape's sharp hearing and addressed them.
'Look. I don't think we have too much choice here.' James tried to object but Sirius held out of hand to silence him.
'No Prongs, think what he has over on us. He's the only one who could possibly find a remedy for this curse and we don't know how long it will last. He knows that we were making potions outside classes and he could tell all the girls that we made it just to make all of them love us. Come on, it can't just be me who is terrified by the slighted witches in this school.'
'But what am I supposed to do?' James asked incredulously. 'I'm the captain, this would be terrible!'
Sirius quirked his eyebrow at James.
'Come on now Prongs, just fall off your broom or something…we've all seen it before.'
James shot Sirius a look of venom and then elbowed Remus as he began to snigger. 'Oh you're so witty.'
'Well now you come to it…' Sirius started but Remus cut him off saying,
'Let's not get sidetracked Padfoot. But he's right you know Prongs, you're going to have to do this.'
Breaking the huddle, James turned around to face Snape again who had desperately trying to listen into their conversation. He folded his arms professionally across his muscular chest that came from playing too much Quiddich. Looking suitably like he hadn't gotten his own way, he said,
'Well Snivellus, seems we've decided to humour your terms. Next match I will lose to Slytherin but right now, you make the remedy we need.'
A satisfied smirk spread across Snape's greasy face and James looked away disgustedly. With open suspicion towards the Marauders, Snape drew up a contract and signed up his name and got the other three to do this also. With a magically binding hex. He rolled it up neatly, duplicated it, ad handed one copy to James.
'Excellent, thanks so much Potter. Now to this potion.' His small eyes scanned around the room as began to think out loud. 'Yes, I think we'll be needing some of that definitely…hmmmm…and I wonder if there is any of that in here…' his eyes snapped back to the other three.
'Potter, pass me some of that Filesweed behind you.'
Get it yourself,' James replied sulkily as Remus rolled his eyes and passed it to Snape himself.
* * * * * * * * *
No more girls chased Remus, Sirius and James down the hall ways. In fact they seemed to have gone completely back to normal and had forgotten everything since Snape had brewed the reversing potion. And although this had saved them, everything seemed to suddenly grow boring in comparison to the running and desperation of escape and evasion.
Later in Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws, James was still sulking. They were grouped in threes to transfigure a table into a bird. It was the first time that class had transfigured inanimate objects into animate ones and they weren't having much success.
James and Sirius sat around the table nonchalantly at the back of the classroom, staring at it glumly as Remus attempted the transfiguration and failed numerous times.
'I can't believe you made me agree,' James said feebly, poking the table with his wand but not even bothering to mutter the incantation.
'You're not still thinking about that are you?' Sirius asked with exasperation.
Remus flopped down in his chair and glared gloomily at the twitching table in front of him.
'Do you think it looks remotely birdlike?' he asked the other two dejectedly. Sirius grinned and pretended to inspect the table.
'Wait Moony- I think there are a few feathers sprouting down here.'
'Really?' Remus asked hopefully.
'No,' Sirius answered shaking his head. 'You must stop being so damn gullible, mate!' Remus rolled his eyes back at Sirius but personally agreed.
'I know,' he replied gloomily. 'Who wants to have a go at this table as my futile attempts seem to get it nowhere? Go on Prongs, you're the best at Transfiguration here.' James merely stared stonily ahead and repeated,
'I can't believe you made me agree to Snape.'
Cuffing his sharply on the back of the head, Sirius jumped to his feet and held him hand aloft with unfounded energy. He received odd looks from Remus and James but went unnoticed by the majority of the class because they were busy with their tables: most still unmoving but several had sprouted beaks by this stage.
'I think this lesson needs to be livened up a bit, don't you?' Sirius asked, pressing his palms together, his eyes glinting wildly. 'Let's blow something up the muggle way!'
Remus and James exchanged a look.
'Okay, who else regrets showing Padfoot the James bond films?'
James raised his hand solemnly.
But Sirius was not to be put off and from the back pocket of his dark jeans he produced a small bag and carefully unfolded it.
'Gold dust,' he whispered to the other two, who were awed to silence in the immediate wake of the substances' revealing. There was a pause.
'Where did you get that? It can be quite dangerous.' Remus said, as sensible as always. Ignoring him, Sirius extended his other hand and unfurled it revealing a snare of string. The fuse.
'I've been researching,' he told them as if this was completely normal and placed them both on the table in front of them. 'This is going to work perfectly' he informed them with obvious mounting glee.
Since when did magical explosions become so dull?' Remus asked with resignation.
'Since always, Moony!' James, who had perked up considerably at the mention of explosions, explained impatiently. 'Now all we need is a distraction.'
It was as if the fates of chaos saluted to James as a marauder and took his words to heart.
There were several screams as, with the misdirection of a Ravenclaw girl's wand, a student instead of a table transformed partly into a misshaped bird. When usually the marauders would have attended this kind of performance with a standing ovation, today they turned their heads together, deep in mischievous plotting.
'Go put it over there! Over there!' James whispered, pushing Sirius towards the source of his frantic pointing. Sirius stumbled forward and after looking behind him for conformation, hid the small bomb underneath a full cauldron next to the young teacher's desk. He wasn't sure quite why it was there or what was in it but he sparked the fuse nevertheless with his wand and hurried back to the others with a quick dive-roll. Peter was giving them odd looks and from where he was practicing with his partners but they ignored him (A/N: Woo, some more blatant rat-bashing!)
Ducking behind the table with James and Remus already hidden underneath, he nodded to them.
'All done. It should only be a few seconds now…'
By now, the immediate drama of the poor Ravenclaw girl's accident was wearing off and the victim of the transfigure had been sent up to the hospital wing with the girl who had done it following, apologizing profusely.
BOOM! It was as if the whole castle had exploded. James, Sirius and Remus were hidden under the table and at the sound fot eh explosion and then the screams of the fellow students, Sirius burst into hysterical giggles, James swore loudly and Remus buried his head further into this hand, repeating 'I knew his was a bad idea' to himself over and over again.
'Merlin above!' they heard the shriek of the professor. 'Stop panicking…oh come on dear; it's not the end of the world!' Resurfacing, the three boys found the Professor ushering with obvious irritance, some of the Ravenclaw girls- weeping- towards her and examining their faces. Looking around there were some others-Peter included- with their hands clutching their faces trying to hold on to enlarged features. One girl was being dragged to one side by the new weight of her over-sized ear whilst Peter was gibbering to the boy next to him about the unbelievable size of his nose.
Snickering heartily, Sirius nudged the others and even Remus couldn't deny that it was a hilarious sight although he was trying to give both him and James reproachful looks.
It seemed that wherever the potion had hit, the covered area had grown to almost five times its normal size but bizarrely, James noticed a few of the Gryffindor girls- Lily Evans included- had not been affected and were scraping off the grey-green potion with obvious irritance but with no degree of surprise that it hadn't affected them in the slightest.
As the Professor raged on about someone having left the flame under the cauldron for too long and sending up for students to the hospital wing waspishly, James called out to Lily.
'Hey Evans! Why did the potion not affect you and your friends?'
She spun around to give him with an even glare. 'Why didn't it affect you and your friends?' she replied, echoing his annoyance.
James rolled his eyes and told her,
'Our lightening-fast reactions meant that we managed to duck behind the table just in time. Now just answer my question!'
This time it was Lily's turn to roll her eyes. 'Do you have the memory capacity of a brain-dead flee or do I have to remind you of what we have been practicing in Defence about the Dark Arts just yesterday?' At James's blank stare she continued with an exasperated sigh.
'We were practicing the Impervious Charm! It means that potions have no affect over you in the immediate few days after you take it. Oh wait, I remember now- you lot managed to "accidentally" make a whole bookshelf fall down so you could attach that magical note onto the Professor's when his back was turned. Real witty...'I have a fetish for flobberworms' was it?' She turned on her heel and began to pack away her things for it was clear that the lesson was coming to an end.
James snorted at the memory and wondered if someone had told him about it yet. Lily, catching sight of James's satisfied smirk, threw her hands into the air with the air of someone who had given up and slung her bag across her shoulder. Leaving her essay promptly on the front desk and having received a distracted nod from the Professor, she went to leave the classroom.
'I'll catch you later then!' James yelled after her and without turning around she replied,
'Hope not to!'
Sirius came up behind him and slapped him on the back. 'You're in there Prongs. Just slightly impervious to your charms that's all.' He sniggered at his own pun but James shrugged off his hand.
'That potion of yours didn't work but don't think I'll be put off.'
'Oh dear,' Remus commented on James's steely look as he joined them again after the Professor deal with the hysterical students. 'Oh dear, dear.'
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OK, was everyone surprised? Please comment on bits you especially liked because it makes me happy ^_^! Review to:
(a) Find out if James does what Snape asks…
(b) Find out what happens in the Quiddich match…
(c) Find out why Snape wants this so badly…
(d) See if the Marauders ever experience the hex Snape puts on their agreement…
(e) See if the Marauders give Snape what he really needs…(no, not a bath but that too ^_^)
(f) Get a massive virtual hug from Sirius/Remus or James…
(g) Get my next chapter dedicated to them and steal Prongsies' title…
(h) Have a good thwack at the box with Peter the flea inside (even though I flattened it earlier)…
(i) Have some of my banana… (I'm afraid it's all I have in the world…*sniff*)
There you go and if that's not enough reasons then I'll have my banana back thank you! (But just incase: *leaves trail of chocolate on the way to the review button*)