"WAKE UP EVERYONE!" Sirius bellowed at the top of his lungs and with the aid of a Sonorus charm. "YES IT IS A BEAUTIFUL SATURDAY MORNING! RISE AND SHINE YOU SLEEPY HEADS! THE SUN IS BRIGHT AND... SUNNY!" Sirius finished with an infuriating grin as his fellow Marauders began to wake up grumpily with murderous thoughts toward their insane friend who had woken them up early on a Saturday.
"There better be a good reason for this, Padfoot," James croaked grumpily, but Sirius didn't answer him. He had begun to sing.
"OH MISTER SUN, SUN, MISTER- MMMMMMFF!!!!!" he sang, suddenly cut off by falling over backwards by an attack of a volley of pillows. Putting, he stood up and pointed his wand at his throat muttering, "Quietus."
"You guys are no fun!" he whined.
"Shut it Padfoot," Remus said as he retrieved his pillow and went back to his bed, shutting his curtains tightly. The other two followed suit, with James pointedly soundproofing his curtains. Sirius sighed dejectedly.
But only for a minute.
"Hey guys! This is the perfect time to plan out our locking-James-in-a-closet-with-Lily thing!" He exclaimed rather loudly.
Remus and Peter poked their heads out of their curtains simultaneously to make sure James had indeed sound-proofed his curtains well. A snore escaped from James's bed and they sighed in relief.
"You could have been more careful you know," Remus said ruefully as he climbed out of his bed half-heartedly. "And besides, I don't think the girls are up yet."
"Oh James is very adept with his sound-proofing… I stay with him in the summer a lot," Sirius said snickering (A/N- yes, I know, no magic in the summer but work with me here!). Remus rolled his eyes. "And anyways, girls are ALWAYS up early. Except Lily," he added as an afterthought. "But then that's perfect! We can plan in peace without James or Lily in the way!" he said brightly. Remus groaned at his sanguine friend and shut himself in the bathroom.
"Yeesh, someone's not a morning person… Right Petey? Petey?" But Peter had already fallen back asleep.
Remus and Sirius walked down to the Great Hall where they found Ayrah eating breakfast. Sirius shot Remus a triumphant look and bounded over to her, leaning on the back of Ayrah's chair.
Ayrah shot him a dirty look and said, "Black get off my chair…" She scooted her chair in and picked up her wand. Sirius drew back before she got the chance to curse him.
"Hey Ayrah! I just-" he began before he broke off and looked around him. "Hey, where's Claire?"
Right on cue, Claire came in the Great Hall muttering to herself. "…won't wake up… sound-proofed curtains… impossible… n- Sirius! What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Did she really soundproof her curtains?" Remus asked.
"Oh yeah… she got annoyed with me for waking her up early…" Claire said nodding emphatically.
"Really? See? Lily and James belong together! They're so alike! James did the same thing too!" Sirius said excitedly, ignoring Remus who was muttering to himself.
"You would have charmed your curtains too if you had to listen to Sirius sing 'Mister Sun…'" Claire patted Remus's arm sympathetically.
"All we have to do is get them past their 'extreme hate' stage! Ok, I'm here to start planning our lock-Lily-and-James-in-a-closet-together plan!" Sirius said brightly. "The first thing we need to do is to find a nice, small closet. Wait… actually the first thing I need to do is… EAT!" Sirius exclaimed. He dug into his scrambled eggs with vigor. The girls looked disgusted at his disregard for table manners and Remus just rolled his eyes before starting his own breakfast (in a much more dignified manner).
"Okay, now that we're full we can start!" Sirius said happily and began to skip down the corriders earning himself many strange looks.
"Hey Sirius! Sirius! SIRIUS!!!" Ayrah shouted to get his attention.
"Yes milady?" Sirius asked calmy.
"Stop…" Ayrah began struggling to find a word to describe his behavior.
"Nancing," Claire finished for her.
"As you wish!" he said sweeping an elegant bow. He proceeded to skip down the corrider.
"What did we tell you?" Claire hissed as she caught up to him and grabbed the back of his robes to prevent him from skipping away.
"I'm not nancing! I'm skipping!" he replied.
"I think she meant to start walking normally. It wouldn't exactly do for people to notice us scouting out potential closets," Ayrah cutted in wryly.
"Good words of wisdom, my fair lady!" Sirius cried nobly and struck a noble pose while winking at a group of giggling girls who promptly started swooning. Claire sighed and grabbed Sirius by his wrist, dragging him off.
"Look guys! There!" Remus suddenly said as he saw a little door.
"Hmmmm… Yes, that could do…" Sirius said looking the closet over. All of a sudden he shoved Remus in the closet and twirled Ayrah in after Remus and shut the door in their faces, locking it.
"What was THAT for?" Claire demanded, reaching for the doorknob.
"Nuh-uh-uh," Sirius said, shooing her away from the closet door. "This way we'll see if it really is perfect!" he hastily exclaimed lest she punch him in the eye.
"You will let them out soon won't you?" Claire asked anxiously looking at the rattling doorknob and listening to the muffled shouts. "They could break down the door or something!"
"Unlikely, but we'll put an Unbreakable charm on the door just in case…" Sirius said casually flicking his wand at the door.
"What about wands? We all know how to do a simple 'Alohomora' spell…" Claire said.
"Good point. We'll have to make sure that they don't have their wands when they go in… Oh look, they've stopped pounding the door! I'll let them out in a few moments," Sirius said.
They thought for a moment. "Wait… I've got an idea!" Claire said. "We could pretend to lose our wands and have to borrow theirs!"
"Perfect! We'll have to think up of a plan to get them down here though…" Sirius said thoughtfully.
The next few minutes, they outlined their entire plan. Claire was surprised that Sirius could be so methodical and careful with his planning, but then remembered that he was a Marauder. Though some may have considered his mind wasted on petty things like pranks and matchmaking schemes, Claire didn't think it was so much of a waste… She could see the benefits of Lily not ranting to her everyday about James. Plus, Lily could do something about James and make him less conceited while scaring off his fanclub who wouldn't continue their stalking habits anymore. Definitely some major good points. It was at that point in her thoughts when Sirius remembered…
"Oh yes, Remus and Ayrah…" He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door saying, "Alohomora!"
The door burst open, revealing Ayrah and Remus holding hands and moving closer… before they toppled out of the closet.
They both scrambled up blushing furiously at the raised eyebrows.
The Claire gave a 'you-HAVE-to-tell-me-what-happened' look to Ayrah while Sirius did a little jig.
"Remus has a GIRLFRIEND Remus has a GIRLFRIEND!!!!" he sang much to the displeasure of Remus.
"Lily and James will be a cinch then!" Sirius crowed.
"Well, actually, considering the fact that Ayrah and Remus don't loathe each other, it might not be quite so easy…" Claire said cautiously.
"Well, anyway, here's the plan…" Sirius began.
"So what happened?" Claire asked eagerly.
"What happened where?" Ayrah asked innocently.
"Duh! In the closet! With Remus!" Claire exclaimed.
Ayrah grinned. "Well, I've always liked Remus you know," Claire nodded. "And we started talking in the closet… And then he asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him…" Ayrah said finishing with a dreamy sigh.
"And…" Claire prompted.
"Well, of course I accepted. And then we sort of held hands and that's when the door opened," Ayrah said briskly.
"EEEEEE!!!!! Remus asked you out!" Claire squealed.
"Well, it's not really a date…" Ayrah said although she sounded a bit wistful.
Claire rolled her eyes and said, "Of COURSE it's a date! You like him, he likes you and you go to Hogsmeade with him- just the two of you? What else would it be?"
"Actually, he didn't actually say that he liked me-" Ayrah corrected but was cut off by Claire squealing.
"Oooooooooh!!!!!! We have to pick out an outfit for you!" Claire said excitedly.
Ayrah mock-groaned. "Well, all we have to worry about now is the Lily-James-closet plan… Activates as soon as they get up right?"
"Yep. Seeing as it's ten o'clock, Lily should be waking up around… now," Claire said checking her watch. "Ok, let's get to our positions!"
A few minutes later, Lily rushed down the dormitory steps and into the Gryffindor Common Room. She was greeted by a frantic Claire. "Lily! Oh my gosh! I can't find my wand and I need it for my Charms homework! Please can I borrow yours?" she pleaded.
"Of course, of course," Lily said handing it over. "I'm off to the kitchens seeing as I've missed breakfast! Meet you back in here later, okay?" Lily asked. Claire nodded.
"Thanks for the wand, sooooo much!!!" Claire said waving as Lily climbed out the portrait hole. She twirled the wand in her hand and look at the closed portrait hole thoughtfully.
"Hmmmm… Mrs. Potter… sounds like an old lady name… Lily Potter… it sounds strangely right…" Claire mused to herself. Then she rushed out to meet Ayrah by the kitchens hoping that Lily was not taking the way that she was.
James got up and looked at his clock. It read 10:12. "Ten twelve??? Why didn't Sirius wake me up? Ugh!" He exclaimed climbing out of bed in a bad mood. After a quick shower, he was in a better mood and decided to find his partners in crime. Luckily for him, one of them was headed right toward him.
"Hey Remus! I'm off to the kitchens for a bite!" he said.
"Oh wait, before you go James, could I borrow your wand for a second? I have this great new idea for a prank and I need two wands to complete experimentation," Remus explained.
"Oh sure, sure!" James said handing it over and heading off to the kitchens.
Claire and Ayrah spotted Lily down the corrider heading right for the kitchens. "Ok, Ayrah you have to keep her preoccupied so James can get to the closet first. Tell her about you and Remus… Ask her for advice or something, okay?" Claire hissed. Ayrah nodded and Claire walked off to wait right at the kitchen door.
"Lily! There you are! Did you sleep this late?" Ayrah asked Lily as she ran to meet her.
"Yeah… I like my beauty sleep…" Lily said smiling.
"Oh, you'll never guess what happened!" Ayrah said.
"I won't even try, so tell me," Lily replied.
"Remus asked me to go to the next Hogsmeade visit with him!" Ayrah said excitedly.
"Really? Ayrah that's great! He finally asked you out?" Lily asked amazedly hugging her friend.
"Well, it's not really a date…" Ayrah began while Lily put on her 'yeah-right' look. "I'm so nervous though… I mean, what if it was just a dare or something? Or what if it's just a 'just-friends' thing?" Ayrah asked worriedly.
"Oh it's not!! Besides, if it was a dare (which I'm sure it isn't- Remus is too nice for that) then Claire, and I will personally pound him and whoever put him up to it. So tell me all about it! When did it happen? What happened?" Lily asked eagerly.
Ayrah retold the entire story, except she made it sound as if Remus and her were alone in the Common Room early in the morning. While she talked they walked to the kitchens together, but very slowly. Together the two girls discussed whether Ayrah should dress up or not, and what to do with her hair. Lily was all for Ayrah's usual casual look, but Ayrah was divided.
"Come on Ayrah! You look gorgeous normally, and if he likes you normally, than you shouldn't have to dress up for him! Your face just screams natural beauty anyway!" Lily said.
Ayrah smiled at her. Finally they reached the entrance to the kitchens where Claire was waiting. She was all out of breath, huffing and puffing. Ayrah supposed that she must have jogged in place to look like that.
"Hi Claire! Did you run or something?" Lily asked. "That eager to get to the kitchens? Wait, aren't you doing your Charms homework?"
"No… I knew… you were… going to be here… so I ran…" Claire said in-between big breaths. Ayrah had to hand it to her she was a great actress.
"What for?" Lily asked curiously.
"Boggart… in a closet… can't get rid of it… You're Head Girl… great at these things…" Claire said.
"Why didn't you ask a teacher?" Lily asked as she was led away to the closet by Claire.
"All in a meeting…" Claire said.
"Well, okay… Boggart here we come!" said Lily.
"Hey James!" Sirius yelled. "JAMES HAROLD POTTER!!!!!"
"You didn't have to scream my whole name you know…" James muttered to Sirius as he went over to him.
"I didn't… But I wanted to! Now everyone knows that ickle Jamsie's middle name is 'HAAAAAROOOOOLD!'" Sirius said grinning.
James just rolled his eyes. "So why did you call me over?"
"Oh! There are these great prank supplies in this closet! You have to help me get them! I can't carry it all by myself! Come on! We have to go NOW!" Sirius said dragging James away.
They walked down the corriders until they came to the closet. "They're in here!" Sirius said, opening the closet door.
James peered inside. "Hey Sirius! I don't see any-" he stopped mid-sentence as Sirius had given him a hefty shove into the closet. Deftly closing and locking it, Sirius smiled to himself.
"It's right here!" Claire said pointing at the offending closet. It was shaking and reverberating but it also had (strangely enough) muffled shouts.
"Hey Claire, are you sure that's not just someone inside? Boggarts don't normally talk…" Lily said looking at the closet dubiously.
"So it's a special boggart!" Claire said defensively.
"Well… okay… but I'm going to need my wand you know. You do have it with you right?" Lily asked.
"Of course!" Claire said brightly as she moved closer to the door. She held out Lily's wand, but before Lily could grab it, Claire had opened the door shoved Lily in it and locked the door again.
"Hmmm… Yes, all in a day's work of Clarissa Ducria…" She said happily as she skipped off humming the Wedding March.
James was annoyed. Very very annoyed. Why did Sirius shut him into a tiny closet where he barely fit into? What was up with that? And he didn't even have his wand to get him out of this! He had screamed and pounded at the door for hours (it seemed) but nobody had opened the door. He sighed and then commenced his screaming and pounding.
All of a sudden the door opened. Before he had the chance to dash outside of it though, someone was flung bodily at him and the door was locked in his face. Again. The closet was barely big enough for one person! And now there were two! He turned to glare at the person and found angry green eyes glaring back.
"EVANS?" he yelled.
"Potter," she said acknowledging his existence with a slight inclination of her head. "Fancy seeing you in this drab closet."
"It wasn't my choice," he said sulkily. He shifted uncomfortably. Due to the lack of space, he and Lily were very close. Very very close. If he looked directly down, he could count the individual hairs on her head.
"Believe me Potter, I have more things to do than to be stuck in a closet with you. It's no picnic for me to have to lean right against you," Lily hissed.
"Why are you here anyway?" he asked Lily.
"Claire told me that there was a boggart here and as I was about to fight it, she pushed me right in here. I can very easily imagine how you could be someone's worst nightmare though…" Lily said thoughtfully.
"Are you saying you're scared of me?" James asked laughingly.
Lily narrowed her eyes. "The day I'm terrified of you is the day I die," she said menacingly.
"Well I hope that day is soon," James said lightly.
"Why are YOU here?" Lily asked.
"Sirius told me that there were prank supplies in here and when I went to have a look, he shut me inside," James said.
"Prank supplies? How immature are you guys?" Lily asked. "Nevermind. I already have a pretty good idea."
"So… our friends set us up, huh?" James said.
"I've no idea why," Lily said rolling her eyes.
"Well, perhaps they thought that Miss Evans needed an excuse not to resist the old Potter charm," James said smiling benignly.
"Potter charm? What charm? There IS NO charm!" Lily corrected him.
"Oh come on Evans, you so like me," James said smiling infuriatingly in what he clearly thought was a 'charming' smile.
Lily stared at him in distaste then slapped him.
"What was that for?" James yelled.
"For being yourself," Lily said smiling innocently.
Then for the next hour, Lily and James stood in silence. Lily found herself wanting to sleep. To just relax against James and go to sleep. But she reprimanded herself sharply. It was the principle of the thing. She could NOT relax against Potter. She could NOT have a good time with Potter. It was the unwritten rule.
Finally, the closet door opened, and they fell on the ground, quickly standing up. Lily and James shielded their eyes from the bright light.
"Sooooo… is it Hogwart's newest couple? After Ayrah and Remus of course…" Sirius said.
"We're not a couple yet…" Remus murmured carefully studying his shoes. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"No, Black. You are sorely mistaken if you think that I will be one of Potter's newest flavor of the month. Now if you will excuse me…" Lily said sharply turning on her heel with her robes billowing after her.
"Me and Evans? Seriously… get your head examined Padfoot," James said as he walked away.
"Oh yeah. That went well. Now will you believe me when I say that they hate each other?" Ayrah asked.
"Hey… We need to get them to kiss. If we just get them to kiss then they'll just fall in love instantaneously!" Sirius exclaimed.
Everyone groaned.
A/N- Love it? Hate it? Please review!