Disclaimer: Nothing.
Chapter 8- Secrets and Slytherins
A week later, the Gryffindors were all inside the Hogwarts Express, looking for a compartment. James and Sirius were staring at Alex's tan, Lily was telling Esther and Ellen all about Italy, Carrie was looking sullen, Remus and Peter were talking quietly, and Audrey, Alex's youngest sister, was tagging along.
When they reached an empty compartment, the Marauders, Lily, Audrey, Carrie, Ellen and, Esther all sat down. Alex was left standing up. She looked around, searching for space, and when she found none, she marched up to where Audrey was and said:
"Audrey, darling, why don't you go look for the lady with the trolley?"
"No, because if I get up, you'll get my place," Audrey said calmly. James and Sirius snickered.
"Well, you've forgotten that I'm not only your oldest sister, but I've done an year of magic, so up! Now!"
"No. Go find another compartment."
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Audrey was being slowly lifted in the air, glaring at Alex, who was smiling smugly. When Audrey was a good six feet above the seat, Alex sat down, and told her to go look for friends, and another compartment. After glaring once more at Alex and asking for her to please put her down, Audrey left the compartment. When she slammed the door, the Gryffindors burst out laughing.
"Alex, that was plagiarism!" James said, revolted, but laughing anyways.
"Well, there's this Brazilian saying that says, "Nada se tem, tudo se copia," which means that everything is copied, nothing has true ownership."
"Funny, Alex. Which reminds me, is the prank thing still going on?"
"Yes!" the girls said in unison.
"Oh, but come on! What's the fun of life if there's no pranks?"
"James, just shut up, okay?"
The rest of the trip to Hogwarts was uneventful, and when they reached Hogwarts, they all mounted the horseless carriages. Before climbing it, Alex stopped, stared at the place where a horse should be, shook her head, and got in. Remus did the same thing, but shrugged.
The Great Hall was packed with people. The Gryffindors had to squeeze all the way to their table. They rushed to the nearest seats, and sat down, occasionally being squised by people making their way to meet friends. A few minutes later the doors of the Great Hall opened and a string of very nervous first years appeared. Audrey shook her fist at Alex, who smiled sweetly and waved. She grew silent, however, while the Sorting Hat sang. When he finished his song, Alex raised and eyebrow at Audrey, who in turn glared at her. Prof. McGonagall cleared her throat, and produced a list.
While people were being sorted, you could see Audrey sweating, a lot. Alex grinned, and gave her thumbs up. In return she received a rude hand sign. James and Sirius burst out laughing, earning reprementative glares from the teachers. When Audrey was going to be sorted, Alex smiled. It was clear that both of the sisters loved each other a lot, even if they had a strange way of showing so. Audrey put on the Hat. A few seconds later it shouted:
"Ravenclaw!"
Alex stared a few seconds at her sister, who was struggling to remove the hat. McGonagall calmly pulled it out, with a look that said 'this happens everytime!' and clapped politely for her sister. James whispered to Alex:
"Apparently, your sister is smarter than you. Or not as brave, my dear." Alex simply punched his face, causing him to double over in pain.
The Sorting Ceremony ended shortly after, and Alex and Sirius became engaged in a "Who eats the most food fastest?" competition.(James was in too much pain to do it too) Esther and Ellen were now telling Lily about their adventures. Peter was simply staring into space.
A while later, when everyone had finished eating, Dumbledore stood up. He looked grave, and his usual happy eyes were wary. He began:
"Welcome all! Before you go to bed I would like to say a few things. The Dark Forest is forbidden to all, and so is the Whomping Willow. Mr.Filch has a list of forbidden objects on his office. That includes Dungbombs," His eyes went to where the Marauders were, who just grinned innocently. "Also, the Quidditch tryouts are scheduled for this Friday. That would be all. Good night to all!"
Alex leaped from her chair, clutching her stomach, and went over to the Ravenclaw table.
"So, congratulations Audrey!"
"Hullo Alex. It is a pity that we aren't on the same house, but if the Sorting Hat wanted so," Audrey said, looking at her sister oddly, as if expecting her to blow up.
"Yeah. Well, good night! See you tomorrow!" Alex turned around and went to the Gryffindor tower. When she reached it she realised that she didn't know the password. She pressed her ear on the portrait, much to the Fat Lady's protest and heard people inside. Oh great! I'm stuck outside until someone notices that I'm not there! Muttering curses to herself, Alex sat down against the wall and waited. After what seemed an hour, Remus climbed out of the portrait. Alex turned around and exclaimed:
"Oh Remus, thank god you appeared! I've been waiting here for ages! I mean, ever since the feast!"
"Er, the feast was five minutes ago, Alex."
"Oh. But anyway, what's the password?"
"Dungbomb."
"Right. Where were you going anyway?"
"To, er, the Great Hall. I think, er, I've dropped my wand there."
"I can help you look for it!"
"No, it's okay. I can look for it alone!"
"I will help you, okay?"
A few minutes later, Alex and Remus reappeared, Remus with his wand now(Ha had found it before they even got to the Great Hall) Alex was laughing histerically at something he had told her. They climbed into the Gryffindor common room, and found a grumpy looking James.
"Al—Alex! Er, there you are! Uh, where were you?" James asked unneasily.
"None of your business, James. Good night." Alex went to her dorm, but stopped before she opened the door, to hear James whispering, "...did you find it? The Slytherin common room, you dolt! No?" An odd look overcame Alex's face, but she entered the girls dorm anyway.
She found her stuff there, and as quietly as she could, for her friends were already sleeping, she put on her night gown, and went to sleep.
The next morning she was awakened by Lily, who was telling her that she better get up, otherwise she'd be late. Grumbling a lot, she took her bath, got her stuff and ran to the Great Hall. Alex sat down next to the girls, swallowed her food as fast as she could, just as the schedules were being passed.
"DADA first period! That's great!" Alex said.
"Yep. And Charms is the last period. Oh, no. Double Potions, with guess who? The Slytherins," Lily said.
"Well, Evans, you don't mind if I call you Evans, do you, Evans?" James said happily.
"No, Potter."
"Done, then. I'll call you Evans, and you can call me Potter."
"Whatever."
"Okay. So, at least during Potions we can annoy Snivellus, and those horrid twins, sorry Sirius, Bellatrix and Narcissa."
"There's nothing to be sorry about. That's what they are, horrid people," Sirius said.
"Wow, Potter. It amazes me how mature you've become after an year," Lily said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Thanks!" James replied brightly, not noticing the sarcasm. The rest of the Gryffindor's sniggered at him.
When they reached the DADA class, Prof. Hagan was already waiting for them. He hurried them inside, and said:
"This year I hope everything goes well. Which means, no singing during classes, among other things, am I understood?"
"Yes, Professor," the class said in unison.
"Very well. Today I have brought Cornish Pixies, which we will analyze. They're not really evil, but to learn how they act can be very helpful. The pairs will be, the twins together, Miss Evans, and Miss Williams together, Mr. Black with Mr. Potter and Miss Owens, and Mr. Lupin with Mr. Pettigrew. Each one of you will get one, out it inside the cage you'll find on top of your desks, and analyze it's behavior, as well as make a drawing of it. You may begin." Prof. Hagan sat down, and watched as each of the students got a pixie.
The beginnning of class was alright, but towards the end of class you could see the bored look on the Marauders faces. As discreetly as they could the girls edged away from the Marauders. Prof. Hagan didn't seem to notice anything, for he was reading a book with his mouth slightly open. The Marauders finally decided that analyzing the behavior of a motionless creature was pointless, so they, as quietly as they could, opened the cages of the pixies, and whispered some insults at it. The pixies, enraged, left the cages and began destroying the room.
It wasn't until one of the pixies threw a book on Prof. Hagans head that he noticed anything. Screaming at the boys, he hid under his desk. Lily, revolted at her teacher's attitude, said:
"Professor! Surely you will not allow that these creatures destroy your classroom, will you?"
"Dear girl, there is nothing I can do. There's no spell that stops the pixie, and I had brought them here hoping that these vacations had put some sense into the boys heads, but apparently I was wrong!"
"Professor, perhaps if you tried imobilizing them?"
"Er, that might work, Miss Evans." With that he got his wand and shouted an imobilization spell. The pixies stopped in mid-air, and the Marauders, who had been laughing their heads out became silent. Prof. Hagan stood up menancingly, and strode over to where the boys were. Alex was trying her best not to laugh.
"You four boys will have a week of detention and extra homework for a month! I will not remove any points from Gryffindor because Miss Evans here helped me stop this foolishness. Now, I want to make myself clear that I will not tolerate this, this- idiocy every single class. You may go," Prof. Hagan finished his little speech and he went back to reading his book, while his class picked up their things on the floor. Before Carrie left, she asked Prof. Hagan:
"Professor, what will you do about the pixies?"
"I'll take care of them. Now please go to your next class." The students left the classroom sniggering. When they were far enough from Prof. Hagan's class, Ellen burst out laughing. Alex stopped them, made the Marauder's kneel down, got her wand, and said in a grave voice:
"I know proclaim James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, also know as the Marauders, the official trouble makers of Hogwarts." While Alex said that, she tapped each of the Marauders on the shoulder, causing sparks to errupt from her wand every time she did so. That caused the Gryffindors to laugh even more.
"I'm honored, Alex. But since when do you have the authority to officialize us as trouble makers? Not to mention that that wasn't our best prank," Remus said, smiling as he said so.
"Well, I just think it's right for me, the oldest friend of the Marauders, to officialize you as the official trouble makers of Hogwarts. That didn't make much sense, did it? Well, anyway, it most certainly was not your best prank, but it was your first on your second year at Hogwarts, and since you practiced last year, in only made sense for you to be officialized this year."
"That didn't make much sense, either," Sirius said with a frown.
"Sirius, don't think about it. You don't suit thinking," Esther said.
"Miss Schlotsky, were you insulting me?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, I was as a matter of fact."
"Why, I am very offended!"
"That's kind of the idea, you know," Esther replied, and Sirius just stared at her, opening and closing his mouth several times.
"Anyway! We better get going to Potions, I wouldn't fancy getting late there," Ellen said as she walked away, followed by Lily.
The Potions class was prankless, though the Marauders almost killed the Slytherins during it because of their little snide comments. Snape had cured his lisp during the summer break, so James and Sirius couldn't mock him. He did seem rather smug about that, until Remus said somethings to him that he had probably been dying to say for ages.
The rest of the day was also prankless, but unfortunately they had a lot of homework. The Gryffindors second years found themselves stuck in the common room, writing a Potions essay.
"James, are you going to try out for the quidditch team?" Alex asked suddenly.
"Of course. For Chaser. Why?" James inquired
"Nothing, just curious. Are you going to tryout too, Sirius?"
"Yeah. Beater, though."
"I think you would do a great beater, since you have acquired an interest for hitting things."
"I did have a good punching bag, Alex dear," Sirius said winking at Alex, who shuddered as remembering something awful.
"Who?" Peter asked, not catching on the joke.
"Alex, you dolt. Don't you remember when we were kids and I would hit Alex and she would fall down and moan helplessly?"
"I never moaned helplessly, Sirius Black!" Alex said, revolted.
"You did too."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not.
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Ha! I can't believe I caught you on that one! I mean, that's the oldest joke ever!" Sirius laughed at Alex, but stopped when she got her heavy Hogwarts, A History book and hit him on the head.
"When the little children have stopped fighting," Otis Wood said, the Quidditch captain.
"Wo-Wood?" Sirius asked dumbly, as if speaking to a hero.
"Yes, Black, it's me. Now, I couldn't help overhearing you guys saying that you wanted to try out for Quidditch, and I wanted to encourage you to do so. I've seen you guys play Quidditch, and you play very well. See you Friday," Wood turned and left, leaving two open mouthed boys.
The next week passed really slowly to Sirius and James, who were waiting anxiously for the Quidditch tryouts. The girls were all annoyed by them on Friday, because they kept asking what time it was every single minute. Lily finally exploded and said a few words to James, who simply stared at her, not really believing that someone could be angry at him. After Lily stomped away to her dormitory, Sirius said:
"Wow, I think you've managed to get on someone's hate list, James."
"Don't be silly, Sirius, Lily doesn't hate him, she's just annoyed because James kept asking her what time was it every second. Tomorrow she'll ask him to forgive her," Carrie predicted.
"Oh. What time is it?" James asked Peter.
"Five past five! You two better run, or you'll be late for your tryouts!" Peter exclaimed. James and Sirius looked horrified, and both of them bolted out of the common room, followed by Alex, Remus, and Peterwho were going to watch the tryouts. Ellen, Esther, and Carrie stayed in the common room, and giggling at the running boys, they went to their dorms, where they found a very red Lily.
Lily's face was completely red, except for her eyes, though they didn't help much. The contrast between the green and the red only made her face seem redder. Her hair also didn't help much, and if a cartoonist ever saw such a scene, he would have drawn steam coming out of Lily's ears.
"Hey, Lil, calm down. James isn't such an annoying prat," Carrie said, sitting cross-legged on her bed.
"I know. I'm just annoyed because of the Potions class. Also, this morning, Tom Rawllins received a black letter. When he finished reading it, he was crying. When I asked Alex what that meant, she told me that whenever someone received a black letter, you could be sure it was bad news. The ministry always sent black letters to the next-of-kin to Voldemort's victims. And even though I didn't really know him, it kind of reminded me of the terror the wizarding families are going through. And all that added up to James annoying me caused me to blow up," Lily said, a tear falling from her eye.
"Oh, Lily, you're right! I didn't even think of Voldemort since we came back from summer break!" Ellen said.
"It's okay, Ellen, it's not your fault! It's that idiot's fault!"
"Which one of them?" Carrie said, pretending to frown, but doing an awful job at it.
"Both, I guess," Lily said, smiling. A minute later they forgot everything and broke out laughing.
An hour later they heard people on the common room. When they got their, they found Sirius and James being swallowed by a crowd, who were congratulating them. Alex was smiling proudly at them, like an older sister seeing her little brothers doing something good. When she saw the other girls at the stairs, she ran over to them.
"James and Sirius have both been chosen to be in the team! They were both brilliant! And I mean it!"
"Oh, that's great. We now have an excuse to get good places during the games," Esther said, remembering last year when they had to sit on the first row, and crane their necks to see anything.
"Yeah! Come on, go congratulate them. You too Lily, I know you're not hating him anymore," Alex pulled them to where Sirius and James were. Both of them were looking extremely smug.
"Have you come to congratulate us, ladies?" Sirius asked galantly.
"Why is everyone doing such a big thing about this?" Carrie asked.
"Because they were brilliant, Williams," Tobias Spinnet, Gryffindor's seeker, said.
"Still, why make such a big deal?" Lily asked, as she stared at James and Sirius.
"I'm just going to pretend I'm not hearing this, okay?" Tobias said as he walked away, a horrified look on his face.
"So, er, Potter. I'd like to congratulate you, and, er, say I'm sorry for what happened earlier, okay?" Lily said, looking at her feet.
"It's okay, Evans. And I'm glad to see you remembered calling me Potter!" James said, still looking very smug.
"Anyway, I need to do, some....homework!" Lily said brightly, and ran back to her dormitory.
"She isn't so weird with you girls, is she?" James asked.
"Nah," Ellen said.
"Oh."
The Maruaders were alone in their common room, and Remus was staring at the moon.
"Tomorrow is a full moon," he murmured to himself.
"What was that, Remus?" Sirius asked.
"Nothing."
"Yeah right. C'mon, Remus, what are you hiding from us?" James asked.
"Nothing."
"Oh, really? Then how come your Aunt Riley died twice last year, and you didn't even shed a tear? And a family member of yours is always sick, once a month, usually on full moon. So unless you're a werewolf, which I-Oh dear," James said as he looked at Remus's face.
"You're right James. I'm a werewolf." The boys remained silent for a while, and Sirius asked, "When were you bitten?"
"When I was nine. My favorite book had fallen near the forest, you know how close to this forest I live, and when I was getting it, a werewolf bit me. That's why I disappear once a month."
"But...where do you go?" Peter asked.
"To the Whomping Willow. If you press this knob, it stills, and you can go into a tunnel. The tunnel will take you to this abandoned shack in Hogsmeade. Poppy, you know Madam Bonamy's asssitant, will take me there."
"Remus, don't worry, mate. We'll think of something to do so we can be with you during the transformations," James said, as he went to the dorm, followed by the rest of the boys
The next morning, when everyone was at breakfast, and it was time for owl post, two owls, holding very thin and long, appeared in front of Sirius and James. Two other owls appeared as well, these with letters on the beak. The one that stopped in front of Sirius had a scarlett letter on it's beak.
"Already? I asked Mum to send my broomstick yesterday, and she already sent it to me?" James said as he ripped open his package.
"Mine too. And that's even more surprising, given the fact that she hates me. Oh no. Now I know why she sent it to me," Sirius said, as he got the scarlett letter.
"Oh my! Is that a....Howler?" Alex asked in an astonished voice.
"Yeah."
"Then open it! I don't want to find out what happens if you don't!"
Sirius said nothing, just stared at it. Suddenly it began smoking and Sirius opened it immeaditely. A screeching voice suddenly said:
"SIRIUS OCTAVIUS BLACK! HOW DARE YOU BECOME PART OF THAT...THAT HOUSE OF YOURS TEAM? YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO COME TO MY FATHER'S HOUSE THIS CHRISTMAS, DO YOU HEAR ME, MISTER? AND IF I RECEIVE ANY MORE LETTERS OF YOU PRANKING ANYONE, INCLUDING THE TWINS, BELLA AND NARCISSA!" the screeching voice kept going until a certain point, in which Lily, who couldn't stand the screaming anymore, used a ripping spell that caused the Howler to stop as it was being shredded to pieces.
"Thanks," Sirius said weakly, looking over at the Slytherin, where Bellatrix and Narcissa were laughing they're heads off, with some Slytherins, including Lucius Malfoy, a Slytherin fourth year, who had had problems with the Marauders in the past.
"I didn't know Narcissa and Bellatrix were twins," Carrie said.
"Yeah, they are. They don't look too much alike though. It's okay, though, since I would never be able to stand two Bella's or two Narcissa's. Hullo, Andromeda," Sirius mumbled as his older cousin, Andromeda arrived, with her boyfriend, Ted Tonks.
"Aunt Clytaemnestra, eh? Bet she wasn't too pleased with the Quidditch, am I right?" Andromeda said.
"Yeah. What James?" Sirius asked James, who was looking pale as he read his own letter. James had been oblivious to the Howler, it was almost as if he heard them everyday. The odd thing was that Alex had acted the same way, and had continued eating.
"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing. Just that Uncle Robert, you know, Dad's youngest brother, well, he is endangered of being attacked by Voldemort," James said in a 'I-couldn't-care-less' manner, though you could see his eyes filling up.
"Let me see that. You know James, you're an awful liar. And I thought your Uncle Robert was in Brazil, studying the Amazon forest," Alex snatched the letter from James, who protested but remained quiet. Alex let out a little exclamation, and her face began to pale strangely fast. Andromeda, Sirius, and James jumped up, as Alex's eyes became glazed over. A few second's later, she fainted. The girls shrieked, and Prof. McGonagall ran over to the Gryffindor table.
McGonagall conjured an invisible stretcher, levitated Alex into it, and took her to the Hospital Wing, followed by the other Gryffindors.
Before they entered the Hospital Wing, Lily pulled James by his arm and asked:
"Potter, what was in the letter?"
"Er, it's horrible really. Alex's uncle, he's also an Auror, appeared at Alex's house yesterday, saying that he is on Voldemort's list. Now, Alex's parents cannot write her a letter, because the Death Eaters are probably watching everything that happens on the Owens' manor. So Mum wrote me this letter, asking me to break the news to Alex and Audrey, but I didn't have the heart, because that uncle, her Uncle Richard, is Alex's favorite uncle. He's the one that always baby-sittted her whenever her parents were away on some mission, which was almost every minute of Alex's life," James said, his face drenched in tears.
"Oh no. But, why were her parents always away?"
"Well, they're both Aurors. And they're one of the best, so they often go with Mr. Moody to some mission. Not even my parent's are called to go on these missions, and my parents are both of a very high rank."
"But, if it's Alex's parents who are really good, then why is Voldemort going after her uncle?"
"Because her uncle and her father are very close, and Uncle Eric(James and Alex aren't related, but the Potters and the Owens are so close that the children call the adults Uncles and Aunts), that's Alex's father, would probably fall into a great depression, making him unable to fight. Now let's get inside," James said and entered the Hospital Wing, followed by Lily. When they entered it, they found that Alex was already awake, and she was crying uncontrollably. The nurse's assistant, a young woman they all called Poppy, was trying desperately to calm her down, until finally James and Sirius appeared on her bedside, and began soothing her. If one looked, the person would think the three were brothers. Suddenly, the door was thrown open and Audrey appeared, followed by a Ravenclaw second year Lily knew was Jake Perry. Audrey saw her sisted on bed, and went to her. She took hold of her sister's hand, and asked James what happened. Once more James explained what was happening, and Audrey looked shocked. She looked at her sister, and she too began to cry. Jake Perry sat next to the Sirius and James, and you could see that Alex's face brightened up a little bit. Apparently he was an old friend, though the two didn't have much time to spend together.
Five minutes later, Dumbledore entered the Hospital Wing. His face looked sad, and as calmly as he could, he said, "Miss Evans, Miss Williams, Miss Schlotsky, Miss Schlotsky, Miss Black, Mr. Tonks, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew, please go to your houses."
"But what about James, Sirius, and Jake Perry?" Carrie asked.
"Apparently they are calming Miss Owens down, so they might be useful here. Now I'm not saying that all of you are not useful, it's simply that they've known Miss Owens for a longer time, and have been through situations like this," Dumbledore said. The students sighed and went to their next class.
Lily and the other girls were quiet the whole day. When it was lunch time, they ate lunch quietly, and hurried to the Hospital Wing. When they reached it, they found that Audrey was also on a bed, sleeping. Alex was staring up, and James, Sirius, and Jake were seated on three armchairs, staring at Alex.
"Hullo Alex, are you feeling better?" Lily said cheerfully.
"Yeah. But you guys are probably thinking, 'Wow, this kid is like this when the guy has only received threats, imagine when he dies,'" Alex said bitterly.
"No, we're not. It's perfectly natural for you to act like that," Carrie said firmly.
Alex 'hmphed' and the girls rolled their eyes. Alex was alright, she was as stubborn as always.
"That's my girl," Sirius said, grinning.
"Shut it, Sirius, or else I'll say what I overheard." That cause Sirius to shut up.
"What did you find out, Alex?" Esther asked curiously.
"Nothing, just this old thing that Sirius here would never want anyone to find out."
"Hmm. So, are you going to classes on Monday?"
"Yes, unfortunately. Otis Wood let me participate on the Quidditch practice tomorrow."
"That's great," Lily said.
"She's been saying so the whole day. Now I better go, Ravenclaw Quidditch tryouts now," Jake said as he smiled once more at Alex and left. James and Sirius mimicked him when he left, and Alex frowned.
"He's really nice, okay?" Alex said.
"Yeah, but just because he's twelve and he makes some seventh year girls fall for him he thinks he's the best," Sirius said.
"He does not do that!"
"Yes, he does. I mean, he's twelve going on twenty."
"Well, he is very handsome."
"You too?"
"But you and James are also very handsome!"
"Oh, I know that," Sirius and James said in unison.
The girls rolled their eyes once more, just as Remus and Peter arrived. They looked really smug, and began saying something, but realised they weren't alone so they shut up. Alex eyed them curiously, but said nothing.
. The girls and the Marauders spent the rest of the afternoon speaking. When Audrey finally woke up, Madam Agatha Bonamy decided that the two girls were okay, and told them to leave.
The next month was without any outbreaks, and on the Friday night before the Halloween party the girls were all gathered on the Gryffindor common room, talking quietly. The Marauders were someplace else.
"I hope the Marauder's are not up to something today. I doubt Alice Henton will ever forgive them for pranking on her last Wednesday," Esther said.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Esther. They're pranking the Slytherins. Last month, on the HW, I feigned sleeping, just to think through everything. James and Sirius actually though I was sleeping, so they began discussing somethings. I happened to overhear two things. One, I cannot tell you, for I have sworn secrecy, and I could never break a promise. The other thing was that the boys have been planning to do this for a long time. They are going to put a lot of pranking objects all over the Slytherin common room, tonight, and then they're going to duel Snivellus," Alex said.
"They're going to do what?" Lily asked, horrified.
"Yeah, Remus and Peter found where the Slytherin tower is and they're going to get in and do what they do best."
"Alex, we must tell someone! They're probably breaking a thousand school rules!"
"If we do, they'll get expelled, Lily! Why do you think I was quiet about this?"
"Well, I'm going there!"
"How? You don't know where the common room is."
"I'll manage." And with that, Lily left the common room. When she reached the empty Great Hall, she thouhgt, "Well, the Slytherins always come from that direction, so their common room is obviously near the dungeons," Lily went on the direction of the dungeon, and to her luck, she found a Slytherin couple going to their tower, and as quietly as she could, she followed them to their tower. She heard them say "Blood" as a password and shivered as she entered the common room, which was empty. The couple went to their dorms, and left Lily alone, or so she thought.
When Lily was about to climb the dorm, an invisible hand got her arm. Suddenly, the Marauders appeared, and Lily saw that Sirius was holding her arm. James was holding a strange cloth.
"What are you doing here, Evans?" James asked, as he struggled to put the cloth inside his pocket.
"What's that?" Lily asked him, motioning towards the cloth, and ignoring his question.
"An invisibility cloak. It's one of the keys to our success as trouble-makers," James said proudly.
"Can I see it?"
"Not now. You still didn't tell me what you're doing here."
"Oh. Well, I'm here to stop the four of you from getting expelled."
"What?"
"Alex told me what you're planning to do, and I will not let you duel Severus or prank on the Slytherins."
"Watch us." James took out a huge rucksack that contained quite a few pranking objects.
"I'm serious, Potter."
"Really? I thought he was Sirius," James jerked a thumb at Sirius, who had already let go of Lily by now.
"Funny, Potter. Not. Look, why don't you just forget all of this, and-Oh!" Lily exclaimed as someone wrapped it's hand around her hair and yanked it. Lily was doing her best not to scream and give them away.
"Snivelly, let Evans go. She has nothing to do with our duel."
"She soils the Slytherin's tower by setting her mudblood feet on it," Severus said in a maniac way.
Lily was horrified with this and elbowed him on his shins, though she wasn't sure of how she'd done so. Severus let go of her immeadiately and Lily ran to the Marauders and said:
"If the five of you don't stop this foolishness I'll go right now to Dumbledore's office and tell on you!"
"Evans, shut it."
"Potter, I'm here trying to help you and you tell me to shut it?"
"Yeah."
"You know, Potter, I always thought you'd grow out of this immaturity, but apparently I was wrong! If you want to be expelled, fine with me! Just don't ever speak to me again, okay Potter!"
"Evans, it's not like you're saying...."
"Yes it is, Potter. Now get out of my way!" James obliged, and Lily stormed out of the Slytherin common room.
A few minutes later, Lily appeared on the Gryffindor common room. Alex and the girls raised their eyebrows, and Lily said:
"Oh, I found the Slytherin common room, alright. But that stupid blockhead didn't want to stop the prank, and they're probably duelling now. Also, I'll never speak to Potter again. I hate him."
"You might hate him alright, but you'll never be able to not speak to him," Alex pointed out just as the Marauder's appeared, followed by a very, very angry McGonagall.