Chapter 29
And so they were a quartet of prankers, rather than a trio. Ben was quickly accepted among them and was well liked. Even the new girl, who was his twin sister, was really cool. She would often hang out with them, after getting tired of hearing Lily Evans rant on about something, which she did often. It turned out that she liked pranks too, which was why she and her brother got along so well.
One day, about a month after the beginning of school, they were all sitting around the table, discussing an interesting plot against the Slytherins.
"I personally like making the food tap dance," Danielle suggested, looking at Snape through narrowed eyes. Her first impression of him had been bad and over the past month he hadn't done much to improve that image in her eyes.
"How do you make food tap dance?" James asked, looking confused. He had never heard of making food tap dance, although it did sound like a good idea.
"We could have his clothes follow him around for a day, like a ghost," suggested Sirius, going through one of his mute stages again, and feeling not so happy about it.
"Hey," exclaimed Ben, excited, "that sounds like a pretty good idea!" He looked at Danielle (or Dani for short) for approval.
She shrugged slightly and nodded. "It is a good idea, but I still like tap dancing food."
Remus sighed and shook his head. "We'll try that one later," he said just to calm her down. He watched her as she gave a mock pout and then burst into laughter. She really was a pretty girl, very nice and outgoing. She had dark, curly hair that went down to her waist and deep honey colored brown eyes that twinkled whenever she got an idea that could be considered somewhat against school regulation, which was quite frequently. Her personality was amazing, always happy and ready to smile, and her intelligence was profound. She seemed to know everything, and didn't appear to go out of her way to acquire that knowledge, she just had it.
"When should we try operation let's-make-Snape's-clothes-follow-him-around-like-a-ghost-all-day?" asked Dani, suddenly seeming to forget her own "brilliant" idea and become enthusiastic about this new one.
James smiled and replied, "I think we should try as soon as possible."
"Do you think we'll need to get into the Slytherin common room?" questioned Ben. His first opinion of Snape hadn't been any better than Dani's only he was more hostile towards anyone that bugged him in the slightest big. Dani seemed to have a bit more toleration, even if that wasn't saying much.
At this, James hesitated and shared a quick glance with Sirius and Remus. They both shrugged, but then Sirius nodded.
"Great," moaned Remus, getting into a prank for the first time. "How are we going to get into the Slytherin common room without being noticed?"
Dani got a twinkle in her eyes and smiled slightly. "Leave that to Ben and me," she said softly, and got up to go find something. The boys watched her retreating back and then James, Sirius, and Remus rounded on Ben to explain what had just happened.
"Nothing," he responded, shrugging. "I honestly don't know about her anymore. She's so…eccentric. Oh well, I know that she'll expect us to have everything else ready to go though, so let's get planning."
As it was a Saturday, they spent the rest of the day either walking around the lake discussing the prank, or trying to spy on Dani to discover what she was planning. Eventually they came to the best way to do it and discussed it at the great hall after dinner, waiting for Dani to join them.
"Someone will sneak into the Slytherin common room and put the spell on his clothing," whispered James, trying to keep it a secret from any possible eavesdroppers. "And then we'll dye his hair pink."
"When did that come into the picture?" asked Sirius, having just regained his voice while making the third lap around the grounds.
"Um…just now when I realized that more would have to be done. Then, while Dani and Ben are sneaking back, Remus will charm the food to start dancing and singing random crap when they try to eat it."
"I will?" Remus said, thoroughly shocked at this new addition to their prank.
"Yes," responded James and continued planning. "And then, once that's done, Sirius will get the potion into the Slytherins' drinks and they will start singing really stupid songs."
"And what are you going to do, Jaime?" asked Sirius innocently.
"I," James began, all importantly, "am going to watch your backs in case something horrible happens."
"Too coward to do anything for yourself?" asked Dani as she walked up to the table and sat down.
"Did you think of a way to do it?" James asked anxiously, ignoring her statement.
"Relax, Potter," she said soothingly, "I've got the plan all up here." She tapped her head meaningfully and looked at Ben.
"Operation Slytherin-Infiltration," he said, a smile blossoming upon his face. She nodded and began to pick at the left over food on the table.
"So," James asked, looking at her curiously, "what is your brilliant plan?"
She shook her head. "You can't ask me that and expect to get an answer," she scolded mildly. "My secrets remain secrets, mate, and they will die with me…and Ben."
"Well, when are you going to do this brilliant "operation Slytherin-infiltration"?" he asked in a mocking sort of voice.
"Tomorrow, and you can come along for the show, if you like," she said in a teasing voice.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" a harsh voice came from behind them. Dani rolled her eyes, and Ben stifled a laugh.
"Why I do not believe it's any of your concern Lily," Dani said in a slightly patronizing voice.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to eavesdrop?" asked Sirius, in a teasing voice. Lily Evans really did bug him, but there wasn't much he could do about it, except ignore her.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to bully people who are no match for you?" she snapped in return.
Dani rolled her eyes again and moved to get up. Lily took this time to verbally attack her. "I thought you knew better than to sink to their level."
"Their level?" she asked, sounding somewhat offended. "Well sorry. I did not mean to insult you with my conversing with Potter and his friends. I forgot that it was a crime in your book of things you must not do at Hogwarts. Give me a break Lily, I have so many better things to do than actually give a rip about you and your "rivalry"." Dani stood up and walked away angrily.
"You got told, Lily," said Ben, looking after his sister with mild approval. Lily simply sniffed and walked away.
A.N. yep, there's another chapter. I hope that you're in the mood for some humor (well, by my standards anyways) 'cause the next chapter is gonna be full of it. Sorry for those of you who like Lily, she really bugs me, so there you go. Please review and thank you for tolerating my insanity.