Sweet Misery
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Months had passed and Peter had reported to Voldemort as he was told, telling him everything he knew about Lily. Winter holidays had passed and in no time, the Easter holidays had arrived. Everyone's time was filled with completing homework and studying for their exams. For the Marauders, with the exception of Remus, were working on becoming animagi. Whenever Remus would stop by to see how they were, they'd hide all information regarding animagus. Remus was suspicious to how jumpy they were, but decided to leave them to whatever they were up to. They probably had good reasoning to leave him out. Oh how wrong he was. For the reasoning behind this scheme belonged entirely to Sirius, and everyone knew that couldn't be good. James and Peter were just going along because they needed something to do for a while.
One day near the end of the Easter holidays, Remus walked over to Gwynn and the other two girls and sat down next to Gwynn.
"Something wrong, Re?" Gwynn asked leaning on his shoulder.
"They're plotting something," he replied.
"What, those little pink bunnies again? I thought I told them to leave you alone!" Lauren joked. "They are going to get it this time!"
"James, Sirius, and Peter," Remus said.
"Oh, don't worry, they're always plotting something," said Lily.
"I think it's against me. They won't tell me anything, and they're always so jumpy when I walk by."
"I'm sure it's nothing," said Gwynn.
"I hope so."
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Exams came all too soon for everyone. Professor Turco kept a close eye on her potions classes to prevent another fiasco like last years. Transfiguration was pretty calm, but Charms is when things went down hill. Professor Flitwick came into his class to find his desk covered with muggle objects known as paper clips.
"What, may I ask," Flitwick said holding one of the paper clips, "are these doing on my desk?" As soon as the question was asked, the paper clips jumped up and began to sway.
"La la la la la la la… We seduce you with our sexy dance!" the paper clips sang in high-pitched voices. "La la la la la la la… You love us and we love you! La la la la la la la… You cannot resist the sexy dance! La la la la la la la… We swish and sway and jump and twirl!" By then, the class was laughing and Professor Flitwick cast a quick spell to stop the paper clips. They all dropped down to the desk. Flitwick then began to detach the ones that had slipped on to his sleeves and hat.
"Quite amusing," he said, sounding more annoyed than amused. "Black, Potter, Pettigrew, and Lupin, I suspect."
"Huh? We didn't do that," said Sirius.
"Well then, Mr. Black, who did?"
"Ask them." Sirius pointed to Lily, Gwynn, Lauren, and Remus, who were all huddled around an Advanced Charms book they had borrowed from the Library. They looked up and saw the professor looking directly at them. Lily, who was holding the book, shut it rather quickly and the others moved to their seats.
"Do you four know anything about these paper clips?" Flitwick asked.
"No sir," Lauren said, shaking her head. "We were reading up on…"
"Harder levitation spells," finished Lily.
"Besides," said Remus; "we would never disturb a class just to pull a silly little prank."
"Especially not in our favorite class, Charms," added Gwynn.
"If you must blame someone, blame them," said Lauren, pointing back at Sirius, James, and Peter. "They always try to pass the blame on someone else. They just don't seem to want to get in trouble any more… They must be growing up."
"Boys, I'm afraid I must take twenty points from Gryffindor," said Flitwick. "I'm not going to give you detentions though. Now on to our final exams…"
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The students were grateful when the final day of school arrived. The Entrance Hall was filled with the shouts and laughter of the students as they waited for the carriages to arrive. When they arrived, everyone quickly boarded them to head down to the train. From the carriages, they moved aboard the train.
The Marauders and the girls took a seat in an empty compartment, relieved that summer arrived. Most of the train ride was uneventful. Gwynn was fast asleep on Remus's lap and he was stroking her hair, while Sirius was glaring at him, not about to let his grudge go. Lily, Lauren, James, and Peter were sitting on the ground playing Exploding Snap.
When the conductor announced they were five minutes from Kings Cross Station, Remus lightly shook Gwynn's shoulder, waking her up. The train pulled to a stop and they all got up. They grabbed their trunks and followed the other students on the train out on to the platform.
"Your parents are picking us up, right Lil?" said Lauren as they waited for their chance to leave the platform.
"With luck," Lily said. "My mum told me that we may have to take cabs."
"Why?" asked Sirius.
"Well, Mum wasn't sure if she'd be back from taking Petunia to Choir Camp—poor souls—and Dad said that he's had a lot more work lately."
The rest of the group nodded. They were getting ready to walk through the barrier when someone surprised Remus by jumping and pulling him into and headlock before letting him go.
"Chase…" Remus growled.
"Hiya Remo!" Chase said, grinning widely. "Hey Gwynn!"
"Hey Chase," replied Gwynn. Chase put up his fists as if to fight and Gwynn followed. They took a few fake punches at each other before Gwynn reached out and messed up his hair.
"You win this round," he said, pressing down the stray hairs.
"And will win future rounds," said Gwynn, messing up his hair again.
"So Remo, rumor has it you've got a girlfriend."
"Your sources seem to be correct," said Remus, slipping his arm around Gwynn's waist. Chase stared blankly at Remus and Gwynn for a moment.
"Gwynn?" he said. "No way, she's to cool to be dating you! Are you sure it's not some one like her?" Chase pointed to Lily.
"Hey!" Lily shouted when she saw him pointing to her.
"I think I would know my own girlfriend," said Remus.
"I think we should get a move on to see if my parents came," said Lily. The group left platform 9 ¾ on their next quest, finding Lily's parents.
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A/n: Still inspired by the sexy dancing Microsoft Word paper clip office assistant.
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