Author's Note: Once again, I don't own Harry Potter
Chapter 4 Face Offs and Fiascoes
The long-awaited Hogsmeade outing followed by the Halloween feast had finally arrived and the usual anticipatory buzz filled the Great Hall as every third year and above discussed their plans with their housemates over breakfast. Some were filled with virtuous excitement at the prospect of visiting Honeydukes, Zonko's, and The Three Broomsticks. Some, however, were looking forward to Hogsmeade's less innocent amenities, i.e. the prospect of unsupervised snogging in Madam Puddifoot's and any other semi- private corner of the town.
"Is it something they put in the pumpkin juice, d'you think?" Lily mused as she and her roommates watched yet another nervous, giggling girl, the third as far as they knew, confirm her rendezvous with Sirius Black in Hogsmeade, then giggle even more as Sirius did some confirming of his own.
"What, something they put in the pumpkin juice to make every girl with the correct parts turn into a twittering ninny around Sirius Black or something they put in the pumpkin juice to turn ordinarily sensible, normal people into randy tossers at the prospect of a few unsupervised hours? Morwenna wanted clarification.
"Erm.both, I suppose," Lily replied upon further reflection.
"Hate to break it to you, Lils," Dorcas quipped. "But nature took care of that without the need to put anything in the pumpkin juice."
"Hey Evans," an all-too-familiar voice behind Lily said.
Resigned to her fate, Lily turned around. "Did you want something, Potter?" she inquired in her most quelling tone, one eyebrow cocked.
"I just thought I'd ask you to go to Hogsmeade with me one last time, as it doesn't seem things are working out with the giant squid," James answered, trademark grin plainly in evidence.
Lily snorted and took a deep breath. "What makes you think that I'd change my mind and go with you? Are we the last man and woman on earth?"
"If I said yes would you go out with me? Strictly for the sake of the species, necessary procreation and all that." James quipped, running his hand through his hair again.
"All good things must come to an end, and I'd say mankind had a pretty fair run," Lily retorted, then turned away to talk to Kathleen, clearly indicating that the conversation was finished as far as she was concerned. Though Morwenna gave him a slightly sympathetic smile, there was nothing left for James to do but walk away and hope that he might run into Lily later.
* * *
"Explain to me one more time why exactly you lot are tagging along on my date," Sirius complained again. He was meeting his first date, to use the term loosely, in The Three Broomsticks, and unexpectedly Remus, Peter, and James had decided to tag along.
Though the four generally spent these Hogsmeade days together, this time the plan had been for Remus, James, and Peter to go along and buy a few items the four of them would need for the Halloween feast later on as Sirius already had his time well accounted for with three dates, or more accurately, snogging appointments, scheduled for today.
Remus snorted at Sirius' use of the word date. "It's hardly a date when there are three in one day. Why not call a snogging session a snogging session?"
"Wow, three? Out of curiosity, where are the other two?" Peter asked, impressed.
"Poor Wormtail, always the voyeur and never the voy-ee," was Sirius' only response.
Though he complained that he didn't know why his friends were tagging along, Sirius wasn't thick. He knew perfectly well why they were there, and Remus and James did too. As for Peter, well, he had always been a bit slow on the uptake, or slower than the others at any rate.
Sirius knew as well as James did that Frank Longbottom, the Marauders' fifth roommate, had asked Alice Prewett to go to Hogsmeade with him and that she had accepted. And Alice, being rather shy and also a good friend of Lily Evans' might very well have asked Lily to accompany her to the pub to meet her date, and James would do anything for the opportunity to see and, if he could help it, impress Lily Evans.
From their vantage point at the bar, the Marauders could see all around the pub as well as anyone who came in. Frank Longbottom was already sitting rather apprehensively at a table by the window and a few tables away sat Kathleen Kirkpatrick, also on a date, as it happened, with a seventh year Ravenclaw. Alice, and anyone else who might be accompanying her, hadn't yet arrived, but James was scanning the room anyway as though he was afraid he might miss her. Remus, who fancied Kirkpatrick a bit, was watching her smile and chat with her date out of the corner of his eye. Peter, always the thickest of the lot, seemed oblivious to his mates' restless eyes and was eyeing some Hufflepuff girls across the way with slightly bored attention.
A sorry lot, those two, Sirius thought, watching Remus and James instead of looking out for his date. It's much easier really to snog the ones who're willing to with no strings attached. Doesn't do at all to get drawn in by these unattainable girls
* * *
Alice was so nervous over her first date with Frank Longbottom that she had extracted promises a week before the actual date from Lily and Morwenna to walk her there.
Now the day had arrived and Lily and Morwenna were carrying out their promise before spending their day doing some much-anticipated shopping. They were slightly late and hurrying through the streets of Hogsmeade toward The Three Broomsticks, doing their best to reassure Alice, who was looking rather peaky.
"He's mad about you, anyone can see that, so all you have to do is relax and be yourself and it'll be great," Morwenna encouraged.
"Why did I agree to this?" Alice moaned. "I really fancy him, what if it's a disaster?"
"It won't be," Lily reassured her friend.
The girls rounded another corner to meet an unwelcome and unexpected sight that caused Morwenna to put on her haughtiest expression, Alice to pale even further, and Lily to stiffen her spine: Bellatrix Black with a pack of Slytherin girls in tow.
Generally, Bellatrix spent Hogsmeade weekends with Rodolphus Lestrange, but he had been restricted from going to Hogsmeade and forced to serve a day-long detention instead as punishment for badly hexing a first year Mudblood. As a result, Bellatrix had an entire day to cool her heels with some of her female companions on their shopping excursions, and already she was badly in need of a diversion. The appearance of Mudblood Evans and her Gryffindor minions offered the perfect opportunity for some sport.
"If it isn't the Mudblood and the blood traitors," Bellatrix sneered cattily, a malicious gleam in her eyes.
"What do you want, Black?" Morwenna cocked an eyebrow at Bellatrix, her face impassive.
"What do I want?" Bellatrix tilted her head to one side in a twisted imitation of innocence. "Nothing more than to offer a friendly warning to the lot of you. You may want to inform your little chum Evans here of what she is and what we do to her kind who have designs above their station. Lockhart may be a fool, but he's pure, and as such that filthy Mudblood has no right to him."
"Lockhart is a complete and utter git who would be luckier than he deserves if Lily decided to look in his direction," Alice spoke up though she was clearly frightened. "If he's your idea of purity then I don't think much of your judgement."
"You're worse than a Mudblood, you disgusting blood traitor," Bellatrix hissed, menace plain in every facet of her psychotic expression. "Your kind will get their due when the Dark Lord-"
"Dark Lord? Do you mean that nutter Voldemort?" Lily cut in, her contempt thick in her voice. "He's nothing more than a common murderer."
"And he'll murder you," Bellatrix said with calm conviction, as though she were discussing the weather or something equally trivial. "He will dispose of, is disposing of, all those who are unworthy and he'll purge our race of all of its impurities. Not just the Mudbloods. Oh no. The Dark Lord is much more far-sighted than that. He'll dispose of you and your family, Marchbanks, of you and yours, Prewett, especially the sainted Gideon and Fabian."
Alice looked sickened by Bellatrix's matter-of-fact tone. "You're psychotic," she stated flatly.
Bellatrix laughed, a high-pitched, spine-chilling sound. "Does the ickle blood traitor want to play with me? Go on, I'm game. I could use the practice." Bellatrix withdrew her wand from her sleeve so quickly there was almost no time to react. She grinned maniacally, plainly savoring what she was about to do.
Reacting on pure reflex, Lily pulled her wand from the pocket of her robes, pointed it at Bellatrix, and shouted "Expelliarmus!" as loudly as she could.
Bellatrix stumbled backward, staggered by the impact of the spell, as her wand went sailing into Lily's outstretched hand. By now a few of her cronies were fumbling around their carrier bags for their own wands, but Alice, Morwenna, and Lily had theirs trained on the Slytherins, their expressions serious. Dorcas, passing by and noticing the fray, came running up, her own wand drawn, and joined the Gryffindor ranks.
Furious as a child at being thwarted, Bellatrix's expression was murderous. "You will pay dearly for that, Evans," Bellatrix hissed. "You always have to pay the piper, Mudblood, and today's work has cost you very dearly indeed."
Lily tossed Bellatrix's wand a ways down the street, frankly contemptuous of the other girl, and continued on the route to The Three Broomsticks, the other Gryffindors following in her wake, wands still trained on the Slytherins.
"What was that all about?" Dorcas demanded, looking from Lily to Morwenna to Alice and back again.
"Can't say that I know," Morwenna replied rather shakily. "Far as we can tell, Black seemed to take exception to Gilderoy's interest in Lily, except she was accusing Lily of 'having designs above her station' or some such rubbish."
"And tossing about a lot of filthy names," Lily added grimly, her jaw set.
"Bellatrix called Alice and I blood traitors and Lily the M-word and told us what would happen to the lot of us when Voldemort is in control," Morwenna explained for Dorcas' benefit. Alice was walking determinedly but shakily on, her face white as a sheet, her mouth compressed. She looked a sight. They all must, Lily supposed.
* * *
In The Three Broomsticks, Sirius, still waiting for his first appointment, had finally caved under Peter's pestering and was telling the others where his other rendezvous were going to be held.
"...Madam Puddifoot's at two, " Sirius was saying, "And then Honeyduke's at four."
"Honeyduke's?" queried Remus, his interest piqued. "It's always packed and there're lots of breakable jars and things. How are you going to manage that?"
"Store room," shrugged Sirius. "That was the whole reason I set up Honeyduke's last because then I can slip through the passage when I'm through and be back in time to help you lot get ready for tonight."
"The STORE ROOM?" Remus said incredulously, looking thoroughly horrified. "You're going to snog and Merlin knows what else on top of the local candy supply? That's unhygienic, Padfoot, not to mention disgusting."
"Most of it's wrapped," Sirius retorted defensively. "And it's not like I haven't done it before."
Before Remus could react to that tidbit of information, the door of the pub opened and Lily Evans, Morwenna Marchbanks, Alice Prewett, and Dorcas Meadows came in, all looking quite grim and shaken.
Kathleen, abandoning her table and date, hurried over to them. "What happened?" she exclaimed. "You lot look as though you've just been in a fight." Dorcas shushed her and the group made its way over to the table where Frank Longbottom was waiting, half out of his chair.
"What happened?" he repeated, looking them all over, especially Alice, with concern. Noticing that much of the room, the Marauders included and James in particular, was straining to hear, Morwenna lowered her voice to a murmur and recounted the tale while the others looked on and occasionally interjected something.
Frank and Kathleen looked horrified. "She actually had the nerve to say these things to you?" Kathleen was incredulous.
"She's completely nutters," Alice stated. "Stark raving mad. She's so far 'round the bend I 'm not sure she even realized how psychotic she sounded."
James, still at the bar, gave up trying to overhear their conversation. He would just have to get it from someone, probably Morwenna or Frank, later. He frowned worriedly at Lily who had been silent most of the time and only very occasionally joined in.
Lily and the others finally got up to go and leave Frank and Alice to their somewhat ruined date, and James rose to leave as well. Remus and Peter, taking their cue from him, stood, ready to run their errands in preparation for what would happen later at the feast.
* * *
. Several hours later, the four Marauders returned to their dormitory, still chuckling and congratulating each other over their flawless execution of a highly complex prank at the Halloween feast earlier that night.
The joke had been in the planning stages for weeks and had required heavy reconnaissance work, much research in a myriad of magical cookbooks, use of the Marauders' contacts in the kitchen as well as a good amount of sneaking around.
Needless to say, they had loved every minute of it.
Finally, every element of the plan had been put into place and Remus, Sirius, Peter, and James had had nothing to do but sit back and wait.
The feast had started out normally enough with the traditional jack o' lanterns floating overhead and all of the tables festively decorated in orange and black. However, the feast was soon a total fiasco when the roasted Cornish game hens being served for dinner suddenly jumped up and ran whenever they saw a knife and fork overhead.
The hall was in an uproar with Cornish game hens running up and down the tables, through serving dishes and people's dinners, usually with a student in hot pursuit. Some of the hens brandished dinner knives and took to dueling with students while some leapt onto the floor and made a break for the exit. A pack of first years had been scared witless when a gang of the hens chased them round and round the hall, pelting them with candy corn, and a sixth year Hufflepuff called Davy Gudgeon had gotten his own dinner knife in the leg from his particularly vicious hen.
The professors' table hadn't been immune either; Professor McGonagall's took to throwing mashed potatoes and tiny Professor Flitwick was seized by four of the game hens and trussed up with dinner napkins. In attempting to rescue Flitwick, Professor Kettleburn got a roast potato in the eye and Professor Dumbledore's tall pointed hat was stolen and used as a kind of fort by a couple of the hens, who ducked behind it whenever anyone tried to return fire with their wands.
"This was a bloody brilliant idea!" James called over the din to Sirius, who was engaged in an intense duel to the death with his hen.
"Sure was," Sirius called back, having finally managed to Stun his hen and now helping Peter to deal with his, who was pelting Peter with every dinner roll in sight and now had him cornered under the table. "But give credit where it's due. Great idea, Moony!" he added as he picked up Peter's struggling bird gingerly by its wing and waited for Peter to Stun it.
"I dunno.." Remus said uncertainly. "They're causing a lot more ruckus than I thought they would. Maybe we should've had them dance instead."
"This is much better than dancing," James protested, grinning from ear to ear. "Look at old Snivelly."
The other three looked where James was pointing and burst into laughter at Snape, who had just had a bowl of gravy poured over his head by one of the game hens and was wiping gravy out of his eyes, looking distinctly put out.
Eventually the professors and prefects managed to Stun all of the Cornish game hens, - or so they thought, one or two might have made a break for it down the corridor - and did a few quick Scourgifying spells to clean up the food that had been spattered all over the tables, walls, and floor. James, Sirius, and Peter helped Remus, trying to appear as innocent and blameless as possible, though Professor McGonagall kept shooting them stern, suspicious glances and when Professor Dumbledore's glance met James', there was a distinct twinkle in his eye.
And, even though it didn't seem possible, James could have sworn that Dumbledore winked at him.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Willow23. Your review made my day! Anyways, more chapters to come.
Chapter 4 Face Offs and Fiascoes
The long-awaited Hogsmeade outing followed by the Halloween feast had finally arrived and the usual anticipatory buzz filled the Great Hall as every third year and above discussed their plans with their housemates over breakfast. Some were filled with virtuous excitement at the prospect of visiting Honeydukes, Zonko's, and The Three Broomsticks. Some, however, were looking forward to Hogsmeade's less innocent amenities, i.e. the prospect of unsupervised snogging in Madam Puddifoot's and any other semi- private corner of the town.
"Is it something they put in the pumpkin juice, d'you think?" Lily mused as she and her roommates watched yet another nervous, giggling girl, the third as far as they knew, confirm her rendezvous with Sirius Black in Hogsmeade, then giggle even more as Sirius did some confirming of his own.
"What, something they put in the pumpkin juice to make every girl with the correct parts turn into a twittering ninny around Sirius Black or something they put in the pumpkin juice to turn ordinarily sensible, normal people into randy tossers at the prospect of a few unsupervised hours? Morwenna wanted clarification.
"Erm.both, I suppose," Lily replied upon further reflection.
"Hate to break it to you, Lils," Dorcas quipped. "But nature took care of that without the need to put anything in the pumpkin juice."
"Hey Evans," an all-too-familiar voice behind Lily said.
Resigned to her fate, Lily turned around. "Did you want something, Potter?" she inquired in her most quelling tone, one eyebrow cocked.
"I just thought I'd ask you to go to Hogsmeade with me one last time, as it doesn't seem things are working out with the giant squid," James answered, trademark grin plainly in evidence.
Lily snorted and took a deep breath. "What makes you think that I'd change my mind and go with you? Are we the last man and woman on earth?"
"If I said yes would you go out with me? Strictly for the sake of the species, necessary procreation and all that." James quipped, running his hand through his hair again.
"All good things must come to an end, and I'd say mankind had a pretty fair run," Lily retorted, then turned away to talk to Kathleen, clearly indicating that the conversation was finished as far as she was concerned. Though Morwenna gave him a slightly sympathetic smile, there was nothing left for James to do but walk away and hope that he might run into Lily later.
* * *
"Explain to me one more time why exactly you lot are tagging along on my date," Sirius complained again. He was meeting his first date, to use the term loosely, in The Three Broomsticks, and unexpectedly Remus, Peter, and James had decided to tag along.
Though the four generally spent these Hogsmeade days together, this time the plan had been for Remus, James, and Peter to go along and buy a few items the four of them would need for the Halloween feast later on as Sirius already had his time well accounted for with three dates, or more accurately, snogging appointments, scheduled for today.
Remus snorted at Sirius' use of the word date. "It's hardly a date when there are three in one day. Why not call a snogging session a snogging session?"
"Wow, three? Out of curiosity, where are the other two?" Peter asked, impressed.
"Poor Wormtail, always the voyeur and never the voy-ee," was Sirius' only response.
Though he complained that he didn't know why his friends were tagging along, Sirius wasn't thick. He knew perfectly well why they were there, and Remus and James did too. As for Peter, well, he had always been a bit slow on the uptake, or slower than the others at any rate.
Sirius knew as well as James did that Frank Longbottom, the Marauders' fifth roommate, had asked Alice Prewett to go to Hogsmeade with him and that she had accepted. And Alice, being rather shy and also a good friend of Lily Evans' might very well have asked Lily to accompany her to the pub to meet her date, and James would do anything for the opportunity to see and, if he could help it, impress Lily Evans.
From their vantage point at the bar, the Marauders could see all around the pub as well as anyone who came in. Frank Longbottom was already sitting rather apprehensively at a table by the window and a few tables away sat Kathleen Kirkpatrick, also on a date, as it happened, with a seventh year Ravenclaw. Alice, and anyone else who might be accompanying her, hadn't yet arrived, but James was scanning the room anyway as though he was afraid he might miss her. Remus, who fancied Kirkpatrick a bit, was watching her smile and chat with her date out of the corner of his eye. Peter, always the thickest of the lot, seemed oblivious to his mates' restless eyes and was eyeing some Hufflepuff girls across the way with slightly bored attention.
A sorry lot, those two, Sirius thought, watching Remus and James instead of looking out for his date. It's much easier really to snog the ones who're willing to with no strings attached. Doesn't do at all to get drawn in by these unattainable girls
* * *
Alice was so nervous over her first date with Frank Longbottom that she had extracted promises a week before the actual date from Lily and Morwenna to walk her there.
Now the day had arrived and Lily and Morwenna were carrying out their promise before spending their day doing some much-anticipated shopping. They were slightly late and hurrying through the streets of Hogsmeade toward The Three Broomsticks, doing their best to reassure Alice, who was looking rather peaky.
"He's mad about you, anyone can see that, so all you have to do is relax and be yourself and it'll be great," Morwenna encouraged.
"Why did I agree to this?" Alice moaned. "I really fancy him, what if it's a disaster?"
"It won't be," Lily reassured her friend.
The girls rounded another corner to meet an unwelcome and unexpected sight that caused Morwenna to put on her haughtiest expression, Alice to pale even further, and Lily to stiffen her spine: Bellatrix Black with a pack of Slytherin girls in tow.
Generally, Bellatrix spent Hogsmeade weekends with Rodolphus Lestrange, but he had been restricted from going to Hogsmeade and forced to serve a day-long detention instead as punishment for badly hexing a first year Mudblood. As a result, Bellatrix had an entire day to cool her heels with some of her female companions on their shopping excursions, and already she was badly in need of a diversion. The appearance of Mudblood Evans and her Gryffindor minions offered the perfect opportunity for some sport.
"If it isn't the Mudblood and the blood traitors," Bellatrix sneered cattily, a malicious gleam in her eyes.
"What do you want, Black?" Morwenna cocked an eyebrow at Bellatrix, her face impassive.
"What do I want?" Bellatrix tilted her head to one side in a twisted imitation of innocence. "Nothing more than to offer a friendly warning to the lot of you. You may want to inform your little chum Evans here of what she is and what we do to her kind who have designs above their station. Lockhart may be a fool, but he's pure, and as such that filthy Mudblood has no right to him."
"Lockhart is a complete and utter git who would be luckier than he deserves if Lily decided to look in his direction," Alice spoke up though she was clearly frightened. "If he's your idea of purity then I don't think much of your judgement."
"You're worse than a Mudblood, you disgusting blood traitor," Bellatrix hissed, menace plain in every facet of her psychotic expression. "Your kind will get their due when the Dark Lord-"
"Dark Lord? Do you mean that nutter Voldemort?" Lily cut in, her contempt thick in her voice. "He's nothing more than a common murderer."
"And he'll murder you," Bellatrix said with calm conviction, as though she were discussing the weather or something equally trivial. "He will dispose of, is disposing of, all those who are unworthy and he'll purge our race of all of its impurities. Not just the Mudbloods. Oh no. The Dark Lord is much more far-sighted than that. He'll dispose of you and your family, Marchbanks, of you and yours, Prewett, especially the sainted Gideon and Fabian."
Alice looked sickened by Bellatrix's matter-of-fact tone. "You're psychotic," she stated flatly.
Bellatrix laughed, a high-pitched, spine-chilling sound. "Does the ickle blood traitor want to play with me? Go on, I'm game. I could use the practice." Bellatrix withdrew her wand from her sleeve so quickly there was almost no time to react. She grinned maniacally, plainly savoring what she was about to do.
Reacting on pure reflex, Lily pulled her wand from the pocket of her robes, pointed it at Bellatrix, and shouted "Expelliarmus!" as loudly as she could.
Bellatrix stumbled backward, staggered by the impact of the spell, as her wand went sailing into Lily's outstretched hand. By now a few of her cronies were fumbling around their carrier bags for their own wands, but Alice, Morwenna, and Lily had theirs trained on the Slytherins, their expressions serious. Dorcas, passing by and noticing the fray, came running up, her own wand drawn, and joined the Gryffindor ranks.
Furious as a child at being thwarted, Bellatrix's expression was murderous. "You will pay dearly for that, Evans," Bellatrix hissed. "You always have to pay the piper, Mudblood, and today's work has cost you very dearly indeed."
Lily tossed Bellatrix's wand a ways down the street, frankly contemptuous of the other girl, and continued on the route to The Three Broomsticks, the other Gryffindors following in her wake, wands still trained on the Slytherins.
"What was that all about?" Dorcas demanded, looking from Lily to Morwenna to Alice and back again.
"Can't say that I know," Morwenna replied rather shakily. "Far as we can tell, Black seemed to take exception to Gilderoy's interest in Lily, except she was accusing Lily of 'having designs above her station' or some such rubbish."
"And tossing about a lot of filthy names," Lily added grimly, her jaw set.
"Bellatrix called Alice and I blood traitors and Lily the M-word and told us what would happen to the lot of us when Voldemort is in control," Morwenna explained for Dorcas' benefit. Alice was walking determinedly but shakily on, her face white as a sheet, her mouth compressed. She looked a sight. They all must, Lily supposed.
* * *
In The Three Broomsticks, Sirius, still waiting for his first appointment, had finally caved under Peter's pestering and was telling the others where his other rendezvous were going to be held.
"...Madam Puddifoot's at two, " Sirius was saying, "And then Honeyduke's at four."
"Honeyduke's?" queried Remus, his interest piqued. "It's always packed and there're lots of breakable jars and things. How are you going to manage that?"
"Store room," shrugged Sirius. "That was the whole reason I set up Honeyduke's last because then I can slip through the passage when I'm through and be back in time to help you lot get ready for tonight."
"The STORE ROOM?" Remus said incredulously, looking thoroughly horrified. "You're going to snog and Merlin knows what else on top of the local candy supply? That's unhygienic, Padfoot, not to mention disgusting."
"Most of it's wrapped," Sirius retorted defensively. "And it's not like I haven't done it before."
Before Remus could react to that tidbit of information, the door of the pub opened and Lily Evans, Morwenna Marchbanks, Alice Prewett, and Dorcas Meadows came in, all looking quite grim and shaken.
Kathleen, abandoning her table and date, hurried over to them. "What happened?" she exclaimed. "You lot look as though you've just been in a fight." Dorcas shushed her and the group made its way over to the table where Frank Longbottom was waiting, half out of his chair.
"What happened?" he repeated, looking them all over, especially Alice, with concern. Noticing that much of the room, the Marauders included and James in particular, was straining to hear, Morwenna lowered her voice to a murmur and recounted the tale while the others looked on and occasionally interjected something.
Frank and Kathleen looked horrified. "She actually had the nerve to say these things to you?" Kathleen was incredulous.
"She's completely nutters," Alice stated. "Stark raving mad. She's so far 'round the bend I 'm not sure she even realized how psychotic she sounded."
James, still at the bar, gave up trying to overhear their conversation. He would just have to get it from someone, probably Morwenna or Frank, later. He frowned worriedly at Lily who had been silent most of the time and only very occasionally joined in.
Lily and the others finally got up to go and leave Frank and Alice to their somewhat ruined date, and James rose to leave as well. Remus and Peter, taking their cue from him, stood, ready to run their errands in preparation for what would happen later at the feast.
* * *
. Several hours later, the four Marauders returned to their dormitory, still chuckling and congratulating each other over their flawless execution of a highly complex prank at the Halloween feast earlier that night.
The joke had been in the planning stages for weeks and had required heavy reconnaissance work, much research in a myriad of magical cookbooks, use of the Marauders' contacts in the kitchen as well as a good amount of sneaking around.
Needless to say, they had loved every minute of it.
Finally, every element of the plan had been put into place and Remus, Sirius, Peter, and James had had nothing to do but sit back and wait.
The feast had started out normally enough with the traditional jack o' lanterns floating overhead and all of the tables festively decorated in orange and black. However, the feast was soon a total fiasco when the roasted Cornish game hens being served for dinner suddenly jumped up and ran whenever they saw a knife and fork overhead.
The hall was in an uproar with Cornish game hens running up and down the tables, through serving dishes and people's dinners, usually with a student in hot pursuit. Some of the hens brandished dinner knives and took to dueling with students while some leapt onto the floor and made a break for the exit. A pack of first years had been scared witless when a gang of the hens chased them round and round the hall, pelting them with candy corn, and a sixth year Hufflepuff called Davy Gudgeon had gotten his own dinner knife in the leg from his particularly vicious hen.
The professors' table hadn't been immune either; Professor McGonagall's took to throwing mashed potatoes and tiny Professor Flitwick was seized by four of the game hens and trussed up with dinner napkins. In attempting to rescue Flitwick, Professor Kettleburn got a roast potato in the eye and Professor Dumbledore's tall pointed hat was stolen and used as a kind of fort by a couple of the hens, who ducked behind it whenever anyone tried to return fire with their wands.
"This was a bloody brilliant idea!" James called over the din to Sirius, who was engaged in an intense duel to the death with his hen.
"Sure was," Sirius called back, having finally managed to Stun his hen and now helping Peter to deal with his, who was pelting Peter with every dinner roll in sight and now had him cornered under the table. "But give credit where it's due. Great idea, Moony!" he added as he picked up Peter's struggling bird gingerly by its wing and waited for Peter to Stun it.
"I dunno.." Remus said uncertainly. "They're causing a lot more ruckus than I thought they would. Maybe we should've had them dance instead."
"This is much better than dancing," James protested, grinning from ear to ear. "Look at old Snivelly."
The other three looked where James was pointing and burst into laughter at Snape, who had just had a bowl of gravy poured over his head by one of the game hens and was wiping gravy out of his eyes, looking distinctly put out.
Eventually the professors and prefects managed to Stun all of the Cornish game hens, - or so they thought, one or two might have made a break for it down the corridor - and did a few quick Scourgifying spells to clean up the food that had been spattered all over the tables, walls, and floor. James, Sirius, and Peter helped Remus, trying to appear as innocent and blameless as possible, though Professor McGonagall kept shooting them stern, suspicious glances and when Professor Dumbledore's glance met James', there was a distinct twinkle in his eye.
And, even though it didn't seem possible, James could have sworn that Dumbledore winked at him.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Willow23. Your review made my day! Anyways, more chapters to come.