A/N: Here's the second chappieཀཀ I am really liking this story...hehehe It makes me happy. Thank you to my two reviewers!
Marauder Mishaps
Chapter Two
The sun huddled behind a feathery grey cloud overlooking the great Hogwarts castle. The overcast day was anything but normal for an average day at school in Scotland, as the students all knew. Sunny days were to be cherished and somewhat frequent, but it seemed as though the weather was slipping away in the chilly winter.
Within the walls of Hogwarts, the Marauders were huddled around some loose blank pieces of parchment and quills yet to be dipped in ink. Mischief gleamed in each of their eyes, well, except for Peter Pettigrew, Wormtail to the other three, who looked slightly cross-eyed. They had officially decided that a prank war with Lily was the only way to solve this and began plotting immediately.
James Potter, known as Prongs to his small group of pals, rubbed his sore and stiff neck gingerly. He had been sore throughout all of his classes, which certainly made him a less attractive sight to see. In addition, it did not help that his left eye kept twitching uncontrollably every time he laid eyes on the red-haired, green-eyed Gryffindor who went by the name of Lily Evans. He blamed all of his physical problems on the fact that he slept on the couch in the Gryffindor Common room the previous night due to the fact that he could not figure out what new password to his Head Boy dorms was. He mused that it was most likely something derogatory towards him, which egged him on even more.
"Alright, we will now begin operation Get Lily," said James in a whispered voice that dripped with revenge. He smiled to himself when he named the operation, he thought the name to be quite unique and creative.
"That's really original, Prongs," said a rather lanky boy who had sandy brown hair and a book gripped in his hand who went by the name of Remus Lupin, or to his friends, Moony. His voice dripped with sarcasm, despite the trait he had of being straightforward which usually involved a lack of sarcasm in his speech, but when with friends, his speaking was more relaxed.
"I thought so too," James replied, obviously not catching the sarcasm that was dripping from words of one of his best buddy's. James was usually on top of things, but lately it seemed as though his mind never focused on whatever situation was at hand. It was like he was always daydreaming of something, or someone, else.
"Oi, Prongsཀ He was being sarcastic. I could even sense that," shouted Sirius Black, also known as Padfoot, who was a very handsome boy. His black hair fell to almost his shoulders, and his dark eyes sparkled with mischief no matter what time of day, however, a spark of annoyance could be seen in this expression when Madame Pince scoffed at his rude behavior. His good-looks usually explained why small groups of younger girls, usually Hufflepuffs, huddled together and giggled while ogling him.
"Oh," James said as he looked away for a minute to wink at a leggy fifth year Gryffindor girls who swooned under his gaze. He suddenly got defensive, feeling unappreciated, and snapped out a lame retort. "Do you have a better name? Huh?"
"Actually, I was thinking we could call it the "Monster Plan", if you get my drift," said a timid voice. James knew from the tone that it was Remus for he never really could speak up and say it loud when making a snide remark about something.
Despite the boy's silence, the Marauders had easily heard him in their small circle and they all, aside from James and Peter who wore a slightly constipated expression that the others had now come to realize that the odd face meant he was confused, began to laugh and chuckle loudly, earning them a death glare from Madame Pince who had to have absolute silence at all times in her Library.
"Oh, man," exclaimed Peter, minutes after the rest of the boys had finished laughing. "Monster Plan, that was good."
"I gotta hand it to you, Moony, you sure got Jamesie-boy there!" whispered Sirius to his friend. In return, Remus smiled and chuckled lightly at the use of the nick name Lily had given James.
After Madame Pince had chastised them yet again, they decided to leave the library and use the Seventh Year Boys' Dorm as their official Headquarters, but had plans to return to the quiet sanctuary for the gifted students later. They would use the Head Boy's room as head quarters, but they still had not yet figured out the password and Lily was a permanent resident.
Lily Evans was quietly doing her Transfiguration homework in the library, minding her own business and completely oblivious to the fact that the boy she had messed with earlier was in the same room, even though they were located on the opposite side. At one point in time, she thought she heard Sirius yelling about something or other, but she was so immersed in her paper that she did not think twice about it.
She was interrupted, much to her dismay, from her essay on why one couldn't turn a piece of wood into an edible apple when she noticed a steady gaze watching her every movement. She tingled under the glare, knowing well who it was. Waiting a few moments, she finished a sentence and then acknowledged the interruption hastily.
"What do you want, Snape?" She tapped her quill on the table in annoyance as the greasy haired boy took the seat in front of her. His expression never changing.
"To apologize," said the cold Slytherin.
"For what?" questioned Lily. The boy was honestly one of the strangest wizards she had yet encountered in her immersion into the Wizarding World.
"Never mind," said Snape in a nasal voice, annoyance and disdain dripping from each word. He quickly stood and before he left the library with a flourish of his robes, he added the oh so familiar Slytherin diss. "I shouldn't be talking to a filthy mudblood like you anyways."
"What a bloody prickཀ" she exclaimed to herself after he left. She had become accustomed to the rude taunts that he had tormented her with, but he was so fickle, and during certain periods of each month, Lily became quite distraught by his behavior. She let out a long exasperated sigh and turned back to her essay, scanning the paper before she started to write.
She was almost finished with the second paragraph when she was yet again interrupted. She could tell from the masculine scent and quiet guffaws who exactly was about to bother her. Pulling her wand slightly out of her robes, just in case, she set down her quill and crossed her arms, but made know attempt to greet them.
"Mr. Padfoot thinks that the Little Flower should watch her language," a voice spoke from behind her, causing an eyebrow to raise on the girl's face.
"Go away, Sirius." sighed Lily, who had partially given up on trying to complete the paper. "I have to finish my Transfiguration homework."
"Mr. Moony thinks he should check over the Little Flower's homework."
"Not now, I'm not finished yet." She protectively grabbed the sheet of paper, but then put it back on the table. If they wanted her paper, they were going to get it no matter what.
"Oh, but Mr. Prongs thinks that Mr. Moony should." She waved her left hand behind her, hoping the boys would get a clue and leave her alone.
She heard a nervous silence behind her, and figured that the boys would be off soon. Her ears perked at the slight muttering she heard, but she was not able to discern what the boys said. Suddenly, before Lily could get back to her work, a hand snatched her parchment away from right beneath her nose.
"Hey!" she shouted in protest as she turned around for the first time.
"Sorry, Little Flower, we won't give this back until you tell James here that you are sorry for causing that little embarrassing moment last night in the common room," Sirius announced.
"Fine, you can keep that. I'll just make another." The nick name they had given her was quite annoying, and she would have done anything to make them leave.
She turned around to grab another piece of parchment to begin her essay again. However, when she went to grab her quill, it just slipped through her fingers. She tried desperately to get a firm grip on the writing utensil, but failed miserably. She then noticed that her hand was turning green. Actually, she had come to notice, her whole body was turning green. She slowly turned to face the Marauders who were tittering at her futile attempts to write her essay. A menacing look played on her face and a scowl dwelled on her lips. Her vibrant green yes had darkened severely, and she looked livid.
"What did you do?" she growled a deep roar that came from the back of her throat. Her voice laced with anger and malice.
"N-N-Nothing," a very afraid Peter Pettigrew stuttered out. She had not even noticed that he was there in the first place. "I didn't do anythingཀ" he squeaked as he ran out of the library at full speed.
Her gaze turned to James Potter, who had walked out from behind a bookshelf when Peter fled, and Sirius Black .
"What happened?" She whispered at a deadly tone. The two boys visibly cowered.
"It was all his ideaཀ" the two boys exclaimed as the pointed to each other in synchronize.
She gave them a hiss and turned to Remus Lupin, who was looking oddly calm.
"It's just a spell, Lily. No need to have a cow," he whispered.
"Have a cow? Have a COW?" she was screaming now.
"The spell will wear of in twenty four hours," added a smirking James Potter. Oh, how she had grown such a hate for him in the past three minutes that could not even begin to compare with how much she had disliked him before.
"What does the spell do, Mr. Moony?" she questioned with a sarcastic tinge, just hanging off her words as she spit out the boy's name.
"Well," stated Remus calmly, in a very blase tone, "it will slowly start turning you into a flower, a lily to be precise. If you do everything we ask in the next twenty four hours, the effects won't be permanent. If you keep refraining from doing what we tell you, it will get worse."
"Why can't I finish my homework?"
"Flowers can't hold quills," said the intelligent Marauder. "Come on now Little Flower, you're Head Girl. You should be on top of these things."
She nodded slowly at Remus, taking in this information, but scowling at his snide remarks. Her gaze then shot back at the two boys who assumed a cowering position.
"It was your idea?" She pointed at James Potter.
He gulped deeply. "Yes."
"There will be hell to pay after this."
As she said that, she stormed away angrily. 'Oh yes,' she thought to herself, 'these boys will wish they never met me.'
She didn't know how wrong she was, but she was no Seer, of course. Being Head Girl only gave her so much power and influence in the school, not any special magic ability.
The three boys left in the library suddenly burst out laughing nervously, afraid that she would somehow pop up at them and kill them all. They grabbed the items she forgot to take with her and left for the common room before Madame Pince could dock points and ban them from the library. They still had to give her the list of things that needed to be done, and boy, one hell of a list was it going to be.
She was livid. She stormed down the staircase, practically trampling some innocent First Years. Replaying the activities of what had happened in the library made her hair turn as red as her hair. She stomped her foot on the next step, intending to vent some anger, but just her luck, she had stepped right into the vanishing step. Realizing she would be there for a while, as the school seemed to be empty at this hour and she had scared whoever was on the staircase away, she made herself comfortable.
"Merlin," she sighed, "I hope I'm dreaming...even though this must be some kind of nightmare."
