Sirius and Becca plopped themselves down around their normal table, in the very back next to the only window. Professor Froddic, the Divination teacher, soon emerged from the trap door, her many bracelets rattling together. Her over-large robes barely fit her bony frame and her tea-stained teeth protruded from her pointy mouth.
"Still looks like a donkey, doesn't she?" asked Sirius; Becca sniggered. The Hufflepuffs arrived, with Gilderoy Lockhart leading them.
"Why, hello, Becca. How was your summer? Mine was fantastic; the Tornados asked me to come play Beater for them but I refused their offer, simply saying that I could not play professional Quidditch. Because, of course, my many talents were leading me elsewhere. I must say, they looked highly disappointed, but how could they not be? My incredibly good looks just can't be forgotten," he gloated, flashing his smile towards her and fluffing up his thick blonde hair. Becca and Sirius just stared at him in disbelief.
"Man, that guy is so full of it," Becca said as Gilderoy and his fan club, made up of only two girls, walked away.
"I know. We've both seen him play Quidditch; he can't hit a Bludger to save his life," Sirius explained as they both laughed.
"Good day, class. I'm glad to see you have all returned safe and alive," Professor Froddic said in a very dramatic and mystical voice.
"But Professor," Becca said, waving her hand in the air. "Shouldn't you have already known we would all be returning?"
"Yeah, I thought you could 'see into the beyond'," stated Sirius. "What happened to this 'Inner Eye' thing you keep talking about? I was finally starting to believe you actually possessed it!"
"Well, Mister Black and Miss Daniels, of course I already knew that you would all be returning, but a Seer never gets pleasure out of boasting to less knowledgeable students," she said, peering at Becca and Sirius through her thick round glasses. They quickly turned their laughter into coughs. Professor Froddic's lofty pronouncements had become a regular occurrence in Divination class.
"Now, today we will be reviewing palmistry, so everyone pair up and read each others' palms like I taught you at the end of last year," Professor Frodick instructed.
Becca grabbed Sirius' wrist and pulled it toward her. "Aw, Sirius, that short, squiggly line there? I think that expresses a short life—two weeks, to be precise," Becca said, imitating Froddic's misty voice while attempting to read Sirius's palm.
"Oh, but Beck, this crease on your palm clearly resembles a rope which means you shall be hanged to death tomorrow morning at three a.m.," Sirius said. They both began laughing as Professor Froddic swooped down upon them.
"I would think you two would be more serious towards this subject. Being a Seer is hard and unpredictable work," she expressed.
"Yeah, and you would know, wouldn't you, Professor?" Sirius asked innocently as Becca shook with silent giggles.
"Give me your hand, dear girl," she demanded. Becca held out her hand dully and waited to see what horrific event Froddic would come up with this time.
"Oh, I see…Deary me, this doesn't look so good…Poor girl…" she mumbled as she traced the lines on Becca's palm with her thin, bony fingers.
"What is it, Professor?" asked Gilderoy. The whole class was now paying attention to Becca and their teacher. Professor Froddic looked at Becca with pitying eyes before explaining. Apparently, Becca was going to suffer from a severe head injury resulting from getting struck by a bolt of lightening. All the Hufflepuffs gasped as the Gryffindors attempted to conceal their laughter. Finally the bell rang, relieving them of the hot stuffy classroom.
"Oh, and Mister Lockhart," she called out. Gilderoy stopped and turned around.
"Yes?" He asked curiously.
"Beware of a black haired man," she said dramatically. Gilderoy turned towards Sirius; his eyes widened in terror as he fled out of the trap door and down the ladder.
"What was that about?" Sirius asked, glancing over at Becca.
"No clue. But who cares? He's gone!" she responded, grinning infectiously.
That last period of the day, Charms, finally ended and the Marauders were heading down the hall to the Gryffindor common room.
"So, I was thinking tomorrow would be a great day to amaze everybody with a prank. You know, something to get the year started," James was saying, already making plans in his head.
"Yeah, honestly, because after lessons like today, the school's going to need some cheering up," Sirius agreed.
"Meeting tonight, in our dorm, at ten o'clock," James said.
Remus looked up from the book he had been reading. It always amazed James how he could read and walk at the same time. "Prongs, don't you have to patrol with Lily tonight?"
James rolled his eyes although secretly, part of him was dying from excitement. "Oh yeah. You know, if Evans hadn't been made Head Girl, I think I would just ditch all my duties. Or better yet, resign from the position," he said.
Peter laughed slightly. "I think resigning would be better than patrolling with Lily. I mean, who knows what kind of position you'll come back in tonight."
James glared at this friend. He was about to retort when something caught the corner of his eye. A tall, skinny pale teenager had just turned a corner, coming out a few feet in front of the Marauders. James face illuminated with mischief as he recognized the Slytherin.
Severus Snape wasn't a difficult guy to miss. With his greasy, lanky black hair and long hooked nose, he could easily be mistaken as a vampire. In fact, James and his friends had been convinced he was one for a while. The only friends he had were the other seventh year Slytherins, if you could call them friends. It was clear that if Snape weren't a Slytherin then the other slimy serpents would have nothing to do with him. Not to mention it helped that it was rumored Snape—along with many other Slytherin upperclassmen—was in league with Voldemort.
James elbowed Sirius in the ribs. "Well, guys, look who it is. Old Snivelly," he muttered, motioning in front of them.
Sirius's hand went immediately to his wand pocket while Peter's eyes seemed to light up with excitement. Peter usually wasn't brave enough to join in with the taunting and duelling, but he sure did love to watch it.
Remus closed his book and put it into his bag, sighing. "Prongs, you're Head Boy, I really don't think—" but it was too late.
"Oy! Snivellus!" James called out, strutting up to him with Sirius by his side.
Snape immediately knew who it was without having to turn around: Potter and his stupid friends. If they wanted to have a go at him he was ready to use some of the new hexes he had learned over the summer.
He whipped out his wand and spun around in a surprisingly fast motion. "Petrificus totalus" he hissed.
James and Sirius each easily blocked the spell. "Snivelly, you really should look up on your hexes. I mean, honestly, 'Petrificus totalus?' I knew how to do that one when I was nine," James taunted.
"Really, I guess he just spends too much time on washing his hair. What do you use by the way?" Sirius asked with mock interest. "Something manufactured especially for greasy hair, right?"
"To achieve that look? Forget shampoo—he obviously uses a ton of olive oil," James said loudly. By this time, a good group of students had surrounded around the Marauders and Snape. Most of the students laughed at James' remark while Remus and Peter stood on the sidelines looking upon the scene with different points of view.
Snape jabbed his wand at the two boys. "Stupefy!" he bellowed, but once again James and Sirius produced shields, which only made Snape's spell rebound onto himself. He was forced to jump quickly out of the way.
"Tarantallegra," James shouted. Snape, who had been caught unaware, went immediately into some strange foot dance. The onlookers laughed as Snape's legs flailed from underneath him as they continued doing some weird version of the tango.
"Rictusempra," Sirius added. The spell hit the dancing Snape that only added to his humiliation as he howled with a mixture of laughter and yelling, feeling like he was being repeatedly tickled.
"You…wait…" he gasped, trying to over power the spells that were affecting him. He was glaring at James with extreme dislike.
"Wait for what? What are you going to do? Wipe your nose on me?" James asked, smirking at Snape.
James and Sirius, who were too busy laughing, didn't realize that spells were beginning to wear off of Snape. Before James knew it, a large gash appeared on the side of his face.
James looked outraged that Snape had gotten him. In one fluid movement, Snape was skidding across the floor and then rammed into the wall with a sickening crunch, at the far end of the corridor.
James and Sirius each advanced their wands raised high. "I thought you would have learned by now that you can never win," James said in a low voice.
"I guess six years just hasn't been enough time for your small brain to comprehend that concept," Sirius said.
Lily, Becca, and Emily were walking back from the library when the hallway became blocked by masses of students. "What's going on?" asked Becca curiously. They pushed their way through the crowd finally coming to a scene that made Lily want to kill James right then and there.
Becca and Emily shot a worried look at each other. "Darn you, Potter!" Lily bellowed, marching straight up to where he and Sirius had Snape lying as stiff as cardboard on the floor.
James and Sirius turned anxiously around, recognizing the voice right from the start. "Hey, Evans. We were just teaching dear old Snivelly here how to duel properly. And, well, as you can see, he's rubbish at it," James explained motioning to the unconscious Slytherin.
Lily drew in a deep breath; her hair seemed to be cackling from all the anger that was built up inside of her. "Two on one? That's how you planned on 'teaching' him? You're bloody insane if you think those odds are fair, Potter!" she hollered, her hands shaking from rage.
"Well, he needs to learn sooner or later. Padfoot and I just decided that it'd be better for him if it were sooner," James answered coolly.
"You disgust me, Potter!" she hissed. The group that had crowded around slowly started to diminish. Being used to Lily and James fighting, there was nothing else exciting for them to see.
"Well, Snivellus disgusts me, but you don't see me complaining," James retorted.
"What do you call this then?" Lily screamed. James and Sirius each shrugged nonchalantly. Lily breathed heavily for a moment before talking again. "I want you two to take Severus to the Hospital Wing immediately, no objections. Thirty points will be taken from Gryffindor and you will both receive a detention," Lily explained angrily.
James objected. "Evans, you can't give me a detention; I'm Head Boy. Second of all, I'm going to give those thirty points you just took away, back to us. Oh, and twenty more to Sirius and I for beating Snivelly's arse."
Sirius became quite frightened by the look on Lily's face. "Um, Prongs, maybe it would just be best if we—" he stopped short as Lily smacked James across the face. The sound echoed throughout the hall. Becca, Emily, Remus, and Peter all winced. "Ouch. That has got to hurt," Becca muttered quietly.
"You can't add points to yourself, Potter. That's abusing your Headship. I took them off in the first place because in the first place, no magic in the halls. Especially not duelling. Second of all," she said, her voice dripping with contempt as she repeated the phrase he'd just used, "You're setting a poor example for younger students who look up to the Head Boy. No, forget 'poor'—it's abysmal. Absolutely abysmal."
"What are you, a walking thesaurus?" James asked, his eyebrows narrowing angrily. "And you should drop your holier-than-thou attitude," he advised condescendingly. "It gets old after a while." Before she could object—or start yelling again—he began talking again. "But since you've accused me of immature behaviour and insanity, Sirius and I will escort Snivellus to the Hospital Wing, just as you asked. In fact, we'll turn this into an object lesson." He turned and looked at the crowd of people that had gathered around. "Listen up, kids. This is how to make your Head Girl—may she scour the school for trouble-makers in peace—angry. Give a fellow student the schooling he deserves." He motioned to Sirius, who grabbed Snape's arm and the two wordlessly dragged him off in the direction of the Hospital Wing.
Lily was speechless. What arrogance! Glancing at the crowd angrily, she turned and marched toward the Gryffindor common room, leaving her friends behind.
Emily, Becca, and Remus looked at each other as the crowd left the corridor in search of other entertainment.
Remus broke the silence first. "First day back and Snape is already in the Hospital Wing, James and Lily have already fought, and the rest of us are already standing by helpless."
"Yeah," Emily mumbled, "It's a hell of a way to start the new year. Something needs to be done about this."
Becca nodded sullenly. "So much for that. Who's hungry for dinner?"
Thanks to the people who've been reviewing!
