(The Real) Chapter 8: Apologies and the Mother of All Pranks

The girls did as Eldarion had said to doand pretended that the whole affair had never occurred. This, however, unnerved the Marauders even more than if the girls had reacted with outright anger. Anger they could deal with, but just letting the whole thing blow over without a word? Something was wrong, and the Marauders had a feeling that they would be paying greatly for what they did. Not wanting to suffer something dire at the hands of the two greatest third year witches, the Marauders made to apologize.

Which meant having to humble themselves, something that James, Sirius, and Peter were unwilling to do, Remus however was ready and willing to do anything to regain Sairina's trust.

The Monday morning after the 'incident', heinitiated his plan to get back into her good graces. It started with an owl (Sirius's owl to be precise because Remus didn't have one of his own) swooping down over the Ravenclaw table and stopping in front of Sairina. In its beak it had one of the most amazing flowers Sairina had ever seen. It had pale purple petals, three large ones splayed out and three smaller petals towards the center of it. The owl carefully dropped it into her open hand, and for the first time she noticed that there was a note attached.

It read:

Sai,

I know that you think that I had something to do with the prank that the others played on you, but please hear my side of the argument out first. I had no clue they were going to be pulling a stunt like that, but I feel partly responsible because I pressed you into an uncomfortable situation which then allowed them the opportunity to play their cruel prank.

Please believe me when I say that I would never do anything that would hurt you, and take this flower as a peace offering in hopes that we can return to being the friends that we were before. It is a Siberian Iris, and I placed an everlasting charm over it so that it can be a constant reminder to you of how sorry I am, and how terrible I feel about this whole thing.

Friends still?

Remmy

Sairina appreciated the gesture, but until she actually spoke to Remus, she couldn't tell if he was truly sorry or not. She carefully looped the stem into the strap of her messenger bag and hefted it over her shoulder. Lily caught her eye and the two girls both made their way to leave the hall. Their progress was impeded by three sorry looking fellows. It was James, Peter, and Sirius.

"Please move," Lily commanded venomously while Sairina glared at them, "We need to go to Ancient Runes." The girls pushed past the boys and began moving down the hall in the direction of their class. To their dismay, and disgust, the three boys trailed after them. Upon reaching their class, Lily and Sairina rounded on the boys.

"What do you want, Potter?" Sairina asked coldly glaring at him. Unfazed by her attitude towards him, he responded.

"We came to apologize," he answered with out the slightest hint of remorse, "Sorry." The other two murmured an apology as well. Sairina and Lily looked bewildered at them.

"That's it?" Sairina demanded, her royal attitude coming to the surface, "You think and mumbled apology will get us to forgive you. I highly think not." She turned to enter the classroom when someone harshly grabbed her arm.

"Look," Sirius growled pulling her back, "We aren't doing this because we want to. Your dear little Remmy wanted us to. Frankly I could care less about your hurt pride, but what we did hurt him as well. More than we realized it could. We didn't want to apologize, but we did. We're only doing this because we want our friend back. You had your fun with him, but we know you'll break his heart. Leave him alone or else."

"Are you threatening me?" Sairina asked with a defensive edge to her voice. Sirius smirked darkly.

"It's not a threat. It's a promise," Sirius let go of her and turned his back on the girls. He stalked off with the other two trailing behind him. Sairina continued to glare after him until they rounded the corner.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he became a murderer," Sairina said softly and Lily smirked.

"Personally," she began, "I think your brother should spare Remus and make Sirius' prank twice as worse." The girls laughed.

"You know what," Sairina thought aloud, "That's not such a bad idea."

/0/0/

Remus cautiously poked his head into the library and scanned what he could see. He let out a frustrated sigh. Sairina wasn't there. He had been searching for her ever sense the end of classes for the day, but she seemed to keep vanishing. Sighing he let the door to the library close with a dull thud. Maybe she didn't forgive him, and she never wanted to talk to him again.

"Looking for some one?" Remus turned on his heel suddenly. There was Sairina standing directly behind him, less that a foot from him, twirling the flower he had sent her playfully in her fingers.

"I see you got the flower I sent you," Remus stated obviously and Sairina nodded, "Did you read the note as well?" Again Sairina nodded. "But you don't believe that I'm truly sorry."

"Are you?" Sairina asked in a dangerously soft voice. Remus gulped.

"Yes," he stated firmly, "I had no clue what the others were planning, and if I had, I would have put an end to it immediately. I never, in my wildest dreams, would want to hurt you." Remus gently cupped her cheek with his hand.

This is so wrong! Sairina's mind screamed at her, but she ignored it. His hand felt comfortably warm against her cheek. She closed her eyes and savored the warmth momentarily.

"I will say this, however," she murmured with her eyes fluttering between open and shut, "Your friends are fiercely loyal." Remus's hand slowly pulled away.

"What makes you say that?" he asked while she gave him a knowing stare, "So they did apologize, didn't they?" Sairina scoffed.

"It was the strangest and rudest apology I've ever received," she retorted and Remus let out a tired sigh and swearing very softly under his breath. This made Sairina smile, "You can't force them to apologize for something they are not truly sorry for."

"You're right," Remus conceded, "but what they did still wasn't right, and then they tried to drag me into it . . ." Sairina laughed once more seeing Remus was becoming quite flustered with the idea. Remus smiled too, "You should laugh more often; it's a beautiful laugh." Sairina smiled and held out her hand.

"Friends once more?" She asked. Instead of shaking her hand, Remus took it and placed a light kiss on the top of her hand.

"Of course," he said charmingly, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go beat those three to a bloody pulp." Remus turned nonchalantly and made his way down the hall. Sairina shook her head and began to make her way back towards the Ravenclaw common room.

He sure is something. She thought mirthfully.

/0/0/

It had been two weeks to the day since the dung bomb incident in Hogsmeade, and Lily was impatiently pacing the eighth floor corridor in front of the ornate mirror at the end of the hall. Sairina had vanished into it more than and hour before and Lily was playing the part of look out.

Today was going to be the day of their revenge.

Lily let out a sigh and glanced at her watch for the hundredth time since Sairina had vanished. There were still several hours before dinner, but she didn't want to get caught in the act. It would ruin her perfect record. A familiar crackling noise made her jump and she turned to her friend.

"What took you so long?" she demanded as Sairina beckoned the other through. Sairina jerked her thumb at the four boys.

"They were being stubborn," she explained, "They were confused about how to put on the school robes." Lily giggled.

"Shut up, Sai," Eldarion grumbled as he messed with his robes. He hefted a large carpet bag over his shoulder and the other boys followed suit with their respective bags, "Now, where is the Great Hall?"

/0/0/

Students streamed into the Great Hall with rumbling stomachs and lively chatter. Sairina looked up worriedly. Her brother and his friends insisted that they needed to be there to ensure that things went of smoothly, and the four of them were now hidden up in the rafters behind the enchantment placed on the ceiling. They were each wearing an extremely rare cloak that was made by Lady Galadriel ages ago, which helped hide them from prying eyes.

Sairina looked at Lily and let out a soft chuckle. Lily was beside herself with excitement. It was then that Sairina decided that Lily needed to break the rules more often. Lily caught Sairina's stare and smiled reassuringly. Then a commotion at the doors caused them to look away. The Marauders were making their entrance known with winks and smiles. Remus looked only at Sairina and smiled shyly, Sairina returned the smile. Some where above her, she swore she heard the sound of someone pretending to gag followed by snickers.

The Marauders took their seats, and the prank began.

First, what the four boys failed to realize, was that their usual seats were coated by a thin clear film what was actually one of the stickiest substances in Middle-Earth. Sairina had protested and saidthat nothing shouldbe done to Remus, but the Trastahíl would hear nothing of it. After much bickering, Eldarion finally put his foot down and said that he needed to be taught a lesson. What lesson that was, he wouldn't say, and only frustrated his sister.

Dinner progressed naturally enough. The hall was noisy and there were many things happening. Including things that people didn't care to take note of, like several drops of an orangey liquid falling from the ceiling into the cup of Peter.

Next, came the degrading remarks. It is a known fact that the Rohirrim are able to throw the sound of their voices across great distances. They need to be able to do this so that the scouts can communicate with those following and vice versa across the hilly plains. Elfwine had gone one step further and perfected this ability to the indoors and could sound like he was standing in any corner of a building.

"What is that disgusting thing sitting on your shoulders, Professor Adair?" his voice projected from the area of the Marauders, "Oh, never mind, it's only your head." The severe Potion's teacher visibly stiffened and glared at the four trouble makers.

"What did you day, Mr. Potter?" He asked cold glaring at the boy (for Elfwine's voice greatly mirrored that of James'). James looked flabbergasted.

"I . . ." He began, but Elfine's voice replaced his, ". . . said that you are the ugliest man I have ever seen." James clamped his hand over his mouth and everyone's eyes turned to the third year Gryffindor. People looked at him in shock, but Sirius shook with stifled laughter and reached to pat his friend on the shoulder.

Sairina held her breath as Peter reached for his cup and brought it to his lips. He took a swig and swallowed. The results were, needless to say, immediate.

Peter slammed his hand over his mouth and ducked his head under the table and, Sairina could only assume, emptied the contents of his stomach onto the floor. There were loud shouts and shrieks from surrounding Gryffindors, resulting in several students jumping up and moving away.

It was at this juncture that, in trying to get up, the boys found that they were stuck to their seats. Riotous laughter broke out as the demeaning comments towards Professor Adair, Peter's vomiting, and the boys' attempts to get up continued.

"SILENCE!" Professor Dumbledore ordered, and there wasn't a peep. Well, almost. There was a faint plucking sound, the sound of four taught strings being cut. The four boys slowly looked up simultaneously and saw their impending doom drop from the ceiling.

A thick, clear wave fell from the ceiling, showering the already stuck four boys and their general proximity. The substance was sticky and seemed to coat everything, every crevice, crease, and opening. Then a hail of white fluffy feathers began to rain down upon the four sticky boys sufficiently coating them.

Sairina looked up into the rafters along with everybody else. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw the last bit of a cloak disappear out the window the owls flew in every morning. Looking to Lily, who was shaking with silent laughter, Sairina made her way through the crowd and escaped into the eighth corridor. Despite their need for secrecy, the four troublemakers were howling with laughter.

"Did you see the looks on their faces as we dropped the glue?" Elboron wheezed.

"I know!" Elwine howled, "It was priceless. Don't you think so Sairina?" The boys turned to the princess. She couldn't take it any longer.

She laughed. She laughed long, loud, and hard.

"I am stillmad at you for doing it to Remus as well," she said finally after regaining her composure. Eldarion shrugged.

"It wouldn't have been right to leave him out," Alphros reasoned, "All for one and one for all, or so my father says." Sairina rolled her eyes.

"You four need to get back," she said simply opening the portal. The four boys vanished and it resealed. Sighing, Sairina began to weave her way back to civilization.

For some reason, unbeknownst to her, she paused momentarily next to a large space of open wall on the seventh floor corridor. She had the sinking feeling that right now, she was being watched. Shrugging off the feeling she walked the rest of the way back to the Ravenclaw common room laughing softly to herself.