though. Own both, I mean.
Mayhem.
That was the only word to describe the Marauders' summers. They were always full of pranks and mischief, resulting in injuries more then once. Messes were made, authorities contacted, and several Muggles needed to have their memories modified. But that didn't stop the Marauders from doing what they did best. No, they were not that easily brought down. Downfalls should be more . . . exciting, they decided, and were thoroughly disappointed when they found theirs in homework.
Only a week remained of holiday, and their school essays, shopping, and packing were yet to be finished. Because of their lack of planning ahead, everyone but Remus had a hard time finishing their undertakings in time for the trip to Diagon Alley. The fact that you could no longer find your way through James's room only added to the problem.
"Wormtail!" Sirius called over the din of James's radio. "Toss me my money bag!"
"What?" Peter cried back.
"Mo-ney!" Sirius shouted again. He raised a hand and rubbed two of his fingers together,
sending a sign language symbol to Peter. The watery-eyed boy nodded, and shoved his
way though a pile of dirtied shirts, a pair of shoes, empty chip bags, chocolate frog
wrappers, wrappers on which were scribbled notes for a Transfiguration or History of
Magic essay, and an odd assortment of many other things. Triumphantly, Peter held up
his hand, limply holding a sack filled with coins in it, and tossing it to Sirius.
Not even bothering to shout, Sirius mouthed the words, "Thank you," to Peter, holding up a thumbs-up sign. Peter nodded once more, and went back to sorting out his robes from James's.
As this had been going on, James had sneaked up behind Sirius, and quite randomly, he burst out into Muggle song lyrics at the top of his voice. "Going off the rails of a crazy train!" he shouted into Sirius's ear. The other Marauders' laughed as Sirius let out a startled yelp, whipping out his wand and turning on James. Once he had noticed who it was behind him (James had dissolved into fits of laughter, and was now rolling about on the floor on top of several books and articles of clothing), he scowled and calmly put his wand back into the casing that hung at his belt.
"You can't be too safe, now a days," the pure blood tried to reason with them.
James ruffled his hair. "Sure you can't, Padfoot."
"Shut up," he snapped back, swatting away James's hand.
"Ooh, pushy, are we?" James smirked, an evil grin playing on his features. "Not get enough sleep, hm? Too busy talking about, what was is, roosters, maybe?"
"No, just . . . ." Sirius stalled, an idea crashing down upon him. He tilted his head to the
side, peering out the window, his steely gray eyes staring at something that was not there.
"Hey," he said after a moment, "is that . . . Evans?"
"Evans?" James jumped up instantly. "Where? Is my hair okay? My shirt clean, no stains? Ooh, let me see! Wait a . . . where'd she go?"
The other three boys fell into a wave of hysteria once again at James's reaction. "Yeah,
hardy-har-har, Padfoot. I laugh at your wit."
"I know," Sirius replied through gasps for breath, "most people do." He seemed to
suddenly grow quite interested in his nails, just in time for James's hand to come crashing
down on the back of his head. Before Sirius could retort, Remus let out s victorious "Ha!
I found it!"
James and Sirius spun around and Peter looked up from where he had been trying to match up three socks unsuccessfully. "Found what?" they asked near simultaneously.
"This," Remus said, holding up a piece of parchment.
Peter crawled over to Remus, and Sirius, using James as a vault, vacated an empty spot
on the floor just behind them. He grabbed the paper just as James joined them. Small
scribbles, drawings, and phrases covered the parchment. "What exactly is this?" Sirius
asked, turning it over to view it from several angles, much to the annoyance of James,
who was trying to read the neat handwriting.
Remus snatched it away. "You'll see," he said, smiling as he placed it inside of his half-packed trunk. "It's just a few . . . ."
"Boys!" The call of James's mum cut Remus short. "Are you ready yet? We're leaving for Diagon Alley - now!"
"Coming, Mum!" James called through the closed door. The four stood, Sirius hopping slightly as he attempted to pull on a sock. The other three scrambled to find their money sacks and school lists, and James to shut the radio off. Once they were all set, they made a beeline for the stairs.
After all, Diagon Alley was a sign that school was about to begin, and the Marauders were truly looking forwards to it.