Heyaz again!

Okay, I've taken a look at how many hits this story has gotten, and I'm extremely impressed: nearly 3000! But then, I realized that not all of you are reviewing. So, for this ONE chapter, I'd like every single person that reads to review. Maybe it'll start a good habit.

Please, do this for me! The reviews inspire me to continue! Who knows, maybe you'll get a faster update... wink wink

Haha, here's chapter nine. Enjoy!

Chapter Nine:

April Fool's Day

by PotterScar

Soon, March faded away for April, and with April came rain. A hell of a lot of rain.

First year Gryffindor students held their textbooks over their heads as they dashed down the muddy, slippery grounds to Herbology on April Fool's Day (AN: Not sure if English people "celebrate" that... I'm assuming they do. If they don't... sorry).

Remus, Sirius, and Peter were extraordinarily grumpy as they entered Greenhouse One. But James was chipper, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Hinkypunk in your pants?"Sirius grumbled, and James blushed, calming down, but he still wore a slightly devilish grin on his face.

"Dear Sirius, do you not know what day it is?" he asked, and Sirius looked at him blankly. James gaped at him. "April Fool's Day!"

Sirius blinked. "What's that?" he asked, looking at James in confusion.

James stared openly at him, before responding, "Only the greatest prank day ever! How do you not know about April Fool's Day?"

Sirius shrugged in response. "My family doesn't hold pranks in high regard, I guess. So, you prank people on April Fool's Day?"

James grinned. "Yes! It's universal! Everyone does it! Even people in other countries!"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, my cousin in America loves to prank people. Mum says it's because he was born on April Fool's Day."

Slowly, a grin spread across Sirius' pale face. "Since it's the 'greatest prank day ever'... shall we Marauders pull something?"

Peter blinked, looking worried. "Do we have enough time to plan something by dinner?" he asked, and James pursed his lips, looking rather like McGonagall.

"Let's see... it's-" he checked his watch - "8:49. That gives us about ten hours to pull something. If we goof of during class instead of actually paying attention, we can plan something, I think."

"Yeah... we have Study Hall anyway, we could research in the library," Sirius said. "But what shall we do?"

That Herbology was spent talking in hushed tones about prank ideas over their potted Devil's Snares, which tried to snag Sirius once or twice.

"Damn these plants," Sirius said, yanking one off of him (again). James looked up from the parchment he and Remus had been scribbling on, while Peter did the Herbology work (it was the one class he was good at).

"Aw, can ickle Siri not handle the pwants?" James said in a sickening baby voice, while Remus and Peter snickered. Sirius rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath and shoving his black locks of hair away from his eyes as he stared at his feet sulkily. His attitude lasted all of two seconds as he overheard James whispering to Remus, "but we don't know the color changing charm yet!"

"Something we can research in the library," Remus said with a shrug. "It can't be too hard, right?"

"What are you four up to?" came a prissy female voice behind them. Sirius inwardly groaned as the four boys turned around to face Lily Evans. She looked stern, glaring at James and Sirius in particular, but her 'menacing' position was ruined by the smudge of dirt on her nose.

James narrowed his eyes at Lily, Sirius following suit. "Any reason you care?" James asked smoothly, raising a brow.

"I'd rather not lose more points for Gryffindor, Potter!" she said shrilly, and Sirius and James rolled their eyes at each other.

"Why don't you join Ravenclaw or something, they never misbehave," Sirius said, and Lily huffed, stomping away.

"Goody two-shoes..." James muttered under his breath.

"A good-looking goody two-shoes..." Peter said, looking up at James. Sirius stared at him incredulously, and James arched his eyebrows.

"Peter's right... I mean, look at her," Remus said, looking over at Lily. James and Sirius followed suit.

Sirius couldn't disagree with Peter or Remus. Lily had dark, thick red hair that fell to about her shoulder blades and the most startling green eyes Sirius had ever seen. She was petite and slender, and her skin was flawless and creamy.

James grunted, "She's okay looking..."

Peter, Remus, and Sirius rolled their eyes at each other, not knowing that within a year, James would develop a stalkerish-like crush on the girl...

The Marauders sat hunched over a piece of parchment in History Of Magic. Like everyone else, they were paying absolutely no attention to Professor Binns, an elderly man who looked like one good wind would blow him over.

..if we do somehow manage to master the color-changing charm, a fifth year spell, how the hell do we get it to work on EVERY student in the school? James scribbled, and the other three boys read it, before Remus wrote back.

Trust me, this will work. I came up with it.

And you said we're arrogant... Sirius wrote. Anyway, smart-boy, how do you propose we get this charm mastered and figure out how to charm everyone in school?

Trust me.

We don't.

You'd better start.

Do we even know where to look for a book? (JP)

I'm sure High and Mighty Remus knows...

Guys, Lily's looking back here (PP)

I bet she likes the view...

Sirius!

Haha... just kidding... not

Can we get back on topic, guys? We need to figure this out... we have Study Hall next!

Learn your schedule, James... we have Charms next. Then Study Hall.

What do we have after that?

Transfiguration

Wow, Petey remembers his schedule...

Our little boy is growing up...

It seems like only yesterday we were feeding him from a bottle...

Shut up.

I'm scared now...

Guys?

Yeah?

Yeah?

Yeah?

SHUT UP!

Yessir.

We should change Evans' hair color everyday after we learn the charm...

She'd tattle.

Oh... yeah... brat.

Agreed.

ANYWAY, guys... about the prank...

Yes?

Are we hexing the teachers too or only the students?

Oh, teachers too! We can make Dumbledore's beard pink!

O...kay...

You know my idea's brill.

Sure, Sirius.

Sirius was about to scribble a reply when the bell rang, jerking half the class from slumber. Apparently, only Lily had been taking notes. Everyone else had been sleeping or passing notes back and forth.

"To Charms, dear Marauders! Sirius said boldly, and marched down the corridor. The other three boys sighed wearily, trotting after him in a put-upon way.

The Marauders were, strangely enough, among the first to slip into Flitwick's classroom. Flitwick nearly fell of his chair with shock.

The class was spent reviewing Animating charms. Remus had no problem, as he'd already mastered that before winter. Sirius and James soon had the charm, and the three of them continued to work on their prank while Peter tried desperately to get the charm.

"So, what have we got so far?" Sirius whispered to James and Remus. Remus passed him the much-scribbled on parchment.

Students walk in. Step on marked spot. Color-changing charm activated.

Twenty minutes later, charm takes effect (slowed down for delayed reaction). Students/staff hair turns neon shades. Slytherins' hair turns red and gold. Dumbledore's hair turns pink. Note on the ceiling saying, "Courtesy of the Marauders. Happy April Fool's Day!"

Sirius had to say the plan was brilliant for a bunch of eleven year olds.

The Marauders sat patiently, waiting for Charms to end so they could go to Study Hall. The bell didn't ring soon enough, and the Marauders were the first students out of the classroom and, consequently, the first students in the library.

Remus left to find a book while the other three Gryffindors went off to claim a table. They found a secluded one in the back, where they weren't in danger of being overheard by, say, Lily Evans.

Several minutes later Remus came back from the Charms section of the library with a book in his hand, his finger wedged between the pages, saving a certain page. The book was old and tattered, with a weak but thick spine and brittle pages. The title was slightly worn away, but you could still see the words "Advanced" and "Level 5".

He dropped the book on the table, and it flipped open to the page he'd been saving. The page was titled, "Color Changing Charms: The Basics." Underneath were several paragraphs explaining the origin of the color-changing charm and how to preform it. Remus began to practice it as Sirius went off to find a book on how to delay charms when they were activated. Finding it in the second year section, he decided that he would be the one to preform the charm.

Taking it back to the table, he read through the paragraphs explaining it. It was fairly simple, just an incantation. Confident that he understood it, he sat down only to see Remus turn his quill from white to neon green.

"Brilliant!" James said, grinning, and Sirius grinned as well. Peter's eyes were bugging out, impressed with his friend.

"Okay, who wants to be the one to cut Transfiguration to set it up?" Remus asked. Everyone was silent for a moment, before Sirius sighed. "I'll do it. If McGonagall asks, which she will, tell her I'm up in the dorm 'cause I don't feel well."

"She won't buy that," James said, and Sirius shrugged.

"Good luck, mate," James said, clapping Sirius on the back as Sirius turned left at the library door instead of right.

"Yeah... don't mess anything up," Remus said warningly. "You know how to do the charm, right?"

"Yes, mother," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, and Remus laughed. Sirius turned away from his friends, walking down the hall and slipping behind a suit of armor to hide until the hall cleared out. Ten minutes later, Sirius was safe, and he tiptoed down to the Great Hall.

Sirius had never seen it deserted, and he was struck by how huge it was. Suddenly, he felt so insignificant. Shaking himself out of it, Sirius walked to the top step of the marble staircase, mumbling, "Addo." He did the same for every enterance so nobody would be missed. Unfortunately, the Marauders (minus Sirius) wouldn't be spared.

Next, he charmed each spot with the color-changing charm, then the delaying charm, setting the time to fifteen minutes (they'd decided that twenty was too long to wait). Using special charms, he specified it so that the Slytherin's hair would turn red-and-gold, and Dumbledore's hair would turn pink. After thinking for a second, he decided that McGonagall would have purple hair with sparkles in it. Finally, he pointed his wand at the ceiling and preformed the signature charm, then the delaying charm, setting the time to sixteen minutes.

Smirking, Sirius hid under the marble stairs for the next half-hour, waiting for class to end. Eventually, it did, and students began to stream into the hall, unknowingly activating the charm.

Sirius met up with Remus, Peter, and James at the steps minutes later.

"Did you do it?" Remus whispered. Sirius nodded, and the four boys broke into identical grins.

"Excellent," James whispered, and the Marauders took their seats, waiting for their handiwork to show.

Fifteen minutes later, the Hall came up in an uproar when Dumbledore's beard turned bright pink. James' hair when neon green, Remus' yellow, and Peter's blue. The Slytherin's table was soon a sea of red and gold. McGonagall screeched with annoyance when the words appeared in the sky.

"ANYONE WHO HAS INFORMATION ON THESE MARAUDERS PLEASE REPORT TO MY OFFICE DIRECTLY AFTER DINNER!" she screamed, and stormed out of the Hall. The effect of it was ruined, as her hair was extremely sparkly.

Another chapter posted... :)

Luv,

PotterScar

By the way – Return to Hogwarts HAS BEEN UPDATED!