October
Summary: James and Sirius play another one of their dastardly pranks... and who's a better victim than dear old Snivellus?
Status: Complete
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the squirrel. But that goes without saying.
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Under a gnarled maple tree that grew near the Hogwarts lake, a teenage boy dozed amongst the autumn-hued leaves drifting to the ground. With his back sprawled against the tree's brittle trunk, he snoozed with his arms tucked behind his head. Black robes draped his lanky body, and upon closer examination, one could make out what appeared to be a small golden sphere with silver wings embroidered on the chest.
A squirrel rustled across a branch overhead, in search of acorns to eat, and set off a cascade of crisp leaves that blew onto the ground. Some settled on the boy's unruly black hair, some became caught in the fibers of his scarf, blending in with the yarn's vibrant bands of red and gold. But the sleeping boy did not notice, nor did the chattering of students milling by the glassy lake disturb him from his nap.
A clear, deep voice called from the lake.
"Prongs!"
The voice received no reply. A while later, it called again with more excited urgency.
"Prongs! Oy, Prongs!"
The boy under the tree shifted in his slumber as the voice grew louder, nearer.
"Prongs! You bugger, get up!" The speaker came into sight, striding over to the maple tree. He, too, was dressed in black robes, but his were not embellished at the chest. His hair was jet-black and carefully combed, and a mischievous grin lighted his face. It had always been noted by admirers that Sirius Black had a very handsome face.
Ambling up to the reclined Prongs, unperturbed and still sleeping, Sirius bent down. Grabbing a handful of leaves from the ground, he threw it in the other boy's face.
"Wake up!"
Prongs, otherwise known to less close acquaintances as James Potter, jerked out of his slumber. Striking was the best word to describe his face; doubled with perpetually tousled hair and twinkling hazel eyes, at first glance he possessed rather attractive features that caused more than one stranger to double back and take closer look. Not as handsome as Sirius, he gave of an air of affected confidence that caused people to think him better looking the more they got to know him.
Raising his head with bleary effort, James rubbed his eyes and groaned, "What in bloody hell is your problem, Padfoot?"
"Grab your wand. You have to come see this." Sirius bent down and whispered excitedly into his friend's ear. James's eyes grew wide when he heard what Sirius had to say, and grinned widely.
"You don't say?" he asked, mischievously. "Well, where did you see them?"
"A little ways away from the whomping willow, but I don't think they saw me when I passed by."
James snorted with laughter. "I'd imagine not. Well, Padfoot, I suppose we'd better hurry over or miss out on all the fun."
He pulled out a fluid-looking cloth from the pocket of his robes. "We might need this."
They two boys ducked under James's invisibility cloak and, carefully navigating around the other groups of students who were milling lazily by the lake, made their way to the whomping willow.
They found what they were looking for behind a berry bush that grew near the tree. James could hardly hold back a laugh when he caught sight of whom else but little Severus Snape, joined at the face with his fellow Slytherin Mirabelle Horner, a freckled, homely girl whose limp mousey curls were being so perturbed by her partner's groping hands. He exchanged a look with Sirius. "You can do the honors," he mouthed.
Sirius slipped his wand out of a robe pocket and, muttered something under his breath, made a jabbing movement with his arm. By the bush, Snape and Mirabelle suddenly jerked to a stop, feeling their mouths glue together from Sirius's spell. Mirabelle took a step backwards, dragging the hapless Snape with her, and the look of shock on her face became one of horror as she began to shriek into his mouth, struggling to let herself loose. But of course, they couldn't come undone.
After a minute of watching the show, and openly laughing by now, Sirius flicked his wand to the right. His two victims broke free, Mirabelle sobbing while Snape stood in shock, rage and recognition building in face.
"POTTER!" he bellowed, stomping around and grabbing at air. "Come out in the open, you coward!" He came dangerously close to touching James and Sirius under the cloak when he appeared to give up and returned to comfort Mirabelle, who was sitting on the ground and sobbing harder. Feeling that the fun was spent, the two Marauders decided to leave.
Sprinting back toward the maple tree, James wrenched off the cloak as the two boys fell onto the ground, laughing hysterically.
"That was even better than I thought it would be. Snivellus and Hideous Horner… who'd have guessed?"
"I'd say he looked slimier than usual when he was trying feel her up."
"If that were even possible."
"That's what he gets for trying with a girl."
"Surprising enough that he even got one."
"Did you see the look on Snivellus's face when Horner was trying to get unstuck?"
"Did you see the way he looked when he was trying to find where we were?" James lurched around, waving his arms around and rolling his eyes in imitation. "Oh, Potter, you coward, come out, come out, wherever you are!" He stopped. "I say, it was rather unfair of him to think that I cast the spell. What on earth have I done to him to deserve such an accusation?" he asked, throwing up his arms in mock innocence.
Sirius hooted. "Poor Snivellus, he's just not that bright, is he?"
"When was he ever?" Suddenly, James sobered. He stood up from the ground, brushing off the leaves clinging to his robes. "You don't think we did any lasting damage, do you?"
"Since when did you care?" asked Sirius. "Aren't we mortal enemies with him, or whatever?"
"Yeah, we are, but I was just thinking of what Moony would say if he knew about what we did."
"Moony? Why, he'd just chuckle along, or bury his head in a book." Sirius nodded. "See, mate, unlike most of the other cross, uptight Prefects, our upstanding friend Remus Lupin understands that desperate situations require certain drastic solutions, and the misfortunate Snivellus happens to be a desperate situation. Besides, that slime ball takes great pains to curse us whenever he can, which is not often considering his pathetic spell-casting ability, so consider this returning the favor."
James smiled, ruefully. "I guess you're right. Where is Moony, anyway?"
"Up in the common room, wasting his well-earned weekend writing that Defense Against the Dark Arts essay, and helping Wormtail finish his."
"Studious man," James said, picking up a fallen leaf from the ground and twirling it between his fingers. "Maybe we should nip up there and join them?"
"No need to. Why waste our glorious and noble youth on such trivial matters? O.W.L.s aren't even until next term."
"Fair enough. How about we go to the quidditch pitch and play a game of one-on-one, then?"
Sirius got up. "Now that, my good friend, is a great idea. Let's go!"
And walking off in the direction of the pitch, Padfoot and Prongs discussed the success of their day.