Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling and I am not profiting from this in any financial way possible. I, however, am just getting some relaxation and this story is meant for pure pleasure so please don't sue me. Besides, I am a college student and it is really hard financially as it is anyways. Well, this is my lecture, happy reading, or bash me to the ground if you want, don't really care. Actually I kinda do, if you have like it and want me to continue, then say so, I really am wanting to do this until 7th year but we will see.
The Amazing Soccer Ball
The following morning, Lily woke up at six o'clock from her awakening charm. She cleared her scarlet and gold silk curtains and a stray light illuminated the dark circular room. There were six fifth year Gryffindor girls. All of them were her best friends. They were Sara Cere, Erika Rose Readings, Rachael Bethel Lane, Alice Jessica, and Eaton Celena Morning. Everyone but Sara was sleeping. Sara was one of the early risers, who woke up even earlier than Lily who left to workout. Lily looked out of the window in which it would seem to be a clear and sunny day. While looking into the ruby gold horizon, she remembered the Slytherin gang was left sleeping on the fifth floor balcony. Lily went to the window between Rachael and Erika. She swiped the curtains aside and looked out through their window. When she looked down to the balcony, she saw Severus Snape, Bellatrix Black, Gerald Randoff, Nathan Nott, Roy Rosier and Gravis Avery all passed out. Severus was on his stomach, his knees and black socks uncovered by tangled robes. Bellatrix's normally luxurious straight black hair was scattered all around the mortar. Lily tried to suppress laughter but she couldn't and cracked a laughter that spawned a chortle.
Lily struggled to stand up while placing her right hand on her stomach as she reached out for solid furniture to help her up. Lily swiped at some air and Lily fell over. At extinguishing some of the laughter on the floor, Lily decided that she should take some pictures. She crawled over to her bed and opened her drawer. She found her camera and then walked back to the window. Still giggling, she took several pictures.
"What is so interesting that you are taking some pictures at… 6:10 in the morning?" a girl questioned in disbelief.
"Oh, you're awake, Erika?" Lily said while taking more photos, "Hey, come over here, you will love it,"
Erika groaned about something but got up nevertheless and when she realized what she was looking at when she was looking down the window, she burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh, look at those losers. Look at Bellatrix, her hair must have been styled pixies!"
Erika then woke up Celena and the domino effect started which ended with the all Gryffindor girls up and laughing at the Slytherins' jumble at sixth thirty in the morning. When the craze died down, all the girls got ready for the day. When Sara got back, drenched in sweat from her jog, Lily ushered her friend to the window. Sara had long blond hair reaching down her back like Lily with clear blue eyes. She had the typical blonde looks but definitely could not say the same thing to her personality. She had a personality much like Lily as she was witty, charming and daring. She was a fit and slim chaser for Gryffindor who was 5'4".
When they got there, they saw Mr. Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts. He was a late middle aged man with graying black hair, crooked nose and a notorious face of displeasure. Today, he happened himself to a group of Slytherins sleeping on the fifth floor balcony. His yelling woke up Severus and Bellatrix, while in haste, they left their sleeping companions. Lily had another moment of pleasure at looking at the distraught Slytherins while Alicia raised her hand to her mouth to suppress her giggles.
"Let it go Al, it will do wonders," Lily said while Filch started tapping Nathan in the guts.
"What a morning, wow. I get to laugh at those idiots today, man. How did this happen?" Roy was seen being scratched by Mrs. Norris in the nose before he too stumbled back into the castle.
"Yeah Lil, do you know why they were sleeping there?" Celena asked taking note of the two girl's laughter.
"It has to do with Potter hexing them to sleep," Lily said while she watched Filch wake up Gerald who was shocked considerably for a few seconds. The shock was powerful, even Filch and Gravis were shocked. Gravis quickly ran for cover inside while Filch yelled more. The girls chuckled even more at the sight as finally Filch came over to Gerald and pulled on his ear and went inside.
"I guess Potter left Gerald with an extra surprise," Lily finally coming out of her hysteria.
After that, the girls had an uneventful Wednesday morning as by eight o'clock; they made it down to the Great Hall. Lily sat two seats from Remus while sitting in between Celena and Erika. There were eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, waffles, French toasts, muffins, English muffins, bagels and fruits littered across the table. For drinks, there was orange juice, water and milk. Lily summoned a bagel and smeared butter on it and took a bite. Erika was having waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Celena was having some English muffins with peach jam. Remus, Sirius and Peter were all talking about James and from the looks of Sirius, he was pissed. Peter had the indifferent face while Remus was trying to tranquilize the raging beast.
"Prongs is a dead man," Sirius muttered before he grabbed a sausage and pop it into his mouth whole.
"Let it go for the hundredth time you crybaby," Remus said while cutting his pancakes.
"I told you, he went too far,"
"Oh brother,"
Another conversation caught Lily's attention as she heard a shrill high pitched voice screech at someone.
"How dare you sorry for an excuse for a wizard leave me outside sleeping while you were indoor," Bellatrix snarled while Rodophus seemed to be shrinking under the table.
Rodophus begged for forgiveness but only caused Bellatrix to flare in anger even more. Lily heard Sirius crack a huge smile before the whole hall was silent and was focused on the Slytherin table. Bellatrix sighed out loud and stormed out of the hall moments later.
After breakfast, the Gryffindor had Potions with the Slytherin. Lily was looking forward to potion class because they were going to learn how to make the invisibility potion. The potion was extremely complex as it took three days to brew and Professor Slughorn really excited Lily because they were going to learn a key technique that will be required to be employed for Potion O.W.L. at the end of the year.
Horace Slughorn was a jolly man, with thick, shiny, straw-colored hair and with broad gingerly, blonde moustache. He was a huge man, with a beer belly who had a knack for seeing and recruiting talent into his club. He invented a club in which he hand picks the most talented group of students that he saw over the years and admitted them into the club, giving them special treatment. Once a week, the Slug Club would meet to have a social event during Friday night dinner where Professor Slughorn would take the time to socialize with each one of them. Lily was one of the members, as well as Sara, Celena, Rachael, and Erika. Frank was also in it, as well as Allan and Alice. James, Sirius, and Remus were offered spots during their first month in their first year, when their humorous pranks left Slughorn amused, but after Peter became their friend, they left the club to create the Marauders. Slughorn ever since then would ask them to reconsider rejoining which they flatly rejected over the years.
Lily as usual partnered with Erika while Sara was with Rachael, Alice with Frank, Remus with Peter, and Celena with Allan. That left Sirius the odd one out because James wasn't there but Professor Slughorn said that he had to start the potion without him. That angered Sirius greatly for it was not that Sirius couldn't handle it by himself. No, it was far from it for Sirius was brilliant even though he may not act like it.
"Fuck that bastard. Because of him, I get to do a two man job," Sirius complained to Remus who gave him an unsympathetic look.
"Padfoot, lay off, you got it easy, not only do I have to do most of the work, I have to teach Wormtail so he won't fail miserably," Remus retorted coldly.
"Hey am I not here?" Peter asked which got the attention of his friends in which Remus gave an apologetic chucked while Sirius started smiling.
"Sorry Wormtail, but he has a point," Sirius said laughing before he thought about James again, "Still, that prat is gonna get it, leaving me to do all of his share today,"
"Did you not hear what I just said?" Remus asked with disbelief.
The rest of Potion class went uneventful except for an exploding cauldron. Apparently Serenity Oren, a Slytherin blonde girl, stirred counter clockwise too many times during the crucial stirring process which caused a chain reaction to cause the explosion while her partner, Amy Winters screamed at her.
Next was Herbology, in which they had to deal with the Wenterbourne's Needle Cactus, which are plants found in the tropics which spit out needles time it gets touched. While Professor Sprouts was lecturing the class on what to do, Sirius had to do it all by himself.
Pomona Sprouts was a short plump woman, with brown hair and green eyes. She had a green gardener's hat on top of her soiled brown robes. Sirius had to work alone again as there were even number of Hufflepuffs. By the time classes were over, poor Sirius had three times the amount of needles sticking out of him than Peter which is amazing. It was a two person job, one using the containment spell which was a channeling spell, the other extracted the precious leaves which are used for variety of potions.
After that, Lily went to Transfiguration which is taught by Professor McGonagall. Minerva McGonagall was a tall woman with black hair rolled into a bun. She had beady eyes which are hidden behind square glasses. Her tartan robes were neat and orderly, which defines her personality. She is strict and has the highest expectation of any teacher at Hogwarts, especially to her own house, Gryffindor. It is said that if you could get an Outstanding in Transfiguration, you can get Outstanding in anything.
Lily made it into class three minutes early, while being trailed by the Marauders and a sulky Sirius, who tried to heal his wounds. Professor McGonagall was taking attendance when she scanned the room.
"Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall called out again impatiently while taking attendance.
"Professor? James is in the hospital wing. He drank a poison and got really sick," Remus answered nervously unsure of the strict professor's response. A couple of the girls were groaning and sighing, while a bunch of Slytherins chuckled.
"Maybe that will teach the boy to not consume the first thing that appears into his view," Professor McGonagall said while Sirius was about to protest because she was describing him more than James but decided against it. A bunch of laughter resounded especially from the Slytherin boys. The girls like most in the school went berserk hoping James was alright and some of them eyed Professor McGonagall coldly. Lily and her friends laughed after hearing McGonagall's words.
The period was strenuous as always, leaving Sirius alone to the work for both himself and James. They were learning to transfigure a quill into a kitten. It was not as bad as the last class period as McGonagall made them turn a pin into a ferret. Only James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, Rachael and Severus were able to do it, while the rest of the class disastrously. Sirius was able to do it in ten minutes and since James was not there, he was the first one to complete an assignment in a long time. Lily finished two minutes later and by twenty minutes later, everyone had done it successfully. Remus would have done it sooner but he was helping Peter.
After everyone done it, McGonagall asked them to revert it back to a quill. Sirius did it in less than five minutes, while Severus beat Lily by a minute. Remus and Peter took the longest because Peter accidentally turned his and Remus's into a seagull which they had to catch before turning it back into a quill.
They left Transfiguration and were headed toward the Great Hall. Lily and her friends were about to turn a corner when James crashed into Erika and Erika was about to fall back when she was caught by James. He let her regain her posture before stumbling into Sirius.
"Oh hey Padfoot, how are ya?" James asked innocently which an uncertain grin. Sirius's face turned from jovial from thinking about food to rage when he saw his best friend. In a split second, Sirius smashed into James's guts. James bent forward while covering his stomach and gasped, "Ok. I deserved that," Sirius than elbowed James in the back and he dropped down to his knees, "Ooouch, ok I deserved that too,"
"Guys ready?" Sirius snickered mischievously, "Count of 3. 1, 2, 3! In a flash, the three Marauders hexed James into a soccer ball. Lily and her friends were horrified because they never learned to transfigure a human into an inanimate object. But then Sirius kicked the ball which Remus kicked back and Sirius kicked it to Peter and it went on for a bit before Sirius asked Lily, "Hey do you want to join in?"
The girls were flabbergasted and Alice asked, "Why did you do that to him?"
"Because this selfish moron deserves it. One, going out to duel the Slytherins by himself, two, having all the fun, and three, leaving me in the dark," This is how the Marauder's punishment was given as he kicked James extra hard to the girls.
Lily trapped the ball under her shoes being a soccer player during her childhood and decided to kick it back to Sirius while jogging to join in the circle
"Lily, that was a human being you just kick," Celena protested, "And that is James if you hadn't noticed,"
"All the more reason," Lily retorted with a grin. Celena looked horrified at Lily response and was even more scared as the ball was being booted around mercilessly.
After few more kicks, while her friends were appalled, Lily decided to kick James extra hard out through the window when all of a sudden James popped out of his inanimate form and nearly tripped Lily as he howled in pain from Lily kicking him in the guts.
"Ohmygosh," Lily said as Sirius stepped on James's back helping Lily up while James hollered again.
"James!" Sara and Erika said as they pampered James and helped him get up.
"Lily!" Celena said as she also went to see how much damage has been done to James.
Rachael hustled over and while examining James, noticed various bruises on his face and could only imagine how bad the rest of his body was.
After a few minutes of rejuvenating and more pampering from the rest of the girls except Lily, James asked, "Happy now you big git?"
"Mmmmm," Sirius thought for a moment before he replied, "Nope," and he punched James again in the guts again which James wailed in pain," Now that is better,"
The girls were enraged and started yelling at Sirius while they tried to ease James's pain but James told them to stop yelling at Sirius. When he said that, all the girls in disbelief let him go which he fell back on the ground and left, after muttering "boys". Lily was in the background giggling at the event as she tried to catch up with her enraged friends.
"Revenge is sweet, isn't guys?" Sirius chuckled as James glared at Sirius and the others.
The Marauders entered the Great Hall during lunch. Sirius saw Bellatrix and he couldn't hold his ecstasy as he gets to torment yet another soul. Nudging James along, he walked up to the table where his cousin was talking with her friends.
"My precious cousin, so nice to see you awake from your slumber. I was wondering when you were going to wake up from that balcony," Sirius said sweetly as he gracefully caught Bellatrix's attention.
"My dear cousin, how sweet of you to be so concerned about me," Bellatrix replied following her cousin's babyish tone.
"That is what family is for, cousin dear,"
"Of course, dearest cousin, can you excuse me," she said while this time, gritting her teeth.
"Oh I will respect your wishes, beloved cousin, for you are a big girl. This time, you lasted forty seconds against James here with your gang,"
Bellatrix shot James a death glare before answering sweetly, "Yes, he is so good at dueling my dear cousin, a girl like me is no match for his caliber. He is simply stunning," Bellatrix said and then looked at James with a kind smile and offered, "We should duel again, I am so looking forward to it, you make such a good sparring partner, though I am afraid the results will be a little different from the first round now that I won't be distracted by dimwits,"
"I am honored that the great Bellatrix would desire to duel with someone as lowly as I," James bowed before taking Bellatrix's hand and giving it a light kiss, "Well fair Bellatrix, I have to bid my adieu, good day to you and may you have a lovely day as your beauty," James finished while Sirius bowed while waving his right hand from left to right like if Bellatrix was a royalty. He and James left, bursting into laughter a second later.
After lunch, it was Charms. The Gryffindors were with Ravenclaws. Filius Flitwick was a short wizard, with white hair and brown eyes. He has a mustache and beard as long as his white hair, and has a squeaky voice. However, he commands over his class just as well as Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. He is also a professor who has great admiration for Lily, though he does it more subtle than Professor Slughorn. When he was young, he was a dueling champion, and an accomplished wizard.
In Charms, they learned about the hastening charming which could speed them physically and mentally, but it is very draining on the mind and can usually last for twenty seconds. Most of the class could not even last for three, while James, Sirius and Remus already knew about and used it several times, could be under its effect for over eight seconds. Lily was very frustrated as she could only cast it for five, and annoyed that James and Sirius beat her effortlessly during her best subject.
Next was Defense Against Dark Arts, a specialty of Remus. The teacher was Henry Peakes, the descendent of the famous sea serpent slayer. He was a young professor, with short light brown hair, and brown eyes. His attitude is stern like Professor McGonagall and his favorite student seemed to be Remus. He had handsome pointed features, and was a highly distinguished duelist.
The Gryffindor once again teamed up with the Slytherins. They learned about the some defensive spells. They first went over the basic one they learned in fifth year, shield charm, used to deflect weak curses. Then they learned about a more advance defensive spell called the reflection charm. It deflects weak curses back to the castor. After that, they were briefly on the guardian charm, a more powerful version of the shield charm.
After Defense Against Dark Arts, the Gryffindors went to Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and finally ending their day with Astronomy.
The Marauders were abnormally quiet during and after the classes as they retired into their dorm room right after dinner. Lily and her friends did their homework onto ten o'clock when Lily had to do her runs. This time around, she asked Remus to do his runs with her which he complied.