SP: I am so sorry!
James: She really is.
Sirius: Yeah, she re-read the entire story before starting this chapter.
James: We won't be surprised if no one reviews.
SP: It would really be appreciated though. Reviews are like money for writing.
Sirius: Then you haven't got much lately huh?
SP: Look, I was having trouble in school. Not grade wise but…just the people. I was depressed since the end of January, the only thing I wrote was depressing, so I didn't write here because the general is humor and action adventure, not angst.
Disclaimer: I will never own Harry Potter, but I do own a lot of merchandise, and soon a wand (it's being sent to me now, gotta love mail orders)
Chapter 12: Valentines day (Remus: well this will be interesting)
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"She thinks she can make a fool out of James Potter! Well she's wrong! Beating me like that in front of all of Gryffindor-"
"Not all of Gryffindor mate," Sirius pointed out. "Just most of it."
"ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!"
This ranting had been going on for days, and the other three marauders were getting very sick of it. James was constantly speaking of getting Lily back for beating him, and when Remus pointed out James was ahead in Transfiguration and she wasn't getting him back, James threw a chocolate frog at Remus, who quickly caught it and stuffed it in a box for safe keeping.
Peter, who had kept quiet most of the time, suddenly had an idea. They hadn't done a prank for a while, so…if James wanted to get her back, why not prank her? Grinning happily, and hoping for approval from his friends, Peter voiced his opinion.
James stopped pacing the room and looked at Peter. "Peter that is so obvious!" Peter looked down at the floor. "Why didn't I think of that?" he asked, and Peter looked up again, hesitant smile on his face. "Thanks Peter!"
Remus merely rolled his eyes. "Well what are you going to do?"
James stopped smiling. "I don't know…"
The four marauders sat in silence for over an hour. Peter, thinking the topic needed to be changed, decided to voice something else very obvious, but that again the other marauders had forgoteen. "It's valentines day in a few days."
James glared at Peter. "I know its valentines day soon, and…wait…THAT'S IT PETER THAT'S IT!" James yelled, running up to Peter and shaking his shoulders in excitement. Poor Peter was thrilled to have such approval, but had no idea why he was getting this attention.
"I can send her something! Something that she will think will be sweet, but when she opens it, it will be a prank! An embarrassing poem, some kind of potion! Peter you're a genius!"
"Thank you," Peter muttered, looking away slightly embarrassed.
"One problem," Sirius said. "Lily would never open anything from you." James didn't stop grinning though, and turned to Remus. Remus, as if knowing what his friend was thinking, began shaking his head.
"No way! Count me out. Toying with someone's love feelings is going to far! I refuse to be part of this."
"But Remus, you're the only one of us the Lily would open a card from. She wouldn't expect you to do some prank to her on Valentines Day!"
"Then she's right, because I won't! Especially for a stupid reason like she beat you in chess!"
"But Lily won't think you like her like that, just as a friend, and the voice saying the poem can be mine, that way she'll think that we just wrote your name! Please moony?" James asked, giving Remus a puppy dog look…very badly.
Sirius pushed James off his bed and took his place, giving the perfect puppy dog pout anyone had ever seen. Remus's eyes, against his will, began to turn from angry and offended to softness. He tried to make his eyes angry, but he couldn't. All he could do was scowl. "Oh fine! You are TOO good at that Black."
Sirius merely grinned. "It's a gift. So are we going to do this or not?"
"Let's get started!" James yelled excitedly, already muttering about howlers and turning them pink.
"I have a feeling we'll be going to the library?" Peter asked.
"I have a feeling you're right," Remus said, and the three followed James downstairs.
/…/…/…/…/…/
Remus flipped through page after page of the book Everything you ever wanted to know about altering colors This was one of those books Remus had never expected to be looking at. Sirius was currently at the shelf, looking for a book on storing potions in envelopes until they are needed. Peter had left to the kitchens to get them some pastries and James was somewhere in the very back of the library (to not ruin his reputation) trying to come up with a clever poem to put in the howler. Remus thought they were all mad.
Looking up, Remus was surprised to see Lily enter the library. Rummaging around, he quickly marked his place in the book and pulled another book over it, his transfiguration book, and a piece has parchment to look like he was working on homework, which, he really was. At least at the moment.
Lily spotted him and smiled, walking over to him and sitting down at his table. "Hullo Remus," she said, glancing at his book. "Homework?"
"Yes," he said nervously. "Just…just started." He was a terrible liar. No wonder the other marauders had figured out his secret.
Lily nodded slightly, glancing at the other books surrounding the table. Changing Colors, Colorful Charms, Color Illusions, Powerful Illusion Potions, and Perfectly Pink: A Guide to Colors for That Special Day. Remus laughed nervously.
"What are all these for?" Lily asked, eyes lingering on one of the titles before turning to Remus.
"Uh…I uh, I don't know. They were…there when I sat…uh…down." Remus could feel himself getting warm. He hated lying. He was nervous, he couldn't do it. "All the tables have books on them for some reason," he said. Sirius, who had seen his friend's problem, levitated a few books behind Lily's back on to tables. After she turned around to hear what made a thumping noise, Remus quickly threw a book on the other table, while Sirius floated some particularly odd titles on the table next to them. Lily looked around confused. "I guess…"
"Well, I came to look for a book on the fidiks charm…" she glanced around and stood up, seeing the book she needed sitting on the table next to her. "I do hope no one was using this," she muttered to herself, waving goodbye to Remus as she went to check it out and left the library. As soon as she was out of sight, Remus let out a breath of relief.
Sirius sat down with Remus, looking a little pale. "That was close," Sirius said, tossing the book Potions Secrets on to the table.
"Tell me about it," Remus muttered, putting away his book and flipping again through his latest book on colors.
After a couple minutes of silence as Remus looked, he looked up. "Did you find the charm we need?" Remus asked.
"Yes."
Remus handed Sirius a quill, ink, and a piece of parchment. Copy down the page."
Sirius glared at the offending items. "Why? We have the book, why do more work then we have to?" he asked, confused at the prospect of doing more work then was absolutely necessary.
"Because," Remus said, as if explaining this to a very small, stupid child. "If we check these out we'll look very suspicious. Think about it, who would check these kinds of things out? People who are planning something Sirius!"
Realization dawned on Sirius's face. "I get it!" he yelled, with a warning look from the librarian.
Remus shook his head as Sirius began copying down the page. During this time, Remus almost missed what he was looking for. "Changing envelope colors," he muttered to himself. Smiling slightly, he copied it down as Sirius returned the book to the shelf.
"I'M DONE!" a shout suddenly rang from the back of the library, echoing off the walls and causing every person in the library to turn and stare at him.
"MR. POTTER! THIS IS A LIBRARY! IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW, YOU ARE TO BE QUIET IN ONE! OUT! OUT!"
Sirius would like to have told her that she was making more noise then James had, and would have if Remus hadn't clamped a hand over his mouth and smiled innocently as she stormed passed, a still smiling James following her.
"Meet you in the dorms," he mouthed as he left, causing Sirius and Remus to shake their heads at his stupidity.
Not two minutes later, Peter came through the doors, pastries in hand.
"Mt. Pettigrew, there is no food in the library!" she said loudly causing the students to look up again.
"You do know you're being louder then James just was don't you?" someone spoke up bravely. Sirius grinned and turned to see who it was to see none other then Celebrean, glaring at the fuming librarian.
"Get out!" She growled at her. Celebrean angrily stood up and grabbed her three books. "Gladly! It's probably more quiet in the common room then in here with you," she snapped, storming out of the library.
Sirius stared after her, smiling slightly. Remus waved his hand in front of his face. "Sirius, Sirius come back man!"
"Huh?" he asked, looking at Remus to see him staring at him.
"I said let's go, we have everything we need." Gathering their things, they made their way out of the loud library and headed to their dorms.
/…/…/…/…/
"Okay," James said. "The howler is ready. Now we need the charm." Remus stepped forward and muttered the charm, waving his wand and giving it a sharp flick before saying "pink."
Immediately the envelope began changing from angry red to a mellow looking pink, perfect shade for Valentines Day. "Okay, I'll take it to the owlery." He grabbed the pink howler and began walking toward the stairs.
"Sirius! Don't forget to tell the owl to take it to Lily at 8:30 AM tommorow," James yelled.
"I know, I know you told me this a thousand times," Sirius said back before making his way out, but little did the others know there was another pink letter in his pocket, this one's recipient titled Celebrean
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Aw, isn't that sweet? Sirius has a crush! Before I continue with the story, everyone who leaves a review must also leave an answer. What year do you want Sirius to tell Celebrean he likes her? It can be year 1-6 (not 7) so the most votes will win! I don't know what year I want him to tell (Because he can always date other girls) later on.
Also, another small poll for girls. How many of you, in this story, want to be one of his many girlfriends over time? No one who responds will be very long, but there will be some time. I'm doing this because we all know Sirius was a ladies man, so I'll need some girls and personalities and looks, since there will be too many for me to make up on my own! Okay, on with the story!
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The next morning the marauders made sure not to wake up extra early, as it would make them look suspicious, but they did get to the Great Hall be eight, and watched for Lily.
As 8:15 rolled around, they started to get nervous. What if she didn't come on time? What if they didn't see the results? Luckily for them and the viewing pleasure of the student body, Lily and Celebrean appeared five minutes later and sat down. At 8:30, an owl flew in, carrying a pink envelope, excited, the marauders watched, but the owl swooped over to Celebrean. Celebrean, smiling, took the letter and fed the owl a piece of bacon. James, Remus, and Peter were confused, and Sirius was turning slightly pink.
Celebrean opened the letter and read it, it was very short. Her face began to feel warm and she smiled, looking up at Sirius before reading it again.
I think it was cool how you stood up to that old hag of a librarian. You'd make a good marauder. I hope that in the future, you will continue to speak back to those who don't take us seriously. (hee hee, Sirius) I was going to do the same thing as you, but Remus Mr. Kill joy stopped me. Happy Valentines Day!
-Sirius Black
Grinning, Celebrean stood up, to questioning looks from Lily, and walked over to Sirius, sitting next to him. The other marauders watched curiously, and she whispered in his ear, "thanks Sirius."
Sirius grinned. "No problem."
Smiling, Celebrean pulled an envelope out of her robes and handed it to Sirius. He opened it to find his own letter.
Dear Sirius,
You've been a great friend, even though Lily doesn't approve of you and your pranks, I've found them quite amusing…for the most part. But if you ever prank me, you will not get away without receiving your own. Keep it up my little buddy! (Don't even say I'm shorter, I'm not stupid…well maybe I am in potions but that isn't the point)
Celebrean Lamana
"Thanks," Sirius said, but before he said anything else he saw an envelope fly over to Lily. Glad that he had a reason to be smiling, he looked back at Celebrean and, to make himself look innocent, began talking like he didn't notice Lily. Of course, no one could do that when James voice suddenly filled the hall saying…
YOUR HAIR AS RED AS LAVA
YOUR TEMPER HOTTER THEN THAT
YOU ATTACK VICOUSILY AND DEMANDINLY
LIKE A CAT ATTACKING A RAT!
YOU SCARE BOYS AWAY
FROM PRANKING YOU
BUT NOT ME "BABY"
I'M HERE TO STAY!
SO AS YOU WISH FOR LOVE TODAY
I ASSURE YOU THIS HAS NOT BEEN SPOKEN
AND FROM NOW ON I WARN YOU
TO BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU OPEN!
The voice disappeared and a potion seemingly jumped through the envelope, hitting Lily's hands and causing them to grow and grow. Soon they were so big that they hit the floor and she couldn't get up because her hands were too heavy. Unreleased tears were in her eyes as she yelled, "POTTER!"
The whole hall was laughing, except for Celebrean. Sirius did his best to rob his face of all mirth as Celebrean turned to him. "You did this!"
"I did not write that terrible poem!" Sirius countered, which technically was true, since James had been the one to write it. He had helped brew the potion and research, but he hadn't been the one to put it in the envelope.
"Well then you did it James, that was your voice!" Celebrean stood up and stormed over to James, raising her hand and slapping him hard in the face. You could hear it echo throughout the entire hall, and everyone was staring.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Professor Dumbledore yelled, causing everyone to look at him. "James Potter, may I see you in my office? Miss Lamana would you kindly escort Miss Evans to the hospital wing?
"Goodbye Sirius," she said, walking over to Lily. She knew he had helped, but she could see he had been honest saying he hadn't written those terrible things, and for that she was grateful.
"I hate them," Lily muttered to Celebrean. "But I hate Potter most of all. This was his idea, it was his voice! I doubt the others had as much to do with it as he did."
Celebrean silently agreed and she led Lily to the hospital wing.
"Sirius?" Remus asked after the two had disappeared. "What did you send Celebrean?"
Sirius turned red. "N-nothing. Just…about the day in the…library, talking back to the teach, that's all."
Peter accepted this answer and went back to eating, but Remus's eyes lingered on him a moment before turning away. "I hope James is okay."
"I doubt it," Peter muttered, taking another bit of eggs and reaching across the table for a piece of toast, which instantly disappeared into his mouth. Remus and Sirius hated to admit that he was probably right.
"I knew this was a bad idea," Remus muttered to himself, pushing his food around on his plate with his fork.
"I'm beginning to think so too," Sirius said. He couldn't get the memory of Lily's happy face as she got what she thought was a love letter, only to be pranked. Yes, that was defiantly going to far. At least on Valentines Day.
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Well there you go, an update!
James: It's a miracle!
Sirius: See you all in 6 months!
SP: NO! We'll see them again soon. I just realized how many CAPITALS and italics there are in this chapter. Oh well. Please review, I promise to update faster next time!