A/N: I'm BAAAAAAACK! Sorry it took so long…school sucks, and I have tons of other things I'm doing too…but don't worry, regardless of all, this story will continue! Then again I'm not so sure you guys want it to…only 1 review for this one! Where is everyone! But because she was the only reviewer, I make BreetanyaViolet happy in this one: the wolf isn't in here at all! Thanks for reviewing.
Um…yeah. I own Bec, and I stole Liz and the idea for this prank from my cousin Kerry…SH! Don't tell anyone! Hope you guys enjoy, please review, and don't get mad if I don't post again for a while…being a college freshman isn't all fun and games!
Sammy Solo
Halloween morning dawned crisp and clear. The sun rose over the tops of the trees in the forbidden forest, making the fall leaves look like they were on fire. Unfortunately, no one was paying any attention. At least no one in the first year Gryffindor boys' dormitory.
"C'mon, guys, get up!" Sirius yelled, yanking back the curtains that surrounded James's bed. "It's Halloween! It's prank day!"
James groaned and rolled over, throwing his blankets over his head to shield himself from the morning light. "'S too early!" he grumbled.
"But we're going to get those Slytherin gits back!" Sirius continued to shout. He ran over and threw open Peter's curtains, then finally did the same to Remus's.
"Sirius, the prank isn't until dinner," Remus said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Who cares?" Sirius asked. "Don't you think we should test it one more time? Just to make sure it'll work?"
"No," James said, fumbling around on his bedside table for his glasses and accomplishing nothing but dropping them on the floor. He glared at the offending spectacles, then leaned as far off his bed as he could, grabbed his glasses, and scrambled back under the covers. "We tested it ten times last night, mate. It's going to work."
"You can never be too sure," Sirius argued. "I think we should try again." James sighed, threw off his blanks, and stepped into his slippers.
"Alright, let's try it again," he conceded. Sirius grinned hugely and ran back over to his section of the room. He crawled under his bed and came back out pulling a box. Situating the box in the middle of the room, he sat cross-legged next to it. James and Remus did the same.
"You didn't need all of it," James said as he settled into place.
"We're gonna need it tonight anyway, might as well have it out," Sirius said with a shrug. He pulled off the lid of the box to reveal five butterbeer bottles they had managed to swipe from the kitchens. James gingerly pulled one out and exchanged glances with the other two.
"Who gets it this time?" James asked. No one volunteered, but Sirius grinned wickedly.
"Peter's still sleeping, I say he gets," he stated. James nodded in agreement and jumped up. He led the way over to Peter's bed, where the young boy was snoring softly, his mouth hanging part of the way open. Sirius appeared at James's side, with Remus peeking over Sirius's shoulder. James uncorked the bottle and held it over Peter's mouth.
"Just a drop," Remus cautioned. "We want it to wear off really quick." James nodded and let a single drop fall from the mouth of the bottle. The boys watched their brilliance as the potion did its job. Sirius rubbed his hands together and smirked.
"They won't know what hit them," he said. "This is gonna be great."
Becca fought to hold back her laughter as she poked her head through the curtains of Lily's bed. Liz was directly across from her, only her head visible through the scarlet curtains. Bec grinned and held up one finger, quickly followed by a second, then a third.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!
Lily screeched in surprise and rolled to try to get away from the frightening noise that had roused her from her dreams…a roll that sent her straight into Becca.
"No, Lils, it's only...ah!" Both girls toppled to the floor. "…us," Bec finished. "Ow, Lily, that's my leg!"
Lily sat up, rubbing her right elbow. "What was that all about?" she asked, sounding angry. Before Bec could answer, Liz came rushing around the end of the bed, looking worried.
"Are you guys alright?" she asked hurriedly.
"Yeah," Becca answered. "Be better if I could move my leg."
"Serves you right," Lily said stubbornly. "You didn't have to yell like that to wake me up, I would have been just fine without…"
"We didn't yell to wake you up," Bec interrupted.
Lily stopped her tirade long enough to blink in confusion. "Then why?"
"Because it's your birthday!" Liz answered excitedly.
Lily blinked again, then smiled broadly. "It is! It's Halloween!"
"Told you it was worth yelling about," Bec said, still sounding grumpy at being fallen on and yelled at for trying to do something nice. She quickly softened up, though, as Lily pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you!" she said, then jumped up off the floor and grabbed Liz in a similar embrace. "Thanks you guys."
"Of course!" Liz said, returning the hug and smiling. "Sorry we didn't have time to get you a gift."
"Yeah, if you would have told us it was your birthday, we could have planned something better than just scaring the daylights out of you," Becca agreed, climbing to her feet.
"I know, I just didn't want you guys to make a big deal out of it," Lily explained, blushing slightly. "How did you find out anyway?" In response, Becca stepped aside, allowing Lily a clear look at her nightstand. A smile pile of packages was spread across the wooden surface, with a large envelope on top reading "Happy Birthday Lily!"
"It came really early this morning," Liz said. Lily's smile got even wider, if possible, and she ran over to her nightstand. In a matter of minutes Lily had a number of new gifts, and Becca and Liz had engaged each other in a wrapping paper war. All was wonderful, until Lily looked up at the clock.
"Oh no!" she said, causing the other two girls to stop throwing paper long enough to look over.
"What's wrong?" Liz asked.
"We're going to be late for class!" Lily exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Liz followed suit, and Bec just rolled her eyes as her two friends rushed around. Surprisingly, all three managed to get dressed and ready in time to catch a quick breakfast and then head to classes.
The day went by almost as usual. Everyone was a little more rowdy, excited for the feast. Sirius somehow found out that it was Lily's birthday, and he and James made it a point to thoroughly embarrass her by singing loudly in every class and at lunch. Finally, the last class of the day ended, leaving the boys about an hour before dinner—just enough time to put the plan into action.
"Alright…go," Sirius whispered, and the four boys made their way across the Entrance Hall, doing their best to look nonchalant. They snuck through the proper door and closed it behind them, just hoping no one saw where they went. They traversed the corridor and tickled the pear, opening the portrait to see the kitchens as they had never seen them before. There seemed to be more house elves here than there had been the last time, all bustling about madly, doing last minute preparations of the food for the feast. The boys were more than happy to be ignored, though, as they squeezed through the chaos and over to the table on the far left.
"We're sure this is it?" Remus asked nervously.
"Of course I am," Sirius said with a wave of his hand. "You think I'd risk pulling this prank on the other Gryffindors? Come on." He reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a butterbeer bottle. The other three boys did the same, and in just a few minutes they had covered every piece of food on the table with their potion.
"This is gonna be brilliant," James commented as they fought their way back out of the kitchens.
"Malfoy will regret ever messing with us," Sirius stated, a mischievous glint lighting his eyes. "Let's get up there before we miss the show."
They exited the corridor carefully, still wary of being seen, but all hope for stealth was forgotten as they saw what was happening just outside the Great Hall.
"Still hanging around with mudbloods, Potter?" a boy's voice sneered. "I would have thought you had more class than that."
"Shove off, Lestrange," they heard Becca's voice reply. The boys came fully into the Entrance Hall to see her, with Lily and Liz beside her, facing off with Rodolphus Lestrange, a tall, dark-haired Slytherin boy who was in his second year. James and Sirius immediately rushed forward.
"Ah, and here comes the older brother to save the day again," Lestrange said mockingly. "Oh, and the Black family disgrace. You Potters really do keep horrid company."
"Listen up you little—" Sirius began, but was cut off as Professor McGonagall stepped up to the group.
"Is there a problem here?" she asked, eyeing the students closely.
"Not at all, Professor," Lestrange said simply. He threw a smirk at the younger students, then turned and entered the Great Hall. McGonagall gave the group of Gryffindors one last look before following suit.
"One of these days, he's gonna get it good," Becca spat, glaring at the Slytherin's back.
James smirked and laid a hand on his sister's shoulder. "Oh don't worry, he'll get his soon enough."
Together, the seven Gryffindor first years entered the Great Hall and took their usual seats. The food looked and smelled delicious, and, enticed, everyone in the Great Hall dug in. The boys ate as well, but kept their eyes focused on the Slytherins, who were also eating their fill.
After ten minutes, though, the boys were starting to worry. "Why hasn't it worked yet?" James whispered to Sirius nervously.
"Don't worry, it will," Sirius assured. "It's mixed in with the food, it'll take a little longer."
As if on cue, a loud Pop! echoed across the Great Hall. All eyes turned to the Slytherin table, where, with a series of Pop!s, all of the Slytherin students were transformed into…
"Pumpkins!" Becca asked disbelievingly, eyes wide. "That's brilliant!"
Laughter cascaded through the Great Hall, stemming from students as well as a few teachers. Madam Pomfrey looked horrorstricken, probably thinking of all the work she'd have to do that night. Sirius looked up at the teacher's table, laughing even harder as he saw Professor McGonagall trying to hide her smirk.
"Silence!" Professor Dumbledore's voice resounded through the Great Hall. The laughter slowly died away as everyone did their best not to look at the Slytherin table. "I would like to thank these pranksters for this…festive treat," he commented with the slightest hint of amusement. "However, should I get word of who is responsible for this act, they will be punished severely. Tricks and pranks against fellow students will not be tolerated in my school. Now, if Madam Pomfrey wouldn't mind, I'd like to have my Slytherin students back as quickly as possible." The harried nurse nodded and made her way to the Slytherin table. Immediately the Great Hall broke into a mixture of laughter and conversation.
"I wonder who it was," Liz thought out loud.
"They're going to be in a lot of trouble if they get caught," Lily pointed out.
"Who cares?" Becca said. "I'd take a few weeks of detention to watch Lestrange get turned into a pumpkin again!"
And as they debated, the four Gryffindor first year boys sat in silence, proud smiles painted on their faces, listening to the entire school talk about them.