"Padfoot," Remus asked one morning as the Gryffindor boys were getting ready. "Have you seen my blue jumper?" He had pulled everything out of his trunk and was rifling through it for a fourth time in his tee-shirt.
Sirius shook his head. "Did you lose it last time you went up to the shack?"
Remus frowned. "No."
"Is this it?" James asked, holding up a navy blue article of clothing.
Remus looked at James strangely. This was the first time he had acknowledged him since the Evans incident. He nodded.
James smirked and threw the jumper at him. Remus caught it and pulled it on.
"Must've ended up with my stuff in the laundry," he shrugged.
With Remus and James on good terms again, Sirius had suggested a good old-fashioned prank. It had to be a big one; one that would announce the reunion of the marauders. For once, Remus actually actively participated in the planning stages.
"It's got to be something huge," James said.
"Monumental," Sirius had drawled. "Victim?"
"Snivelly?"
Sirius shook his head. "Too obvious, this has to surprise the snot out of everyone."
"We should lay off of the Ravenclaws for awhile," James Potter did have a little bit of propriety.
"We've done the Hufflepuffs too much," Sirius said, shrugging. "It's like taking candy from a baby."
"We could decorate the Slytherin common room in red and gold again," James suggested.
They looked at each other and in synchronization, shook their heads.
"How about McGonagall?" Remus laughed at his own joke. "Can you imagine that? Charming her chair to cheer for the marauders whenever she sits in it?"
James and Sirius exchanged glances, mischievous looks in their eyes.
"Not bad Moony," James smiled at Remus and slapped him on the back.
"You're not seriously considering that?" Remus gaped. "McGonagall would murder us."
"I know," said Sirius. "That's why we do it to Dumbledore. In the Great Hall. At breakfast."
Peter smiled broadly. "That's genius."
"I know Wormtail," Sirius said in a rather bored tone. "I am a genius."
"Ok then," James smiled. "We do it tonight."
The charm was a rather easy one. James would perform it, although Sirius had written the actual cheer. The four boys snuck out after midnight, attempting to all fit under James' invisibility cloak. With Sirius' large frame, James and Remus' long limbs, and Peter's width, it was a rather difficult task. Twice Peter had tripped on the cloak, causing it to fly off of the other boys.
"Next time you do that, you're going back," Sirius had grunted.
Reaching the Great Hall, they eased open the huge door. They nervously looked around the large room and, when they were sure it was empty, James threw the cloak off of them. Picking it up, he hurried to the front of the hall between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, his wand out and ready. Sirius was next to him with Peter biting at his heels. Remus walked more slowly behind, a slight smile on his face. The ceiling was pitch black; the occasional star blinking softly. When they reached the headmaster's chair, Sirius immediately sat on it.
"Do I look like a headmaster?" he asked, trying to look smart, but instead looking rather constipated.
"Not quite," James laughed. "You look like you're on a totally different kind of throne. Now get off so I can do this charm."
Sirius hopped off lazily.
James muttered "Dirai Enthusium," and flicked his wand. Then he looked back at the other three, "say the cheer."
Sirius whispered the cheer to the chair so quietly that Remus and Peter couldn't hear him. When he had finished, James was trying hard not to laugh.
"Come on," he whispered. They all huddled back under the cloak and began the trek back to Gryffindor Tower.
The next morning, the four Marauders sat with each other for the first time in weeks. The other Gryffindors, especially Lily, took notice. There was, however, a general murmur of fear about the next prank they would pull. When Dumbledore arrived for breakfast, he wore an unreadable smile, and when he sat down, he did it so deliberately that Professor McGonagall looked strangely at him. Immediately, the sound of a gaggle of rather excited prepubescent girls began chanting.
"Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail"
"Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail"
This background continued and an even higher pitched voice began with a verse. Students all through the Great Hall had spit up orange juice, shot milk through their noses, or dropped their breakfast in pleasant surprise when they heard the chant begin. One 2nd year Hufflepuff had even fallen off of her chair.
"Guided by our leader Prongs,
We succeed and do no wrongs.
With Padfoot and his manly charm,
We have a bird on every arm.
Moony keeps us all in check,
In case one should break a neck
And with our mate Wormtail,
How could we ever fail?
For the fittest blokes in 6th year
Yell, scream, faint, and give a cheer"
The chant continued.
"Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail."
By now, the entire Great Hall had erupted in laughter. Dumbledore stood, the strange smile still on his face. "Would Messrs Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew please follow me to my office?"
James and Sirius smiled at each other. They were back.
The Marauders had little time to celebrate their triumphant return. By the end of the week, another attack had occurred; this one on Gwendolyn Abercrombie's cousins. Gwendolyn had been taken from school immediately, without a word to any of her classmates. Since her departure, Gryffindor tower had been struck with an intense, deafening silence. For two straight days, none of them, not even Sirius Black, had so much as cracked a joke. On the third day, the vast majority of the house was sitting silently in the common room. A few were studying, but most were simply gazing off into space, deep frowns etched into their young faces. Owen Towler, the only other Gryffindor who had experienced the violence of You-Know-Who, was sitting in the corner, his head in his hands. Annabelle Idle, his girlfriend, was instinctively rubbing his back and looking as if she had absolutely no idea what to say to comfort him. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting in the opposite corner, observing the scene.
It was almost more disturbing than the violence itself: that the usually lively, happy, and loud Gryffindors could be turned sad, scared, and silent by one man's rampage. Even Dorcas Meadowes wore a face that betrayed her complete uncertainty. James glanced at Lily, who was sitting near Dorcas. She was one of the few with a book open, but her green eyes had been fixed on the same spot in the Potions text for a long time. After a while, she closed the book on her lap and sighed. James watched her bosom rise and fall in exhaustion and incomprehension and a part of his heart began to ache. Next to him, Remus put a palm to his face, leaning on the table, and Sirius' usual lounge was instead a slumped sitting position with elbows on knees. It was Peter's face that scared him the most, though. He was looking anxiously from Sirius to James, as if one of them had the power to suddenly tell him that the entire thing was one of their huge pranks.
Was this the way James and his friends were going to live their lives? In constant fear of some madman?
James stood up, suddenly taken over by something bigger than himself. "Hey," he said to get everyone's attention. "I think it's about time we all cheer up."
There were a few gasps in the room. Some people obviously found the comment awfully offensive.
James swallowed hard and continued. "Gwen's not going to want to come back to a bunch of zombies. Besides, shouldn't we be able to go on with our lives after these things happen?"
More people had perked up, and now the entirety of the common room was staring at James. The crowd seemed split on his comments, deep angry frowns and big eyes filled with interest at what James was saying were equally represented.
"Listen," he relaxed his shoulders. "If what people are saying is true, then this is going to keep happening for awhile. Do you really want to live like this? We have to try to be as normal as possible or we'll be giving You-Know-Who even more power."
James was now hitting his stride. He filled with an intense determination to convince his classmates. "We can't give him that power. He might be able to kill our friends and loved ones, but he can't control our ability to be happy. We have to at least try to be happy. That's the only way we'll be able to fight him. If we're not resilient, we're done for.
"Listen. I know we're young. I'm barely 16, but we're the ones who are going to be fighting him, don't you see that? It's our lives that are going to be most affected by this. We can't let that happen. We deserve a normal a life as possible, and if we have to fight for it, we have to fight for it. I'm not willing to live this way, and you shouldn't be either."
With that, he sat down. A few people, including Owen Towler whose face had morphed through every imaginable emotion during James' impromptu speech, clapped enthusiastically. Others looked awfully angry and stormed off to bed. The majority of the students, however, just looked shocked. James looked anxiously at Lily. She'd probably think it was just another instance of him showing off. And she probably thought he was being insensitive.
Lily had been enthralled through James' speech. He was completely right and it was so brave of him to just stand up in the middle of the common room and say all those things. She'd noticed how his hazel eyes had sparkled with passion when he talked about fighting You-Know-Who. When he had finished, she turned to Dorcas, green eyes burning with a million emotions.
"That was rather impressive, wouldn't you say?"
Dorcas smiled and nodded.
With that, Lily Evans turned her head and, for the very first time, gave James Potter a real, sincere smile.