Living with the Marauders Chapter 2: Passages and Pranks, a harry potter fanfic

My apologies for taking so long. I was distracted by a Star Wars fic I was working on. As I'm finished with that one, I'll now devote all my time to this one once again…

See Chapter One for a disclaimer, I'm too lazy to re-write it.

"Hmm…" thought a dark-haired, bespectacled boy as he lay on his wide, four-poster bed. "I bet there are loads more tunnels and passages than just that one behind the mirror on the fourth floor," said James Potter to the room at large.

Peter looked worried as he always did as he sat on the headboard of his bed. "Flich will go spare if he sees us lurking around there again," he squeaked.

"Stop being so spineless," said Sirius, throwing a pillow at him from across the room.

The pillow caught Peter in the stomach and he toppled backwards into the stone wall – or, what was supposed to be a stone wall.

Having not heard a clunk, Sirius and James exchanged a worried glance.

Finally, Peter's voice echoed up. "Come look what I found! This is wicked!"

Very skeptically the two boys sauntered over to Peter's bed – his idea of wicked and theirs was often very different. Peering over and around, neither could see their friend.

"Come down here," said Peter.

Sirius raised an eyebrow but jumped down. James followed.

"Lumos," James muttered, and his wand tip ignited, illuminating the area in a pale light.

They were in a very narrow stone room. At the far end, near Peter, was a very short tunnel.

"Wonder where this leads?" asked James, crouching down and sticking his wand in a ways. It seemed to be very straight and long.

"Probably to McGonagall's office," muttered Peter.

Sirius crouched next to his friend. "There's only one way to find out," he said with a grin.

James gestured at the tunnel mouth. "After you."

"Lumos minima," muttered Sirius. His wand tip blazed and then dimmed so only a small patch in front of him was illuminated. With a final grin, he entered the tunnel and was soon swallowed by the blackness.

James and Peter squatted next to the entrance, waiting for Sirius's return. It was cold – the tunnel was probably built between the interior and exterior stone of the castle.

A few minutes later, a small light appeared, growing brighter. Sirius dragged himself out of the tunnel and brushed off his robes, which were covered with cobwebs.

"Well?" asked James eagerly.

Sirius looked devious. "It's all stone, and tiny. If Peter gets any bigger he won't fit." – He grinned wickedly. – "And, mate, you won't believe where it leads to."

"Where?" asked Peter, sounding eager.

"Go have a look for yourself," said Sirius, gesturing to the tunnel.

Three small balls of light appeared one by one in the dark room. By the dim light, the boys could tell it was nearly identical to the room they had just left. Three four-poster beds with red hangings lined the circular walls, and an old-fashioned wood heater sat in the middle.

"I don't get it," whined Peter, very confused.

"Are we where I think we are?" asked James, looking around curiously.

Sirius smirked. "Indeed, mate."

They exchanged a devious look. "The girls' dormitory!"

Peter uttered a terrified squeak. "They'll kill us if they catch us in here!"

The boys ignored him. "Where shall we begin?" Sirius asked wickedly.

The Gryffindor boys were enjoying their lunch, still sniggering over their successes of the previous night, when the three girls stormed into the Great Hall. Much whispering, giggling, and pointing followed them as they made their way to the Gryffindor table.

"What happened to you three?" asked James, putting on his most innocent expression.

Whimpering, Peter disappeared under the table.

Phae arched an eyebrow. "What happened to us?" she repeated sarcastically, not bothering to keep her voice low. "We were about to ask you the same thing."

"Us?" asked Sirius, "How'd we know?"

"Because," countered Lily, "someone got into our dormitory last night."

"And lemme guess: You think it was us?" James whispered to Sirius loud enough to be heard.

"As a matter of fact," Becca retorted, her eyes flashing dangerously, "we do."

At that moment, Professor McGonagall swept up to the table. "I am disappointed in all of you. Please keep your shouting matches to out of doors. And girls, I would like to remind you that this is a school. If I catch you using silly hair charms again, you will all be in detention for a month."

A chorus of "Apologies, Professor. It won't happen again," followed her back to the teacher's table.

Blushing a deep shade of crimson, the girls flopped down at the far end of the table, continuing to shoot dark glances at the three boys.

Sniggering madly, the boys headed up to the hospital wing where Remus had spent the night, having looked like he had gone several rounds with a manticore.

"…and then they come storming into the Great Hall," James was telling their friend.

"Each one's hair a different nauseatingly-bright color and trailing little multi-colored butterflies behind them," laughed Sirius.

"They started having a go at us," continued James, "but then McGonagall came over and threatened them with detention if she caught them using hair charms again."

They immediately dropped their voices as Madame Pomfrey stuck her head out her office door at the explosion of laughter.

Remus smiled wryly and shook his head. "They're going to hate you for life. You know that, don't you?"

James shrugged. "It was worth it. That potion we put in their shampoos won't come out for a month."

"And it will turn a different color every time they use it," added Sirius.

Even Peter sniggered. "I don't know. I really liked that hot pink on Phae."

"But Lily's neon green was priceless too," said Sirius, breaking into a fit of laughter again.

Phae awoke to the sound of something ripping. It was black as pitch in the room, probably close to two in the morning. Groping for her wand, she found it and muttered "Lumos."

The room was bathed in the light of her wand. Nearly two dozen small, bluish, winged creatures were flitting madly around, wreaking havoc. The ripping she'd heard was one attempting to rip the hangings off her bed.

Across the room, Lily was watching the creatures with a mixture of shock and interest. They both watched as a group of them got a hold of Becca's pillow and began to beat her over the head with it. Poor Becca woke up and screamed bloody murder. Sniggering madly, they only beat her harder as she tried to reach for her wand.

Rolling her eyes, Lily grabbed her wand and pointed it at the nearest creature. "Immobulus."

It immediately went rigid and landed with a surprisingly hard thunk! on the floor.

"Cornish Pixies?" asked Phae, when all the little creatures had been frozen. It had taken nearly an hour to stun them all; and now their room looked like a disaster zone, with pillows and clothes and books and papers strewn everywhere amid upturned furniture. "How did they get in here?"

Lily shrugged. "Maybe they got lose from one of the teachers?"

"And just happened to find their way into our dormitory?" Phae countered sarcastically.

"How are we supposed to get them out of here?" asked Becca, picking one off her pillow with disgust.

Phae shrugged. "Chuck them out the window?"

Lily scowled. "No. They're living things too. You can't just toss them out off a tower when they can't move." She thought for a moment and continued. "We'll take them down to Professor McGonagall. She'll know what to do with them."

Wrapping the pixies in the torn hanging from Phae's bed, the three girls trooped out of their dormitory. It was still early, and the hallways were deserted as they made their way stealthily down to the second floor corridor and Professor McGonagall's office.

They knocked and were told immediately to enter. Professor McGonagall was seated behind her desk speaking with their Potions Master, Professor Slughorn.

"What are you three doing up so early?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"We caught these in our dormitory," explained Lily, opening the hanging to let Professor McGonagall see the already reviving pixies.

"My pixies!" said Professor Slughorn, sounding shocked. "Girls, I am very disappointed in you."

McGonagall fixed them with a beady stare. "Professor Slughorn was just reporting to me the disappearance of his entire store of live pixies."

The three exchanged a very worried glance. "But Professor," said Phae, "we didn't have anything to do with that."

"Yeah," added Becca, "we don't know how they got there, but they made a mess of our dormitory."

"I am sorry girls," said McGonagall, "but here you are with the evidence. If you cannot give me a better explanation than you suddenly found them in your dormitory, I shall have to give you all detention."

Muttering under their breaths, the girls returned to their dormitory to clean up the damage, while looking forward to three beautiful Saturdays spent doing detention with McGonagall.

The four second-year boys were all seated around the crackling fire when they climbed through the fat lady's portrait hole. "What d'you got there, Phae?" asked Sirius, gesturing to the torn hanging she was carrying.

She sighed, trying to control herself. "The hangings for my bed."

"I though McGonagall would go berserk if she caught you taking those down," said James.

Phae raised an eyebrow. "We didn't take them down.

"Two dozen Cornish Pixies did," continued Lily. "They also trashed the rest of our room."

"We've just been returning them to Professor McGonagall," said Phae.

Becca piped up. "And getting accused of stealing them by Professor Slughorn."

"We now have three Saturdays of detention to make up for it," finished Lily.

The boys winced. "Sorry about that," said James, looking significantly at Sirius. "Where'd they come from?"

Lily shrugged. "We don't know."

"I swear they have something to do with these pranks," said Phae, sitting on her bed, repairing the torn hangings.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, but how do we prove it?"

"Hey guys," said Becca kneeling behind her bed trying to collect some spilled clothing, but she was ignored as Lily and Phae continued thinking.

"There's got to be a way," Lily muttered.

Phae chewed her lower lip. "But how'd they get in here. Those steps don't let boys up."

"Hey!" said Becca, finally getting their attention. "Come here, you've got to see this."

They peered behind her bed where Becca seemed to have disappeared halfway into the wall. "What now?" asked Phae. "A carnivorous wall?"

Becca pulled herself back out. "I think it's a passageway."

Lily snorted. "That wouldn't surprise me. It probably leads right to Filch's office."

"I don't think so," said Becca, peering back inside, "It looks like it goes pretty straight."

Phae dropped down to join her. "Lemme see." She pulled out her wand and muttered "Lumos," before crawling into the tunnel.

She appeared a few seconds later, looking supremely pleased with herself, though rather dusty. "It doesn't go to Filch's office, but I'll give you three guesses where it does lead."

"Becca," said Lily, "go make sure those boys stay in the Common Room."

Becca pouted. "Why me?"

"Because," explained Phae, "They won't assume you're up to anything."

"Tell them you're looking for something you misplaced," advised Phae. "They'll believe that for sure."

Becca scowled, but headed for the door. "You owe me."

Phae smiled. "You can have that box of Every Flavor Beans under my bed."

"Not a fair trade, but it will do," Becca muttered as she disappeared down the spiral staircase.

When she was gone, Phae and Lily considered one another deviously. "That's how they've gotten in, isn't it?" asked Lily.

Phae nodded. "Now I say we repay the favor."

"You're so mean," replied Lily with a calculating smirk. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

She thought for a moment. "I've still got half a bottle of that Manegro Potion I bought last year. Think it's still good?"

Lily shrugged. "If anything it might be more potent from sitting there."

"Let's get to it," said Phae, going to her trunk and grabbing an innocent looking bottle. "I'm sure we'll come up with something good."

She followed as Lily crawled through the small tunnel. Their wands cast an eerie glow off the stone walls and illuminated the spider webs clinging to the ceiling.

After a few minutes, they emerged behind a four-poster bed identical to the ones in their dormitory. Straightening up, they looked around. The room was identical to theirs in every respect save there were four beds and it was decidedly more messy. Exchanging cat-ate-the-canary grins, they set to work.

"What did you do last night?" demanded Becca the next morning.

Lily and Phae exchanged significant looks. "You'll see soon enough," replied Phae crookedly.

The girls were just finishing their breakfast when the doors to the Great Hall opened and the four boys entered. Phae snorted into her cereal bowl in an attempt to stifle her laughter. All four boys had grown fluorescent orange manes that resembled a lion's, and each had a different pattern to it – stripes, checks, zig-zags, and squiggles – in a different disgusting color. The hair also descended slightly onto their faces and down their arms.

Ignoring the pointing and sniggering from the other students, they seated themselves at the Gryffindor table across from the three girls. "Happy?" asked James.

Lily put on her most innocent face. "What do you mean, Potter?"

"Though I must say the orange is quite lovely," complemented Phae.

James and Sirius glared daggers at her, while Remus and Peter looked like they wanted nothing more than to disappear.

McGonagall bustled over at that instant, looking horrified. "I don't understand you students!" She exclaimed, trying to keep her voice down. "First you girls – and now this! You better get yourselves over to Madame Pomfrey and get shaved."

Phae bit deeply into her cheek as the boys muttered, "Yes, ma'am," and headed for the exit.

The tunnel was blocked up the next morning. No one knew who had told, but when they checked, it had been bricked up.

"Oh well," said Lily.

Phae nodded, though she looked slightly disappointed. "Yeah. Think they learned their lesson?"

"No," Lily replied quickly, "though I will like to see them walking around hairless for a while."

AN: Chapter Three Coming Soon – Your comments and feedback are always appreciated.