The Almost Prank
chapter 4
Disclaimer: Has been explained in previous chapters. It gets redundant and time consuming to repeat it so from here on in please refer to chapters 1-3.
Warning: May contain some language.
"I need to be by myself," James stated as he and Lily reached the Gryfindore Common Room. "Again I am sorry, sweetheart."
"What happened," Remus asked watching James go up to the boys dormitory. He and the rest of the Marauders were the only ones in the room. "Why was James appoligizing to you?"
"We ran into Snape," Lily replied. "It wasn't pretty. All I can say is that Snape got what he was asking for."
"What is this?" Sirius wondered. "Evens finally agreeing that Snivilous got what he deserved."
"I just hope he doesn't say anything to anybody," Lily expounded. "I don't think James could handle it."
"What are you bloody talking about, Lily," Sirius exploded.
"He heard us talking," Lily responded. "He snidely confronted James and attacked him."
"You mean he overheard about Jacci?" Remus asked comprehension finally dawning on his face. "Don't worry we will take care of him. He will regret the day if he ever says anything to anyone. I promise you that."
"Where is the snake?" Sirius asked.
"At the Quiditch Pitch," Lily told them. "He was out cold when we left him."
"I'll go get Professor Slughorn," Remus stated getting up from the couch he had been sitting on.
"I better," Lily reasoned. "If you go you might get into trouble. I can just tell him that I was walking by and saw Snape laying on the ground and thought he might need help. That way you guys won't get in trouble for something you didn't do."
"So what are we suppose to do," Sirius muttered. "Just sit here like nothing ever happened. I don't think so."
"Actually, we are going to do our homework," Remus answered. He was always trying to get his friends to do their homework. "Since we have nothing better to do. Besides Lily is right. If one of us went it would look funny."
"I'll go talk to McGonnigall," Sirius said getting up to follow Lily out the picture hole. "This has gone on to long. We need some help."
"No," Remus said. "We must wait and see. Hopefully we can repair the damage. James just needs time."
"Haw much time?" Peter asked. "He just started eating again. What if he stops? What then?"
"We wait," Remus reasoned. "Besides if we go to McGonigall now then take care of Snivilious we look guilty. However if we wait it buys us sometime to plan."
With that Remus took out his books and started to study. Looking over at his friends every now and then to make sure they were doing the same thing. He did not have the energy nor the will to make them study right now. He was to worried about what was going to happen to James.
The next morning Lily woke early, she had had a hard time sleeping, she was worried about James he had not come out of the boys dormitory at all after they got back. As Lily walked down to the Common Room she was startled by what she saw. Remus, Sirius and Peter were sleeping on three of the couches, it was obvious that they had not fallen asleep doing homework because none of them had their textbooks anywhere near them. Lily went over to one of the couches and gently woke Remus up, since he was the easiest to get up. "Remus," she whispered. "Why are you guys sleeping down here?"
"Wha... who...wher...?" Remus sputtered still half a sleep.
"Remus, wake up." Lily gently probed. "Why are you guys sleeping down here?"
"Lily," Remus exclaimed now fully a wake. "What time is it?"
"It's still early," Lily replied. "I am the only one up. But, everyone else will be getting up shortly. Why didn't you guys sleep in the dorm?"
"James still has the door locked," Remus answered her. "We felt that it would be better to let him be."
"Get the others up. I'll see if I can talk to him. He didn't eat enough yesterday, if he keeps going like this there is no telling what will happen."
"Alright. But what are we going to do about James?"
"I'll figure something out. The three of you should probably go down to breakfast. I'll wait here. Maybe James will come out. He still was doing his morning flying before breakfast."
"Are you sure you don't want one of us to stay with you?"
"Yeah, if he does come out and we are all here he might go back upstairs. Besides I still have some work to do. Plus I will need someone to sit with James this afternoon. I have to go and serve detention with Slughorn."
"You, Evans, have detention," Sirius asked waking at the news that Lily had detention. "How did that happen? You never get detention."
"Yesterday, when I went to talk to Slughorn," Lily replied turning to Sirius. "Snape started to comment that James had a child, so I silenced him. It was no big deal. But you now the rule about using magic against other students."
"I am impressed," Sirius murmured in awe. "See you aren't the goody two shoes that we all thought you were."
"Padfoot, shut up," Remus yelled. "This is no time to be sharing insults. Get Peter up, we have to go."
Professor McGonigall was troubled by what she saw at the Gryffindore breakfast table and by what she did not see. What she saw was three very messy tired seventh year boys. It looked as if they had not slept at all the night before and they were wearing the same clothes that they had had on the day before. What she did not see was Mr. Potter or Miss Evans. Sure that both incidents were related she decided that she would talk to the boys after they ate breakfast. She was getting very distressed over the fact that Mr. Potter did not seem to be eating for the past couple days and it was beginning to worry her. "Albus, have you seen Mr. Potter in the past couple of days?" Professor McGonigall asked the headmaster.
"Come to think about it," Professor Dumbledore responded. "I have only seen him a few times. He is usually always around some where. But for the past few days it is like he is hiding."
"He was at the Quiditch Pitch yesterday morning," Slughorn interjected. "Mr. Snape saw him and apparently got in to a fight with Miss Evans."
"Excuse me gentleman," McGonigall exclaimed seeing the three Marauders getting ready to leave. "I have to go talk to some students. Have a nice day."
"Good day, Minerva," Dumbledore muttered.
"Mr. Lupin, Mr, Black, Mr. Pettigrew," Professor McGonigall called as she reached the trio. "I need to speak with you three. Please come to my office. It is very important."
The three followed the Professor to her office wondering what was going on. It was not that they never got called to her office. On the contrary they almost spent as much time in her office as they did in class. This time however they had no idea what they had done. Besides they needed to get back to the Common Room so Lily could get something to eat. She had insisted on being the one to sit and wait for James to come out of the dorm.
"Alright," Professor McGonigall muttered as they entered her office. "I asked you in here because I am concerned with Mr. Potter. Since you are his best friends I figured you would be the best ones to ask."
"What is it you want to know?" Sirius asked wanting to get this interview over with. "We have to get back to the Common Room"
"Mr. Black, I would appreciate it if you would not be so rude," Professor McGonigall warned. "I am concerned with Mr. Potter. However that will not keep me from placing you in detention for you lack of respect. Now, could you tell me where Mr. Potter and Miss Evans are seeings how they were not at breakfast?"
"Lily is actually waiting for us to get back so she can have breakfast," Remus replied. "She is waiting in hopes that James will come down from the dormitory. He locked himself in there yesterday morning and has not come out since."
"Why is that?" The Professor asked.
"Apparently Snivillious said something yesterday," Sirius explained.
"Mr. Snape, Mr. Black," the Professor corrected. "When you are in the presents of a teacher you will address people by their names. When you are in private you may refer to other students as you wish. So what exactly did Mr. Snape say that would upset Mr. Potter?"
"We have no idea," Remus explained. "James and Lily were talking at the Quiditch Pitch. The three of us had gone back to the Common Room at Lily's request. When Lily and James came to the Common Room James went up and locked himself in the dorm. Lily just said that Mr. Snape had heard some things that she hoped wouldn't get around the school."
"And you have no idea what she was referring to?" The Professor asked with raised eyebrows.
"Our feeling," Peter who had been quiet up to this point replied. "Is that it has something to do with Jacci. It is the only thing that we can think of."
"I suppose that this has something to do with the fact that Miss Evans has detention today," the Professor pushed.
"It could have, but we are not sure," Remus responded.
"Very well," MaGonigall replied. "Go to the kitchen and have the house-elves fix some breakfast for Miss Evans and Mr. Potter. If Mr. Potter has not eaten a full meal by tomorrow morning I request that one of you please contact me."
"Yes, Professor," Peter muttered.
"It might come as a surprise to the three of you but we want what is best for you students," McGonigall explained. "If Mr. Potter will not eat we will have to come up with a plan to keep him healthy."
"What if James is unwilling to cooperate?" Sirius questioned. "Does he have a chose in the matter or are we taking that a way from him?"
"Mr. Black, as you know we have given him a chance to take care of this on his own," McGonigall replied. "I understand that this is a hard time for him. However I will not have him destroying himself like he is. I will be contacting the Potter Mansion to see what his parents would like us to do. He is still their child and they still have a say in his life while he is a student at this school. As you know Mr. and Mrs. Potter care about their son very much as they care about all of you. For know I believe it would be best if you three go and get some breakfast for Mr. Potter and Miss Evans. Since the three of you do not have access to your things you are more then welcome to use the Prefect bath and I will have some clean clothing sent to the bathroom for you to change into. I would have assumed that you, Mr.Lupin as a Prefect would have already used the bath."
"Sorry, Professor," Remus replied. "I guess I was not thinking of that."
"That is alright," Professor McGonigall said. "It probably slipped your mind as you have other matters to worry about. I will see you three tomorrow if not before then. Please keep me informed on Mr. Potter. As far as Miss Evans detention there is nothing I can do. I am sorry about that. You may all go."
"Thank you," the trio exclaimed rising to leave.
"That went better then expected," Sirius mutterd as they left Professor McGonigall's office.
"No kidding," Peter replied. "I thought we were in trouble for something."
"Come on you two," Remus said. "We have work to do. Besides Lily has detention this afternoon. She will probably be needing someone to talk to before she goes and serves it. With it being her first and all."
"Hey, Moony," Peter exclaimed seeing a greasy haired boy rounding a corner a head of them. "We have some things to discuss with that greaseball."
"We might as well get it over with now," Sirius stated quickening his pace. "We might not get another chance for a while. With him the sooner the better."
"True how very true you two," Remus replied with a smile. Out of all the times they had tormented Snape this was going to be his favorite. The trio hurried after their prey until they had him cornered. "Hey, Snivilious, we need to talk to you," Remus sneared.
"What do you want?" Snape snapped turning around to face his tormentors.
"You heard some things that we do not want repeated," Sirius replied. "We want your word that you will not repeat them."
"And what if I do?" Snape proded. "You can't do anything to me. Not after the promise you gave Evans."
"We didn't promise her anything," Peter replied.
"James promised her he would leave you a lone," Sirius added. "We an the other hand promised her nothing. Except to take care of you."
"Which we will do if you let anyone know what you know," Remus added. "And we will thoughly enjoy it."
"And what are you going to do to me," Snape chalenged.
"You do not want to know," Sirius muttered. "Trust us when we say that we will make you regret ever telling anyone what you know."
"Are you threating me?" Snape asked. "If you are you can just join Evans in detention this afternoon. I will have no problem telling Professor Slughorn about this."
"Not exactly threatening," Remus answered. "More like offering you a deal. You keep quiet and we leave you a lone."
"For now," Sirius muttered under his breath.
"However if we find out that you have backed put of this deal in anyway," Remus snarled. "All bets are off. Their are more of us then there are of you. So I suggest you take the deal. You already know what we can do. Let me assure you that what you have already recieved will pale in comparision to what we will do to you should you back out." Haveing said that Remus started to back a way. "I thourghly enjoyed or little chat. But seeings how we have things to do I would suggest that you think about it for a little while and get back to us."
"Mr. Lupin, Mr. Black, Mr. Pettegrew," a short pudggy man called down the hall.
"Ah, Professor Slughorn," Peter replied. "What can we do for you?"
"Are you threatening a student?" Slughorn asked very perturbed.
"Not at all," Remus simperd. "Are we threatening you Mr. Snape."
"No," Snape responded with a scared look on his face. "They are not threatening me sir. We were... ah.. just talking. Right guys."
"Yeah." Peter jumped in. "Just talking. You know. Boys talk and all."
"Very well," Slughorn replied. "I was just making sure. I wanted to be sure you didn't want to join Miss Evans in detention." With that Professor Slughorn continued up the hall.
"Very good, Snivilious," Peter stated.
"So we have a deal," Sirius said taking a step to block Snapes retreat. "You keep James secret and we leave you a lone."
"This is blackmail," Snape wined.
"As a Slytherine you would know," Remus replied with a smirk. "Me on the other hand. I only make promises. I do not believe in blackmail."
"Unless it suits your purposes," Snape snarled. "But, yes we have a deal. Now if you would let me go I have to go and study." With that Snape left to go to the library.
"Do you think he took us seriously?" Peter wondered.
"Oh he did, Wormtail," Remus mutterd. "He took us very serious. Did you see the look on his face. He won't say anything. He wouldn't dare. He is to scared right now. Come on we have a date with the kitchen." With that the three friends went down the corridors to the kitchen.
"I thought you guys were never going to get back," Lily exclaimed when the trio returned to the Common Room. "I suppose that breakfast is over by now. What happened?"
"We got called into Professor McGonigall's office," Sirius muttered taking some shrunken food out of his pocket and enlarging it.
"Are you guys in trouble?" Lily wondered.
"No," Remus answered enlarging the food he had brought back. "She was just worried about you and James. She told us to get some food from the kitchen."
"That was nice of her," Lily murmured as she picked up some of the bacon. "I just wish James would come down and eat."
"We have to get him to eat a decent meal," Remus whispered. "If not McGonigall is going to call his parents. She is worried about his lack of appetite as we all are."
"Has James come down at all today?" Peter wondered.
"No, and I haven't gone up to check on him. I've been to busy rerouting questions from the rest of the house. Everybody has noticed how distracted James is acting."
"I think you got the hardest job," Remus smiled apologetically. "Why don't you eat up then go relax until lunch. Between the three of us we can take care of James and the questions."
"What exactly have you been telling them?" Peter wondered. "So we can get our story straight."
"Just that James isn't feeling well," Lily responded now forking eggs into her mouth. "A fifth year wanted to go get Madam Pomfrey, but I told them that James just needed rest. That was the hardest one to get out of. I guess several people noticed your guys bedraggled appearance and commented on how unlike you three that was."
"McGonigall told us to use the Prefect bath to freshen up a bit," Remus said. "She is sending some clean clothes up there now. I think that one of us should go so we get done before anyone else starts asking questions and Lily can get some rest."
"You all can go," Lily stated swallowing some pumpkin juice. "I'll just go and see if I can't get James to eat a little. Have you guys tried alohamora yet?"
"No," Remus stated getting ready to leave with Peter and Sirius. "We wanted to respect his privacy. But if Professor McGonigall is threatening to call his mum and dad it is probably time."
"Yeah, if they get called I am in big trouble," Sirius muttered from the portrait hole.
"Why is that?" Lily wondered.
"Well, I kind of already talked to them a few nights ago," Sirius answered. "They told me to take care if James. IF the Professor talks to them it will look like I didn't do what they asked."
"I'll take care of it," Lily reasoned shoving the boys out the door. "Now go and get cleaned up before lunch. I'll go talk to James. He might listen to me."
a/n: Thanks for reading. Somethings to think about until next time. Will James eat for Lily? Will his parents get called? If they are will Sirius get in trouble? What will Lily end up doing in detention?
harry-an-ginny Thanks for reading. I am glad you are enjoying the story.
EboniteEvans Thanks foir reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much. There will be more to come.
moonys-witch Thanks for the nice review. I am glad you are enjoyingthe story. snape had to find out to add a little spice to the story. I however will not tell if he is going to tell about James dead child or not.
Lily and James Love 4 ever Thanks for the review and the complement. Please keep reading.
To all my other readers thanks for reading. A thanks goes out to all those that reviewed chapters 1 and 2. I enjoy your feedback. It is very encouraging. Please keep reading and reviewing. I realize this is a hard story to read because it is a hard story to write, but I am encouraged that so many of you are taking the time to read.