Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The use of its characters, locations, and universe in general is merely a lend.
In honour of Paul's birthday. Dedicated to my friend Ana. Thanks for all the laughs and inspiration. ;)
Fright Train
It was supposed to be a normal, regular day. It was September 01, and students with ages ranging from eleven to seventeen gathered around platform nine and three quarters of King's Cross to return for one more year at Hogwarts. The older students walked about nonchalantly greeting friends and old faces while the youngest ones watched it all in awe.
Four of the oldest boys gathered around a compartment after stowing away their heavy trunks, and attempted to catch on to the summer news. Attempted being the operative word. Sirius Black had barely started his account on how he'd bought an apartment with the money he'd inherited from his uncle and started the first of many stories about the gorgeous girls he'd invited over when a head suddenly appeared by the door.
"What are you doing here?" A girl with shoulder-length red hair asked.
"Uh, talking," James Potter replied, looking around with a bit of a confused frown. "What's the matter, Evans? Want to join us?" He added with a bright smile.
The girl huffed impatiently and opened the door wider. "I'll have you know you are supposed to come with me and instruct the other prefects," she said, raising an eyebrow at him. "And you." She added, nodding at another boy.
"Me?" Remus Lupin questioned a bit warily. "What have I done? I'm just sitting here, Lily."
"Exactly," Lily replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Both of you are supposed to be in the compartment for prefects. You still are one, right?" She looked back at Remus.
"I guess," he replied, slowly getting up to his feet. "We'll go, then."
"I've almost forgotten I'm Head Boy," James sighed as he also got up and followed him. "I actually thought it was a dream…"
"Wait, what are we supposed to do then?" Peter Pettigrew questioned, looking as they followed the redhead out into the corridor.
"I'm sure you'll manage without us, Wormtail." James replied rather dryly as he gave the remaining duo a half-wave and shut the compartment door closed.
"They won't stay there the entire ride," Sirius reassured him as he searched for something in his pocket. Taking out a deck of cards, he asked, "Exploding Snap?"
They spent the better part of the hour playing cards as they waited for them to return. Every now and then, other friends would drop in to catch up and maybe listen to some funny Marauder anecdotes. Sirius noticed some of James's fangirls walking up and down the corridor in front of their compartment and looking in hopefully. Unfortunately, he also saw a few of his own ex-girlfriends giving him cold glares.
He sighed heavily. A minute later, he was grinning unabashedly at James's fan club and steadfastly ignoring the rather outrageous-looking ex-girlfriends.
"Hey," he looked up when James and Remus walked back into the compartment. "Where's the lovely Evans?"
"Patrolling the corridors," James replied sitting across from him next to Peter. "I was supposed to be with her, but she said I might make things worse. Whatever it is she meant with that."
Sirius looked curiously as Remus sat down next to him without saying a word, and rather dejectedly leaned against the wall next to the window. Raising an eyebrow in question, he continued to stare at his friend until the sandy-haired boy mumbled a meek, "Leave me alone."
"What's with him?" Sirius questioned, turning back to look at James and jerking a thumb at Remus, who had covered his face with both hands.
"He said he's got a headache," James shrugged. "Said to leave him alone, he'll sleep it off."
"All right," Sirius replied, and Peter nodded his assent.
Although concerned for Remus's welfare, the other boys continued to talk and entertain 'guests' that arrived every now and then. Every single person entering the compartment glanced at the boy curled up at the end of the seat and questioned it, but Sirius only replied it was Remus sleeping. When people objected and said they'd leave so as not to disturb him, the others would say it's okay because the boy could sleep through anything.
That proved to be almost true. It was hours later when the sky was turning dark with nightfall that Remus woke up. Or rather, was woken up by a very confusing disturbance.
Looking a bit put out, Lily had been dragged into the compartment by a cheerful Emmeline Vance, saying they were done patrolling the corridors. Em was the seventh year prefect for Hufflepuff, and she'd always been in great terms with the Marauders and thought they were hilarious. And so it was that she didn't mind being in their presence and rather enjoyed their stories.
It was in amidst all the small talk and occasional anecdote thrown in the conversation that a fifth year prefect appeared by the doorway. The very pretty girl seemed to be in some sort of turmoil, at same time relieved when she spotted Lily and James, but troubled still.
"What's the matter, Patti?" Lily asked her, frowning up a bit at the blonde girl.
"Er," she hesitated, and looked back further up the corridor for a moment. "Did any of you notice something strange?"
"Strange?" James questioned. "Like what?"
"Like…" Patti trailed off, apparently at a lack of words.
Suddenly, a boy standing behind her pulled the door open fully. He looked much more hassled than the girl, his dark hair sticking on end as though he'd run his hand through it repeatedly, and his prefect badge askew in his robes. Patti looked frantically up at him, with a sort of a warning look. It didn't matter, for he said, "Like the bloody train's on fire!"
"George!" Patti exclaimed exasperatedly at his sudden outburst.
"What?" Bewildered, Lily instantly jumped up and went out in the corridor, pushing the pair of prefects aside. She looked further up the corridor, and saw thick black smoke was pouring out from the cracks of the door connecting to the engine driver's compartment. Apparently, the train was on fire.
"Oh my God!" She exclaimed, walking quickly back into their compartment. "They're right! The driver's compartment is on fire!"
Frowning deeply, James got up and went to check himself. Yep, the train was definitely on fire. He could actually feel the heat emanating from behind the door. As though in a daze, he walked back up to Lily, looking completely bewildered. "What do we do?" He questioned her.
"I don't know," Lily replied, momentarily flabbergasted, looking around with wide eyes. "How did this happen? Wasn't there supposed to be someone in there?"
"Do we even have a driver?" Sirius questioned, as he also came out to the corridor, looking up curiously from where the thick smoke was coming. "I always thought this thing was in a sort of autopilot. You know, magically set to get to Hogsmeade station."
"We have to stop it," Lily said, taking a deep breath in. "Let's just go there, get our wands and put this fire out."
"We don't know what caused it," Sirius argued, looking back at her. "Was it chemical? Was it natural? Was it magical? You know, there are some spells you can't use in conjunction with others, even more if there are potions involved. It could prove to be a lot worse than letting the fire alone."
"You're right," Lily nodded. She wondered how he knew something like this, but then rolled her eyes to herself. They were the Marauders, they should know about chemicals, fires, and explosions. "Then what do we do?" She asked, looking from Sirius to James.
"Oh shit," James murmured softly, not looking at her, but staring at a nondescript point in the wall. "Oh shit."
"James, calm down," Lily pleaded. It wouldn't do to panic now. They were Head Boy and Girl; they were supposed to have everything under control. Besides, everyone else was watching them, they should set the example and remain calm.
"Oh shit," James continued to whisper frantically to himself.
"We should get an owl," Lily turned suddenly to Sirius. "We'll write back to Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore will know what to do."
"Yeah, but how long will it take? Meanwhile the fire might spread, or worse," Sirius countered, thoughtfully biting his lips.
While they were discussing such options, Peter stood up next to the door, still inside the compartment, and kept staring at the smoke coming up as though in a trance.
"Oh bloody hell," James said, running a hand through his hair as he stared at the wall. A second later, he had bolted further down the corridor.
"Prongs?" Sirius asked and watched as he went to one of the exit doors and grasped the handle with both hands, pulling with all his might. "Prongs? James! What the hell are you doing?" He yelled and went up to him.
"We have to get out of here!" He exclaimed, looking back at him. "We have to get out. I can't die! I'm too young to die, and there's still lots of stuff I got to do. I have to get out!"
"James, don't be ridiculous!" Sirius retorted, grabbing his hands and stopping him from opening the door. "You'll fall out and die at this speed. Besides, haven't you noticed we're over a bridge right now?" He added, looking out through a window over his shoulder. He was right, the train was speeding through the falling night over a seemingly abyss of dark waters below.
"I don't care, we have to get out!" James exclaimed irrationally, struggling against Sirius's hands, trying to reach the door handle.
Lily stood watching this unfold rooted to the same spot, mouth open and eyes wide. The pair of fifth year prefects that had first told of the fire came out from another compartment to stand next to her. Patti then slapped the dark-haired boy on the arm and said, "You see what I meant? You're not supposed to break such news like that!"
"Ow! What? They had to know," George complained, rubbing the assaulted area with his hand.
Blinking tiredly and rubbing his eyes, Remus emerged from the compartment, looking around as though he was still dreaming. "What is going on?" He asked Lily and when she didn't answer, he followed her gaze and found his best friends struggling with each other in front of the exit door. "Care to explain? Lily?" He asked, feeling more awake now and as though he was distinctly missing something important.
"The train's on fire," George repeated, and promptly received another slap from Patti.
Remus looked back over his shoulder at the smoke coming ominously from the engine driver's compartment. "Huh." He merely said. "So Em wasn't joking when she woke me up. The train is on fire."
Right then, said girl came out of the compartment. "I'm gathering the other prefects," she said, her blonde hair flying behind her as she went down the corridor, dodging Sirius and James on her way, as they had now fallen on the floor.
"How is that going to help?" Lily cried back at her, momentarily diverting her attention from the struggling duo.
"I don't know," Emmeline shouted back over her shoulder. "But I have to do something, and I'm doing that!" And off she went.
"Oh Merlin," Lily sighed tiredly, bringing a hand up to massage her temple. "I have a feeling that's only going to make things worse."
Remus frowned as he continued watching his friends. James was again pulling with both his hands on the door handle, taking the advantage that Sirius was still on the floor. "What is he trying to do?" He asked.
"Open the door and jump, for what it seems." Lily said, closing her eyes and rubbing her temple vigorously.
"Well, that's just stupid," Remus said, as though coming to a decision. He swiftly took his wand in hand and walked up to his friends by the door, for Sirius had recovered and was trying to hold James back again. He waved his wand in a few precise movements, and an invisible force detained both boys, who were pushed against the wall opposite the door.
"Prongs," Remus said loud and clearly, walking up to him. "You are not jumping off the train."
"I can't die, Remus!" He said, still rather desperately. "You can't die either! And Sirius! And Lily!"
"And what am I, the next door neighbour?" Peter piped up, finally dragging his eyes away from all the smoke. "I don't count?" He questioned, hurt evident in his voice.
Remus rolled his eyes at this and looked back at desperate Head Boy. "You are not dying," he said evenly, putting his hands on his shoulders and shaking him slightly. "No one is dying, James."
"We have to get out!" James pushed Remus's hands away, and then shook the sandy-haired boy urgently. It was as though he was simply ignoring every single word his friends were saying. Sirius stood to the side now, crossing his arms and huffing exasperatedly, but still maintaining a dignified and composed sort of stance. Only every now and then, he'd look back at all the smoke and bite his lips, a frown surfacing between his eyebrows.
"Oh for goodness' sake!" Lily exclaimed suddenly. She walked up to the assembled threesome, pushing Remus to the side and standing directly in front of James. He looked at her with wide eyes when suddenly she brought her hand up and slapped him. "Get a hold of yourself! You're Head Boy and Quidditch Captain! You're supposed to stay calm, dammit!"
Everything seemed to hold still for a moment as everyone stared at Lily. James turned to face her again, taking in her rosy cheeks and blazing green eyes, and the furious frown marked between her eyebrows. He slowly brought his hand up to his inflicted cheek and nodded his head.
"Okay," he said in a whisper, still holding her intense gaze. Then in a flash, James brought his lips down to hers, his hands holding her face firmly even as she weaved her fingers through his hair and grasped his shirt fiercely with the other hand.
The other three Marauders watched this, their eyes widening in various degrees of incredulity. They turned simultaneously to face one another, frowning and throwing their hands up in gestures that could only express the phrase 'what the hell'.
They didn't have much time to do anything else, however. Quite unexpectedly, the train lurched forward and then jerked violently to a stop, the brakes hissing loudly in the tracks. Every passenger of the train who was standing up at the moment fell to the floor. Those who were sitting fell too, actually, with some hand luggage hitting them rather painfully as they went.
Once the train came to a full stop, everyone attempted to sit or stand up and access the damage. Many were demanding loudly (and using many curse words) what had happened, for the news of the fire hadn't reached all the passengers, especially the ones in the far back of the train.
"Ow!" Lily said, rubbing her forehead. She'd hit her head when she came toppling over James. In fact, her limbs were still rather entangled with his, as they were both trying to sit up.
James leaned her against the wall, kneeling next to her. "Is everyone all right?" He called to the corridor at large. He received various grumbles and murmurs in response, but no one seemed to be in trouble. He readjusted his glasses back to his nose (they had been perched rather precariously on one side of his face with the fall) and examined Lily's forehead.
"What happened?" Lily murmured, closing her eyes and pressing a hand to the side of her head.
"We stopped," James replied, fingering lightly the swelling and reddening area in her forehead. She flinched back and he retreated his hand. "Don't worry, it's going to be okay. You just hit your head, but I don't think it's serious. We'll get you to Madam Pomfrey once we get to Hogwarts, though."
"We stopped?" Sirius grumbled, rubbing at his shoulder as he attempted to sit. "How in Merlin's name did we do that?"
"I have no idea," Remus replied, coming up to his feet and staggering a bit as he did. "But I think it's safe for us to open the door now."
James left Lily sitting on the corridor and slid the door open. He and Sirius got their wands and jumped out while Remus checked the compartments to see if everything was all right. They were in a section of the train tracks cutting through some woods. Looking around, they were even more surprised to find a handful of witches and wizards hovering over their heads in broomsticks.
"Professor Dumbledore?" James said in a high-pitched voice as the old wizard landed swiftly in front of them.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter. Mr. Black," he said, nodding his head slightly at each boy. "I understand you had some trouble with the train ride back to Hogwarts."
James and Sirius exchanged very surprised looks and turned back to their Headmaster. "Yes, Sir." James said. "The engine driver's compartment was on fire."
"Yes," Professor Dumbledore replied gravely. "I gathered that from the letter Ms. Johnson wrote to me while you were trying to maintain everything in control. A very wise decision, I should say. I am sorry we stopped the train so abruptly, but it was quite necessary. Hopefully, no one will sustain permanent injuries from this experience. Although I do think some of the younger students might be traumatized after this all." Despite the seriousness of his words and his voice, the wizard's blue eyes were twinkling just like the stars above.
"Well, yeah…" Sirius trailed off, as he didn't quite know what to say. Once more, he exchanged a very confused and surprised with look with James.
The Headmaster excused himself, walking towards the front of the train and instructing them to get back on board. Thoughts such as 'Hell, no, I'm not coming back into that train' passed briefly through their minds, but they decided to go as they were instructed.
Once back in the corridor, James sought out the pair of fifth year prefects. "Patti," he called and she came out from a compartment. "Did you send a letter to Dumbledore?"
The pretty blonde girl shrugged. "I heard Lily say that's what we should do, but then you all panicked," she said easily. "So I just got my owl and wrote the letter as though you two had told me to do it while you took care of everything else."
"Really?" James's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Wow, that was… Thanks, Patti."
"Not at all," she smiled. "Someone had to do something, after all. It seemed the only logical thing."
"Yeah, but you could have said we all went crazy too," James smirked at her.
"Well, then I guess you two owe me a bit," she said and winked playfully at him.
"And me too," the dark-haired boy appeared by the door. "I told her not to write about you two. After all, everyone is entitled to a bit of a panic attack every now and then, right?"
"Right," James smiled ruefully this time. "But let's just keep this between us, okay? Patti? George?"
"You got it," he nodded, and the girl smiled back. Then they entered the compartment again and James went to check on his friends.
Some time later, the fire was extinguished, the engine driver's compartment was restored, and the Hogwarts Express was back on its way to Hogsmeade station. Professor Dumbledore had performed a spell so his voice would carry way to the back of the train as though through an intercom before they set back, and explained everything that had happened, reassuring the students it was all right now and apologising for all the inconvenience.
Even as she sat down back in the compartment once more, Lily pleaded temporary insanity for kissing James Potter. He did it likewise, only for freaking out and completely losing it when he'd tried to open the door and jump off the train.
"I just wanted to know what happened that caused the fire," Remus said, thoughtfully rubbing his chin as everyone was virtually teasing both Head Boy and Girl for their respective temporary insanities.
"Professor Dumbledore never said what happened, did he?" Emmeline said from across him, and all the others stopped the teasing and listened in.
"I'll tell you what happened," they looked up at the voice coming from the doorway. A seventh year prefect from Ravenclaw was leaning against the door, holding her wand idly in the right hand. A few movements of her wand later, and two boys zoomed into view as though being pulled by their ears.
"Ow, ow, ow!" They cried, coming to a stop beside the brunette. "Marlene, stop it! Let us go!"
"Gideon?" Sirius questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Fabian?" Peter added, frowning slightly.
"These two idiots," Marlene said, and with a flick of her wand, the boys relaxed and let go of their ears. "Our adorable Prewett brothers just decided to experiment a little, and caused that fire."
"You caused the fire?" James asked. "What did you do?"
"Well, let's just say that's the last time I try mixing up dungbombs, fireworks, and a few dubious potions from Slughorn's class," Fabian said, rubbing his assaulted ear vigorously.
"That's not a very nice combination, I tell you," Gideon added, running a hand through his strawberry blonde hair.
"Yeah, we noticed," Lily glared at them slightly.
"So?" Marlene questioned, idly twirling her wand in her hand. "What do we do about this? If we report them, they'll probably be expelled, and it would be such a shame as this is our last year."
"Hey, come now," Gideon said, raising his hands defensively. "We didn't do that for a prank. We were only testing out a few things."
"We certainly never intended for things to get this out of hand," Fabian added apologetically.
"Ignoring the fact that you two chose to do it in the engine driver's compartment for reasons I quite frankly don't want to know," James said rather dryly, "I think we can try and shed a positive light over all this matter." The others looked incredulously at him. "Oh come on! It wasn't that bad, no one got hurt, and we've certainly done worse things for pranks." He finished, gesturing at the Marauders in specific.
"No one got hurt?" Lily repeated. "Excuse me?" She pointed at her forehead to the point that was still an angry red.
"You'll live, Lily. It was only a bump," Emmeline rolled her eyes at the redhead.
The Head Girl narrowed her eyes momentarily and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well," she huffed, looking back at Marlene. "They're from your House. I say you do whatever you'd like about this."
The Prewett brothers immediately turned pleadingly to her. "Please, Marlene?" Fabian started.
"You wouldn't be so cruel, would you?" Gideon continued.
"Throwing us out of school would be very harsh, and it wouldn't be a very effective way to make us better wizards."
"We'll be very nice from now on, and we'll do whatever you like."
The brunette rolled her eyes. "How many times have I heard that before?" Marlene questioned herself. "Oh all right. You two are definitely idiots, but I guess you don't deserve to be expelled."
A shower of 'thank you's, 'you are wonderful's, and other whatnot came out of their mouths as they both hugged and kissed her on the cheeks, and a moment later they were off, walking down the corridor.
"You're still not off the hook!" Marlene shouted at their retreating backs. "Oh why do I bother?" She said to no one in particular, and flopped down on the seat next to Sirius.
"So, McKinnon?" Sirius said, putting an arm over her shoulders and grinning roguishly at her. "You have a weakness for Marauders, huh?"
Marlene rolled her blue eyes and the others laughed at them. Then she grinned slightly and replied, "Only if they're particularly idiotic."
"Oh, so you'd better stay away from Padfoot," Remus said, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. A moment later, he dodged as Sirius threw the Witch Weekly Emmeline had been reading at him.
Definitely just another train ride back to Hogwarts.
A.N.: Does anyone else feel like laughing like mad picturing James with both hands pulling at the door handle, a desperate expression on his face? Mwahaha…
This was written as a bit of a parody for a very real fact concerning another foursome. I won't say much, but they're also British and were very, very famous. If you somehow know whom I'm talking about (I even laid out a few clues), and if you're as much a fan as I am, there's a possibility you'll know what incident I'm talking about. If not (and if you're that curious), drop me a line. ;)