Standing There By You
Ch. 15- Newton's Law
Disclaimer: Let it be known... I hereby declare that by legal binding matters, any recognizable material belongs to the infamous J.K.Rowling.
a.k.a- it's not mine.
A/N: Sputter. Gasp. Jaw drops to the floor in utter and absolute amazement. AHHHHH!!! You guys totally and completely rock!! I'm so very very happy... woo, I passed 10! hehe. But really, it makes me feel soo very good when I see such a fantabulous response like that, thanks thanks thanks! Oh yes, and... Guess what... Today's my birthday! Yes, I'm posting on my birthday, just for special people like you! Now. Guess.. just guess, what would be the absolute perfect present. Yup, you know it... Reviews! The ultimate sweet sixteen prezzie in the world, better than gifts or money, so... please review! Thanks for listening to my incessant babbling : ) Now, on with the story!
"You blokes ready?" James asked, whipping his invisibility cloak off the dresser and tossing it over his shoulder.
Sirius grinned. "Yup. Let's go."
James, Sirius and Peter started heading out the door, but Remus lingered behind.
"Wait," he called, as they started down the stairs. "Don't you think we should plan this out a bit?"
James turned around. "What's there to plan out? We walk in there five minutes before midnight, lock the door so they can't come in, and steal their dungbombs. We'll figure out the rest once we get there."
"Well come on then," Sirius said impatiently. "It's nearly quarter till already."
The four boys, Remus albeit reluctantly, marched down the stairs and through the empty common room.
"Isn't it funny," Sirius commented, as they trooped toward the owlery, "that the girls actually think they can trick us?"
"There faces will be priceless!" James said, smiling eagerly. Then he added, "Too bad we didn't bring a camera."
"Ah, well," Sirius waved his hand in dismissal. "I doubt we'll ever forget this."
"Okay, here we are," James announced, stepping into the dark open quarters that somewhat resembled, in appearance and scent, a massive birdcage.
They crept across the room, careful of bird droppings and nesting owls.
"They're so dense," Sirius chuckled, as he and his friends watched the inky black sky for traces of a carrier owl. "They thought they could pull one over on us? Ha!"
The others nodded in agreement, their eyes not leaving the night sky. After several minutes passed and still no sight of an owl, they began to get impatient.
James pushed up the sleeve of his robe and held the watch face up to his bespectacled eyes. "What's taking so long? It's already past midnight, it should be here by now." He turned to Sirius. "You'd better lock the door. The girls will be here any moment."
"Right," Sirius went to take a large stride toward the entrance.
Unfortunately for him, his feet did not budge.
"Whoa!" Sirius yelled, wobbling dangerously. "What the..."
"Hurry up," James prodded. "They're probably coming."
"I can't!" Sirius said, trying vainly to lift his foot from it's seemingly permanent position. It remained still.
"Oh fine, I'll do it myself," James began to stomp toward the door, but looking down he found he hadn't moved either.
Remus and Peter looked over at their struggling friends, and tested their own feet as well. Peter fell over twice in the process, and Remus weakly gave up after several tries.
James and Sirius gave up on the pointless battle and slowly looked up at one another. Frowning, Sirius began, "You don't think..."
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
Before Sirius had a chance to finish his question, the four boys were covered head to toe in... you guessed it, Marshmallow Fluff.
For a few moments the boys stood dumbfounded, looking much like the ghosts young muggles dressed up as on Halloween... only melting.
"Fshfph," James sputtered, sending some of the creamy white substance flying in the process. "What.. in.. the.. world..."
"I've got a feeling there's no order of dungbombs," Remus commented weakly, as he took off his glasses and attempted to wipe them off.
"You know," Sirius began, his voice muffled by the copious amounts of sugary cream covering his mouth, "they didn't even get us that bad. The whole thing's actually quite... tasty." As if to prove his point, he plopped a large dollop of Marshmallow Fluff into his mouth.
"You know, you're right," James agreed, turning his head to look at his white blob of a friend. "I mean, they didn't even-"
James was cut off as small objects began to rain down on them. "What the..."
"Ugh, birdseed!!"
As if on cue, dozens of owls swooped down onto the boys, pecking fervishly.
"Ahhh!" Sirius yelled, swatting off the birds. "Help, help!"
From around the corner they could hear several girls laughing, and then their loud footsteps as they retreated down the stairwell.
"Help, they'll eat me alive!" Sirius exclaimed, thrashing about in hopeless attempts to free his feet.
"Sirius,"
"I'm paralyzed!" he yelled, trying desperately to fend off the ambushing owls. "I'm going to be stuck here forever! Stuck in this horrible-"
"Sirius!"
"The pain!" he yelped, still flailing around incessantly. "The pain of the pecking! I'm not going to make it out of here alive, I'm-"
"SIRIUS!"
"Wh-what?" Sirius turned his head to look at his exasperated friend.
"We can just use our wands," James informed him, pointing to his own magical apparatus. "They've charmed the floor and stuck our feet, but they haven't bound our hands."
Sirius broke away from his panicked craze and looked down at his wand, and back up at James. Looking in front of him, he saw Remus had undone himself and Peter, and they were already stepping out of the room.
"Oh."
The boys began to trudge down the stairs, sopping, sticky, and covered in birdseed, but grinning nonetheless. The girls may have succeeded in pranking them, but the boys had still managed to get out.
"We," James said, as they plodded step by step, "will always come out on top."
"Yeah," Sirius nodded, "they could never-"
"And what do we have here?"
The boys' heads whipped up as they heard the unexpected oily voice. Cringing, they came face to face with none other than Argus Filch.
"Er..."
"Do you realize how long this is going to take to clean up!?" he shouted, motioning to the top of the stairs and owlery. It was a sight indeed, with gooky white footprints trailing the boys, and a blizzard of fluff and birdseed in the owlery. Not to mention sopping birds, their feathers tacky with remnants of the glutinous substance.
"Well you see," James began, looking at his mates for support. "It wasn't even-"
"Detention!" Filch barked, taking a few staggering steps toward the mess. He slowly turned toward the protesting boys. "Two days each. And you have to clean up this.. this..." he left the sentence hanging, letting his popping vain finish it for him.
"What!?" James and Sirius exclaimed furiously.
"And they'll be separate detentions," he continued, staring at the four boys with disgust. "You can't trust when any of you get together."
The Marauders stared after him in shock as he ambled back down the staircase, muttering madly.
"This is an outrage!" James shouted, furious that the girls had possibly bested them.
"Yeah it is," Sirius huffed. "I can't believe..." he trailed off, and his expression changed from fuming to crestfallen. "Wait... the Marshmallow Fluff wasn't a hit?"
Wiry gray hair, a tiny nose that much resembled a pushpin, and dull eyes that couldn't quite be named a color, hovered over James Potter, inspecting him with narrowed eyes.
"Hold out your hands," She directed, her voice aged and raspy.
James paused a moment, debating to obey the old Divintation Professor or not. He didn't have her yet- Divintation wasn't offered until third year- but she looked mighty suspicious to him.
He stared back at her with mistrust. "What do you want with them?"
The frail old lady heaved an impatient sigh. "To inspect them. They must be checked, as to see if they are worthy of coming in contact the with a crystal ball." She motioned toward his clenched hands. "Now hold them out."
James looked down at his hands. They seemed pretty crystal ball worthy to him. Looking back up at the professor, he began, "What are the conditions, ex-"
"You are much more of a hassle, then a help, Mr. Potter," she interrupted, rubbing her temples wearily. "Remind me to never allow Argus to assign one of your detentions to me again."
James nodded and gave a cheeky smile. "Okay." He extended his arms, turning his palms to face the ceiling.
The professor grasped his hands, peering at them closely. She inspected every crease and print, apparently taking careful note of each tiny detail. After several dragging minutes of "Mmm-hmm's, I see, and Interesting..." she finally released his hands, and pointed to a shelf above her.
"The crystal balls," she discerned, taking a wobbly step toward the glass orbs. "You are to take this," here the professor handed him a large bottle containing a thick blue substance, "rub them on the enchanted, delicate spheres, wait five minutes, and then quickly rid of the remedy. Understand?"
James nodded. This was going to be easy! Sirius was going to be livid when he told him what an effortless detention he was assigned, he recalled Sirius had to dig up some hot tempered plants in the Herbology houses.
The old professor swept her wand across the room in one drastic motion, allowing a red velvet curtain that perimeted the room to be magically drawn. It revealed rows and rows of crystal balls, and from where James stood there appeared to be hundreds.
"What?" James gaped. "I've got to clean all of these?!"
The professor did not respond, only handing him the bottle of cleanser, and turning out of the room.
"Well isn't this just dandy," James grumbled to himself, as he turned the bottle over. It was marked Vitrum abolla, and underneath several general instructions were listed.
"I will be back in three quarters of an hour," she called, her voice fading as she distanced herself further from the room, "and be careful..."
James let out a deep breath, turning toward the never ending supply of crystal balls. He grudgingly reached for the first one, squirting a large amount of the blue cleanser on top of it. Just as he was about rub the mixture in, a loud noise sounded in his pocket.
Startled, James dropped the heavy ball. "Whoops," he muttered, frowning at the pile of broken glass. Bending to pick it up, the sound emitted from his pocket once more.
Digging in his pocket curiously, James retrieved several wrappers, a bit of old toast, and a square mirror.
"Oh right," he quipped, flipping over the mirror with delight. "Hello Sirius!"
"Hi," Sirius responded, although a considerable amount less cheerfully then James.
"What's wrong," James asked.
"I hate anything green and wriggly," Sirius stated, glaring at something to his left, out of James's view.
"Well at least you don't have to clean these," James said, bringing the mirror up to the shelves of crystal balls. "I swear there's at least a million here."
Sirius nodded sadly. "My detention bites." Then, looking resentful, he added, "Literally."
"I-"
"Who are you talking too?" a croaky voice demanded, startling James out of his wits.
"Who's that?" Sirius asked, trying to peer at the figure nearing toward James.
"Professor Evoco," James whispered out of the corner of his mouth. Raising his voice, he said quickly, "Er- no one, professor." He ducked the mirror out of view, and the professor stopped half-way across the room.
Eyeing him suspiciously, she said, "I distinctly heard voices. Now, who were you talking to?"
"Er..." James looked around the room, desperate for an excuse. His eyes met the crystal ball before him. "This!"
The professor frowned. "You were talking to the crystal ball?"
"Oh yes," James replied, staring into the glass orb. "I thought I saw something so I er.. talked to it."
"Oh really?" The professor asked, her eyes alight. "What did it say?"
"It said, erm.." James glanced at the ball hopefully.
"Woooo..."
James squinted his eyes at the ball, and realized the mysterious noise was coming from the mirror; Sirius was trying to 'help' him out. Stifling a laugh, he lowered the mirror a bit.
"Oh," The professor gasped, ambling over to him. "What was that?"
"Must be the..."
"Spirits!" Sirius hissed.
"Spirits," James said, nodding. "Must be the ancient spirits."
The professor peered at him before returning his nod slowly. "You must have the gift."
"Ooh, a gift!" Sirius squealed. James quickly muffled the mirror with his fist.
"Yes," James said, bowing his head modestly. "I must."
"Very well!" The professor praised. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Oh, I won't disturb you any longer, go, speak with the spirits," she turned on her heel and hastily scrambled out of the room.
James grinned as he held up the mirror and saw a laughing Sirius.
Maybe detentions weren't so bad, after all...
A/N: Ah, and thus begins the detention-crazed Marauders. First off, the chap. title, Newton's Law, would be referring to his third one: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Thought it was fitting : ) Oh, and.. does anyone know a code to get a livejournal? It says you need one from somebody already on the site, so if someone could e-mail me, that'd be great. (If you don't have the code, but just information, I'd appreciate that too)
dreamlessnights- WOW! I'm soooo excited that you reviewed all 14 chapters, it meant so much to me!! I would never ever get sick of your reviews whether they be a word long, or a novel, I gobble 'em all up! Thanks millions and millions : ) Yeah, I had Remus talking to Professor Fides, mostly because I wanted to show he was a nifty and caring teacher.. someone the students trust. And, since the staff already knew about it, I figured I'd give old Remmey someone to talk to. Hm.. I could prob. write a whole other fic just about Remus. But.. most likely I won't, lol. Oh yes, and.. Angie and Val are quite unusual, aren't they? They are in real life, too. ; )
-Check out my bio for further intriguing information!
Darkness-nightfall- Oooh yay, new reviewer! Hehe, glad you like it, thanks bundles for reviewing!
Molly- Lol, you're very hard to please, you know that? I personally thought Marshmallow Fluff was original (actually it was my beta's idea... go idea expander!) well, I've never seen it done before, anyway. And... oh, American slang. I'm really sorry that it's annoying you, but I honestly can't help it. When I'm writing I use my own lingo, so I really don't have a clue when I'm using American slang, and when I'm not. Besides, sure Hogwarts in in England, but not all of the students that go there are English. They're in the Europe region, of course, but they're not all the same by any means. Sorry, but my writing isn't going to get drastically un-American anytime soon... but, is it really that annoying? Well.. thanks for the review anyway, and yes, Remus is wonderful : )
P.S. I'm watching American Idol right now
hprincess- Hey, thanks for reviewing! Yes, I am evil leaving it at a cliffie, mwuhahaha! Whoops, sorry bout that. Anyhoo... can the boys get covered in marshmallow fluff? Well sure!
Morgan Riordan- Good question. What are they to do with all the fluff? Dump in on the Marauders, of course! : D
Suji- I must admit, when I first got your review I was immensely worried.. that meant my first two reviewers had figured it out!! Hehehe, I guess my reviewers are much too smart for me. Next time I'll try harder to pull one over on ya, k? lol.. thanks bunches and bunches for your review (you know I love em!) mmm.. what else, oh yeah, everybody check out IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE cuz it's super duper! especially if you like younger years like these, Suji here takes a different view on it, but it's really interesting! (and good!) soo... read it.
curiousknowitall- I'm glad you're enjoying this, cause I'm really enjoying your reviews! (Oh man, how cheesy..)
Lanette- Glad you liked it.. hmm, let's see. Do I like writing about the Marauders more than Lily's friends? That's a good question. I'd say no, there's just soo much more stuff involving the Marauders, that there's so much more to write. I have been doing a lot about the boys though, haven't I? Perhaps I should do a bit more girls, cause next year is a whole lotta more boys. (Animagus, etc.) Oh, and killerpurplefroggy's your friend? What a small world! Lol. Well, I'm assuming you haven't written any stories cuz you don't have a pen name, but if you do, I'd love to check them out. Oh yeah, and thanks for the advice about the chap. title.. it's just hard coming up with ones that actually have relevance, you know? The first couple of titles were fun to come up with, but now it's just plain hard. Ah well. Thanks again!
Ponette-Wow! Two ette's in one update! That's alrite, you ette's rock, as do your reviews : p Yup, this story is a bit crazy, isn't it? Actually it's a lot crazy.. maybe that's cause I'm a lot crazy. lol... thanks for the review!!
p.s.- if you don't know why i am referring to ette's repeatedly in this response, look up.
SuperHiperChit- Lol, don't worry!! Of course I would never just let them overhear it like that, I'm not that cruel! Oh good, if you do write a L/J fic, make sure I know! I'd really love to check it out : )
Siriuslyfun19212- Guess what! You were right when you were trying to be right and right when people say you're right and nobody's saying you're wrong and you're not wrong when people aren't insisting you're wrong and I hope you like me and I insist you're right so please don't spite me!
oh, and... thanks for the review : )
MidnightPrincess- sigh. and just when you thought the Marauders were safe. : ) Aw, I couldn't let them get away that easily, could I? lol.. thanks for the review!!
Dulcis Caelum- Everybody please read Dumbledore's Daughter, and pleeease review!
Jess- Yay.. thanks for the review! Yes, we are good distracters, aren't we? : )
Oksana- Nope, a party is definitely NOT a party w/out Marshmallow Fluff! Thanks for the review : )
IrishMaiden- Hehe, thanks for reviewing, glad you liked it!! Love ya bunches : )
Aerandir- Mmm.. last on the list again. Sorry!! You know I love ya : ) Oh yeah, thanks for the review!
Don't forget.. perfect prezzie! : )