I am so sorry about the time I've been away, it just flies by. I never really imagined how busy I'd be with revision, Duke of Edinburgh, and voluntary stuff so I'm practically dead. Plus it's amazing how easy it is to put something off when you've already put it off for three weeks. BUT I promise to try and be more regular with updating!
*Eleven days left*
"ARE YOU READY?" Kara shouted as the she, Lily, Sasha, and the Marauders lined up outside the school.
"You're acting like being on the roof is a big thing" Sirius laughed as he mounted his broom "Are you forgetting that rooftop rugby match we had?"
"Are you forgetting how long you spent in the infirmary?" Kara pointed out, Sirius tackling James mid-air surprisingly turned out to be a bad idea.
"Look, let's just get this bundle of cliche, sunset picnic out of the way so we can carry on with the dangerous stuff" James sighed whilst helping Lily onto the back of his broom and setting off.
"Will someone tell the girls to stop screaming?" Sirius called over his shoulder on their way up.
"Uhh, that's Peter" Remus raised his eyebrows as Peter clutched his waist "I shook the broom slightly" When they'd finally chosen a spot overlooking the lake Peter gasped in relief and clung to the roof like his life depended on it.
"You were born a Marauder Wormy" James laughed, patting him on the back and Peter clenched his fists "Now come on Pads I'm starving what did you bring"
"Well Prongs I'm glad you asked…" Sirius grinned as he pulled the basket off the back of his broom "Obviously I'm concerned about all of you having a balanced diet, so I've filled the basket full of cake"
"Woo!" Kara cheered whilst Lily mentally slapped herself for putting Sirius in charge of food.
"Oohh, and isn't this a coincidence, there's an empty bottle in here as well" Sirius pulled it out of the basket.
"Brilliant, all the better to hit you over the head with for only bringing cake!" Lily beamed sarcastically at him.
"Oh sush with the moaning and let's play truth or dare, you can't expect me to sit up here all night and talk about feelings and 'the future'" Sirius mimed throwing up at the thought before ushering everyone into a circle on a flat part of the roof. "Normal rules apply, only the worst dares possible are allowed and anyone who refuses truths or dares gets a forfeit"
James managed to yank the bottle off Sirius and spin it himself because of Sirius' strange talent for making the bottle land on him every time.
"Oh come on you've put a spell on it" James moaned as the bottle landed on him.
"Of course not!" Sirius looked offended "When have I ever chanted a bottle to cheat at truth of dare?"
"Well..." Remus started.
"Actually don't answer that. What we really should be asking is whether or not James is going to wimp out"
"Dare, just so Pads doesn't punch me" James flinched, waiting tensely and everyone discussed his dare.
"Right. Got it" Kara grinned, turning around to James "We dare you to perform a triple somersault dive from the back of my broom into the lake"
"That's only the most stupid thing I've ever heard" James laughed before realizing they were serious "Who's stupid idea was that?" He glared at Sirius as he couldn't help laughing.
"You've always been such a fan of heights though!" Sirius argued, already picking up his broom.
"I'm a fan of heights when the ground isn't hurtling towards me!" James punched Sirius in the shoulder before pulling off his shoes and jumper "Let's do this before common sense takes over"
They quickly flew over to the lake and James sat shivering for a bit, digging his nails into Sirius' back "Come on mate, I'll come down and get you straight away, you can get your own back later"
"Fuck it" James shouted, leaping off the broom and plunging straight into the freezing cold water.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY DID IT!" Sirius cheered as he swooped down to fetch him "YOU'RE MY IDOL"
"Shut up and take me back" James shivered, hauling himself onto the broom again and leaping down onto the roof when they returned "I'm the biggest fool I know"
"Yes you are" Lily tutted, getting out her wand and blasting him with warm air whilst Sirius spun the bottle again.
"Peter!" Sirius grinned mischievously, already planning a horrific dare, sadly Peter was wary of the stupid things James and Sirius could make him do.
"Truth" He smiled for outwitting them, but Kara already had a plan.
"Peter…" She started narrowing her eyes at him "What would you do if Death Eaters offered you a place in their ranks?"
"Oh. Uh. Well." Peter started to stutter, not knowing what to say but was luckily rescued by Sirius.
"Oh come on, stupid question, he'd do exactly what me and Lils did and tell them exactly where to stick their offer" James smiled at Peter before pulling his jumper back on.
"They offered you a place?" Peter gasped as he'd had to grovel for his.
"Ugh, yeah, we wondered too closely to Knockturn Alley and someone told us You-Know-Who was looking to recruit gifted students at Hogwarts, we got out of their quickly" Peter blushed as everyone started bad mouthing Death Eaters before they carried on.
"Yes!" Sirius cheered as the bottle landed on him.
"How happy you are worries me" James thought hard about what he could do to humiliate Sirius as revenge before an evil grin spread across his face "I dare you, Sirius Black, to flash McGonagall through her office window"
"Oh dear God" Sasha covered her face with her hands "I don't want to look again until it's over"
"Right then, let's do it" Sirius breathed in, grabbed his broom, and started to prepare himself.
"Of course you could always bottle out and deal with both the forfeit and the embarrassment" Remus hinted.
"No. One dragon fall is enough humiliation to last me a life time. Pass me my broom!" Sirius held out his hand in determination and Kara hesitantly gave it to him.
"I didn't think he'd actually do it" James whispered to Remus who just gave him a pained look back and shook his head.
"He has to be joking" Lily said in amazement as Sirius kicked off at flew towards the window "No. No he's not joking, someone stop him!"
Sirius landed on the windowsill just out of sight and wrung his hands as he tried to make himself do it. Unfortunately it was just as McGonagall went to pick up something next to the window he clenched his fists, and mooned her a mere meter away before squealing, leaping onto his broom and flying to the ground as quickly as possible.
"I think we're going to have to give Sirius your nickname Remus" James giggled as he took in the look of pure horror on her face. "Crap" He gasped before yanking everyone to the side, accidentally knocking Peter too far leaving him dangling off the edge.
"What the hell James!" Lily cried.
"She saw us, dammit Peter" He moaned, hauling him back up and getting everyone onto brooms and to the ground before McGonagall could go to find out who it was.
"What a lovely, peaceful picnic that was" Kara remarked as they made their way back up to the castle.
*Ten days left*
"Merlin's beard not again Sasha sighed, putting her head into her hands as she, Kara, and Lily walked into the common room the next morning.
"How dare you look down upon the Christmas countdown" Sirius gasped in horror, turning it slightly to the right and nodding.
"It not so much the countdown I'm against" Lily tried to explain "It's more the fact that almost every year it sets on fire and almost kills us all"
"I'll have you know that was because of a freak accident involving a fireball and inconveniently placed string" Sirius muttered, trying to dance around the fact that it was him that made the fireball by ushering everyone to the sofa "Who's up for ditching a day of lessons for the most epic prank you've ever been a part of?"
"Oh yeah, because that went so well the last time" Sasha raised her eyebrows.
"I've toned down a tad this time, I wanted to kill two birds with one stone by doing Kara's 'prank Filch"
"I thought Filch swore if you guys humiliated him one more time he was going to lock you in a bird cage in the Owlery?" Kara reminded him, the Marauders had got a tad too far with Mrs Norris in fourth year.
"No-one speaks of the paintball incident" Sirius hushed "Plus there's no going back, James and Remus have already dug the hole"
"I'm scared to find out why a hole's even needed" Lily sighed "Count us in then" Sirius squealed in delight before rushing out of the common room to join the other Marauders with finalizing plans.
"Meet us in the den in 30 minutes!" He shouted over his shoulder.
"Is anyone else feeling that immense sense of regret?" Lily shuddered before they walked into the den.
"Yup... Isn't is brilliant!" Kara beamed, not having to worry about detentions had given her more freedom then she'd ever imagined considering she was leaving in just ten days.
As they hunched up into the tiny den James unrolled the Marauder's map and pointing to an area near the Quidditch pitch "This, guys, is the exact spot where Filch crosses on his way to check the stands every Thursday" The Marauders looked engrossed by what he was saying, nodding along, but the girls just sat wondering how they could get so into it.
"Now, me and James dug the hole so it lead down to our existing tunnel from when we snuck that elephant onto the Quidditch pitch…"
"I KNEW that was you!" `Lily shouted over the top of Remus and hitting the side of the log she was sat on.
"Yeah yeah, massive shock, it was the Marauders who let an elephant loose on the Slytherins" Remus laughed "Anyway all that needs to be done is for the fake turf to be laid out, the paddle pool of jam, courtesy of Winnie, to be lowered into it, and the net to be put down next to it so it can be thrown with a quick getaway afterwards. I've already made charmed some paper moths and left them down there to save time"
"Oh so it's going to be easy then?" Sasha remarked, raising her eyebrows.
"It's like you don't even know us" Sirius winked "Now we don't have long, the stuff is behind a bush by the entrance ready"
Lily looked around the den at the diagrams and doodles depicting the prank "Exactly how long have you been planning this?"
"Longer then is healthy" Peter sighed as they climbed out to go and get everything ready.
"What is going to happen if we get caught though?" Lily still hadn't come to fully agree with the childishness of their pranks.
"One of two things. Either Filch will laugh it off, pat us on the backs for the effort, and continue with his work" Sirius couldn't help laughing "Or he hunts us down and slowly murders us with a rake"
"Brilliant"
"Listen 'ere Hagrid, I swear I saw 'em near the stands with those damn wands waving everywhere. Obviously out to cause trouble for me, no appreciation for the upkeep of the grounds that's what it is" Filch grumbled as he dragged Hagrid down to the Quidditch pitch. Sirius and Kara crouched in the tunnel each holding one end of a net listening to their footsteps.
"If Hagrid ends up down here he'll never get up again" Sirius muttered, checking over the size of the hole and trying to listen where each of them were treading.
"Why did I put this on the damn list?" Kara twisted the net around her hand nervously as she glared at her list lying next to her.
"Stop doubting the plan, look" Sirius awkwardly spun round, slipping on mud and face planting the floor before managing to get the map out of his pocket "Hagrid's way over to the left, Filch will fall down and land perfectly into the pool next to the moths which we'll unleash by pulling the chord, then we throw the net and run as fast as possible"
"Why are we doing everything again?" Kara was never one for doing a lot of work.
"I told you, Lily, Sasha, and Peter are off giving us and alibi and Remus and James will be photographing the whole thing"
"If you were on the other side of this war I'd be scared" Kara marveled at their planning.
"I am pretty much a genius" Sirius grinned, turning to face Kara and accidentally looking her in the eyes.
"You always were full of yourself" She chuckled starting to lean forwards before Filch came bellowing through the turf screaming into the jam. Panicked Kara pulled back from Sirius and went the throw the net too soon making Sirius trip over, drop the map, and yank the chord to hard, making the whole crate of moths land on Filch.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Filch screamed, easily throwing off half the net and crawling out.
"RUN!" Sirius shouted at Kara, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the castle, not having time to pick up the map vowing to get it later. Still dizzy from a wooden crate landing on his head Filch stumbled down and put his hand on the map.
"I'll get you hooligans!" He hissed after them, pulling up the map, assuming it was their plans "I'll make sure you never get your damn parchment back too!"
Hagrid quickly jumped down the hole and managed to pull Filch out "Alright Argus, I've got you" He tried to hush as Filch scrambled out of his arms and Flitwick came running towards them after seeing the commotion.
"Those damn kids will be the death of me!" He kicked a nearby rock, opening up the map "The bloody thing's blank"
"Let me have a look at that Argus" Flitwick suggested, taking it off him and muttering a revealing spell "There, now let's see what we have here"
Prongs would like to start by thanking Professor Flitwick for demonstrating how terrible he is at revealing charms
Padfoot congratulates Filch on such a 'graceful' fall and a simply fabulous hissy fit afterwards
Moony wants to suggest Filch takes the stomach churning grimace of his face and smile for once
Wormtail concludes by happily laughing at all of you for how confused and angry you all look right now
"Well I'm confiscating this and making sure it never sees the light of day again" Filch snatched it and put it in his pocket before limping of with his nose in the air.
So what do you all think? I'm hoping to get more written soon, although my plan of aligning Christmas in the fic to Christmas in real life is near impossible now unless I don't have a life for the next two days. On a separate note HURRAY FOR CHRISTMAS! And apart from that
- Mischief Managed