Author's note: So an update, yay! Hopefully I've caught most of the typos/errors. I think you'll find this chapter filled with more excitement than the last. Enjoy!
Chapter 23 – A Reprisal and A Prank
A loud bang caused Severus to nearly jump out of his skin. Snape was lying in his bed, his green bed curtains tightly closed around him. The sound had startled him, but unlike most of his dorm mates, he hadn't been sleeping. Snape often used Sunday mornings to just think, enjoying the quiet and solitude of pretending to be asleep. He'd always been baffled by boys his age who were always around others, always in a crowd, always with the same people. To be completely honest besides Lily, there was less than a handful of people that Severus didn't grow quickly tired or annoyed at if forced to be in their company.
"You all need to come down to the common room NOW!" Mulicber's loud voice carried around the fifth year dormitory. Snape listened carefully as he heard the other boys in his year scuttle and murmur to get dressed.
"I know you're awake!" Mulciber said wrenching open the bed curtains and nearly blinding Snape in the process with the sudden light streaming in.
"Get up and get ready," Mulciber commanded. Snape stared him down. He certainly didn't take orders from him. Mulciber did not appear threatened and merely smirked back. "If you want to explain to Lestrange later why you didn't show up, be my guest."
Snape bit back a groan. Mulciber he could ignore; Lestrange he could not. He had yet to satisfactorily prove to Lestrange his genuine dislike of Muggleborns. He saw the triumph in Mulicber's eyes as he grudgingly stood up. Snape hastily joined the group of boys as everyone haphazardly put on clothes.
Snape was last to go down the steps to the common room. He was so astonished by the scene in front of him that he thought for a second he was dreaming. Lestrange was running around the room with what appeared to be a paper airplane following him, swooping up and down, and pecking at him like a bird. Other Slytherins in the room had ducked under tables and chairs, some halfheartedly chucked pillows at the airplane (clearly forgetting they were wizards and witches). The flying piece of paper easily evaded all of their Muggle attempts to stop it. It was advanced and impressive magic to behold, though he'd never voice such a thing out loud.
Severus watched mildly entertained as Lestrange swatted the air (his wand was nowhere in sight either). The airplane now circled the seventh year moving in an upward spiral fashion. Lestrange so concerned about keeping the flying paper in his sight followed it, twirling quickly in a circle and promptly felt to his knees in dizziness. In any other House everyone would have burst out laughing. In Slytherin everyone regarded the scene solemnly. Rosier leapt to help Lestrange to his feet while Avery, Mulciber and several others (finally remembering their wands) attempted to stun it. Severus wasn't surprised that none of their spells hit the mark; and the flying parchment quickly changed directions and swooped instead on a group of girls. Severus sighed as the girls screeched; in one quick swipe of his wand he froze the item in midair. The plane hovered and then suddenly fell to the ground and unfolded into an envelope, the magic now dissipated. Severus stepped forward to pick up the envelope. The front was blank and as he turned it over, the Black family seal stared up at him.
The seventh year bounded over and grabbed the envelope from Snape's hands. Lestrange's mood was a dangerous combination of embarrassment and anger. Every student in the room watched in complete silence. Snape could see him register the family seal and he tore it open. Severus strained his neck to read the letter; he could only make out that it was short - two words scrawled in neat cursive handwriting. Lestrange's face turned red as he balled up the note in his fist.
"Get Regulus down here immediately," Lestrange barked to the nearest person. Everyone waited apprehensively for Regulus to appear. Snape took a moment to glance around the room; most of the older students were present. He noticed one person was missing; Elena Greengrass. After taking credit for hexing Sirius Black she'd practically become Lestrange's shadow. It was assumed by majority of the student population that the two were intimately involved. Severus didn't care either way, but he did find it curious she had not shown up.
A few moments later, Regulus regally descended down the stairs. He was still in his sleeping clothes, silk pajamas with embroidery and tassels. It was anyone's guess whether Regulus's decision to not change out of his night clothes was a sign of respect (Regulus did not want to keep Lestrange waiting) or disrespect (Regulus did not deem the request of his presence important enough to change).
"Is there a problem, Lestrange?" Regulus asked politely. The boy's focus was only on Lestrange as if most of Slytherin wasn't privy to the conversation. Lestrange towered over the younger Slytherin. Regulus at the age of thirteen had not yet had his growth spurt. Despite this, Severus noticed a quiet confidence from the boy. He was certainly not as bold and brash as his older brother, but between being picked as Slytherin's new Seeker and taking over as heir of the family, Regulus had matured.
Lestrange handed the balled up note to Regulus, who carefully flattened it.
"Good Morning?" Regulus stated out loud reading the message.
"Isn't this your family seal?" demanded Lestrange, jabbing at the broken wax.
Regulus narrowed his eyes. "Yes."
"This letter was hexed to attack."
"Are you suggesting I was behind it?"
"Someone with access to your family seal is."
"Sirius," Regulus murmured quietly. There was a sudden murmuring around the common room; Sirius was not a name that could be spoken in Slytherin House without reaction. Snape couldn't say he was shocked that Sirius Black was behind it. Still it was a risky game Black was playing. Lestrange was already on such a short fuse ever since his banning from the next Quidditch Match. Hogwarts' moto may have been to Never tickle a sleeping dragon, yet it was careless to forget an agitated dragon was just as dangerous.
Lestrange nodded gravely in agreement having already come to the same conclusion. "I'd like to know how Sirius Black got access to our common room?!" Lestrange commanded furiously.
"I didn't let him in," Regulus replied back indignantly.
"He certainly didn't Apparate in," Lestrange said eying the smaller boy as if he stared long enough Regulus would confess to all his sins.
"I didn't let him in," Regulus repeated, his tone firm with no room for disagreement.
"He's friend with that prefect," Avery started cautiously. When Lestrange didn't bit his head off, he added, "Maybe he was able to access our password."
"Only the Heads know all the passwords," Allard, sixth year prefect, argued.
"What if he hid and heard the password?" Rosier suggested.
"There's nowhere to hide!" Lestrange growled.
"Disillusionment Charm?" Rosier tried again, his tone lacking any confidence now.
"It doesn't make you invisible!" Lestrange appeared to be getting angrier with each suggestion.
"An Invisibility Cloak would," Regulus replied softly.
Lestrange considered this. "Invisibility Cloak? Those are really rare. "
"Potter has one," Regulus said flatly. "Sirius told me back when we were still…speaking…"
"Potter would lend it to him?" Lestrange queried.
"Potter probably helped," Snape muttered.
Lestrange nodded his head absentmindedly. Snape was not the only one in the room that wished he knew what Lestrange was thinking.
"This offense will not go unpunished," Lestrange addressed all the gathered Slytherins. There was a chorus of agreement as Lestrange grabbed the letter back from Regulus and tossed it in the fire. No one dared breathe a word until Lestrange disappeared up to his dormitory. Regulus looked around the room his gaze steady, waiting perhaps to see if anyone would further disparage his brother in front of him. When silence greeted his challenge, Regulus returned upstairs as well.
With Lestrange and Black no longer present, the other gathered students erupted into intense discussion. Snape was lost in his own thoughts. He'd been following the Gryffindors for years and somehow the thought that one of them owned an Invisibility Cloak had never crossed his mind. He was disappointed in himself. It explained all those times the Gryffindors had seemingly disappeared into thin air. Mulciber was beckoning him over; Severus reluctantly joined him, telling the other Slytherins that he was going to breakfast if anyone wanted to join him. He was not the least upset when he made the journey to the Great Hall alone.
Sirius was having a good week, finally. First his plan to retaliate against the Slytherins had proceeded without any difficulty. Sirius hadn't been there to actually see Lestranges and the other Slytherins' reactions, but judging by the deadly stares he'd been getting he guessed the message had been delivered. And now he was enjoying a beautiful day, breathing the freshest of air.
"This week we should do it," he announced to his gathered mates. They were outside near their favorite tree, though not under it. It was the time of year that it felt warm in the sun and still chilly in the shade. Sirius was on his back arms behind his head, the sun on his skin felt wonderful.
"Do what?" James asked lazily twirling a piece of grass in the air. He was lying beside Sirius. Remus and Peter were sitting, legs crossed.
"Prank the Teacher's Lounge, obviously," Sirius replied.
"This isn't a good week to do it," Remus argued. "In an effort to bridge a trust between the Prefects and Professors, we're having our weekly meeting in the Teacher's Lounge."
Sirius pushed himself up to a seated position, his eyes shining in excitement. "Are you serious? This only makes it an even more perfect opportunity!"
"In case you forgot, I'll be at the meeting and I don't fancy myself being covered in slime or suddenly speaking in tongues!"
"Covered in slime? I'm insulted, Moony!"
"We aren't amateurs," agreed James.
"Hmmm…so what's this great idea of yours?"
Sirius slung his arm around Moony. "Animation!"
Remus removed Sirius's arm, frowning. "I don't follow."
"We animate every item in the room – the tapestries, furniture, tea cups – everything!"
"I like it." James jumped right in with ideas of his own. "We shouldn't have all the items animate at once. We can time it to start slowly - maybe with just the tapestries – and then within fifteen minutes it will be utter chaos."
"Brilliant," Sirius replied beaming.
"This isn't simple magic," Remus said. "It will be difficult to pull this off by Thursday."
"So that means you're in?"
"Only so I can have some control over the chaos I'll be stepping into during the Prefect Meeting."
"And because you're a natural troublemaker just like the rest of us," James said airily, laughing when Remus narrowed his eyes at him.
"Are you going to use the same charm you used on the envelope airplane?" Peter questioned. Earlier in the week, his friends had watched Sirius work on bewitching the envelope turned airplane so that it would dip and dive in the Slytherin Common Room.
"Yes, we can certainly use that for some of the items. Now that I think about it that chapter I found the spell in should have other useful spells."
The boys continued to strategize that lazy afternoon. Eventually they had to turn to homework. Sirius especially couldn't take a full day off. He was still in the process of fully catching up with all the work he'd missed in addition to the new assignments. Sirius moved his work to the library that evening so he could discreetly copy the chapter on Animation Charms. He promptly returned the book to its place on the shelf. Peter thought he was being paranoid, but Sirius didn't want any link between them and the prank (including checked out library books).
Remus was correct in thinking the prank was an ambitious goal. It was hard to squeeze time between classes, homework, Prefect duties, and Quidditch Practice. The boys had to find fifteen minutes here and ten minutes there, huddled together, whispering conspiratorially. Other students were beginning to notice and Lily Evans even walked up to the table they were huddled over in the Common Room demanding to see the parchment that had their undivided attention. James's quick reflexes saved them as he snatched the paper off the table before Evans could get a proper look at it. Then Remus spent a good fifteen minutes assuring her that they were not breaking any schools rules and that there was no reason for her to find McGonagall. After that incident, they moved their discussions to the dormitory to avoid any further suspicion.
They spent one late night scouting out the Teacher's Lounge. Remus, having the neatest handwriting, wrote down the list of items they could realistically animate. Sirius watched his friends fondly as Remus and James argued about the best order for the charms. With Remus as enthusiastic as the rest of them, Sirius was positive nothing would go wrong. While James and Sirius tended to run full speed ahead with ideas, Remus was good with the details and Peter was always there with encouragement.
The night before the Prefect meeting they headed out to set up the prank. Remus and Peter left the common room before curfew; out of the four of them they would attract the least attention. James and Sirius followed closely behind under the Invisibility Cloak. They reached the secret entrance to the Teacher's Lounge quickly; and one by one disappeared through the door.
As they had previously discussed, Peter was sent out in his rat form to scout out the Lounge. He returned with news that Professor Flitwick was still present, grading a pile of tests. The boys waited impatiently, practicing the animation spells on pieces of scraps and nails lying around. After the door into the Lounge almost stuck, it was Remus's calm words that convinced Peter it was safe and he would not be locked out. Finally an hour later, Peter informed them that the room was empty. As the boys trickled into the room, Remus was immediately sent out under the Cloak to set up Trip Charms on either side of the hallway. The charm would alert them if anyone entered the hallway near the Teacher's Lounge.
The boys worked efficiently. All the time spent on planning meant everyone knew exactly what to do. Peter had not been able to master the time effect spell, so he worked only on animation. They set him on animating the smaller objects such as the quills lying around, tea cups, small plates and spoons. James had the banners, curtains, and picture frames. Remus had the larger items such as the tables, chairs, and lamps. Sirius had caught onto the timing effect spell the best, so he'd been regulated to that job. It was one of the more important jobs, but it didn't allow for much imagination and spell tweaking as the Animation Charm. He also had to wait for the Animation Charm to first be placed on each item before he could begin his work. While he waited he amused himself by animating the candles around the room, but he couldn't do much else. The timing effect spell was difficult and required a lot of concentration. It was senseless for Sirius to tire out out on something Peter, Remus or James could easily do.
"Look," James said proudly. He was charming the Gryffindor Banner, which now flapped around as the lion on it roared and pounced around. Peter clapped his hands excitedly.
"Show-off," Sirius muttered under this breath.
"Do that to all the banners," Remus instructed. "We don't want to leave any sort of evidence it was us."
"Of course," James answered moving next to the Slytherin banner.
"As if any other students could pull this off," Sirius scoffed, earning a sharp look from Remus.
The moment Peter finished with the quills and utensils, Sirius jumped in to do his part. It had already been decided the animation would start of slow, quills flying in the air and forks, knives and spoons dancing around. After that the banners would flutter about with the animals coming to life. Lastly all the larger furniture would begin bouncing around and moving about.
It took the better part of two hours for the boys to finish. Sirius fell backwards onto one of the chairs exhausted. Despite all their hard work, the room looked untouched and they could not do a test run. Not only would it make a mess, but everything would need to be charmed again. They just had to hope that if any mistakes had been made that it was few and far between.
They gathered all evidence of their presence. As they filed into the pantry where the secret entrance was located, Peter began frantically digging in his pocket. "Wait! I think I dropped my list-"
James rolled his eyes and handed Remus his Cloak. "You two go ahead, Sirius and I will look. Keep the door open."
Sirius followed James back into the room as they did a quick sweep. Sirius spotted the parchment underneath the table where the newspapers and quills Peter had been working on lay. They hurried back to the pantry only to find a completely blank wall in front of them.
"Peter! Remus?" James whispered loudly, knocking where they knew the door had been.
"Sorry! It shut on its own!" Peter's voice was muffled.
"Well get it open!" Sirius demanded.
There was an immediate silence. "It's stuck."
James and Sirius looked at each other in exasperation.
"Moony?" Sirius asked hopefully.
They could hear Remus muttering spell after spell. "We're trying. It won't budge with or without magic."
"Ok," James said frowning. "You two head back, we'll have to make our way through the halls."
"But I have the Cloak," Remus reminded them.
"We can handle ourselves without it," James said confidently. Sirius nodded. After all if they were really as clever as they thought they ought to be able to navigate the hallways without getting caught.
James insisted he check the hallway. He opened the door an inch to be sure it was clear and then waved for Sirius to follow him.
"Wait!" Sirius said. "The Trip Charms-"
James paused. "It's fine. It will only alert anyone in the Teacher's Lounge and there's no one there. And the Charm will have gone on its own by morning."
The kept a steady pace even though their footsteps echoed on stone floors. The halls were quiet and eerie, but Sirius and James traversed them confidently. At the exact moment Sirius began worrying about why they hadn't come across any patrols; James came to an abrupt stop. Sirius peered at James as he held up two fingers. Sirius could make out two voices. They were young, so prefects, not teachers. James waved silently for Sirius to begin moving back. The footsteps were getting louder and closer -
"Run for it," James whispered. Sirius didn't need any convincing. Their shoes clattered loudly drawing the attention of the patrols immediately. Sirius chanced a glance back and groaned as he identified the Prefects as Slytherins.
"It's Potter and Black!" one of the Prefects shouted triumphantly.
James and Sirius ran up a set of stairs, and rounded one of the corners. Sirius crashed into a suit of armor causing an obnoxiously loud noise and waking up several of the portraits lining the halls. James skidded to a stop, and they glared at the dead end in front of them. They had unfortunately reached an area neither of them was familiar with. The dead end wing housed several empty classrooms, and their only option was to hide in one of the rooms.
"This one." James opened up the door closest to them. Sirius immediately locked it behind him, trying to even out his breathing. It was dark in the room and they both stumbled through bumping into desks and chairs littering the room.
They could hear the prefects questioning the portraits if they'd seen students run by. Eventually one of Portrait's divulged in a sing-song voice. "Door number one, two or three?"
The prefects started in the room farthest from where James and Sirius hide; barging in with flashes of light. Sirius hated to admit defeat, but he could see James's thoughts mirrored his own; in time they would be discovered. lf the prefects had been from any of the other Houses, Sirius would have suggested surrender. The Slytherins couldn't be trusted. It was doubtful they'd be just written up for being out of bounds. The Slytherins would be seeking revenge.
Lost in thought Sirius turned to see James trying to force one of the ancient windows open.
"What are you doing? We should at least try to defend ourselves."
"There's a ledge out there," James explained. Sirius leaned over and sure enough there was ledge wide enough for one person to stand comfortably back against the wall. Sirius immediately helped James and with their combined strength, they forced the window open. James insisted Sirius go through first. Sirius carefully stepped out and leaned against the stone wall. James crawled out next, leaning against the wall on the other side of the window. Sirius moved to shut the window, stopping himself just in time, as the prefects burst in. With the window still wide open, they flattened themselves as best they could, wands at the ready.
"They have to be in here!"
They could hear the prefects overturning furniture and opening closets.
"Remember Potter has an Invisibility Cloak!"
The words shocked Sirius. James met his eyes looking as anxious by the news as Sirius, but they didn't dare speak. One of the Prefects walked over the window, but he didn't bother to stick his head out. The prefects continued to argue finally deciding that their prey must have snuck by invisibly. James and Sirius waited silently for several minutes even after hearing the door shut.
James carefully turned around to peer into the darkened classroom. "They've left, but it might be best to wait a bit. How'd they know about the Cloak?"
"I bet it was Regulus," Sirius concluded darkly. "I told him years ago about it. I – back when I thought we were on the same side."
"So he's known about it awhile? And he's only just told anyone?"
Sirius shrugged. "No point in pretending we are brothers anymore."
"We'll just have to be more careful."
"It looks like this ledge keeps going," Sirius said straining to see in the moon light. "Should we see where it leads?"
"After you," James answered.
Sirius continued along, keeping one hand along the stone wall, his wand lit in the other. It led to a small balcony. However there was no access to the balcony besides the way the boys had found it.
"What's the point of this?" James asked running his hand along the smooth stone.
"Some sort of hidden lookout?"
"It's a balcony – there's no fortification for a battle situation."
"The Founders clearly placed this here in the hopes rabble rousers such as us would stumble upon it."
James smirked. "And do what here?"
"Contemplate the meaning of life, obviously."
"Then let's get to it," James stated. Sirius watched as he proceeded to lie down on floor, hands behind his head, face toward the sky. When Sirius didn't join him on the ground, James teased, "Is the Black Prince too afraid to get his clothes dirty?"
"Prat." Sirius couldn't hid a grin as he joined his best friend on the ground. He took in a deep breath as he stared into the starry night. The cool spring washed over them; it felt refreshing and invigorating. The moon was only half full though it shone brightly with not a cloud in the sky. The moon was a benign and beautiful sight to behold, yet one that caused Remus such misery. And it reminded Sirius of the topic he'd been meaning to bring up to James. It was something he couldn't discuss with Peter or Remus present. After such a great night of camaraderie, he did not want to ruin the mood. Still staring up at the moon, he knew it was a perfect opportunity.
"Prongs," Sirius began.
"Yes?" James answered his voice sleepy, relaxed.
"There's something I didn't tell you about that night I was attacked by the Slytherins."
There as an immediate change to James's tone. "What didn't you tell me?"
"Before the Slytherins attacked me, it was just Snape and I. He'd followed me down the hall after detention. He kept alluding to Remus's lycanthropy and going on about how unfair his life was. We didn't hear the Slytherins coming toward us and we didn't know they were listening. And they heard us discussing werewolves…they heard Snape making it sounds as if I knew one. Then Lestrange asks Snape directly if I'm friends with a werewolf…and Snape denies it. Says even a werewolf wouldn't be friends with the disgraced Black heir."
"And?" James's voice is quiet. They are both focused on the night sky, not looking at each other.
"Well nothing happened. The Slytherins weren't there to discuss werewolves. The conversation was turned onto my transgressions as a blood traitor. And you know the rest." Time dragged on in silence until Sirius couldn't take it. "Well aren't you going to say something?"
"What? What is there to say?"
"For starters why Snape didn't out Moony? He hates us! He hates us with every fiber of his being. He had the perfect chance to ruin all our lives and he didn't take it!"
"It's odd…I'll give you that."
Sirius suddenly sat up and forced James to look at him. "It's more than odd."
James also sat up and in the twilight his glasses glinted. "Or maybe Snape is keeping his word. Maybe he's a better person than we've given him credit for."
He gaped at James incredulously. "That's – that's nonsense! He's not a good person!"
"Never mind," James muttered frowning. "You've clearly thought this through, so what's your answer?"
"Dumbledore has something on him."
"Dumbledore is blackmailing a student?"
"Look Dumbledore took a great risk in letting a werewolf attend Hogwarts. Knowing who is on the Board of Governors, I can't imagine he's told any of them. Most of them think along the same lines as my parents. If they find out a werewolf has been attending classes with their precious offspring? It would ruin Dumbledore."
"So he needs Snape to stay quiet."
"Exactly. And Snape hasn't been a saint all these years at Hogwarts. I'm sure Dumbledore could find a reason to expel him."
"Why are you even telling me this? As long as Snape keeps quiet then Remus is safe."
"I just thought things could go back to the way they were before."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I want us back to an even playing field. I'm not saying we go back to hexing Snivellus just for fun. Snape shouldn't be allowed to go around destroying Remus's property without fear of reprisal from us."
James looked at him oddly.
"I know that Snape threw a bottle of ink into Remus's bag."
James frowned. "How'd you know that?"
Sirius waved his hand in dismissively. "I noticed Remus had brought his old school satchel one of the afternoons you visited me in the Hospital Wing. So I asked Peter about it later."
"Of course Peter told you," James said shaking his head.
"At least one of my friends trusts me enough," Sirius replied evenly.
James ran a hand over his eyes, rubbing them tiredly. "We trust you. You had enough on your plate without worrying about that." James laid back down assuming the position he was in earlier. "Look I was angry when I found out what Snape did. He's a git and I wanted to get back at him – but-"
"That's the point I'm trying to make. We can get back him. Snape's not going to ruin his future just because we turn his hair pink."
"No. We can't take that chance."
"He's not going to tell. He was never going to tell."
"We can't risk it."
"It's not a risk."
"Remus told me in no uncertain terms that Snape keeping quiet is the most important thing. He doesn't care how many items of his Snape ruins; he wants us to leave him alone. And if there's anyone we should both listen to on this matter, it's Remus."
Sirius lay back down as well. "If you want to spend the next two years having to deal with Snivellus's jibes and jabs-"
"It's not what I want, but it's how it is," James said with finality.
Sirius sighed. He didn't voice his agreement and he did not continue to argue. He half expected James to make him promise to continue to leave Snape alone, but James demonstrated the trust he'd just spoken of by not bringing it up. The silence that continued between them oddly enough felt comfortable, and Sirius wouldn't have minded staying up there the rest of the night.
Author's note: Thinking of pranks is not an easy task; I hope you liked this one. If you are still reading this story please leave comment with your thoughts! It would mean a lot!