Chapter 13

Misbehaving for days

Unfair we're not somewhere

Misbehaving for days,

Great escape,

Lost track of time and space.

R U Mine?, Arctic Monkeys

His friends were waiting outside the Transfiguration classroom for him. "What did McGonagall want?" Sirius asked as they all fell into step with each other.

"She just wanted to know if I'm okay," James replied with a shrug. None of them said anything, walking silently to their Charms classroom. They took their usual seats in the back of the classroom, and listened as Professor Flitwick explained the lesson plan for the day. Charms was the ideal class for talking, especially when they were practising new spells, as Flitwick didn't mind them talking as long as they also did their work.

"Full moon coming up on Hallowe'en," Sirius said quietly.

"Don't remind me," Remus groaned. "It's two months away and just the thought of it is giving me a headache."

The others laughed. "We need to start planning our first prank," Peter reminded them. "We can do the prank around Hallowe'en, so we have something to look forward to then."

"Nothing dangerous," James said. "I think I've had enough of that for the time being. Just something harmless to raise spirits."

"Alright," Sirius conceded, "but it better be good. First prank back, we need to make a good impression."

"So if we don't want it to be dangerous, and we do want it to be a laugh, then we have to play it on the whole school, not just the Slytherins," Remus said, before practising the incantation.

"Something in the Great Hall?" Peter suggested.

"It'll have to be at dinner," James pointed out. "People show up at differing times for breakfast, and lunch is always hit or miss."

"It should be something epic," Sirius said.

"If we plan this properly," Remus began with a grin, "and make sure that there is no possible way that someone can get hurt, then we might even get permission from Dumbledore to carry it out."

"D'you reckon?" Sirius asked, face lighting up, "'cause that would be brilliant. We could do the prank and not get detention. That'll rub it in the Slytherin's faces, without hurting anyone."

There was a pause in the conversation as the four thought hard.

"What about a spell of sorts on the pumpkin juice that'll turn everyone's hair a bright colour?" James suggested. "It's not dangerous, would be funny, plus, we'd probably get Dumbledore's permission."

The Marauders all looked around at each other, beginning to smile. "Alright boys, after lunch we all have a free period," Sirius began.

"Research in the library?" Remus asked, catching on.

They all grinned.

After lunch, they all regrouped at the library, and claimed their usual desk.

"What kind of thing are we looking for?" Sirius asked. "Like a potion, or a spell?"

"Either or, I guess," James shrugged. "As long as it doesn't have, like, bad side effects," he concluded.

With that, they split off and spread out around the library. James eyed the Restricted Section, but knew he couldn't sneak in during the day, even with the invisibility cloak, just in case someone were to spot him. But, he promised himself if they found nothing in the regular library, he'd go back the next day.

He turned his back to the Restricted Section, and began searching through the shelves closest to him. This was always his least favourite part about planning pranks. He didn't even mind the research, but it was the 'finding books to then research from' part that he didn't like. He was always worried that he'd miss the book that had the thing they were looking for in it, and then they wouldn't be able to carry out the prank.

Obviously, there were books that had nothing whatsoever to do with the prank they wanted to carry out, but then there were others whose titles could maybe have something to do with the prank in them. It always ended up with James bringing back the most books and having the most reading to do, but it gave him some peace of mind.

When he felt he had enough books to begin with, James carried the large stack back to their desk, careful not to drop any. Remus was already there, reading through the contents page. His pile of books was quite a lot smaller than James's, but he didn't seem to bothered by that.

James sat and picked up the book that was top of his stack and opened it out onto the contents page. They had developed a system wherein by they would look at the contents page and if there was anything promising in the slightest then they would put the book in one pile, but if there was nothing, the book would go into a different pile. Then the actual researching would start, meaning that they would already have their stacks whittled down.

James scanned through contents page after contents page, with most books going into the 'nothing promising' pile, much to his relief. After about a few hours of actual research, James stumbled upon the exact spell that was needed.

His face broke out into a grin. "I have it," he said, smiling broadly.

For the first few weeks, school flew more than it should have. Usually when they had a prank planned, the days or weeks (or even months) leading up to it would drag, until they were all driven half insane with the waiting. This time though, time flew. James got stuck into his classes, determined not to fall behind now that they were starting the NEWTs Curriculum. The only bad part, except for maybe homework, was when Marlene McKinnon had approached him the day after Quidditch Try Outs. When James had seen her walk towards him, determined, dread had settled in his stomach. The other Marauders had already made their way to lunch, so he was on his own.

"How come you didn't try out, Potter? Lily said you weren't trying out, but we all thought you might've been messing with her." she asked him, when she had finally reached where he was frozen to the spot. "I'm not trying to make your head any bigger, but there's no doubt that you would've made the team."

"Uh, my parents don't want me playing any more," James lied. "They're worried about me."

"That's bull," Marlene said immediately. "Your parents love quidditch, and they've always supported you."

"After I got the concussion in the second last game last year, you know, the really bad one? Well after that, they didn't want me to keep playing, but I convinced them to let me play the final. But they were adamant that I couldn't play this year," James said.

Marlene stared at him, and he tried not to look away. "Alright," she said finally, "I guess I never would've thought your parents would do something like that."

James winced. He hated lying, especially if it meant painting his parents like the bad guys. "They're only looking out for me," was all he said.

"Alright," Marlene said again. "I'll see you later Potter."

James left out a long breath as he stared at her back, before continuing on towards the Great Hall.

Transfiguration, as always, stayed James's favourite subject. He was good at it, which gave him a bit of security. He was good at the theory, and the practical came naturally to him, which meant it was one less thing for him to worry about, especially where NEWTs were concerned.

At long last, they were in the run up to the prank. James and Remus decided that they would be the best two to approach Professor Dumbledore about it, since Remus was a prefect and James could explain how they wanted to cheer everyone up, which might get some sympathy from Dumbledore, especially with his leg.

"You're asking my permission to prank the school?" Dumbledore asked, fingers linked under his chin.

"Yes sir," Remus responded.

"And what exactly is it that you want to do?"

"We wanted to charm the pumpkin juice sir," James explained.

"And what would this charmed pumpkin juice do?"

"It would turn people's hair crazy colours," Remus said.

"Really?" Dumbledore asked, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes sir," James said eagerly, spotting the twinkle. "It wouldn't be dangerous at all.

We've double checked the side effects and all. They're very unlikely, but even if they do occur, they're not dangerous either, and very easy to get rid of."

"Oh?"

"We just want to do something nice, to raise people's spirits" James finished.

"Okay then," Dumbledore said, leaning forward. "You have permission to carry out this small joke." The Marauders looked at each other victoriously. "However," Dumbledore continued, his voice becoming serious, "if it gets out of hand and someone gets injured, you will be held responsible." The Marauders all nodded, deciding unanimously that this was fair. Dumbledore smiled.

"Thank you sir," James said, rising out of his chair. Remus followed suit and they left Dumbledore's office with identical smiles of mischief gracing their faces.

"What next?" Remus asked, as they walked down the steps from Dumbledore's office.

"I reckon we should warm Professor McGonagall," James said, glancing back at Remus.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I'd say she'd appreciate the heads up."

They made their way slowly towards McGonagall's office. James's leg hadn't been bothering him that day, but he was still hesitant to push it too much.

"You okay?" Remus asked him, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," James replied, giving him a small smile. "What about you?"

Given that they were getting close to the full moon, Remus was looking pale and tired. "I'm fine. Just looking forward to it being over."

James nodded, but didn't say anything else. He knew that Remus didn't like thinking too much about his 'furry little problem' too close to the full moon. Before they could get to McGonagall's office, they saw her walking down the corridor, away from the office.

"Professor!" James called, raising his voice slightly.

McGonagall turned around and waited for the boys to catch up with her. "What can I do for you?" she asked, once they had drawn level with her.

"We just wanted to tell you that you might not want to drink the pumpkin juice tomorrow at dinner," Remus said, a small smirk working its way onto his face.

"And why not?" Professor McGonagall inquired, looking at them suspiciously.

"The less you know," James replied with a wink, and with identical grins, Remus and James turned around and walked off, McGonagall staring at their backs.

Just before dinner the next day, Sirius snuck down to the kitchens with Peter. The elves had a soft spot for Peter and Sirius had mastered the spell, so it was the obvious choice. When Sirius had finished charming the jugs of pumpkin juice, the two made their way up to the Great Hall, just in time for dinner. As they were taking their seats, the Marauders tried their best not to seem overly giddy.

"We'll have to drink the pumpkin juice ourselves, or people might get suspicious," Remus reminded them. They all took big gulps of the juice, sharing secretive glances as they did.

"How long until it kicks in?" Peter asked anxiously, eyes darting around the great hall.

"Not long now," Sirius muttered back, glancing at the other students.

Less than five seconds later, James hair turned bright pink. He didn't notice at first, but he looked up from his plate to see Sirius laughing at him. He tugged at his hair, trying to see what shade it had turned, a smile stretching across his lips in anticipation. This turned into a wide grin as he caught sight of bright pink and realised his hair had turned a shocking shade of hot pink.

He looked up and saw that Sirius's hair had turned orange, Remus's blue and Peter's purple. The scene around the Great Hall was much the same. Emotions ranged from angry to amused, and James couldn't help but laugh as he looked around the Great Hall.

He locked eyes with Lily Evans, whose own hair had turned green to match her eyes. She wore an amused smile and raised an eyebrow at him, obviously asking if he had been involved. He only shrugged and winked at her, his grin still plastered on his face, before turning back to the boys.