Chapter Twenty-One
Never Give Up
Energy and persistence conquer all things
~Benjamin Franklin
"Ow, Peter! You just stepped on my finger!" a whisper broke the silence.
"Sorry, Sirius. Just can't seem to get comfortable," Peter responded sheepishly. Sirius seemed to accept his apology because the longhaired boy turned back to looking down the hallway without another word. Peter squirmed around a little more, paying much more attention to where his body parts were in relation to Sirius'. However, nothing seemed to be helping and Peter gave up with a frustrated sigh.
The boys had been sitting on a stone cold floor for going on four hours and James wasn't surprised that his friends were finding it more than a little uncomfortable. All of them had been squirming and repositioning, trying not to give themselves away but also trying to reawaken body parts that had long since lost sensation.
Nothing of note had happened in those four hours, which wasn't helping matters. James could feel the frustration mounting with each passing second. Remus had refused to come on the stake out, claiming that he had schoolwork that he needed to finish and had instead headed off to the library. That left James to sit with Sirius and Peter on the cold floor underneath the invisibility cloak.
"Well, I think we could sit here for another four hours and we wouldn't get any further along with the Slytherins. I'd say they aren't meeting here tonight. There are certainly better ways I can be spending my time," Sirius suddenly spoke, standing and removing the invisibility cloak.
Since the close call with the Slytherins in the very classroom that Sirius, Peter, and James had been camped out in front of, the four Gryffindors had decided to keep an even closer watch on the goings on involved with that room. They would take turns sitting in front of the offending classroom and wait for the Slytherins to arrive. Then the plan was to find another professor, one more amiable than Professor McGonagall, to help open the classroom and they would have their proof. They were sure that any professor would need to actually hear the plotting before any real discipline was laid down on the Slytherins, but they were hoping their word would be enough to at least get a professor to open a locked door.
However, about a week and a half had passed and, despite near-constant surveillance of the classroom, not a single Slytherin had so much as walked passed the room. James and Sirius had also taken it upon themselves to occasionally tail people they believed were key conspirators, just in case the Slytherin's had decided to meet somewhere else after being found out. That tactic also lead them nowhere.
The others agreed to call it an evening and made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. The three of them walked into the Gryffindor common room only seconds before curfew, which earned the pair a suspicious look from prefect Frank. They found Remus sitting in front of the fireplace, a large stack of papers they'd spread out in front of him. As soon as Remus spotted the other three, he lifted one of the sheets of paper and motioned for his friends to come closer. James recognized that the paper held the quartets back up plan. If they couldn't clear their names, then they would try to retool their reputation with a grand prank, enjoyed by everyone as opposed to reviled by them.
"So, anything?" Remus asked hopefully, despite his friends' tired expressions. Instead of answering the question, the three boys collapsed onto various comfortable seats. It was clear that they had been less than successful with their evening of sitting in front of the classroom.
"I was wondering," Remus added, returning to scrutinizing the parchment in his hand, "maybe the Slytherins are feeling a little heat. Maybe we got a little too close, nearly discovered something with Professor McGonagall. I know if it were me, I'd lay low for a little, try and get us to grow tired, and then resume meeting. Perhaps we should forestall our efforts for the time being, lull the Slytherins into a false sense of security. It would probably increase our chances of getting information."
James was quiet for several moments. So was Sirius, but a closer look by James revealed that the longhaired boy had, in fact, fallen asleep.
"Okay, Remus. Let's put a pause on the surveillance until after Easter Break. Then once we're back, we redouble our efforts and don't stop until we get somewhere! That should be enough time for the Slytherins to think we've given up. Plus, we can spend that time really focusing on our year-end prank. One way or another we're finishing first year with a bang!"
Finally, Easter Break arrived, and a collective call of joy erupted from the student body. The four Gryffindors were a little less enthusiastic. They hadn't cleared their names; people knew their wands had been returned but that seemed to have a minimal effect, if any at all. They needed to uncover the Slytherin secret. James was determined now. So, when they returned from break, all four were ready to put an end to their issue, once and for all. Their first night back, the boys sat up in bed, discussing their plan for finally implicating the Slytherins in the broom tampering scandal.
"So, Sirius and I will take the first watch, so to speak. We'll go out tomorrow after class and if they are meeting, we'll try and get a professor to break it up. Hopefully we'll be able to get somewhere this time," James spoke, sounding like a general laying out his battle strategy.
"And I think Remus and Peter should spend that time continuing on with the grand exit preparations. We're almost done, but we don't want to get sidetracked or anything," Sirius added. Everyone voiced their agreement and then turned in for the night. A buzz, not dissimilar to the one that was felt upon the arrival of invisibility cloak, permeated the room.
'Something,' James thought, as he dozed off, 'something big was going to happen tomorrow.' He could just feel it.
James had been excited, thought that the break would be a refresher, that they would come back and get things done. However, as he ambled into the Gryffindor common room at the end of a long day, Sirius on his heel, he wasn't so sure.
"Well boys," James spoke, as he and Sirius slumped down in chairs around the table that Remus and Peter were at, "things are not going to be as easy as we thought."
"Obviously," Sirius interjected, "the lack of joyous, obnoxious dancing means we didn't achieve anything new. Trust me, when we are successful there will be a lot of dancing."
"Yes, well, anyway. It turns out our plan to lay low worked because the Slytherins were, in fact, meeting up today. In that classroom! Sirius and I were only there for a few minutes before people started showing up! We quickly went to get a professor, anyone but McGonagall, to see if they could unlock the door and that we'd hopefully find more than a Quidditch meeting."
"And we flat out failed!" Sirius jumped in, slight outrage in his voice. "Apparently, Professor McGonagall has been sharing our exploits with all of the staff! They all want proof before they help, but we can't seem to get proof without their help! How will they know what we're saying is true?!" As Sirius spoke, he got more and more hysterical.
"Yeah, we found three different professors and all of them said that they wouldn't be led on a wild goose chase without hard proof, like statements from the Slytherin team incriminating them or us witnessing them doing something against the rules. Though our word may not be worth much anymore. On the third professor, Professor Flitwick, we even tried to imply that we had heard some things in the meeting, but he wasn't willing to believe us! It's like we'll need to get it in writing or have a professor overhear their conversation!" James added, a little calmer than Sirius.
"Well, we'll just need to find a way to get into the classroom," Remus spoke, shuffling papers around the table as if he was looking for something. "McGonagall obviously knew a more advanced unlocking spell than we have currently learned; there must be a record of it somewhere…" Remus trailed off as he became more engrossed in his search. James wasn't sure if Remus had something in his papers, or if he had recorded a helpful book or something.
Instead of waiting for Remus to continue, James' took the ideas that Remus had started to discuss and ran with them. "We could also try and find some sort of spell that would keep a door open. These last few times, we've almost made it into the classroom when the Slytherins enter, but we are just a little too slow. If we could hold the door open for like 30 more seconds, we would definitely be able to get in."
"That sounds like a lot of work," Sirius mumbled from his position in a side chair, his head hanging off the arm of it.
"Aren't our reputations worth it?" James asked. "Shouldn't we put in as much effort as it requires to return our good-natured prankster king reputation?" James spoke with such a passion that the other boys were silent for a few moments; Remus had even momentarily stopped his searching. After a few seconds, Peter began to nod enthusiastically, wholeheartedly agreeing with James' words. Remus didn't protest and returned to his searching which, for Remus was akin to agreement. Sirius continued to look less than pleased by the prospect.
"We could also just work on our prank. This feels like we are repeatedly smacking our head against a wall for the fun of it. We aren't getting anywhere and it's getting more than frustrating! If we do something fun and playful, it will feel like progress."
"Ah ha!" Remus exclaimed. He obviously hadn't been listening to the exchange between Sirius and James and Peter as he had spoken only seconds after Sirius had finished his thought. All eyes turned to the sandy haired boy. "I knew I'd written it somewhere!" was all he said before he hurried off, out of the common room. James, Sirius, and Peter sat looking at each other for a few seconds before raising to follow Remus.