Chapter 17 Dare or Dare?
The boys followed Frank out of their dorm room ecstatic to finally have something to do. Frank led them, not to his room as they had assumed he would, but to a sixth-year dormitory. Frank laughed at the nervous look James, Peter, and Sirius exchanged as they followed Frank in.
The dormitory was a low lit room. They pinned up blankets over the windows so the only light that shone came from odd looking lamps with goop floating inside. (Peter explained that they were lava lamps.) They decorated the walls, corner to corner, with pictures of half dressed witches who winked and giggled at them. James blushed when he looked at them.
"Finally! Something interesting might happen," Gabe Pevensie said, passing a bottle of fire whisky to his neighbour Dirk Cresswell.
"Cresswell! I thought you said alcohol is bad for the system and we shouldn't drink it if we wanted to be successful in quidditch," James accused his quidditch captain as he watched him take a sip from the bottle. To his right, Adrian Longbottom blew a raspberry at him and gave him thumbs down.
"Don't be such a wimp, Potter," Adrian, who was sweating like a pig and was obviously drunk, said before he started laughing. "Wimpy, Potter. Wimpy, Potter."
"Adrian is rather drunk because he keeps refusing to do the dares," Frank explained.
"And there's no more quidditch for me for the rest of the year," Cresswell defended. "But there's no need for this now that third years are here." He took the bottle out of Adrian's hands who whined and threw the cap at his head but missed by a mile.
"Well, clearly drinking is not a good enough forfeit," James smirked, taking a seat in the half-formed circle.
"A horrible one really," Sirius agreed sitting next to James. Frank and Peter followed.
"I'm sure you have some suggestions," Cresswell smirked knowingly at his former Chaser.
"Plenty," James and Sirius said together.
"We always have one absolute punishment that's there in case someone tries to refuse to do the first punishment," Peter started.
"Like if I said, Peter I dare you to punch Snivellus in the face while he's surrounded by Slytherin seventh years," James said.
"Which I would refuse to do," Peter shuttered.
"Then he would have to choose between jumping into the black lake in nothing but ladies' underpants, or giving Bertha Jorkins a love potion," Sirius said.
"And I refuse again," Peter said, for the sake of the explanation.
"Then," James said followed by a dramatic "dun dun dun" by Sirius. "The ultimate forfeit. He'd have to… let's say give McGonagall a lap dance in a full Great Hall." The boys laughed at the thought.
"Those were all really great dare ideas and you wasted them on an explanation," Gabe complained.
"No one said you couldn't repeat them," Peter said.
"One of our rules is that we can't repeat dares," Creswell explained.
"May I suggest a loophole, captain?" James asked.
"You may," he responded.
"No one had to actually do the dare, it was all hypothetical," James answered.
"Fair point," Frank nodded.
"All in favour?" Cresswell said, raising his hand. Adrian threw his hand up causing him to lose his balance, but the vote was unanimous.
"Excellent," Sirius smirked.
"Any other rules we should know about?" Peter asked.
"Right!" Cresswell said climbing to his feet and getting into a stance James knew all too well. He rubbed the tips of his fingers together and walked slowly around the inside of their formed circle. "The most important rule; Rule number one: Everything that is said or done during this game is not repeated or explained. I.E. if Peter decided to jump into the Black Lake no one would be able to explain that it was a dare, ever, for as long as any of us live. Failure to follow this rule will result in extreme punishments." James rolled his eyes remembering that the number one rule about quidditch is no alcoholic beverages. "Number two: The dares may not be life altering, life threatening, or malicious. Meaning you may not take revenge on a previous darer - and the dares cannot get the victim expelled. Number three is no repeating dares…. What am I missing?"
"No teams," Gabe stated.
"Oh yeah, you can't gang up on one particular player, which no one seems to be following," Frank accused, punching Gabe's arm.
"Don't know what you're talking about," Gabe answered, sticking his nose in the air.
"Oh not at all," Frank answered, sarcastically.
"We have a few other rules," Sirius said and waited until he had everyone's attention. "You can't pick the person who picked you. You can't harm anyone. Like you can't dare someone to go jump a Slytherin. Trust me that gets out of hand."
"And you can't dare someone to be completely naked," Peter answered.
"Thank Merlin! I'm so done with the streaking dares," Gabe announced.
"Sounds fine. All agreed?" Cresswell asked and got six nods in response.
"Who goes first?" Frank asked.
"Should we go with the shortest?" Gabes suggested, looking at the group of third years. Sirius groaned.
"Really Black? You can't be the shortest!" Cresswell exclaimed.
"I had a growth spurt back in February," James grinned, sitting up straighter so he could show them he was taller than both Peter and Sirius now.
"Watch, after this summer-"
"You always say that Black and yet you never grow," James laughed.
"Shut up, James," Sirius said pushing him playfully. "And since you're being such a prat, truth or dare?"
"Truth, seeing as you're in such a bad mood," James answered. Sirius was expecting James to pick dare so he had to think for a moment.
"What is your biggest pet peeve?" Sirius asked, smirking.
"No, no, no, no. You'll just use it against me," James said, crossing his arms.
"Just answer the question," Sirius said.
"Yeah, answer the question!" Frank added.
"Answer the question, come on Potter!" Cresswell said.
"Fine!" James huffed. "People who walk slowly, or stop suddenly, or scuff their feet while they walk."
"But you're late for everything, why does it matter?" Sirius questioned. It was true, he was late for everything. The teachers had taken to leaving their doors open for him so he could sneak in five minutes late for class.
"I don't know it's just annoying. I'm trying to walk and you clearly have some sort of mental issue, just get out of the way!" James ranted.
"I don't think walking slower than you constitutes a mental issue," Frank answered.
"You know what I meant," James said, rolling his eyes. "Gabe truth or dare?"
"Dare," Gabe answered without hesitation, excitement glowing in his eyes.
"Trade underpants with Cresswell for the rest of the day."
"What! That's disgusting," Gabe grimaced.
"Just be happy I changed my pants this morning," Cresswell laughed slipping his underpants out from under his wizard robes.
"Oh, dear Merlin!" Gabe groaned, taking the boxers. He slipped his own off and handed them to Cresswell who threw them behind him. "We have to trade!"
"It's not my dare!" Cresswell laughed. Gabe groaned and continued to mutter as he put another man's underpants on.
"Sirius, dare or dare?" Gabe asked after he finished.
"Erm… can he do that," Sirius asked, nervous about the glint that appeared in Gabe's eye.
"There's nothing in the rules that says he can't," Cresswell shrugged.
"Fine. Dare I guess," Sirius answered.
"Snog James, on the mouth, for fifteen seconds," Gabe answered.
"Oi, that's revenge!" James shouted over Sirius protest. Peter was laughing so hard his face was red and he had to lean on Frank for support.
"That's true Pevensie," Cresswell said, looking apologetically at his roommate.
"Fine," Gabe said grumpily. "Go out into the common room and sing God Save the Queen as loud as you can."
"Which one?" Sirius asked, but only got a confused look from Gabe. "There's the national anthem and the greatest song ever written, God Save the Queen by The Sex Pistols."
"The anthem, Black," Gabe answered.
"Sirius you could have just chosen yourself. It would have been funnier," James said.
"One might argue that they are both anthems," Sirius replied.
"Merlin's balls, the national anthem, the one that is apparently not the greatest song ever written," Gabe said.
"God save your little anarchist heart," James said as Sirius walked out the door bound for the common room.
They all waited until they heard Sirius screaming the words to the anthem at the top of his lungs. They soon heard a loud crash followed by squeaking springs.
"Pscho woman! Code RED! I repeat CODE RED!" Sirius screamed. James and Peter jumped to their feet and flew down the stairs to rescue their friend.
Alice, the second Gryffindor prefect from Frank's year, was chasing Sirius around the common room. A group of girl giggled as they watched Alice throwing pillows at Sirius trying to get him to stop "disturbing the peace." Sirius was singing the anthem as fast and as loud as he could while still running and dodging flying pillows.
"And God save us all!" Sirius finished, with a flourish of his hand and a bow. He pushed his way between James and Peter who were laughing along with Frank, Gabe, Cresswell, and Adrian.
"Alright, Frank. Truth or Dare?" Sirius asked once they got back to the dorm room.
"Dare," Frank said, still laughing and wiping a tear out of his eye.
"I dare you to go down there and tell your girlfriend off for trying to kill me with pillows!" Sirius demanded.
"Girlfriend? What-" Frank started but broke off seeing the looks on the other guy's faces. "Alice and I are - we're just-"
"We walked in on you two snogging in an empty classroom just a week ago," Peter said, rolling his eyes.
"B-"
"We all have, mate," Cresswell said.
"Fine we're sort of dating," Frank answered. "But Alice doesn't want it to be official. She thinks it'll distract her from her studies."
"It was a dare not a truth," Sirius said as Adrian made a whipping noise.
"Alright, fine. I'll do it. I guess," Frank said, not moving and eyeing the door.
"Well go!" Sirius ordered after a moment's pause. Frank lurched into action and the rest of them followed after.
"Alice!" Frank called, as he entered the common room. Alice, who was tidying up the common room, looked up startled by Frank's tone.
"Frank?" she answered. Frank glanced towards the girl's dormitory and was happy to see that the group of giggling girls had disappeared.
"We need to talk about what just happened," Frank said and tried to ignore the giggles he heard coming from his friends.
"Okay… you mean with Black, right?" Alice replied.
"Exactly. I don't know what you mean by trying to murder Sirius with pillows, but that was too far," Frank said trying to make himself look angry.
"I wasn't trying to murder him! I came down to tell him to stop singing, it was annoying as hell. Then he kicked over an end table and started jumping on the couch. Then I tried to get him down and he started screaming 'code red, code red' and running around like an idiot so then I started throwing pillows at him trying to get him to stop," Alice explained, sounding irritated.
"Fine just, don't throw pillows at students. If that's what you want," Frank added quickly, noticing the look on Alice's face.
"Fine," Alice said, with out expression.
"Oh, there's one more thing, Alice!" Sirius said, stepping out from behind the door causing the other boys to erupt with laughter. Alice looked from Sirius to Frank, confused. "Frank wants to be official."
Alice gasped and looked angrily at Frank.
"I didn't tell him!" Frank lied. Alice crossed her arms.
"We'll talk about this later," Alice said and stormed off to her dormitory.
"Als!" Frank called desperately but Alice ignored him and continued up the stairs. "You guys are a bunch of arseholes," Frank muttered as he followed his friends back to the dorm room.
"Relax Longbottom, she'll come round," Gabe told him.
"Not likely. Did you see her?" Adrian said in a loud whisper. Peter nudged him quiet. Gabe rested a heavy hand on Frank's shoulder.
"Sirius, sorry mate, but I think this one calls for revenge," Gabe said, not looking at all apologetic.
"What! On what grounds?" Sirius demanded.
"We did tell you that none of the dares could be life altering," Gabe explained.
"They weren't even official yet," James argued.
"Yes, we were," Frank grumbled.
"Fine," Sirius said, sitting on one of the trunks. "Whatcha got Longbottom?" Frank thought for a long moment, occasionally glaring at Sirius in the process. Frank's eyes sparked as he came up with the perfect dare but thought better of it, as it would be much too cruel if the rumours were true.
"I think I'll save my revenge dare for later," Frank said finally. Sirius groaned.
"Fine, but you still've gotta ask someone," Adrian told him.
"Right, James truth or dare?" Frank asked.
"Dare," James said. Frank smiled and winked at Gabe.
"Send a howler to your mum telling her that she's grounded," Frank said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. James froze in shock. Sirius shook with laughter as he visualised the small, kindhearted woman receiving a screaming letter from her only son announcing that she was on punishment.
"A-a-alright," James sputtered. He walked across the room to the desk covered in parchment. "What should I say?" James asked, picking up a quill and dipping it into the ink bottle.
"That you are extremely disappointed in her," Gabe suggested.
"Start by calling her 'mother'," Sirius said.
"'Mother, I am extremely disappointed in you,'" James spoke as he wrote the words down. "Oh no, 'mother' alone will be enough to get me killed!"
"Exactly why I suggested it," Sirius grinned.
"Now say, how could you do this to me?" Peter added. James wrote it down. "You're grounded for life, woman! Grounded! For. Life." Peter finished as even James chuckled thinking of the letter he was sure to get in the morning.
"Alright," James said, tapping his wand on the envelope turning it a furious red marking it as a howler. "Cresswell, dare or dare?"
"Hmm," Cresswell hummed, as he pretended to seriously consider his answer. "Dare."
"I dare you to come to the owlery with me and along the way propose to everyone that we run into," James smirked. Creswell gave a hearty laugh as he got to his feet.
"Well, if I must, I must," he said and followed James out to the owlery.
The moment their feet touched the floor outside of the portrait Mrs Norris came meowing from around the corner. James nudged his Quidditch Captain reminding him of his dare. Creswell swooped down on one knee and picked up Mrs Norris, holding her in the air above his head. She meowed and hissed as she tried to worm her way out of his grip.
"Mrs Norris, with eyes so red, will you do me the honour of becoming Mrs Norris Cresswell?" Cresswell spoke, with a mocked dreamy tone. Mrs Norris let out a long low hiss seeming to be in response to his question. "Well, I guess that answers that." Cresswell tossed her down and she scurried off behind the corner from which she came. James laughed so hard he had to lean against the wall for support.
"Come on, Filch won't be too far away," Cresswell said, gesturing for James to follow him.
"I'd love to see you propose to Filch!" James smirked but followed him nonetheless. Cresswell took on his dare with pride. He would swoop down dramatically on one knee whenever they passed a group of students and propose to each of them who either, scoffed, laughed, or blushed at Cresswell's proposal. He proposed to Professor Flitwick on the stairs leading up to the owlery. He merely laughed and bid the boys a good day.
"I'll take that as a no then?" Cresswell called after him and James keeled over with laughter.
Cresswell only faltered once. James had decided to take a detour on their way back to the dormitory and they ended up on the first floor. There was a group of seventh year Hufflepuff girls, playing exploding snaps in the otherwise deserted entrance hall. Cresswell froze on the steps, his eyes glued to a blonde girl, laughing as she conversed with her friends. James looked at him curiously. Cresswell's eyes were as wide as saucers and his face was as red as a tomato. He gulped then took a deep breath and continued down the stairs with his head held high, his colour fading slightly.
"Good afternoon, ladies," Cresswell drawled, gaining the attention of the group.
"Hey, Dirk," the girl he had been staring at grinned. "We were just playing a game, would you like to join?"
"No thanks Cassie, I actually wanted to ask you something," Cresswell answered, throwing a mischievous grin to James. He swooped down on one knee so that he was eye-level with her, took her hand in both of his, and locked eyes with hers with the most earnest expression on his face. Cassie shifted nervously. "Will you marry me?" Cresswell asked gravely. The girls surrounded them sniggered, James smirked, Cassie blinked rapidly, her facial expression relaxing.
"Merlin Dirk, I thought you were being serious," Cassie breathed.
"Oh but I am," Cresswell said bringing one of his hands to his chest. "Cassie Rosier, please say you will. My heart will break if I have to spend another moment without you. I want you, I need you, I love you!"
"Well, since you said please," Cassie laughed lightly but James noticed a slight raise in colour in her cheeks.
"Well, James, I finally got a yes. What do ya think of that?" Cresswell beamed, still crouched in front of his fiance.
"I guess that means you can't propose to people anymore. Pity," James pouted.
"Until next time sweet Cassie," Cresswell said and kissed her hand that still rested in his sending the girls into another fit of giggles. James and Cresswell walked off while Cresswell smiled to himself. James looked suspiciously at his captain's unwavering smile.
"So, Cassie," James said, a slight tease in his voice.
"Yeah, Cassie," Cresswell sighed. James chuckled and only then did Cresswell turn to look at him, his eyes wide knowing what James had probably caught onto. "We're just friends," he said quickly. "And not like Frank and Alice friends. We're friends friends. Just…."
"Friends?" James finished. Cresswell nodded. "Well, hey I get it. I also get that you have a splitting headache and desperately need a tonic that only Madam Pomfrey can produce." James pretended to be very interested in his fingernails as he said this. They rounded the corner that led straight to the hospital wing.
"So you're going to tell everyone about this if I don't pretend to have a headache?" Cresswell asked. James nodded. "Or I could just make sure you don't make it onto the quidditch team next year."
"Choice is yours," James shrugged.
"Two years without quidditch James Potter," Cresswell threatened.
"Technically one and a half," James said with only a hint of bitterness. Cresswell's eyes narrowed. Gryffindor had lost every match since James got kicked off the team. Next year was his last chance at the cup. He wasn't about to give that up and James knew it.
"Alright fine," Cresswell groaned.
"Great, while you're in there if you see Lupin give him this." James pulled his half of the mirror out of his pocket and handed it to Cresswell.
"Why can't you do it?" Cresswell asked.
"She never lets me in there when Lupin gets sick like this," James explained, waving him off. "Make sure she doesn't see it. I'll wait for you by the stairs." James ran off down the corridor before Cresswell had a chance to respond. He looked down at the broken mirror in his hand before placing it in his pocket.
"Madam Pomfrey?" Cresswell called, peeking his head through the door. The room was void of people. The beds were all neatly made and looked as if the last inhabitant had been Marlene Mckinnon back in April. They never did find out who attacked her. Cresswell entered the room slowly. Once fully in, he noticed a bed with the curtains drawn tightly around it that the door had blocked from his view. He drew the curtains apart slowly, the rings racking against the metal rod, breaking the icy silence. Remus Lupin lay in the bed, his face looking haggard and pale, dark circles were under his eyes ageing him. He could easily pass for a short thirty-year-old. His breathing was too shallow and too quick for someone to be sleeping peacefully, but still, he didn't stir.
"Lupin," Cresswell said softly and prodded his arm with an outstretched finger. Remus's eyebrows frowned as he drew his blanket closer to his body with a frail looking hand. "Remus," Cresswell whispered, placing a firm hand on Remus's arm. Remus's eyes blinked open. He stared at Cresswell confused. Cresswell gulped. Remus usually had light eyes, but when he had opened them they were very nearly black and had yet to go back to their normal colour.
"Who? Where's Madam Pomfrey?" Remus asked hoarsely, raising to a sitting position looking panicked.
"Dunno," Cresswell shrugged. He eyed Remus, not remembering ever seeing someone looking so ill. "James told me to give you this." Cresswell reached into his pocket and pulled out the mirror.
"James?" Remus said vaguely, looking back to Cresswell sending chills through him. His eyes were still black.
"You are Remus Lupin, right?" Cresswell asked nervously. Perhaps he got the wrong kid? He could have sworn he'd seen this one hanging around at quidditch practice.
"Yeah, Remus Lupin," Remus answered falling back to the bed.
"And you know James Potter?" Cresswell asked.
"Course, he's my best mate," Remus grinned sleepily.
"Well, he wanted me to give you this." Cresswell extended his arm, holding the mirror out with the tips of his fingers. Remus took the mirror, looking as confused as Cresswell felt. He examined it, eyed Cresswell, then went back to the mirror and realisation seemed to fall over him. Excitement lit up his face, bringing colour back to his cheeks. He sat up and pushed the pillows up behind him so he could rest against them. He licked his dry lips as he watched the mirror seeming to wait for something.
"Thank you," he said to Cresswell, having momentarily forgotten his presence. Cresswell sighed in relief as he noticed Remus's eyes had lightened. Must have been something with the lighting, he told himself. "James!" Remus yelled in a hoarse whisper into the mirror. Much to Cresswell's surprise, James's voice echoed back.
"Hey-ya Lupin," he could practically hear James's grin. The rumours were true, these boys were in love with each other.
"James, you know what Madam Pomfrey said," Remus began to scold."That I'm not allowed to step foot into the hospital wing today," James smirked. Cresswell had crept up next to Remus and was peering over his shoulder. James's face was in the mirror instead of Remus's. "Nice work Cresswell," James complimented as Cresswell came into view. "Hurry up and get back here. Remus, keep this with you and make sure Pomfrey doesn't see it. She'll take it away."
"I really should be resting James," Remus said, reluctantly.
"If you get tired you can take a nap. I just figured you wouldn't want to miss out on this," James grinned.
"On what?" Remus questioned.
"Truth or dare," James said nonchalantly but Remus's eyes sparked with excitement, bringing them back to normal.
"I suppose it'll be fine as long as you guys don't dare me to do anything that requires me getting out of bed," Remus warned. He still looked tired and worn but his youth seemed to have returned to him.
"But of course, Loopy," James smirked. "Cresswell, ya comin?" James barked at his astounded looking captain.
"I'll be right there," Cresswell answered. He gave one last worried glance to the now elated looking Remus and dashed out the door.
Cresswell bombarded James with questions starting at the foot of the stairs all the way up to the fat lady's portrait.
"Look, I didn't even make 'em. Remus did. And don't go asking him, he's sick," James said irritably.
"Yeah, I noticed," Cresswell said. "Is he alright?"
"He'll be fine. He's just got a condition," James shrugged.
"A condition?" Cresswell pressed.
"Yeah, they don't know much about it yet. But he gets sick from time to time," James answered. James spotted McGonagall striding down the corridor, shifting through a file. "Oh, Cresswell, just one more proposal," James begged. Cresswell followed his gaze.
"To McGonagall!" Cresswell growled.
"You're the Gryffindor quidditch captain. The worst she'll do is take points away for being a perv," James argued. He folded his hands together and pouted his lip. Cresswell sighed as McGonagall stopped abruptly.
"Potter?" McGonagall said sharply. James straightened his stance and gave one last longing look to Cresswell.
"Afternoon, Professor," James said silkily. McGonagall opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it.
"Good afternoon, Mr Potter, Mr Cresswell," she said. Cresswell nodded in her direction, seeming nervous about something. McGonagall's eyes narrowed at the boys.
"Where's Black?" she asked James.
"Up in the dormitory," James answered. Again, McGonagall looked suspicious but decided not to say anything.
"If you're headed back up there would you get word out that I want all Gryffindors in the Great Hall, please," McGonagall requested.
"Any particular reason?" James inquired.
"You'll soon find out, won't you?" McGonagall said with a small smile and brushed past the boys. James started clucking quietly at Cresswell. Cresswell groaned.
"Wait, Professor!" Cresswell called after her. McGonagall turned on her heels to see Cresswell jogging up to her. "I've got something to ask you! Please don't kill me."
"If that was your question, Mr Cresswell, I assure you, you're safe," McGonagall said briskly and turned to leave.
"That's not the question," Cresswell said. "Don't know why I'm doing this," he muttered almost unintelligibly as McGonagall turned back toward him. Having heardthis, McGonagall's eyes shot automatically to James. James was grinning wickedly, his eyes shooting from hers to Cresswell getting slowly to his knees, not knowing what he wanted to see more. Cresswell cleared his throat. "Professor," he began, "marry me. Please." Her eyes shot wildly between Cresswell and James.
"Mr Cresswell, please get off the floor, it does not do well to beg," McGonagall said finally. "Mr Potter," she said, much more harshly, "I think you'll find that attempting to humiliate your quidditch captain will not do well in your future. If I were your captain I would make sure that you spend every waking moment sore and exhausted."
"Ah, but Professor you are not my captain. And Cresswell has taken an oath not to take revenge for anything that might happen today. So you see, I am perfectly safe," James said, haughtily.
"No one said it was revenge, it's just good training," she said, sending a wink to Cresswell before turning away from them. "Do remember to pass on my message," McGonagall said airily as she drifted down the stairs. James stared after his professor. Cresswell gave an odd sounding giggle.
"That was not the response I was expecting," Cresswell said.
"She has got to be my favourite teacher," James said.
"You do seem to like girls who can kick your arse," Cresswell remarked. He gave the password absently to the Fat Lady who gave her agreement with Cresswell to the arguing James as she swung open.
Their friends were sitting in the common room in front of the fire. Peter had underpants on his head. Sirius had a dozen tiny ponytails sticking up on top of his head. He was sitting at Marlene's feet as she tied more in. Adrian was sitting with his feet in the air and his head on the ground looking flushed as Gabe counted down seconds on his watch. Frank was in a floral mini dress and was trying to hide his rather hairy legs with a throw pillow.
"Well, you blokes have been busy," Cresswell said, throwing himself down next to Frank. He tried taking the pillow from him but Frank clutch onto it for dear life.
"How did the proposals go?" Peter asked, smirking as he pushed the underpants further up his forehead.
"I proposed to McGonagall," Cresswell said proudly, earning a laugh from his cohorts.
"And when's the wedding," Marlene laughed, snapping a band around a bunch of Sirius's hair. Sirius winced at the noise.
"Dunno, she wouldn't give me a straight answer. She did give me permission to torture James though," Cresswell grinned. "Are you playing now?"
"Yes, sir," Marlene smirked, as Sirius whined beneath her.
"These are too tight, Mckinnon!" Sirius wailed.
"Oh, relax. It'll help your hair grow," she told him.
"James will mumsie get the letter?" Sirius asked, leaning away from Marlene's fingers.
"Yes, and she'll pay me back in kind tomorrow morning mark my words. I just hope she's not with anyone when she gets it or else it'll be about nappy cream or something," James sighed.
"I take it you get your sense of humour from her?" Gabe asked, looking away from his watch.
"Oy! You're supposed to be timing me!" Adrian yelled, looking as if he were about to burst.
"I wish I could have seen Maggie's face when you asked her," Peter sighed wistfully.
"Oh, maybe we could do it again!" James grinned.
"Absolutely not! Not in front of the whole house!" Cresswell declared.
"The whole house?" Gabe questioned, much to a grunting Adrian's disapproval.
"She wants us all to come down to the Great Hall," Cresswell told them heaving a sigh.
"We should round everybody up then," Frank said.
Gabe nodded, his eyes glued to his watch. "Annnnnd time!" Adrian flipped over as he sighed in relief and bounce back onto his feet.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go vomit then try to get the smell of fire whisky off of me," Adrian told them as he took his leave. Cresswell, Gabe, and Frank dashed up the stairs to their dormitory to fetch the rest of the Gryffindor boys. Frank pulled the dress down as low as he could get it as he skipped up the steps.
"Hey, Marlene, would you mind rounding up the girls for us," Sirius asked, his pained face looked hopeful. "Seeing as we're not allowed up there," he added when he got no answer.
"Almost done," Marlene muttered, trying to force a tiny bunch of hair into the rubber band. "Alright," she sighed, flexing her fingers, "see you gits in the Great Hall."
Sirius massaged his aching scalp. Peter scratch at the band of the underpants around his head. James moved strategically in front of them and pulled Sirius's half of the mirror out of his pocket.
"Lupin!" James yelled, hoping that Remus had not gone back to sleep. Moments later Remus's face appeared in the mirror. "Look," James grinned and angled the mirror so he could see his other friends. Sirius and Peter scowled at James but waved halfheartedly at Remus. Remus laughed at the sight of them.
"Brilliant," Remus complimented.
"How're you feeling?" Peter asked.
"Fine," Remus shrugged.
"Well, I'm not! Bloody wench tied these things too tight!" Sirius complained, making Remus laugh again.
"Oh, and I got Cresswell to propose to Maggie!" James said, pulling the mirror back to him.
"You didn't!" Remus exclaimed, not sounding like he didn't believe it. "What'd she say?"
"That Cresswell has every right to make me miserable as long as he's my quidditch captain," James answered. Remus made a noise of concern. "Don't worry, one of their rules is they can't take revenge."
"Why did we never think about that?" Remus asked, thinking of all the times the boys have ganged up on him for his malevolent dares.
"We need motivation sometimes, Lupin," James told him. People were starting to flood into the common room. Sirius and Peter got to their feet ignoring the strange looks they got. "We've gotta go to the Great Hall. Keep the mirror out," James ordered and followed Sirius and Peter out of the portrait hole.
***I should explain that it's a headcanon of mine that werewolves slowly start to forget details about their lives leading up to the transformation. Hence, Remus not remembering who Cresswell was even though he's James's captain. I don't think it's supported by cannon but it makes sense (to me at least) because while in wolf form they don't remember who they are. IDK let me know what you guys think.
Sorry, it's so long but believe it or not its only part one (part two will be more relevant to the plot, I promise)
Any other questions, comments, or concerns you know where to leave them. I love hearing from you guys and seriously appreciate the feedback!
XO***