Chapter 29

Their detention was to be served the following evening. Dumbledore had taken them into his office the following evening to speak to them about the mishaps that the Marauders had caused. Alyssa's name was not once mentioned in the proceedings, keeping her out of the trouble the Marauders had gotten in. Sirius never got his chance to talk to Alaina about what had happened, but had already concocted a plan that he would soon put into motion.

The next day, Remus, James, and Sirius were all ecstatic. They thought that the detention they had earned was well worth the look on Snape's face when he professed his love for his Professor. Peter, however, felt very differently.

"Guys," Peter whined for what felt like the hundredth time that day. The four of them were on their way to Charms. "Isn't there any way we can get out of this detention? Maybe we should offer to do a detention every night this week or something..." James spun around and glared at Peter, his anger finally snapping.

"Wormtail!" James shouted. "Last night was well worth the punishment. Stop complaining. Tonight we are going to have a blast!"

That had ended Peter's complaints for the time being. The rest of the day passed quickly, much too quickly for Peter and soon it was dinner time. The Marauder's detention was supposed to be during dinner, and Lily was appalled to see all four boys eating quite calmly, as though they did not have any other place to be.

"What are you four doing here?" Lily snarled. The boys had sat back down next to the girls, as they had since the beginning of the year.

"Eating." James said quickly. "What does it look like?" Eating may not have been the correct term for what James was doing. He was currently shoving as much food as possible down his throat.

"But you were supposed to have detention tonight, weren't you?" Brittney asked with a raised eyebrow. "You know, for the havoc you guys caused yesterday?" James nodded his head, and mashed potatoes flew out of his mouth and hit Remus straight in the face.

"Sorry, Moony," James said, once he had swallowed his food. Remus gently rubbed the potatoes off of his face with a look of distaste. "Our detention is tonight. During dinner, just like we said." Lily opened her mouth to tell him that it was in fact dinnertime, when Dumbledore stood up.

The Great Hall quieted down quickly as he spoke. "After last night's proceedings, I have arranged some entertainment for tonight's dinner. Would Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew please join me up here." The girls all gasped as the four boys stood up. They walked proudly and with dignity towards Dumbledore, all except Peter who looked as though he wished he was anywhere else.

"After that most embarrassing display that was placed upon Mr. Snape by these gentlemen," Dumbledore waved a hand towards the four boys. "I think that each one shall stand before you and share one of their secrets."

The Great Hall burst into laughter, and Snape leaned forward with a small smirk. He was watching Remus intently, as though looking for a sign of nervousness, but one did not exist.

"I believe Mr. Pettigrew will go first." Dumbledore said, he shrunk into his seat and put his fingertips together in his trademark movement.

Peter looked absolutely terrified. He did not move from his postion in the midst of the Marauders, but they gave him a slight push and he stumbled to where Dumbledore had been standing a moment before.

"I-I...I got a T on my last Potions assignment!" Peter stuttered weakly. Several of the Slytherins boo-d him. This was not an unusual development, and they were expecting something much more embarrassing. James gave Peter a nudge with his elbow, telling him to go a little bit further.

"Oh all right!" Peter yelled exasperated. "I wet my bed last week, happy?" At first, the Great Hall was extremely silent, but then they burst into fits of laughter. Peter blushed a dark red, and slunk back into the safety of his friends who patted his back reassuringly.

"Mr. Lupin?" Dumbledore asked patiently, a small smile littering his wizened face. Snape was leaning so far in his seat that it looked like he was about to fall off. Remus took a deep breath and took Peter's place. He smiled gently at Alyssa who was grinning up at him.

"Well, believe it or not, Professor Dumbledore walked in on me snogging my girlfriend," Remus said with a smirk. The Great Hall was silent, as many did not know whether to believe him or not. After Dumbledore started to laugh, however, the rest of the students soon joined in.

Alyssa was blushing darkly, and Christopher and Wyatt looked absolutely speechless. Snape looked disappointed, and grumpily sat back in his seat, his arms crossed and his eyes dancing darkly.

"Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore said with a smile. James jumped past Remus, nearly knocking him over to take his place. He cleared his throat and started to talk about a mile a minute.

"When I was a baby I used to suck on my grandma's nose, I fart in my sleep, I love spinach, I go completely insane off of sugar, I picked my nose until I was about twelve, I got beat up by a girl this summer and a

few time before that, oh! And this one time, my dad accidentally locked me outside naked. And it was really cold outside, and well I think you all know very well what happens when a boy is outside in the cold, but if you don't let me explain -,"

"MR. POTTER!" McGonagall shrieked over the laughter of the Great Hall. Lily looked in absolute shock and Brittney was clinging to the table, attempting not to fall over in her laughter. James simply smiled softly and join Remus and Peter.

Sirius, not needing his introduction from Dumbledore stood in front of the Great Hall. His eyes rested upon Alaina for a brief second and he happily saw that she was staring intently at him, but there was a faint amount of hurt in her eyes. Sirius took a deep breath and plunged into the speech that he had memorized by heart, yet it flowed through his lips as though he was coming up with it at the top of his head.

"Professor Dumbledore told me and my three best friend s that we were supposed to stand in front of you all and divulge our biggest embarrassments. I, however, have chosen to tell you all something that has not embarrassed me, but has eaten me alive for quite sometime." Sirius looked towards Dumbledore to ask for permission if what he was saying was appropriate. Dumbledore twitched his head slightly, looking intrigued, and

urged Sirius to continue.

"You see, I made a mistake, and that is what I am embarrassed of." Snape scoffed, but Sirius took no notice. "I made a girl think that I had feelings for believe the opposite. I made Alaina Riley believe that I did not like her. I am sorry." Silence engulfed the Great Hall, but Sirius did not care. His eyes were locked upon Alaina's and he was quite happy to see a smile on her face.

"That was weak!" Snape scowled from the Slytherin table. James made to jump past Sirius, but Dumbledore spoke first, and James seemingly decided that maybe it would not be such a good idea to attack Snape in front of Dumbledore.

"Mr. Snape, why do you say that? Is it weak to have to profess your feelings in front of the whole student body?" Dumbledore said this calmly, with a smile on his face. Snape looked rather shocked at being addressed by Professor Dumbledore and sunk back into his seat. Dumbledore turned to Sirius with a small smile on his wrinkled face. "You and your friends can be seated, Mr. Black."

On their way back to the Gryffindor table, James slapped Sirius on the back and congratulated him on his speech. Sirius' eyes never left Alaina's however and when he reached her, he just cleared his throat and smiled.

"I think we need to talk later," Sirius said and Alaina nodded her head. Sirius slid into the seat next to her, and was shocked to find that she slid her hand in his. Sirius smiled at her, and continued to eat, as the noise level around the Great Hall rose back to its normal level.