Smile
The last of summer flew by quickly with everyone helping the Prewett's, or helping each other – and getting sleep or food whenever was possible. The teenagers yearned to help with their parents, but the adults strictly said no, assuring them their time would come.
And before James knew it, he was back on the Hogwarts Express to go back to school for his sixth year of education. He still had a dark feeling within him at both the twin's death, but he knew he shouldn't be feeling sorry for him when Alice was sure to be in a worse state, though she hated to show it.
Dorcas, Mary and Lily squished into a compartment with the Marauders simply because no one wanted to be alone – and they'd become somewhat of friends with the girls during their time at James' house. It had happened before James could even digest it, and now he got to have a civil conversation, sit close to, or even tease Lily Evans without her getting angry.
However, none of them talked – it seemed as if they all felt secretly guilty if they should talk about something happy when such dark times were upon them and even darker approaching. Not even Sirius or James dared to break the ice – not yet. They hadn't even planned a beginning of the year prank, which they'd done every year except first year, and James suspected everyone in Hogwarts would know why.
They'd all been silent, absorbed in their own thoughts, until, surprisingly, Remus spoke up.
"We need to plan our prank." He said decisively.
They all stared at him.
"Remus . . . are you sure that's . . . appropriate?" Peter asked hesitantly, frowning.
"Gideon and Fabian wouldn't want us to be like this, all somber and giving up – they were always the joking type, and I'm sure they'd want us to do this. In honor of them."
They all exchanged glances, unsure. Finally, James sighed and nodded. "I think you're right, Remus."
"Me, too." Sirius agreed, leaning his forearms on his knees.
"Guess I'm in, too." Peter said. They all looked to the girls, who'd been glancing between them curiously.
"You're not going to tell on us, are you?" Sirius teased half-heartedly, for the first time in a long time.
"No, of course not!" Mary said indignantly, as Dorcas asked, "Please, don't you trust us?"
They all looked to Lily, who bit her lip. Dorcas smacked her knee pointedly and she sighed.
"Fine. In honor of Gideon and Fabian. What are you planning?"
XXX
Right as they got off the train, Sirius and Remus rushed to the castle so they could sneak into the kitchens to make the prank happen (they knew they could get the house elves to help them, because they'd done so before). They took the Marauder's Map with them as well, just in case. They knew they couldn't all go, because it'd look suspicious, so James and Peter got stuck with the job of trying to look normal (which James didn't really have a problem with, seeing as he could spend more time with Lily).
As they made their way up to the castle, they laughed giddily in anticipation of their hastily put-together prank, even Lily. James knew it certainly wasn't the best they could do, considering the time they had to plan it, but it would have to do.
Soon, they were seated in the Great Hall, and Alice and Frank finally joined them, who had chosen to separate themselves for some alone time on the Hogwarts Express. Alice looked a little better, which was a plus, and James only hoped she would understand that the prank tonight was for her brothers.
Sirius and Remus made it in at the last second, attempting nonchalant. James glanced up at the High Table to see if any of the professors noticed, and the only thing that stood out was a slightly amused gleam in Professor Dumbledore's eye.
Does anything get past that man?, James thought to himself, shaking his head.
Sirius and Remus sat down, giving the rest of them slightly nods to confirm everything went as planned.
After the first years were Sorted and they all sang the tuneless Hogwarts school song completely off-key (James chose a very screeching high, feminine voice for the song this year), the food finally appeared, what the seven of them had all been waiting for. Lily bit back a grin, Mary covered her mouth, and Dorcas lightly bounced in her place excitedly.
Sirius scoffed. "Amateurs."
James snorted and the rest of them chuckled, except the girls, who made various noises of mock-indignation. They were interrupted, however, when the fun started.
It started with the Gryffindor table, and then moved along to the other Houses – the food before them rose slowly from their many trays and bowls, the students watching helplessly.
There was a moment of silence as the food hung there, and it was filled by some student starting, "What the –"
But it was cut off as, suddenly, the food starting pelting in many different directions, into students and professors' faces, hair and clothes, and exclamations and curses filled the air. Many jumped out of the seats and dove under the table, some tried to catch it with their mouths, and others used their plates or other things as shields – James and Sirius were part of this group, standing on top of the table and making exclamations – "Hiyah!", "Hoo-wah!", "Wah-taow!" – as they slashed and dodged the random foods. Remus, Peter, and the girls did the same, but in a subtle manner, in their seats.
When students started to make a break for it, running to get out of the Great Hall, the teachers finally put a stop to the flying masses of mashed potatoes, turkey, green beans and other such things. Dumbledore stood when the food dropped to the floor, and most students went back to their seats.
"Now that the usual welcoming prank has been established by the mystery pranksters, we can continue our meal," he said a small, amused smile on his face. He clapped his hands and more food appeared, while the remains on the floor and on the walls disappeared. "First years, I welcome you to Hogwarts! As for the rest of you . . . welcome back."
James looked over at Alice, and the smile that was on her face confirmed that she had known exactly who had been responsible and who it was for. She smiled wider at him, and James couldn't remember the last time he felt as elated as he did right then.
Alice Prewett could smile again.
XXX
The first day of classes came, and it turned out the girls and the Marauder's had many classes together, much to James' delight (and, secretly, Sirius' as well – well, not so secretly anymore). However, they were all exasperated to have the same Potion's professor again this year – Professor Slughorn, who had to be the most obvious teacher when it came to picking favorites. Unfortunately, James, Sirius and Lily were some of them. He never ceased to invite them to the Slug Club every single time, not matter how many times they refused. Lily usually went, but since Sirius' younger brother and arch nemesis apart from Snape, Regulus, usually went, both boys refrained from going. It also didn't help that neither of them were a huge fan of Sluggy.
They were in Transfiguration when James and Sirius received their first detention of the year.
Sirius nudged James' arm and, snickering, pulled out his wand. He directed it at Snape and muttered something – in an instant, Snape's hair turned from its usual greasy black to bright pink, unknown to him, of course. James and Sirius barely kept their laughing at bay, along with the other students who'd noticed, and McGonagall turned to them with a firm glare. She then scanned the room for what the commotion was about and her eyes fell on Snape. Her eyes widened and she looked back to the boys.
"Detention, both of you. Two days' worth." She said, almost in a routine way.
Sirius frowned with raised eyebrows at James. "Hey, we lasted halfway through the day."
"Record." James sang, and they high-fived nonchalantly.
McGonagall sighed and looked to a still-oblivious Snape. "And Mr. Snape, I suppose I should inform you your hair is bright pink."
Snape grasped his hair and brought it in front of his face, before turning to glower at the two boys, who started laughing again, along with most of the class. McGonagall sent them disapproving glares before she waved her wand and changed Snape's hair back to normal.
Only then did James notice the sad look on Lily's face, where she was twirling her quill in her fingers. Whether it was about Snape and James himself, he did not know, but neither was good.
XXX
James caught up with Lily after class and she didn't look particularly happy to see him. He asked her if everything was alright, and she frowned.
"James, simply pulling pranks and bullying are two different things, you know, and –" she started, but James cut her off.
"Lily, that was nothing, and it was Sirius anyway –"
"It doesn't matter who it was," she insisted, "It's bullying, and after last year, I thought you'd realize that that's not funny at all!"
"Lily, it wasn't me –" he tried again, but to no avail.
"Stop trying to justify it, James," she said, shaking her head, and her eyes fell on Snape, who was hurriedly walked in front of them. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
She went off after Snape and James grabbed his hair in frustration, groaning. He had just gotten Lily to tolerate him, and now he'd gone and ruined it! No, really, Sirius had ruined it! But he knew he couldn't blame anyone else but himself. Now, Lily was mad at him, and, what was worse, was currently talking to Snape.
It was not a very good first day.
A/N: I apologize for my atrocious creativity with the prank. I'd be a terrible Marauder. -_- However, I hope you enjoyed it anyway! In other news, I have exams coming up in two weeks, so I'll be studying my butt off (the reason why this chapters a bit late :/) so, unfortunately updates will be slower until SUMMERS HERE! (Or until the exams are over).
Okay, so thank you for reading, and tell me your thoughts or predictions in a review!