AN: Hello again everyone! I am so excited for this chapter! It's not just because I actually managed to put it up on time (a week from my last post! yay!) but I really like this chapter. So, I didn't really proofread it because I just finished it. I know, my plans for getting ahead didn't actually work. So I'm sure you'll find spelling and grammar mistakes, but please forgive me. All this will all point to the fact that I am not J.K. Rowling, and I do not own and scrap of Harry Potter. Enjoy the chapter!
"So, what's the plan, Prongs?" Sirius asked as he, Remus, Peter, and James met later that night beside the statue of the one-eyed witch. Lily had gone into her room hours ago, and James had been restless, wondering why she had acted so strangely. He'd even gotten ahead on his homework, he had been so bored.
"Well, it's somewhat complicated, but I think it will be worth it. Here's what we need to do," said James, whispering the plan to the Maruaders.
"Now I know why I've been friends with you so long, Prongs. I've just been waiting for this moment when you'd prove your worth," Sirius said in mock pride.
"Oh, shut it, Pads. I'm the one who's always asked myself why I bother hanging out with someone so brainless," James said, rolling his eyes.
"You really shouldn't talk about Moony that way, Prongs. He might not let you copy his homework anymore," Sirius said, a swaggering smile on his face.
"Or maybe I won't let you copy my homework, Padfoot," Remus said, a smirk on his face.
"Hey, that's fine. I'll just copy Lily's," Sirius said, smirking at James.
"Yeah, right, Pads," said James.
"Can we be there for when he asks her? I never get tired of watching women slap Padfoot across the face," Peter said.
"In that case, then I'll just tell Lily that you wanted to copy her homework. I'll be doing you a favor, Wormtail. It'll be the first girl that's ever come within ten feet of you," Sirius said, laughing.
"I think you're forgetting that I had a girlfriend last year, Pads," Peter said, showing just how much Sirius's teasing bothered him.
"Yeah, about that," Sirius began in a regretful tone, "we didn't want to tell you at the time, but none of us were sure she was actually a girl, Wormtail."
"And how many girlfriends have you had?" Peter asked pointedly.
"That's not my style, Wormtail. I'd rather love 'em and leave 'em wanting more," Sirius said, grinning cockily.
"More like they can't stand to be around you for more than two seconds," Peter said, rolling his eyes.
"As amusing as this isn't, we've got work to do," James said.
"Right, we have to live up to the Marauder tradition," said Sirius proudly.
"And catch everyone off guard because we're doing the prank the second day of school instead of the first," Remus said.
"And make sure that Lily doesn't ever find out that I was behind this," James said sadly.
"Prongs, she's going to know it was us," Remus said.
"I know, Moony. I just wish I could go one day without her screaming at me," James said, sighing.
"See, Wormtail, why would I want a girlfriend? They turn men into, into, that!" said Sirius, pointing at James.
"Oh, shut it, Pads, before I make you," James said.
"I don't think you can, lover boy," said Sirius, his posture tall and confident.
"You're going to wish you hadn't said that," James said, launching himself at Sirius and knocking him over.
Before too long James and Sirius were wrestling. Remus just rolled his eyes at his friends while Peter egged them on. After a few minutes, both James and Sirius were tired and they gave up, climbing back to their feet. Brushing dust from the floor off of themselves, they finally split up and headed off to prepare for the prank of all pranks.
Lily awoke the next morning wondering what had come over her. She had sat in her room the night before, completely bored and desperate to find something to do to take up the time. All of her homework for the next several weeks was already done, and she really didn't feel like doing homework anyway. She let her thoughts drift over James for a little while before she decided that she shouldn't let herself get carried away. It was thinking about James that had given her the strange idea to begin with. She had been thinking about how she secretly always loved the Marauder's pranks. She had to admit that they were usually pretty creative. And then she began to wonder what James would think if she were to pull a prank.
Lily dismissed the idea at first, but the more and more she thought about it, the more she like it. Maybe this would show James that she wasn't quite as stuck-up as he thought. It would show him that she could have just as much fun as he and his friends. And it would show the Marauders that they weren't the only ones capable of pulling pranks.
As Lily turned out the light to go to sleep that night, she had dozens of ideas floating through her brain. And right before she had fallen asleep she had come up with the perfect idea. It was good enough that it made her laugh whenever she thought about it, simple enough that she could get it done by herself, and friendly enough that, even if she were to get caught, she knew that she wouldn't actually get into trouble.
Lily showered and changed quickly that morning, throwing her hair into another messy bun. She didn't even care that she didn't have time to fix her hair, because she was too excited about the prank. Lily crept across the common room, careful not to make too much noise and accidentally wake James. As soon as she was in the corridor with the doors shut behind her, she raced down to the kitchen.
The kitchen was bursting with energy when Lily walked through the doors. House-elves were scurrying around preparing the food for that morning's breakfast. Huge pancakes were flipping themselves on one side of an enormous griddle, and bacon and eggs were frying on the other side. It took a minute for Lily to find Gretchen in all of the chaos, but once she did, she found that luck was on her side. Gretchen was standing in front of several pitchers that were filling themselves magically. Perfect, thought Lily.
"Good morning, Gretchen," Lily called to the house-elf.
"Oh, good morning, Ms. Evans! Did you fix everything with Mr. Potter?" Gretchen asked.
"Oh, yes, Gretchen. Thanks for the advice. Apologizing to him wasn't as bad as I thought," Lily said, rolling her eyes at herself.
"Oh, I knew you would work it out. You are both so cute together," Gretchen squeaked.
"Oh, um, thanks Gretchen," Lily said uncomfortably. "Gretchen, do you think you could help me with something?" Lily asked abruptly.
"Yes, Ms. Evans, what would you like?" Gretchen asked.
"Could you show me which pitcher goes in the middle of the Gryffindor table?" Lily asked sweetly.
"Well, we don't really have assigned pitchers," Gretchen said.
"If I put one aside, could you make sure that it goes in the center of the Gryffindor table?" Lily asked.
"Of course, Miss," Gretchen said.
"Great," Lily said, beaming at the house-elf.
"Is there anything else I can get you?" Gretchen asked.
"Actually, there is something, Gretchen. Do you think you could get me a chocolate chip biscuit? For some reason I'm really craving some chocolate today," Lily said sweetly.
"Alright, miss. I'll be right back, then," Gretchen said, walking towards the cupboards where food was stored.
Lily quickly chose a pitcher at random and muttered, "Sermo amoalius," into the orange liquid. Then she chipped a piece off around the bottom edge of the pitcher so that she would know not to drink from it.
Lily turned around quickly and was just in time to see Gretchen walking back towards her with a huge biscuit grasped in both of her hands. The biscuit was so big that it looked like it was almost the size of Gretchen's head. The House-elf was tipping from side to side, trying to keep herself from falling over.
"Here you go, Miss," Gretchen said, her little arms lifting the biscuit above her head to hand it to Lily.
"Oh, thanks, Gretchen. See you later," she called, dashing towards the Head's common room.
Lily walked quickly through the common room and to the bathroom. It was nearly time to go to the Great Hall for breakfast and she had to hurry. Once in the bathroom, she stood beside the tub. She took a deep breath and screamed as loud as she could, her voice reverberating through the high-ceilinged room.
Within seconds Lily saw James running into the bathroom, fully dressed for the day, and with his hair a little wet from the shower he had just had.
"Lily, what is it?"James asked anxiously.
"It's a spider, James! There was a huge spider that was crawling along the floor," Lily said, making herself shake with fright.
"You screamed like that because of a spider, Lily?" James asked incredulously.
"Hey, don't make fun of me! I'm really scared of spiders!" Lily said, clutching James's arm and standing closely behind him.
"Sorry. Well, where did it go?" James asked with a smile at Lily before he began glancing around the room.
"It crawled over there, James," Lily said, pointing to a spot on the other side of the tub, just next to the linen closet where all their towels were kept.
"Ok, Lily. Don't worry. I'll get it for you," James said, patting her on the shoulder before walking quickly to the other side of the tub.
James scanned the floor, looking for the spider. When he was standing right in front of the linen closet, Lily flicked her wand behind his back. The linen closet burst open with a bang and a large spider crawled out of it, making its way quickly towards James. He screamed loudly and backed up, only to realize that he had run out of floor, and that he was plunging backwards into the tub.
Lily couldn't help beaming as he plunged into the water. Phase one had worked even better than she'd hoped.
"James, are you alright?" Lily called once she was sure that no giggles were going to escape from her mouth.
"How did that spider do that?" James asked.
"I don't know, James. Can you just get rid of it?" Lily asked, still pretending to be scared.
"Alright Lily, I just need to find my wand. I think I dropped it when I fell," James said, swimming down to the bottom of the pool. Lily flicked her wand again now that James was preoccupied with finding his wand.
James came back to the surface of the water with his wand in hand and stepped out of the tub. It was all Lily could do to keep herself from falling on the floor in laughter. Because now James's clothes had changed completely into the costume of a pirate! He was wearing a brown leather three-corner hat on his head, a loose-fitting white shirt with a brown leather vest over it, tight-fitting blue pants, a boot on one foot, and a peg leg where the other foot should be. Lily had made it so that he wouldn't be able to see or feel his costume, he would think he was wearing his normal clothes, but the entire school, minus the rest of the Marauders, would be able to see it.
Lily enjoyed walking down the corridor to breakfast with James several minutes later. Laughter trailed them as they walked down the halls, and students gathered around as if they were watching a parade.
"What are they all looking at, Lily?" James asked, turning to Lily in confusion.
"I have no idea, James," Lily said, barely daring to breathe, knowing that if she did she would start laughing.
"Enjoying an early Halloween, Mr. Potter?"asked Dumbledore, who was walking towards the Great Hall just after them.
"Excuse me, Professor?" asked James.
"I merely meant that I quite like your costume," said Dumbledore.
"My costume?" asked James, looking down at his clothes.
"If you find the buried treasure, let me know. It is my castle after-all," Dumbledore said before heading over to the staff's table.
"Do you think Dumbledore has finally lost his marbles?" James asked Lily quietly as they walked into the Great Hall.
"Why do you ask?"
"Didn't you just hear what he said?" James asked.
"Maybe it's just one of his own private jokes," Lily suggested.
"Maybe," James said doubtfully.
"Look, there are the other Marauders," Lily said, pointing them out where they were sitting in the exact center of the Gryffindor table. They probably thought it was their idea to sit there. Lily smiled to herself as she walked down the aisle towards the Marauders. One down, three to go, she thought.
James could see that all eyes were on him as he walked down the aisle toward his friends. He was used to some stares from the female population of Hogwarts, but he wasn't really used to seeing people pointing at him all throughout the Great Hall. He was even less used to seeing people laughing as he walked by. What was going on with everyone today? Was he the only sane person in the whole school?
Besides Lily, of course. She seemed perfectly normal, if not a bit happier than usual. She just kept smiling at him, and he couldn't help thinking that after four years he had finally charmed her. He was glad that he hadn't really given up on her the day before, because he knew it was just a matter of time before she was completely his. What else could her smiles mean?
Sirius, Remus, and Peter all met James's glance with a smile and a wink, letting him know that the prank was all set in place. James winked back as he sat down beside Lily at the Gryffindor table. He immediately poured himself some pumpkin juice from the pitcher sitting in front of him and took an enormous gulp before turning to Lily.
"Arrr, would ye be likin' some ó the drink, matey?" he asked, turning to Lily.
"What did you say?" asked Lily, unable to stop herself from giggling at James's confused expression.
"I say, Lily, would ye be likin' some ó the pumpkin drink?" asked James again, looking frustrated as he realized what had just come out of his mouth.
"James, what are you doing? You didn't tell us it was talk-like-a-pirate day today," said Remus, shaking with laughter.
"I not be trying to talk like a pirate, matey," James said, glaring in frustration.
"Right," said Remus, rolling his eyes. He poured himself some pumpkin juice and Lily flicked her wand under the table before he took a huge gulp.
"Mooney, can you pass me the toast?" asked Peter.
"Well howdy, pardner, I'll just rustle some up for you and we'll have ourselves a shindig," said Remus, his eyes widening as he realized what he was saying. As he began to speak, Lily flicked her wand under the table again, and his clothes transformed before her eyes. He was now wearing a cowboy hat, leather chaps over faded jeans, a blue striped button-down shirt, and cowboy boots. It all looked so strange on Remus.
"Okay, has everyone here gone crazy?" asked Sirius, rolling his eyes at his friends.
"If anyone be crazy, it be you, you scurvydog," said James.
"Riiiight," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. He took a big gulp of the pumpkin juice that Lily had kindly poured for him. Lily again flicked her wand under the table.
"So, Padfoot, I believe you were supposed to ask Lily something," Peter said.
"Oh yeah. Like, oh my goodness, L, can I, like, copy your homework before class?" asked Sirius in a high-pitched, Valley-girl voice. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Sirius looked horrified. His cheeks reddened. It was the first time that Lily had ever seen him embarrassed about something.
With another flick of her wand, Sirius's clothes transformed into a magenta tutu, a glittery v-neck t-shirt, and chunky platform sandals. Lily couldn't help spraying the table with the water she was sipping as she caught a glimpse of him.
"Why, shucks, Padfoot, you sound dumb as a box of hammers," said Remus.
"What does that even mean?" asked Peter.
"I have no idea," said Lily. "Would you like some juice?" asked Lily, smiling sweetly and holding out the pitcher of Pumpkin juice to Peter.
"Um, alright," said Peter, pushing his cup forward. He took a long gulp and set the cup down half-empty, wiping his mouth with the back of his hands.
"Wormtail, would you, like, pass me the bacon. I'm sooo hungry!" said Sirius. His eyes widened as he realized how he was talking again.
"Grrr! Grrr!" grunted Peter, his eyes widening as he realized he couldn't talk. Lily flicked her wand under the table and Peter transformed into Frankenstein.
"Arrr, maties, it be about time to go to class," announced James as he stood up from the table. The three other boys and Lily rose from the table and followed him. Just as they were leaving, Lily caught the flick of James's wand from the corner of her eyes. All of a sudden, what looked like Owl feed fell from the sky above the Slytherin table. A hoard of owls swooped overhead, making their way to the table. As the Marauders and Lily exited the Great Hall, she could see that the Slytherins were trying to bat the owls away, some cowering under the table or making a run for it.
"What are you guys doing?" asked Lily suspiciously.
"We be doing nothing, Lily me beaute," said James.
"Black?" asked Lily.
"Like, I have no idea what you're talking about!" said Sirius in his high-pitched voice.
"Lupin?" asked Lily.
"Why shucks, Lily, you make me feel like a gnat in a hail storm, accusing me of a thing like that," said Remus, frowning.
"Oh no! I like, totally left my Transfiguration book in my room! Wormtail, Moony, Prongs, would you, like, help me find it?" asked Sirius.
"Grr! Grr!" grunted Peter.
"Why, sure Padfoot. I'd be happier than a gopher in soft dirt," said Remus.
"Arr, matey! I'll be seein' ye Evans," called James as he scurried down the hall after his friends.
"What be ye lookin' at, scurvy dogs?" asked James to a group of students that were pointing and laughing at James and his friends. The group of students just burst out laughing even harder as James wobbled away on his peg leg.
Twenty minutes later, the Marauders walked into the Transfiguration classroom. Lily watched them enter, trying to stifle her laughter. The entire classroom was watching the Marauders with mirth. James shuffled over to sit with Lily as he had done in every other class.
Lily saw Professor McGonagall look up from her desk and glance around the room at all the noise. Her eyes locked on the four Marauders, her expression amused.
"And what do we have here, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew?" asked McGonagall.
"Arr! What be ye meaning, Professor?" asked James. The class erupted with laughter.
"Is this another one of your pranks, gentlemen, cause I would hope that you had grown up by now," said McGonagall icily.
"Professor, I, like, totally don't know what you mean. Someone's pranked us!" said Sirius scandalously.
"Mr. Lupin. I suppose you're going to talk like a cowboy for the rest of my class?" asked McGonagall.
"Why Professor, you're quick as a hiccup!" said Remus.
"Mr. Pettigrew, what do you have to say for yourself?" asked Professor McGonagall stonily.
"Grr! Grr!" said Peter.
"I suspected as much! Well, you are not going to interrupt my lesson. Everyone, forget these gentlemen and their strange costumes and focus on the lesson," said McGonagall, shaking her head.
McGonagall had just lifted her wand to tap on the board when there was a very loud clanking from the hallway.
"What in heaven's name is going on out there?" asked McGonagall, sweeping to the door and opening it. The students rose from their seats and shuffled toward the door. They crept behind McGonagall so they could see what was going on in the hallway.
"Don't anyone leave this classroom while I go straighten this mess out!" said McGonagall, frowning. As McGonagall left the classroom, a huge wad of pink fluff flew into the classroom.
"What is that?" asked several of the students, peering up into the pink fluff.
"It looks kind of like cotton candy!" said Cassidy Hinkley.
"What?" asked half of the class.
"Cotton candy! It's a muggle treat at Fairs and Carnivals! It's good! Try some!" said Cassidy, standing on her chair and grabbing a chunk of it. When she pulled there was a clump of the fluffy pink stuff in her hand. She was about to put it in her mouth when McGonagall returned.
"Ms. Hinkley! What do you think you're doing?" snapped McGonagall.
"Try some, Professor! It's Cotton Candy!" said Cassidy, stuffing the candy in her mouth.
"Ms. Hinkley, you foolish girl! You don't know that it is safe to eat that!" said McGonagall.
"But now I do, and that is the best Cotton Candy I've ever had!" said Cassidy.
As she said that, the Cotton Candy began to expand. It covered over the entire ceiling of the classroom like a cloud. Students began jumping up onto their chairs, grabbing the pink fluff and stuffing it into their mouths. As more and more students began to eat the fluffy candy, more and more appeared. McGonagall was furious.
"Don't do that! Stop this right now! Do not eat any more candy!" she shouted above the excitedly chattering students.
"Reducio!" cried McGonagall as she pointed her wand at the ceiling. But as her spell hit the cloud of fluffy candy, it only expanded more until it was filling the ceiling to just above her head.
"Depulso!" cried McGonagall, flicking her wand towards the ceiling again. The candy expanded more until it was just above the heads of those few students who were still seated. McGonagall's head had disappeared. All Lily could see of her Transfiguration teacher were her red and black robes from the shoulders down.
"Follow me, students," McGonagall called in a muffled voice as she began walking towards the door and blasted it open. James grabbed Lily's hand and tugged her towards the door. All of the students followed, many of them grabbing chunks of the candy and stuffing it in their mouths. On her way out, Lily paused and reached her hand up and grabbed a chunk, stuffing it into her mouth. It was very sticky, but it was good.
"Lily," said James in shock, his eyes widening as he watched her put the candy in her mouth.
"What?" asked Lily, smiling at the extremely sweet taste of the candy.
"I can't believe ye be breaking school rules," said James.
"What? The candy tastes good, and besides, this isn't even the first school rule I've broken today," said Lily, rolling her eyes.
"Well shiver me timbers! I never knew ye be a rule-breaking lubber!" said James.
"Come on, matey, let's go see what's going on. McGonagall might need our help," said Lily, rolling her eyes as she pulled James into the hallway.
Even though he had planned all of this, James was still in awe of the chaos that met his eyes as he walked out into the corridor. A few feet to the left several of the suits of armor were bowling, rolling huge metal balls towards even bigger metal pins. Several Everlasting Wizbangs were zooming along the hallway, fireworks exploding in one corner and seeming to disappear until they reappeared further down the corridor, right in front of an unsuspecting student. The fireworks were in all different shapes. A giant Norwegian Ridgeback firework exploded right in front of McGonagall, followed by an ice cream sundae right in front of Filtch, who was running around the hall trying to catch the huge puffs of popcorn that were raining from the ceiling, muttering about hanging students by their thumbs. Peeves had joined in on the chaos. He began pelting students and teachers alike with streams of chocolate sauce. Pink, puffy clouds of cotton candy began descending from the ceiling.
Lily and James were scrambling around the hallway, dodging popcorn, chocolate sauce, and the fireworks when they ran right into Dumbledore, who had just come up the stairs to the hallway at the urging of Professor McGonagall's Patronus message.
"I see you've found the treasure after-all, Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore with a smile and a wink as he hurried over to McGonagall.
James flicked his wand as discreetly as he could and carnival music began playing. As Dumbledore reached McGonagall, as the music descended, he grabbed her hand and waist and began twirling her around the corridor. McGonagall, to everyone's shock, had a beaming smile on her face.
Just then, horses, elephants, cheetahs, hippogriffs, a giant squid and many other kinds of creatures appeared in the corridor. They were all on polls like a merry-go-round and they began nudging several students as if asking them to climb on. A light brown stag on a pole appeared next to Lily, nudging her with its head. Lily stroked its soft fur, in awe of its beauty. Glancing around the corridor, Lily saw James climbing up on the back of a green and black dragon. Catching Lily's eye, James smiled at her, nodding for her to climb up on her own animal. Lily did so, and once she was seated the stag began to canter down the corridor.
"Ahoy, matey! You'll not catch me!" called James as he flew by Lily, his dragon flapping its large wings steadily.
"That's what you think, James! I'm going to beat you!" called Lily, kicking the sides of her Stag and making it run even faster down the corridor after James.
James flew over the shifting staircase, but as he looked behind, he saw that Lily was a few seconds too late. The staircase began to move just before Lily's Stag had gotten all of its feet on the top stair. James flew back and made it just in time to swoop under Lily and catch her. She was now cradled in his lap, peering up into his twinkling hazel eyes as the dragon flew them down the fifth-floor corridor. They were passing murmuring portraits and more suits of armor that seemed to be playing a game of quidditch through the length of the corridor, riding invisible brooms, but James barely noticed. Lily was looking at him so intently, like she was studying each inch of his face, seeing things she had never seen before. James lifted his hand to touch her soft cheek.
"Like, that was totally great, Prongs! Best prank ever!" said Sirius from behind Lily and James. James dropped his hand, turning to shoot a warning look at Sirius, who was riding a hippogriff.
"That was all you?" asked Lily tonelessly.
James stared at the chaos around him. He nudged the dragon sideways as a mace that was being used as a bludger flew by them. He tried to prepare himself for when the screaming would begin.
"Prongs did tell you, Evans? He like, totally came up with all of this on his own!" said Sirius when Lily didn't say anything, pulling his hippogriff right beside their dragon.
"Avast ye seadog, get ye gone before I send you to Davy Jones 's locker, savvy?" threatened James.
"Like you would do anything to me," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "I'm totally going to tell your mom about this, she's, like, going to ground you forever!"
"Dead men tell no tales, matey," said James angrily.
Sirius turned his hippogriff in the opposite direction and flew away once he caught James's murderous glance. James could hear his laughter echoing down the hallway as he flew the dragon towards the Great Hall and out of the front doors. The dragon touched down beside the lake, lowering into a sitting position so that James and Lily slid off his back.
Taking a deep breath and running his hands through his hair, James turned to face Lily who was lounging on the grass beside him.
"Me lassie, I know ye be really, really angry with me right now, but," James began. As he reached the end of his sentence, he realized that he really didn't have an excuse, so he faltered.
"I'm not mad at you, James," said Lily casually.
"Well blow me down! Ye not be mad at me?" asked James, sinking down into the grass beside Lily. The lake was glittering in the early morning sunshine, the Giant Squid splashing through the water.
"No, James. I thought it was really funny," said Lily, smiling at James.
"What be ye playing at me heartie?" asked James suspiciously.
"Is it so hard for you to believe that I don't spend all my time worrying about the rules? Is it so hard for you to believe that I can occasionally even break the rules?" asked Lily indignantly.
"Well, Lily, me beaute, yar," said James seriously.
"That is just so typical, James! You think that I'm just a boring rule-follower, but you're wrong!" said Lily vehemently.
"Well batten down the hatches, matey. Ye be gettin' carried away! I don't think ye be some boring lass. If it be true, I wouldn't be wanting to be with ye so much," said James seriously, taking Lily's hand.
"But you don't think that I can pull pranks like you and the Marauder, do you?" asked Lily, pulling her hand out of his.
"Lily, me beaute, ye be a great lass, but ye not be no prankster! Ye just don't have it in ye. But tha's fine. I be likin' ye for who ye arr," said James.
"We'll just see, Potter," Lily muttered angrily under her breath.
"What be ye sayin' Lily?" asked James.
"We should probably go, James. They might've cleared the halls by now," said Lily, standing up from the grass and striding towards the castle without another word to James.
The halls had not been cleared by the time James and Lily returned to the corridor of their Transfiguration classroom. McGonagall was striding up and down the corridor, trying every spell she could think of to clear the mess, but every time she cast a new spell, the cotton candy would expand, the popcorn would rain down heavier and harder, and more and more fireworks would appear.
"Whoever is responsible for this will clean this mess up before I return from the loo," McGonagall called as she strode toward the bathroom, covered in chocolate syrup and looking very stern.
"James, maybe you should," began Lily, but James was already clearing the mess with a few swipes of his wand and spells muttered under his breath.
When McGonagall returned, she swept all of her students into her classroom and resumed her lesson.
The day passed pretty normally for Lily, at least. The Marauders, however, had an infuriating day. They were so angry that they refused to talk at all, not even to answer all of their professors' questions about their strange appearance and speech. Anywhere they went they were followed by stares and laughter. It was getting to be so much that the Marauders were furious by dinner time.
"Like, who did this to us? This need to stop, I can't take any more of it!" whined Sirius, staring around at all the people who were looking at him.
"Grrrr! Grrr!" grunted Peter.
"Peter matey, ye know we can't understand ye!" said James in irritation.
"Hey, James, why don't you go treasure hunting over here? We've got some pretty nice booty," said Mira Vane from where she was sitting father down the table.
James just rolled his eyes.
"Shucks, boys, who do you think could have done this?" asked Remus tiredly.
"Like, what about Snape?" asked Sirius.
"No," they all snorted.
"That landlubber wouldn't be havin' enough brains to be doing a thing like this," said James.
"We've tried like, everything to get this to stop, and nothing works!' griped Sirius.
"We be needin' to find out which barnacle did this, and then we be threatenin' them until they reverse the spell," said James.
"Alright, boys. Now we're cooking with hot water! Who would do this?" asked Remus. He peered at Lily curiously but then shook his head.
"What about that, like, Fords kid. Didn't he, like, worship us last year and try to copy some of our pranks?" asked Sirius.
"Ay matey, but he be not smart enough," said James thoughtfully.
"Oh yeah. He like, totally got buried under a snowbank when he tried to start the second school-wide, indoor snowball fight," said Sirius, chuckling.
"Arr, what about that scurvy dog, McMullins?" asked James.
"Why, good golly, James, that buffoon graduated last year," said Remus.
"Then who be doing this to us?" asked James, pounding the table with his fist. The cups and plates in front of the Marauders and Lily jumped. Lily couldn't help laughing.
"Evans," began Remus suddenly.
"Yes Lupin?" asked Lily, still laughing.
"Ye can't be serious, Moony. It can't be this lass," said James, pointing at Lily.
"Why, shuck, Prongs. I wouldn't want to be Sirius," said Remus with a wink. The rest of the table groaned.
"You think you're so smart, James, but you're wrong! It was me! I pranked you!," said Lily with a smirk.
"Me own Lily, to see ye be turnin' to a life o' crime. Dumbledore'll be makin' ye walk the plank!" said James.
"But there's something else you don't know about. I didn't just charm your pumpkin juice to make you talk like a pirate, and Lupin talk like a cowboy, and Black talk like a valley girl, and Pettigrew talk like Frankenstein," said Lily.
"Well, what else be ye up to?" asked James impatiently.
"Well, haven't you wondered why people have been staring at you all day?" asked Lily with a bright smile on her face.
"Well, me matey, I don't think ye'll be too surprised that it was cause of me devilish good looks," said James, smirking right back at Lily.
"Wrong, James Potter. You're not that good-looking!" scoffed Lily.
"Lily, why don't ye just rip out me heart!" said James in mock-offense.
"Follow me boys," said Lily, getting up from the table.
"But I like, totally wasn't finished with my dinner!" wailed Sirius.
"We can always sneak down to the kitchens later," said Lily off-hand.
"I think she be losing her mind," said James quietly to the others.
"Be quiet you prat, and follow me," said Lily, smacking his shoulder before she grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the hall.
"Evans, you say we've been dressed like this all day!" said Sirius indignantly as he stared in the mirror that Lily had conjured in the heads common room. She had removed the spell that made the boys unable to see their costumes. The other boys had mostly laughed at their costumes, but Sirius was mad.
"Well, yeah, Black. I didn't really think you'd be upset," said Lily.
"And why's that?" asked Sirius haughtily.
"Well, you got to show the whole school what nice legs you have," said Lily off-hand.
"Evans, I never knew you felt that way. Don't let your feelings stay hidden any longer," said Sirius, putting his arm around Lily's shoulders and pulling her closer.
"Eh-hem," said James loudly.
"Right, Evans. I'm sorry, but your strange fantasy of my handsome, muscular legs must be just a thing of dreams. Prongs will forever be an obstacle to our love," said Sirius in mock-sorrow.
"Shove off, Black. I'd say the fact that I find you repulsive is an even bigger obstacle," said Lily, rolling her eyes.
"Sorry, Prongs, I tried to warn you she was into me," said Sirius.
"Do you want to hex him, or shall I?" asked James as he pointed his wand at his best friend.
It was hours later and James and Lily were walking along the dark, empty corridors on patrol. For the past fifteen minutes they had been silent and Lily could tell that it was driving James crazy. She just smiled, enjoying the quiet evening, knowing that it wouldn't last for long. She was glad that so far they hadn't caught anyone out after curfew, but she knew that as the term continued, more and more students would try to sneak out.
"Lily," James said suddenly, the quiet getting to be too much for him.
"Yes, James?" asked Lily in a whisper. It felt strange to talk normally in such a dark, quiet place.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was wrong," said James.
"About?" asked Lily casually.
"About you, actually. You pulled off a brilliant prank today," said James proudly. He was now in his normal clothing, although he had kept the pirate clothing in his trunk.
"Thanks. As did you," said Lily appreciatively. She could just make out James's handsome face in the moonlight that was pouring through the windows.
"And, now I know you're brilliant at pranks, how would you like to help the Marauders on our next one? I've got a great idea for it, but maybe you could help with the details," said James enthusiastically.
"Um, as great as that sounds, I'm going to have to pass," said Lily.
"What? But why?" asked James in disappointment.
"Well, I only did my prank because I knew I wouldn't get in trouble. But you and the Marauders tend to go all out. You got detention for today, didn't you?" asked Lily.
"Yeah, and all because a certain knight with a fat pony overheard Sirius selling me out to you and told McGonagall! I don't think I've ever seen her that mad!" said James, laughing as he remembered her murderous glares. He hadn't wanted to mention it, but there was still a little bit of pink candy floating towards the top of her classroom.
"It was great, though. The most fun I've had in ages," said Lily.
"Oh, just wait until our next prank, Lily. It's going to be bigger and better!" said James with a mischievous look on his face.
"Try not to get yourself sent to Azkaban. Believe it or not, I'd actually miss you," said Lily with a wry smile on her face.
"Are you aware, Lily, that that's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me?" asked James with a beaming smile on his face.
"Oh, come on, James. Don't let it go to your head," said Lily, rolling her eyes.
"Why, because then I'd be drifting to the ceiling, just like the cotton candy above us?" asked James, pointing to where a cloud of cotton candy was following them.
"James, you better not let McGonagall catch you!" said Lily, laughing as she jumped to reach the candy.
"Relax, Lily. This is the last bit, and as soon as your done, I'll clear it away," said James, rolling his eyes.
"You saved it for me?" asked Lily.
"Of course, me beaute, I'd walk to plank for the love of ye!" said James.
"James, you're so lame sometimes," said Lily, shaking her head.
"But you love me anyway," said James shoving some cotton candy in Lily's mouth before she could protest.
AN: Well, I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter because I really enjoyed writing it. Feel free to review on your way out!
LittleMissKrissy