I dont like this one that much, but I hope you enjoy! School is manic right now, so apologies for that late update :(
Disclaimer: I'm too ill to think of something creative. I don't own Harry Potter! The honour belongs to Queen Rowling.
James watched Remus trying to refute every point they came up with for being with him during the full moon in amusement.
"What happens when I injure you lot?!" Remus practically screamed.
"We use dittany and look up sixth year healing stuff." Said Sirius lazily. "The three of us are half decent at Charms and Potions and Pete here knows a fair bit about muggle healing."
"You all don't understand! I could bite you, I could – I could end up killing you all!" shouted Remus, running a hand through his hair. "And I don't – EVER want to get you – if you all died – this isn't like planning a stupid prank on the Slytherins!"
Thank god they'd chosen to talk to Remus in the Room of Requirement instead of the dormitory, thought James wryly, as he sat down on the couch next to him, placing a hand on the sandy haired boy's shoulder. Remus was shaking.
"Remus Lupin, get this into your head. We don't care if we get injured." Peter said determinedly.
"Honestly, Lupin, you'd think after a year after being friends with you, we'd learn to think things through." Sirius said, a smirk gracing his handsome features.
"Remus, we know all the consequences. We know all the risks. And we sure as hell know the benefits." Said James softly. "We could all be free… free at last to roam the grounds, just like we wanted last year before McGonagall threw a fit…"
"Even if you all survived, you would be expelled for attempting to be animagi, I'd be expelled because I told you lot - " Remus started to argue.
"Dumbledore would never do that to you," Peter insisted.
"And we barely know how to get out of the castle without being detected, we don't even know half our way around!" Remus fumed, but when James looked at him, he knew he'd run out of steam.
Besides, he was right on one point. Although they knew about the existence of secret passageways in the school, they had no idea where any of them were, and they still got lost sometimes, particularly Peter.
"Well… what about making a map?" asked Peter.
All three of them looked at him, startled.
"Why not? The castle is huge! It wouldn't be bad to keep a record as to where everything is." Argued Peter.
"Think bigger Pete," said Sirius, his mind suddenly coming alive. "We could charm the map to show people on the map, it could help us with pranking – "
"Think bigger Sirius," said James. " We'll finally be able to sneak out, help Remus and keep our legacy once and for all, we can leave our mark properly…" He turned to Remus, awaiting confirmation, the way he did before confirming any prank.
Remus looked at them with a small, hopeful smile on his face. "This is highly irresponsible." He said, pretending to frown.
"But of course." said Sirius, with a bow.
"We could be caught." Remus added, half smiling.
"Hell yes." Agreed Peter.
"But who cares?" asked James softly.
The atmosphere changed in the room, from tense and uncertain, to happy and confident. It wasn't the kind of elation that came with planning a prank however. It was the happiness that, they knew they would always have each other.
They walked out of the Room of Requirement… to come face to face with Lily Evans.
Lily looked at them as though they'd just materialised out of thin air. Which, to be fair, James thought, it looked as though they had.
"What on earth… I could have sworn I saw you four come out of a wall," said Lily, dumbfounded.
As he became breathless at her beauty as usual, panic began to settle inside James. She could not know. She would get them all chucked out for sure.
"Evans! You're obviously tired, we've just come on to this corridor, the stairs are being a right pain in the – " he turned Lily around, in the direction of the Gryffindor portrait, but Lily pushed his hand off and whipped around, her flaming locks flying, to glare at him.
"Don't. Touch. Me." She snarled, backing away from him, towards the common room.
Strawberries, realised James, for he'd caught a whiff of her shampoo when she'd turned around. Merlin, he wouldn't mind her hair hitting his face every time she turned away from him if he could just smell the fruit again…
Sirius, seeing as his best friend had frozen, rolled his eyes. He turned to Lily. "Apologies for my dunderhead of a best mate. He's just too smitten with you."
"Firstly, never in a blue moon. Secondly, I think the word dunderhead describes both you and your best mate," snapped Lily. "Now are you going to tell me how you materialised out of a wall and scared the hell out of me?"
The Marauders shifted awkwardly. James was still in a trance.
Lily snorted. "Fine by me. Remus, send my regards to your mother by the way. It really is terrible that she becomes so ill." She walked away from them.
All four let out a collected sigh of relief, though James's was a sigh of longing.
"That was close," said Peter. "We've got to be careful."
"I think Lily knows," said Remus worriedly.
"She swallowed up the lie about you going home to visit your mother," scoffed Sirius.
"She's the cleverest witch of our age! Of course she smells a rat, and not the Peter kind." Argued Remus.
"Strawberries…" said James dreamily, until Sirius smacked him upside the head. "Ouch Sirius! I mean, Remus come off it. If she knows, she would have told a teacher by now. Breathe, your furry little rabbit has not come out yet."
"Strawberries?" asked Peter confused.
"Her shampoo…" James drifted back into dreamland
"Alright Potter, you need to forget about Evans," said Sirius, steering his besotted friend towards the common room.
James sighed contentedly. He could still smell her shampoo. Merlin, Evans. Don't ever change your shampoo.
Yeah I still don't like it :/ REVIEW!