Chapter 13: James' POV
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I was so proud. Lily was one of the most brilliant people I had ever met. And this prank, for sure, would be put down in Hogwarts history.
A month passed. That was how long it took to be sure everything was set and fool proof.
Lily, Sirius, and Remus had made the potion, while Peter and I inspected the kitchens (under the invisibility cloak of course). We discovered where the vats of drink were for the teachers and the Slytherins, and once the potion was done, we all returned later and replaced the juice with the potion. I couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces! It was all so perfect, it seemed like nothing could go wrong.
This ingenious plan was all Lily's idea. Oh, how proud I was to be her boyfriend! Never in a million years would I think that I would be this lucky. She was truly the most brilliant and amazing person I had ever met.
She had been reading a potions book prior to dating me (she read this for fun. Who reads potions books for fun?) and she'd discovered a potion that can make random body parts swell, turn different colors, or even transform into animal parts. The more the drinker disliked the potion creator(s), the worse off they'd look. If they were fond of the potion maker, all that would happen was some swelling. If they felt anything between indifference and slight dislike to the maker, they would also get some discoloration. If the drinker truly hated the maker, they would grow animal parts. I could only pray that Snivelly would get all three…
But then again, I knew he could never hate Lily. Although, ever since Sirius decided to play that ridiculous prank on him, and I had to save him, he's hated all of us.
I was so excited for the feast that morning. We were all bouncing with excitement. We were all awaiting the moment of swelling, and the laughter coming from all over. Hopefully though, we wouldn't get in too much trouble. Everyone would know it was us.
I picked Lily up that morning in the common room. She was looking especially pretty today, her green eyes sparkling with a powerful mischief, that I knew I loved. A daring girl was such a turn-on for me.
I swept her up in a hug and placed a small kiss on her lips. A shiver ran down my spine at her touch, but I had to pull away. My friends were waiting for us to go down to the Great Room, and see how our plan was going to work out.
She murmured a small hello, her cheeks flushed from my touch. I smiled back and entwined our fingers together. We returned to my friends who were all grinning. They were obviously excited for our prank, but not excited about our hold up.
"About time. We figured you were going to be making out for the entire breakfast time." Sirius said, scoffing at us in a playful manner.
"Too bad. I needed to give Lily a proper greeting." I said, firing right back at him. He simply shrugged and led our way down the staircases.
We finally reached the Great Hall. Half of the kids were sitting down, but soon everyone was in their seats. All the students were waiting anxiously for Dumbledore's morning speech so they could begin eating. I could barely contain my laughter, and I was shifting uncomfortably in my seat, about ready to burst with excitement.
It was finally time to eat. The goblets were out and the students began drinking from them. Remus, Sirius, Peter, Lily, and I were grinning like a bunch of banshees. We looked shiftily around and could barely control our sniggers. We still hadn't taken a drink or a bite of food, as we were all scared we would choke when we began laughing.
It wasn't long before the effects set in on the unfortunate people. It was the teachers first, they had obviously sipped before Dumbledore had spoken. It was hilarious, watching the arms, legs, noses swell. I was pleased to see that none of them had changed color. That meant none of them really hated us.
McGonagall's lips, which were usually pursed and thin, had swelled massively. Professor Flitwick's legs grew enormously, tripling his height. A few teachers who disliked Sirius were sporting purple hands or cheeks, and that was pretty amusing, but the best by far was Dumbledore.
He was the last teacher to be affected. But when he did, it was hilarious. His chest grew massively, expanding and growing large and round. They looked like…boobs! Our mouths dropped in humor and shock, and in that moment, we were sure it would go down in history forever.
The entire school cracked up, some were laughing so hard that they were crying. All five us joined in and couldn't help but noticing Dumbledore chuckling as well. He was, however, looking straight at us. He knew it was us.
It wasn't till they noticed the Slytherins effects that the laughing came to an all-time high. The decibels coming from that room had been enough to burst ear-drums. Everyone was laughing except the Slytherins. No one could blame them though, I would be slightly pissed off as well. A few of the Slytherins had gotten the worst part of the potion-the animal transformations.
After Snape had developed an animal characteristic, he stood up and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Look at what they did!" He was pointing directly at us. All laughter suddenly ceased.
Dumbledore stood up, his…new boobs sagging and swaying with every movement he made. He spoke, commanding the attention. As much as Snivellus wouldn't have liked to admit it, he was doing his best to hide the laughter in his voice.
"As you all can see…there has been quite a prank pulled. Have no fear though, it was caused by a potion who's remedy can be made rather quickly. You are not to be embarrassed though, as you can see, some of us were affected in a most amusing manner," he said, chuckling as he looked to his new appendages, "Some of us were obviously affected worse than others, but it can all be cured." He was looking directly at Snape, who's face had gone maroon in his embarrassment.
"I shall have one of the teachers contact Madame Pomfrey immediately. As much as I wish I could do it, these…additions to my physical structure are most uncomfortable when I walk. Professor McGonagall? Perhaps you could do it?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes twinkling with humor. She only nodded, blushing profusely as she walked out of the great doors, holding her lips with her hands to make sure they didn't tear.
The hall fell silent, and all eyes turned toward the five of us. Remus' were immediately cast down, while Lily blushed a deep scarlet, matching her hair. Peter looked completely indifferent, while Sirius and I were smirking proudly, admiring our accomplishment.
Snivelly stood up again, and at that moment I noticed a rather large beak protruding from where his nose was supposed to be. Everyone laughed at this sight, because his nose was large and beakish to begin with. He was, however, also covered in multi-colored polka-dots, and one his legs had grown so much that he had to balance on that one, the other dangling in midair.
I laughed out loud at his sight. I was the only one, because obviously they were all awaiting some pity story from him.
He glared at us, shooting daggers as best he could. But in his current condition, it was impossible to take him seriously. He spoke, low with uncontrolled anger. "Headmaster? What sort of punishments will be made?" He was grinning devilishly now. He was probably hoping that we would get expelled or something along those lines.
Dumbledore sighed, "Quite frankly, I am amused at this. Whoever had the brainpower to come up with this is most clever. I give them full credit, and commend them. However, it would be violating many codes the school has for the perpetrators to go unpunished," Snape looked triumphant, and I could see all my friends, and Lily's face fall. "The perpetrators will be sentenced to a week's worth of detention. Except," he said dramatically, "for the original mastermind behind this prank. Who was it?"
I nodded to Lily brightly, trying to encourage her. She was obviously timid, and wanted to share the credit with all of us. She slowly raised her hand and Dumbledore was smiling, obviously smug.
"Miss Evans? Really? That was quite the stunt! I commend you. Now who were your accomplices?" He asked, his voice lowering.
Lily immediately shut her eyes. She never wanted to rat us out.
I was surprised when Remus stood up, to his full height, and said, "I was an accomplice."
"Remus, I am rather surprised you would admit that," Dumbledore said, though his eyes were still shining with amusement and pride. Whatever our punishment would be, it couldn't have been that bad.
Sirius stood up next, not nearly as brave as Remus and added, "So was I."
Peter was next, and he was rather indifferent. He didn't care what trouble he got into, as long as we were his friends, "Me too," he grumbled.
I was the last to stand. I didn't know why. It could have been I was reluctant for the punishment, but that couldn't have been it. I was used to a weeks worth of detention. So what was it that was bothering me so much?
"James! Why am I not surprised it involved the four of you?" Dumbledore said playfully. Snivelly cleared his throat meaningfully, and Dumbledore sighed. "Well, I suppose you must be punished. James and Peter, you'll be scrubbing out cauldrons, and a few toilets as well. Sirius and Remus, you'll be helping organize and clean books in the library. Lily, you are free to go," he said brightly, "Now, is everyone happy?" He asked again, directing his question straight at Snivelly. He nodded slowly and carefully, as though he didn't want anyone to miss his gesture of "mercy".
Once the counter-remedy had been handed out and the effects wore off, talk began buzzing immediately. About Lily's plan, how Lily had formulated it, how Lily had convinced us all to do it, how it had been Lily's idea all along. All I was hearing about was Lily and her credit. It disgusted me.
Okay, so maybe I wasn't used to sharing the spotlight. Maybe I was used to being the center of all the talk. Maybe I was used to being the infamous mastermind that everyone respected. But no one had the right to take that away from me.
As nearly the entire student body, Slytherins included, came up to comment on her ingeniousness, it took every ounce of self-restraint I had not to poke their eyes out. It was even worse when the teachers started coming around, smiling and congratulating her.
What made it even more awful was how my friends allowed it to happen! They were so content to have her take all the credit. It seemed like they had forgotten about how they had helped make the potion, put it into the cauldrons, etc.
I was so relieved to finally go to bed. I had to get my rest for my punishment tomorrow. Therefore, when Sirius brought up the subject, I snapped.
"Did you see the look on Snivelly's face, Prongs?! It was genius of Lily! Dumbledore, boobs?!" He was laughing raucously as he recalled.
"Sure." I said, rather put out.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked at once, his face full of concern for me. I grimaced as I told my friends about how I was feeling.
"James…I hate to tell you…but that's the most shallow thing I have ever heard." Sirius said, disgust poorly hidden.
I growled at them. Of all people I would have thought that they would have understood! I stomped angrily around, yelling at them, "Everything I've had has been taken away from me! I never wanted to share my reputation!"
Remus looked at me, thoughtful and awaiting my finish, "You just have to let her be the one to shine. She's the kind of person that needs to be noticed and appreciated every once in a while. You of all people should be able to understand that." He finished, and my mouth was agape. Especially at the look that passed between Sirius and him. Even more so at Remus' reddened face.
I sighed and said, "Whatever. I'm too tired to fight right now. I'm going to bed."
I grumbled and stayed awake for a long time. I couldn't seem to find sleep. My friends' words echoed annoyingly in my brain.
You of all people should understand that.
The problem was, I did understand. I was just too stubborn to admit it. It wasn't until after four o'clock that I finally fell into a restless sleep.
