"Lily, I think the others are planning something."
" They can't dish out anything we can't give back tenfold."
"What if someone gets hurt? Or, worse, expelled?"
Lily woke up in a cold sweat. She untangled herself from her sheets, and rolled over to her night stand and checked the time. It was one o'clock in the morning. The Midnight Challenge had been going on for an hour, and down stairs Severus and the marauders were running around risking getting caught by any of the teachers. Lily blamed herself. The whole thing was her idea, and now, she couldn't take it any more. Lily pushed aside her blankets, and rushed out of the dormitory, and out of the Gryffindor common room. She was joining the Midnight Challenge.
Meanwhile, on the third floor, the Midnight Challenge was on in full swing. The marauders had split off in pairs, Remus with Peter, and James with Sirius(naturally). James was joking with Sirius about a recent Quidditch match( James was now one of the chasers of the Gryffindor team), when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Sirius quickly hid in a small passage behind a statue of a one-eyed witch. The statue closed behind him, before James could get in, too. James ran down the hall as quickly and quietly as he could. As James rounded a corner , he stopped and stared, for right before him stood a statue of the Gryffindor lion, which was noosed by what looked like a Slytherin scarf.
" Yeah, yeah, that's real classy, jerks." Muttered James. He would get them for this, somehow.
The footsteps came around the corner ,and stopped. James groaned inwardly, he closed his eyes and waited for the yelling to start.
" James! Where is everybody? Wow, who did that?"
James turned around in relief and surprise.
"Lily?"
"I know, I know, but I couldn't stand the idea of you guys being out here when the whole thing was my idea!"
James smiled. Lily was so sweet and earnest, there was no way he could tell her to go back to the common room. Besides, it would be a lot more fun with her in the game, too.
He grinned." Are you sure?" Lily nodded. " Well, then I guess the Gryffindor team has another player!"
James led Lily back down the corridor, got Sirius out of the passage, and explained Lily's joining the game. Sirius thought it was a laugh.
"But where is everyone else?" Asked Lily.
" Well, Remus and Peter split off ,and now there hiding out on the Astronomy Tower. The Slytherin's split in two groups, too. Some of them are hiding out in the Dining Hall, and some of them are up a few floors, we've no idea what there up to."
Lily nodded, and followed the boys down the hall.
"We've discovered loads of secret passages around the school," Said James enthusiastically ", we're thinking of making a list or something, so we'll remember them."
"How about a map?" Suggested Lily. ", You could make one of all the grounds, and it would be more useful than a list."
"That's an awesome idea!" Said James.
James and Sirius immediately began discussing the possibilities and methods of creating such a map, as they headed up to the Astronomy tower to re-group with Remus and Peter . When they got there, they walked in upon the two with lunar charts in hand, talking quietly while looking into a pair of telescopes. Remus looked sheepish when he saw the others.
"Might as well catch up on homework while we're up here." He said, blushing a little.
"What's Lily doing with you two?" Asked Peter.
"Lily's joined the game. She couldn't stand the thought of staying in bed like a good little girl while we had all the fun down here." Said Sirius with a grin.
" Can I see your lunar chart, Remus?" Asked James. " I just want to see if I got everything right. I finished mine last night."
"Yeah, like you even touch your homework until ten minutes before it's due." Laughed Remus. But he handed the chart over anyways.
"Oh, dang it all, the full moon is next week, not the week after." Said James in a frustrated tone.
" Perfect, when all the werewolves come out." Laughed Sirius. " Maybe we could sneak into the Forbidden Forest and see if there really are any living in there after all."
James's eyes lit up, and he looked like he was up for it, but Remus broke in.
" I'm afraid that's one adventure you'd have to count me out on, boys. My mother has taken another turn for the worse, and the teachers and Professor Dumbledore have decided that next week would be the best time to go visit her. By the way, I, personally, don't think an up close encounter with a werewolf is quite the adventure you'd imagine it to be."
Lily couldn't help but notice that Remus had gone a little pale in the moonlight. After giving Remus their condolences about his mother, the talk soon turned to happier subjects, but lily didn't forget Remus's getting pale, and how he seemed to have done it at the mention of werewolves.
Downstairs, in the hallway outside of the library, all the Slytherins had convened to set their plan into action. It was a simple plan, actually. In the floor their was a trapdoor, that led down to a sort of slide to the floor below. But Beatrice Lestrange had preformed a spell that put sticky, slimy goo, all over the slide, so when she tricked the Gryffindors into stepping on the door, they would fall in and get stuck. When the morning came, and no one could find them , a search would be held, and when they were found hopefully it would be assumed they had been sneaking around at night, and they would be expelled.
It didn't occur to the young Slytherins that they could just set a teacher on their rival students. They wanted more than any thing else to wound the pride of the Gryffindors.
The goo on the slide would turn their skin green. Not only gross, but infuriating to proud Gryffindors such as those ridiculous, arrogant marauders.
"You know," Came a voice from the sideline of the hall.
It was Mercutio Mulciber, who was leaning against the wall, watching her complete the spell. " I heard that Snape went to that mud blood, warned her about us."
"I always said he was to close to her to be trusted. "Said Beatrice. " That's why we never included him in the plan, that's why Ella and Marcus are with him now, and have him far away from us and what we are doing."
Beatrice finished her spell work, and stepped back, satisfied . Mercutio drew out his wand, and pointed it toward the trapdoor.
" May I?" He Said.
Beatrice nodded. Mercutio muttered a spell, and enlarged the dimensions of the trapdoor.
" Now they will all fall in at the same time, if you can get them to stand on it all at once."
Beatrice smiled an evil grin.
" I don't care what Snape told that mud blood., the Gryffindors don't know what's coming to them...
While Beatrice and Mercutio were plotting their tricks, the Gryffindor's were all up in the Astronomy tower having a sort of miniature party. They talked and goofed off, and Lily introduced them to the highly popular muggle game "Truth or Dare". Remus had just completed his dare of balancing on the edge of the tower ( He had been refusing to do truth the entire game, for some odd reason), when Peter checked his watch .
"It's quarter to three, mates, we had better get going." He told the others.
So they all got up from where they were sitting ,and started from the tower down to the library on the seventh floor. They were just rounding the corner to the library when they heard a shout from down the hall. All of a sudden Mercutio Mulciber came running up to them.
"Help! It's Beatrice. I always new this castle was psychotic! Come quickly!"
Lily and the Marauders ran after Mercutio down the hall and around the corner. In the middle of the floor, what looked like a trap door was open.
" We were walking, and all of a sudden she fell through that trap door! I've tried to yell for her, but I can't hear her at all! I don't know what to do." You had to hand it to Mercutio. He was a fantastic actor.
" It's all right man, just calm down." Said James. As much as he didn't like Mercutio or Beatrice, that didn't mean he wanted either of them get seriously hurt.
Keyword being, seriously.
James motioned the marauders forward, but Lily to stay back. Beatrice, meanwhile, was actually on the other side of the trap door, hiding behind a suit of armor. As soon as they got close enough to the trap door she was going to jump out and shoot open the trapdoor with her wand, and they'd all fall in.
Lily and all the marauders rounded the corner. Lily looked around ,growing a little suspicious. Mercutio didn't like any of the marauders, or her, either, by virtue of her non-magic parentage. If he was so concerned, why didn't he go for one of his friends, whom he trusted more? Severus's warning rang in her head.
I think they're planning something, Lily...
Lily halted.
" Um, you guys, wait a minute-ah!" Lily screamed, as a white flash of light streaked past her head. Beatrice cursed silently from behind the suit of armor. She had started the spell once she heard footsteps. The marauders were only a foot or two from the trapdoor. They would have fallen in if Lily hadn't stopped them.
" What was that?" James demanded. He turned around and faced Mercutio, giving him an accusatory glare.
" A prank gone awry." Said Mercutio dryly. Stupid Lily. It had almost worked! Why did Beatrice have to be so spell-happy with her wand?
" What?" Roared the Marauders.
"We agreed to an honest game, with no tricks. Just a test of wits!"
" Yeah!" Agreed James" This means war! We'll get you for this! This, and that stupid thing with the noose and the slytherin scarf."
Mercutio laughed. He himself had come up with that idea, and he was glad he had succeeded in ticking off the Gryffindors as he had hoped..
" Wait, if this was a trick , then where are all of your friends? What happened to Beatrice, for that matter?" Asked Lily, always the thinker.
' I'm right here." Beatrice slid out of the darkness.
" Did you shoot that spell at us?" Asked Lily.
' Yes I did. You're not the only one around here who knows how to shoot decent spells Lily." Beatrice was very jealous of Lily's academic prowess. "Trust me, if it had worked, you all would have been expelled! What do you think of that! " Beatrice promptly walked forward toward the marauders, stepped on the trapdoor , and fell in.
Everyone stared at the trap door in shock. Then all the marauders along with Lily cracked up. They didn't stop laughing for five minutes. Mercutio ran off to get his friends for help with Beatrice. Off in the distance, a clock chimed twelve times. The midnight challenge was over.
Mercutio came back, with all the Slytherins in tow.
"Well, we're all here," Said Sirius "But I don't know if we can count Beatrice, seeing as she got caught in your own trap." His voice took on a savage note.
Behind Mercutio, Lily saw a small grin come on Severus's face. Sometimes Lily got the idea that he didn't like her much.
"What! You stupid Gryffindors..." One of the Slytherins walked up to the edge of the trapdoor and looked in to see if he could see his friend.
Sirius gave James a sly look, and without discussing it, James took out his wand and quietly said a spell that produced a gust of wind towards the trapdoor, which pushed the guy down the trapdoor with Beatrice. Immediately, everyone on both sides had their wands drawn out, and their was a silent tension, with everyone ready for a fight, but no one daring to make the first move. Then Peter sneezed.
The hallway became a maze of spells and different colored flashes of light. Down two people, the Slytherins were soon overtaken, and once defeated, each Slytherin was then tossed down the trap door with their house mates. Severus was the last one left, and all four of the Marauders turned their wands on him eagerly, for none of them, especially James, liked him. As they all simultaneously raised their wands Lily yelled
" Stop!" All of the boys turned to Lily, their wands still on Severus.
" Severus is the one who warned me that there would be a prank tonight. That's the reason I came out here to help. If it weren't for him, you'd all be down where ever the trap door leads."
" Actually," Put in Severus " You'd all be stuck to the walls , covers in slime that turned your skin green."
The boys winced, and lowered their wands.
" Well, in any case..." Said James.
' What on earth is that infernal racket! If peeves thinks it's a good joke to throw things around in the middle of the night, he's got another thing coming!" Professor Mcgonagall's unmistakable voice rang through the halls.
" Everyone split!" James ordered.
James, Lily, Sirius, Petr, and Remus took off down one end of the hall towards Gryffindor tower, while Severus disappeared behind a tapestry that presumably led to the Slytherin common room. As they were running off, they heard their transfiguration teacher's voice yelling.
" What is that trap door doing open. Who is down there?"
The five young Gryffindors made it back to their common room and collapsed on the couches. They all looked at each other for a moment, taking in the crazy night they had all shared. Then, one by one, they all started laughing. They didn't stop laughing for several minutes, and when they settled down, they started talking about the night's events.
" Well, story for the grandchildren, I suppose." Remarked Sirius.
'You have that right. " Replied a grinning James. " All I want to know is, when can we do that again?"
" Are you crazy, we can't ever do that again! We almost got caught by Professor Mcgonagall! If she had caught us, we would have been expelled!" Lily protested.
" Oh, come on, Lily, you know you had fun." Said James.
" Well, yes, I did, but that's beside the point. What if we had been caught in that stupid booby trap?"
"Well, we didn't, and it's all thanks to you. I think we all owe you a huge one." James said.
" Oh, it was nothing." said Lily modestly .
" No, it was something." James insisted. ", In fact, we'll make a certificate of aan owed favor, from the marauders to you."
The other kids laughed.
" Nom I'm serious. IT's the least we can do . After all, you did keep us from getting green-colored skin from that goo."
Remus, Sirius, and Peter stopped laughing.
"Maybe that would be a good idea." Said Sirius.
Lily shrugged it off. It seemed silly to her. The boys were her friends, and you always helped out a friend in need, as far as she was concerned. Lily and the boys talked a little more, before going to their separate dorms. The one good thing about being the only girl in her house year was that she didn't have to worry about waking up anyone else in her room.
After the adventure of the midnight challenge, it seemed as if Lily's friendship with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had been officially solidified. They did wind up giving her a certificate of an owed favor, but it had become more of an inside joke than anything else. They presented it, a piece of highly decorated parchment, written in a very flourished script by Remus, with much pomp and circumstance.
As for the Slytherins who had participated in the midnight challenge, they were indeed caught by Professor Mcgonagall. None of them were expelled, but they were given two weeks detention. Lily and the Marauders watched them go off after supper each night very pleased that the results of their adventure had turned out better than expected.
Lily, James, Sirius , Remus, and Peter; they were only twelve years old. Lily had friends for the first time in her life. She couldn't have been happier. She laughed with her friend, not thinking about how quickly things could change. She, nor any of the marauders, thought about how very soon they would be turning thirteen, and how much things could change when the teen years hit. None of them knew, but would soon, how the next year would change the course of the relationship and the lives of Lily and James forever.
Hey everyone! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this up. I've been so busy, you wouldn't believe it. But now I promise to get things rolling again. So, these first few chapters have been a sort of introduction, setting up the starring players. Now things will get interesting for Lily. Here are a few hints for upcoming chapters. If anyone likes these, I'll do them every chapter.
1. Thee will be a strain in Lily's relationship with the marauders, which our favorite greasy haired potions maker may have some weight in.
2. We will meet the three missing Griffindor girls , you know, the one that should have been Lily's dorm mates. Perhaps...they will take their rightful places at Hogwarts?
3. The certificate of a favor will come into play, but not for a long time.
Please comment on my story people. Even if your flaming ,I don't mind. I'd like to know what I'm doing wrong or right, so I can make it a better ad better story for my reader. I promise, more chapters are coming
In case anyone was wondering, I did not get Beatrice Lestrange mixed up with Bellatrix Lestrange. Beatrice is a completely different character. I put her as a younger cousin or sister of Rodolphus Lestrange ,whom Bellatrix married.