Chapter 16: The Marauders
"Tell me you guys hasn't been marauding around!!" Fion smiled as she walked into James' room where the three guys were hanging out.
"What's marauding??" Sirus asked fascinated by the big words Fion always use.
"It actually means raiding and plundering. But well, it's just an exaggeration on what you guys had done earlier in the kitchens." Fion smiled at them and sat down on James' favorite green couch next to her.
"Well, since we had always been marauding around. Why don't we call ourselves the Marauders??" James said as he packed his invisibility cloak carefully into his backpack. His parents had given it to him for his thirteenth birthday, which falls on 8th January, in just a few days time. He had always been asking for one since he was ten. The invisibility cloak is considered to be an extremely rare and expensive treasure in the wizarding world.
"The Marauders sounds cool. Very exclusive indeed." Fion complimented James on his brilliant idea.
"So we shall declare ourselves as Marauders when we head back tomorrow." Sirus said, and jumped onto James' bed in joy. It was the last day of the Christmas break and the three guys had spent the last few days of the break at James' house.
"We need to think about how we can inform everyone about our famous prankster name." Remus said, building an idea in his head.
"That's not a problem at all. I'm sure we can come up with something by tonight." James said as he zipped up his bag. The three guys sat down on the couches and chitchat with Fion until late at night.
"Well, at least this Christmas, we don't need to spend it with the guys." Lily said as she jumped onto Stefanie's king-sized four-poster bed. It was the last night of the Christmas break and they were heading back to Hogwarts the next morning.
"Don't you want to see Mr. James Wonderful Potter?" Arabella said in a teasing tone as she dot some of Stefanie's Clinique moisturizer on her face.
"What about the candlelight dinner??" Stefanie said as she tried to squeeze more clothes into her already filled bag.
"What do you think will be the next prank that the guys are going to pull??" Lily asked, ignoring the questions from Arabella and Stefanie.
"Don't change the topic, Lils." Stefanie said while she unpack and pack her black Elle bag again.
"That dreams was months ago!!" Lily groaned while she hid herself under the comforter. Both Arabella and Stefanie started giggling and continued on what they were doing.
"How's your Christmas??" Remus asked the girls as they climbed up Hogwarts Express. They had flooed to King Cross separately and met along the platform nine and three quarters.
"It was wonderful. We had so much fun together." Stefanie replied, tugging her heavy bag behind. Stefanie had a large walk-in wardrobe at home and whenever she headed home during Christmas, she would return with even more clothing and accessories.
"Something great happened during the break." James ran in front of the five of them, turned around and announced proudly.
"What happened??" Lily asked curiously, thinking that it might be another foolproof prank against the Slytherins.
"The Marauders were founded." James said as they entered their usual compartment at the end of the train. The put their stuffs at a corner and settled at the seats.
"Who're the Marauders?? Lily asked quizzically.
"What Marauders??" Stefanie questioned.
"Marauders??" Arabella asked. All the three girls asked at the same time while looking at the three guys in amusement.
James started explaining the events leading to the naming of the Marauders.
"I can't believe you guys declare yourself as 'The Marauders'." Lily said as she burst into giggles.
"You guys. Marauders?? Spare us please." Stefanie said and she started laughing at the guys.
"Do you guys know what does marauders mean or not??" Arabella asked, laughing rather hysterically.
"Of course, we know. The Marauders sound cool right??" Sirus said.
"Well, we're going to announce to everyone on the train that we are the Marauders soon." James said as he started searching for something in his bag.
Sirus and Remus went to get a pack of things from their bag and some parchment.
"What're you guys planning to do??" Lily asked, eyeing the bags and parchments that the guys were holding curiously.
"Well, you'll see it soon." James said and winked at Lily before he led the guys out of the compartment and closed the door after them.
"Ooo Stef, did you see what I thought I just saw??" Arabella said, grinning.
"Of course I did, how could I miss that??" Stefanie said as she winked at Arabella right in front of Lily.
Lily ignored both the girls and went to get a book from her bag and start reading. Stefanie and Arabella were mimicking Lily and James in front of Lily. What was he thinking when he winked at me?? In front of Bell and Stef, most of all. Lily started digging for a book she had brought along with her. Hmm.. Where is it?? Ahh.. She fished out one of those children books on fairytales that she happened to come across during the break. It was her favorite book when she was younger and she just felt like reading it again. She started to read the story about Cinderella and soon tuned out to what Arabella and Stefanie voice.
BbbAAaaMMmmm!!
The three girls jumped in shocked.
"Can't you open the door a little more gently??" Lily said, smiling at James in particular. James' hair looked messier than ever and he had got that cute messy look that Lily thought was cute.
"You guys don't know that there're actually people inside here??" Arabella said, and she picked up the Christmas issue of Witch Weekly on the floor. Stefanie's mother was the chief editor for Witch Weekly and Stefanie had just gotten the latest issue from her mother.
"Can't you knock??" Stefanie said angrily.
The guys had always hit her nerves whenever they do something immature. Banging
open the door was considered immature to her. But whenever she banged open
Sirus' room door, the reason was great urgency and not immaturity.
James, Sirus and Remus walked into the room empty-handed and their faces flushed. They looked like they had done a bit of running. James closed and locked the door behind him and settled down on their seats.
"So what did you guys did??" Lily asked, knowing rather well that it had to be some prank. But what??
"We need to thank Dr. Filibuster for his fabulous No-Heat-Wet-Start Fireworks for this successful prank." James said dramatically, pretending to be making an announcement.
"It was nothing actually. Not even considered a prank." Remus said, smiling at Stefanie.
"We merely went to every compartment, set of the fireworks which had a slip of paper that says 'Courtesy of The Marauders' attached to it. That's all." James said as he took Lily's book to check it out but Lily grabbed it back before he had the chance to even take a glimpse of the title.
"So this is the great way of announcing your newfound title??" Arabella asked amazed at how childish these guys can get.
"This is such a brilliant idea, Bell. Even you got to be impressed but us at thinking of this fantastic method of announcement." Sirus told Arabella overconfidently.
"I wonder what's up next." Lily asked, sharing the same expression with the two girls.
"We'll get more remarkable each time. We are The Marauders, afterall." James said pompously.