Chapter 109: Post-Night-Flying Syndrome
"Look!! Hogwarts!!" A student in front shouted excitedly.
"Great!!"
"Finally!!" It was nearly dawn and the sun can be seen rising from afar.
"Give me five minutes to debrief at the Entrance Hall." James, though tired but managed to conceal it from the rest of the students, announced.
"Not at this time." Some students groaned.
"It'll be a quick one." Sirius said as the two guys landed in front of the entrance. The rest of the students jumped off their brooms and stood in front of James, anticipating the end of the debriefing session.
"Thank you everyone for making this event a success." James was saying, apparently most of the students were too exhausted to listen. "We've got to thank our Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Professor Plains for giving up their bedtime to ensure our safety. Not forgetting the organizing committee." Sirius, Remus and Peter started waving to the rest of students and said 'thank you'. "And all the prefects as well. It had been hard work but it's worth it." James and Sirius started the applauding, and the rest just followed, not exactly bothered about what was going on. "Alright, I now pronounce that it's the end of the Hogwarts Night Flying Event." Everyone suddenly started to applaud loudly, perhaps because it meant that they could return to their respective dormitories after this. "Yes, you all may go now." The students quickly hopped onto their broomsticks again and flew up to their dormitory instead of walking.
"Let's go." Sirius said brightly.
"This is such an exciting night!!" Lily exclaimed happily.
"Tiring is a better word." James said monotonously.
"Let's fly back to the dorm. I'm too tired to walk." Stefanie suggested. The eight seventh-year Gryffindors mounted their brooms once again and flew up to their dormitory.
"Bye guys!!" The girls were about to enter their dormitory via the window.
"Have a good rest and thanks for your help!!" James told the girls.
"No problem."
"Bye."
"Good night!!" Lily called out. It was an irony because the sun had just risen and the first rays of sunlight had shone at them.
"Tiring!!" Samantha put down her stuffs and dashed into the bathroom immediately.
"HEY!!" Joey chased after her but the door slammed before she reached their shared bathroom. "I go next."
"Lils, you wanna go first??" Stefanie asked.
"Thanks, I'm okay being the last." Lily said wearily. "Wake me up when you're out of the bathroom." She slouched against the side of her chair on the floor and dozed off within seconds.
"That's our Lily, able to sleep in all conditions." Stefanie joked with Joey.
"I'm done!!" Samantha opened the door.
"Great. Accio." Joey summoned her towel and some clothes as she went into the bathroom.
"Lils is sleeping." Samantha said in slight surprise.
"That's her." Stefanie grinned. "And you're fast!!"
"Yeah, I'm drained." Samantha climbed onto her bed, preparing to sleep.
"You better get some sleep first."
"Alright, night Stef." Samantha's eyes were already closed and within a minute, she was snoring lightly sound sleep.
"Good night." Stefanie smiled.
"Stef, you're next." Joey was drying her hair with a wand.
"Thanks." Stefanie said appreciatively and grabbed her stuffs into the bathroom.
"No problem." Joey went to clear up the stuffs and hang up her clothes after laundering them with magic.
"Done!!" Stefanie came out of the bathroom within ten minutes.
"That's fast." Joey said. "I think it's time to wake her up." She pointed at the slouching figure at the center of their dormitory.
"Let's do it now." Stefanie and Joey started shaking Lily violently.
"Woah, cool down." Lily woke up in a state of shock. "I'm awake."
"You better go for your bath." Stefanie said.
"Don't stink our dorm." Joey teased.
"You girls are fast." Lily got up, shaking her head, muttering away.
"We're not fast, it's just you."
"If you want to sleep, you better hurry. We're not going to wait for you." Joey said before Lily closed the door.
"You two go ahead and get some rest. Don't wait for me." Lily called out from the bathroom.
"We've no intention of waiting for you." Joey joked and both girls laughed.
"You get some rest first." Stefanie told Joey. "You must be tired."
"It's okay, I can manage."
"Tada!! I'm done!!" Lily came out of the bathroom.
"You're fast!!" Joey commented.
"I miss my bed." Lily dried her hair with her wand. "Besides I only did a summarized bath."
"No conditioner and moisturizer." Stefanie grinned.
"You know me so well!!"
"Let's sleep now." Joey said and climbed up onto her bed.
"I thought you two said you're not going to wait for me." Lily asked.
"Good night!!" Stefanie said and both girls giggled a little before silence filled up their dormitory.
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"No!! Not again!!" James groaned as he climbed into his bed and drew the curtain of his poster bed. The Marauders burst into laughter once again.
"Prongs!! Just tell us the juicy details!!" Sirius said from outside of his bed. "We just want some details, right Moony??"
"That's right!!" Remus replied. "And we're all very curious how did you two managed to do it when you're fully dressed!! Or was it just a 'full-dress' rehearsal??" They were talking about the day in which they caught James and Lily hanky-pankying in the Room of Requirement. Sirius was trying to find the three other Marauders when he stumbled across the dots labeled 'James Potter' and 'Lily Evans' was overlapping one another. Curiosity got him made a trip to check out what was happening. And obviously once the door opened, he found James lying on top of Lily, and well, caught in some act.
"Nothing to tell!!" James repeated. "That was ages ago anyway."
"We promise once we know the details we will stop bugging you about it. Right, Wormtail??" Sirius asked Peter.
"Definitely. Padfoot refused to tell us anything!!" Peter complained. "Even though he watched the whole show." Sirius attempted to draw the curtain manually and apparently James cast a charm to keep it tight.
"Shut up!!" James called out.
"Let's not disturb him." Remus said good-naturedly. "Just spare him for the moment."
"You can't spare the rod and spoil the child!!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Padfoot, how about we get some food from the kitchens??" Remus winked at Sirius.
"Oh," Sirius caught the wink and thought for a while. "Let's go. Wormtail, you coming??"
"I think I just laze around." Peter yawned and lied supine on his bed.
"Any special orders??"
"Anything is fine. Thanks." Sirius and Remus exited their dormitory, leaving James and Peter in the silent room.
"I want some fries." James called out.
"They've already left." Peter told him.
"Idiots."
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"They're still reminding me of that stupid incident." James complained. Both of them were patrolling along the corridors one night.
"You mean the Room incident??" Lily raised her brows.
"Precisely. You know Sirius." James commented, making a face at the mention of Sirius' annoying nature.
"Of course, he's like that." Lily laughed. "At least he isn't bugging me for details."
"There weren't much details to start with."
"True." Lily nodded. "Maybe you should bring the Map with you next time."
"Good point." James laughed slightly.
"There's some movement over there." Lily pointed at the right corridor ahead of them. There were some noises of footsteps.
"Ok." James said in the lowered voice. Both of them literally tiptoed to the edge of the wall and took a peep.
"I shall report to Dumbledore."
"You wouldn't dare."
"You try me."
"You'll do better to join me."
"I know what's right."
"If you try anything, you know the consequences."
"You are daring me."
"What do you think you two are doing??" James came out from his hiding place with Lily following close behind.
"Ho, so it's Potty and his mudblood girlfriend." Lucius taunted. "Eavesdropping other people's conversation, how honorable."
"It is way passed bedtime and you've no reason to be out."
"Have you forgotten there's a prefect here??"
"But you're not a prefect." James glared at Lucius. "I can easily deduct your house points and send you for detention."
"Save the trouble. I'm on my way back now." Lucius said maliciously. "You better watch out." He turned to Severus before storming off.
"What happened??" Lily said in a more civil tone.
"That's none of your business." Severus said in a hostile manner and went off behind Lucius. James and Lily exchanged a look but did not say anything.
"What do you think they were discussing??" Lily could not hold back her curiosity and popped the question when both Severus and Lucius were out of earshot.
"It can't be anything good." James lowered his voice. "Walls have ear, talk when we're back." With that, they went the opposite direction of the Slytherins and continued their patrol for another hour before they were due to return to their dormitory.
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"That must be the reason!!" Sirius exclaimed. James and Lily had gathered Sirius, Remus and Stefanie to the Room of Requirement for an emergency meeting the moment they returned to the dormitory after the encounter with the two Slytherins. Thankfully Peter was sound asleep with James casting the Silent Charm at his bed.
"But we can't deduce that both of them are Deatheaters, or perhaps Malfoy is trying to convince him to be a Deatheater." Lily said reasonably. "Afterall, we never hear the exact word. It was barely audible from the distance."
"Perhaps we should alert Dumbledore regarding this." Remus said thoughtfully. "That's probably the best solution."
"I agree with Remus, it's not up to us to deal with this." Stefanie said in agreement. "It's like none of our business, in some sense."
"The only big problem is that, there are Deatheaters among us." James said in a sense of urgency. "Deatheaters among the students, not forgetting Porky could well be one of them."
"There is only so much we can do to protect the rest of the students. In any case Dumbledore is away or something, who knows what might happen." Lily said.
"I reckon we have some sleep here for the night and go straight to Dumbledore first thing in the morning." Remus, always being the sanest one around, suggested.
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"Nah, I give it a miss." Peter was grinning ear-to-ear. The Marauders were in their dormitory discussing about the upcoming pranks and some general discussion.
"You're hiding something from us." James analyzed from Peter's expression.
"Tell us." Sirius said. "Don't be another Prongs who is famous for hiding juicy details from his best friends." James rolled his eyes upon Sirius' comment. And apparently he had yet to give up his quest on bugging James for the 'full-dress' rehearsal, the way he put is so mildly.
"I've got a date with Gracie this Saturday." Peter confessed.
"Wow!!" Remus was genuinely happy for his friend.
"I was really surprised when she agreed to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend." Peter admitted. "It's like she's so gorgeous, well, veela and everything, and she said yes when I asked her earlier."
"I'm so happy for you." James beamed at his friend. "Have a great weekend."
"Thanks. But of course if you guys still wanna pull some prank next week, do count me in."
"No problem." Sirius said. "We won't forget you for a million galleons."
"Thanks!!" Peter said gratefully. "If not for the event, I wouldn't have the opportunity to even talk to her." It was during the Night Flying event when he had gotten the chance to know Gracie Lockhart in a deeper level when he was supposed to be in charge of a group of Gryffindors.
"So let's get back to the important topic." Sirius said seriously. "The Big Prank."
"Ok, suggest something." James was still slightly annoyed over the fact that Sirius had been mentioning the hanky-panky incident at least three times a day.
"I don't mean any normal pranks, I was saying the finale." Sirius was telling them. "You know we're going to graduate soon. So we need to leave some traces, or some memento so the others can remember us years and years after we leave Hogwarts."
"Oh, I've nearly forgotten about that." James said thoughtfully. "I think we're sticking to the idea we came up with the last time." The four guys huddled together on James' bed and started their discussion.
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"Post-Night-Flying Syndrome." Samantha said. The four girls were catching up with their homework and assignments, and also preparing for the N.E.W.T.S. at the same time in their dormitory.
"Yeah, just felt like going out and fly around." Lily sounded a little spaced out. "All these Transfig. stuffs are driving me mad. What is the possibility of a person transfiguring a chair to a table anyway??"
"Well, no choice. We never know what they're going to give us for practical." Joey said, looking up from her Charms notes.
"Actually I think Lils isn't the only one suffering from PNFS." Stefanie joked. "I'm having it too."
"PNF – Oh, Post-Night Flying Syndrome." Samantha suddenly understood Stefanie's abbreviation.
"I think we should take a short break." Joey suggested. "I'm not absorbing anything either."
"Well, we can have a mini quidditch game if the pitch is available." Samantha closed her Herbology textbook and looked up.
"Sounds like a brilliant idea." Lily jumped off from her bed, leaving her quills and parchments scattered on her bed. "I'll check the field first." She grabbed her Thunderbolt broomstick, which was sitting, beside her bed.
"I go with you." Stefanie offered. "I need a break too."
"So if it's available, we fetch the quaffle."
"Great. See ya." Lily and Stefanie flew out from their window towards the quidditch pitch.
"Jeez, two months to exams." Stefanie commented. The two girls were flying passed the castle's various towers before catching sight of the empty field.
"Looks empty." Lily agreed as they flew nearer to take a closer look.
"Confirmed." Stefanie said as they hovered directly above the empty field. "I fly back and get the quidditch trunk."
"Okay, I hang around here first." Stefanie turned back to the Gryffindor tower while Lily flew downwards onto the sandpit of the quidditch field. "Hmm.. What a bright and windy day. Great for playing quidditch." She muttered to herself as she walked around, kicking the sand lightly and leaving a trail of footprints that disappeared quickly when the breeze came along.
"We're here!!" Joey called out as the three girls carried the quidditch trunk over.
"Let's get started." Samantha opened the box. It contained a quaffle, two bludgers that were chained up, and a little snitch in a casing on the lid.
"Just take the quaffle will do." Stefanie took the quaffle up and closed the vibrating trunk.
"Let's go!!" The four girls had been more interested with quidditch, or perhaps broom-flying after the Night-Flying event, which all of them had put much time and effort in organizing it.
"Here!!" Stefanie flew towards the hoops and Lily followed her closely to block Joey from passing the quaffle to her. Lily and Samantha versus Stefanie and Joey. Stefanie and Samantha had been playing quidditch since young while Lily and Stefanie were in the Gryffindor house team.
"Got it!!" Lily caught the quaffle intended for Stefanie from Joey and immediately threw it at the opposite direction where Samantha was ready to catch and score. They continued playing and passing the quaffle and scoring until they lost count, afterall, two versus two were not the best quidditch team number around.
"Hey!!" Someone called out from mid-air. "Can we join you girls in this game??"
"I'm okay, what about you guys??" Samantha agreed. The group of four seventh-year Ravenclaws flew over to the center of the pitch.
"Sure." The other three agreed and smiled.
"Thanks, we need a break from all those studying too." Pepper told them. "Glad that it's you girls and not some Slytherins or something."
"And besides we had gotten so interested in flying after the Night Flying event." Mabel joked.
"Sama here." Joey agreed. The girls were chatting a little in mid-air, catching up with one another since that night.
"So how are we going to split??" Joey asked.
"Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw??" Jun suggested. "If you all don't mind."
"I'm okay with that." Lily smiled agreeing.
"Sounds great." Eva commented. "So we just use the quaffle and one bludger??"
"Sam, you mind being the Keeper??" Stefanie asked.
"I'm fine with that."
"Jo, you wanna be the Beater?? Chasers will get beaten." Lily asked.
"Okay with that."
"So Jo is our Beater, Lily and Stefanie are Chasers, and I'm the Keeper." Samantha told the opposing Ravenclaws.
"For us, Eva is the Beater, Mabel and Jun are the Chasers and I'm the Keeper." Peppers looked at her teammates and they nodded in agreement.
"Alright. Let's get started." Mabel said enthusiastically. The eight girls flew up into the air simultaneously. Jun threw the quaffle up and the game was started.
Joey hit the bludger and sent it flying towards Mabel. Eva managed to block it from hitting Mabel and stroked towards Lily. Mabel was throwing the quaffle towards the hoops when Samantha caught it and threw it over to Stefanie who passed it to Lily who was in front. Jun flew over and caught it before Lily and passed it over to Mabel at the opposite end.
"First goal!!" Mabel shouted. She just threw the quaffle passed Samantha and straight into the left hoop. The Ravenclaws cheered and Samantha threw the quaffle over to Lily who passed it over to Stefanie and then she scored.
"Our first goal!!" Lily cheered. The girls were so energized by the game as they continued to score until they lost count.