October third was a Wednesday. And per their normal Wednesday schedules, the Gryffindor third years were eating lunch after their free period. They had Herbology next with the Ravenclaws, something that for some reason had Lily and Marlene particularly excited today.
"You know Lily," said Evie, "with the amount of time you spend talking to Jeremy Fawcett someone might be under the impression that you're going with him to Hogsmeade instead of Aubrey."
Lily and Marlene giggled across from Evie and Matilda. Evie gave them a puzzled look as Tilly sat bored, obviously in the loop.
"Oh, Evie, I wouldn't dream of going with Jeremy to Hogsmeade. He has somebody else in mind anyway," said Lily with a grin. Evie raised her brow at this but said nothing. She noticed the boys getting up further down the table and stood up.
"Well you birds have obviously gone barmy. I'll be walking with them to Herbology as you're acting beyond weird," said Evie as she walked towards James and Sirius.
"Enjoy the walk!" called Lily as she and Marlene began to giggle loudly again.
"Bloody loons," mumbled Evie as she joined her friends. Remus gave her a puzzled look.
"What's going on with Lily and Marlene? You didn't actually give them that babbling beverage, did you?"
"What? Of course not. I'd never prank my own friends. Besides, I'm saving that for Snivelly tomorrow," she replied with a smirk. It had been prank week for the five mischief makers. Sunday night they had snuck into the Slytherin dormitories under James's new invisibility cloak and sprinkled bulbadox powder in their sheets so that Monday morning the Slytherins not only looked haggard and tired with blotchy red skin but were scratching their bums madly. Tuesday Sirius, James, Evie, and Peter had nearly given their divination teacher a heart attack when they replaced all the crystal balls with snow globes ahead of time. The next prank was to take place that afternoon in muggle studies class.
The five of them were walking down the path to greenhouse three when a voice behind them called to Evie. They turned around to see Jeremy Fawcett walking up to them.
"Hi, Jeremy. Going to herbology?" she asked politely. He'd been her potions partner in first year but she hadn't spoken to him much since then.
"Yeah. Erm listen, Evie, I was wondering if I could have a word with you maybe after class?" he asked nervously as he scratched his blonde head.
"I can't after class," she said remembering that they'd have to race to Muggle Studies to pull off their next escapade, "but we can talk right now."
He glanced at her friends- a bored James, a disgruntled Sirius, a patient Remus, and a curious Peter- then looked back at her and gave a nod, "Ok. Well I was wondering, Evie, if you'd maybe like to go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend?"
She blanched slightly at that and felt quite stupid. All the signs that Lily and Marlene were giving her and the fact that they'd been talking to him frequently should've been a dead giveaway. He was cute, she had to admit to herself, and polite. Still, she stole a quick glance at Sirius. Was that jealousy on his face or had he eaten too much at breakfast? Yes, she thought, it would be good to spend time with a boy who actually thought of her as a girl. She smiled, "I'd be delighted to, Jeremy."
He beamed at her, "Great! How about we meet in the Entrance Hall at eleven?"
"Eleven suits me perfectly," she said before turning to the boys, "You don't mind if I spend herbology with Jeremy, do you?"
"You're supposed to be my herbology partner," growled Sirius. She gave him an innocent smile.
"Yes I know, but this way Peter doesn't have to pair up with McLaggen or Gulch. That way everyone's happy," she replied before turning back to Jeremy, "Shall we?"
"Of course," he said before taking her books and carrying them for her as they made their way to the greenhouse.
"Can you believe her? Honestly, can you believe her?" growled Sirius to a fearful Peter as they watched Evie and Jeremy Fawcett repot a seedling Devil's Snare, all the while flirting and smiling.
"Um- Sirius," cried Peter as their seedling had begun to wrap itself around Peter's thumb.
"I mean she ditched me for that ponce! She left me for him! And for what? What's so great about him?" he said throwing more scathing looks at the blondes seated two tables ahead.
"Sirius, I think this plant-" Peter squeaked as the plant made its way up his forearm.
"He's not that handsome. Certainly not as handsome as me. And he's a bloody Ravenclaw. Evie's too much of a Gryffindor to go out with one of those bookworms," he growled as he stabbed his work knife into the table. Peter let out another squeak as the sound of the knife seemed to further upset the plant.
"Sirius, I need hel-" the plant wrapped itself around Peter's mouth cutting off his speech and breathing.
"And as for herbology, I'm a much better partner. All he does is distract her. Who wants a partner like that when you're working with man-eating plants? You think I'm a better partner right, Pete?" he said turning to his friend who was now on the floor trying to pry the fledgling plant off of him, "Blimey!"
The entire class turned its focus on Sirius who had thrown himself on the ground and began trying to pry the plant off of his friend.
"Aero Caldus!" cried a voice behind Sirius. He felt the air around the Devil's Snare heat up and watched it recoil into itself and off of Peter. Evie, who had conjured the spell, squatted down by Peter, who was gasping for breath, and helped him sit up, "Anapneo."
"Thanks," squeaked Peter who finally had air travelling to his lungs without problem.
"You alright?" she asked. Peter nodded, then Evie turned her attention to Sirius, "What the bloody hell is wrong with you? Did you not realize that Pete was being strangled right next to you?"
Sirius rubbed the back of his neck, "No, I was a bit preoccupied…observing the soil."
"Mr. Black, Ms. Bloxum, kindly take Mr. Pettigrew up to the Hospital Wing," called Professor Beery from the front of the class.
"Yes, sir," they replied in unison. They gathered their things, Evie shooting Jeremy an apologetic look before walking out of class.
"Honestly, he could have died, Sirius!" snapped Evie once they were a few feet from the greenhouse.
"It's not like I intended for that thing to throttle him!" retorted Sirius angrily.
"It didn't throttle me," mumbled Peter indignantly.
"You should have been paying attention," remarked Evie, not taking Peter's statement into account.
"That's rich coming from you. Seems Beery couldn't get a word in edgewise with you and Fawcett clucking like hens the whole time," growled Sirius with a glare.
"Oh forgive me for the epic display of public affection. I didn't know how shy it made you after all the public snogging you've done," she snapped back before walking into the empty greenhouse two.
"Public display of- I have not- Oi! Where are you going? I'm talking to you!" he yelled as he and Peter followed her. She grabbed a pair of earmuffs for herself before throwing a pair to both boys.
"What's this for?" asked Peter.
"I'm going to knick some mandrake root for the animagus potion. I can't very well have you both keeling over," she said before she put on her earmuffs, "Close the door, Pete." Door closed, and all three of them wearing ear muffs, Evie yanked out the ugly plant-child and threw it on the work table. She pulled a silver pocket knife out of her shoe, flicked it open and cut off a generous amount of mandrake root. After the mandrake was repotted and silent it was safe for them to go.
"So are we really going to the Hospital Wing?" asked a bored looking Sirius as Evie put the mandrake root away in her bag.
"I figured we'd get a head start on our plans. And since we're out early we can cover the ancient runes class as well. I'd hate for my birds to miss out on all the fun just because their high achievers," smirked Evie as they walked into the castle through a side door.
"Won't we get caught?" asked Peter, stopping them all in their tracks. They indeed risked it as neither one of them had thought to bring James's cloak.
"You're right, Pete," she said before taking her wand out and pointing it at him, his eyes bugging out as she tapped him on the head, "Defluo." Sirius gawked at the spot where Peter had once been.
"What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?" cried a frantic invisible voice.
"I can honestly say I'm not looking at you, Pete," said Sirius before turning to look at Evie, "You can do a disillusionment charm?"
"Well I can't do it nonverbally," she muttered bitterly before turning to him next and doing the same thing.
"Gah! It feels like someone cracked an egg on my head," Sirius voiced in displeasure.
"Get over it. Anyway, here's the plan, we stick together and make it to the muggle studies room since it's closer than the ancient runes class before making our way there, then we race back just in time for class. So that we don't lose each other we make a noise every five seconds. I'll go first, then Sirius, then Peter, and so on and so forth. Got it?" She heard them mutter their approval before casting the spell on herself. They made their way to the classroom with the occasional cough, squawk, and oink so as to remain together. As they had planned prior to the beginning of their prank spree, they cast imperturbable charms on their text books so that they would not be affected by the mischief to come.
"Who's doing which charm?" came Sirius's voice, his breath tickling the back of Evie's neck, causing a blush to cover her invisible cheeks.
"I'll do the timing charm. Then you take care of the transfiguration. Pete, look out for anyone alright?" she added so as not to leave him out. She pointed her wand at the threshold of the classroom, swinging it in a counter-clockwise motion three times before swiping it to the right and muttering, "Sexaginta Minutus."
"Will it work?" came Peter's disembodied voice.
"Yeah. It'll go off in an hour. We'll be about twenty minutes into class. Alright Sirius your turn," said Evie. Unaware of where she was, Sirius accidentally walked right into her. The two blushed slightly, muttering apologies, before moving around each other.
"Verto Libros Volo Simius," he said, pocketing his wand a moment later. The trek to the ancient runes classroom was a bit more challenging as it was five floors up and they couldn't very well watch where they were stepping. Finally, after about half an hour they made it to the door and performed the same charms they had on the previous door. Evie removed the disillusionment charm just in time for the bell to ring and signal they had seven minutes to get to muggle studies.
They met James and Remus at the door, giving them quick nods. Evie took her usual seat next to Remus while James and Sirius sat behind them. Peter took a seat across the class next to Daisy Hookum from Hufflepuff, throwing frantic looks at them every now and then.
"Godric, I hope he doesn't wet himself," murmured James, causing his three friends to shake with laughter. Two minutes left until the hour mark and they managed to keep their composure. Remus looked to Evie before they turned to look at James and Sirius. All four subtly and silently put their books away into their bags and satchels. Remus gave Peter the same signal a moment later. Mere seconds passed before a girlish shriek in the back of the classroom cut off Professor Egg from his lecture on muggle toasters.
"I say, Ms. Pepper, what is the meaning of this?" he asked the Ravenclaw.
"P-Professor! My book! My book's it's doing something funny!" she cried before letting out another hysteric scream and shoving the book off her desk and into the middle of the aisle. The class was too focused on Viola Pepper's book to notice that theirs were doing the exact same thing. The textbooks cracked and twisted violently, letting out rabid calls and grunts as they transfigured. The once slight books were now slightly overgrown and covered in black fur and wings.
"Oh my god! It's just like the film!" cried another girl who'd noticed the figure on her own desk. All across the classroom sprouted black, ugly monkeys with wings. They began ripping at papers and flying all over the room. The class was full of hysterics. Girls crying and screaming, boys swearing and making feeble attempts to get away from the monkeys, while five students were smart enough to hide from the chaos under their desks. James, Evie, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were shaking vigorously with laughter, unheard and unphased by their surroundings.
"Class dismissed! Class dismissed!" cried the hysterically high pitched voice of Professor Egg. The five culprits ran out of the classroom as fast as they could, laughing at the top of their lungs once they were safely in Gryffindor Tower.
"Brilliant!" laughed Sirius, "Simply brilliant!"
"Oh-My-God! Did you see the look on Viola Pepper's face!" cackled James.
"Or Professor Egg's face!" Remus chuckled furiously.
"Serves him right for assigning us to watch that barmy film over the summer!" howled Evie with laughter.
"Definitely one of our best," giggled Peter.
"What was?" snapped a mad looking Lily. She, Mar, and Tilly all looked slightly disheveled, the latter two had the decency to look amused.
"Oh nothing, Lily. Nothing at all," grinned Evie as she walked passed her friend and plopped down next to Marlene on the couch.
"You wouldn't happen to be behind what happened in our runes class would you, Potter?" she growled.
"Oh, flower, my flower, I can't even begin to imagine the shenanigans that went on."