a/n-Well dear, sweet, wonderful readers, we had a plan. And it was a good plan. In fact, it was a Grand Master Plan. You see, we weren't going to be able to get together to write the chapters together anymore because we were going to be living halfway across the country from each other. So, we were going to take turns writing each chapter. But alas dear, sweet, wonderful, insanely patient readers, we failed. You see, this chapter was started ages ago, but it was only completed once we were in the same state again. So yeah, go us...Of course, that's not to say we contributed equally to the writing of this chapter. No, it goes something like this: An-Jelly-Ca was asleep on do i need a pen name's arm whilst a majority of this chapter was written. In fact, An-Jelly-Ca wrote about 3 lines total. But do i need a pen name isn't bitter at all. Nope, not a chance. In fact, she's feeling rather generous. If anyone, by some miraculous stroke of luck, can guess which 3 lines An-Jelly-Ca wrote, then we'll update tomorrow. Oh, and did I mention that I'm making An-Jelly-Ca write the next chapter? :D
disclaimer-If we were J.K. Rowling, you'd all still be waiting for the second book to come out, we guarantee it.
Chapter Ten
"Psst…Sirius, wake up." James hissed in his best friend's ear one lovely Monday morning halfway through February, just before the crack of dawn.
"Go away, I'm sleeping." Sirius mumbled, rather incoherently due to the fact that he was, in fact, practically unconscious at the current moment.
"That's why I'm telling you to wake up." James replied, yanking the blanket off of his friend. "Now get up."
"But it's Saturday." Sirius protested, opening one bleary eye to glare at his friend.
James merely rose an eyebrow at the now-shivering boy in the bed before him. "That one only works when it actually is Saturday."
"But it is Saturday." Sirius insisted, groping for his warm covers rather futilely, due to the fact that James had handed the aforementioned blanket to Peter, who had proceeded to walk across the room, thus forcing Sirius to actually get up if he insisted on following through with his endeavor to remain in bed. Althogether putting him in quite the conundrum.
"You're right," Remus began, "It is Saturday. But only if we stole a time turner from the Ministry of Magic and used it to go back in time so that it could be two days ago again."
"So get up already." James demanded.
"I don't wanna." Sirius replied, but it came out muffled as the boy in question had proceeded to cover his head with his pillow. "It's too early. I don't even see the sun yet."
"That would most likely be because your head is underneath a pillow." Remus said dryly.
"You know," James said, "This is really sad, Sirius. Marlene is up already. And if Marlene, of all people, can get up this early, then you can get up, too."
Sirius didn't reply.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Sirius." James warned now. "It's up to you."
Still no reply.
"Fine." James heaved a rather put-upon kind of sigh, as if he really didn't want to do what he was about to do. "Peter, the scissors, if you please. Sirius needs a haircut."
In the blink of an eye Sirius was out of his bed and scrambling for a clean (looking) uniform in his trunk.
"We'll be waiting for you in the common room." James said pleasantly.
The three boys made their way down to the deserted common room and mere minutes later they were joined there by a fully clothed Sirius. The latter opened his mouth to make known his extreme dislike for getting up at such an ungodly hour of the morning, but he happened to glance around the room first. The disgruntled expression on the Black heir's face quickly turned suspicious.
"Where's Mars? You told me she was down here." Sirius said in an accusing tone.
"Pay up. I told you he heard me say his girlfriend was already down here." James said immediately, turning to Remus. "Hmm…you know, we so should have sent Mars flowers from Sirius. That probably would have gotten her up right away."
"Next year, James. Next year." Remus said with a roll of his eyes, rummaging around in his pocket before taking out a silver sickle and tossing it to his bespectacled friend.
"I'm going to ignore that completely false statement about Mars and myself for the moment," Sirius began, "As long as you lot explain why on earth I had to get up this early and why you lied about Mars being here."
"Sirius, don't you know what day it is?" James asked.
"Well, if it's not Saturday, then obviously not." Sirius said in a voice that implied he really wanted to end that sentence with a 'duh.' "You mentioned something about that terrible day of the week that begins with the letter 'M' didn't you?"
"Don't blaspheme about the most marvelously magnificent letter M." Marlene said through a heavy yawn, choosing just that moment to exit the stairs leading from the girl's dormitories.
James, meanwhile, was shaking his head sadly at his best friend.
"Sirius, it's not just Monday." James said slowly. "It's Monday, February 14."
"And that specific date is special because…" Sirius trailed off.
"It's Valentine's Day, you dolt." Marlene said now, walking up behind Sirius and smacking him on the head. "The day of our best prank yet."
"That's today?" Sirius demanded, fully awake now. "Why didn't anyone tell me? Why on earth would you insane people let me sleep through the first six hours of such a momentous day?"
"I think the better question," Marlene began, but paused to yawn yet again, "Is why would you only let me sleep through the first six hours of today?"
"You two deserve each other. Honestly, haven't you ever heard, 'early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise?'" Remus demanded.
Marlene and Sirius exchanged a tired look, and chorused in unison: "No."
"Stop griping." James interrupted. "Now, here's what we need to do..."
Two Hours Later
"Is everything in place?" Marlene questioned.
"We're all set," Remus reassured her.
"The Great Hall looks pretty crowded," Peter remarked. "I think just about everyone is out there now."
"Excellent. Give James and Sirius the signal," Marlene commanded.
The two Marauders and Marlene were currently concealed in the antechamber behind the staff table. Marlene was standing in the middle of the room, with her hands on her hips directing the action, while Peter, the lookout, was crouched next to the door, which was open about a crack. Remus, meanwhile, was seated on the floor next to Peter, leaning against the wall and taking his time polishing off a gigantic stack of chocolate chip pancakes. No matter how important this prank was supposed to be, the sandy-haired boy refused to skip what he believed to be the most important meal of the day. And as such he had conned the platter of pancakes out of the house elves, who had only been more than willing to oblige.
James and Sirius, on the other hand, were currently hidden out of sight in the Great Hall. By a stroke of luck it happened to be a rather overcast morning and the duo was taking advantage of the cloud cover.
"The signal," Marlene repeated.
Peter jumped slightly. "Oh right," he said quickly, poking the tip of his wand through the crack between the door and the wall.
"Steady hand," Marlene murmured.
Peter mumbled something under his breath, and Marlene closed her eyes, picturing the scene in the Great Hall. At Peter's incantation, there would be a burst of pink and red confetti in the center of the Hall. In the chaos this would cause, Sirius and James would each take the opportunity to shoot a pre-selected target with some very special arrows. Marlene smiled at this thought. Then the fun would begin...
Meanwhile in the Great Hall...
Lucius Malfoy morning had not started out well. McGonagall was taking the whole O.W.L. thing to the extreme, in his opinion, and he had been forced to stay up finishing an essay on the proper wand movement involved in Vanishing Spells. And then, after only a few restless hours of sleep, he had woken up at practically the crack of dawn to study for a Potions quiz only to remember that it was Valentine's Day today and he hadn't gotten anything for Narcissa. He had remedied that in time for breakfast but, as a result, he wasn't looking forward to Potions first thing this morning. His less than delightful thoughts, however, were suddenly interrupted with a loud bang, quite literally.
"What the bloody hell is this?" Lucius demanded, sounding irritated beyond belief as he flicked a blue piece of confetti off of his bacon.
"Decorations for the holiday," Narcissa informed her boyfriend, ignoring the hostility apparent in his voice. "The color is all wrong though."
"It was probably one of those Hufflepuffs," Rabastan Lestrange, seated across from Lucius, said with an air of distaste. "They can't seem to do anything right."
"A waste of space, the lot of them," Walden Macnair agreed from next to Rabastan. "Take that Jorkins girl, for instance; what a nuisance."
Lucius was about to open his mouth to agree when he jumped slightly, as if someone had just poked him, and a dazed sort of expression fell across his face.
"I think Bertha's amazing..." Lucius said, sounding and looking as if he was in a trance all of a sudden.
"Amazingly annoying," Rabastan said with a snort, while Narcissa frowned at her boyfriend.
"But...just look at her," Lucius commanded his house-mates, his attention focused on the Hufflepuff table on the other side of the Great Hall. "Isn't she a vision of beauty?"
As one, the three other Slytherins turned to catch sight of Bertha Jorkins, with the usual scowl on her face, talking the ear off of her fellow Hufflepuff who was unfortunate enough to be sitting next to her on that fine Monday morning.
"What's gotten into you, Lucius?" Narcissa demanded. She rounded on Lestrange and Macnair, who were attempting to hide their laughter and failing miserably, "This had better be some kind of joke."
"I swear we have no idea what's going on, Cissy," Rabastan deadpanned. "Malfoy's all on his own for this one."
"I think I'll go see if she wants some chocolate," Lucius said suddenly. He stood up and grabbed the box of Honeydukes' finest chocolates that he'd given to Narcissa not half an hour previously.
"Knock it off, Lucius," Narcissa practically screeched, flinging herself off the bench and hurrying after him. "This isn't funny!"
Her outburst went unnoticed, however, as her fellow students appeared to suddenly be coming to life and getting into the holiday spirit as much as Lucius.
"What in Merlin's name is going on?" Professor McGonagall questioned up at the staff table as the Captain of Gryffindor's Quidditch team ran across the Great Hall and effectively tackled her Slytherin counterpart before giving a public display of affection that the Deputy Headmistress found quite indecent, no matter what the date might be, thank you very much.
"Young love..." Professor Dumbledore said with a sigh from his place beside her.
"But McCormack and Rosier hate each other!" Professor McGonagall protested.
"Ah yes, but anyone can put aside their differences for a short time in the spirit of this most marvelous holiday," Dumbledore intoned.
"B-But the students," McGongall stuttered, "Just look at them! This is a school. Shouldn't something be done about all of this pointless frivolity, Headmaster?"
"Nonsense," Dumbledore contradicted her, his eyes sparkling behind his half-moon spectacles. "Let them enjoy their fun; after all, final exams will be upon us before we know it. And it is Valentine's Day, after all. Why dampen the mood?"
Professor McGonagall gaped helplessly after the Headmaster as he stood up and made his way out of the Great Hall. Taking in the room as a whole, she gave a frustrated sigh, realizing that there was absolutely nothing she could do about the situation. Taking a moment to think about it, however, she did find it a bit odd. Many of the couples (whose actions Minerva McGonagall highly disapproved of) were not people she would have guessed could work together in any kind of relationship. There were studious Ravenclaws and carefree Hufflepuffs cavorting about together, and her wonderful-if a bit foolhardy, at times-Gryffindors embracing not-always-so-pleasant Slytherins. Yes, something was very wrong with this picture.
But...Dumbledore wasn't going to do anything about it. And really, if Minerva McGonagall was going to be quite honest with herself, when she took a moment to think about it, with the students apparently all on excellent terms with each other, things were bound to run much smoother today...
Yes, perhaps it would be for the best if she let the students continue on with their horribly indecent frivolity. After all, Professor McGonagall was nothing if not practical. But just the same, things had only appeared to have gotten strange after the students had eaten. It would probably be for the best if she stuck to the tin of Ginger Newts in her office for her lunch...