Sorry that it has taken such a long time to get this chapter up, I have not had ideas for what to actually put in this chapter and I regret that. I know where this story needs to go and how to get there, it is only a matter of what is next that I am struggling a bit with. Anyway, I hope that this chapter is alright, even though it is late. Thank you for reading.
34.
'Twasn't 'til the following morning that the prank actually made itself known to the entire school. Great trees had sprouted in all the corridors, patches of mud would randomly appear and then vanish the instant that Filch got there to clean it up. Every time that Filch would pick up a broom, mop, bucket, dustrag, or even polish; it vanished out of his hands and reappeared somewhere else in the castle. Sirius was having a hard time not drawing attention to himself, as he would double over laughing whenever he saw Filch running around trying to clean things up or retrieve some of his supplies. Many of the students went out of their way to continue hiding Filch's supplies, while others helped out by creating a bigger mess than before. Though the teachers did attempt to regain control, all of their efforts were futile, for nothing could get the students to concentrate that day.
In fact none of the students could concentrate for two days afterwards either, for trees would randomly sprout in the middle of classrooms or corridors, flowers would grow in people's hair, and none of it could be removed until that Wednesday. What was even better than this was that none of the teachers had any proof whatsoever that Sirius and Remus had been the ones to do this. They were both in high spirits for most of the week, and they were only heightened by something that happened on Thursday.
James:
He had wanted to apologize, not only to Remus, but to Sirius as well. However, they had pulled a prank without him…without even talking to him and now he didn't want to apologize, his pride wouldn't let him. There were some things which were not forgivable. He spent the days in which the trees could not be gotten rid of, brooding; many were of the opinion that you could actually see a storm cloud over his head. He didn't speak to the other two boys, didn't acknowledge them in any way and he didn't stick around when they were talking to each other.
James didn't like feeling like an outsider, it irked him. All his life he had always been the center of attention, the one that was listened to, the one that everyone envied, the one who was the best, and the one who could do no wrong. Everything that he had ever done, he had been the best at, everything he did was correct, and if someone said or did anything contrary, than it was them who was wrong, not him. So why was he the one left out, why was he the one who was moping around the castle…why was he the one alone? Nothing was making sense to him anymore, and that irked him as well.
Thursday morning was gray and gloomy—matching James' near constant mood—rain fell in sheets from the sky, drowning anyone or anything that dared venture outside. He was tired of this, he had spent the better part of four days, moping around the castle and he was tired of it. James decided that he needed to get over himself and apologize to his friends, perhaps they had been the ones who were right anyway…maybe he—James Potter, had actually been wrong. Careful to keep that in mind, he went searching for Sirius and Remus…he wanted to get the apology out of the way before lessons started for the day.
James found them in the Great Hall, eating breakfast and laughing about something. That sight made him stop in his tracks, to see Remus Lupin laughing was something that James would have given anything to do—it had been far too long since his friend had smiled, let alone laughed. Right then and there, James knew that he had been wrong, not the others. He had been the one too stubborn to see what was in front of him, too stubborn and blinded by prejudices to see that his friend was not a monster and that he had no control over the wolf. This was enough, he realized; this was all that he needed…not to be right all the time, not to have the very ground he walked on be worshipped, he only needed friends and to make them laugh. James walked over to them and in front of the entire school; he asked them both to forgive him for being such an idiot. Remus forgave him more easily than Sirius did, though he and Sirius were nearly back to normal by the end of the day. Classes were a much more enjoyable affair for the three of them, now that they were back together. That night they began working on the final plan for the map, wanting to get it finished by the end of their third year.
The three of them stayed up well into the night, talking, laughing, and drawing up plans for their map—though they kept getting distracted by thinking up schemes and writing those down on a piece of parchment. The three of them became close that night, closer than they had been before, brothers in all but blood; they wouldn't let small things tear them apart again.
Thank you for reading, this latest chapter. Please review, and I hope that this story will continue to be at least interesting. Thanks again and you are all awesome!