This all goes back to that huge prank the Marauders were planning on the train back to Hogwarts.
"Is it ready?" asked Sirius, who was tapping his wand against his thigh.
"Yep, here's the spells and you have to say them in that exact order" said Demi, handing Sirius a small piece of parchment.
"What happens if we say it backwards?" asked James who pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and studied the paper carefully.
"You'll end up blowing all your insides out. Disgusting, really. Intestines everywhere," she replied as Remus shuddered.
"How-?" began James, Peter, and Sirius.
"How do you think we know what happens?" replied Demi and Remus.
"You didn't, did you?" asked Sirius, looking at Remus, who in turn pointed at Demi. "How did you fix it?"
"We'll explain it all later," said Demi. She stood up from her chair in the classroom and walked out. The boys looked at one another before following her to the Great Hall.
Ten Minutes Later . . . .
The hall was bustling with students enjoying their lunch. The sun shone through the windows, and everyone was enjoying the first sunny Friday of spring. He Hufflepuffs were gossiping, the Ravenclaws were studying, and the Slytherins were being, as James put it "slimy little gits." The teachers were sitting at the head of the hall, each of them looking slightly concerned with the recent events of the war.
"Ready" said James, pulling his wand out from his cloak. He surveyed the hall and located his target: Severus.
The others nodded their head slightly and copied his movements, their wands hidden under the table. Demi aimed for the pug-faced Slytherin girl at the head of the table. Sirius aimed for his cousin Narcissa, Remus aimed for Lucius, who was sitting amongst a bunch of other seventh years, and Peter aimed for a random kid in the fourth year.
Slowly they began to mutter, leaning in towards one another. Anyone else who was not sitting near them would think they were gossiping, or planning a Quidditch strategy.
Suddenly, something strange began to happen to the Slytherins. They began shifting along their benches, until they were all shoulder to shoulder.
"Ahh, what's happening!" screeched the pug faced girl, giving the people next to her disgusted looks.
"Let go of me!" yelled Lucius, trying to get up from the bench.
"I'm not touching you!" screamed the girl next to him.
"What is this magic?" said Narcissa, looking to her right, and the scrawny second year.
Then the benches they were sitting on broke, and the Slytherins went sprawling to the ground. Everyone, including the teachers, were watching the Slytherins with interest. They all managed to stand up and everyone in the hall could see what had happened. The entire house was connected. Rather than having their own separate bodies, everyone was connected at the torso, making one giant chest, with a hundred pairs of legs, and one arm on either side of the huge line.
The five marauders looked at one another, trying not to laugh. They looked around at the other tables who began to smile. Demi took a quick glance at the staff table, and saw Dumbledore's blue eyes filled with tears, of laughter. HE stood up clapped and laughed, while the other teachers looked at him, confused. "Ah, what wonderful magic" he said, as he continued to laugh.
Suddenly, the entire Gryffindor table began to laugh, and then the Ravenclaws, and lastly the Hufflepuffs. The entire hall was filled with students lying on the ground laughing uncontrollably. That was, until, the Slytherins began to yell.
"Alright settle down," said Professor Slughorn, who chuckled. "Will my house please follow me, and we can get this entire mess sorted out." He stood up and walked through the oak doors. The Slytherins shuffled sideways after him.
It was only when they had vacated the hall that Dumbledore looked at the five marauders, "as enjoyable as that little show was, you five have detention with Hagrid at 6 tonight."
"Aww" said the entire Gryffindor house.
"But sir, they looked like they were enjoying it at the end" said James, making everyone laugh.
"It was a team-building exercise," interjected Sirius.
"Which is exactly what they needed. We helped them become a little closer" finished Demi, as everyone laughed harder.
"Nevertheless," said Dumbledore, who was still smiling, "you still have detention."
That night at 6 o'clock . . .
"That was some impressive magic, you five. Who came up wi' this on'?" Hagrid asked, smiling at the events of the afternoon.
"Demi and Sirius" said Remus, "She and I did all the research on bodybinding spells and decided to create our own."
"Blimey, how long did that take yeh?"
"About a week," Demi replied. 'We had to do some research, make a few spells up, test them, and so on. It was fun though."
"You lot put more oh yer effert in that sorta stuff that yer schoolwork, don't yeh?" he laughed.
"Yes, yes we do" the five kids replied.
"What do we have to do today, Hagrid?" asked Demi.
"Just have ter help me load all these pumpkins in tha' cart over there. Got ter take 'em to the castle, for cookin."
"Alright then Hagrid. You sit back and relax, we'll take care of these" said James.
"You lot are too kind" Hagrid said, smiling underneath his bushy beard.
"Have a seat," said Demi as she waved her wand. "adducam cathedra" she said, flourishing her wand. A Hagrid-sized armchair popped up.
"Thank yeh" he said, taking a seat.
"Anytime," she replied. She looked to the other four boys who were trying to figure out how to move the warthog-sized pumpkins.
"How the bloody hell are we supposed to move these?" asked Sirius, pulling out his wand.
"Well, if I remember correctly, we could use the levitation charm, you duffer" said Remus.
"Er-well, about that," said Hagrid. "Yeh can't use magic on 'em. It'll mess up the taste 'n whannot," he looked somewhat sheepish.
"Wait that can only happen if-" began Demi. She looked at Hagrid, bemused. "Hagrid, did you use an engorgement charm on the pumpkins?" she asked.
"Well, erm, the be 'onest" Hagrid spluttered while the others laughed.
"That explains it," said Demi. She put her wand back in her cloak and walked towards the nearest pumpkin, which was the size of herself. "Well, okay then." She took off her cloak, "it'll get in the way" she said, as Sirius looked at her curiously. She slipped a hand under the fruit and placed another on the side.
"Love, you're going to break your back in" Sirius interrupted.
"Nope, no I won't." They watched as she took a deep breath, and picked up the pumpkin. Slowly, she walked to the cart and placed it inside. She turned back to the four boys, who were watching her curiously.
"That's-" began James.
"Not-" interjected Remus.
"Possible-" whispered Peter.
"Love" finished Sirius. They looked back at Hagrid, who looked as though this wasn't a surprise. "Hagrid, did you not see that?" asked Sirius, jumping up and down, and pointing to their friend, who had placed another four out of the ten fruits into the cart in that much time.
"Yeh, I saw" said Hagrid, who had just stood up to pour everyone something to drink.
"But that isn't normal" said James, walking over to where Sirius was, and pointing behind him.
"Well, she ain't all tha' normal ter begin with" Hagrid sighed as he shook his head. "Poor girl, better dead tha' what happened ter her." He looked up quickly at the two boys who had their mouths open in shock. "I should not have said that. I shouldn't have said that" he mumbled, walking into his hut to grab some food and drinks.
"What do you-" began Sirius.
"I dunno" said James, knowing exactly what Sirius had meant. "I mean,she lives with me, but I actually don't know the full story -."
He was cut off as Demi walked up to the pair, "finished. Where's Hagrid gone?"
"Er- inside to get some food and drinks," said James, trying to act nonchalant.
"Okay, so what did you think of the prank?" she asked, trying to diffuse the silence.
"Amazing, really brilliant" said James, laughing. "Did you see Snivellus' face?"
"Yeah. It was beautiful. You did amazing love" said Sirius, throwing his arm around her.
"Aw, thanks. I haven't gotten that much of a praise since we set up those enchanted cupids to hit the Slytherins with arrows last year" she reminisced. The two boys laughed.
"That was very different. I don't think I've ever seen Narcissa be that nice to anyone" said Sirius.
"Yeah, she'd look nice if she didn't look like there was some disgusting smell in the air all the time" said James.
"Yeah, she does one of those upturned nose things" said Demi, mocking the Slytherin girl.
Hagrid reappeared at the doorway, "You can come in yeh know." The five students climbed up the large stone steps and into the hut.
It was a nice little place, just big enough to fit Hagrid's basic necessities. His bed was tucked away in a corner, the large drape that separated it was pushed to the side. The kitchen was big enough, with a sink, and a little cupboard filled with pots, pans, mugs, and plates. The ceiling was covered in hams, cages, cans, and other objects that couldn't fit anywhere else, and in the middle of the hut were a few armchairs, a loveseat, and a table, all of a giant size. They heard a crackle, and looked behind them, and saw a fire burning in the place.
"It's so comfy" said Remus, as he sat in the armchair. They heard a growl and a small boardhound appeared at the foot of Remus' chair. "I didn't know you had a dog Hagrid," he said patting the dog on the head as Hagrid passed him a cup of tea.
"Yeah, I got Fang in the pub a couple o' months back. He's well trained, but a bit jumpy. Anyway, keeps Argus' bloody cat away from me. Always follows me when I'm in the castle, Mrs. Norris."
"Yeah, she does that to me as well" said Remus and Demi at the same time.
Fang shuffled over to where Sirius and Demi were sitting and jumped up into her lap. He laid down and began to whine.
Demi ran her hands through his fur, "always wanted a dog. I love them. Back when I was in London-" she noticed her friend's faces and added, "stop giving me pity looks guys. Anyway, when I was in London, there was a stray dog that used to follow me everywhere. It was black, and huge, and very cute. One time, during the winter, I didn't have a blanket, so he laid on top of me and kept me warm."
"Tha's sweet" said Hagrid, looking at the girl and smiling.
Remus looked up slightly and saw James meet his eye, smiling.
They made small talk for the next twenty minutes, in which Hagrid asked what other pranks they had planned, and told them of the best pranks he'd seen back when he was in school.
"Hagrid, why didn't you ever finish Hogwarts?" asked Sirius, interested.
"Er-well, I got kicked out in me third year. Nuthin' bad. Jus' got in ter trouble. Dumbledore gave me the job as gamekeeper when the las' one left. Great man Dumbledore, great man. Always willin' ter give someone a second chance." He looked up at the clock, "it's nearly 7, we should head up to the castle."
They all got up, grabbed their cloaks, or in Hagrid's case, a huge jacket made of pockets, and headed out of the hut.
Late at night, when everyone is asleep . . .
"You're her dog" said Remus, looking at Sirius. The four boys were in the Room of Requirement, practicing their transformations.
"What?" said Sirius.
"In her story she said that the dog was big and black" said James.
"Well, she also said cute, but that's general knowledge" said Sirius, running a hand through his black hair.
"Go on, try to transform and we'll see," James dared.
"Fine" shot Sirius, as the three boys crowded around him. Okay, just put all of your magic into it. It's not that difficult. You've done it once in the past. It's not that hard. Okay, think. Dong, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog. Suddenly his back tensed up and he felt himself fall forward onto the ground. He opened his eyes. He saw he was level to his friend's knees. He looked up and saw James, Remus, and Peter's faces looking down at him.
"Look in the mirror mate" said James, as they stepped aside.
Sirius walked towards it. Okay, I'm a huge, black dog. He walked very close to the mirror and looked at his eyes. I'm a huge, black dog, with grey eyes. Oh, and an impeccable coat of fur.
He closed his eyes and waited until his spine felt normal again. He opened them and saw he was on the ground on all fours. "So I'm a dog. Big deal."
"Fine mate" said Peter.
"Whatever you say" said Remus, who sounded somewhat wistful.
"Not that I'm trying to be an ass, but Sirius, you don't like her like that, do you?" asked James nervously, knowing how Sirius' temper could flare instantly.
"What do you mean?" Sirius replied, eyeing his friend.
"Well, we all make jokes about it, but you're not in love with Demi, are you?" he asked tentatively.
"No, I'm not. But even if I was, how does that involve you?" asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, she's like a sister to me. I don't want her getting hurt. I know what you lot are thinking, that she wasn't too beat up about Lockhart but she was. Kiaria told me herself. I can't see that happening to her. She's been through enough. And I can't have her being hurt by my best mate."
"I understand" said Sirius. "But just so we are all clear on this, I will repeat it one more time: I am not in love with your sister James."
"Hey, we should probably get going. It's nearly ten" said Remus, who had busied himself with trying to find a clock.
They filed out of the room, until it was just Sirius. I just lied to my best mate.