Good Nickname though, eh?
Despite not getting his revenge, Sirius returned to his high spirits, laughing with James when they tried out their newly learned trip jinx on Severus Snape and busily noting new passageways whenever he stumbled on them. James was delighted to have his partner in crime back and they celebrated by plotting what Sirius called "The best Halloween prank Hogwarts would ever witness". The four boys who had become nearly inseparable, sat in the common room at their favorite table by the window discussing their ideas secretively. If this was the way to get the whole of Hogwarts to notice them, Sirius and James wanted to make sure of it. Sirius liked being popular – it was such a drastic change from his home life having people think he was cool and want to hear his ideas. He was a little annoyed at the inclusion of Peter in their little gang, but he figured four was more intimidating than two or three so didn't press the issue. Besides, Peter seemed to hero worship James and would do practically anything the more popular boy asked of him and this proved useful.
"What if we get in trouble though?" Remus said as they discussed ideas. He was fresh back from his Hospital Wing stint but had become anxious when James and Sirius told him about their plans.
"Oh come on Lupin, we need you! You're the best at Levitation charms. It won't work without you!" James prodded as he looked over Sirius' shoulder at the list he was making.
Lupin flushed with pride. Like Peter, he couldn't seem to avoid the happiness he got when James praised him and despite his reservations, nodded.
"Alright…as long as we don't get caught."
"It'll only be a detention and Merlin knows we're used to them," Sirius said dismissively.
"You are, you mean," Remus reminded him, to which Sirius laughed.
"They're good for you Lupin. Build character."
"And what's life without a bit of risk?" James agreed.
"So we all know the plan?" Sirius said, looking around at the three other boys. They nodded. "And we swear if one of us goes down, we don't give away the others?" They nodded again. "And if one of us should die…the rest of us will avenge their death? Together Through Thick and Thin?"
They all paused and burst in to laughter.
"Together Through Thick and Thin!" James proposed, putting his hand out, palm down with a large grin.
"Thick and Thin!" The others agreed, placing their own hands over his in a pile.
"What's keeping him?" Peter whispered to James and Remus at the Halloween feast, the next evening.
"Well he had to trade in the goblets…" Remus said quietly. "What if it doesn't work?"
"Of course it'll work. We tried it out yesterday," James replied dismissively, looking around the room in excitement.
"But what if something goes wrong. Those duplicating spells are well hard, Fourth Year Level, at least. And Bertha isn't exactly reliable."
"Remus, I tested it. If you do it to one, it happens to them all. And when have I ever done a spell badly? Now all we do is trust that Sirius can trade in those goblets," James said patiently.
"And you really don't think they'll notice?" Peter asked.
"How could they? It's not as if anyone's been in trouble for levitating their goblet at the table before!" James said.
"Unless all of the teacher's goblets levitate at the same time…" Remus said darkly.
"All done!" Sirius' voice said triumphantly as he arrived at the table a few minutes later. "Now we just wait for Dumbledore's speech. Ready Remus?" James said bouncing in his seat.
"I feel ill."
"What else is new?" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
"Ready now…" James said, motioning towards the table where Dumbledore was getting up and picking up what he assumed to be his ordinary goblet.
"I'm going to be sick," Remus whispered as the Hall fell silent.
"A Very Happy Halloween to you all! I want to propose a toast. To the First Year's very first Halloween at Hogwarts and the Seventh Year's last! Please join me in raising my glass!"
"You bet we'll raise your glass," Sirius snickered.
"Now, Remus!" James muttered as he held his goblet up.
Remus took a deep breath and levitated his goblet. At the same time, Dumbledore's goblet flew from his hand, straight up in the air above his head. Similarly, the rest of the teacher's goblets joined it, high in the air, well out of their reach. The Hall paused, looking curiously at the High Table before suddenly bursting in to great fits of laughter. As Professor Slughorn and Hagrid tried to reach up and swipe their hands at their goblets and Professor Flitwick jumped up and down from his seat piled with a stack of books, the Hall laughed in confusion. Even Dumbledore smiled as he reached up and his glass ducked out of his way. His twinkling blue eyes searched the room where they rested on four First Year boys in hysterics, one of them levitating his own goblet. Muttering a spell, Dumbledore's goblet returned to his hand and he inspected it with interest. As the Hall fell into silence, he laughed and waved his wand. Soon the other teachers had their own goblets back in their hands and were looking at him in confusion.
"What a delightful prank. Laughter, of course is the greatest luxury. Well done you marauders!" Dumbledore said, tipping his glass towards James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. With this, the whole Hall turned to look at them and several students burst in to applause. While Remus turned red and ducked his head, Peter puffed out his chest and James and Sirius got to their feet, taking deep bows.
"Didn't even get in trouble! So much for 'thick and thin!" Sirius said as he sat down, laughing and began to eat.
"I can't believe we got away with that," Remus agreed, shaking his head.
"Good nickname though eh? Marauders…" James said, winking.
The Marauders, as they came to be known in the weeks that passed always seemed to be a topic of conversation in the Hogwarts rumor mill especially among the younger years. Perhaps this was because Bertha Jorkins had taken a huge liking to James or because they somehow; simultaneously won their House several points as well as landed themselves more detentions than most First Years; or because they just seemed to enjoy making a spectacle of themselves.
"Oh James, don't…" Remus said in a small voice.
"No, go on, James! I bet you can touch the Willow before Davey does!" Peter said excitedly.
"What d'you reckon Sirius?" James asked Sirius who was leaning against the beech tree casually, his grey eyes shining. Several students were out in the school grounds enjoying an oddly warm November day
"I say…. Bets on Potter! 2 to 1 he beats Gudgeon! Step right up, I'll take Galleons, Sickles, Knuts…whatever you've got!" Sirius yelled cheerfully to the gathering crowd. Soon he was scribbling in a notebook, putting his quill behind his ear as he collected people's money.
"I'm warning you Potter, I'm the fastest runner I know," Davey Gudgeon, a First Year Ravenclaw said proudly.
James shrugged. "Well, there's nothing for you to worry about then."
"This is ridiculous! One of you could get killed," a quiet but very pretty Ravenclaw First Year, Emmeline Vance said, standing up.
James ruffled his hair. "Don't worry Vance, we can take care of ourselves."
"Sirius, stop them! Please," Emmeline pleaded sending Sirius a sweet look. His eyes glazed over momentarily before he shot her a rakish grin.
"Go on Vance, give us a bet. My money's on James."
"Oh leave it alone Emmeline, if Potter has this little sense, then there's nothing you can say to stop him," Lily Evans said as she rolled her eyes.
"There you go, even Evans is betting on me winning!" James said sending the redhead a grin.
Lily pulled a face at him before turning to Sirius. "A galleon on Davey."
Sirius laughed at James' expression and accepted her money before shrugging. "Sorry mate."
"Just someone count us down," James said, taking his place behind a line Peter had drawn into the ground with a stick.
"James, don't be daft, the thing is dangerous!" Remus pleaded, jumping to his feet, his face very white.
"Remus, Remus…life is nothing without risk," Sirius said, using he and James' favorite catch phrase and putting an arm around his shaking friend's shoulder.
"I wonder if Potter's face will be disfigured? Do you think it'll look better?" Lily wondered out loud to her laughing friend, Mary.
"I'll bring you back a victory twig, Evans," James called back to her.
"Great," she said, rolling her eyes but laughing.
"Are you going to flirt all day Potter or are you ready to run?" Davey said, standing next to him, taking his mark.
"Flirt?" James said in a shocked voice, scratching his head.
"Yuck! Flirt with him?" Lily said in an appalled tone as the crowd ooh-ed and ahh-ed.
"On your mark? Get set….GO!" Peter yelled as the crowd formed a tight semi-circle around the two boys. At their cue, they shot off towards the great Whomping Willow that's limbs and branches had been swirling with extra gusto since the air had gotten chillier. Peter was whooping beside Sirius who was laughing at Remus looking very green.
"They'll be killed."
"Sense of humour Lupin, remember?"
Davey was stockier than James but about the same height. Both a little short for their age but both very fast. James' black hair whipped around wildly as the two of them raced, while Davey's close-shaven blonde head, dipped and ducked around the branches. Every time a limb came close to one of the boys' heads, the crowd gasped in horror or excitement.
"Did you see that? It missed him by an inch!" said Colin, Davey's friend when a particularly violent branch, skimmed the top of James' head. Lily gave a little scream from behind them, clutching to Emmeline and Mary tightly. Emmeline had tears streaming down her face and she didn't notice Kelly Wood behind her rolling her eyes as she flicked through her Charms textbook.
The boys were within a few feet of the tree now, and with an athletic duck, James avoided another large branch before slapping the Willow's large trunk and plucking a twig from one of the low branches. Seemingly maddened by this, the Whomping Willow gave another large lurch and although James managed to miss the swinging branch as he ran back to the crowd, it hit Davey as he had begun to retreat too. As Davey fell to the floor, James froze and the girls screamed.
"Gudgeon! Get up!" he yelled, wincing as another sharp twig brushed past him. He was just about to turn back to help the other boy up when suddenly a large blue shield surrounded Davey.
"James Potter, get out of the way this instant!" McGonagall's shrill, angry voice came from where the crowd was standing, now looking uneasy. Her wand was out and strings of blue met the shield surrounding Davey. James acted quickly and ran towards them, stopping in front of her and looking at the floor with guilt. She glared at him before waving her wand again and bringing Davey's limp body over to them, still covered in the blue shield.
"Despicable! Absolutely irresponsible, dangerous, reckless! Never have I seen such behavior!" She yelled, as she bent over Davey whose eye was red and bruised as he came to.
"Could have lost an eye! A limb or worse! How dare you. Potter, Gudgeon you will each lose 20 points from your House and have a detention tomorrow night! Professor Dumbledore will hear about this mind you! You are forbidden from ever going near that Willow again, any of you! Do I make myself clear?"
The crowd murmured their understanding as her eyes flashed around, glaring at each of them, her gaze stopping for a moment on an ashamed looking Remus before she turned to Sirius. "And Mr Black, you will return every knut of that money to whom it belongs and join Potter and Gudgeon in detention. Now I expect you all to head to Dinner or your Common Rooms right now, if you don't wish to join them!" McGonagall said sharply before levitating Davey on to a conjured stretcher, and grabbing a worried Colin to join her as she took them to the Hospital Wing.
"Good one mate," Sirius said patting James on the back. He was grinning.
"Did you see how mad she got? Her eye was twitching!" James said in glee.
"Couldn't have done it better myself!"
"You two are hopeless!" Remus said, clutching his stomach. "I feel ill. Let's go to dinner."
"You were brilliant James!" Peter said, hurrying to keep up with them, as they walked behind the scattering crowd towards the Great Hall.
"Where's Evans?" James said, ignoring him and peering around the room as they arrived.
"There…why?" Sirius asked, kinking an eyebrow at him.
"Got something for her," James said, grinning and making a beeline towards her.
"Hey Evans!"
"He lives," she said, rolling her eyes as she helped herself to potatoes.
"Here," he said, thrusting the winning twig at her. "Told you I'd get you one."
Lily looked at it with a funny expression on her face before she turned as red as her hair.
"Push off Potter," she said, looking at her plate.
"Reckon she fancies me?" James said as they sat down.
"Who wouldn't?" Peter said eagerly.
Sirius burst in to laughter. "Well obviously Pettigrew does."
James and Remus laughed too as Peter went red. Sirius didn't notice, but through his laughter James looked a little annoyed at the avoidance of his question. Not wanting it to look as though he liked Evans too much however, James laughed louder and clapped Peter on the back before digging in to his dinner, purposely ignoring Lily when she looked his way once or twice.
By early December, James was back in McGonagall's good books when he was awarded fifteen House Points for Transfiguring a stick into a pencil faster than the Transfiguration teacher had ever seen from another First Year.
"It's not fair, mine was way cooler looking than yours," Sirius joked as they went to one of the classrooms that was used for younger students during Breaks in the Winter months.
"But it took you at least thirty minutes longer," James replied, shrugging. "What can I say mate, I'm just smarter than you."
"Like Hell," Sirius said, playfully punching his arm. They laughed and play wrestled their way to the best seats at the back of the room. These were typically left vacant by other students and regularly referred to as "Marauder territory". Remus and Peter joined them, Peter watching in awe and Remus tiredly sinking his head down to lie on his arms. Both Sirius and James had begun to notice this repeated occurrence but before Sirius opened his mouth to say something, James shushed them, having heard his name spoken from the front of the room.
"Shhh! He'll hear you," Lily said, blushing as Mary giggled.
"So? He obviously fancies you. He shows off every time he's around you."
"No he doesn't. Besides, Sev wouldn't approve. They hate each other."
"Oh who cares about Severus Snape? He's creepy," Mary said rolling her eyes.
"I do, thank you very much! I've known him a long time. He's my best friend," Lily retorted, crossing her arms.
Mary looked momentarily hurt but shrugged. "I still don't get why you won't go out with Potter! Tons of girls like him and he likes you."
"I said, shhh! They aren't that far away," Lily pleaded, sneaking a glance to the back of the room. The boys quickly diverted their attention pretending to speak to Remus who was actually on the verge of taking a nap, barely listening at all.
"For one, we're only 11, what do I need a boyfriend for? And anyway, why would he like me? He's smarter and more popular. We hardly say a word to each other."
"He fancies you, I'd bet on it!" Mary said giggling.
"Well shut up about it now. Want to go over the homework before Charms?"
Sirius was in a silent fit of laughter, holding his sides.
"Evans fancies you! That's ridiculous," he choked between chuckles.
James' face was red. "So? Tons of girls fancy you."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I don't care, do I?"
"Well neither do I!" James retorted, the back of his neck growing warm. When the bell rang, Sirius was still laughing and James was fervently ignoring the hotness he felt under his collar as they picked up their bags.
"Course you do! You want to kiss her! And marry her!" Sirius teased, poking his friend and laughing. James was biting his lip, still bright red as they walked out of the room, to go to Charms. Finally, he snapped.
"Shut up! No I don't. Lily Evans is just a stupid, loser girl. I can't help it if she fancies me," James said fiercely. Sirius patted his back.
"Exactly mate. Who has time for girls when we could be Marauding?"
Suddenly a red head pushed past them violently with Mary MacDonald running quickly behind her to keep up. The blonde sent them an annoyed look over her shoulder just before following Lily in to the girl's loo.
"I think she was crying," Remus noted amongst the awkward pause.
"So?" James said uncomfortably.
Sirius was laughing harder. "What an idiot."
A/N: I got a great response since the last chapter. Thanks guys, Hope you liked this one, review please! :)