MISCHIEF MANAGED

Chapter Eight – Christmas with the Potters

The rest of the term flew by, though not uneventfully. More detentions were given to the boys, most to James and Sirius and only one to Remus. They had fallen out with Ben, thinking him to be a smarmy know-it-all, after he had beaten Remus in a homework assignment.

While the four boys were lounging in the common room, Professor McGonagall came around asking who would be staying for the holidays. Before she approached their little group, James suddenly remembered, 'Do all of you want to come to my place for Christmas? Mum told me to invite you but I forgot until now.'

A unanimous agreement was expressed by his friends. McGonagall approached, 'Are any of you boys staying at school for the Christmas break?'

'No way!' the four boys exclaimed as one. A look of relief broke out on Professor McGonagall's face at this news. She might have a few weeks of quiet, something that hadn't happened since James Potter and Sirius Black joined her house.

The last days of school went too slowly so that when the holidays finally arrived, excitement could not be contained. Rugged up in their warmest clothes, James, Sirius and Remus lugged their heavy trunks through Hogwarts' open gates and down to Hogsmeade station. A few metres behind them was Peter, lugging his own trunk and struggling with his irritated cat who was making a fuss, scratching and yowling at her captor.

Exhausted from their long term, the boys had a fairly monotonous train trip. They slept, played Exploding Snap, ate sweets from the trolley, and made plans for the holidays ahead.

The train pulled into platform nine and three quarters at seven o'clock. The night outside was completely dark and the boys were hungry. Dorea and Charlus Potter met them on the platform cheerfully. All four of the boys lugged their heavy trunks towards the adults, James with his owl and Peter with his cat. 'You can't be serious,' Charlus directed at no one in particular, when he saw the amount of luggage.

'No, sir,' Peter whimpered, pointing at Sirius. 'He is.' Mr Potter roared with laughter. Without another word, he loaded the trunks onto a waiting trolley and walked through the barrier. Dorea ushered the boys through the barrier and out of the station. Charlus was loading the trunks into a large blue Kombi van. They all made their way over and piled in.

'Oi, Dad, where'd you get the car?' James asked.

Charlus looked slightly embarrassed. 'I asked for something that would fit four boys and all their junk, at the Muggle car rental place and they gave me this.'

Eventually he started the car and they were on their way. After fifteen minutes they arrived at a beautiful country estate. The boys leaped out of the car and into the kitchen, where James immediately found food to rival the Hogwarts house elves'.

Once they were fed, the boys were shown to the room in which they would be sleeping for the next few weeks. 'This is my room,' James announced to his friends as he heaved his trunk onto the closest bed. 'Looks a bit different at the moment. I've usually only got one bed.' Peter claimed the bed closest to the door, Sirius the one closest to James, and Remus chose the last one left.

They slid down the banister, some more gracefully than others (Peter fell off and needed to have his tail-bone repaired by Mrs Potter). A small creature with enormous bat-like ears was standing at the back door with James' many broomsticks in hand. When she saw him, they clattered to the ground, her face lit up and she hugged his leg. 'Oh Master Jamesy,' she said excitedly. 'Lovely to see you home! Poppy hopes those Hogwarts house elves have been feeding you well enough. Poppy did ask them to look out for her favourite boy!'

'Don't worry Poppy, they've been feeding me well, but the food's nowhere near as good as yours!' James ruffled the few hairs on her head affectionately, causing her pale cheeks to turn red.

She picked up the scattered brooms and handed one to each boy. 'Be careful,' she yelled through the door after them. 'Poppy doesn't want to fix any broken bones today!'

The boys returned to the house just before dinner, covered in mud, having abandoned their game of Quidditch in favour of a mud fight. The dinner was enormous, complete with all the delicacies James had missed while at Hogwarts. Very soon after, too full to speak, the boys dragged themselves up the stairs and fell into bed.

Christmas came too quickly. On the morning of 25th December, Remus was the first to wake. He felt a heavy burden on his feet and sat up to examine it. The first snow had fallen in the night and the sleepy sun was reflected onto the large pile presents at the end of his bed. His eyes opened in amazement, as he had not expected this many presents.

Remus' musings were interrupted when Sirius woke. He pulled his own pile towards him and started unwrapping. 'Look Remus! Presents!'

'Sirius, I do have eyes,' Remus replied sarcastically. He took the first gift from the pile an opened it carefully, making sure not to rip the paper. Inside the badly wrapped present was a box of Honeydukes' finest chocolate from his three best friends. 'How am I supposed to get through all this?'

'I'll help!' Sirius fell over James as he pretended to snatch the chocolate from Remus. The kerfuffle woke Peter, and the four of them spent the next half hour opening their respective piles.

'This one feels weird,' James noticed, as he picked up his last present. 'Hope it's not another stupid jumper.' He opened the parcel slowly. The others looked on, having finished unwrapping their own gifts. 'Wow,' he whispered, when he saw the folds of fabric. 'Wow, this is amazing.' He pulled the cloak from the paper and put it on.

'Holy Hippogriffs, James! What kind of a trick are you playing on us?' Sirius screeched. 'Where the hell have you gone?'

James pulled the hood off his head so that his friends could see his face. A wide grin dominated his features. 'How awesome is this? It's my Dad's. He must have decided to pass it on to me.'

'But what is it, exactly?' Peter piped up. His forehead was creased in confusion.

'That,' Remus said, 'is an Invisibility Cloak. They're really rare!'

At this, Sirius also broke into a grin. 'Imagine the pranks we could pull with that, James! We will be the best pranksters to have ever walked Hogwarts' halls.'

'We'll need a name,' Peter squeaked. 'Something easy to remember – something that the future will remember.' His eyes glazed over as he thought of belonging to something with his mates.

'Potter and his Pranksters,' James suggested.

'No,' Sirius argued, 'none of us is the leader. Why can't we just call ourselves the Pranksters?'

'I've got a better idea,' Remus said with confidence. 'The Marauders.'

'That's bloody brilliant!' screamed Sirius and James in unison.

'The hippogriff has flown,' Peter said enthusiastically. The other boys looked at him bemused. 'Sorry, wrong saying, wrong moment,' he mumbled, cheeks growing red.

With the decision made, the Marauders traipsed down the stairs to the scrumptious brunch awaiting them. They ate until they could eat no more. Mrs Potter and Poppy ushered them into the garden so that they could tidy up.

'Have fun boys,' Mrs Potter called. 'Don't wander past the boundaries!'

For once in their life, the Marauders obeyed the rules. Too full to do much else, they chose to have a snowball fight. It lasted until dark. They re-entered the house, were sent to their room to clean themselves up and then returned to the dining room for the Christmas feast.

James noticed his father's wand sitting on the hall table and decided to have some fun with the turkey. The six sat down to eat. Charlus picked up the knife and began to carve the turkey. Dorea giggled at the faces of James' friends. 'Charlus finds it amusing to do this the Muggle way,' she whispered. 'As do the rest of us.' The Marauders had to try very hard not to laugh at this comment.

Charlus positioned the knife over the turkey and lowered it. It hit the table. The turkey appeared to have moved a fraction. He went through this process again, and again, and again, until he was leaning so far across the table, his sleeves were in the potato salad. Everyone was laughing so much that tears were streaming down their cheeks. 'Charlus, please be careful,' Dorea begged through her laughter. 'Those robes were expensive. Perhaps, you ought to stop this party trick.'

'I'm not doing anything,' Charlus replied. 'I thought this was your work.' A flash of realisation hit both adults. They turned to glare at James simultaneously. 'James Charlus Potter! What in the name of Merlin's beard do you think you are doing?'

The Marauders were finding it very hard to keep their faces straight. 'Practising for Charms. I thought you'd appreciate the fact that I was doing my homework,' James replied calmly. At this response, both his parents launched a fresh burst of laughter. The boys took this as permission to laugh themselves. Peter laughed so hard that he fell off his chair and began to roll on the floor, holding his stomach.

After the laughter had subsided, the group finally began to eat. They ate until well after midnight, when the Potters decided it was high time the boys were sent to bed.

After Christmas Day, the holidays passed too quickly. Remus left a few days after Christmas to fulfil some family commitments. New Year's came and went without much fanfare. The Potters had a New Year's Ball but the Marauders were not allowed to attend. They amused themselves by stealing some Butterbeer and sitting on the roof to watch the full moon in its glory.

Some days after New Year, they piled back into the blue Kombi van and began the journey to King's Cross Station. Only seconds into the journey, they had to return to the house. Peter had forgotten his cat.

Once they had said their thanks to the Potters, the newly named Marauders boarded the train. They waved from the windows until the station was out of sight.

While searching for an empty compartment, James spied Lily Evans, sitting by herself. 'Hey, Evans,' he said cheerfully. 'Mind if we crash the party?' Without waiting for an answer he plonked himself into the seat opposite her. 'Good Christmas?' he asked. Lily gave him a nasty glare and then opened a book. The other boys sat on James' side of the compartment.

Ten minutes into the trip, Remus rushed into the compartment. 'Merlin's pants,' he said on entering. 'Glad I found you. I've been looking everywhere.' He saw Lily and smiled. 'Hey Lily,' he said politely. 'How were your holidays?'

'They were great, thanks Remus,' she replied. She patted the seat next to her, motioning for Remus to sit.

'Why isn't she that nice to the rest of us?' James asked the other two.

Remus stayed in conversation with Lily for the majority of the train trip back to Hogsmeade. The other boys only got a few disapproving looks from her, as they planned their term's pranks.