Plot: The infamous Marauders weren't alone in their love for pranking. In fact, they often had their butts kicked by a bunch of girls. Now, this is it. Seventh year. Four girls, four boys. Two opposing pranking teams. One hell of a battle to be won.
Disclaimer: Sad as it may be, I am not J.K. Rowling in disguise, and therefore I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters or themes involved. (I do, however, own Jamie, Hannah and Regan and most elements of this specific plot—so I'd appreciate it if no poaching occurred. Thanks.)
WARNING (please read): This is the unedited version, meaning I wrote it a few years ago when my skill level sucked and I had no idea how to properly structure a story. So if you'll please ignore the terrible grammar, dodgy sentence structure, OOC-ness, plot holes, canonical inconsistencies and general immaturity of this whole chapter while I plough my way through all this editing work, that would be greatly appreciated. :) I'm in the process of fixing up all the chapters right now, but you'll have to be patient, because (as you can probably tell just by reading a couple of sentences below) fixing this stuff up takes a lot of time and effort.
Chapter 12 – Come Morning
"I see... I see..."
"Shut up, Peter. You know you're never going to get anything out of it."
Remus Lupin sat on one of Professor Trelawney's squishy bean bag chairs, his head swimming in the sickening humidity of the place and his breathing somewhat incapacitated by the horrible incense that drafted all throughout the classroom. He slumped his head onto the table, disgruntled not only because of the hideous circumstances, but also because of some uneasy thoughts that currently occupied most of the available space in his mind.
"I am so!" Peter protested, narrowing his eyes at the crystal ball in front of him, as if urging an image out of the transparent object.
"Stop it," Remus said in a monotone. "What are you trying to do? Glare at it until it shows you your future?"
Peter's face fell into a defeated pout, and he leaned into the back of the armchair in which he was seated. "Well I don't see you trying," he said angrily at his friend.
"That's because I don't care. Divination is the most futile subject this school offers."
"Then why did you take it this year?"
"Don't you remember, Wormtail? You forced me into it because you didn't want to be alone in this class."
Peter's face turned bright red, but he didn't bother to deny it. Instead, he waited a moment and then changed the subject to something entirely different.
"So," he said, his voice acidicly taunting. "It looks like little Miss Love is in love with you!"
Remus turned his head to cast a dark glare at the boy. "That's the lamest thing I've ever heard," he said. "Even from you."
"It's true, though."
"No, it's not."
Remus turned away from Peter to avoid snapping at his friend, who was clearly asking for it anyways.
In actual fact, Peter's claim couldn't be far off. The Marauders knew that the girls had been under the influence of Veritaserum the previous night, and a potion so strong couldn't have produced even the slightest fib. He remembered Jamie's shy words – spoken so innocently, and yet producing the most devastating outcome that could possibly result. "I... I might – I mean, I guess I – sort of... like... Remus?" had been her fateful answer to Regan's question.
Remus shuddered, not out of disgust, but out of confusion and despair. He had always wondered how long it would take for the secret to come out – the horribly non-compliant and totally rebellious attraction between a Marauder and a Rogue. It had only been a matter of time before somebody would start getting suspicious – but Remus hadn't expected for the confirmation to come from Jamie. He had been more worried about showing signs himself.
It had started near the beginning of sixth year, which happened to be around the same time Jamie claimed to have started feeling differently for him. He had always admired her for her beauty and intelligence, but things had changed in sixth year. He had started to look at her in a different way – and although he had tried hard to push these thoughts from his minds, fearing the additional conflict between the two groups that this might arouse, he couldn't help it. She seemed so sweet, so innocent, and yet so strong. In a way he looked at her as somebody he should protect, but in another he looked up to her heartiness.
The painful clash tore him apart. His best friends were more important to him than anything else, and he knew that they did not respect the Rogues, or any form of communication with them. But another part of him saw Jamie and wanted to push everything aside for her, including the pressure of James and Sirius.
Ugh, he thought to himself with inward doubt. What am I doing? This isn't right. I'm stupid for thinking this way.
Remus turned to face Peter again, breaking free of his uneasy reverie. He was met with a pathetic, girlish outburst into a singsong: "Moony's got a girlfriend!" swaying from side to side with mock happiness. Remus scowled.
"You're pathetic." He scowled.
"Boys!" Professor Synia Trelawney drifted over to them, a reprimanding look on her face in spite of the mystified gaze she held with the crystal ball in her knobbly hand.
Remus sighed. Peter put on a pretentious smile, feigning innocence.
"Do not disrupt the cleansing vibes!" Trelawney sang out in a wavery voice, clutching the ball with both hands now. Remus and Peter said nothing, and she scuttled away, distractedly muttering "Oh yes, the midnight sun! Exactly as I predicted. Must be..."
When the ludicrous professor was out of earshot, Peter started singing again, barely quieter than before.
"Would you shut up?" Remus demanded, utterly annoyed.
"You have to admit, it fits."
"No," Remus corrected. "I have to repeat myself: you're pathetic. Maybe Regan was right about you."
He hadn't meant to draw that touchy card, but he was so fed up with Peter that it seemed the only thing that would push him into silence for a sufficient length of time. As it turned out, he succeeded in silencing him, but only for a moment or two.
"She didn't mean it," Peter muttered quietly, his face tinted crimson with embarrassment.
"Pete, she'd taken the truth potion."
The boy said nothing. Remus sighed guiltily.
"You've got it bad for her, Wormtail."
"I have not!" Peter shot back defensively, scowling.
"You have so."
"I hav–"
"Boys!" Trelawney was at their table all of a sudden, swooping in on them like a bat. She brandished her crystal ball and stared hard into it with a wild expression on her face, but then her tone turned mocking and hard. "I see your new table." She tore her gaze away from the object and pointed dramatically over at a table closer to the door.
Remus got up obediently, gathered his things together and slung his bag over his shoulder. He took one step toward his new seat, which satisfied the professor enough to send her away, and then turned back to Peter.
"Stop trying to deny it," he said. "It's obvious – don't look at me like that – but if I were you, I'd try not to be such a pushover. She'll never have any respect for you if you keep letting her get away with sending you bonnets in the mail."
Peter turned away dejectedly to stare out the window, and Remus knew he had gotten through to his friend on some level. But he still had issues to sort through himself – more than just the one he had so recently been fretting about.
James angrily tore up his parchment and pounded the desk hard with his fist, discarding yet another attempted letter of apology. His mood was at an all time low in terms of optimism. His day had been less than satisfactory; after last night, things had gone from bad to worse. The Rogues avoided them like the plague, quickly disappearing from the Heads' room before the Marauders were even awake and taking all of their things with them. Both Lily and Hannah hadn't been at any classes so far, and Lily hadn't returned to the Heads' Room either – for good reason, too. He knew she was right not to want to talk to him after the way he and the others had treated her and her friends. The emotional damage they had done was somewhat irreparable.
Aside from this, James seemed to be having a streak of bad luck. McGonagall had scolded him in Transfiguration for working on one of his earlier attempts at written reconciliation with Lily (he had planned to give it to her sometime before their Heads' Meeting that night – if he could find her), and had confiscated the little piece of parchment, leaving him to start all over again. He had tripped on the way up the stairs to the dormitory, smashing three bottles of ink and painfully stubbing his big toe. Lastly, he had overheard Regan and Jamie talking about Lily. "I've never seen Lily so sick," Jamie had said worriedly. Taking this in a metaphorical context, he had assumed they were talking about how fed up with him she was after what his best mate had done to one of hers. He wondered if karma was acting on his and his friends' unforgivable actions.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang, startling James and causing him to jump so badly that he toppled backwards off of his chair, hitting his head on the solid ground. "Ouch!" he said, getting to his feet.
Sirius took one step through the now open door, and turned around as if to inspect the damage. "Cool," he said casually, a lopsided grin on his features. "Didn't think that would work."
"Padfoot, what the hell are you doing here? More importantly, how did you get in?"
"Man, Prongsie, Dumbledore's gotta get his act together on these door-locking charms."
"Yeah," James agreed, a little irritated. "If someone as dumb as you can get past them."
"I'm hurt by that." Sirius put on a mocking pout.
James rubbed his sore head and walked over to the door. One was swinging, uneven on its hinges – the second, on the other hand, had fallen to the ground, and was lying in several cracked pieces.
"Padfoot, you idiot." he grumbled, tugging out his wand. "Reparo." He pointed at the broken bits and they arranged themselves perfectly back into shape, placing themselves back in their proper location. Then he turned his wand to the other door, which swiftly returned to a straight position where it hung.
"What exactly did you do to it?" James asked, still slightly bewildered.
"A very nice exploding charm, if I may say so myself. Would you like me to demonstrate?"
"No, thanks."
Wandering over to the couches by the fire, James wondered dully, "Why are you here?"
"No reason." Sirius shrugged, and threw himself onto one of the sofas, propping his feet up on the arm.
James laughed weakly. "Have you decided to apologize to Hannah about last night?"
Sirius's wince was quite noticeable as he shifted his position on the couch uncomfortably at the question. "Why do we have to talk about that?"
"'Cause you made a right mess of things, Padfoot, that's why."
Sirius said nothing. He grabbed a chocolate frog that had was laying randomly on the coffee table and unwrapped it eagerly, presumably to distract himself from the topic and put off anwering James's query for as long as possible.
"Do you always resort to chocolate in a difficult situation?" James asked, shaking his head in disbelief. Sirius made a what-do-you-mean face while he chewed vigorously on the chocolate frog. James sighed. "You're going to have to talk to her sometime."
"Why?" Sirius protested, although there was the faintest hint of surrender in his voice. "We never talk to the Rogues – civilly, at least."
"That was the case before you went and got Hannah all down on herself."
"She's got issues. I'm not the one making her depressed."
"You're making everything a hundred times worse, mate," James said, getting off the couch. Sirius didn't reply until a few moments later, when James was approaching the staircase to his dormitory.
"Say, Padfoot, do you think Milton likes chocolate?"
James froze, a baffled and slightly amused smile rising on his lips. "Oh dear."
I hope that wasn't too bad. I wrote it all in about an hour, so it may have been a little rushed. Stay tuned for Chapter 13 when I decide to conquer my fear of that number. What will probably happen is that I'll write Chapter 14 straight afterwards, to avoid staying on that number for any length of time... then again, the number four is also lucky in some countries. All the better for you – three hurried chapters in a row!
If you'd like to encourage me to get through this unlucky chapter, a review might just do the trick ;)
NOTE: This chapter has been edited slightly since it was uploaded. The updates aren't major – I just needed to change a few little things so that it tied nicely into the next chapter, which will be uploaded shortly.
ANOTHER NOTE: This chapter has been changed AGAIN. Thank you to Ohevesca for pointing out the plot hole. Just so that everyone else understands, once again I had to alter the part from James's point of view because it just didn't make sense. I managed to contradict myself completely by saying that Lily and Hannah hadn't been at classes, but also that McGonagall had flashed James's note of apology plainly in front of Lily's eyes. Unless Lily's eyeballs were in the Transfiguration classroom while her body was elsewhere, that didn't work (evidently). So I changed it. It might be of some use to read that part yet again.
Sorry about all this.