Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter or Harry Potter related copyrights.
Finally the prank was revealed. Instead of chicken or steak and vegetables, ice cream of various flavors, and a wide variety of toppings appeared in the large serving bowls. The students cheered as they cast aside their forks and dinner knives in favor of their spoons. There were many calls of praise and gratitude shouted the Marauders' way as the kids and teens dug into their "dinner" with enthusiasm.
However the happiness was not long lasting. Only twenty minutes into the meal something went terribly wrong.
Mina Wettle is a Slytherin third year. She was far enough behind the Marauders that she was rarely part of the familiar group that the Marauders loved to attack, yet she had been at Hogwarts long enough to have been affected by their house-wide pranks often enough. And still she and her best friend Annie Dells, didn't hate the Marauders or Gryffindors in general. Neither of them were considering joining Voldemort and they weren't even purebloods; in fact, they were both less than halfbloods.
Mina's kind attitude towards the four Gryffindor seventh year boys changed that April first.
She was just enjoying her ice cream and chatting happily to Annie, when suddenly she felt a sharp pain on her forearm. She dropped her spoon and she shrieked in pain as she saw her dinner knife edged in blood, her blood, she soon realized as more flowed out of the shallow wound on her arm and soaked her sleeve.
Within seconds, Mina's cries were echoed around the Slytherin table. All of the knives had suddenly become animated and were now flitting around the students, inflicting the shallow cuts upon them. None of these cuts were life-threatening, but you wouldn't know that by the way the fear-filled children cried out.
The rest of the Great Hall looked on in shock, spoons frozen in midair, as the besieged students dove under the table, scrambled off the benches, tripping over each other in their haste to get away, and tried to cover their heads and faces with their arms.
The teachers leapt out of their chairs and immediately sprang into action, shouting a variety of spells. Within moments all of the knives had been frozen and the students were free from danger.
However, the night was far from over. Students everywhere were crying and clutching their cuts, having given up any pretenses of being brave and fearless in front of their peers. The teachers and Madame Pomfrey hustled down from the staff table to begin healing and comforting their bleeding charges.
By the time they had reached the students, Lily and James were already among the terrified Slytherins. Lily shouted a simple ealing charm to James as she mended the shoulder of a timid first year.
James was about to carry out Lily's instructions when his wand flew from his hand and landed firmly in Professor McGonagall's fist.
"Go to my office now Potter and if you wander elsewhere you will never graduate," she uttered, the fury evident in her tone. "That goes for you three as well," she continued as she whirled around to face the Gryffindor table and disarmed Sirius, Remus and Peter as well.
James began to protest, but before he could say a single word, McGonagall cut him off saying, "If I hear a single word out of your mouth Potter you and all of your dreams of going into the Auror Academy will be out of this school."
The Marauders needed no other warning. None of the boys could meet Lily's gaze as they practically ran from the room.
After only a moment's pause, Lily turned back to the hurt children in front of her and whispered soothing words to them, carefully healing their cuts as she went. She refused to think of anything except muttering the same charm and comforting words over and over again; she knew that if she let her thoughts wander she wouldn't make it through this ordeal.
At one point Lily was about to heal a Slytherin second year girl when Severus Snape beat her to it. Lily looked on as Snape muttered a few words to the girl and then gently rolled up her sleeve to mend her arm. Lily didn't know what Snape said to the girl, but she saw the relieved look on the child's face and she was reminded of a boy she once knew, a boy who was kind to a red headed girl in a park long ago.
After healing the girl, Severus stood up and sensing Lily's gaze, turned around. Their gazes locked. Lily quickly moved closer to Snape as she saw the numerous cuts that lined his face. Predictably, the attacks fell on him the hardest.
Severus was about to shy away from Lily's touch, but Lily grabbed his arm firmly and began to seal up the cuts.
After she was finished Severus just nodded to her; she nodded back. Then they went their separate ways.
By this time most of the Slytherins had been healed. Several of the older students from the other houses had quickly jumped in to help as soon as they recovered from their shock. Now Lily and the others were just handing out calming potions that Madame Pomfrey and some students had retrieved from the Hospital Wing.
"You'll be alright," said Lily quietly as she handed a cup to a small first year girl.
"Why did they do this to me? I never did anything to them," the young girl asked Lily, leftover tears glistening in her big brown eyes.
"Who?" asked Lily, afraid of the answer.
"Those Gryffindor boys, everyone is saying it was them, that they did it because they hate us. But what did I do to make them hate me?" The little girl's tears came freely now; she had been through a lot in the last half-hour.
"They don't hate you," said Lily.
"Come on Sylvia," said a fourth year boy as he jerked her up from the ground. "You can't trust Gryffindors," he added rudely as he led the little girl away from Lily quickly.
"Miss Evans," said Professor McGonagall stiffly as she approached Lily. "Please ask the prefects to escort all students back to their common rooms and then go up to the Headmaster's office. He should be arriving back from his meeting shortly, and when he does please inform him to meet me in my office immediately. However, do not disclose tonight's events to him; I would rather brief him myself. The password is 'Peppermint sticks'."
Lily nodded once and went off to do the Deputy Headmistress' bidding.
--
A few floors away James was anxiously pacing in McGonagall's office. Peter was sitting nervously in a stiff chair wooden chair, jumping at the slightest noise. Remus was leaning against one of the stone walls, staring out into space and trying not to think. Sirius was sitting in the chair next to Peter, his elbows resting on his thighs and his face lying on his palms.
"After all that we've done we're going to expelled a month before our N.E.WT.s for something we didn't even do," Peter said, breaking the heavy silence.
"This is going to go far beyond expulsion," Remus stated dejectedly. As much as he had tried to avoid thinking, he couldn't help it. "Those students were all bodily injured; their parents will be notified and they won't rest until the people who hurt their children are arrested and thrown into Azkaban."
"They can't do that, can they?" asked Peter nervously. Previously he had only been frightened of explaining his expulsion to his parents, now he was facing a whole new level of fear.
Sirius laughed bitterly and without mirth or warmth. "We're all of age now; we can all be arrested and tried in court. And if I know anything about Slytherin parents, they won't rest until four uppity and devilishly handsome Gryffindors such as ourselves are locked away."
"Shut it all of you," growled James. "They won't believe that we did this. We'll just explain ourselves and they'll…"
"Yeah that will work," retorted Sirius sarcastically. "Yes Professor, we pulled all sorts of pranks all day today, but no, we didn't do that last one. Yes we have done terrible and despicable things to the Slytherins over the past six years and we hate their guts, but no, we didn't try to cause them bodily harm tonight," said Sirius mockingly.
James couldn't think of anything to say in return, so he just resumed his frantic pacing.
After many more minutes of oppressive silence Professor McGonagall swept into the room and sat down behind her desk. Quickly James and Remus joined Sirius and Peter in the chairs in front of her desk.
Silence still reigned until James said, "Professor if you'll…"
"Not another syllable Potter. I don't want to have to testify against you," she said stiffly.
The silence was only broken again when the door opened to reveal Lily.
Without looking at any of her classmates, Lily said to McGonagall, "All of the students have returned to their common rooms. The fifth and sixth year prefects are stationed in their common rooms to prevent anyone from leaving and the seventh year prefects are patrolling the hallways. Professor Dumbledore also asked me to inform you that he would be down momentarily, right after he changed out of his formal robes."
"Thank you Miss Evans," said McGonagall. "You have gone above and beyond your position as Head Girl tonight and I appreciate your extra efforts. Ten points to Gryffindor."
"Thank you," said Lily as she turned to leave the office.
"Lily wait!" called James. "We didn't do it! You have to believe me!"
"Not another word Potter! Sit back down or risk expulsion here and now!" shouted Professor McGonagall simultaneously.
"Sit down James," said Lily softly as her hand rested on the doorknob. "I'll talk to you later."
Numbly James sat down and closed his eyes in defeat.
The moment Dumbledore appeared in the doorway, curiosity written in his features, McGonagall got up from her chair and the two of them went out into the Transfiguration classroom to talk privately. Although the door had been closed as well as locked, the boys could still make out a few words of Minerva's very loud tirade against them. They knew the situation wasn't promising.
"It was nice knowing ya mates," muttered Sirius.
"So… everybody up for being bums together?" asked Peter softly.
"I call a cardboard box," said Remus.
"Hope you guys will have fun on the streets without me because I am fairly sure my dad is going to kill me," said James very quietly.
"If we aren't incarcerated at that point, we'll go to your funeral," offered Peter.
There was no response because at that moment, a very serious looking Headmaster and his grave right-hand woman walked back into the office containing the very scared boys.
"I would like to talk to you each separately. I will begin with Mr. Pettigrew," said Dumbledore.
The other three boys and Professor McGonagall left a quivering Peter Pettigrew and went out into the Transfiguration classroom.
"Please describe tonight's events in your own words," requested the Headmaster in a neutral tone once the door had been closed and a silencing spell was on the room.
"During dinner some of the knives suddenly came to life and began attacking students," said Peter as he looked down at his hands in his lap. "That's all I saw, because I left the Great Hall soon after everything started."
"And was there any pattern to the students attacked?" asked Dumbledore pointedly.
"I can't be sure because I might have left before things had really ended, but from what I saw it might have been only the Slytherins. But," added Peter quickly. "I wasn't paying really close attention. Other houses might have been affected as well and I just didn't see, or maybe it happened after I left."
"I see," mused Dumbledore. "I'm going to get to the point here Peter; did you have any hand in this… incident?"
Peter put on his perfected expression of surprise. "Of course not!" he stuttered. "I, we, would never do something like that! People got really hurt!"
"Have you heard anyone else talking about who might have done this awful thing?" pressed Dumbledore.
"No," replied Peter honestly as he twisted his hands nervously. "I was just as much in shock as everyone else."
"Look at me Peter," ordered Dumbledore firmly.
Peter snapped his head up and his blue eyes met Dumbledore's. Albus stared intently at his student for a long moment and then said, "You may go into the other room now and please send Mr. Lupin in."
Peter nodded in relief and jumped out of his seat. In his haste to get out of the room Peter nearly tripped over himself and knocked a chair over. He quickly righted it and exited the office hurriedly.
Remus didn't take his eyes off of the floor as he sat down in the hot seat in front of Dumbledore.
"Your side of the story please Mr. Lupin."
Remus sighed and then began. "Well to start this all off I just want to say that I as well as James, Peter and Sirius were in no way responsible for the attack on the Slytherins tonight. What I saw was that, without any obvious keyword or anyone saying an incantation, midway through dinner knives rose into the air and began to swipe at students. There was a lot of blood, but it didn't appear that the wounds were very deep or grave. The teachers quickly got the situation under control, but many students were harmed first."
"Anything else?"
"Yes," said Remus as he looked up. "Everyone, including Professor McGonagall and probably yourself, think that we did this because of our past record. And I would just like to point out that none of our other pranks today were harmful or even specifically targeted one house. In fact, we haven't done anything nasty to the Slytherins in a long span of months and now regret the foolish and terrible things we did in years past."
"A well organized speech Mr. Lupin," commented Dumbledore.
Remus' eyes narrowed. "It's all true."
Professor Dumbledore didn't respond to Remus' comment, but instead changed the subject. "Do you have any idea of whom the blame for organizing this attack should fall upon?"
"No," said Remus curtly. He had wracked his brain while Peter had been interviewed, trying to think of who could have pulled off such an elaborate scheme, but had come up empty-handed.
"I see," said Dumbledore calmly.
Remus couldn't remember Dumbledore ever not sticking up for him and his friends, believing in their innocence even when it wasn't deserved, and giving them far less punishments than McGonagall would have liked to dish out. Then again, this time it wasn't a childish prank that was in question; students had really gotten hurt tonight and it was apparent that there were only malicious intentions behind the act.
Remus decided to try one more thing to help his case.
"Professor," began Remus slowly. "You've known me for almost seven years now. You know that even though once a month I don't care who or what I hurt and destroy, every other day of my life I am incapable of doing something like charming knives to attack innocent little kids!"
The old Headmaster sighed and then said tiredly, "I know Remus. I know you and your friends and I desperately want to believe that you had no part in this tragedy. In a short time I'm sure I will be convinced of this fact. However, I don't think that I will be able to contain this matter. I think that the Ministry will soon become involved; children as well as myself will be writing home to the parents and the parents will demand that the culprits be found and face punishment."
Remus sat dumbfounded. His worst fears were being confirmed. Everyone thought it was them; doubtless the Slytherins, especially the older ones, would write home saying that.
"I will do everything in my power to try and avoid the Ministry's involvement, but I don't think I can hold them off for long. So I suggest to you and your friends that you do some undercover work and find some evidence to use to prove your innocence," continued Dumbledore.
"If they're arrested James and Sirius will be kicked out of every auror training program before they can even start," mumbled Remus.
"That occurred to me as well," said Dumbledore sadly. "Even if they are found innocent the fact that they have some sort of record will prevent them from entering the program. I regret that I must tell you this as well, but I have to temporarily suspend you from your Prefect duties."
"James isn't going to be Head Boy anymore either," said Remus as more of a fact than a question as he took off his badge.
"I'm afraid not."
"I suppose you want to talk to Sirius or James now," said Remus, his voice cracking as he struggled to hold himself together.
"Yes, send in Sirius please," said Albus, trying to put off the worst news for last.
Sirius walking into the office with his shoulders back and his head held high. His parents would have been proud; his body language didn't convey anything except arrogance and calmness. This was Sirius' fallback behavior; when everything was falling apart he retreated to the basics, what he had been taught since he could walk.
Before his Headmaster could get in a single word Sirius said, "We didn't do it and I don't know who did but I will find out and they will pay."
"Please take a seat Mr. Black."
"I don't see the need; I have just given you all the information I have."
Albus calmly surveyed the surly teen over his glasses. "You can't think of anyone who would do this to get you in trouble?"
Sirius almost laughed. "I can think of more people in that category than I have fingers and toes. The question is just which one, and as I said earlier, I intend to find out."
Then Sirius turned around and made to leave. His hand was on the doorknob when Dumbledore's voice startled him.
"What will you do when the Ministry comes to interview you? They may not understand your surliness and unwillingness to cooperate. Most likely they will see you as just another Black, rude, superior and not afraid to flirt with the lines of madness, legality, and cruelty. Being identified with your family, especially at this time in the war, will not help you."
Sirius gripped the doorknob much tighter than was necessary.
"I will not let some snot-nosed Voldemort worshipper ruin my future or my friends' futures. Especially not James'," as Sirius brought up his surrogate brother his tone shifted from loud and furious to soft and contemplative. "He's wanted to be an auror since before I met him. He's always wanted to be the Head Auror. Did you know that not one Potter has ever been Head Auror? Out of almost one hundred of 'em not one has gotten to the top.
"And Remus. He's going to have a hard enough time finding and keeping a job as it is. He was rejected from the Auror and Healing Academies only a few weeks after he applied, while the rest of us still haven't gotten notice about our acceptances. Having a criminal record will make things almost impossible for him.
"And then there's Peter. His poor mother will have a nervous breakdown when she hears about this. She's always dreamed of him being Minister of Magic one day…"
"Send Mr. Potter in please," said Dumbledore once Sirius' voice had trailed off.
Sirius just nodded once, built his walls back up and marched proudly into the Transfiguration classroom. There he just looked at James once and nodded. Words weren't needed.
James sighed and slowly got up from his desk. He walked to the office with the weight of the world, and all of his hopes and dreams on his shoulders. The many questions and worries that were flying around his brain had completely drained him of his usual energy and cockiness. He knew he couldn't just talk or smile his way out of this one.
James made it to the office and even managed to slump into a chair without breaking down; he thought he was doing rather well.
"Mr. Potter," began Dumbledore unsurely. He didn't want to hurt the distressed teen in front of him, but it was his duty to inform him of the situation. "A serious crime was committed tonight; and so I must inform the Ministry and also the parents of the threatened students. Most likely this will result in a full-scale investigation. As of right now you and your friends are the only suspects and many people are convinced of your guilt already. I believe that you are innocent, but soon this will be out of my hands and my opinion won't matter."
"I understand Professor," said James maturely.
"There is one more matter I must tell you about. I'm afraid that I must confiscate your Head Boy badge. For the time being I'm afraid that you won't be able to enjoy any of your privileges or carry out any of your duties. Unless Miss Evans has need of a partner to help her with the duties, I won't appoint someone to replace you."
For a moment James just stared at Professor Dumbledore. He knew that it was possible he might have his badge taken away, but the reality was so much worse. Numbly he struggled to unpin the badge from his robes. With shaking fingers he finally got it undone and placed the badge on the desk in front of him next to Remus'.
"I hope you understand James. I can't have a student in a position of authority when other students think that he might try to hurt them."
"You know I wouldn't do something like this, right Professor?" asked James, his voice pleading for Dumbledore to trust him.
"I would very much like to believe that Mr. Potter," replied Dumbledore. "Please ask Professor McGonagall to come in now. We must discuss what is to be done with the four of you."
Too tired to fight James just got up and went to deliver the message and then went to sit with his friends. No one spoke a word; they were all too caught up in their own concerns and burdens.
Some time later, none of the boys could really be sure how long they had been sitting in silence, the two Professors emerged from the office.
"We have decided that the four of you will return to your dormitory tonight, and only to your dormitory. Any side trips will result in immediate expulsion. Tomorrow, Professor McGonagall will escort you from your dormitory to this classroom at six a.m. The House Elves will bring you breakfast here," Professor McGonagall told them sternly. "You will spend the entire day in detention under my supervision. We will see where things go from there. Now I will escort you back to Gryffindor Tower."
As expected the journey was a miserable one. Once McGonagall locked the boys in their dormitory their moods didn't improve. They mechanically went through the steps and got ready for bed. Then they all lay down on their respective beds and tried not to let their pain and fears crush them like boulders.
"Prongs?" asked Peter.
"Yeah Wormtail?" answered James quietly.
"I don't want to go to Azkaban."
James chuckled a little, except it sounded more like he was choking on his own saliva. "Me neither. We'll make it out of this guys; we're survivors."
"I think we finally found our match," said Remus glumly.
"Maybe," answered James. He couldn't work up much more hope than that.
"At least we'll all be in Azkaban together," said Sirius, speaking up for the first time. "Do you think they'll let us share a cell?"
"Then it wouldn't be so different from now," said James.
Remus said pessimistically, "Except we'd probably be sleeping on the cold stone floor."
"And we'd only get gray mush for every meal," contributed Peter.
"And we would all have to share a toilet," added Sirius.
"Oh the horror!" quipped James. "Not that!"
Even though it was dark in the room, James could tell that his friends were smiling.
"No matter what we'll still be the Marauders," said Sirius after a brief silence. "No one and nothing can ever change that."
"Good night my felon brothers," joked James.
"Sleep tight and don't let the dementors bite," said Remus.
"See you guys in the morning," said Peter with a yawn. His bed squeaked as he rolled over onto his side.
Soon James could hear Remus and Sirius getting comfortable in their beds as well, and before he knew it he could hear their even breathing and Peter's snoring and he was left alone with his troubles. However he was not truly alone. Only five minutes after Remus had drifted off into sleep the door to the boys' dormitory opened and light spilled into the room, illuminating James' bed which was closest.
Squinting because of the sudden light and his lack of glasses, James struggled to see who the visitor was.
"Lily?" he asked in a whisper.
The figure closed the door behind herself and walked over to James bed. She sat down at the edge and handed James his glasses from his nightstand.
"How'd you get in here? McGonagall put like ten spells on that door to keep us in here," said James.
"She put spells on to make sure you couldn't get out, but she didn't do anything to prevent other people from coming in," answered Lily.
"So how are you going to get out of here then?" asked James with a smirk.
That stopped Lily in her tracks. Sheepishly she admitted, "I guess I didn't think that part through."
"I'm glad you're here though," James told her.
When Peter started to stir in his sleep, James pulled the curtains around his bed and put a soundproof charm on them. Lily readjusted herself so that now she was totally inside the small space.
"Why are you here though?" James wanted to know.
"I told you I would come and talk to you."
"I didn't think you would. You seemed so… mad at me back in the Transfiguration classroom," said James softly.
Lily paused for a moment and then admitted, "I was kind of upset, maybe even angry at first. But then I finally took some time and thought about it."
"And?"
Lily scooted across the bed and sat up against the headboard next to James. "I realized that I know you and I know that you aren't an evil person. So if you tell me that you didn't do it, I'll believe you wholeheartedly."
"I didn't have any part in the attack on the Slytherins last night and neither did any of the other Marauders," stated James firmly.
"Okay then. Case closed," said Lily as she put her head on James' shoulder.
"Not quite," sighed James. "We still don't know who did it or really even why."
"But that doesn't matter. If they can't prove it was you then you can't get in trouble."
"Too late for that," muttered James.
Lily sat upright. "What happened?"
"I'm not Head Boy anymore."
"Oh Merlin," said Lily in disbelief.
"Dumbledore said it's only a matter of time before the Ministry gets involved. There will be an investigation and everyone they talk too will tell them that the Marauders are responsible," predicted James.
"It will be okay," Lily tried to reassure James.
"No Lily, I don't think it will. My parents are going to kill me for this, and even if they didn't I might as well die with my dreams of becoming an Auror," James told her.
Lily settled her head on James' shoulder again and began to soothingly run her hand over his arm lightly.
"I know this isn't much of a consolation, but I'll still love you no matter what happens."
James breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of Lily's shampoo. It was a comforting smell, not one of those really girly fruity scents; it just smelled like shampoo.
"This might go very badly," James whispered. He was afraid to talk any louder because he was sure that Lily would be able to hear the fear in his voice then.
"We'll get through it," Lily said confidently as she craned her neck to look at her distraught boyfriend.
James was suddenly struck by how Lily referred to his problem by saying that they would get through it. He often thought of them as a team, them against the world, but he had no idea Lily felt the same way.
"We?" he asked before he had time to think about it more.
Lily blushed and broke eye contact with James. "Well sure," she stammered. "I mean… I thought… well of course I'll try and help you… and the other guys…"
"I love you Lily Evans," James whispered into her ear.
"I love you too James Potter."
For a few moments the couple just sat in an easy silence. James was concentrating solely on playing with Lily's hair, but her thoughts were going a kilometer a minute.
"Are you scared?" Lily eventually asked.
James' fingers paused and shakily he answered, "More so than I have ever been in my life. Well except for that time you were captured by Death Eaters… and when Moony was attacking you… and when Sirius was really hurt that other full moon… and just about every time my dad gets called in to go fight… and that time when I was five and my uncle told me that there were giants under my bed…"
Lily didn't laugh at James' attempt to lighten the situation. "You don't have to pretend to be brave with me James."
"I don't know what else to do; pretending is all I have left. I feel as if I'm going to fall into a thousand pieces. How can a life fall apart in one minute because of one thing? It doesn't seem possible," moaned James.
"It will get better James…"
James interrupted Lily, "No Lily, this can't possibly get any better. My life is over. I can't handle this!"
"Shhh…" said Lily soothingly as she wrapped her arms around James' torso.
"I wish I would just die in my sleep tonight!" proclaimed James dramatically as he fought the feelings and the tears that were finally coming to the surface. "I don't think I can face tomorrow or any of the days after it."
"Look at me James!" commanded Lily when James turned his head away from her so that she wouldn't see the tears he could no longer hold back. "First off, you can cry in front of me; I don't think any less of you as a man, boyfriend or person. And secondly you are James Christopher Potter. You will get through this and everything will be okay."
"It won't! My parents will hate me, no one will ever hire me, that is if I don't go to Azkaban, and you'll find someone else who isn't a convict or a bum on the streets."
"I refuse to argue with you when you are so clearly being irrational," said Lily stubbornly.
"I am not being irrational! Every school vacation my dad would lecture me about all the pranks I pulled and the detentions I got and then he would tell me that I had better not do anything stupid enough to land myself in Azkaban because he wouldn't even try to stop his coworkers from locking me up forever," said James brokenly.
Lily smiled at James softly. "There isn't anything you could ever do that would make your parents love you any less. They love you a lot more than you realize; as an outsider looking in I was blown away by their affection for you. Your dad probably only told you that stuff because he was angry and he wanted to scare you into not getting into trouble anymore. He would combust before he could ever disown you or hate you."
"He's going to jump to conclusions and he won't even let me explain," said James bitterly. "He never listens to me."
"But your mum listens to you and your dad listens to your mum, so that will all work out," said Lily logically.
"I just don't think I can face tomorrow. The best part of it will be the all-day detention with McGonagall who thinks that we're all evil murderers," said James as he finally re-collected himself and wiped his eyes dry.
"There have been many, many nights where I have kept myself awake thinking the exact same thing, but I've discovered that no matter how much you wish the sun just won't rise again, it always does. And somehow, although it might not seem like it will ever happen, the sun sets again and you've gotten through the day. Just take it one day at a time and you'll be fine," advised Lily in a soft voice.
After she yawned, James asked, "So how are you getting out of here again?"
"Fly out the window?" asked Lily tiredly.
"No can do, McGonagall locked those too, even the ones in the bathroom."
"I guess I'll just have to stay then," said Lily without any disappointment whatsoever as she made herself more comfortable on James' bed.
"And what exactly is McGonagall going to say when she finds you here tomorrow morning?" wondered James as he settled down next to his girlfriend and pulled the blanket up to cover her as well.
"Dunno, don't care," said Lily as she yawned again.
"Use the invisibility cloak," said James. "And sneak out behind us. It's just underneath my mattress on your side of the bed."
"Okay," said Lily sleepily. "Sounds like a good plan. Try and get some sleep. I love you."
"I love you too," James whispered into Lily's ear. Then he kissed the top of her head and put his arm around her waist.
"Ummm… hang on a second," murmured Lily. She slipped out from under James' arm and off of the bed. After a minute she scurried back under the covers with far less clothing.
"You're driving me crazy here Lily," moaned James as his body responded to the fact that his girlfriend was only wearing very short shorts and a tank top. "This got us in trouble last time, remember?"
"I remember it all being worth it," said Lily.
"Why do you wear shorts under your uniform anyways?" asked James curiously.
"It's a habit. I think all the girls in our year and the years around us started wearing shorts after you immature boys started using magic to get our skirts to blow upwards so you could see our knickers," explained Lily.
"Did you hide your clothes?"
"I shoved them under the bed."
"Good."
"Now get some sleep."
"I'm not making any promises."
Lily didn't respond and James could feel her breathing become shallow and even. Surprisingly, by thinking only of the strangely intoxicating scent of Lily's shampoo, James was able to drift off into a somewhat peaceful sleep. However, the following day was anything but peaceful.