Disclaimer: I own a Lego Quiddditch pitch, but not Harry Potter or the songs mentioned in this chapter :)
Remus, Lily, James, Sirius, and Marlene got settled into a carriage after the boys insisted on taking their things for them. Marlene and Lily sat on one side and Marlene whispered in Lily's ear.
"You're going to have to talk to him, Lily."
"Not now," Lily hissed.
"Where's Wormy?" James wondered as the carriage started to move.
"I don't know, he kind of disappeared when the train stopped," Remus said, peering outside.
Lily looked outside as well. Scanning the edge of the Forbidden Forest, she saw a dark figure standing there, seemingly looking at the five Gryffindors.
"Who is that?" she asked, staring at the dark figure. James turned around fast and Lily blinked.
"Who?" Lily searched for the spot where she had seen the figure, but it was gone.
"I thought I saw... Nothing," Everyone was loking at her now. "Uh... so what prank do you guys have planned for tonight?" Lily asked, trying to change the subject. It worked, and the Marauders grinned mischievously at each other.
"Now, Lilyflower, you know we can't divulge our secrets," James teased her.
"Just make sure you don't eat anything chocolate," Remus advised.
"Moony! You just ruined it!" Sirius whined.
"No, I didn't I told two people what not to eat so they wouldn't be subject to it."
"And it's not like we're going to tell the whole school not to eat chocolate," Marlene pointed out.
"Come on, Pads, it's fine," James said bracingly. "Last Marauder Welcome Back prank! Get pumped!"
"Yeah!" Sirius yelled, standing up and facing the carriages behind them. "MARAUDERS '78!"
Most people looked at him curiously, but there were a few scattered cheers from fellow seventh years.
"Sirius, sit down," Marlene said, rolling her eyes. He turned around and acted as though he just realized she was there.
"Oh, Marlene, my love!" he exclaimed, dropping to his knees before her. "Run away with me! Run away with me and you won't have a care in the world!"
"Alright. But only to the front door," She grabbed his hand as the carriage stopped and they ran towards the castle together.
Lily and James stood up at the same time and he helped her from the carriage. He offered her his arm and said in what he thought was a gentlemanly voice, "Milady?"
She smiled at him and accepted it. "Coming, Remus?" she called over her shoulder. He came up next to them and Lily grabbed his arm as well on her other side. The threesome started to the castle only to be stopped by Sirius running back out of it, dragging Marlene behind him.
"WAIT!" He came to a stop in front of them. "We have to walk in together! Look, there's Frank, Alice, and Mary! Come on, guys!"
They all laughed and the eight Gryffindors linked arms, with Marlene and Sirius attatching themselves to Remus' other side. In they walked, arm in arm, the ones everyone looked up to: James next to Lily, who was next to Remus, next to Marlene, who was next to Sirius, next tp Mary, next to Alice, who was next to Frank.
"We should sing a song," Lily mused.
In unison, James and Sirius drawled out at the top of their lungs, "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIENDS! WE KEEP ON FIGHTING 'TILL THE END!"
By the time the last of the students entered the Great Hall, James, Sirius, and Remus had gotten everyone at the Gryffindor table and most of the half-bloods and muggleborns at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables singing, stomping, and clapping to "We Will Rock You." Even Professor Dumbledore was tapping his toes and clapping along with the students. As they reached the end of the chorus, Dumbledore stood up and held his arms out for silence. James, Sirius, and Remus jumped down from the table and looked up at him, grinning.
"Well, as lovely as that music was," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at the boys as they stood up to accept the cheers from the other students, "and I am deeply sorrowed that spontaneous concerts like these are now numbered, I believe that Professor McGonagall is waiting with those terrified first years. So, let us hold our music in and welcome the new additions to your Houses." Dumbledore sat back down as McGonagall led the first years in. Lily rested her head on James' shoulder, bored, and he started to play with her hair.
"You smell like strawberries," he whispered in her ear. She giggled.
"Just as long as it's not chocolate."
James rolled his eyes. "Just you wait."
The Sorting Hat finished its song and the names started.
"Abercrombie, Seth!"
"Oi, Prongs," Sirius whispered. "Since you're Head Boy, can we use the first years instead of Bludgers?"
James hesitated, thinking, and Lily raised her head from his shoulder.
"No, you cannot! Sirius, what the hell is wrong with you?" Lily hissed, outraged.
"Well," he started, smiling cheekily.
"Sirius," Marlene said, rolling her eyes, "don't."
"Oh, Marlene! Don't you want to hear my beautiful voice?" Sirius asked dramatically, getting louder with every word. "I thought you loved me, Marlene! Why? Why?"
He was nearly shouting now and half the Hall was looking at him, not even paying attention to the Sorting now.
"I thought all of you were my friends! Why the laughter? Why must you always silence my golden voice?" Everyone around Sirius was attempting not to laugh and trying to avoid the menacing glares from McGonagall.
"Woe is me! I shall never be loved-"
"MR. BLACK!" McGonagall had fully stopped the Sorting and was staring Sirius down, nostrils flared.
"But Minnie, I've already been Sorted!" Sirius yelled.
"Sit down!" she commanded. "And if this is your idea of a start-of-term prank, I am terribly disappointed in all of you!" She looked back down at the list of first years irritably. "TONKS, NYMPHADORA!"
"Hey, that's my cousin!" said Sirius excitedly. "Don't worry, one of the good ones," he said in response to the others' wary faces.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Ah, I guess that's okay," Sirius yelled over the cheers.
"Oh, she's so cute!" said Lily while she watched Tonks' bright pink pigtails bounce as she walked to the Hufflepuff table happily.
"Yeah, she's adorable," Sirius agreed. "One time at Christmas she turned completely green. Aunt 'Dormeda was so mad," he laughed.
"She's a Metamorphmagus?" Lily asked.
Sirius nodded "A really good one too," His eyes widened happily as food appeared on the table. "Yay, food!"
He started grabbing all the food around him and James laughed at him. "Padfoot, slow down. Aren't you forgetting something?"
Sirius swallowed hastily and pulled out his wand. "Oh, yeah! Ready, Moony, Wormtail?"
The four waved their wands in the air discreetly.
"What did you guys do?" Alice asked suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing," they chorused.
"When does it take effect?" Lily whispered to Remus.
"Right before Dumbledore dismisses us," he responded. "That way most everybody will have eaten chocolate and it will have a massive effect."
The rest of the feast passed as peacefully as it could be with Sirius and James while the Marauders, Lily, and Marlene carefully avoided anything chocolate. When Dumbledore stood up, the Marauders twitched their wands again. As Dumbledore opened his mouth, most of the teachers and students turned into what resembled small pink fairies. They rose up towards the ceiling, leaving the tables mostly empty, except for a few Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, the Marauders, Lily, Marlene, and Dumbledore. The latter had learned a long time ago to cast protection charms on himself whenever the boys waved their wands.
The fairylike Hogwartians were now arranging themselves in the air and spelled out, "Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, final year! 1978!"
"Smile!" Sirius yelled and there was a flash as he took a picture of the pink message. James waved his wand and the House banners were replaced with replicas of the picture. Remus pointed his wand to those in the sky and they flew back to their seats, completely normal, except for the Slytherins, who remained pink.
While everyone was settling back into their seats, there were a few glares towards the Gryffindors that had not been affected, but once the pictures were noticed, laughter and applause filled the Hall.
Dumbledore was smiling merrily and waited until silence came once more. "Why, Mr. Potter, Mr, Black, Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, that was truly extroadinary magic. Five points to the each of you. Professor McGonagall, please don't be too hard on them. Well, off to bed, all of you!"
James and Sirius grabbed Lily and Marlene's hands and ran out of the Great Hall with Remus and Peter behind them, for McGonagall was striding towards them, nostrils flared and still looking a little pink.
As they reached the fifth floor corridor, James and Lily ran towards the Heads' dorm, calling over their shoulders, "See you tomorrow!"
They came to a portrait of a girl about nine, with long wavy brown hair and a red sundress with a puppy in her lap. Upon noticing the Head Boy and Girl, she put the puppy on the grass next to her and stood up.
"Hi! You're James Potter and Lily Evans, right? Dumbledore told me about you. I'm Isabella. Do you know the password?" She gave them a big smile and looked at them with bright brown eyes.
"Oh, yes, I have it here..." Lily rummaged in her pockets for one of the papers Dumbledore had left on the train. She finally pulled it out. "Here. Buttercup."
"Right! Have fun!" Isabella's portrait swung forward and Lily and James walked into the common room.
"Wow," they said together.
It was Gryffindor scarlet, with gold trimmings. Two staircases ran along opposite sides of the circular room and led to a small landing which had three doors. There was a large fluffy couch and two squashy armchairs on either side of a glossy wooden coffee table, all of which was in front of a huge marble fireplace that was on the same wall as the portrait hole. Above the mantle, there was a big portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Behind the couch was a narrow table with picture frames somehow already filled with pictures of their friends and family.
There was a door on the other side of the room, between the two staircases, under the landing. Lily walked to it and opened the door. She gasped. Inside, the walls were lined with books from ceiling to floor. There were two polished wooden desks in the middle of the room.
"James," Lily breathed. He appeared behind her and looked in.
"Impressive," he commented. "Do you want to look at our rooms?"
"Oooh, yes!" They ran up the stairs and walked through the left door, which said, "Head Girl."
The room was light and airy, with blue walls and a white ceiling. All of the furniture was white and there was a large canopy bed with a royal blue comforter. Lily pulled open the walk-in closet door while James looked at the white vanity and fluffy gold chair next to it. Lily kicked off her shoes and felt the soft blue carpet between the toes as her eyes were drawn o the yellow dasies in the center of the room.
"Lily, let's look at my room!" James whined. She rolled her eyes.
"What about the bathroom? I think it's through here," Lily opened the door on the other side of the vanity and saw the bathroom.
There was a door directly on the other side of the room which Lily assumed led to James' room. Another door was between two sinks to their right. To the left, there was a large golden tub to match the yellow walls, a spacious shower with glass walls, and a toilet off in a secluded corner. Two long red rugs defined the 'T' shape of the room and matched the towels lining the walls. Lily ran her hand along the smooth counter on her side and looked into the big mirror over her sink.
"Lily, I wanna see my room!" James whined.
"Fine, go!" she said exasperatedly and he ran through his door. "Honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm taking care of a child."
Lily followed him into his room and saw that it was darker than hers. The walls were scarlet, with faint grey designs on them, like the common room. The furniture and floor were a nice cherry wood and had an antique feel to them. James' comforter was also scarlet with gold trimmings and matched the rug in the middle of the floor. The room screamed Gryffindor pride. There were two large windows on the wall opposite the common room door and moonlight fell upon the large bed, which was on the same wall as the bathroom door. A large closet and dresser faced the bed and nightstand and there was a small bookcase next to the common room door. It was a nice room and very James.
"Neat," Lily said to James, who had taken one look at the room and collapsed on the bed.
"I love being Head Boy," he sighed.
Lily laughed. "Well, good night, Head Boy Potter."
He grinned at her. "Good night Head Girl Evans!" he called as she walked back through that bathroom and into her room.
Lily walked to her trunk at the foot of the bed and opened it. On top was the picture of her and James that Marlene and Alice had talked about on the train. She walked across the room to put it on her dresser, pausing to smell the yellow daisies on the small white table in the middle of the room. Lily continued to unpack her trunk, putting her uniform and fancier things in the closet, pajamas in the dresser, and makeup on the vanity, giving the room a homier feel.
When she put the last of her schoolbooks on the nearly full bookcases on the wall, Lily pulled on her comfiest pajamas and crawled into the warm bed.
On the other side of the bathroom, James got up and opened his trunk. He pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and hung it on a peg next to his bed. James then took out the small mirror that matched Sirius' and put it on his bedside table. Going back to his trunk one last time, he pulled out the same picture Lily had put on her dresser minutes before and placed it on his bedside table in front of the mirror. Stripping down to his undershirt and boxers, James crawled into bed and stared at the picture. He'd unpack everything else later; right now the picture was all he needed.
A/N: Oh, my computer's annoying me. Microsoft Office Word has decided to lock all of my documents so I can't make any changes to them, so I had to switch to WordPad. So, sorry for any grammar mistakes, WordPad doesn't have spellcheck. Enough with my ranting, hope you like the story so far and review!
PS: Since WordPad doesn't let me put in page breaks, they will now be represented with the ninja QK