Arthur's gone.
Remus opened his eyes Monday morning and was hit immediately with that thought. He reached up to rub his face, feeling a huge hole inside of his chest. A few tears came out, but he wiped those away quickly before getting out of bed. It wasn't until he was dressed that he realized he hadn't showered all weekend and smelled… not so great, but he didn't really have time before Potions so he used a few extra deodorizing spells, hoping that would suffice.
When the owl post came at breakfast, Remus winced a little. Even though Arthur hadn't delivered mail for ages, it was still painful to see all the owls fluttering around and knowing Arthur would never be part of it again.
"You all right?" Sirius asked, glancing over at Remus.
"Yes," he said before frowning. "As well as I can be, at least."
Potions, thankfully, wasn't too bad. They worked on a potion, however most of the ingredients were floral, and the potion smelled nice. Which meant Remus's potion actually got an E from Slughorn and wasn't a total disaster, even though he made it by himself. Lily congratulated him once class let out, and Snape, who of course hovered nearby like an unwanted ghoul, made a comment about Remus's ability. Lily told him to stop, and Snape gave a shrug, saying he hadn't meant it in a mean way, and then James and Sirius emerged from the classroom wanting to know what was going on. Snape disappeared before a fight could start, and Lily sighed.
"Was he being rude to Remus?" James demanded.
Lily faltered and Remus said, "Not really. Where's Peter?"
"Asking a question," Sirius replied. Remus narrowed his eyes. "No, no, about what we discussed the other day. Nothing secret."
"What did we discuss the other day?" Remus struggled to remember, all he could think about was Arthur's death.
James and Sirius pointedly looked at Lily, who gave a disgusted sigh. "All right, Marauder ears only I'm assuming. I'll see you later." She rolled her eyes as she walked off to join her friends.
"The Christmas prank," Sirius whispered and Remus nodded, having forgotten everything they had talked about.
"Won't Slughorn know it's us, then?" he asked. "If Pete asks a question then it happens a month later."
"It's only about an ingredient," James explained. "And it's Slughorn. How much does he even remember or care about students that aren't in his dumb club? He'll probably forget Pete stayed behind by lunchtime."
Peter came out looking like he was sucking on a lemon. "I don't think we can do it. Slughorn says that if a recipe calls for a specific honey used, it needs to be that specific honey."
"Annnd the shops in Hogsmeade didn't have it in stock," sighed Sirius as the four of them began walking down the corridors towards History.
"I could special order it," James said.
"What special honey?" Remus shifted his weight, shaking his head. "I—I'm not going to pretend otherwise, I haven't the faintest of what we're doing, I can't remember."
"Slughorn said it takes a couple of weeks to get it in, and the potion needs to be made in advance," Peter said.
"The potion that makes people sing," Sirius told Remus at the same time, and then he remembered them talking about sneaking a potion into the food at the pre-Christmas-holiday feast to make everyone sing. A bit like the babbling brew prank.
"I guess we won't have time then." James groaned. "I could write to Mum and Dad and see if they could get it from London. But we should have a backup plan just in case. Oh, maybe we should do music again, that'd be a laugh. Like with McGonagall. Dedicate songs to different people and the houses or something."
"Is there a song called 'You're All Terrible People' we could dedicate to the Slytherins?" joked Sirius and the others all laughed.
"Nah, I don't want to do that again actually," James said once he finished giggling. "Too soon after McGonagall's. All right, so… what else do we have?"
They talked about various ideas until they got to History and then spent History tossing notes back and forth. Remus didn't join in it, nor did they bother him after he wrote he couldn't really think at the moment. He doodled over his parchment only half-listening to Binns. Then a note landed on his desk. He assumed it was from one of the Marauders and opened it up.
Lily told me about your owl. I am very sorry. - Athena
Remus jerked a little and glanced over to see Magpie's sad face. He looked back down at the note, not sure about what to do. Would replying to it be giving her false hope? Would not replying be rude? He chewed at his bottom lip then wrote a thank you under her note, sending it back. That way, at least, he wouldn't be keeping her note and hopefully she'd—
No, she was sending it back.
If there's anything I can do let me know.
And a heart.
There was a little heart doodled at the end of the sentence and Remus stopped breathing. Merlin, what was he supposed to do about that? He didn't even want to look up at her, to give her any hope whatsoever in case meeting her gaze did something. Bloody hell, a heart?!
Slowly, shakily, he wrote another simple 'thank you' and sent it back, not even glancing in her direction. He waited for several sweaty seconds but the note didn't return to him and he was finally able to breathe again. He hoped that that was that but when Binns dismissed everyone, Magpie was the first to leave, rushing out of the room, and Remus suspected it was because of him. He ignored the boys and went straight to Lily, grabbing her elbow.
"We need to talk," he said, and pulled her from the room, not even waiting for a response.
"What is going on?" she asked once they were in a nearby empty room. "You look absolutely panicked."
"I feel absolutely panicked," he said, leaning against the door. "Magpie sent me a note. It had a heart on it."
Lily raised her eyebrows. "Can I see?"
"I—I sent I back."
"Ouch."
He frowned. "You're the one who told me not to make her hopeful!"
"I know, but it's still painful," she replied. "What did the note say?"
"She, erm, gave me condolences about Arthur, and then I said thank you, and then she said if there was anything she could do let her know and that one had the heart on it."
Lily folded her arms. "And you sent that one back?"
"Yes, with a thank you. I didn't know what else to do or if I should have done anything or—there was a heart, Lily, a heart!"
She hid a smile behind one hand. "I really hate to say it but you look adorable when you're on the verge of dying from panic." He shot a glare at her and she giggled. "Sorry! All right well… errrmm… it sounds like you did the right thing. That explains why she ran off. All you said was 'thank you'?" He nodded, tugging hard at his sleeve. "That is all right, then. Polite without being completely rude, but also nothing… flirtatious back. It's very reasonable."
"I hurt her, didn't I?"
Lily looked at him sadly. "Yes, however, what other choice do you have? You're gay, it isn't—"
"Please, don't," he moaned, wincing.
"Sorry. It isn't as if she has any chance at all. No matter what happens, you were going to have to hurt her, and this… isn't so bad, really. It isn't public, and it wasn't very mean." She rested a hand on his shoulder. "I know you didn't want to hurt her but it had to be done."
Remus nodded glumly. "I know. Still awful, though. And—and I did the right thing?"
"I think so. Honestly, I don't know if there is any right way to break someone's heart but at least you didn't lead her on or anything. Also…" He lifted his head, watching as she chewed her nails. "There is every possibility she didn't even take it that way. She might be upset you didn't flirt back or anything, but she might still think she has a chance with you."
"But—"
"I don't know, I could be wrong, it depends on… how she sees things. So she might… try again."
Remus deflated a little. He'd have to hurt her again?!
"It could be worse," she said.
"How?"
"She could be very adamant about her feelings, and be chasing you openly, and not take no as an answer."
Remus made a face at that. "True. Well hopefully this… hopefully she knows she doesn't have… you know, a chance or—or anything now. Hopefully she—yeah."
Lily nodded, patting his arm. "Yeah," she agreed. "Come on, then, I imagine we're spreading rumors being shut up in this broom closet."
Remus looked around realizing for the first time where they were. "Oh."
"I could wrinkle up my jumper and smudge my lipstick if you like—"
"LILY!"
She began giggling. "Give you a reputation—"
"LILY EVANS I WILL MURDER YOU!" He began shoving her out of the closet as quickly as he could, ignoring her shrieks of laughter. The Marauders were waiting, though at least they weren't smirking.
Naturally, though, they wanted to know what was going on and as the Marauders went one way and Lily went the other, Remus told them about the notes Magpie sent and how he was asking Lily if he had let her down properly.
"Oh, you finally realized she fancies you?" James asked.
"I've known for a while!" he protested and all three gave him looks. "All right, since about a month ago or so." More looks. "All right, all right, Lily had to tell me but—but at least she told me unlike you three! If you knew why didn't you say anything?"
"I dunno, we figured you knew at first," Peter said. "Then by the time we realized you didn't, Sirius suggested we wait to see how long it takes."
"Who came closest in that bet, by the way?" Sirius asked.
"Bet?!" Remus shrieked.
"I think Peter did, you and I both put down not till next year," said James.
Remus glowered. "Wow, I am so glad I have friends like you."
"I had some faith in you," Peter said cheerfully. "I guessed you'd figure it out by Christmas."
Sirius nudged him. "You aren't interested in Magpie?"
"No."
"Why not?" James asked. "She's cute."
"Then you date her."
"Me?" He laughed. "No way, I'm not dating anyone for ages. I've got too much stuff, not enough time for girls. I've got Quidditch, you lot, Quidditch, pranks… Quidditch. Very busy. Far too busy for a girlfriend at the moment."
Remus rolled his eyes. "I notice you didn't include 'school' in that list."
James blinked. "No. I didn't. Thank you for pointing it out. Now. I've got Quidditch, you lot, Quidditch, pranks, and Quidditch. Too busy."
The others laughed, including Remus; he couldn't help it.
"I'm surprised pranks isn't in there more," said Peter.
"Pranks is included with you lot so it is there twice, you just didn't see it."
More laughter, and then they changed the subject from girls to pranks thankfully. Remus wasn't in the mood to pretend to be interested in girls at the moment. And at least James clearly wasn't interested in dating either, that really made things easier.
What didn't make anything easier was the fact Mulciber and Avery existed. As the Marauders turned a corner they almost ran into the two Slytherins, and both sides halted, staring at each other.
"Watch where you're going," snapped Avery. "You've got four eyes, shouldn't you be able to see better?"
"Sorry, my glasses are magicked to block out pillocks so I didn't see you actually," James replied.
Avery went for his wand, as did James and Sirius as soon as they saw, which made Mulciber go for his. "I'm surprised you aren't in detention for the rest of your lives for what you did to the kitchens," Avery growled.
"We didn't do a damn thing," Sirius spat out. "Someone made it up that we were involved. Probably you two."
"Could we put the wands away?" Remus suggested and was rewarded with Mulciber's wand right in his face.
"Shut up, Loopy, nobody cares what you have to say!" Mulciber said and Sirius's wand was shoved into his face. "Other than these pillocks of course."
"What an insult, it sounds awfully familiar," said James. "Sounds like something I said five seconds ago. Couldn't you be more original? Oh wait, that means using your brain which you don't have."
The fight started. Remus got his wand out, focusing on shielding spells, while James and Sirius were very aggressive with Mulciber and Avery. Peter cowered behind Remus until James yelled at both of them. Remus dropped the shield and began shooting out offensive spells, hoping nobody would come by. Four to two, the Marauders quickly won and Mulciber and Avery ran off as best they could, covered in hexes.
A couple of hours later when they went to the Great Hall for lunch, McGonagall was waiting for them. She took them into the little side room where the first years waited before the Sorting, and told them that Slughorn told her that Mulciber and Avery claimed the Marauders had ambushed them. They had gone to the hospital wing to get hexes removed, so something obviously happened.
"It wasn't an ambush," James said angrily. "They started it."
"So you admit to dueling in the halls?" McGonagall asked.
James lifted his chin. "I do."
"All of you?"
"No, just me and James," Sirius lied. "Remy and Pete tried to get us to stop. They're the good ones. We're the uncultured beasts. But James is right, they started. Avery's wand was the first one out and then Mulciber put his in Remus's face when Remus said the wands shouldn't be out. Remy really is such a good boy, shame we don't listen to him more."
McGonagall looked them over. "None of you have any spells on you."
"No, their aim sucks," laughed James. "We did have a couple on us but—er—we were able to fix them up." Remus had been the one to remove the hexes, and was grateful to James for the lie since even healing up hexes would be considered magic in the hallways.
"Mr. Lupin?" McGonagall looked at him.
"I did try to get them to stop. And Peter did not want to fight." Not lies at all. Just… not the whole truth.
McGonagall removed twenty points each from James and Sirius, and sent them on their way. James and Sirius were furious at Mulciber and Avery tattling—not only tattling but lying as well, claiming an ambush. They seethed all through lunch and then left early, taking a long route to Herbology for privacy as they tried to come up with a revenge plan. Remus wasn't paying much attention to it until he heard the word Polyjuice.
"No!" He looked up at them, shocked. "That's very wrong to do, and illegal—"
"You know, you keep using that word and I don't think it is," James said. "Illegal, I mean. Wrong, yes. Illegal… nah."
"We turn into Mulciber and Avery and do something nasty, getting them in big trouble," said Sirius. "Easy."
"Not easy!" Remus shook his head. "And yes, very wrong. How will you know they won't have an alibi?"
James and Sirius stopped in their tracks, looked at each other, then turned to smile at Peter and Remus.
"Oh no." Peter began backing up, hands in front of him. "No, no, no, and no."
"Just a distraction," James said cheerfully. "A little one, to keep them occupied for a bit."
Sirius flung an arm around Remus's shoulders. "Look at it this way. We turn into those wankers and do something horrible to Malfoy, or his dorm. Then we get revenge on all three at once, and Malfoy can't blame Aegis."
"Except—oof—" Remus wriggled away from Sirius. "Except for the fact Mulciber and Avery will know they didn't do it, and know there is something going on!"
James folded his arms. "What are they going to do? Say 'no we didn't attack Malfoy even though dozens of people saw us, we were too busy fighting Remus and Peter'. Who's gonna believe that?"
"FiGHT?" Peter squeaked. "You want us to fight them?"
James flapped his hand at Pete. "Figure of speech."
"No it isn't, you want us to fight Mulciber and Avery!"
Remus gave James a glare. "Whether or not they'll be believed, they'll still know we did something and somehow turned into them or looked like them or—or something, and what if they do convince someone and—and the teachers find out you made Polyjuice potion and—"
James put his hand against Remus's mouth, shutting him up. "Remy. You worry too much. Besides, if someone can claim Sirius and I were sneaking around the kitchens when whatever happened happened, why shouldn't we do something to make Mulciber and Avery be in two places at once?"
Remus shoved James's arm away. "I will not be part of this. If you want to do something astronomically stupid then fine, go ahead, be my guest, but I shall not."
Peter tugged at his sleeve. "You want me to fight them on my own? I'll die, I'll be murdered, they'll kill me!"
"Yeah, Remus, do you want to be the reason Peter is brutally murdered?" Sirius asked.
"I didn't say brutally, but now I feel even sicker," Pete moaned, clutching his stomach.
Remus stepped back. "It would not be my fault, it's his own fault if he agrees to go along with this ridiculous and stupid idea. You're not going to guilt me into doing it."
"It will be fun though!" James pleaded.
Remus scoffed. "Fun. To do something so—so—so unfathomably idiotic?"
"Yes," James and Sirius chorused.
He turned towards Peter. "You're going to—to do—do that, are you? You want to provide a distraction to Mulciber and Avery while these two turn into them and cause mayhem?"
Peter's eyes darted to the other two then back to Remus. "I don't want to, but I will if they need me to."
"Thattaboy!" James laughed, slapping Peter's back. "See? He's got the spirit."
Remus rubbed his forehead, feeling his blood pressure rising. "If you promise—"
"Yes!"
"IF YOU PROMISE," he said again, louder to make sure James was paying attention. "If you promise not to do anything too wild that would—would make Mulciber and Avery too suspicious because that could be dangerous, regardless of whether a teacher believes them or not. Nothing too… overt or—or you know, just do things so it might be them but might not so—"
"Where's the fun if it's only a maybe they did it maybe they didn't?" Sirius asked.
Remus narrowed his eyes. "Because if there is certainty they did, they might get too suspicious. You really want those two to be suspicious?"
"They won't know who did it anyway," said James.
Remus poked him in the chest. "Nothing. Too. Overt."
"Fine, fine, nothing too overt." James reached up and pat both of Remus's cheeks at the same time. "Thank you. Now we just need to figure out all the little details—"
"After class? We're going to be late to Herbology if we linger any longer."
James nodded excitedly. "Later."
-X-
Remus had a bad stomachache for the rest of the day, thinking about the horrible revenge plan and everything that could go wrong. The only bright side was just before James went to his Quidditch practice, a rumor started going around that the Gossip Ghoul was going to break onto the radio station again sometime that week. There hadn't been any news about him for a while, and the gossip that had been spread finally died down. Now everyone was interested again.
"Hopefully this time I'll be able to hear it," James said as he pulled on his Quidditch boots. "I missed it last time. Vastly unfair."
"It wasn't interesting," Remus said.
"I'd like to judge that for myself." James hopped up, grabbing his cloak. "All right, see you later, Remus. Have fun in Runes."
Runes, he realized, heart stopping. Was his essay due that day? Or was it later in the week? When had his teachers assigned it? He remembered talking about it last… Wednesday? It hadn't even been a week. Or had it? He sat down on the edge of his bed, trying to piece together the events of the week. His memories on Tuesday. His parents on Friday. No, Thursday, they came on Thursday. Arthur passed on Saturday. Yeah, it hadn't even been a week.
Remus dug through his things and pulled out his notebook where he wrote when what was due. Not till Friday, he thought, giving a sigh of relief as he shoved his notebook back into his bag. His essay wasn't quite finished yet.
Actually, it wasn't even started. With everything going on he had only scribbled down ideas of what to write.
Swearing, he got out some parchment and pulled out his list of ideas. They all seemed so dull and boring. Nothing sparked his interest or seemed like it could be fun to translate into runes. Or would make for an interesting essay, although it didn't have to be interesting, it just needed to be a long essay in runes. He could probably write out a description of what he ate that day and it would technically be correct…
He chewed at his quill, staring at the wall above his desk. It was a board with pictures and other things stuck to it. Mostly pictures of him and the Marauders, one of him and Lily, a couple of his best essay works from that year so far, a picture of Arthur…
Remus reached out, touching the photograph. Maybe I'll write about him. He lowered his hand, wondering how Codde would feel about that. A long essay about his owl. Especially since he couldn't really write the details of why Arthur was so special to him, since that would involve talking about his lycanthropy. He supposed he could make up a story about his disease.
No, he decided, going back to chewing on his quill. It was too risky to do something like that.
He could write about how his parents met, that was an entertaining story—except he was too furious with them still to do that. He didn't want to write about his father at all.
He drummed his fingers against the desk, trying to remember what Lily and Aegis were writing about. Aegis was going to do a sort of Simon and Garfunkel-esque type song/poem/thing, he remembered that much. Lily was… writing about… the Hufflepuffskeins? Yes.
Groaning, he put his hands on his desk and shoved his chair back, his stomach still hurting from the idea of James and Sirius being absolute morons and using Polyjuice for revenge. It was going to go so wrong! There was no way they would get away with it, and this—this was something the Ministry might be called in for, they were stupid, they were dumb, they were—
Perfect for his essay.
Not the Polyjuice thing, no, not that. But perhaps some of their antics and pranks?
Remus wrote down a few of the things everyone knew James and Sirius had done. Would it be weird to write an essay about them? He'd have to get their permission first, but it would be really fun.
If not… well, he'd think of something.
-X-
James and Sirius were very ecstatic at the idea and began dumping ideas onto Remus immediately. He tried to write everything down and had to remind them about the fact that half the pranks they mentioned, nobody knew they had done them so he shouldn't write about them.
"I'm not going to write anything that will incriminate any of us," he said, splattering ink everywhere as he knocked over his inkwell. "Only what they know you've done."
James leaned over his shoulder. "Are you going to write about ones you were involved with?"
Remus hesitated before using a spell to get rid of the ink. "No. Just you two. And Peter, if he likes."
"No, I'm fine with not having written evidence of the trouble I've caused," Peter said from his bed where he was reading his newest comic book. "Besides, it's probably better if all the teachers keep thinking you an' I are innocent."
"Very true."
"We should break into Filch's office and get our detention slips," James suggested. "That'll give Remus more to write about."
"What, to write about what is on your detention slips or the breaking in part?" Remus asked without looking up.
"It's hard to remember which pranks we have been busted for and which ones we haven't," explained James, digging through his trunk until he pulled out his invisibility cloak.
Remus spun around. "You aren't really going to break in to—"
But he and Sirius were disappearing under the cloak. "We'll be back!" said James's disembodied voice. The door swung open and shut, and their footsteps faded as they headed down the hall.
Remus stared at the door then turned to stare at Peter who was shaking his head. He went back to writing out ideas for the essay which he had plenty of without the detention slips, and began going through them, marking off the ones that would be fun to write about and also marking off ones that might be difficult to translate. Was there even a rune he could use for 'glitter' or would he have to spell it out… which wouldn't be the best thing. Sometimes Codde took points off if a student resorted to simply using basic letter runes to spell a word out.
He'd need to think up something for James and Sirius too. Perhaps it'd be okay to just use J and S. Or JP and SB.
"Your family has a family name rune, right?" he asked when the door opened again.
"Why do you want my family name rune?" Spinnet growled.
Remus cowered a bit, not realizing who had walked in. "Oh, sorry, I—I thought you were James and Sirius."
Spinnet rolled his eyes. "That is one of the worst insults I could ever hear."
"Poof's pretty bad," Remus muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Spinnet stood where he was and Remus could feel his eyes on him. "So where are the two idiots?" he finally asked, moving towards his bed. "Out causing more problems? Destroying the kitchens again?"
Remus let out an annoyed sound. "They didn't do that. They were in the dorm with me and Peter."
"Peter and I," Spinnet falsely corrected.
Remus twisted in his seat, feeling fed up with Spinnet. "No. Me and Peter. If I didn't include Peter's name, it would be 'they were in the dorm with me' which is correct. 'In the dorm with I' is not correct. Therefore, it is in the dorm with me and Peter."
Peter snorted and began choking on nothing while Spinnet glowered at Remus. "You don't have to be such a know-it-all."
"And you don't have to be so rude."
Spinnet bristled. "I am not rude—"
"You are, in fact, very rude," Remus snapped, not sure why he was pushing Spinnet's buttons but having the need to. It was like all the emotions from the past few days were boiling up inside of him and now he was trying to take it all out on Spinnet… which was wrong to do.
Spinnet's wand was out and Remus dove to the ground as a spell shot past where he was sitting. He yanked his wand out of his pocket. "Petrificus totalus!"
Spinnet's limbs snapped to his body and he fell flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. Remus climbed out from under the desk, brushing himself off as he went to stand over Spinnet. "Finite incantatum." Spinnet's limbs loosened and he slumped. "I could teach you a good way to shield from that—"
Spinnet's legs jerked, sweeping Remus's legs out from under him and toppling him to the ground. Within seconds Spinnet was on top of him with his wand jammed into Remus's cheek. Peter cried out and ran over but Spinnet flourished his wand, spitting a spell out to send Peter tumbling back. During that distracted moment Remus reacted in the only way he could think to react: he jerked his knee up and into Spinnet's crotch.
Spinnet howled with pain, rolling off of Remus who grabbed his wand which had rolled away when he fell to the floor. "Stop it!"
"You started it!"
"Not this again!" Remus walked backwards towards Peter, keeping his want aimed at Spinnet who was kneeling on the ground, clutching his privates. "I am SICK and TIRED of people starting things then claiming we started them when we defend ourselves!"
"I never hit you with a spell—"
"You tried to!" Remus spat out. Peter was already standing up at this point, his own wand out even though he was shaking.
That was the scene David walked into, and he froze in the doorway, looking between all three boys with wide, panicked eyes. "They attacked me," Spinnet moaned. "Get a Prefect."
"We DEFENDED ourselves!" Remus lowered his arm and put his wand away, feeling very frustrated. He tried to remember if he had done anything to spark the fight, and yes he had called Spinnet rude but that didn't seem like something to get wands out for. Mulciber and Avery had started the spells earlier too.
"Remus and Spinnet were arguing," Peter told David. "Remus said he was rude and Spinnet did a spell at him. Remus avoided it and did a spell back. That's what happened."
David looked at Spinnet who was slowly getting to his feet, holding onto Sirius's bedpost for support. "Then Loopy kneed me in the groin."
"After you kicked my legs, pinned me down, had your wand jammed into my cheek, and then shot Peter with a spell," Remus reminded him.
"I think I should get a Prefect," David said and disappeared through the door.
None of the boys spoke for the time David was gone, only glared at one another until the door opened again and David came in with the seventh year Prefect—Magpie. Spinnet launched into a long rant about Remus attacking him, and Remus and Peter tried their best to explain what really happened. Magpie took their wands and did the prior enchantment spell, revealing Remus had done the general counter-spell while Spinnet had done the knockback jinx.
"Your wands line up with Loopy and Pettigrew's stories," Magpie said, then colored slightly as he handed them their wands back. "Er, Lupin. Sorry."
"You're going to believe them?" Spinnet folded his arms. "Lupin kneed me right between the legs."
"When you were pinning him down and attacking Pettigrew?"
Spinnet clenched his teeth. "Yes," he admitted.
"Right. Ten points removed from each of you for fighting in the dorms."
"Remus was defending himself!" Peter argued.
Magpie sighed. "He also physically attacked Spinnet as well as used the full-body bind. Look, I should be removing more points but I'm in a good mood tonight. Don't bother me again." He swept out of the room, slamming the door shut. Before anyone could say anything the door opened again. "Where's Black and Potter? Have they snuck out? It's after curfew for you."
"Bathroom," Remus squeaked. "Showers."
"And if I go in there I'll hear the water running?" Remus let out a slight moan and Magpie sighed again. "Right, ten points each from them too. As I said, I'm in a good mood." He left, shutting the door and actually leaving this time.
Spinnet grunted and left the dorm, dragging David with him. When they were alone, Remus sank down on his bed, rubbing his face.
"Thanks for helping me," Pete said.
"Mm, you're welcome. Though the shower comment—the water thing, I mean… the shower running… did… is the devil's snare still in there?" It felt like a million year had gone by but that was only Friday night.
Peter shrugged. "I don't know. I'll go check." He left and when he returned he asked Remus to come with him. Remus got up, following him to the shower where the cardboard box was upside down.
"Lumos." Remus crouched down next to the box and nervously lifted it. A whip-like tentacle shot out and he waved his wand at it, making it curl back up into the darkness. "Okay, it's not in the bag anymore." He turned the shower on to dampen the box then turned it off again. "We'll have to let them know when they get back."
They didn't get back, though. Peter and Remus didn't see James and Sirius again until Astronomy class when they came waltzing in like they hadn't been missing since curfew. Remus didn't really get a chance to talk to them during class since everyone was huddled together as Spring showed them how to do star charts. Even with spells to warm it up, the Astronomy tower was icy cold in the winter.
The Marauders lingered so they were behind all the other Gryffindors for the return to the dorms. When Remus quietly reminded James and Sirius about the devil's snare, they both decided that that would be their Polyjuice prank: putting the devil's snare in Malfoy's drawers, or bed.
"It's only a baby, it won't do much," James said when Remus tried arguing about the dangers.
"There is every possibility it could do serious harm," Remus reminded them.
Sirius poked him in the ribs causing him to jump. "Only if Malfoy is so stupid he hasn't got a clue how to deal with the devil's snare. I agree with James. Let's do it tomorrow."
"We have Occlumency tomorrow night."
Sirius sighed. "In the afternoon, then, during a free period."
Remus hunched his shoulders. "Do we know when the Slytherin third years have a free period?"
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" James complained. "Wednesday evening—"
"You have Quidditch practice."
"No I don't, not anymore," James said triumphantly. "Slytherin's asked for the spot. They've asked for most of our spots this week which Bell didn't agree too, but she did give them Wednesday and Friday's slots, well half an hour of Friday's slot, so they can start practice a little early. Tomorrow evening then."
"Tomorrow's Tuesd—"
"I MEANT WEDNESDAY!" James screamed and all the Gryffindors ahead of them spun around to stare, while several paintings shushed him, reminding him of the time. "I KNOW IT'S BLOODY ONE IN THE MORNING!" he shouted at a painting. "You can shove your wand up your—"
"Potter!" Lily snapped. "It's a painting, you're arguing with a painting!"
James scowled, pushing his glasses up. "Fine, you can shove your paintbrush up your—"
Sirius clamped a hand over James's mouth since it was obvious the portraits were getting angry. "Come on, Jimsy, it's okay. Calm down."
"Mmmmph."
They managed to get back to the dorms without any incident, although the next day after Transfiguration McGonagall did hold them back to question them about an entire corridor's worth of paintings coming to her to complain about the foul mouth of a 'messy haired Indian Gryffindor' bothering them at one am. James admitted it was him, obviously very proud over the fact he managed to upset the entire corridor… at least until McGonagall gave him detention for causing a ruckus in the middle of the night.
"We had Astronomy, we were coming back from Astronomy, we weren't out of bed!" James argued.
"I know, however, from what I've been told you were yelling and shouting. Is this true?"
"I—erm—well, yes, but—"
"Then detention. They may be paintings but they deserve their peace and quiet too. Tomorrow evening, Mr. Potter, since I understand Miss Bell gave your Quidditch practice slot to the Slytherins."
James deflated a little. "T-tomorrow evening? But—"
"Six, Mr. Potter. I'll see you here at six."
At least James didn't shout 'Merlin's wrinkled bollocks' until after he left the classroom though McGonagall heard him quite clearly, and removed fifteen points for that one.