Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 14: The Class Clowns
Madame Pomfrey insisted that Lily stay in the hospital wing for the rest of the day. Alice and Marlene had to return to class but not before Lily insisted they give her the assignments for Herbology and Potions that she missed. She would copy Remus' notes later but thought that she could at least do some reading. She tried to tackle the chapter on the magical properties of seaweed however halfway through she felt heaviness pulling her eyelids down and was soon sleeping.
That was how James found her a few hours later- asleep, with the Herbology text laying across her chest. He approached her and noted with relief that the color was back in her cheeks. He noticed her nose twitching a little when a strand of her red hair tickled it. He reached over and gently brushed it to the side, discovering how soft her hair felt. He realized that he was still touching her hair so he decided to step back and let her sleep. As he turned to leave he heard, "Potter? Is that you?"
Her voice startled him as he turned around. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He watched her as she pushed herself up into a sitting position on the bed, placing the Herbology book on the table next to her. "Are you feeling better now?" he asked.
She smiled at him, causing his heart to pound against his ribcage. He was certain she could hear it, but she only said, "I feel a million times better. I don't remember much about this morning but I remember someone helping me here. Was that you?" she asked. He nodded and her smile widened. "Then I owe you a big thanks. I don't think I would have made it here, otherwise."
He smiled back. "No problem. You had me pretty worried when you collapsed but I'm glad to see you're feeling better."
"Potter!" called a voice belonging to the nurse. "What are you doing here bothering my patient? She should be sleeping, not socializing!"
James grinned and turned back to Lily. "I guess that's my cue to leave. Will I see you around later?"
Lily glanced at Madame Pomfrey's frowning face before sending a mischievous grin back to James. "I plan to be out by dinner, even if I have to sneak out. I'll see you later," she whispered.
He turned and left before the nurse could physically drag him out of the ward. Lily's smile lingered for a while. Maybe she had been imagining things at breakfast when she had thought he was mad at her.
***********************************************
James was on cloud nine as he met up with his friends. He kept thinking about Evans' smile and the way it lit up her eyes. She had smiled at him, he thought. He caught up with Sirius, Remus, and Peter in the common room and almost walked past them while still in his daydream. He suddenly saw a hand wave in front of his face and turned to see Sirius chuckling in front of him.
"I guess that loopy expression on your face means that Evans is going to be fine," he said. James nodded.
Before they could tease James any more about Lily they heard a tapping sound coming from the window. Peter walked over and opened it and a large brown owl flew inside and landed on top of Sirius' head. James recognized him as his dad's owl, Spot. He (and Sirius) were standing directly in front of James. Spot held out his leg and James reached over to untie his letter. Spot gave James a playful nip on the finger before vaulting off of Sirius' head, causing him to curse.
"What was that about?" shouted Sirius, rubbing the top of his head where Spot's talons had scratched him.
"That was my dad's owl. Strange…usually his letters arrive in the morning with the rest of the mail," James replied.
"Open it!" cried Peter.
James tore open the envelope and read aloud:
Dear James,
You are probably wondering why I am sending a letter this evening and not with the regular mail. I didn't want your mother catching wind of this because she expects you to be on your best behavior. I, while expecting you to make us proud and not get expelled, decided to let you in on a little secret I picked up during my years at Hogwarts. I often fancied midnight snacks and found a way into the kitchens. There is an underground passage off some stairs near the Great Hall. Find a painting with a bowl of fruit and tickle the pear. You will know what to do next. Use your invisibility cloak. Have fun and DON'T GET CAUGHT!
Love,
Dad
James grinned as he heard Sirius say, "Wow! You're dad is great! I say we go down there tonight."
"Agreed. You guys in?" James asked Remus and Peter. They nodded.
They planned their strategy for sneaking out.
***********************************************
Lily finally managed to convince Madame Pomfrey she was okay to leave the hospital wing. In actuality, she had changed back into her robes, grabbed her things, and as she left she called out to Madame Pomfrey that she was feeling much better and appreciated the care she received. Before Madame Pomfrey could race out of her office to stop her Lily was halfway to the Great Hall.
Lily caught up with her friends at the Gryffindor table and they were all glad to see she was feeling better. She sat down next to Potter, who beamed at her. Everyone had a great dinner, chatting about the upcoming Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.
Lily found herself glancing every so often at Potter as he joked around with Sirius. All of a sudden she found him quite charming and funny. Not that she didn't like him before. She just never stopped and took notice. As he caught her glance she felt herself smiling at him, almost like she couldn't control herself. He grinned back and she felt a flutter in her stomach.
Alice and Marlene glanced at each other and rolled their eyes before dragging Lily back to the dormitory to get some sleep. They were still worried about her and didn't want her recovery to backslide.
************************************************
The boys hung around in the common room until curfew and trudged upstairs. They waited until just after midnight, when they figured the prefects and heads would be out of the corridors and going to sleep. When they snuck out of bed they realized Peter had fallen asleep. James and Sirius took the opportunity to exact their revenge from their rude awakening a few weeks earlier. They dumped a bucket of cold water on Peter's head. The mousy boy immediately woke up and sheepishly joined them as they huddled under the invisibility cloak.
They slowly made their way down to the common room. Seeing no one, they were able to sneak cautiously down to the kitchens. Remus had scouted the corridors earlier finding the exact location of the painting of the fruit. James tickled the pear and all of a sudden it squirmed, chuckled, and turned into a large green door handle. He pulled open the portrait and they climbed into the kitchen.
It was enormous, with large chandeliers and five tables. They were aligned like the tables in the Great Hall which, Remus pointed out, must have been right above them. They looked around and saw doors at the back that said, 'House Elf Quarters.' To one side they saw a wall full of cabinets and pantries. They snuck over and started to fill goodies into the sack they brought.
Off to the other side was a large room charmed to stay cold like a refrigerator would. Sirius' mouth dropped open when he saw one wall of the room filled with butterbeer bottles. "I didn't think the school had butterbeer!" he exclaimed.
"Maybe it's for the professors," suggested Remus.
"Whatever the reason, I say there's enough for us to take a few bottles," said Sirius.
They each grabbed what they could and decided to sneak back to the dormitory. When they got back to their room they celebrated by stuffing themselves full of pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, and butterbeer.
Over the next few weeks the house elves noted that several things disappeared from the kitchens, almost on a nightly basis. Word began to spread that someone was sneaking into the kitchen and stealing food. The four boys were quite proud of themselves. Sirius even suggested they start calling themselves the Marauders.
He had big plans for Halloween. He wanted to pull a prank on some first year Slytherins involving sneaking around in the invisibility cloak behind them and following them to their common room. From there they would use a charm Remus had found in a textbook to turn the hair of the Slytherin boys scarlet and gold, the Gryffindor colors.
On the day before Halloween Remus received word that his mother had fallen ill again and he had to rush home to be with her. Sirius, while concerned for Remus' mom, noticed that this was the third time Remus would be missing out on a good prank (after Marlene's embarrassment and Mrs. Norris in the trick stair).
That night everything went off as planned. Sirius beamed with pride as the Slytherin boys filed into the Great Hall the next morning trying to hide their hair under either an oversized hat or scarf. Professor Dumbledore gently reminded them that those were not part of the dress code and they would have to stick to the appropriate plain pointed hat (which did not cover the colored hair well at all). As the rest of the houses saw what had happened there was applause and laughter. Sirius, James, and Peter all congratulated each other on a job well done.
Once the were finished ogling the success of their prank, the three boys reached over and started on their dessert. They each grabbed a pastry that had been placed on their plates and took a big bite. After a minute the boys snorted as they saw each other sprouting bright red curly clown hair. Their noses became round and red and their lips turned bright red. Soon each of the three boys realized that they had changed as well and gasped in horror and confusion.
Sirius heard loud laughter coming from a few spots down the table. It was coming from Marlene, whose normally olive-toned skin was almost purple from laughing so hard.
"Did YOU do this?!" Sirius shouted at Marlene.
Marlene had to catch her breath before answering. "Well, you three are always acting like the class clowns. I thought you might like to dress up like your true selves for Halloween." Tears were streaming down her face from laughing so hard.
James noticed Alice and Evans laughing next to Marlene. "Were you involved in this, too?" he asked.
Alice answered through her laughter, "I had nothing to do with this and neither did Lily. In fact, I'm quite disappointed in Marlene for not including us!"
Irritated that Marlene had been able to prank them, the boys left to see if Madame Pomfrey could change them back. She told them that the potion Marlene had slipped into the pastries would wear off after a day and that there was nothing she could do. She, of course, was lying. Marlene had convinced her to play along. Madame Pomfrey had no problem with this seeing as how a week earlier, the boys had left a large rubber spider in Narcissa Black's hospital bed as she recovered from the wizard's flu. 'The poor girl had been traumatized,' she thought.
James, Sirius, and Peter had to spend the rest of Halloween charmed to look like clowns. The rest of the school found it hilarious, almost funnier than the charms done on the Slytherin boys. The Marauders (as they now called themselves) tried to laugh it off while Marlene looked smug.
****************************************************
Thanks to Aalyiah, Remus'sweetie (x2), Harrysgrl, Sweetie513, and Potter, James Potter for the latest reviews. Replies are in the review section.
So are you happy or irritated that Marlene was able to get some revenge on the newly dubbed 'Marauders'?
Next chapter: Remus returns from his 'visit home' and everyone prepares for the first Quidditch match of the season.