The Great Disco of '76

The Great Disco of '76

It was a sticky, muggy afternoon; the last exams had finished earlier in that afternoon. Students lolled about on the grass near the lake; the brave (or foolhardy) venturing in to cool themselves. Peter let out a snort of laughter as he nudged Remus.

"Look," he said, pointing at two figures who were madly trying to outrun the tentacles of the giant squid.

Remus put down the book he was reading; he looked. "Those idiots," he said with humour as James and Sirius continued their mad dash. Both Peter and Remus collapsed into laughter as James and Sirius realized where they were and started to coolly saunter past the group of 6th year Gryffindor girls.

"No, Prongs don't do it," said Remus as he watched in horror as James walked up to Lily Evans.

"Oh, this is not going to be pretty," muttered Peter under his breath as he watched his friend's action.

"This is, what, the sixth time this week that he's tried?" asked Remus.

"Seventh. You weren't there at breakfast were you?"

"No, there was a prefect's meeting. What happened?"

"Well," started Peter but stopped as a sharp crack was heard. Looking over to his friends, Peter watched as James jumped back, sporting a red mark. He and Sirius quickly walked away from where they had been speaking to Lily. Peter continued with his tale. "Let's just say that James got Jean-Philippe to teach him some French expressions. One of them was Tu as un magnifique derrière."

Remus grimaced. "Let me guess, Lily understands French?"

"I'd say so! She was cursing a blue streak, I couldn't understand what she was saying, but Jean-Philippe looked um...shocked."

Remus shook his head as the other two boys plopped down beside them underneath the beech tree.

"Shot down again, Prongs!" said Sirius, giving James a nudge. James reached for his glasses and robe; he gave a rueful grin as he put his spectacles on.

"Minor setback," he replied airily.

Sirius snorted, "Right. Oi, Moony? Would you mind chucking me my robe?"

Remus picked up Sirius's abandoned robe and threw it at him. Sirius caught it with one hand. He used it to dry the lake water off his body but instead of putting it back on, he bunched it up to use as a pillow and lay on his back, still shirtless. Several of the Ravenclaw girls sitting near gave appreciative whistles. Sirius gave them a lazy wink before turning back to his friends. "This is the life," he said, closing his eyes against the bright sun. "No more studying, teachers, tests-"

"You still have to turn in your assignment to Professor Flitwick," Remus pointed out. Sirius opened his eyes to give Remus an aggrieved look; then turned back to his sunbathing.

"Besides that," he nodded agreeably.

"What about next year?" asked Peter timidly.

"What about it? It's a long time away, we have eight weeks now of pure freedom to- OWW!"

An owl swooping overhead dropped a small, sparkling ball onto Sirius's face. "Prongs, was that your stupid Snitch?" Sirius asked dangerously.

"Nope. I -ow!" came James's voice as an owl dropped a similar ball in his lap. Remus and Peter also received one.

Peter took his ball and examined it closely. He gave a small shout of surprise, as lettering appeared on the ball. He read out loud. "You are cordially invited to a groovin' Dance Party Disco. When: tonight at 9:00. Dress: Muggle dance clothes only. Follow the sparkling lights. Invitation for 5th years and up only. DO NOT tell any faculty, under pain of the Mugburgius curse. 'Regret' Owls only. From: The 7th years of Gryffindor."

Peter looked up to see three smiling faces and he felt his own face break into a grin as Sirius began to howl. "We're going to be dancin' and partyin' tonight!"

* * *

Later that day...

"Um, what are we supposed to wear to a disco?" asked Peter anxiously as he burrowed through his mound of robes. He, Remus and James had gone back to the Gryffindor dormitory to get ready for the dance while Sirius went to drop off his late Charms assignment. James gave a frustrated shake of his head; none of the four friends came from Muggle families. They all wore Muggle clothing during holidays of course, to blend in but none of them were familiar with disco dress.

Remus held up his second-best robes and wondered out loud, "D'you think they'll still let us in if we're wearing robes?"

James shook his head, "Don't think so. The 7th years seem pretty serious on the whole Muggle dress thing." All Gryffindor seemed to be excited about the disco, even the younger students. The 5th year girls had taken over the common room and turned it into fitting room, dresses were flying all over the place.

"What we need is someone who knows Muggle style," said Peter as he mournfully contemplated his tattered jeans and Oxfam t-shirt, the only Muggle clothes he had brought to Hogwarts.

James straightened up from his trunk. "Lily comes from a Muggle family! I'll go ask her."

He started for the door but Remus caught his arm. "I don't think you better ask her, mate. She seems pretty mad at you, you might want to let her cool off." James seemed ready to argue the point but then Peter pointed out a fact that made him reconsider.

"If you want to dance with her tonight, you should probably leave her alone now."

James looked at the faces of his two friends and reluctantly conceded the point. "I suppose so-. But who else is Muggle? Wait - Moony?"

"Hmm?"

"Aren't Fiona's parents Muggles?"

"Yes, I think so." Remus turned from putting his robes back in his armoire to find James and Peter staring at him expectantly. "Well, I guess I could ask her," he said slowly, blushing as he scuffed his feet. He and Fiona Mackenzie, a fellow 6th year in Ravenclaw had only been going steady for two weeks, Remus having asked her finally after a yearlong crush.

"Excellent," said James briskly.

"But, I don't where she'd be right now-, no-" said Remus quickly. "Maybe we should find someone else."

"Don't be an idiot, we'll use the map to find her," said James, referring to the Marauders Map they had created the year before. "As soon as Sirius comes back we'll go find her."

A few minutes later Sirius arrived. BANG went the door as he strode in angrily. "That stupid, bloody git!" he yelled, his gray eyes flashing. "I'm going to kill him for this!"

"Who? What happened?" asked James as he, Remus and Peter crowded around Sirius. Sirius pointed to the piece of paper he held in his hand. It looked like Sirius's charms assignment, but when Sirius pointed to the words Breathing Charms and Bubble Heads - How Wizards Could Live Underwater, they and the rest of the words disappeared, leaving the paper blank. Slowly, in spiky black handwriting, an invisible hand wrote SIRIUS BLACK IS A LAZY, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING BLOOD TRAITOR!

"Snivellus," said Sirius coldly. Peter took in a sharp intake of breath as he read the words. Sirius explained further, "I took my assignment to Professor Flitwick, I didn't know that Snape had tampered with it. When I passed it to the Professor, he took it and gave me a strange look. "'Mr. Black, there is nothing on this paper,' he said. I couldn't believe him! I took it back and it was true, all there was the title. I told him that I must have taken the wrong paper and he said that I'd have one more chance and could pass it in tomorrow morning. After I left to come back here, these words-" Sirius pointed to the bold letters, "-appeared. I already suspected a rat but this confirmed it."

"Snivellus will pay," declared James.

Sirius nodded, "If he dares show his face at this disco tonight... well, I'll be ready for him."

"What are you going to do about your assignment?" asked Remus.

"I've already tried to disenchant it, but the little slimeball must have worked a powerful charm on it. Luckily, I made a rough copy; I think I still have it. I'll just make another copy tomorrow morning. No way am I going to miss the dance tonight!"

"That's the spirit, Padfoot," said James. "Come on, we're going down to bug Remus's girlfriend to show us Muggle fashion."

"Far Out," said Sirius, a mischievous look in his eye. "Old Moony must be excited about seeing his stella."

Remus grabbed the map, ignoring his friends as he left the room.

"Did I get that Muggle slang right?"

"Um, 'think so, what's a stella?"

"I don't know, I just heard on the tele..."

They found Fiona at the library. She was with a couple of her friends and looked surprised to see Remus and his friends there.

"Hi, Remus," she said, pushing back her curly brown hair that had fallen in her face.

"Hi, Fiona," Remus said awkwardly. "Um... look, my friends and I kind of need help dressing for the disco tonight. Your parents are Muggle right?"

"Yeah," answered Fiona, looking amused.

"Could you help us find the right kind of Muggle clothes? Please?"

Fiona looked at her friends, they giggled and whispered among themselves for a few seconds. James, Sirius and Peter gave Remus questioning looks, but he just shrugged helplessly.

Finally Fiona finished the pow-wow with her friends. "Sounds like an interesting project -- we'll take you on. We'll show you the grooviest Muggle fashion there is!"

To be continued.............