From The Beginning Till The End

~ Chapter 16: The Marauders ~

"Tell me you guys haven't been marauding around!" Fion smiled as she walked into James's room where the three guys were hanging out.

"What's marauding?" Sirius asked curiously, fascinated by the big words Fion always use.

"It actually means raiding and plundering. But well, it's just an exaggeration on what you guys had done earlier in the kitchens," Fion commented, smiling at them and sat down on James's favorite green couch next to her.

"Well, since we have always been marauding around, why don't we call ourselves the Marauders?" James suggested, as he packed his Invisibility cloak carefully into his backpack. His parents had given it to him for his thirteenth birthday, which falls on eight of January, in just a few days' time. He had always been asking for one since he was ten. The Invisibility cloak was considered an extremely rare and expensive treasure in the wizarding world.

"The Marauders sounds cool. Very exclusive indeed," Fion complimented James on his brilliant idea.

"So we shall declare ourselves as Marauders when we head back tomorrow," Sirius said jovially, and jumped onto James's bed in joy. It was the last day of the Christmas break and the three guys had spent the last few days of the break at the Potter Manor.

"We need to think about how we can inform everyone about our famous prankster name," Remus said, building an idea in his head.

"That's not a problem at all. I'm sure we can come up with something by tonight," James responded as he zipped up his bag. The three guys sat down on the couches and chitchatted with Fion until late at night.

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

"Well, at least this Christmas, we don't need to spend it with the guys," Lily said as she jumped onto Stefanie's king-sized, four-poster bed. It was the last night of the Christmas break and they would be heading back to Hogwarts the next morning.

"Don't you want to see Mr. James Wonderful Potter?" Arabella asked in a teasing tone as she dotted some of Stefanie's Clinique moisturizer on her face.

"What about the candlelight dinner?" Stefanie added as she tried to squeeze more clothes into her already full bag.

"What do you think will be the next prank the guys are going to pull?" Lily asked, ignoring the questions from her friends.

"Don't change the topic, Lils," Stefanie said playfully while she unpacked and repacked her black Elle bag again.

"That dream was months ago!" Lily groaned while she hid herself under the comforter. Both Arabella and Stefanie started giggling and continued on what they were doing.

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

"How's your Christmas?" Remus asked the girls as they climbed up Hogwarts Express. They had Flooed to King's Cross separately and met along platform nine and three quarters.

"It was wonderful. We had so much fun together," Stefanie replied, tugging her heavy bag along. Stefanie had a large walk-in wardrobe at home and whenever she headed home during Christmas, she would return with even more clothing and accessories.

"Something great happened during the break." James had run in front of the five of them, then he turned around and had announced proudly.

"What happened?" Lily asked curiously, thinking that it might be another foolproof prank against the Slytherins.

"The Marauders have been founded," James informed them as they entered their usual compartment at the end of the train. The put their stuff at a corner and settled at the seats.

"Who are the Marauders?" Lily asked quizzically.

"What Marauders?" Stefanie questioned James.

"Marauders?" Arabella exchanged a baffled glance with her friends, asking the boy simultaneously. They grinned at each other before they looked at the three guys in amusement.

James started explaining the events leading to the naming of the Marauders.

"I can't believe you guys declared yourselves as 'The Marauders'," Lily burst into a fit of giggles.

"You guys. Marauders? Spare us please," Stefanie said mockingly and she started laughing at the guys.

"Do you guys know what 'marauders' actually mean?" Arabella asked, laughing rather hysterically.

"Of course, we know," Sirius said dryly, "but the Marauders sounds cool right?"

"Well, we're going to announce that to everyone on the train that we will be called the Marauders soon," James said as he started searching for something in his bag.

Sirius and Remus went to get some things from their bag and a roll of parchment.

"What are you guys planning to do?" Lily asked, eyeing the bags and parchments that the guys were holding curiously.

"Well, you'll find our soon," James responded mischievously and winked at her before he led the guys out of the compartment and closed the door after them.

"Ooo Stef, did you see what I thought I had just seen?" Arabella gasped. Then she grinned.

"Of course I did, how could I miss that?" Stefanie responded in a dry tone as she winked at Arabella right in front of Lily.

Lily ignored both the girls and went to get a book from her bag to read. Stefanie and Arabella were mimicking Lily and James in front of Lily. What was he thinking when he winked at me? In front of Bell and Stef, most of all. She almost fumed. Lily started digging. Hmm... Where is it? Ahhh... She fished out one of those children books on fairy tales that she happened to come across during the break. It was her favorite book when she was younger and she just felt like reading it again. She started to read the story about Cinderella and was soon lost to the realm of fantasy.

BbbAAaaMMmmm!!!

The three girls jumped in shocked.

"Can't you open the door a little more gently?" Lily asked, trying not to sound exasperated and smiled at James in particular. His hair looked messier than ever and he had that cute messy look that she thought was absolutely adorable.

"Have you guys forgotten that you are sharing this compartment with someone?" Arabella muttered in an irritated voice as she picked up the Christmas issue of Witch Weekly on the floor. Her mother was the chief editor for Witch Weekly and Stefanie had just gotten the latest issue from her mother.

"Can't you knock?" Stefanie snapped out angrily. The guys had always hit her nerves whenever they did something immature. Banging the door open was considered immature to her. However, whenever she opened Sirius's bedroom with a loud bang, the reason was of great urgency and not because of immaturity.

The three Marauders walked into the room, empty-handed and their faces were flushed. They looked like they had done a bit of running. James closed and locked the door behind him and settled down on his usual seat.

"So what did you guys do?" Lily asked, knowing rather well that it had to be a prank. But what?

"We need to thank Dr. Filibuster for his fabulous 'No-Heat-Wet-Start Fireworks' for this successful prank," James said dramatically, pretending to make an announcement.

"It was nothing actually," Remus added in a smug tone. "Not even considered a prank," he said, smiling at Stefanie.

"We merely went to every compartment, set of the fireworks which had a slip of paper that said 'Courtesy of The Marauders' attached to it. That's all," James said as he reached out for Lily's book to check it out but she grabbed it back before he had the chance to even take a glimpse of the title.

"So this is the great way of announcing your newfound name?" Arabella asked incredulously, amazed at how childish the guys can get.

"It was a brilliant idea, Bell. Even you got to be impressed by us at thinking of this fantastic method of announcement," Sirius told Arabella overconfidently.

"I wonder what's up next," Lily asked, sharing the same sardonic expression with the two girls.

"We'll get more remarkable each time. We are The Marauders, after all," James said pompously.

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3