A Fairy Tale

A Fairy Tale | Chapter 2

"Where were you guys?" James asked, jumping up from his armchair as his friends came through the hole behind the portrait of the Fat Lady. "I came back here after dinner, but I couldn't find you--or the map for that matter. I even asked Damien, but he said he hadn't seen you since Herbology."

Damien Walker was the other seventh year that shared their dormitory. They were on good terms, but he had his own Ravenclaw friends.

"We were...out," Sirius said.

"Out where?"

"Out...there."

"Where's 'there'?"

Sirius sighed. "Damn, you're slow, Prongs. There."

James sighed too. "Whatever. Listen, I was so bored that I came up with this great pranking idea."

"Really?" Sirius asked.

"Yep." James beamed proudly. The Marauders began planning it.

"So it should be ready in about three to four days, right?" Peter asked, when they'd finished.

"Yeah," James said.

"Well, er--great," Remus said. He shifted the book they had gotten out of the Restricted Section from one hand to the next behind his back. "Why don't you go ahead and work on it first. We'll catch up later."

James narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Why are you guys being so secretive? Is there something you're hiding from me?"

"Yes," Peter blurted.

James looked taken aback. That wasn't the answer he had expected. "Well, what is it?" he asked.

"Prongs, if we're hiding something from you, do you really think that we'll tell you just because you asked?" Sirius said.

"Tell me!" James whined.

"Well...if you insist..." Sirius trailed off mysteriously.

"Well...?"

"Yeah, Padfoot," Remus said, looking at him. He thought that they'd agree to keep it a secret. "Well...?"

"We're throwing you a surprise birthday party, Prongs!" Sirius cried.

"But it's not even near my birthday!" James said.

"Which is why it's a surprise!" Sirius said, with an Uh, duh... look on his face.

"You're not making any sense, Sirius."

"Do I ever?"

"He's got a point there, James," Remus said. Peter nodded in agreement.

"Right..." James said, looking at Sirius weirdly. "You are really an enigma, Padfoot." He walked up boys' staircase and disappeared.

"Thanks!" Sirius yelled after his friend.

"I'm not sure that was a compliment," Remus said, setting the library book on a table nearby.

"Right, whatever." Sirius shrugged it off. "Well, good night, Moony. Good luck with searching for that potion."

"No way!" Remus said. "This was your idea, so you're going to help with it."

Sirius looked pained, but sat down next to his lycanthropic friend. "You're getting really cranky. Is it near the full moon already?"

"Yes," Remus said quietly. Then he chuckled. "Gives a whole new meaning to PMS, doesn't it? Pre-Moon Syndrome."

Sirius laughed. Peter looked confused. Then it hit him. "Oh!" He too, laughed loudly. "I get it."

Remus cleared his throat. "Right. Let's look for this potion and get it over with."

The three found it quickly and saw that it wasn't all that hard to make.

"...So all we need is that, and it should be ready in a week," Remus finished up.

"All right!" Sirius cheered. "Go Project Extraterrestrial!"

________________________________________________________________________

The week passed by quickly. The prank had been a great success. At breakfast, all the Slytherins had received howlers, telling them off for getting themselves sorted into Slytherin in the first place.

Anyways, at that moment, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were surrounding a boiling cauldron, set up in an unused classroom.

"Got the hair?" Remus asked.

"Yep," Sirius answered.

*Beginning of Flashback*

It was the day--or rather afternoon--after Remus's transformation. He was in the infirmary getting his cuts and wounds healed. So, it was up to Sirius and Peter to get a piece of Lily's hair (they had already gotten James's). The guys had sneaked away from lunch and came up to the girls' dormitory.

"Ow!" came Peter's muffled voice. He and Sirius were underneath James's invisibility cloak once again--more roomy this time with the absence of Remus. "You stepped on my foot!"

"Well, sorry. You shouldn't have put your foot where I was stepping."

"You--"

"Let's just get Lily's hair and get out of here, okay?"

"Right, right. So...which one's Lily's bed?"

"I don't know. Just choose one of them."

"But--but we could get the wrong one!"

"Lily's the only girl in this dorm with red hair. I don't think we could miss, Wormy."

"Right."

*End of Flashback*

"Here it is," Sirius handed Remus it. They dropped it in the cauldron, and the liquid turned a pinkish-red color.

"Great," Sirius said. "Now we'll just slip this into Lily's pumpkin juice and--bam! Lily will fall for James instantly."

"Yeah..." Remus said. "I just hope nothing goes wrong."

"Don't worry, Moony," Sirius assured him. "Nothing will."

How very wrong he was...