Once in a Lifetime

    The Gryffindor students trooped down the stairs to breakfast on their first day as Hogwarts students. Breakfast went somewhat uneventfully except for Sirius turning Lily into a lily, and Briar turning Sirius into a goat. The first years left the Great Hall late, and they were running down a deserted stairway on their way to Transfiguration when the stairway began to change. Sirius, who was at the top of the stair, began to fall.

    "AGH!" he was about to plummet to a rather certain, uncomfortable death involving him going splat (as James so succinctly put it afterwards) when...

    "SHITE!" Briar ran forward and grabbed Sirius' arm. She was laying on her stomach, and trying to tow a boy that weighed at least 50 pounds more than she did off of what was basically a cliff. Sirius was trying to pull himself up when an ominous creaking sound was heard.

    "BRI! The stair's gonna BREAK!" With a snap, the section of the stair that they were dangling off (consisting of about 7 steps) tilted downwards. All of the first years backed up except Lily Evans, who went hurtling over the ledge. Luckily, Sirius held out his leg, and she held on to it. The added weight caused all three to lurch forward until Briar's chest and ribs were over the ledge.

    " Lils! Hold on!"

    "Does it look like I have any choice in the matter, James?"

    "Oh, yeah."

    "Are you just gonna stand there gaping at Lily, or are you gonna help us, Jamsie-boy?"

    "Sirius...er...oh yeah!" He ran forward and lifted Briar back onto the stair so that only her neck was above the ledge. As he stepped back, the stairs groaned and shifted again, throwing Briar off and James down. Now, James was holding on to Briar's ankles while he dangled off the ledge.

    "James!" Remus grabbed James by the ankles while Arin began to haul him up. Jae ran forward and held onto Arin as the ledge snapped!

    " WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" shouted Lily and Remus, pointing their wands at the ledge and themselves. Finally, all of the dangling first years made it onto the ledge and flew into the doorway that led to the corridor where the Gryffindor Common Room lay, to the cheering of their House and yearmates.    

    "First years!" It was Professor Dumbledore, walking towards them. "Would Ms. Coren, Mr. Lupin, Ms. Shiel, Mr. Black, Ms. Clarke, Mr. Potter, and Ms. Pot-Evans come with me? The rest of you, I believe that you have a Transfiguration class to attend?" the first years looked at each other and rushed off en masse to their first class. Dumbledore lead the anxious Mauraders and the even more anxious Avengers to the office of Deputy Headmistress Professor Halasz.

    "Are you all alright? Good. Congratulations on your marvelous show of bravery. We also have some house points to award. Briar, Jae, Arin, and James each get 50 points. Lily and Remus each get 75. Thank you. I do not want to know what would happen if you had not been so brave."     

    "Sirius would've gone splat, that's what," muttered James, causing the group to laugh hysterically. They were still laughing when they left the office. They stopped when Lily shouted,

    "Oh my god! We've just won... 350 points for Gryffindor!"

"What d'you think he meant by Ms. Pot-Evans? Are you a pothead, Lily?"

    "Shut up, Arin."

    "Oooh, are Jamsie-boy and Lil'-flower gonna get married? Can I be the best man?"

    "Keep going like that, and the only position that you're open for will be Maid of Honor."

    " REMUS! KEEP HER AWAY! She's bloody violent, she is."

    "Lil, back down. He's just being an idiot."

    "Just being Sirius, you mean." Quipped Jae.

Everybody had gone up already, so Briar turned to go up the stairs when Sirius caught her arm.

    "Bri...thanks."

    "Eh, Siri...it was..." he silenced her with a quite-more-than-friendly hug.

** In the first year girl's dorm**

"Sirius Black HUGGED you?" squealed Arin excitedly.    

    " Yeh!" There were four of them in the first year Gryffindor girls room. There were four beds in the room, as there were only four first year Gryffindor girls. The door was on the east side of the room, with a bed next to it. There were two beds opposite that, and one bed on the north side, and another on the south side. There was a large window on the south side of the room, and four chests of drawers. The walls were colored light yellow, and there was a bathroom connecting through the north wall. Arin was on the north bed, Lily in the west bed farther from the mirror, and Jae on the south, next to the window. Briar plopped on the bed next to Lily.

    " I s'pose tha' one is mine, then."

    "Durr..."

    "Shut it, Arin!"

    " Mghp...Mmmllpp...Mwagg."

    " What the...?"

    " I'm shutting it!"

    " Be serious!" yelled Jae.

    "I am!" shouted Sirius as he ran up the stairs to their room.

    "Not you again," sighed Lily.

    "In the flesh!"

    " OHHHH lovely ladies!" called Remus, "oh, and you Arin... we have double Potions with the Slytherins now, so I'd suggest we get a move on."     

    "Eww... hey, who's teaching? I know Halasz is Transfig, Frieser is Charms, Ackerman is Herbology, but I don't know any of the others."    

    " Head of Slytherin, Professor Zegers."

    " Horny old bastard."

    " ARIN!"

    " What, Lil? He is!"

    "We're gonna be late!" They ran out of the dorm and tore down the halls. They reached the dungeons right as the class started. Sirius tore open the door and they grabbed seats, hoping that the professor wouldn't notice their lateness. Unfortunately for them, Professor Zegers turned at the moment Briar crashed into her seat, knocking it over into Severus Snape.

    "Well...if it isn't our new Gryffindor...friends. How kind of you to show up. You are one minute late, so I think that one point from Gryffindor shall be taken from each of you...so that would be eight. Now to business. We will be working in pairs today. We shall be making the most basic of the Sleeping Potions. I will be most surprised if more than one of you manage to make the first step correctly. Now... let me see... Lupin and Avery! Pettigrew and Goyle! Black and Crabbe! Potter and Malfoy! Coren and Snape! Shiel and Parkinson! Clarke and Lestrange! Evans and Nott! Longbottom and Rosier! Weasley and...McCloude. Now get to work!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

    " Hey Arthur! Lucky bum, you're the only Gryffindor partnered with a Gryffindor! Molly's nice!"

    "Uh...yup." The Mauraders went to their partners on the Slytherin side of the room, while the Avengers' partners came to them.

    "Ah... Jae m'dear. And how are you today?" queried Snape oily.

    " C'mon, you ugly git. Let's get down to business." As they sat at Jae's desk, Snape put his hand on her thigh. Shuddering, she threw him off. They easily put together the Sleeping Potion, to the chagrin of Professor Zegers. After they had finished, Snape went off to molest small, unsuspecting forest animals in the privacy of the girls bathroom, getting a shock when Moaning Myrtle popped up on him. When Jae saw that she was alone, she quickly threw together another Potion that was made from the same ingredients in different proportions, one that'd be guaranteed to make its drinker greasy-haired for life with no antidote. She finished her Potion and stored it just before Frank Longbottom managed to blow up his cauldron and blow Billith Rosier across the room. When the dust had settled, Peter tripped on his way to blow his nose, and knocked his cauldron all over Georgefriede Goyle, who promptly passed out on the floor and started snoring.

    " Hospital Wing for Goyle and Rosier! Crabbe, Malfoy take them up. Pettigrew, Longbottom, 20 points each from Gryffindor!" As the class ended, Jae grabbed Sirius and dragged him into a corner behind the statue of Godric Gryffindor.

    "Whoa, Jae! Easy! I'm not interested in you that way! I mean... you're a very pretty girl, but..."

    "Ah... sod off, Sirius. I'm serious."

    "No, I'm Sirius."

    "Bloody idiot."

    "Thank you!"

    "Listen... you do like Bri, don't you?"

    "Er... yea?"

    "Just don't hurt her, 'k?" he nodded. "Now listen. I've got the best prank ever lined up. Snape was hitting on me all through Potions, so I brewed a Grasiento Potion."    

    "Whoa... those are really complex! You must be good at Potions!"

    "Yea, whatever. I need you... James, Lil, and Bri to help me."

    "Well... what'll ya do for us?"

    "Er... I'll help you become Animagi! All the Marauders and all the Avengers."

    "You can do that?"

    "Gimme a few years."