Legacy of the Marauders

Chapter Twelve Essay Comments

"Good morning, good morning!
And how do you do?
Good morning, good morning!
And Merlin bless you!" Peter sang, very poorly, to awaken Sirius and Remus.

"Wormtail, full moon is tonight," said Remus grumpily, affected again by his PMS (Pre Moon Sickness).

"Sorry," said Peter quickly. "But I can't find Prongs."

Sirius smirked. "I've got a pretty good idea about where he is."

"Where?" Peter asked.

Shaking his head, Sirius replied, "I'll let him tell you when he gets here." He hopped out of bed and pulled a black shirt over his bare torso, knowing that any girls in the common room would die of a heart attack if he failed to do so, but decided not to bother changing his neon blue pyjama pants. "Until then let's go get into some trouble."

Peter and Remus hastily changed out of their pyjamas and when they entered the common room they found it empty, which was unsurprising since it was 6:00 A.M. on a Saturday. Remus and Peter did not have the slightest clue where Sirius was headed, yet they continued to follow him. He eventually stopped at McGonagall's office door. The Christmas wreath had been taken down.

"Padfoot, why-" Remus began.

"You'll see," Sirius answered the unfinished question. He took a knife out of his pocket and slid it through the crevice of the door. It unlocked with a click. Once they were inside with the door shut Sirius instructed, "Find the essays Minnie has to grade. We're going to write our own comments on them."

They searched through drawers until Peter exclaimed, "I found them!"

"Good job," said Sirius.

Peter glowed at the praise.

"Here." Remus handed them each a quill. "I bought these at Zonko's last Hogsmeade weekend. They change the writer's handwriting. This way she won't have proof we did it." Sirius smirked, accepting the quill. Remus typically wasn't as intriuged by mischief making as the others were, however, on the occasions when he was Remus was extremely good at it.

Peter proceeded to write, Wash your hair! on Snape's essay.

Remus located Malfoy's assignment and wrote, It's obvious you're a natural blonde.

Sirius scrawled on his cousin, Narcissa's, work, You're flat as a board and easy to nail.

Suddenly, a deep voice was heard from the fireplace. "Minerva?" The trio jerked their heads towards the face of a man that was clearly too boring to have any career besides a Ministry worker. He regarded them with surprise. "Where's Professor McGonagall?"

Promptly, Sirius took on the role of a secretary. "I'm Sirius Black, the school heart throb. Our dear professor is not here at the moment. Would you like me to take a message?"

"Er..." the man answered, disturbed by Sirius' behaviour. "That's all right. If you tell me where she is I'll try another fireplace."

Sirius' demeanour quickly altered to one of a Muggle child who is lying on the telephone when he is home alone. "She's in the shower."

"Then where's Professor Dumbledore?"

"He's in there with her."

Then man blanched. "Oh, ah, well, do you know how long they'll be?"

"Probably a few hours."

"I see...Thank you." The man's head disappeared muttering, "I think."

Peter, Remus, and Sirius collapsed into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"That was brilliant!" gushed Peter.

Remus said, "Yeah, it was, but I'd rather not be here when McGonagall gets back." The others nodded in agreement and the boys returned to their dorm to await James' return.