The Diary

Chapter Six - The Feeling

The next morning, the Marauders gathered in their dormitory for a meeting.

"So, any guesses as to who did it?" Remus prompted.

"Wood," James said absentmindedly.

"No, it was rain, James, not wood," Sirius answered.

"No, I mean Emily Wood. She's behind this."

"Emily? What's she got against us?"

"She's getting back at us for that prank we pulled on Evans two days ago, obviously."

"Oh." Sirius pondered this for a moment. "How do you know that?"

"I'm just brilliant that way, I guess," James lied quickly.

Sirius took this into consideration. "So what are we doing to Wood for pulling that cloud thing? And the chair thing?"

"Don't forget the tripping," Peter supplied.

"Yes, and the tripping. We need to do something." Sirius jumped up onto his bed, inspired. "Our reputation as the Marauders is at stake here!" He pulled James up with him. "So, what are you thinking?"

James, who had been somewhat out of it, replied, "Evans."

Remus appeared confused. "Why? She didn't do anything."

He had been thinking about Evans, yes, but not in terms of revenge; he'd been contemplating their last 'conversation'. Now that he thought about it, though, it began to make sense in his mind. "It's genius," James responded, a smile forming on his face. "Emily will be expecting us to get back at her, but we'll get Evans instead. It's like getting back at Emily, only better, because she'll be mad at us, and we get to prank Evans again."

Even Remus was confused, and he was supposed to be the logical one of the bunch. "Take that again?"

"Emily thinks we will retaliate against her, right?" They nodded. "Well, every time she gets us, we just prank Evans again. Emily will have to stop pranking us because she's Evans' friend, and she wouldn't want Evans to be an unnecessary target."

There was a prolonged moment of silence. "James," Sirius said carefully, "That may just be the most brilliant plan I've ever heard." James grinned. Remus tentatively agreed, but Peter was baffled. After two more explanations, he finally got it. Sort of.

James turned to Sirius. "So - learned any good spells lately?"

0 0 0

The boys spent their Saturday morning coming up with a scheme. There had been some debate as to how severe they should go. James surprised the others when he advocated that they hold back, and just use this prank as a sign of things to come. Eventually he had persuaded them to agree with him, and they quickly formulated a plan.

"Hold on." James stopped suddenly, and the other three halted. It was just before lunch, and the four Marauders were on their way to the kitchens. He glanced around quickly. "Do you feel that?"

Sirius looked at him quizzically. "Feel what?"

"Like there's something in the pit of your stomach," James answered, gesturing to his mid-section.

"I don't feel anything unusual," Peter said nervously, "Should I?"

"Are you sure you're not just hungry or something?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head. "No, nothing like that. I've never felt anything like this before..."

"What say you, Remus? You're the brains of this operation," Sirius proclaimed.

Remus gave a half-grin. "This wasn't my idea, I'll remind you. Disregarding that, though, if this were anyone but James..." he trailed off.

"What? Am I dying or something?" James asked worriedly.

Remus chuckled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you felt guilty about this."

"What?!" yelled Sirius and James simultaneously.

"Honestly," Remus muttered, rolling his eyes. "Like I said, for most people, that sort of sensation means they feel bad about something. However, three things. One, James is, well, James. He has little, if any, conscience. Two, it's Evans we're pranking. James hates Evans; he shows no remorse when it comes to her. Three, it's not one of our worst pranks, so even if he were feeling regret, it would not be about this of all things."

"So... What?" Peter inquired anxiously.

"Really, Remus. I stopped listening when you started talking numbers," Sirius commented.

"Numbers aren't that bad!" Remus insisted.

James was adamant. " It doesn't matter! Remus, what's wrong with me?!" He grabbed Remus by the shoulders and started shaking him.

"James, calm down." Remus loosened himself from James' grip. "Long story short, James is in all likelihood just coming down with something."

A wave of relief spread over James' face. "Is that all? Well, then, what are we waiting for?" He began walking forward, but soon realized the others weren't next to him. "I could be dying for all I care, but we've got an Evans to prank! Come on!"

0 0 0

Lily leaned by the open window in her dormitory, letting the breeze wash over her, engulfing her with the scent of wet grass. She breathed in deeply and sighed. Why did James Potter have to be such an idiot? He was good at magic when he wanted to be, she would grudgingly admit that, but he used it for such ridiculous things. Things like putting a potion in her food that caused her to grow purple warts all over her face. It wasn't as though it was a terrible thing, really; Madam Harrison had been able to clear it up right away. It was the principle of the matter. She hadn't done anything to provoke Potter and his gang into doing it. That made it the second time in a week that they had decided to prank her. What had happened to cause it?

She closed her eyes, trying to figure out why. That was how she solved her problems: by logically thinking it through, finding the root of the problem, and working from there. There had to be some sort of stimulus to their pranks, she just had to find it.

A mental recap of the past few weeks wielded nothing. The only really unusual things had been the discovery of her diary's hidden talents, and the Marauders couldn't be behind that. Or could they? Lily shook her head. They weren't that skilled, and besides, her diary was kind and understanding, unlike any of the Marauders. No, for once they were innocent.

Back on track, though, Lily still couldn't for the life of her figure out their motivation. It makes no sense! Why me?

Even though the clouds were thick, Lily could tell the sun was setting. She got up to go to dinner when a fleeting thought crossed her mind. Maybe there's no logic to it at all... Lily groaned. Why hadn't she seen it earlier? They were the Marauders, for crying out loud. They don't need a reason to be condescending toe rags.

Her hand was on the doorknob when she stopped herself. How long was I sitting there? At least half an hour, judging by the sun. Lily grimaced. That's just silly. Note to self: stop wasting your time on them!

0 0 0

Lily entered the Great Hall and joined Emily, Matilda and Adam, who were discussing the latest Death Eater attacks.

"Thirteen Muggles, they're saying," Matilda said gravely, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her somewhat prominent ears.

"What do they have against Muggles, anyways? It's not like they can do any harm, really," Adam remarked. He was a lean boy, his hair several shades darker than Matilda's.

"You've clearly never met my sister," Lily added wryly.

They all snickered, but Emily gave Lily a brief yet significant glance.

After that, they moved on to discussing their plans for the next Hogsmeade trip for the rest of the meal. Lily stood up to head back to the common room, and was shortly joined by Emily. The two started the journey back up to Gryffindor Tower.

"Go ahead and ask me, Emily, I know you want to," Lily said.

Emily hesitated. "I'm not sure how to phrase this, but what happened?"

Lily playfully shoved her. "You don't have to be so serious all of the time, you know."

"Alright, what potion have you been slipped now?" Emily asked, only half-teasing. "Earlier, you were ready to kill Potter and Company. Why this sudden change in attitude?"

"It's silly to spend so much time worrying about those four," Lily replied simply.

"I'm sorry?" Emily was stunned. "When did you become so rational?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "I've always been this rational, I just never applied it to this particular case."

"I see..." Emily said suspiciously.

"Am I not allowed to ignore them?"

"Well, no, it's just... unexpected, that's all."

Lily considered this. "Maybe... Let's talk about something else."

"Before we change topics, you should know that I am planning to get them back for today."

"You don't have to."

"I know. But I want to." Emily grinned maliciously. "It's just too much fun to resist; they've just given me another reason to do it."

Lily smiled. "I don't want to know. Let's talk about... Hogsmeade?"

"You know, it occurs to me that we seem to spend an absurd amount of time discussing our plans for a simple visit to the village," Emily observed.

After a moment, Lily said, "You're absolutely right. Forget Hogsmeade. Let's talk about our Potions class."

"I take that back." Emily couldn't stand Slughorn, but decided to play Lily's game. "So, how many escort offers have you gotten so far?"

Lily glared at Emily's smirk and thwacked her on the head.

Emily feigned innocence. "What?!"

0 0 0

That night, James opened his journal once again, just in time to see Evans' even yet occasionally messy handwriting sprawl across the page.

The Marauders got their revenge today.

What'd they do this time?

Put something in my lunch so purple warts sprouted up on my face. Really attractive.

Wait, to you?

James was laughing. Evans hadn't seen it coming, and he had only gotten one detention for it!

I know! Emily walked away unscathed. I don't get it. Why'd they leave her well enough alone?

Strange...

Maybe they're afraid of retaliation on her part.

Perhaps there's more to this than you know of.

It's possible, I guess, but the Marauder's don't seem to be that deep.

James frowned. Evans clearly didn't realize the amount of effort they put into their work. Pranks took preparation, forethought and skill, and Evans thought he was not that deep? The wart powder had turned out to be a lot more difficult than they had planned. The house-elves had been reluctant to help out, but Sirius had told them that Evans needed some medicine that she wouldn't knowingly take it, and she would die without it. Finally an elf had agreed to sneak it onto Evans' plate.

Out of curiosity, how do you know the Marauders did it?

One of them came up to me and basically confessed.

Which one?

It's not important. I couldn't figure out why they pranked me instead of Emily, but I realized that there are more important things to be worried about.

She hadn't caught on, then. Excellent. James decided his plan really was brilliant. He hadn't been sure about it at first, but now he was certain. It made Emily mad, it made Evans mad, and now she had been worried about it, too.

I see.

I've decided to concern myself with more important matters.

What, like your classes?

Well, I wasn't really spending that much time thinking about them before, I suppose. In any case, I don't want to talk about them anymore.

James sat up. Damn! How was he supposed to get his information now? And more importantly, how was he supposed to respond to that?

Fair enough. Well, what else did you do today?

Oh, the usual. I sat around the lake with Emily and the other girls in my year. The trees are beginning to turn green; it's marvellous.

I can imagine.

Sorry, I forget that you're a diary.

No, no, that's a compliment, really.

Still.

I insist you keep pretending that I can see and hear, otherwise it's no fun at all for me.

Very well, if you really don't mind.

Continue.

Anyways, it was quite an uneventful day, except for the obvious, of course. Emily was teasing me about the number of Hogsmeade invites I've received for next weekend.

What's the tally?

It's stupid, really. I mean, I just don't see the point in fussing over it.

That many, eh?

James imagined Evans curled up in her bed, blushing. Based on her diary, she was very self-conscious about dating and boys in general. That, or incredibly apathetic. He hadn't mad up his mind yet.

Quiet, you. It doesn't matter how many boys have asked me, and I would say no to anyone.

And why is that?

Like I said, it's just pointless. All this fretting over one measly little day.

Well, it could turn into something more, couldn't it?

Even if it did, that wouldn't last very long, either. I just think dating during school is a waste of time. There are better things to do than snog a boy senseless.

James was thoroughly shocked by Evans' viewpoint. He didn't snog as much as some of the other boys at school, but still, to not do it at all was incomprehensible.

That's a bit extreme, don't you think?

No, not at all.

Now that they were discussing it, James was burning to know how popular Evans was.

So, how many boys have asked you thus far?

You're going to keep pestering me about this, aren't you?

Yes. Yes I am.

Fine. Six, if you must know.

Six?! James had been expecting three, at most. Her previous diary entries about Hogsmeade were unclear about the number of offers. And that was just for one Hogsmeade visit.

My my, Ms Evans.

That's an all-time high, I'll have you know.

You keep track of that sort of thing?

I'm sticking my tongue out at you right now.

Thanks for the description.

I'm going to bed. Good night.

'Night.

Even though his body was tired from playing Quidditch that afternoon, James stayed up for another hour thinking about the conversation he'd just had. He had certainly done more talking in that entry than in others. Then again, maybe that was a good thing. He could more easily sway her into telling him useful information. Plus, he had had fun badgering her about Hogsmeade. The thought of Evans sticking her tongue out at her own diary caused him to chuckle. Finally giving in, he rolled over and fell asleep.