Lily And James Potter: True Friendship

Chapter II: It just goes to show how smart the Slytherins' are

Lily was furious with herself for pitying Narcissa. Sirius and Rose were discussing what their detention might be. Peter wasn't there at the time, so he didn't have anything to be afraid of. He was with the Care of Magical Creature professor when the brawl was going on. He had been asked to stay back to help Professor Anthora. He was quite old and needed assistance, so he asked one student to help him with the creatures every day for one week.

Lily was confused about the fight though. She still didn't know what had set everyone off like that. She decided to ask Rose and Sirius. "Hey guys, I was wondering. What does mudblood mean anyway?" Rose, usually being the calm one, lost it.

"How dare he call you a - a mudblood!" she bellowed. "Next time I see him, he's going to be dragon food! Why that grease - haired mongrel! " She ranted on and on. Finally, when she had calmed down, Sirius decided to reply to Lily.

"A mudblood is the worst insult you can give to a witch or a wizard with muggle parentage."

Just then, James came through the Portrait Hole, with an unbroken arm, and looking rather famished. "How's your arm?" asked Sirius.

"It's fine. That new matron fixed it in a flash. You know, Madame Pomfrey." He looked at the confused face of his friend. "Never mind. Anyhow, when's dinner, I'm starving."
"Yeah we thought you might be. So we saved you some stuff from lunch." Sirius revealed a large platter filled with food. Lily brought out a jug and a goblet. She poured James a goblet and held it out to him. He looked at her suspiciously, then at the drink. Lily chuckled.

"Don't worry I haven't poisoned your drink."

"You never can tell with people like you." Mumbled James as he accepted the goblet.

Quite soon, the Common Room had begun to fill. News of the fight had spread fairly quickly, because anxious friends and glowering prefect and seventh graders came up to them (the older grades just wanted to tell them off for losing fifty points. Most of them anyway), to ask about the event. Sirius and James were eager to be in this unusual limelight. But Rose and Lily did not like the idea of exposing their thoughts to the whole house so they sat away from everyone else planning their holidays and listening as James' and Sirius' story became more fiction than fact.

The show was ended when the dwarf prefect walked in, with a heavy frown and his brow furrowed. "Have you come to hear our story too, Dwarfy?" asked Sirius mockingly, a cheeky grin spreading across his face identical to James'.

"No I have not! And how many times do I have to tell you NOT to call me Dwarfly?! My name is Hindrance Cantankerous Scruff-bone!"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, better Scruffy?"

A few people sniggered, but soon stopped at the sight of anger in the prefect's eyes. The prefect turned on his heel, and stomped out the portrait hole. People started to move off either to dinner, or to sit with their friends. The two boys grinned at each other as they joined Lily and Rose. Peter was obviously still amazed at the story because he sat next to James mouth gaping wide. "Did you have fun?" asked Rose stupidly.

"Yes." replied James and Sirius in unison, just as stupidly. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I don't get how thick people can get these days." She commented.

"And why do you say that?" asked Sirius narrowing his eyes.

"Do you really think it's believable, that the giant squid actually took Snape into the lake and tried to kill him?" began Rose

"Then you jumped after him to save his life. HAH! Believe me if the squid really did do something of that sort, which it wouldn't, it would be doing us all a favor. And I think I heard James mention that he tried to cut off one of its many legs." She spoke to Rose, in a very annoying tone.

"HAH! What a laugh. James couldn't a carrot if his life depended on it." The two boys flushed. They opened and closed their mouths, which made them look like two very stupid looking fish. Rose and Lily chuckled at the sight. "Hehe. Okay guys, we get the point that you two will fabulous fish. But is it possible to be fish later, unless of course you two don't plan on eating." Rose called from over her shoulder. James looked at Sirius, who shrugged. They left the Common Room, with Peter running behind them, whom they had completely forgotten about.

A lot of murmur could be heard coming from the Great Hall. More than usual, that is. James, Sirius and Peter looked at each other who very confused. As they seated themselves next to Lily and Rose, James asked Rose next to him. "Hey what's all the excitement about?"

"Well if you lot hadn't been loitering, you would know."

"We weren't loitering. So are you going to tell me or not?"

"Okay, okay. Dumbledore has just announced that we are going..."Rose was cut off as Professor Dumbledore asked for everyone's attention.

"What? What is it?" hissed James

"Sshh." Rose hissed back.

Dumbledore was standing, looking at all the tables, with a smile (which hardly anybody noticed because of his moustache) and his eyes twinkling as usual behind half - moon glasses. "Boys and girls. I understand that this is a very unusual time for sorting, but circumstances have allowed this." Professor McGonagall had just brought out the three - legged stool, on which the Sorting Hat was placed.

"Hello all. Since it is only the start of the year I have not been able to come up with a new sorting song. So I will just continue with the sorting."

"Remus, please come and put the hat on." Said Professor Dumbledore kindly.

A boy of James' age came up to the stool and placed the hat on. He had sandy brown hair, with the grey - blue eyes. He sat nervously. At last, the hat shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!" The entire Gryffindor table roared with cheers. Remus went and sat on the only available place, next to Sirius. After the table had calmed down, Professor Dumbledore continued.

"Just a few notices before feast begins. First of all, it has come to my attention that students are fighting within school grounds, or in the corridors. It should be made clear that this should not happen again, or they will be punished. And secondly, there is a new tree being planted in the grounds right now. It is advised that you stay clear of it, as it is very violent to anyone who comes near it. It is being planted for erm... experimental reasons. That is all. I hope that every one of you will make Mr. Lupin feel right at home. Now EAT!"

As the platters magically filled themselves, Sirius launched into a conversation with Remus.

"Hello, I'm Sirius. Welcome to Hogwarts. And to Gryffindor."

"Thanks. I'm Remus."

Remus looked quite pale, and kept his head down. If Sirius had seen this, he wouldn't have continued on talking, but seeing as he didn't, he kept talking.

"So, what grade are you in?"

"Umm... well 1st year I think."

"Cool. You're with us then." Remus shrugged once again. "I'll introduce you to my friends. This is Peter." He put his hand on Peter's shoulder, who was eating on his left-hand side. "And that's James next to Peter. And Rose next to James. And Lily next to Rose." Each one of them smiled at Remus as they were being introduced. "So where are you from?"

"We moved here from Rome. Erm... my parents got new jobs here so we had to move." He said in a shaky voice. Sirius nodded.

Pretty soon, Remus was familiar with most of the teachers, the ghosts, other students from different houses, as well as their own. Remus seemed a little shy, as he didn't like to talk about himself or his family. Sirius didn't mind, as he was now stuffing his face with chicken.

Soon, the desserts vanished and the plates and goblets were left sparkling clean like before. Sirius promised Remus he would show him some of the secret passages in the castle, and James promised he would show him where the kitchens were located. Remus smiled. They went up to their dormitories. Remus found his trunk next to his bed and everyone changed in to their pyjamas. The other boys climbed into bed, and bid each other goodnight. The sound of soft snoring told Remus that everyone, but him, had fallen asleep. He looked out the window to see the crescent moon, hid half behind clouds. Its glow made Remus go pale. He shuddered at the sight of the moon, and turned his back to it, to look at the other beds. He sighed heavily, shaking his head as he climbed into his own.

The next morning Sirius was very excited for a particular lesson they were having that morning. Sirius and James skipped all the way to the grounds, after wolfing down their breakfasts. Lily didn't understand what was so good about flying, though she couldn't say she wasn't excited. Rose was her calm self once again, and walked silently between Lily and Remus. As for Peter, he was trying to catch up to James and Sirius. As a result of all this, they arrived ten minutes before the lesson was due to start. As they came closer, they saw two rows of brooms, about twenty, waiting for a rider. The only thing that persuaded James and Sirius to keep their feet on the ground, was the thought of getting expelled from Hogwarts, and especially how they would be welcomed home if they did get expelled. Sirius yelped with excitement as he saw the other students hurrying towards them, led by Madame Hooch. "Finally!" exclaimed Sirius.

Everyone was eager to take to the air, with a few exceptions. "Okay, now stand by a broom. Hurry up now!" screeched the professor. Sirius and James stood tapping their feet, as the professor checked everyone else's grip. "Now when I blow my whistle, just hover a few feet, and come right back down. Understand?" Everyone nodded. With the screech of the whistle, everyone pushed off the ground. James and Sirius flew about happily. Even Lily had gotten the hang of it. Rose was quite good, though she wouldn't admit it afterwards. Remus was trying to land instead he crashed in to a bush. Peter was having trouble keeping control of his broom, as he tried to steer away from the lake, but failed miserably as he landed in it. As he came out, drenched to the bones, Sirius and James did loop the loops, and other dangerous stunts, which resulted in Gryffindor losing ten points.

The rest of the day passed slowly. History of Magic was as boring as ever, and Professor Binns didn't help with his never-changing voice. As usual, most of the class was asleep than awake. Sirius couldn't wait until lunch. This was their last lesson before the Christmas break. The six friends had decided to stay at Hogwarts for their holidays. Sirius sat there, tapping the end of his quill on the table, which wasn't such a good idea seeing it made the quill blunt.

Everyone rushed out the door happily when the professor announced the end of the lesson. Partly because the holidays had started, and partly because if they had spent another moment in that classroom, they would have died of boredom. "So what are we going to do now?" asked Peter, jumping up and down with excitement.

"We are going to finish our Potions assignment, so we don't have to worry about it later." Rose replied. James had a look of disgust on his face at the mention of the assignment, which the girls ignored.

"Correction my dear. You two are going to do that assignment. We are going outside to do something to those Slytherins." Sirius corrected smartly.

"I'm not your dear anything. If you guys want to go goofing off, that's fine with us. Just don't complain when you forget to do your homework." And with that, the two girls marched off towards the Library. The boys shrugged, and Lily distinctively heard someone mutter "Girls."

The library was quite isolated when the two got there. It seemed that the whole school was thinking along the same lines as Sirius. Except for the Slytherin part of course. They sat down at the back of the library, as it had more room there than the front. Then they started on their assignment. For two whole hours, Lily and Rose sat discussing, complaining and writing all at the same time. Madame Nessos checked on them from time to time and even helped them with their homework. At last when the sun was setting, the girls finally finished. The boys came in around the same time. "How did you cope?" asked James, thinking that they had wasted their whole afternoon doing their homework. "So how far have you got? We told you that you were wasting your time...." James was cut off by Rose and Lily's replies.

"We're finished." Said Rose triumphantly.

"And we managed to complete our Magical Creatures homework and our History homework as well. So now we don't have any homework. " Added Lily, smiling at the surprised look on the boys' faces.

"Oh." Sirius said grimly.

"Shall we go to dinner now Lily?" asked Rose in a dignified voice.

"Gladly. But first we need to take our books back to our dorms." Lily replied, also in a dignified voice. "We'll see you at dinner." She said to the boys, returning to her normal voice. They picked up their things, and left the library.

"Girls. I never get them." Said James shaking his head, as they too, left the library.

Saturday began with the arrival of the post. Lily didn't have an owl, though she constantly reminded herself to get one for next year. Remus and Peter also didn't have an owl. Peter didn't like owls, as he preferred rats or mice, which were the favourite foods for owls.

Rose had a beautiful snowy owl, which she named Hance. James had a beautiful tawny owl, but the colours of its feathers seemed to change when the sunlight hit them. She had beautiful hazel-green eyes, from which James came up with the name; Hazel-Green. Sirius' owl was the most unusual of all the owls in the school. Firstly, it was because of its colour. Nobody else in the school had a jet-black owl, with the most vivid green eyes. However the most unusual thing about it was its name. Sirius JNR. Normally, people would name their pets some thing like Jesse or something or someone famous out of a book. But then again, Sirius wasn't a normal kid.

Lily was reading The Daily Prophet, which James got delivered to him everyday. The front page was quite interesting. It had a moving black and white picture of what looked like a burning house. And above the ruins was a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth. Lily was dazzled. She hadn't noticed James reading over her shoulder until he cursed in her ear. Startled, Lily bumped her head with his, as she was looking around. "Ouch." They cried in unison.

"Watch it would you?" complained James, rubbing his head.

"Well you could've warned me you were there." James sat down on the chair next to Lily's, as the previous occupant had just left. "Anyway, what is that?" Asked Lily curiously, pointing at the sign above the was-a-house.

"That? That's the sign of ... Voldemort." He hissed his name into her ear. "They use that sign to tell that they've been there."

"Who are 'they'?" Lily asked.

"The Death Eaters. They are the followers of Voldemort." A few people gasped, and James told them to shut it. "Those poor muggles. Those Death Eaters have no heart." Before the matter was taken any further, Rose cleared her throat loudly.

"Umm... may I have a look at that?" Rose took the paper from Lily. As she read over the article, there was a twinkle in her eyes which nobody noticed. She quietly returned the newspaper back to Lily.

As there weren't many people, they could talk freely without having to bump into anyone. They went to the grounds and discussed the news. They couldn't sit on the ground as it was still covered with snow, so instead they walked around. Rose decided to change the subject, as she got goose bumps at every mention of death or Voldemort. "So what are we doing today?"

"Well I was thinking of trying out my experiment." Said Sirius proudly.

"And what would that be?" asked Rose, not really wanting to know.

"My new and improved .... drum roll please... dungbombs! Now they aren't ordinary dungbombs. No, no, no. They smell far more worse than the ones we buy today."

"I wonder if this has anything to do with the Slytherins." Muttered Lily to Rose, who smiled in return.

"Soooo, I was thinking of letting some of them off at the Slytherin table."

"I saw that coming a mile away." Said Lily under her breath.

"So you guys in?"

"No way. If we get caught, we'd be in serious trouble, and our records aren't exactly clean. I'm not having any part in this." And Rose agreed.

"Fine. But you guys are with me, right?"

"Yeah, I'm in." declared James.

"Okay, I'll come too then." Remus joined in.

"Umm... okay fine." Sighed Peter.

"That's settled then. Follow me men." Sirius strutted in front of the line, chest puffed out. The three others followed in a similar fashion. The girls chuckled merrily at them. They looked even funnier as they were walking in snow that was half way up to their knees.

As the sky turned from blue-grey to orange-red, the boys returned, and they appeared to be very excited. As they made their way up to the castle, they saw a giant of a man. His face was hid behind a large pine tree, which he was carrying inside. They walked up to him. "Excuse me, but do you need any help?" asked Lily. From behind the tree came a muffled voice and an answer.

"No thanks. Yer better get up ter the castle."

"Okay, see around then." The six walked ahead of the man, and entered the warmth of the Great Hall. It was beautifully decorated. There were trees in every corner, except for one. Some of them were decorated with what looked like fairies. They probably are, thought Lily. There were icicles hanging off trees, and snowmen, which bid you a 'Merry Christmas' as people passed by them.

The remaining students of the houses came up to the hall eventually. It seemed that most of the Slytherin first years had decided to stay. And to Sirius and James' delight, so were Severus and his group. As the last student sat down, the platters began to fill. To everyone's surprise, Sirius was paying no attention to the food what so ever. He was staring at the Slytherin table.

As James was about to finish his pie, Sirius spoke at last. "It's time. Watch." He pointed towards the Slytherins. Four or five fumes of grey smoke were rising from the table. The Slytherins looked around for the source of the smoke. The smell was horrendous. It smelled of rotten eggs mixed with rotting fish, and who knows what else. It made everyone pinch his or her noses.

The whole of the Slytherin table was covered with thick grey smoke. None of the teachers dared go near, as it was impossible to breathe. At last, there was a huge bang. Bits of chicken and potatoes and lots of other foods and drinks went flying across the hall. When the show was about to end, with a last puff of smoke, it spelled out 'S.S.' As the rest of the school left that night, the Slytherins were asked to stay back for the mess 'they' had created. As soon as Sirius walked through the portrait hole, he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard that tears ran down his cheeks. Others were also laughing, but none as hard as Sirius was.

The following day, the hall still smelled of rotting fish and eggs, though it did look cleaner than it had ever looked. If the stench of the hall was disturbing, then the Slytherins' would have taken the cup. As the group settled themselves down, Severus walked towards them. His usually greased hair, no longer greasy and neat. "I know you lot thought that last night was funny, but when I get my hands on you, Sirius Bl..."

"Oooohh. What are you going to do? Stink up the whole castle?" James asked, grinning broadly. Sirius waved his hand at Severus, who left them, very heated indeed.

As days passed, the snow started to melt. It was the last day of the holidays, and everyone was outside enjoying the cool breeze. Everyone was gathered around a sixth grader Slytherin, who was speaking. "Let's see which house is truly the bravest, and the most courageous. The houses will each send a person from their team, to see whether he, or she, can touch the tree. The person, who touches closest to the tree, will be declared winner, as will their house. So, who wants to play?"

The students divided into their houses. Gryffindor was to go first, because according to the Slytherins, they had to prove that the Sorting Hat was right. A seventh grader went first. He didn't go so well, narrowly missing a mighty swing from the tree.

Each student from each house took a turn. The tree's aim was getting better at every turn. Nobody got hurt or injured badly. It was Hufflepuff's turn now, and an eager first grader took the turn. Dodging and turning, he ran through the swings of the tree. When he had thought he had reached far enough, he touched the tree and turned around to look at a branch heading straight for his face. The poor kid tried to run away backwards, but was only whipped strongly on the back, with another branch. Hopelessly, he went on all fours, blood dripping from his mouth. He could hear the laughter of the Slytherins'. He gave up hope, as a mighty swing from the tree came right at him. He sat there, rigid with fear, and then it came.

Blood ran from his eye, his nose, and his mouth. If it weren't for his friend, no teacher would have known about the incident. Professor McGonagall was racing down towards them. She pulled out her wand and yelled "Petrificus Totalus!" the tree froze. "Get him out of there! Quick!" The Hufflepuff was lying unconscious on the ground. Some of the Hufflepuffs came and carried him to the Hospital Wing. But the professor was not quite finished. "No body is going anywhere! I want to know, who invented that ridiculous game, right now! Or you'll all be in detention for the rest of the year!" Nobody had seen the professor as angry as this before. A first year girl from Hufflepuff, collected her courage, and spoke in a little voice.

"It was him professor." She said, pointing at the Slytherin. "It was h...." She couldn't finish. The poor girl was so frightened for her friend that she started to cry. She was comforted by some elder years.

"Proteus come with me at once. The rest of you go back to your common rooms, and STAY THERE!" The professor took the sixth grader away, and the school departed.

As Lily entered the Common Room, she noticed Molly comforting a crying friend. Concerned, Lily went up to them. "What's the matter Molly? Is she okay?"

"Davie. Davie Gudgeon is her younger brother. And she is overwhelmed. And to make things worse, she isn't allowed to see him."

"But that-that can't be. He's in Hufflepuff, and she's, well she's not." But Molly had run off after her friend.

The next day, had horrifying news on the front page of The Daily Prophet. It read:

The Hogwarts Experiment

Yesterday, a boy of Hufflepuff, named David Gugeon, was brutally attacked by a very vicious tree. This tree, which was said to be planted for 'experimental reasons', has now aroused suspicion amongst parents of those students, who attend Hogwarts. They seem to now think whether Albus Dumbledore is a qualified headmaster, or not. David's arms and legs were nearly pulled right off, as the staff of the school watched undisturbed. It was said that a Slytherin sixth grader had invented the game, and that the Gryffindors seconded them.

They laughed merrily as the kid clung on a slim thread between life and death. It was also said that the 'matters were taken care of'.

A rumor has been flying about You-know-who, brainwashing the school staff, and using them to take control of the future generation of the magical community.

If your children do attend Hogwarts, then ask yourself, are they really safe there?

Information gathered by: Rita Skeeter

"What a bluff!" exclaimed Sirius, who had just finished reading the article. "By tomorrow, this place would be swarming with letters from concerned parents. "By tomorrow, this place would be swarming with letters from concerned parents."

"She's that girl with the black hair in two plaits. She's in Ravenclaw." Answered Peter smartly.

"Yeah, and she's a really big snob too. You see her walking around with her nose up in the air. If she puts it any higher, she'd fall backwards." Peter chuckled beside her. She smiled at him, which he returned. "She couldn't even spell the name right. It's Davie Gudgeon not David Gugeon."

"And look, here she wrote that Gryffindor agreed with Slytherin. Gryffindor never agrees with the Slytherins." Added Sirius.

"Well actually, we did. The whole school did." Lily said in a matter-of- fact tone.

"Well what were we supposed to do? It was a matter of principle." Said Rose through clenched teeth. "I'm going to show that runt, what it means to mess with the Gryffindors." James got up and held her back before she went and did something that she would later regret.

"C'mon. Let's just forget about it. Let's go outside." Suggested Lily. They were all forced outside to forget about Rita. Little did they know that it would be quite hard to forget her that easily.

The owls swarmed the hall like bees in their hive. There were a lot of red envelopes flying about. James, Sirius, and Peter all received one like most of the house. Everyone was hiding underneath the table, their heads barely able to be seen. Lily didn't understand what the fuss was about. So she grabbed James' letter and opened up the envelope. As she opened it, a woman shouting could be heard. Startled, Lily dropped the envelope. It got louder and louder. The lady seemed to be shouting at James.

After a while, Sirius' envelope burst into flames and started shouting, ten times louder than the first one. Same thing happened to Peter's and many of the other students. Nobody could understand any of it, as there were so many voices. Everyone was cowering under the house table. Even the prefect was hiding. Lily realised that this must be quite embarrassing for the students who received these letters. "What do you call these things!" she shouted, trying to talk to Rose by shouting over the top of the voices. Trying at least.

"They're called Howlers! If you do something bad, that's what their parents send them!"

"Oh!"

After a very long and mixed up breakfast, Sirius, James, and Peter headed over to the Ravenclaw. The three were in a very heated mood. But when they got there, it seemed most of the school was crowded around her. The crowd was so thick, they weren't able to get through. "Aww. I hope they beat her good." Said Sirius, disappointedly.

"Nobody is going to beat anyone, Mr. Black." The group turned around to find Professor McGonagall standing right behind them. "There is nothing to see here. Get a move on, all of you!" she ordered the crowd, who departed unwillingly. Everyone spent the rest of the afternoon outside, most of them staying as far away as possible from the Whomping Willow. Since it was the last day, everyone tried to make the most of it. The group decided to visit the little hut near the Forbidden Forest. As they were about to knock, they heard booming barks coming from the back. As they followed the sound to the back, they saw the man who they had seen carrying the tree, talking to Apollyon Pringle. He was the caretaker and keeper of the keys. They seemed to be arguing on how to control the creatures they used in Magical Creatures. "But if they aren't kept in the crate, they will run off and create Havoc. Or don't you understand that Hagrid?" Apollyon asked.

"Bu' Apollyon, I thought they were bored. 'onestly, I didn't mean your fingers ter get burnt." Hagrid defended himself. Without realising what she was doing, Lily stepped in to stand up for Hagrid.

"I think if he didn't mean it, then you shouldn't punish him."

"This is none of your business missy. So go on, get out of here." Said Apollyon. The last thing he needed was a first grader telling him how to handle his job.

"No I won't. He hasn't done anything wrong, so why are you yelling at him?" Lily wasn't going to give in that easily.

"Okay, okay. Just take him out of my sight." Apollyon said, irritated. Lily took Hagrid's huge hand, and dragged him away.

"Thanks, but yer didn't have ter do that." Lily let go off his hand and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm Hagrid Rubeus Hagrid, but my friends call me Hagrid. What's yer name?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"I'm Lily. Nice to meet you." Said Lily, shaking his hand. "Why was Apollyon hassling you anyway?"

"Oh, well," Hagrid blushed "Yer see, the seventh graders are using these fire breathing salamanders, a new species, though they are labeled endangered. And I thought that they were bored so I let them out of their fire crate. They ran off, and burnt Apollyon's fingers when he tried to gather them." Though she couldn't tell through the thick hair, she knew he was very embarrassed.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine. Anyway, these are my friends. James, Rose, Sirius, Peter, and Remus. Guys, say 'hi' to Hagrid."

"Hey!" called out James, Sirius and Remus all together.

"Hi." Said Rose sweetly.

"Hello." Said Peter nervously. Lily smiled happily.

The six spent rest of their afternoon in Hagrid's hut. He offered them seconds of his rock cake, but they politely refused. When the moon was out, they decided to head up to the castle.

After dinner, everyone was very tired, and had forgotten all about Rita and the newspaper article. Just as they were about to say goodnight, Lily remembered to ask the boys:

"Hey, have you finished your Potions' assignment, and your History and Magical Creatures homework?" The boys groaned, and set about doing their homework that was due the next morning. Remus could've gone to bed because he didn't attend Hogwarts at that time, instead, he chose to sit up with the rest of the boys and help them with their homework. The girls bid them goodnight, and went to sleep peacefully with no worries of their homework.