A/N: Wow. Oh wow. So much has happened over the past few months, it's insane. Assessments, my heart got broken (as a result, I was like screw dis love story omg), then I obtained a boyfriend (achievement get), my grandmother broke her arm and I've been helping her out, I almost got knocked out several times by flying things (yeah being out in storms in Australia = bad idea), my hardrive on my laptop decided to jump ship so I'm slowly getting my files back, my birthday was a few days ago (yay, finally fifteen omfg), I got sucked into Tumblr, and I almost killed myself a few times for reasons I doubt you care about, so I haven't really had the time/energy to write. I'm so so sorry about that :c I hope you guys can forgive me, and I hope you guys didn't miss me too much lol who cares about me though, keep going on with the story and shut up, right?
A/N: ANYWAY. I have my outline. I have this story to write. I have time. Summer holidays are here. Time to get intense. By the amount of chapters left, this should be done by middle of next year MAX *sobbing*. Ah well, after that, I'll work on my… other… unfinished… stories… *looks at list* godammit.
A/N: PS fun chapter because people need fun okay.
A/N: PPS swearing o: f bomb dropped by someone surprising~ POV change as well, but I'm not gonna say who it changes to~
A/N: Oh! And I'm finally fifteen, too. Yesssssssss~
Chapter Forty-Six
"MARAUDERS, ASSEMBLE!"
The Marauders clashed shoulders, arms laced over each other, James' glasses sliding down his nose.
"THIS EXAM PERIOD IS GETTING TO OUR NERVES!" exclaimed Sirius.
"YEAH!" shouted the others in the deepest voice they could muster.
"WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING TO LIGHTEN THE MOOD!" continued James.
"YEAH!"
"LET'S PRANK THE CR-"
"何いってんだよ?!"
The Marauders jumped about a foot in the air before a series of simultaneous events followed. Peter fell over, Remus took a table to the shin and James uppercut Sirius in surprise.
"What the hell man?" shouted Sirius, rubbing his jaw and punching James in the stomach.
Soon, a fistfight broke out between Sirius and James until Remus pulled out his wand and levicorpused the both of them. The rest of the Gryffindor occupants of the common room sighed and returned to their daily business.
"Is there any meaning to this?" asked Remus in a tired sort of voice.
"He punched me first," pouted Sirius.
"He punched me second!"
"BUT YOU PUNCHED ME FIRST!"
"YOU'RE A SLIMY GIT!"
"YOU'RE A HATRACK!"
"YOU'RE JUST A RACK!"
"YOU'RE A STUPID JAM SPREAD!"
"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
They then proceeded to slap each other upside-down, which was rather uncoordinated and they missed half the time.
Remus sighed and sat back down.
"U-Uhm… guys?" asked Lily tentatively. James immediately stopped trying to slap Sirius' face off and grinned at Lily, the blood rushing to his face and his glasses halfway off his nose.
"Yes my dearest Lily-willy-nilly?"
"I-I just wanted to know what you guys were doing…" she said, pushing his glasses up his nose for him.
"Oh, I see," said James with a grin.
"Of course," said Sirius, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets due to the pressure.
"Close your eyes and pretend you're on your bed," said James helpfully, "it helps."
"BICH I AIN'T GONNA TAKE ADVICE FROM YOU!"
"Bich?" asked Remus pleasantly, stretched out on the sofa.
"Well, bitch is a bit much, isn't it?"
"Sounds a lot like you failed to say biscuit."
"YOU WANNA SAY THAT TO MY FACE PUNK?"
"I JUST DID!"
"Oh. So you did."
"Can you let them down?" asked KayCee, her face both amused and worried.
"I can, but will I?" asked Remus.
"You're being quite vindictive, aren't you?" asked Bridget coolly.
"So what if I am? I'm sick of their fighting and nonsense."
"Nonsense? Nonsense?" asked Sirius. "You're just full of nonsense!"
"I'M FULL OF NONSENSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!" exploded Remus. "YOU'RE THE ONES FIST FIGHTING EVERY MONTH! ARE YOU ALL ON YOUR PERIODS OR SOMETHING?!"
"OF COURSE WE ARE! WHY AREN'T YOU?!" bellowed James.
"MAYBE I JUST DON'T FOLLOW THE CROWD!"
"OH YEAH? YOU KNOW WHAT WOULDN'T BE FOLLOWING THE CROWD? LETTING US DOWN, DAMMIT!"
"FINE! IF THAT'S NOT FOLLOWING THE CROWD! I'LL FREAKING LET YOU DOWN! LIBERACORPUS!"
James and Sirius collapsed heavily onto the floor, breathing heavily. Many students sidestepped around them and they looked at each other, still breathing heavily. They nodded and both raised their wands, pointing them at Remus.
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
"LEVICORPUS!"
Remus' wand and book flew out of his hands and into James' outstretched arms and Sirius grinned as Remus was hoisted into the air by his ankle.
"Well, this is great and all," said KayCee as the blood rushed to Remus' head, "but what were you guys talking about in the first place."
"Ah!" said Sirius, raising a finger and standing up, swaying a little but he managed to walk over to KayCee.
"We were talking about pranks, what else?"
"I thought you guys took a break from pranks?" said Lily, glancing over at James with both amusement and disdain.
"Excuse me for being bored," said James with a grin. Lily sighed and pulled him up. He swayed a little as well, his vision blurring until Lily caught hold of his arm. They stayed in that position for a while, Lily's face a little pink and James swaying. He looked down at her and she looked at her shoes. She loosened her hold on his arm and James pulled her into a hug, their arms wrapped around the other's waist.
"Isn't that sweet?" asked Remus, his voice sounding a little bit strange. Sirius glanced over to Remus. Sirius sighed, and reversed the incantation.
"Dammit Moony, I can't stay mad at you for long."
"Likewise."
James frowned at the both of them.
"Come on, just hug it out."
Remus looked over at James with a raised eyebrow.
"Hug it out?"
"Yeah. Hug, you know, the feelings away."
"What feelings?"
"THE FEELINGS OF ANIMOSITY."
"WHAT ANIMOSITY."
"THIS ANIMOSITY."
"DO YOU WANT A HUG THEN?"
"DO I?"
"DO YOU?"
"DO I?"
"DO YOU?"
"DO I?"
"DO YOU?"
"DO I?"
"DO YOU?"
"DO I?"
"DO YOU?"
"DO I?"
"DO YOU?"
"DO I?"
"DO YOU TWO WANT TO SHUT UP?"
Sirius and James glanced at each other, then back at Remus.
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Do we?"
"Silencio."
"Thank you, Lily," beamed Remus, as James still had Remus' wand.
James looked at his girlfriend, scandalised to say the least, and Remus took this opportunity to pluck his wand out of James' hand. Lily grinned at James, pulling his tie and lowering his face to hers.
"JESUS CHRIST GO INTO ANOTHER ROOM FOR GOD'S SAKE!"
James looked over at Sirius, who looked at him as confused as he felt.
"Sorry, reflex action," said Remus smoothly.
"Reflex action? You never say things like that."
"Apparently I do now."
"Anyway," cut in KayCee, before the Marauders could continue, "what were you guys planning?"
"… Nuthin'~"
"Not taking that bullshit."
"Well I'm sorry," huffed Sirius.
"No you're not."
"WELL WHAT IF I AM?!"
"DON'T RAISE YOUR VOICE AT ME YOU LITTLE SHITBAG."
The common room fell silent, and James, Remus and Peter all simultaneously whistled between their teeth.
"Ooh…"
"Lelelelelelelelelelelelelelelel," said KayCee playfully and Sirius glared at her before a grin spread across his face.
"Well, at least I'm your little shitbag~."
They laughed and proceeded to make out, leaving the rest of the common room severely confused. James, Remus, Peter, Bridget, Lionel and Lily all looked at each other before shrugging and continuing on with their daily lives.
"But no, seriously, what were you guys planning?" Lily later asked the Marauders as they all made their way down to dinner. James turned and walked backwards to face Lily and the rest of the Marauders.
"Just a simple sort of prank. You want in?"
"Do I really?"
"Well, it's up to you. Life is getting pretty boring, stuck in the same routine, you know."
"I suppose…" Lily glanced at KayCee and Bridget. Suddenly Bridget's eyes lit up and she grinned.
"Sorry, enthralling conversation, really, but I'm off."
She practically skipped towards the Entrance Hall, before disappearing through the gigantic oak doors leading to the courtyard. KayCee, Sirius, Lionel, James and Lily all glanced each other, then at Remus, who looked coolly indifferent to the situation.
"She's got a boyfriend now," he said, his voice bordering monotone.
"Erm, no, I don't think so," said Lily shiftily, her eyes darting to Sirius, James, Lionel and KayCee in a pleading sort of manner.
"She's been acting shifty for the past few whatevers," said Remus, his voice slowly morphing more and more into a monotone.
"Well, I wouldn't say that…"
"Ha."
"Actually, I don't think she's dating anyone," said James. Remus looked at him in surprise.
"Why's that?"
"If she was, she'd tell us gleefully."
"… Maybe it's because of me."
James shook his head. "All the better reason to tell us – you wouldn't be caught by surprise in case you saw something."
Remus paused, looking towards the door Bridget disappeared through, shook his head and looked evenly at everyone.
"I'm over her, you know. Perhaps not completely, but enough."
Sirius and James looked at each other before nodding.
"We understand."
"Is the prank a fancy sort of prank?" Lily asked during patrol later that night.
James smiled at her.
"Not quite," he said lightly tapping her nose. She glared at him.
"What is it, then?"
"Oh a few bits and bobs really, nothing of that much notice. Just small outbursts of chaos really. Simple things. Strange things. I dunno, maybe they don't really count as pranks. I think I'm starting to lose my mojo."
"Mojo?"
"Yeah, for pranks. Been out of practise and focusing on study and…" he turned bright red, averting his gaze from her. "Other things."
His mind strayed to Charlie for a moment, a flicker of thought passing through his mind.
"I think you've broken me," said Lily after a moment.
"What do you mean?"
"I used to be against all of your pranks, or at least disinterested. Now I'm planning them." She laughed. "What has the world come to?"
James fell silent, before pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her.
"J-James?"
He said nothing more, his eyes troubled and a crease forming in his brow.
"Hey," said Lily softly, reaching up and smoothing out the crease. "This is a no frowning zone."
James looked down into her eyes.
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" asked Lily in surprise.
"Nothing. I was just… thinking."
"Of what?"
James gave a deep sigh. "Nothing in particular."
Lily looked deep into James' eyes.
"Something's wrong."
James laughed, but his eyes didn't crinkle in happiness, the trouble never quite leaving them.
"I'm just deciding things. You'll know later, I promise."
His face darkened slightly and Lily nodded, reaching up on the tips of her toes to leave a warm kiss on his left cheek, James' heartbeat intensifying for a small second.
"I don't like seeing you sad."
"Ah well," said James, "sometimes you can't help it."
"Maybe you should tell me your plans. Get your mind off of things."
James grinned at her, before picking her up by the waist.
"Hey!"
"You're really light, wow," remarked James, swinging her around.
"And I happen to like the ground."
"I know," laughed James. "A witch that can't even fly a broom."
"I can fly a broom! Just… not particularly well."
"I observed."
"To be fair though," said Lily as James lowered her gently onto her beloved ground, "I have been improving."
"That I also observed."
"Good. I don't want you to go away thinking that I can't fly a broom at all."
"You think I'm going to go away?"
"… well… you could, if you wanted to."
"What if I don't want to go away?"
"Then I don't want you to permanently think that I can't fly a broom at all."
"That reminds me," said James with a sudden flash of memory flooding his brain. "We haven't gone flying for a while! We should get back onto that at some point."
"I'd rather not," said Lily.
"Why's that?"
"Remember the last time?"
"Whatever, it's all in the past." James grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes, swinging her arms gently, a smile spreading across his face. "Come onnnn…~ you know you want to…"
"If I said no, what would your response be?"
"I'd cry."
Lily looked at him, bewildered.
"Well, maybe not to a big extent, but I'd still cry."
"God, if it means that much to you, I guess I will."
James beamed at her. "Yayyy!" He fist-pumped lamely.
"Spectacular show of appreciation there," said Lily sarcastically.
"Take it or leave it," sniffed James.
"Maybe I'll leave it after I take it."
"What?"
"See! You've broken me!"
"Would you rather be fixed?" asked James coyly.
Lily paused.
"Actually, no. I like being broken."
"Yay!" squealed Sirius.
"What's got your mind in a flutter?" asked Bridget.
"Well, you'd know if you'd been around the past few days," clipped Remus, flicking to another page of his book. A slight tear appeared and Remus sighed before repairing the page.
Bridget looked towards KayCee, Lionel and Lily for help.
"Just enjoy the show," said Lionel, a grin slipping onto his face.
"What show?"
No one responded to her and she sighed.
"Serves me right, I suppose."
The show, Bridget soon found out the next day, was a few small chaotic occurrences that would soon blow up into a full blown hysteria.
Well not quite.
James and Sirius snickered away in a corner, their wands out and ready. Bridget walked into the common room, and the sight of the common room stunned her for a moment.
"Is it just me or is everything…" she turned to KayCee who rubbed her eyes sleepily, and continued onwards as though everything was normal.
That was until she was sucked upwards towards the ceiling, her feet connecting effortlessly with the deep plush red carpet that was hastily placed there without missing a beat in her gait.
"What on Earth-" cried Bridget before being interrupted by KayCee.
"You going to hurry up? I'm hungry."
"But-"
"What's wrong?" asked KayCee, looking at Bridget upside down, her arms crossed impatiently.
"The whole common room is upside down!" shrieked Bridget. KayCee blinked in surprise.
"Huh." She looked down, or rather up, at Bridget once more. "So it is."
"You just noticed now?!"
KayCee paused.
"… Yeah."
"You're getting just as bad as Sirius."
James hushed Sirius before Sirius could object loudly. They could not move, or else everything would be ruined, and James knew that Sirius would've liked to stand up and object loudly.
"That's not true," said KayCee, "but if you'd like, I'll just go to breakfast and you can stand here, bewildered."
Bridget sighed. "It's too early in the morning for this." She took a step and with a swoosh, she was sucked upwards to the ceiling.
"Morning James, morning Sirius. Have you already had breakfast?"
"Erm."
"Yeah."
"Did you notice the room was upside down?"
"Erm."
"Yeah."
Bridget looked towards KayCee who looked back impatiently.
"See you later, then."
"Erm."
"Yeah."
Bridget gave them a look of confusion before heading off towards the portrait door, which was also upside down due to a fabulous piece of magic, letting herself forget the fact that she was upside down and slowly becoming more and more disorientated with each step.
She made it out of the portrait door, collapsing to the ground on a soft feathery mattress. An inkling settled within her mind, and something nagged at her. Something about Lionel… he said something last night, and she couldn't quite figure out what it was.
"Come on, you're ridiculously slow today!" said KayCee, standing above Bridget. Bridget sighed and dusted herself off before taking a step on the Grand Staircase…
And finding herself sliding down several floors.
She screamed in surprise, and continued screaming until she came to a halt two floors above the Entrance Hall.
A loud clang sounded behind her and the shiny slope behind her slid into stairs once more.
"What was that?"
"I dunno what you're talking about," said KayCee, dusting herself off. Bridget decided to convey her attitude into the one KayCee was carrying. Pretend nothing was wrong. Everything was fine. Nothing was happening. Dust yourself off and keep going. Yeah.
Bridget took a step down the staircase to find that the stairs had turned into jelly.
No matter. She could deal with this.
She managed to make her way to the Entrance Hall with a spectacular show of athleticism and a surprising amount of grace.
"I'm actually surprisingly quite hungry now."
"Welcome to the club," growled KayCee. "God you're taking an awfully long time today."
"Well, I'm sorry," huffed Bridget. She looked straight ahead to find about ten students slipping and sliding across the floor, some screaming in terror and others laughing. There she found Remus and Peter bellowing scores for who fell the most spectacularly, commentating on every move.
"What on Earth are they doing?"
"What they normally do," said KayCee, staring at Bridget in confusion. Bridget returned to KayCee's attitude once more. Pretend nothing was wrong. Everything was fine. Nothing was happening. Dust yourself off and keep going. Yeah.
"Morning Peter. Morning Remus," said Bridget as cheerily as she could muster.
"Morning my lovely ladies," said Remus with a beam. "You off to breakfast?"
"OOH THAT WAS A GREAT FALL TEN POINTS AVERY!" Peter bellowed at a fifth year Hufflepuff.
"Yeah, actually," said Bridget, trying her best to ignore Peter.
"Well, I'm going to hang around here for a bit. Much more entertaining. Plus I've already eaten."
"Entertaining. Yes. That is the right word for this situation," muttered Bridget.
"Did you say something?" said Remus innocently.
"No, nothing at all."
"Hurry UP for MERLIN'S sake Bridget you're like a bloody SNAIL today!" KayCee bellowed through the Great Hall doors, having already successfully slid across the Entrance Hall to reach the doors. Many students still struggled, many looking perplexed and others looking amused.
Bridget sighed, taking a step before the floor slipped from under her.
"Has this floor been super waxed?" Bridget asked, rubbing her sore behind. Nobody answered her, too preoccupied in their own problems. Bridget shrugged and made her way to the door on her behind, sliding this way and that.
"What a boring way to get here," said KayCee, shaking her head. "You should've at least done a backflip to finish off."
"If you're going to complain about my finish, come back here and do yours again," huffed Bridget, clutching the handle of the Great Hall to prevent herself from slipping.
KayCee looked behind her uneasily.
"You might… want this…"
She passed Bridget a bright red raincoat.
"What for?"
"I'll show you after you put it on and crawl under the sign."
Bridget said no more, remembering her private mantra. Pretend nothing's wrong. Everything's fine. Nothing's happening. Dust yourself off and keep going. Yeah.
She slipped it on and KayCee disappeared from view. Bridget yanked open one door and stepped inside. A large sign declared that the use of a raincoat according to each house was necessary and to crawl under once a raincoat was on. Bridget shrugged. Fair enough.
She crawled under the sign and suddenly she was upright and flying. She looked around in surprise. The whole of the Great Hall was flying – the food floated and turned this way and that, the students flying this way and that to get food, and the tables themselves were floating a foot or two off the ground.
Bridget felt something liquidy suddenly rain on her raincoat and she made the mistake of looking up. Pumpkin juice was sliding out of a jug and Bridget copped an eyeful. And not the pleasant kind, either. There was a pause where Bridget reached up and tried to wipe off the pumpkin juice, but instead the pumpkin juice sort of floated up and away.
"What the fuck is going on?!" shrieked Bridget. This was all too much. First the common room was upside down, the grand staircase turned into a slide, then a jelly like substance, then the Entrance Hall was waxed beyond belief and now everything in the GreAT HALL WAS FLYING.
"Morning Bridget!" beamed Lily, floating towards her.
Bridget's hands started flapping and she struggled in mid-air, unsure of what to do and how to get anywhere.
"How – are – you – flying?" asked Bridget, struggling in between her words. Suddenly she felt herself spinning backwards and KayCee crowed.
"Now that was an impressive backflip."
"What the fuck is going on here?!" shrieked Bridget, spinning and tossing and turning, but going neither forwards or backwards.
"I prefer the term frickle frack," said Lionel pleasantly, flying towards the group of girls with a bowl of cereal, a plate covering the cereal to prevent the milk and cereal's escape.
"I can't even handle this," said Bridget, face palming in confusion.
"Handle what? Flying? It's easy. You just kind of swim to your destination until you can connect with the room and automatically fly to your destination," said Lily.
"What do you mean?"
Lily sighed.
"Okay, do you know how to swim?"
"Yes."
"Free style?"
"Yes."
"Then do that and you'll go forwards. Kicking is important, but don't kick anyone in the face. After about ten minutes, your thoughts will connect to the room and you can fly to your destination without the need for free style swimming. You'll get the hang of it soon. Just watch out for liquids and stuff, sometimes the gravity falls and rises in some places and well you get spilt on."
Bridget free styled for a few moments before turning to KayCee, Lionel and Lily in confusion.
"Why aren't you guys confused?"
"Why would we be? This is normal, isn't it?" asked Lionel, easing the plate off the bowl and trying to spoon some milk and cereal into his mouth. It didn't really work, and it resulted in Lionel's face being covered with milk and cereal.
"Ah yes, it's normal to get a face full of milk and cereal every morning because they're floating outside of their bowls."
KayCee, Lily and Lionel all looked at Bridget as though that was a normal daily occurrence.
Soon, more students flooded into the Great Hall, shrieking, enjoying themselves and panicking. Bridget took a bite of toast, having gotten the hang of flying, and reflected.
Is this a prank? It's not really much of a prank. Unexpected, yes, but moderately… enjoyable.
"3… 2… 1!" bellowed Lily and Lionel all of a sudden, their voices echoing off the walls. The whole of the Great Hall filled with shrieks of terror as every floating or flying object plummeted to the ground.
Okay that was uncalled for. Bridget thought angrily, rubbing her sore behind for the second time that morning.
Bridget grabbed another piece of toast after getting up and walking towards the Gryffindor table. Miraculously, most of the food that belonged to each table had landed on each table. Some food was unfortunately on the floor, but no one seemed to care, everyone too exhilarated to notice the small details.
"Wasn't that fun?" asked Lionel conversationally.
"Actually, yeah, it was," admitted Bridget.
"EVERYONE, I DECLARE A FOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD FIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!" roared James, Sirius, Peter and Remus in unison, bursting into the Great Hall, laden with food.
All of the students in the Great Hall simultaneously gave a battle cry and engaged in warfare.
Whatever the strange occasion this was, Bridget didn't care.
She was having too much fun to care.
This brilliant Saturday morning was a morning that she'd remember until her dying moments, and she could tell everyone else in the room, who was right here, experiencing this with her, would never forget this morning either.
After breakfast, the whole of Hogwarts had descended into chaos, every student pranking every other student. It was great, crazy and completely stress free. All of the Professors hadn't even bothered to come out of their offices – the Marauders had kindly informed them that if they did, they'd most likely be met with an unpleasant surprise.
Those Marauders, and their pranking partners, reclined in the common room (thankfully right side up), brimming with excitement after their successful day.
"YESSSSS! TODAY WAS A BRILLIANT SUCCESS!" yelled Sirius in excitement, high fiving James before jumping off the sofa in front of the dead fire – while it was still slightly cold, there was no need for it.
Everyone laughed.
"So, what was the special occasion?" asked Bridget.
"Nothing really," said Remus.
"Except, you know," continued Peter.
"Everyone's stressing about exams…" trailed off James.
"And, well," said Lily.
"It is kind of…" KayCee said, her voice fading away.
"APRIL FOOL'S DAY!" bellowed Lionel. All of the Marauders and their respective girlfriends plus Lionel pulled out trumpets and streamers and everyone in the common room shrieked in surprise, as a large banner descended from the ceiling announcing that it was April Fool's Day and loud trumpeting sounds accompanied it, streamers flying everywhere. Confetti descended from the ceiling and soon music started up and stashes of food appeared from seemingly nowhere.
"You decided to have a party?" asked Bridget, perplexed.
"Yeah man. Last April Fool's Day at Hogwarts. Better make it memorable," said Sirius, taking a swig of Butterbeer. Bridget looked at Lionel and shrugged, laughing.
Yes, today was surely memorable.
It would go down later in history as one of the Marauder's finer moments, legendary even.