Marauders Year 1: Rule the School

Chapter 5: Padfoot, The making of "Minnie" McGonagall

          "Wake up, Sirius!!!" 

I groan and roll over in bed only to find the three others jumping on their beds and shouting. Why can't I hear them? Oh yeah....I've got a pillow over my ears. I remove the pillow and instantly, I'm jolted awake. 

          "Peteeer!!!" James yells at the top of his lungs. He lunges. Cackling in a mock evil manner, he and Peter seem to be doing some sort of odd dance on their beds. 

          "Jamesie!!! Watch out! I'm coming down!!!" Remus yells. He's on the top of his four poster and evidently getting ready to jump on top of James's bed. Peter is rolling on his bed laughing. 

Ever the dramatic in the group, I give an overly loud groan,

          "UGH! JAMIEEEE!!!! I NEED MY BEAUTY SLEEEEEEP!!!!"

James just cackles and jumps onto my bed, kicking my legs (Oi! PEOPLE, HAVE SOME RESPECT WILL YA!) and bounces over to Remmy's bed. 

Even I feel my lips twitch upward as I watch them. Finally, I can't stand it anymore and I too jump on my bed. Springing high in the air, I slap the ceiling and catapult into Remus's bed. James gets bounced off his bed and lands face-first on Peter's. Lucky he's not wearing his glasses yet. 

We're rolling around, laughing our heads off when there's a rapping at our door. I share a look with James. Uh oh. 

The person on the other side is fiddling with the doorknob...

A prefect sticks his overly large head around the corner. He certainly doesn't look too happy and he scowls at us before slamming the door again. 

          "Man, he seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed eh?" James mutters. 

Peter nods. 

          "Damn it, now we can't jump on the beds," he says sullenly. 

James, however, has a mischievous twinkle in his eye. 

          "Whoever said we can't?"

We get back to bouncing, this time just to annoy the prefect. We shout at the top of our lungs and try to make the beds creak as loudly as possible. Very soon, the prefect sticks his large head around the door again but this time, I'm ready. You see, I learned to do wandless magic for my little brother Regulus's pleasure when I was 5 so I'm pretty good. I slam mister prefect with a jinx and his head shrinks to half its original size. James and Peter are hooting with laughter. Remus is just staring at me in awe. His look asks, How in god's name did you do that? I'm too busy watching the prefect struggle with his now too-large black pointy hat. Finally, he gives up and marches out of the room, fuming. Only to march right into the wall across from it and shriek as I will the door to slam. 

It takes us a few minutes to calm down and when we have, Remus reminds us that it's time to go to our first lesson of the year; Transfiguration. He says that the teacher is also the Deputy Headmistress and her name is Minerva McGonagall. The instant Rem tells us that, James sits down with his back hunched forward and fingers laced together on his knees. 

          "So, my fellow Marauders. How shall we piss of McGonagall?"

Peter sits down crisscross at the foot of his bed and I lay on my stomach on my bed facing them. 

          "Did you call us 'Marauders?'" Remus asks skeptically from across the room. 

          "Yeah. Sounds better than 'fellow schemers,' doesn't it?" James says. 

Peter bobs his head twice and that's when we come to the silent agreement that we would call ourselves the Marauders from that day on. 

I slide down toward the foot of the bed. 

          "I think we need to come up with a silly nickname and call her that every time we pass her. That'll be sure to tick her off," I tell them, drawing from my own experience with Regulus. I called him Reggie and RegVeg for a month in July...that was fun. 

          "I don't think it's a good idea to tick off our head of House on the first day of school, guys."

          "Don't be such a partypooper, Remus!" I say, putting my head back in the plan. 

Remus sighs and joins us,  knees tucked up to his chest on the carpeted floor. 

          "I heard from my dad she's an animagus and her animagus form is a cat," Peter adds helpfully. 

          "Great, we could call her Meowsie!" James exclaims. 

           "Nah, Muffin is better," Remus scoffs. 

           "Muffin???" James asks incredulously. 

          "What? Is it a crime to like eating chocolate muffins?" Remus says, bewilderedly. 

          "Minnie," I interject. 

          "What?" James tilts his head to the side.

          "God, James. You really can't figure it out? We call her Minnie."

A look of dawning understanding comes over his face and then his face cracks into a mischievous grin. See, this is why I chose him for my new best mate. 

          "Perfect," he giddily squeaks.