Before || A Marauders Era Story

Chapter Ten: Remus

"Hey!" someone shouted after Remus as he made his way down the corridor and towards the Great Hall for lunch. "Wait up!"

Remus stopped and waited for James, who was running down the corridor behind him, to catch up. "Are you going to lunch?"

"Yeah," Remus dodged a girl that was screeching and zooming down the corridor, her shoes having grown wheels. "Woah!"

"You pushed her!" someone snapped from up ahead. 

"No, you did!" another voice replied angrily. 

"Out of the way!" Filtch hollered as he stormed angrily after the girl on wheels. James cackled. 

"That's brilliant!" 

Remus couldn't help but snicker in begrudging agreement.

"We should do something like that!" Sirius had come up behind them with Peter, looking excited.

"Would we get in big trouble?" asked Peter.

"Only if we get caught." James smirked, glancing at him over his shoulder. Peter's eyes widened, and he grinned. 

"Great, who're we pranking?" Sirius asked, bouncing up and down in anticipation.

"No teachers," Remus put in. The others stared at him in horror. "Fine, yet..." Remus amended, very reluctantly, as they turned a corner.

"Ow!" James yelped. "Hey, that--"

"Watch where you're going, you complete wanker!" Snape, who had bumped into James, snapped. He pushed him roughly out of the way and continued down the corridor. 

"Hey!" James yelled after him. 

"Git," muttered Remus. Peter glared after him.

Sirius smiled smugly. "Target acquired."

James grinned evilly as he righted himself and straightened his glasses. "Right you are." 

"So, what're you thinking--" Sirius started. 

"Sirius," Remus warned, glancing down the corridor. Lily was coming towards them, and it was relatively quiet by now, as most of the students were already in the Great Hall. "She'll hear you."

Lily frowned when she saw James and Sirius, rolling her eyes. She looked at Remus. 

"Have you seen Severus?"

"Why're you looking for that git, anyways?" James asked, putting his hands on his hips. Remus tried not to laugh at him. 

"He's not a git, you are." Lily glared at James. "Besides, I wasn't even talking to you!" She turned back to Remus.

"I...did see him. That way." Remus jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "He went...away." 

"Thanks." with one last glare at James and Sirius, she was off.

"What's her problem?" asked Sirius.

"You did sort of glue her best friend to the floor?" Remus said. 

"He just pushed James into a wall!"

"She's just mad because I'm better at Transfiguration than she is." James said. "And flying."

Remus opened his mouth to respond, but Peter interrupted him. "Guys, you're going down the wrong corridor." 

"Huh?" asked James. 

"That way," Peter pointed in the opposite direction. "It's faster."

"How do you know?" Sirius asked. "We usually come in from that side of the castle--"

"But--" Peter said. "There's a big staircase straight down that way, the one where I found marmalade on one of the steps? Yeah, it leads straight to the Hall." 

"Great!" James said, and they rushed down the Hall and down the stairs.

"Aargh!" Sirius had gotten stuck in a trick step. "Oh no!" he gasped. "I have fallen! Quick, help me, I'm too young and fabulous to die!" 

James, who was too busy laughing, just leaned against the banister to keep himself upright. Remus bit back his own laughter and grabbed Sirius' arm. He was surprisingly light, and with Remus tugging at him and Sirius pulling himself up on James' and Peter's robes, he came out from between the trick step easily. 

"I have been saved!" Sirius put a hand on his chest. "I am so grateful."

"Sirius? Heart's on the other side of your chest, my friend, if that's what you were going for." Remus patted him on the back. 

"Oh, thanks," Sirius said bashfully, changing his position. "Again."

Remus sighed and glanced at James, who was still grinning and shaking slightly, and Peter, who was staring at the step in horror. "I think we need some food." 

"Well, mate, I know we need some." James hooked his arm with Remus's. "Let's go."

"Onwards!" Sirius cheered, hooking his arms with James and Peter's. 

ϟϟϟ

"I have an idea!" James shouted later that evening, as they were sitting on the floor between his and Sirius's beds, leaning against the side of the bed frames. Remus looked over at him.

"What?"

"What if we turned Snivellus's hair red and gold? Y'know, like, Gryffindor colors."

"How would we do that, though?" asked Sirius.

"We could put something in his shampoo." Peter suggested.

"He doesn't really use that, Peter," Remus said. Peter laughed.

"Oh, I know!" Sirius grinned, straightening up. "We could buy some of that candy that makes your skin change colors, and make sure he gets it somehow!"

"But isn't that even harder?" asked Peter. "We have to make sure he finds it and get the candy from somewhere."

"Can't the older students go to Hogsmeade on some weekends?" Remus asked. "We could ask someone...?"

"Or we can go to Hogsmeade ourselves." Sirius raised an eyebrow. Remus frowned at him. 

"Oh!" James scrambled to his feet. "I know how we can-- I have an idea, but you can't tell anyone." He looked down at them with a dead serious expression. 

"Well, what is it?" Sirius asked eagerly.

"You won't tell?"

"No, mate, now tell us!" 

James looked at Remus and Peter. 

"My lips are sealed." Remus promised. Peter nodded, as if to say, me too.

"Okay." James turned around, and after rummaging around in his trunk for a few minutes, he turned back around. "Ta-da!" He held up a flowy, slivery cloak, and Sirius gasped. Remus's eyes widened in surprise.

"Woah!" they exclaimed in unison. James must be quite rich, Remus thought, to afford something like that. 

"Huh? A cloak?" Peter asked. 

"An Invisibility Cloak," Remus explained. James pulled the cloak over his head and disappeared. 

"My dad gave it to me," said James's voice from somewhere to his right.

"So we use this to sneak out of the school and into Hogsmeade, buy the candy, get it to Snape, and bam?" Sirius clarified. 

"Sounds brilliant to me." James replied. His head appeared from thin air. "Come on, guys. We don't have a second to spare." He kicked his opened Transfiguration textbook and his quill out of the way, lifting the cloak and waving the rest of them over. "Get a move on, then!"