METANOIA, james potter.

05. MISCHEIF NOT MANAGED

(  05 — MISCHIEF NOT MANAGED. )

TWAS THE night before they would leave for the holidays and Carina was doing rounds. The Prefect had been in a foul mood, taking points from houses without warning. Usually, she had let them off with a warning but once again the Marauders had struck, the whole of Slytherin.

Finishing rounds, she found the nook in the corner again and she comfortably nestling herself into the nook. Opening up her stolen book — Hamlet; it was her favorite book. As she came to know it had been the property of James Potter, she had not a thought of returning it. As soon as she picked up where she had left off, noises were heard coming from the section of the castle that had been assigned to her. Carina violently shut her book, getting up to check out the scuffling, walking with vigorous purpose. The Slytherin Prefect walked over to source of the noise to find the four Gryffindor boys basically brawling with one another. Annoyed Carina rolled her eyes at the scene before her, "Why are you all out after hours?" Carina harshly questioned.

The brawl halted as they all stared at the Prefect, "You said she leaves after her rounds!" the blonde one whispered to the group, honestly Carina couldn't even recall his name.

"She was supposed to!" Remus whispered back, frustrated with the predicament they had landed in.

"Rina! What are you doing out here this late?" Sirius turned the question to her instead.

"Is this another one of your pranks?" she gestured to the stuff they were fighting over like children.

They quickly moved to put the items behind their backs as if she didn't already see. "No." James quickly answered.

"And what's stopping me from taking points from Gryffindor — especially you, Lupin." she pointed to the Prefect that was participating in the tom foolery.

"You wouldn't — at least not to your favorite adversaries." James tried to save. Sirius nudged him, "We can't lose to Slytherin in the first half of the year, Pads." he whispered to Sirius.

"Funny." she sarcastically remarked. "There goes twenty points." she taunted — enjoying the power she held over them.

"We can talk this out — civilly." Remus spoke up desperately trying to save the situation.

"C'mon Rin, don't be unreasonable." Sirius commented earning a look from the girl and nudges from the two boys beside him.

"We'll stop pranking you!" James quickly suggested anything that popped into his mind.

Intrigued Carina arched an eyebrow looking to the Potter boy, "How will that rectify the past six years of pranks — or my humiliation." she cautiously questioned.

"You let us off and from now on — we will stop pranking you. . ." James strained out.

"I don't trust you. . . let's make an unbreakable vow — I vow to never take points from Gryffindor again as long as you twats never pull pranks on me again." she offered holding her hand out with her wand out.

"You must be joking; I don't think this warrants an unbreakable vow." Sirius scoffed at the offer.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Carina deadpanned turning to Sirius, "I don't trust you — it's that simple, you live to torment me. . . why would you suddenly decide to change?" she eyed them curiously, in distrust.

"The unbreakable vow is a serious matter — over something this frivolous. . . I don't think that's a good idea." Remus added in his two cents causing the girl to pull back her hand.

"Fine." she huffed, "Then how do I know you'll hold the end of your bargain." she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Unlike some people — we will stay true to our word. We are gentlemen after all." James boasted, feeling quite proud of himself.

Carina rolled her eyes at his arrogance, "Right." she dragged her word expressing her doubts. Her eyebrows furrowed, "I don't see it." she quipped pursing her lips. "And I'd be a fool to trust your words." she paused, "I need something as leverage." Carina solidified.

"I've been crashing at Prongs'!" Sirius suddenly confessed, catching Carina off guard, she blankly blinked at her cousin. Earning a smack from all his friends, "I'll tell you where it is, and if we don't keep our end of the bargain, you can do whatever you want with that information." he wagered intriguing the girl even more. "Just leave them out of this." he sighed.

"All right, fine." she quickly agreed to the bargain reaching her hand out this time free of her wand. "To make it official." Sirius hesitantly shook her hand. Receiving the information, she happily skipped off leaving them to their own business. She had leverage and her foul mood was replaced by her now light and airy mood.

AUTHORS NOTE. Another filler! I was going to continue into the next day, but I think going home warrants its own chapter so that's what next chapter will be about. Finally going to meet the Black parents, how do you expect them to be like? But two updates in a day!