/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟏.𝟠.𝟤

"why after the dust settles, someone has to come by and blow at it, stirring it up into the air again?" ~ Anthony Liccione

~february 1972~ (continued)

Lily kept her copy of Witch Weekly tucked tight under her arm as she crept carefully after Artemis and Marlene. Mary took up the rear, checking over her shoulder every few steps to make sure they weren't being followed. "Are we sure this is going to work?" Marlene whispered in Artemis's ear. Artemis simply nodded, not wanting to make any more noise than was necessary. She'd devised the plan with so much care, she couldn't have anything spoiling it, especially in its perfect finale. The girls had brainstormed for hours to try and find a prank that would hurt all of the boys enough to make them stop bullying Snape, but they came up with nothing. Instead, Artemis devised a complicated plan to prank each boy individually.

They finally made it to the library without getting caught and Artemis pulled out her wand. "Alohomora," she whispered, and they heard a click as the door unlocked. Artemis glanced over her shoulder and then slipped inside, motioning for the other girls to follow her.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Mary asked in squeaky voice.

The other three girls whirled around. "Sh!" they said simultaneously.

"It'll work if you don't get us caught," Artemis growled. "Come on, guys." She crept across the library to where Remus usually sat during his long hours studying or reading. With only the light of the moon shining through the over the nearby window and Lily's wand to guide them, all four girls stumbled slightly in the near-darkness. "Okay," Artemis said when they finally reached the table and gathered around it. "We've got to get a bunch of books Remus would be interested in and stack them up all over the table."

"On it," Lily whispered, and disappeared into the shelves with Mary at her side.

Artemis sat down on the table, swinging her legs up and down and glancing out at the first quarter moon. Marlene sat next to her and pulled her legs up to her chest, hugging them. "Are we sure we want to prank Remus?" Artemis asked. She already felt bad enough not talking to him ever since she agreed to cut the boys off with the rest of the girls.

"Of course we do," sighed Marlene. "He never sticks up for anyone James and Sirius bully. He's just as bad."

"I guess so..."

At that moment, Mary and Lily returned, an enormous pile of books hovering a few feet in front of them. Lily lowered the stack onto the table and all four girls moved to spread them out and make them look more natural. "Okay, let's go," Mary said, eager to get back to bed.

"What're you talking about?" Artemis said, pulling Mary back towards them. "We're not done yet."

The girls looked to her attentively, waiting for further instruction. Artemis took a deep breath. "We have to do something that he'll really get in trouble for. The whole point of this is to teach the boys a less, so that's what we're going to do. We're going to write in the books."

"What?" Lily cried. "No!"

"Shhh," Marlene snapped. "And yes..." Her eyes lit up with an evil glint. "Yes, that's perfect! We have to make sure they know it was Remus, too. We'll write his name, and- and notes he might put down, and- oh, it's perfect. Madam Pince will kill him."

Mary looked nervous at this. "But- we don't want that, do we?"

The others ignored her. Artemis opened up the first book in the stack and pulled out a quill and inkwell. She held the quill over the books, ready to write, but then froze. "I can't do it," she whispered.