James Potter and the New Marauders

Friends

James woke me up a little while past midnight, and I blinked several times as I readjusted to consciousness. I yawned and sat up, then all but fell over; James, amused, watched me.

"I hate consciousness," I said.

"Interesting," is all that James managed, looking at me like I was weird.

"Just follow us," Fred said. "And try not to get us caught."

"Eat my-" I started, but James cleared his throat and looked at me pleadingly.

"No, go on and finish that," Fred demanded hotly- he didn't seem angry, per se, just... Intense.

"Can we please play nicely, children?" Frank asked.

"Never," Fred and I said in unison. He cocked a smirk as James sighed.

"And I thought James and Fred were headache enough," Frank complained amicably.

"Well, let's not dilly dally, boys," James said, hopping to his feet. He blinked, then looked at me. "And girl."

I rolled my eyes and stood, yawning and stretching. "Should've woken me up a few minutes earlier than you wanted to leave, but alright."

"Filch isn't stupid," James said. "Well- I mean, yeah, he is. But he isn't entirely incapable of catching onto things; he tends to frequently check the outside of our common room, as well as the Slytherin's. So we'll go down to the common room and wait until he's gone down to the Slytherin dungeons to give us the best chance."

"Sounds like a plan," I said. "They sleep in the dungeons? That seems... Cruel."

"Most of them like it well enough," Frank said.

"Al doesn't." James said, following Fred out of the bedroom. I followed him; Frank took up the rear.

Al- Albus. His brother.

Right.

We camped out on a couch, peering down at the marauders' map until Filch made his way down to the Slytherin dungeons- then, we set out, creeping through the shadows. Every once in a while, we had to duck into a room or behind a statue to hide from a prefect, but all in all, it was not troublesome at all.

At Ilvermorny, pukwudgies wandered the corridors at all hours. Only the stealthiest of troublemakers had any hope of successfully sneaking around, and it usually took a fair bit of magic- and even still, we still got caught every once in a while.

In comparison, this was- in truth- rather boring. Not a single drop of adrenaline in sight.

Until, however, we got to Filch's office, and a cat mewled rather viciously.

I glanced over my shoulder; I was hidden from the cat's sight by the three boys, closest to the office.

I quickly cast a spell that is, generally speaking, illegal- I didn't really know the laws here, of course, but-

I shifted through the wall, feeling the wretched sensation of my own body all but combining with the wood. I had to move fast; otherwise, I'd be stuck inside, for all intents and purposes impaled by the door. Survival would be all but impossible.

But- I made it through all the same, then hurried towards the desk, finding the cloak in a locked drawer and pulling it over me, hiding in the corridor.

It was not five minutes before a man I could presume as Filch had all three boys inside his office, all three of them sitting grumpily. Filch angrily pushed the map into a folder and began to scold them, telling them that they were lucky that Professor Longbottom decided their fates rather than him- he went on and on about dubiously ethical punishments, and then certainly immoral ones.