Nightingale

Chapter 3 - A Transfiguration Tragedy

Chapter 3

"Should we wake her?" a voice asked. It sounded like James.

"She'll miss breakfast if we don't," another voice replied. This voice sounded like Remus.

Lucy cracked one eye open to see the four Marauders standing around her. She had woken up early to see her brother but it seemed like she had missed him and had fallen back asleep on the common room couch instead.

"But she looks so peaceful," Sirius said. Lucy quickly shut her eyes and pretended to be asleep.

"What are you boys up to?" Lily asked, sneaking up behind the four of them.

"Agh!!!" they screamed in unison. Peter took a step back and tripped over Remus' foot which caused him to fall onto Sirius who grabbed James' arm and dragged him down with him.

"Oh my goodness! You should've see yourselves!" Lucy giggled and sat up. Lily was too busy shaking with silent fits of laughter to even say anything.

"Moony help me, for Merlin's sake!" Sirius screeched. He was squashed underneath both Peter and James.

"Wormtail, get your fat butt out of my face!" he screeched again.

Remus bent down to help James up but ended up getting pulled down onto the pile. Lucy laughed before getting up to help the boys.

"Thank you, I don't know how I'll ever repay you!" Sirius exclaimed dramatically and threw one of his arms around Lucy's shoulders.

She sent a pleading look over at Lily who was laughing at her friend's predicament.

"Lucy, we need to get down to breakfast now if we don't want to be late for class. We have Transfiguration first and we don't want to make Professor McGonagall mad, do we boys?" Lily said with a pointed glare towards the Marauders.

"Of course not Lily-Flower," James said.

"Onward! Let us journey over yonder to the Great Hall for our morning meal!" Sirius cried as the boys ran through the portrait hole and presumably to the Great Hall.

"So, are you excited for your first day of classes?" Lily asked as the girls walked followed the boys down to the Great Hall, albeit at a slower pace.

"Of course," Lucy said. "It's also nice to have friends like you."

"Thanks," Lily replied. "Just watch out for those Marauders, they're big trouble-makers."

"It looks like one of them fancies you too," Lucy grinned and nudged Lily with her elbow.

"Shut up," Lily said, her face flushed a bright scarlet to match her hair.

Breakfast went smoothly except for the fact that Sirius and James decided to "discreetly" throw a handful of scrambled eggs at the Hufflepuff table, starting a minor food fight. To say McGonagall was angry was an understatement.

"I have never seen such inappropriate behavior at breakfast before," she said as the Gryffindors trudged into her classroom. She glared at Sirius and James as they sat next to each other.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, that is not a good idea," she said. "Mr. Potter, go switch seats with Miss Aetheria."

Lucy gave Lily an apologetic smile as she moved to take James' seat next to Sirius. Lily scowled at James as he attempted to start a conversation with her.