Mischief Managed!

14.

I just don't get it," James complained, running his fingers through his already unruly hair, as James was want to do when he was anxious. "I don't get her."

"Lily's just starting to come around, that's all," Remus said calmly, reclining against the cold stone wall and looking as though he'd much rather be elsewhere.

"But where does she get off, kissing me like that?"

"What, on the cheek?" Peter reminded him helpfully.

James scowled. "Details, Wormtail! She's so frustrating-"

"-ly beautiful. We know, Prongs. How about you come and help me, and let us know when something actually changes," Sirius said, rather brutally.

James sighed, defeated. He knew the boys were right, and as much as he was reluctant to sound like a broken record, sometimes a guy just has to vent! Obediently, he moved forward and took the funnel from Sirius' hands, leaving his friend free to fish out a rather small vial from his robes. Peter stared at it apprehensively.

"Are you sure that's going to be enough, Padfoot?" he asked doubtfully.

Sirius swept his black fringe from his eyes somberly.

"Wormtail, have I ever failed you before?"

"And you're sure there won't be any side effects?" Remus asked patiently from behind them.

"Are we going to do this or not?" Sirius growled rhetorically, before uncapping the vial and tipping the contents down the funnel.

James watched the opalescent liquid drain into the long, fat, slightly moldy pipe that ran along the passage wall, unable to stop himself from smiling. If this worked… oh, he could not wait to see everyone's faces. Just not Lily's. Maybe he could avoid Lily tomorrow. Because inevitably, Lily would quite correctly deduce exactly who was responsible for the entire Slytherin house suddenly and miraculously aging beyond their years. She wouldn't care that no one had ever thought of this prank before. She would not stop to consider the masterful skill with which the Marauders had gone to the trouble of spiking the water pipes with the Aging potion. James readjusted his glasses apprehensively, wondering for the first time whether this prank was really worth it. And this troubled him more considerably than anything else. For it seemed apparent that at the age of sixteen and seven months, James Potter had finally developed a conscience.

"Emmeline Vance requesting entry!" the Carved Witch's voice sung into the Head's tower, starting Lily, who had been dozing on one of the lounges.

"Oh sure, let her in," Lily mumbled, sitting up and running her fingers through her tousled hair.

Emmeline appeared at the end of the hallway, and there was no two ways about it: she looked devastated.

"Benjy Fenwick just asked Marlene out!"

"Oh," Lily murmured, then patted the spot beside her, inwardly sighing. Lily didn't have a lot of patience for adolescent hormones: her relationships may not have been terribly exciting and dramatic, but at least they had been stable.

"But doesn't Marlene like Sirius?" she asked by rote.

"That's what we all thought!" Emmeline sighed deeply. "She came up and asked me if I was OK with it. What was I supposed to say?"

"Well why don't you just… start liking Sirius now?" Lily thought this proposition seemed quite reasonable. Emmeline, however, looked repulsed.

"Black?!" she shrieked. "He's my Quidditch captain, Lily, he's a bit of an idiot plus he's never really been interested in dating, to boot."

Lily rolled her eyes, already bored. "Well I just figure at least you know him, Em. And you two get along."

Emmeline 'harrumphed' from beside her, before shaking her head in pity. "Things are never as simple as you'd like them to be, Lily Evans."

Sorry this one is short..
I promise next one will be bigger.