Silver Lining

Chapter 13

The day after Christmas was always a grey one. All anyone could think about was the joy and celebration of the day before, and to wake up the next morning with nothing to look forward to was not very exciting. That year was no different.

I headed down to breakfast on my own, leaving the other girls to do their hair and makeup while I left entered the Common Room with nothing but a bed head. I felt an arm swing over my shoulders and looked up to see James smirking down at me. He was quite a bit taller than me, which annoyed me. A lot.

"Why so glum, Violet?" he grinned as the other boys came up beside us. I rolled my eyes as I stepped out of the portrait hole.

"It's the 26th of December. Aren't we all a little low today?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling great," James laughed, exchanging looks with the others. "Aren't we, boys?" They all nodded knowingly, wide grins on all their faces. I narrowed my eyes at them suspiciously.

"What have you got planned?" I questioned, trying to read the expression on James' face.

"You'll have to wait and see," Sirius sung, skipping off down the corridor with the other three in his wake. I sighed and trudged towards the Great Hall. When I arrived, I slid into a seat at the Gryffindor table next to the four boys, who broke out of their hushed discussion as I approached.

"I'm honestly very concerned," I sighed, pulling a piece of toast onto my plate.

"You probably should be," Remus said, but he was grinning as wide as any of the other boys.

"Here we go, here we go!" Peter suddenly burst out, staring at the Slytherin table. I twisted around and followed his gaze to where a large group of Slytherins (the first lot at the table) were passing around a jug of pumpkin juice. I squinted as one of the burly seventh years tipped his glass back into his mouth. For a moment, nothing seemed to be wrong, until he spluttered and the juice went spraying over the sixth year girl across from him. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter burst out laughing, trying to muffle the ruckus in their red and gold scarves as Slytherins all along the table spat out their pumpkin juice.

"What did you do?" I asked, in impressed disbelief.

"Ten pounds of pepper in every jug," Sirius explained through his laughter.

"Try to refill them and more pepper is added," Peter continued, slamming the table between gasps for air. "They've got nothing to wash it down, either!"

"You," James grinned, clapping Remus on the back, "are a genius, Moony!" Remus laughed and high-fived James.

"I told you being a prefect wouldn't change my brilliant pranks," he grinned, and I let out a disbelieving laugh.

"This is what you planned before Christmas!" I remembered. "You are..." I couldn't find the right words.

"Amazing?" Sirius chuckled.

"Amazing," I nodded, beaming.

---

All the school could talk about for the next few days was the legendary Pepper Incident of December '75. The teachers attempted to find the culprits, but the Marauders covered their tracks so well that even though most teachers were almost one hundred percent sure it was them, they had no proof it really was. So, the four Gryffindor boys walked free (for now), and I had no intention of telling any of the staff that they were guilty. In fact, I was willing to help them on their next prank against the Slytherins, or anyone else for that matter. As eager as I was for more pranking, the boys weren't up to planning anything until after New Year's.