Damaged (A Marauders Era story)

First Year, Part 19 (The Library Book)

Valentine's day had come and gone two weeks ago. But with all of my spare time spent reading, I had barely even noticed its presence.

James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew had pulled a prank as their way of celebrating February 14th.

I hadn't been there to experience the prank myself, thank goodness, as I had woken up earlier than usual and already eaten a hurried breakfast before heading off to go study in the library. Aileen had been there, though. As had Frank, Lily, and most of Hogwarts students, only a few were spared the experience. The effects of the prank had lasted a full three days afterward.

The boys had put something in the heart-shaped candies that had been served on Valentines Day at breakfast. Everyone who ate them had been affected in a very unpleasant way.

Any boy that had eaten the candy had grown a long, white beard that reached their chest, along with a wrinkled old man's complexion, and large bags that hung under their eyes. Most of them were not even recognizable.

The girls who had eaten the heart-shaped candy had gotten the worst of it though.

Their hair had turned grey and snarly, their noses had lengthened and turned pointy, warts had grown on their noses, chins, and necks. Their teeth had turned brown and decayed-looking, their skin had shriveled up, making them look years older than they actually were, and their fingernails had grown at least five inches long. They looked like what a muggle might think a witch looked like.

Suffice it to say, most of the students at Hogwarts hadn't gone on any Valentine's Day dates or anything that day, any romance at Hogwarts being sufficiently ruined.

Most of the girl's had stayed locked away in their dormitories the following three days, refusing to leave, too embarrassed to be seen. They had to come for classes though. But the second classes were over, they were to be found back in their dormitories.

The boys did not seem to care as much as most of the girls did, and went about their daily routines as usual. It was strange in Hogwart's castle with half it's population nowhere to be seen. It was almost like an all-boys school.

James Potter and Sirius Black had readily taken the blame for the prank, not even bothering to try to deny it was their doing. Not wanting to be left out, Peter Pettigrew had declared loudly that he had helped with the prank as well. They seemed very proud of themselves, proclaiming it was a "Bloody brilliant prank to go down in the history of Hogwarts." The students had felt otherwise, though, and had sent the three boys harsh glares the whole week after the prank. Even Gideon and Fabian-both master pranksters had been rather put off about the whole thing. Their Valentine's Day dates had been canceled, and they weren't happy about that one bit.

All three boys had gotten a month's worth of detention, but they didn't seem too concerned about that.

Lily and my other dormmates had stayed in our dormitory a lot more than usual the days following Valentine's Day, wanting to be seen as little as possible in the state they were in. Every time I had gone up there, I had heard Lily going on about the boys and their ridiculous, inconsiderate, and cruel pranks, that weren't even the least bit funny. It had been hard to take her seriously though, what with her looking like a shriveled old hag and sounding like one too.

I wasn't about to admit it, but I found the girl's appearances kind of funny. I knew if I looked like that though that I the last thing I would find it was funny. But, I could understand why the boys thought it was funny, even if they had ruined Valentine's Day for everyone and the prank had been a bit cruel and inconsiderate.

Aileen hadn't really cared about how she looked, going around as she usually did, not bothering to hide in her room as many of the other girls did.