May 2, 1976
Early in the morning, the Gryffindor common room houses only a few fifth-year students, quiet and dreary-eyed, studying from notes and textbooks. From the girl's dormitory, MARLENE descends from the stairs, yawning and clutching a cup of coffee.
MARLENE: Morning.
LILY: (looking up) Hey. You ready for Defense Against the Dark Arts?
MARLENE: Yeah, yeah. Charms shouldn't be too bad. I'm scared out of my mind for Potions on Tuesday, though. The practical's gonna be hell.
LILY: Yeah, I guess. You wanna help me on Cheering Charms real quick?
MARLENE: Sure. I could actually use some cheering up right about now.
LILY: Okay. I'm gonna try it nonverbal.
MARLENE: Be my guest.
LILY stands up and points her wand at MARLENE, who remains tired and dreary-eyed for a moment before breaking into a smile and laughing. LILY continues on the spell until MARLENE can barely breathe, and LILY begins to laugh contagiously as well.
LILY: I knew I could get it!
MARLENE: And I didn't think anything could make me laugh harder than Slughorn's joke about the three vampires!
The two girls laugh even harder, falling on the floor and giggling hysterically over each other. REMUS enters from the boys' dormitory, and walks over to them.
REMUS: And what's going on over here?
MARLENE: (drying tears of laughter from her eyes) Just Lily doing a little cheering up.
LILY: (giggling) Hopefully Cheering Charms will be on the exam!
REMUS: They probably will be. But even Flitwick couldn't make you two laugh this hard.
MARLENE: You know those moments when you know there's absolutely no hope left for you, so you just start laughing at your own failures? Story of my life.
REMUS: You guys want to head downstairs?
LILY: Yeah, I want to get some breakfast before the exam. It starts at 9, right?
REMUS: Yeah, we should have time to eat-
MARLENE: Oh, well. If we're a little late, we'll just throw a Cheering Charm towards the practitioner and they'll let it slide.
The three burst into another fit of laughter as they exit the portrait hole and make their way towards the Great Hall.
YOU ARE READING
The Marauders Unite (III)
FanfictionThe Marauders once again return to Hogwarts, this time for their fifth and most adventurous year. James, Sirius, and Peter approach the end of their Animagi mentorship with Minerva, allowing them to accompany Remus during his monthly transformations...
