The Marauder's Tale [MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, & PRONGS]

VIII. The Invisibility Cloak

VIII. The Invisibility Cloak

Detention with McGonagall turned out to be sheer torture for James, Sirius, and Remus. Just being in the same room with Snape that long was terrible, but she made them clean and reorganize her classroom and storage room without magic. The classroom was at least large enough that they did have to actually work in the same area as Snape, but the storage room was another story. Not only was it small, but it also was filled with books, boxes, and animals. McGonagall made the boys clean out the animals' cages each day. The sounds, smells, and confinement of the room alone would have been enough to make them crazy, but the constant contact with Snape practically drove them over the edge. By the last day, Sirius had taken to grabbing his wand every time Snape crossed in front of him.

Realizing that the students were barely holding themselves back from hexing one another, McGonagall let them leave early on the last day of their detentions. She breathed a sigh of relief as she watched them walk out of the classroom. She hated detentions as much as the students did.

"See you around, Snivellus!" Sirius called cheerfully as they walked in separate directions.

"Mr. Black!" Professor McGonagall warned.

"Oops. Sorry, Professor!" He winked as he said it, earning himself a frown from McGonagall. She shook her head, and returned to the classroom.

"Well, that's done," James said. "I can't say it's been fun."

"Yeah, I think I regret turning myself in," Remus smiled.

"Good," Sirius said. "I know why you did it and all, but if you didn't regret it after the last five days, I'd start to doubt your sanity."

Remus smiled. "My sanity is fine, thank you very much."

"Well, gentlemen, I think we've earned a reward," James said, his eyes shining.

"And just what do you have in mind?" Sirius asked curiously.

"I believe there is an invisibility cloak with our names on it," James grinned.

"Excellent!" Sirius exclaimed. "It's still early. What do you say we try it out tonight?"

"The sooner the better," James replied.

"Good plan," Remus agreed. Tonight would be far better than tomorrow or the next day. "I think it's been killing Peter not to try it out without us," he added.

"He hasn't, has he?" James worried.

"No, he hasn't," Remus replied. "He told me he really wanted to, but knew how upset you'd be if he went without you."

"You bet I'd be upset!" James exclaimed. "It's mine, isn't it?"

"James, calm down," Sirius said. "He didn't do it, did he? He knew it would upset you, so he left it alone. We'll all go together as soon as we get back."

The three boys entered the common room a few moments later, and looked around for Peter. James spotted Lily right away; she was always easy to pick out with her red hair. She was sitting with Kathleen, going over some assignment. He reluctantly took his eyes away from her, and searched for Peter.

"Where is he?" Sirius asked.

"I don't see him," Remus said. "Do you think he went to the library?"

"He might have," Sirius replied. "We did tell him to look up hexes. Should we go look for him there?"

"Yeah, let's," James said. "I'll run up and get the cloak. You guys wait here."

Sirius and Remus nodded their agreement, and watched James run up the stairs to the dormitory. Sirius turned to Remus, his expression grave.