Up To No Good

Chapter Seven

Adjusting to life with a Mandrake leaf stuck in his mouth made life for James just about as easy as it sounded. Eating was a chore, as he had to be very careful to make sure he didn't swallow it, and drinking even more difficult. For the first time in his life, he felt anxious about his next Quidditch match. He was afraid of what would happen once he was on a broomstick.

Remus thought the whole thing hilarious. It was a happy sight to see Moony, as they had started calling him habitually, in such frequently good moods.

"My only question is where we're going to get that teaspoon," Sirius muttered as he worked on Charms work. "I'm sure there's one somewhere."

"And it has to be silver?" Remus asked, looking thoughtful.

"It's a very specific potion," Peter nodded, pointing to where it said so in the book. "We should probably follow it just as it says."

"So we're not stuck as half-animal mutants for life, you mean," Sirius put in unhelpfully.

"...Yeah. There are pictures if you'd like to see, Moony," James offered.

"No thanks, I want to be able to stomach my lunch today."

Peter read the directions over and over. "It's not just dew, either, we'll need moonlight and our own hair."

"How do you put moonlight into a potion?" Sirius asked amusedly.

"You just sort of hold a phial up to the light," Peter read. "That's where the dew comes in, then chrysalis of Death's-Head Hawk Moth."

"Delicious," James added.

"Then the rest is mostly the incantations and exercises," Peter went on.

It would be the next full moon before they would be able to move onto the moonlight step, and with each day it got more difficult. The bitterness had subsided a bit, but it didn't ease the fact that James still carried an entire leaf in his mouth. Exams were coming up exceedingly fast, and it had only been about a week. He was reading up on his notes for History of Magic, which was the only subject taught by a ghost, called Professor Binns. It was strange how some aspects of magic could be so fascinating and others so incredibly dull. It was no easy task staying awake in Binns's class, and in some places James found evidence of his quill slipping as he had fallen asleep during lecture.

Snape was in their hair more than ever, and James wasted no time with clever comebacks. Even the teachers had taken notice to the two boys' rivalry, but it didn't matter to James. He had begun to notice how odd he acted when Lily was in the vicinity.

The Marauders were fully aware by now that James fancied Lily, but they were pretty good at keeping quiet about it unless the opportunity arose. Just the other day, James had called Snape a "hook-nosed git" in Charms and Lily had snapped at him for having just as much humility as a flobberworm. That often got him to be quiet, even if he didn't like to admit it.

"When was the first trial of Wizengamot?" Remus asked sleepily as he held his quill in his hand.

"Erm... 1544," Sirius read of his notes, scratching something out himself. "Honestly, they can't expect us to memorize all these dates. It's downright ludicrous."

"Good luck on passing then," James said absentmindedly, turning over his piece of parchment.

Peter burst from the dormitory door and ran down the stairs. He looked quite upset.

"I'm so sorry," he said, panting. "I've just swallowed my leaf--"

"Are you sure?" Remus asked him.

"Well it's not in my mouth anymore, is it?" Peter responded, annoyed. "I'm so sorry, I really hate to put this on you all..."

"No harm done, we'll just start over as a team," James assured him. "Right?" he turned to the others.