I Solemnly Swear: Book 1

Oh, How The Time Has Passed

The first month and a half passed by quicker than I could possibly realize; it felt like a day had passed since the first day of term but now it was only a week before Halloween. The mixture of new friends and boring, lengthy homework caused the days to pass by quickly. I had gotten to be closer friends with Lily, Marlene, and Remus in a very short amount of time, I made sure to spend time with all of them almost every day.

After the night that Remus left, he didn't return for another three days. I worried constantly, hoping his aunt was okay, hoping that whatever else was bothering him wasn't going to cause him or anyone close to him harm. However, it seemed as if my worry was for naught, he seemed perfectly fine albeit extremely tired and pale when he came back; his aunt was stable but still sick. I tried asking him all sorts of questions, trying my best to figure out what was truly bothering him, but Remus was a master at evading my questions and giving vague answers.

Now I was sitting next to Lily, thoroughly enjoying my toast and bacon while listening to Lily vent about James' pestering for the fifth time this week; it was only Monday.

"That Potter," I smirked, thinking about how when she said Potter it came out as 'Pottah', "He just won't leave me and Sev alone! Black always helps him pester us too, the two of them are ruddy idiots," I saw her glare to our left, where James and Sirius were wrestling each other over the last piece of bacon.

Remus sat across from them reading a book and picking at his food, while their friend Peter helped himself to his third helping of eggs. Not that I can blame Peter, I would do the same with the bacon if there was any left.

"Lily, I'm sure it's all just in good fun. Y'know the saying, boys will be boys." I smirked, knowing that she wouldn't accept that as an answer.

She huffed, "Yeah, well maybe boys should learn some manners and not get the excuse of 'boys will be boys'" She raised up her hands and did finger quotes while saying this.

I shrugged, not really disagreeing with her but thinking that she might be overreacting to their teasing. I looked up, about to ask Remus what he was reading when Dumbledore stood up at the teachers' table, his currently pink robes making quite the statement.

"Good morning, students. I'm hoping that you all had a rather pleasant breakfast, but I have some very important announcements to make." He paused, waiting for the slight chatter to stop. "This Halloween there will be a Hallows Eve Ball, third years and older are able to go. It is a themed dance, you must have a costume and ticket to enter." With that he sat down, apparently thinking that was enough for us to go off of.

I looked up to see many of the younger students looking disappointed and everyone else was chattering excitedly or looking at a very particular person. I caught Snape looking at Lily with a slight disappointment, which made me question their friendship and whether it goes beyond just friendship. Shaking the thought off, I looked up to see the boys talking rapidly, mischief very prominent in James' and Sirius' eyes whilst Remus looked wary.

I looked back down to gather my things but as soon as I had someone grabbed me by my arm and dragged me out of my seat. Startled, I looked up to see Sirius holding my arm and pulling me toward the entrance and out of the hall; I didn't even get to say goodbye to Lily.

"C'mon slowpoke! We have something important that we need to tell you, you're part of our group too." Sirius was whining and tugging on my arm, looking for all in the world like he wanted to run towards the others.

"I get it, I get it! Sirius, let go of my bloody arm!" I was getting quite annoyed by him dragging me down the hall.

He ignored me and a minute later we came upon James, Remus, and Peter.

"Oh good, I won't be the only sane one here for this ridiculous stunt." I heard Remus mutter upon my arrival.

James and Sirius sent him glares and then turned towards me, beginning to fill me in on the plan.

"Cas, we have an amazing plan for that ball." Sirius looked at me, his eyes bright and wide.

"Yeah, you won't believe this!" James encouraged.

I looked between them, confused, "We aren't allowed to go to that ball, you know that right?"

"Oh we know, just you wait," Sirius looked absolutely giddy.

With that, I was filled in on their rather extravagant prank for all Hallows Eve.

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A/N (Authors Note)

Sorry, I haven't been posting as often, I've had a lot of school work lately. I promise to try and post at least two chapters a week and I appreciate all the readers who have read my story so far, you're all amazing and it makes me so happy that other people appreciate and enjoy reading my writing. Thank you all and happy Halloween!

-A