Revenge
“So,” James said on Sunday night, “how are we going to get them back?”
“Who?” Pete asked without looking up from his notes.
They were in the Gryffindor common room trying to do their homework for McGonagall. They had to write fourteen inches on the basic laws of transfiguration. James and Sirius had finished theirs and Peter was only 7 inches in. Remus hadn’t so much as grabbed a quill.
“The Slytherins, obviously.” James hissed, “Keep up, Peter.”
“Not all of them though, right,” Peter questioned, wariness etched upon his features. “Only Snape and Mulciber?”
“Every last one of them.” Sirius settled. He had just re-emerged from under their desk and presented a piece of parchment, “Is this what you were looking for?”
“Thank you!” Pete took the parchment, relief washing over him, “I’ve nearly done...”
“Have you done it, Lupin?” Sirius looked over to him. Remus had opened his book, but hadn’t bothered to look at it. He’d considered isolating himself in the library one day and trying to read it – he could if he really tried. But the opportunity had not presented itself, and if he was being frank; he really didn’t want to. Ever since that first potions lesson, the four dorm mates had become real friends, and Remus didn’t want to miss out.
“Nah, canny be arsed.” He shrugged.
“Well, let us know if you need any help with it.”
“You can copy mine if you would like.” Jamie slid his across the table. Remus shoved it back, grinding his teeth.
“I’m fine. I ain’t stupid.”
“Nobody said that you were.” James replied offhandedly. Sirius was looking at him, though. Remus wanted so badly to hit him, but he was trying not to lash out as much – James and Sirius sometimes wrestled playfully, but they never hurt eachother, like he had with Snape and Mulciber. He forced himself to swallow his temper and selected to change the subject.
“We could put itching powder in their clothes.” Someone had done that to him once. He had a dreadful rash for at least a week after, and on the next full moon, he had torn and scratched himself apart that much he could barely move. “Or in their beds... if we could figure out how, anyway.”
This had been a matter of incredible unsettledness for Remus – their dirty washing appeared to vanish and then reappear, cleaned and tucked back into their trunks. He'd never caught anyone besides the residents of their room in their, and couldn’t wrap his head around it all.
“i love it.” James responded, chewing on the end of his quill, “Anyone got any powder, though?”
The other three shook their heads, synchronically.
“I could order some from Zonko’s.” Sirius interjected. “If you could lend me your owl James, maman confiscated mine right after the sorting.”
“S’pose,” James replied. “I wish we could do it sooner though. You know, strike while the iron is hot.”
“Yer don’t need itchin’ powder,” Remus voiced, suddenly, having an innovation, “Do yer reckon the green’ouses ‘ave rose ‘ips?”
“Yes, I think so,” Pete replied, head still furrowed in his homework, “They use them for healing potions, arthritis, I think.”
“Well, the hairs inside make you itch, real bad.” Remus explained, excitedly, “Mam grows ‘em, and if i give her lip then she makes me seed without gloves.” His fingers tingled just thinking about it.
“That’s awful.” James said.
“Brilliant idea, though!” Sirius grinned. “At the next break, we’ll go and grab a bunch of them. The we can seed them – with gloves – and scatter them in the Slytherin’s beds. Excellent!”
“How are we going to get into Slytherin?” Peter asked, finishing his homework finally.
“Leave that up to me.” James smirked, capriciously.
Getting the rose hips was fairly easy. They decided to send Peter, who was, so far, the only one who hadn't had a detention, and was therefore the least likely to be caught. Peter was small and masterful at going unseen; he crept into the green house completely unnoticed during morning break and returned flushed but gleeful, with a jar full of rise hips tucked under his cloak.
Then they'd all shut themselves in their shared bathroom to seed them. Under Remus' intensely close instructions, they all wore dragon hide gloves, taking extra care not to catch the fine hairs on the buds.
"I cannot wait to see the looks on their faces." Sirius was grinning from ear to ear, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to James.
Remus watched closely, perched on the edge of the bath, as the two dark haired boys bowed their heads over the work. He was slightly jealous of their friendship. They had loads in common with each other - being raised around magic, both completely obsessed with Quidditch. What's more, is that it was clear that James and Sirius had managed to secure a reputation as the joint kings of first year, after only three weeks. Everyone listened to them when they spoke, laughed when they were funny. Not even a single person got annoyed when they lost house points.
"I still have no idea how we are going to get into the Slytherin dorms, even Peter isn't that sneaky." Sirius shot a glance over at James. he had been trying to extract the information out of him ever since the boy had mentioned it.
"Let me fret about that." Was all he would say on the matter.
The seeds and the hairs were discharged into separate jars, while the boys ended up eating the leftovers over the span of the week.
It was Tuesday by the time they finally had the opportunity to enact their plan. James decided that they would have to do it before everyone went up to bed. He also made the decision that they ought to go to the Slytherin dorms separately, to avoid being seen together and discovered. Personally, Remus though this was overkill, but went along with it none the less, not wanting to ruin the other lads' fun.
They ate dinner much quicker that usual that evening, before leaving the table one at a time and exiting the hall. Peter looked nervous, so much so that Remus thought that he might panic and cause the whole operation to fail at the last minute. He made sure to stay close to the smaller lad, just in case he needed to cover his mouth or hold him back at some point.
Sirius and James went first, heading down towards the girl’s loo on the second floor which Remus had explained led to the dungeons. He had considered keeping that to himself, but seeing as he’d already found a fair few other great hiding spots, he reasoned with himself that them knowing about one wouldn’t cause much damage. After all, how often would he want to go to the dungeons?
The ghost who inhabited the bathroom was fortunately in a rather quiet mood, though Remus could hear her faint sobs in the last stall.
“Lead the way, oh great one,” James gave a grand guesture, smirking as he did so, once Remus and Peter arrived. Sirius grabbed his arm, stopping him,
“Wait a minute. Show us what you are planning first, Potter.”
James gave that shit eating grin that he had been flourishing since Sunday evening.
“Oh...okay, here hold these,” he rammed the jar of rose hips into Sirius’ hands, pulling his robes.
He bear a very long, commodious cloak, woven from the most mysterious looking fabric Remus had ever laid eyes upon – silvery grey and shimmery.
“No!” Sirius gasped, “You haven’t, Potter, you flipping haven’t...”
James was grinning so widely now that Remus thought that his face might split in half. The lanky boy winked at them before brandishing the cloak over his head, so that it covered him from head to toe. He disappeared.
“You jammy bastard!” Sirius cheered, “How come you never said anything to me?”
“You never told me, either!” Peter squeaked, “And you have know me for ages. Where ever did you get it?”
James removed the hood of the cloak from his head so that it looked as though it was floating in mid-air. Just looking at it made Remus’ stomach churn with nausea.
“It’s been in the family for years.” He said prosperously, “Dad said that i could bring it, so long as i don’t tell mum.”
“Lucky swine.” Sirius said, reaching for some of the invisible fabric, playing with it between his fingers, “Mes parents would give anything for an invisibility cloak.”
“I’ll bet that we can all fit underneath it,” James evidenced, pulling it apart and lifting his arms like a bat, “C’mon, let’s all get snug and cosy...”
They all began to mingle underneath the cloak, then tried to totter up and down the hall a couple times until they were all comfortable in walking together. At last, trying not to snicker or whisper to much, the four boys made their way down to the dungeons. Remus showed them which tiles you had to tap to open up the floor in the second stall from the right.
“How’d you find this, Lupin?” James Whispered, “It’s bleedin’ genius.”
“You come out be’ind one o’ them rugs that are ‘ung up on the wall, in the dungeons,” Remus explained, “jus’ looked behind it once.”
“Do you mean the tapestries?” Peter asked,
“Um...s’pose so?” Remus was quite glad that none of them could see his face at that moment.
“Shut up, Pettigrew.” Sirius hissed. Remus felt a sharp kick in the back of his ankle,
“Ay,” he snapped, kicking back harder “Ffyc off.”
“Sorry!” Sirius yelped, “Meant to get Pete, not you.”
“Shuddup, all of you,” James grunted, “We’re close.”
They waited in the passage, listening for footfall in the corridor outside. Once Jamie was complacent that it was quiet, they all scrambled out of their hiding place. The dungeons were cavernous, dimly lit and cold. There was a strange, distant dripping coming from somewhere – he suspected the pipes.
“Where so we get in?” Sirius murmured.
“Be’ind that wall, there,” Remus pointed, hoping they could see where his finger was aiming. It was just a plain brick wall.
“How do you know?”
“Seen ‘em go in before.” Remus said, hurriedly. He was not about to tell that that he could tell that there were at least two hundred Slytherins on the other side because of the smell of their blood and the magic that radiated was so string that he could almost taste it.
“Do you know what the password is?”
“Nah.”
“Merde.”
“It’s not curfew yet, let’s just wait a little longer.”
So they did. It was rather uncomfortable. Although the corridor was dank, it was stiflingly hot under the cloak, especially with all of them together in such close proximity. Miraculously, two women came sauntering down that corridor in the next few minutes. Unfortunately, Sirius knew them.
“Let’s see the ring, Bella!” Narcissa Black begged her elder sister. Remus felt Sirius tense and flatten himself against the wall.
Bella preened, reaching out a long, pale arm. On her cadaverous finger was a huge, ugly silver and emerald engagement ring, which she had been flashing around since term began. Everyone in school knew that she was to marry Rodolphus Lestrange, some wizard politican, as soon as she finished her NEWTs. Sirius had droaned on about having to go to the wedding.
Narcissa gave an excited squeal when she saw it, though Remus expected that she had already seen it over a hundred times.
“Gorgeous!” She effused, “Oh, i can’t wait to get married...”
“Patients is a vertue,” Bella replied, with a voice eerily similar to nails on a chalkboard. “Once Lucius has a higher position in the Ministry, I’m sure maman et papa will fawn over the match.”
The two women were standing directly before the wall by now. Bella was the taller of them, but they looked very much alike. They had long, black curly hair – much like Sirius’ and that same elegant, perfect family bone structure.
“Mundus sanguine,” Bella hissed. The wall slid to the side to let them through; the four boys raced after them.
For the first time since being sorted, Remus was truely thankful he had been placed in Gryffindor. The difference between the warm, cosy common room and that of the Slytherin’s was desolate. It was built like a large banquet hall, rather than a living room. The walls were richly decorated with more refined tapestries, the fireplace was enormous and embellishly carved, and a grotesque green parlour hung over everything. More than that, the place somehow felt sinister. Remus had to suppress a shudder.
The other three seemed just as uneasy as he was, all freezing until James had to usher them forward, up a set of stairs which they begged led to the boys dorms. On their way up they passed Severus, sitting alone in a far corner, crooked over his potions text book. At the top of the stairs, they entered the first room which was a bedroom, thankfully.
James flung the cloak from around them all,
“Keep a look out, Pete, eh?” He said, scurrying into the room, “Which do you reckon is Snape’s?”
“This one could be,” Sirius pointed, “The sheets look greasy enough.” All four of then chuckled.
“Quick then boys, gloves on,” James whispered, unscrewing his jar. Remus and Sirius pulled on one glove each, grabbed a small handful of seeds and started scattering them underneath the bedding.
“They’ll see them!” James said, sounding disappointed. It was true, the bright red seeds would be seen as they stood out against the sharp, white sheets, even in the dark.
“Well... they will still get them on their hands when they try to brush them away,” Sirius offered.
“’Old on...” Remus had a sudden idea. He didn’t know why or how it had occurred to him, but somehow he was certain that it would work. He pulled out his wand, bit his lip and waved it delicately over the bed he had just scattered his seeds. “Obfuscate.” He whispered.
And in the blink of an eye, the seeds where gone. Well, he knew they were still their; but nobody else would.
“Bleedin’ heck!” James stared, “How’d you manage to do that? Flitwick hasn’t yet taught us that one, has he? Was it in the reading?”
“Nah,” Remus shrugged, “Saw some fifth years do it some some sweets they bought yesterday. S’not ‘ard to copy.”
Sirius and James both immediately attempted it, over their own seeds. It didn’t work the first time – or the second or the third, but after that James had managed to make most of his seeds disappear.
“You had better do it for me, Lupin, otherwise we will be here all night.” he decided.
“Ye, please hurry!” Peter hissed from the door, pale with fear.
Sirius tried a few more times before eventually giving up and letting Remus take over.
“You are going to teach us exactly how to do that as soon as we are back on neutral ground.” He said. Remus nodded, though he had no idea how he was going to explain it. He really only managed it because he thought he could.
“To the next room, gentlemen,” James announced, dragging them back to the entryway.
“Do we really have to?” Pete asked, bouncing from foot to foot with anxiety, “Isn’t that enough?”
“Not even close!” Sirius replied with a laugh, throwing his head, “What is we haven’t got Snape’s bed yet? We must get them all, Peter. Are you with us?”
“All the guys, anyway,” James said, as they entered the next room, “I don’t fancy out luck of getting into the girls rooms – remember what happened to Creswell last week?”
They worked quickly and managed to knock out every single boys dorm. Even the last one, which had three sleeping inside – sixth years. Even Sirius had wanted to beg off going in, but Remus was reeling with excitement, and threw on the invisibility cloak to go inside alone. He even dispersed some onto the pillows of the sleeping boys.
By the time they were done, it was late and more students where heading up to bed. Hardly able to contain their excitement, the four Gryffindor’s stowed themselves away under the cloak and cautiously inched back to the bottom of the stairs, compressing themselves against the wall when someone came up, then through the enormous dignified common room and through the wall they had entered in.
As James instructed, they all kept quiet until they were within proximate distance of Gryffindor tower, and it was safe to reveal themselves once more.
“Widdershins!” they all called to the fat lady, who sung open immediately.
It was pure bliss to be back in the warm, cosy Gryffindor common room, and they all launched themselves onto the nearest empty sofa, grinning like like cheshire cats at each other. Frank Longbottom called over to them from the desk he was revising at,
“Cutting it rather close, kids, been anywhere nice?”
Pete looked up uncertainly, but Jamie waved a hand,
“Library, obviously.”
Frank shook his head disbelievingly, though he was smiling,
“I’m sure I'll hear about it tomorrow.”
“I really wish we could be their when it all kicks off!” Sirius whispered, his eyes glistening with joy, “And i wish we could have got my cousins too.”
“This is just the beginning, Sirius mate,” Jamie whispered back, clapping the other boy on his knee, “Between us four i reckon we could go even bigger next time. Brilliant first commission, men!”
Pete gave a small whimper,
“First comission?!”