Reckless Rampant Rodents
It rubbed Barty the wrong way since they travelled in time, how he had already killed his father. Well, he loved that as a concept. But now what was he supposed to do? He could spend the rest of his time on earth shagging Evan and living off his inheritance probably, if Dumbledore could sort that out for him. If not, he could live off of Regulus and shag Evan the rest of his life. But there's probably more to life than shagging Evan, even if that is enough for Barty.
Pissing off Evans is fun. Pissing of Reggie is fun. But Barty wanted something more exciting now. Something thrilling, maybe he should enlist in the war again. He knew the Gryffindor's were planning on it, and it probably aligned with Pandora's prophecy. So if he could get Evan and Regulus in, he was golden. Silver-more house appropriate.
He'd lost track of Pandora a bit these last days. Been a bit busy relieving stress with Evan. To his pleasure, all their hidden corners and shady rooms were still readily available for use.
Now, what should he do... Why was the ceiling turning pink?
"Barty." Evan opened the room's door, "If you don't want to turn pink we have to leave now, Regulus is waiting by the entrance." So they'd have the dorm for themselves is what Barty was hearing.
"I don't mind pink."
"Oh." Evan turned his head to the common room "Go ahead Reg!" And proceeded to slam the door behind himself, locked it, and did the silencing and locking charms he was more than used to doing. Evan ran his long fingers through his hair. Deliciously blond. He gave Barty a look that would result in a stoning in ancient times, and he licked his lips ready for the snack in front of him.
Barty more than welcomed him. He was like an addict to Evan. He couldn't have just a little, he always went overboard, he always meant to take it slow at first, but the moment their lips touched, Barty was off the rails and on Evan. They took turns.
They were still making out, albeit their clothes were more on the floor than on them, when the pink started to reach close to them. Barty had to know though, it seemed that everything it touched started turning pink and propagating the colour change as well. A pink plague? Surely the Gryffindor's had a part to play in this, the sheer scale of the prank, for it to reach the dungeons, must be quite large, so it would need a group of people, and talented the lot, not that there weren't any great wizards currently. But Barty hadn't really run into any of them if they were at Hogwarts. He met a set of redhead twins who seemed alright, not threatening which was boring. That Hermione girl seemed dangerous in the same way Evans did, which was intriguing, but that's it. And well Pandora's kid Luna seemed talented but not charms wise, creatures she seemed to know, and she didn't inherit Pandora's vision, which was probably for the best. She didn't have the best quality of his uncle Evan either. The one that Barty enjoyed playing with the most.
But back to the topic at hand, if Barty were to throw something at the dye it would change. He never let go of Evan who was still focused on his mission of making Barty lose his mind in the best way possible. But he pointed his wand at a pair of trousers on the floor and shot them up to the spot. They started turning pink from the parts it touched. Interesting. Then it fell on the floor and started turning the rug. Oh this was brilliant.
And now the pink was close enough to... Barty ran his middle finger to the growing pink on the wall closest to them. He pulled Evan away from him and used to pink on his finger to dye his lips, and then kissed Evan, started turning him pink from the lips, to the hair to the rest. Barty was quite pink as well now. It made sense thinking that Evan was handling him from every angle possible.
Barty would have to thank the Marauders now, it was quite the spectacular time he had turning pink with his boyfriend.
"You bunch of reckless rampant rodents!" Regulus strutted down to where the Marauders et. al. was hanging around next to the lake. Sirius got excited. Honestly, something seemed to shift since they travelled in time. Regulus was speaking to him again. He hadn't done anything but insult him, yes, that's true enough. But he was talking directly to him. Thank Merlin for their now dead parents.
Still. This was the first time James laughed in a week. And Sirius wouldn't let Regulus make him feel guilty about it.
"Enchantè."
"Don't be coy." Regulus stood in front of them. He was the spitting image of their mother when he stood like that, angry, his eyes dark, his lips pursed. Haunting. "The one thing McGonagall asked of us was to keep our heads low and be discreet. And you didn't manage to do it for a single week. A week Sirius."
"Don't take it out on him." Alexander took note of the imminent fight. It was opportune that Regulus came in talking about being responsible since they were just getting Hermione to agree to let them in as well. "It was more Mary, Marlene and me. Still credit where credit's due, Lily helped lots with the counter charm though."
"What do you mean credit? BLAME, blame where blame's due." Regulus was about to switch to angry french, Sirius could feel it, he could hear the mumbling change from English to french phonemes.
"No one will know it was us Regulus." Dorcas was their last bastion of hope, she was Regulus' best friend and the only person he'd never threaten to murder around. "We did take precautions."
"You literally told Umbridge and went with pink robes to make a show to her class." Hermione tilted her eyebrow, what was truthfulness now also part of Gryffindor? Last thing they needed.
"We can always obliviate her." Alexander suggested like it wasn't a big deal.
"It gave the prank more flavour." Sirius argues.
"Why do you always jump to obliviate people?" Regulus was not asking. "Why's that the first answer?"
"Easier than confounding." Alexander shrugged.
"You're insufferable."
"You could forget about it, I'll help you." Regulus groaned, actually groaned in annoyance.
"Regulus." Hermione addressed him now. "Stepping aside from their...tomfoolery. I want to invite you and your friends. Barty and Evan to join Dumbledore's army. Teach other students what Umbridge is skipping out on and getting them to practice and be ready for the war."
"And what made you think I'd be an option for this? Or interested at all in joining Dumbledore's forces, I hate that man."
"But you do hate Voldemort?" Hermione needed to hear it from him.
"Well. I do think he's a prick. And I think his whole war is pointless, blood purity is absurd. And his followers are just as idiotic for buying into it. And there's no upside for me in joining now that Old Sirius disgraced the whole house and there's no more need to align the House with it. And I ment to take him down myself before, his presence was a general worry and I don't fancy policing my behaviour around him." He was doing it on the fly, clearly. Hadn't revised it as of later. Who knows what brought on this sprout of honesty.
"Do you trust us to lead the youth opposition then?" Alexander could push him in the right direction, annoying as he was to Regulus.
"We'll talk logistics later." Regulus addressed Hermione only. "I won't be seen socializing with you any longer right now. I'll find you." He looked at the growing crowd pouring from the castle. Pink on varying degrees. Regulus left them with a tension that was quickly broken by the sight of Professor Flitwick fully pinked-out.
James laid with his back on the grass, a soft smile on his face. Sirius cuddled up to him, laid his head on James' chest, "Going well?" James had that signature earnest look on himself. Considering.
"Won't lie Pads."
"I know Prongs."
"Well it's an odd feeling still. And I know they're not properly my parents, or they are, I don't know still. But this was fun, I missed fun Pads."
"I know you did." Sirius pulled himself closer and now laid his legs across James.
"Thank you for being there. I know you felt it too."
"Hey, I will always be here. Maybe not during those years they said I spent in Azkaban."
"At least we skipped over that one."
"And you dying. Happy days, ei, happy days."
James laughed properly now. Deserved it as well.
"It'll be alright." James said. Not to Sirius, not to himself. Maybe to both, maybe to everyone, maybe to no one. Perhaps just a hope that had to be spoken.
"I can't believe you did that! Merlin Hermione!" Ron flustered around in the Room of Requirement.
"We're shorthanded as it is, Ron." Hermione defended herself. Her hair rose up more than usual when she got agitated, "Harry's made peace with James and Lily, and they're all bloody good at magic."
"Why don't you just tell Snape? Half of them are Slytherin anyways. Two at least are Death Eaters Hermione!"
"Not yet! Well, not in this versions of themselves. They were some of his most powerful ones, so having them on our side would be great!"
"Harry please tell her she's out of her mind!"
"I can't Ron. She's probably right." And Harry would have to figure out how to be alright with it. If they wanted to be sure they wouldn't have any other situation like Cedric, they'd have to get as much help as possible. And they are some of the original members of the Order. Some of them.
"Everyone's gone mad!" Ron paced around the room. "At least the thirty minute heads up was nice. Merlin!" He was pacing harder now, but everyone would be here soon. It was more of an ambush than a heads up, Ron had that right. But everything was soon enough to clear him from worry now, if Harry thought about it like he was heading into some sort of battle or facing some monster, he could get his mind sharp enough to work at least.
Luna was early. By a few minutes and she wasn't by herself either.
"I hope you don't mind." She introduced them to Pandora Rosier, her mother. Kind of. She was almost a carbon copy of her. It was scary.
Pandora gazed through the three of them, with the curiosity of a cat, looking closely from a distance. "You don't have to worry about any betrayal from us." As if she could hear Ron's words through his pacing. "Perhaps one, but I don't think it concerns this."
"WHAT?" Ron was fuming now.
"I hadn't heard that before." Hermione paled.
"I think it's more of a romantic betrayal though." Pandora assured them, "The Prophecy doesn't go towards the war I expect."
"Her prophecies are never wrong." Luna backed her up. "But they do seem trustworthy, there's no dark splotches on their aura. Except for Regulus, but that's more of a personal think."
The door opened again. "To late to back out now." Hermione stated now. And the people started pouring in.