The Stag and the Doe

Chapter 48

James awoke the next morning with a slight headache. He rolled out and headed into the shower to clear his head. As he got out he heard singing from the little kitchen, so he quickly got dressed and headed down.

In the kitchen he found Lily dancing around in the kitchen as she cooked, wearing socks and his quidditch jersey, singing to the radio. James leaned against the wall as he watched Lily, still amazed at how he somehow managed to have Lily be his better half.

"How long are yougoing to stand there with that goofy smile?" Lily asked when she noticed James.

"I can do it all day." James said as he straightened up. "But it would probably be a good idea for you to put pants on before everyone else shows."

"I suppose so." Lily replied. "Can you watch the waffles then?"

"Yes." James said as he stepped forward. Lily gave him a kiss as she walked by, James watching her leave.

"Why you have that goofy smile on your face?" Marlene asked as she walked in, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Frank, Alice, Mary, and Dorcas.

"Because I get to wake up every morning next to the love of my life." James said, earning groans from everyone and a very loud gagging sound from Sirius.

"You are such a dork." Sirius said.

"And she has you wrapped around her finger." Marlene said.

"Only one I'd want to be wrapped around." James said, starting a new wave of groaning and Peter begging for him to stop. Lily came down after she finished getting dressed and everyone ate together, the Marauder's again busy talking amongst themselves with final prank planning.

The Marauder's final pranks began small, dungbombs and stink pellets mainly, and everyone except for staff were targets, but the scale quickly increased.

It started the next morning at breakfast. Lily joined Marlene and the rest of her friends, immediately noticing that Remus, Sirius, and Peter were missing.

"Where's James?" Alice asked.

"Said he wanted to catch Sirius, Remus, and Peter before breakfast." Lily said as she sat down.

"Guess breakfast just got more interesting." Marlene said, nodding towards the door. Lily watched as James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter walked doing their best to look innocent.

"What did you guy's do?" Lily asked as they sat down.

"You presume we did something?" Sirius asked.

"Of course." Lily said. "Can't trust your four not to be up to something."

"Just sit back and enjoy the show." James said as he filled up his plate, Lily noticing that he was avoiding the eggs. "I just would avoid the eggs if I was you."

"What?" Mary asked, mortified as she had a fork full up to her mouth.

"Shit." Peter said, obviously having already had a mouthful of eggs.

"Merlin Peter, you helped us set it all up." Sirius said, shaking his head.

"What did you guy's do?" Lily asked, sounding like a scolding mother. Suddenly, there was a scream from the Ravenclaw table and everyone turned to see what happened. Lily strained to see what happened, but a scream from Hufflepuff table caused everyone to turn their attention there and Lily was able to see someone covering their head. A scream from farther down the Gryffindor table allowed Lily to finally see what was going on.

Those that had ate the eggs where finding their hair were changing to the colors of their house. The hall became filled with laughs and screams as people reacted to what was going on.

"Time to split?" Peter asked after his hair turned scarlet and gold.

"Yeah." Sirius replied, and the four Marauder's got up and managed to sneak out.

"Peeve's is enjoying the chaos you are unleashing." Sirius whispered to James on the way out, the poltergeist rolling with laughter on the ceiling.

The pranks continued, door knobs turning into animals at the touch of a person, slim and water ballons being given to Peeves to continue the chaos, although the prank that James was most proud of was charming various suits of armor to sign different songs.

Monday morning was to be the Marauder's big finale, the four members spent the day making sure that everything would be ready.

Diner time rolled around, the school still anticipating the Marauder's finale. James felt a lot of people were observing his, and the rest of the Marauder's moves as they came into the Great Hall for dinner. They sat down, doing their best to act like nothing was about to happen.

As Dumbledore stood up everone was surprised when suddenly a very recognizable voice began speaking from somewhere in the ceiling.

"Messer's Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs wish to congratulate everyone for surviving our seven years here at this wonderful institution." James's voice said.

"We have had our extreme pleasure pulling pranks and jokes upon all of you." Sirius's voice said.

"And although some may have a times seemed rather targeted and in ill taste." Remus's voice said.

"We would want you to know that we would definitely do it all over again if we were given the chance." Peter's voice said and Lily noticed Mcgonagall shaking her head.

"So, instead of choosing one house to be the victim of our final prank." James's voice said.

"We have collected decided upon a fun activity, an activity in which everyone can participate." Sirius's voice said.

"And one which will not single out anyone." Remus's voice said.

"A food fight." Peter's voice said, and the Great Hall went silent for a few moments, before Lily watched as a chicken flew across the room.

Chaos quickly ensued, the air become thick with food flying around, students getting covered in their dinner. As Lily ducked a pudding she glanced up at the teachers table, and she swore she saw a large grin on Dumbledore's face.

As the food fight began to die down people began to make their way towards the exit, although everyone began to walk in odd ways. The Marauder's climbed through the portrait hole to the Head dorm, laughter filling the room.

"How did you guys do that walking jinx on everyone?" Lily asked.

"Got the idea from Monty Python." James said. "That silly walk skit."

"Just had to charm some of the food." Sirius said.

"Didn't take much as we knew it was going to end up everywhere." Remus said, chuckling to himself.

"Well, it was awesome, but I think it's time to retire for the night." Lily said, getting up and heading up to bed. James joked with Sirius, Remus, and Peter for a few minutes longer, before he too went up to bed, a smile on his face, his mischief managed.

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Sorry this took a tad longer to come out than I wanted, hope ya'll enjoy.