WHEN WE WERE YOUNG : marauders era

45. frozen fun

Peter went on at full speed and crashed onto the wall, his face turning red with embarrassment and pain at the same time. James and Sirius couldn't hold in their laughter as they went to help their friend out.

"Aren't you going to stop laughing?" Juliana said, rolling her eyes but with the hint of a tiny smile on her lips, mentally telling herself not to laugh.

Unbeknownst to their four friends, Remus and Mareena got up from the awkward position they had landed in a few seconds ago, both turning red. So red, they could be taken as Grffindor mascots.

"S-Sorry," Mareena had said quickly, realising she had fallen on top of Remus. Her heart felt like it was going to explode any minute, the memory of his brown eyes staring at her engraved in her mind.

"I-I'm so sorry guys," Peter apologised as he made his way to them, extremely embarrassed. "I just c-couldn't gain control.."

"It's okay," Remus replied kindly, his own heart pounding against his chest. "I suppose we should go to bed now. It's late."

Everyone agreed and made their way to their dormitories, wishing each other a good night.

Mareena doubted she would be getting any sleep that night. Her nightmares weren't as frequent as before but when she did get them, she couldn't sleep back again. Plus, this time she knew there was something else that would prevent her from sleeping.

However, as she remembered those brown eyes, so full of warmth, sleep came to her easily. It was like when she was little; when her mother used to sing lovely lullabies to send them to a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Professor McGonagall's face the next morning was one they would remember for the rest of their lives. It was a mixture of horrified, shocked, angry and impressed, evident on her face all at the same time. Professor Dumbledore, on the other hand, wasn't angry; he just looked really fascinated and impressed.

The six friends came in together with the other students, all of them pretending to be utterly surprised and confused about the state of the school. Professor McGonagall suspected them from the beginning of course but with absolutely no evidence, she couldn't give them detention.

Most students looked on at the ice covered floors with uncertainty, while a few confident ones tried to walk slowly across it only to land face first onto the sparkly cold ice.

Mareena and Juliana caught sight of Lily, Marlene and Alice and decided to count them in on the ice-skating. Besides, they knew James would be pleased.

"You guys are behind this, aren't you?" Marlene asked. She wasn't accusing, rather simply asking out of curiosity. The two sisters nodded sheepishly.

Their friends didn't seem at all surprised; after all, they had done other pranks before. But they were extremely impressed.

"How'd you do it?" Lily asked, a note of respect in her tone. "Not that I approve of what you did, of course," she added quickly.

"Just a simple freezing charm," Mareena replied with a shrug. "You'd be able to do it, Lils, I assure you," she added with a smile, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"I think we should get going guys. It's breakfast time," James said with a huge grin. "Oh. Hi there, Evans," he suddenly added with a lower voice as he spotted Lily, running his hand through his hair.

Lily ignored him as she asked Mareena, "How are you guys getting across? The ice looks so slippery."

"We use these," Mareena said with a chuckle, holding up her ice skates.