Mischief Managed | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 69

"Ah, look who it is!" Mr. Potter's voice boomed as he tried to make his way through the crowd and walk toward where James and Jenna stood with their friend. "If it isn't Sirius Black!"

"Hello, sir," Sirius said politely, raising his hand for him to shake.

"Sir?" Mr. Potter repeated with a chuckle as he shook his hand. "No need to be so formal with me, boy."

"Right. Sorry." Sirius smiled nervously.

    "Do enjoy yourself," Mrs. Potter told him kindly before she left their side along with her husband to greet the newcomers and other guests.

"You know, now I wish I had invited Remus and Peter too," said James, taking a mini burger off a tray that was floating past them magically, and Sirius took one as well.

"Yeah." Sirius nodded, taking a bit of his burger. "It would've been cool to have all Marauders gathered."

"The what now?" Jenna questioned, frowning.

"The Marauders," James repeated with a smug grin. "It's what we call ourselves; me, Sirius, Peter, and Remus."

Jenna snorted with laughter. "You guys are dorks."

"Excuse you?" James raised his brow at her, looking personally offended. "What's wrong with the name?"

"It's not about the name. It's about the fact that you have a name," Jenna said with a mocking sneer spread across her face.

"There's nothing wrong with having a name," Sirius said defensively and James nodded along in support.

"What does Marauders even mean?" Jenna mused.

"It means raiders," said James, his arrogant smirk returning to his face once again. "I saw the name in our History book last year and thought it was perfect for us."

"Yeah. It was the most suitable name for the four of us, after we managed to pull that legendary prank," said Sirius, and so both he and James broke into sniggers at the memory.

"Ha! I knew it was you four who had pranked the Slytherins!" Jenna pointed a finger at them accusingly.

"Of course it was us." Sirius shrugged. "Who did you think it was?"

"The whole school thought it had to be a group of sixth or seventh year students. Apparently the potion was really advanced to make," Jenna explained.

"Not too advanced for us, then," said James, gesturing between himself and Sirius.

"But how did you do it?" Jenna mused. "How could you have possibly put the potion in their drinks without anyone noticing?"

"Er..." James and Sirius glanced sideways at each other, not wanting to mention that Mr. Potter's Invisibility Cloak was currently in James's possession.

Before they could get the chance to think of a good enough excuse, a miracle happened. Only a few moments had passed that a group of elderly witches in fancy gowns gathered around the three youngsters, surrounding them.

     "Oh, look at you two! You've grown up so much since last year!" The lady who was standing in the middle exclaimed with her eyes on James and Jenna. "Come, give your great aunt Silvia a hug."

     She then lowered herself and took turn in hugging the twins, though neither of them looked happy about it. Sirius had to hold back his laughter at their awkward expressions. The lady reminded Sirius so much of the portrait of the Fat Lady, if only she were over a hundred years old.

     "And who is this young gentleman?" The tallest witch said with a smile, now looking at Sirius.

     "Er... I'm Sirius Black, ma'am," he said rather awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable to have the four old ladies look at him in hight amusement.

     "Black?" One of them repeated, who was wearing a feather in her hair. She looked to be over eighty, which meant that she had spent her youth in the 20s. That would explain the feather in her hair and the long pearl necklaces around her neck. "Are you Walburga and Orion Black's son?"

     Sirius's face fell at those words, but he still managed a small nod of his head, just so he wouldn't come of as rude.

      "Are you in the same year as James and Jenna at Hogwarts?" Aunt Silvia questioned.

      "Yes." Sirius nodded again, happy that the conversation had changed from his parents.

     "Well, don't you look extremely dashing for a twelve-year-old!" said another one of them with a crooked smile, a glass of champagne in her hand.

      Jenna remained silent, but she couldn't help but to linger her eyes on Sirius for a second longer. The old witch was right; he did look extremely handsome tonight, definitely more than ever. He was wearing a white button-up shirt with an expensive-looking vest on top of it, along with shiny black shoes.

     "I'm thirteen now, actually," Sirius corrected her with a confident grin. "My birthday was a few weeks ago, back in November."

     The four old witches chuckled at that. One of them then leaned in with a knowing smile and whispered in a secretive tone, "And are you Jenna's friend, or James's friend?"

     "Er..." Sirius looked between the twins. "Does it make a difference?"

     "Well, of course!" The lady laughed.

     "I met James first, and he's my best mate," Sirius replied, fumbling with the words, "but — um — Jenna — she's my friend too."

     "Oooh!" Aunt Silvia cooed. "And are you two — hmm, how to young people put it these days — are you two something of an item?"

     Sirius and Jenna's eyes widened, both of them briskly shaking their heads, while James bore a disgusted look on his face.

     "No! Of course not!" said Jenna, her cheeks heating up.

     "Oh, well. You can't blame an old woman from hoping." Aunt Silvia smiled at the three of them before walking away with her friends, chattering and gossiping about the other guests present at the party.

     "Ugh, can you believe her? That was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard in my life! And that's saying something, considering the fact that half the things that come out of old Silvia's mouth is rubbish," said James with a grimace, shuddering at the thought. "The day you two get together is the day hell freezes over."

     Jenna and Sirius didn't reply and decided to remain silent.

     "Anyway," James went on, shaking his head and turning to face Sirius. "This party sucks. Why don't you come up to my room? I wanna show you my Quidditch collection. I actually have a signed Quaffle!"

    "Really? Cool!" Sirius grinned, turning to follow James toward the staircase.

     Before Jenna could protest, they had already ran upstairs, leaving her behind. A subdued slam above told her that the door to his room had been shut.