The Order of Mischief I

1.27

"Pete is on fire today!" James roared as he rolled off the couch, his body hitting the ground with a loud thud. Sirius laughed louder as he swung his legs about, impatient and energetic with glee. Remus hid his face behind his book, trying to hide the fact that he was laughing. Peter leaned back on his two arms as he wheezed for air, trying to stop an oncoming laughing fit from escaping his lungs.

"Who's on fire?" Lily Evans asked, turning around so suddenly and quickly to study the boys with a worried expression. All four of them stopped moving as they noticed her panicked expression. Her friends that surrounded her wore the same expressions, and some were standing to get a better view of the boys. Simultaneously, and possibly the worst choice of action, the boys looked at each other, glancing around for brief moments, as if to confirm they shared the same thought.

"What happened?" Mary asked in a high-pitched tone that was drenched with concern. Her voice had triggered another fit of laughter from the marauders, who were rolling around the ground and furniture. Mary gawked at their reactions and her friends glared at the boys, before fleeing to their dormitory.

"Oh, shut up, you four!" Frank Longbottom had scolded them with a playful tone, before bidding them goodnight and leaving to his room. Frank's friends followed behind him. Peter sat up straight and noticed how they were some of the last people in the room yet to leave for a goodnight's sleep. He was not the only person who noticed the small number of people.

James watched the last pair of girls gather their belongings and make way to their chamber. When he was certain that the girls were gone, he looked between his friends and said, "Pete, finish that essay quickly now. Everyone's gone to bed, now is the perfect time to test the map."

"Let me finish reading this chapter first, which should give Pete enough time to finish Sirius' essay," Remus said, looking up from his book for a couple of seconds, before looking back down to rush through the last page of the chapter. James and Sirius both jumped onto their feet as they hung about the fireplace; Potter began packing his belongings, making a mental note to leave the transfiguration essay in his best friend's bag, while Sirius stood behind Peter, bending over to read the young boy's conclusion.

"Done!" Peter exclaimed, pleased with himself as he packed away his quills and books and pieces of parchment, before handing Sirius his essay. They all stood side by side, watching Remus as he read the last sentence. Without saying anything, Lupin stood up and waved his book at them, signalling them to make their way to their dorm. They walked quietly to not disturb their teammates' sleep in their silly attempts of sneaking around.

They entered the red-coloured room and dropped their belongings off where they were usually kept. The spacious room looked like a chaotic space with James' tidy corner; Peter's slightly colourful but tidy area - the colours made his bed look messy, even though it was tidy; Sirius' dark corner that was tidy but heavily decorated with posters, books he did not read and vinyl discs; and Remus' slightly messy bed with his books piled on top of each other on his bedside, and clothes hanging off the end of his bed.

"What happens if we get caught?" Peter asked, stopping mid-track, after pushing his bag beneath his bed. He watched as his best friends all looked at him, with uncertain expressions, before they exchanged the same confused looks with one another.

"We run here, of course," Sirius answered in an animated manner that suggested his answer was the only correct and obvious solution.

"I think we should change into our pyjamas, so we can easily climb into our beds and pretend to be asleep," Peter suggested with a wide grin across his face.

"Pete has a point," Remus said, looking at the boys with an awkward expression, "Even if we ran here, we wouldn't all get here at the same time."

James rubbed the back of his neck, standing in a pose that made it seem like he was leaning towards one side, "I guess we do as Pete said and wear our pyjamas before leaving. Get ready for bed, just in case. And then after that, we just figure out how we are going to pair up. One pair will have the cloak and the other will have the map, so we can all come back here without getting into too much trouble."