Mischievous-A Marauders Fanfic

3-Out At Night

At half past ten, Halley, Sephy, Samantha, James, Sirius, Peter and a very displeased Remus were all huddled in a corner of the Gryffindor common room.

"I can't have a part in this" Remus was insisting. "I'm a Prefect..."

"Remus, old boy, you have to have a part in this" Sirius told him firmly. "Who else is going to tell Slughorn that Halley, Peter, Samantha and I are messing around on the fifth floor? I designed this plan around the fact  you're a bloody Prefect, so shut it!"

Remus looked sourly at Sirius, but agreed to go along.

"Right" James muttered. Pandemonium, you're with me. We'll head out first, with Remus, up to the sixth floor and take the secret passage behind the armless suit of armour down to the dungeons. He'll alert Slughorn, and we'll get the stuff."

"Have we got the Cloak, Potter?" Sephy asked, keenly.

"Naturally" James replied, before carrying on with the plan. "Derwent, Pettigrew, Black, Spinnet. You take the passage behind Albert the Awful and come out on the other side of the fifth floor. Make as much noise and disruption as you can. And don't get caught. Slughorn'll be on his way pretty quickly, so you've got about the amount of time it'll take our old man to climb from the dungeons to the fifth floor to wreak havoc and get back into the passage. Don't make the jump from Albert to the Fat Lady until I get back to you with the Cloak. I'll take you one at a time. Filch'll be everywhere up here by then. I'll leave Perpetrator to deal with the loot when I drop her back here."

"Got the ingredient list?" Samantha said to James, sounding a little nervous. Sephy waved it in her face as a reply, before shoving it in her robe pocket firmly.

"Okay" Sirius sighed, sniffing, seemingly preparing himself, and leading Halley, Samantha and Peter to the portrait hole. Remus, James and Sephy slipped under James's Invisibility Cloak before following them. The Fat Lady chided the four fifth-years she could see as they climbed out past her and away. 

"We'll be back before you know it" Sirius assured her with a sly wink. She tutted and clucked like a chicken as the four of them slipped away, down to the portrait hole that would lead them to where they wanted to be. Halley knew James, Remus and Sephy would have sneaked out with them, and were probably miles away by now.

"Come on, gang" she muttered, tugging at Samantha's robe sleeve, and the four of them, after poking awake the sleeping Albert the Awful, slipped into the passage behind him.

"Lumos" whispered Sirius, who was at the front, and everyone else copied quickly.

"Hurry!" Peter hissed, and the four of them practically ran down the passage, the way lit by their four wands, and Sirius pulled them up short at the other end. 

"Nox" he muttered, to repeats of the spell three times behind him, and they were plunged into darkness before Sirius very gently pushed the portrait open-just a little bit. The four of them remained in complete silence as the coast was cleared.

Like little shadows, Sirius, Halley, Peter and Samantha sneaked out, Samantha jamming the portrait hole open with her jumper she'd brought with her for that reason.

Sirius pointed Peter and Samantha down to the left, and he and Halley took the right. They all instinctively began counting under their breaths.

"One Butterbeer, Two Butterbeer, Three Butterbeer..."

They continued sneaking along  the corridor their seperate ways until, in unison, their count reached fifty.

Then all hell broke loose.

Sirius fired five Expulso charms at five different torches lining the walls, exploding them spectacularly, while the sixth he aimed at a rather nice crystal chandelier on the ceiling he reckoned was a new addition to the castle's decorations. Or rather, had been.