A Siriusly Good Prank (Marauders/Jily/Wolfstar)

12-The Stag's Out Of The Bag

"Alright."

The Marauders huddled around the fire: Sirius was sprawled in the armchair, Remus sat on the floor in front of him, James sat against the wall next to the fire, and Peter leaned against the table.

"What do we need to talk about so urgently?" Remus inquired. "It's midnight. I'm tired. McGonagall's giving us a pop quiz tomorrow—"

"What?" Sirius said loudly. "Exactly how long have you known this?"

Remus shrugged. "A few days."

"Thanks for telling us," Sirius grumbled.

"I just did!" Remus protested.

"Not the time!" James said. "We have many things to discuss." He grinned. "We always cap the month off with a spectacular collaborative prank, and we need to figure it out."

Peter smiled. "I have some ideas, if anyone wants to hear them."

"Go for it," Remus said.

"Okay." Peter shifted forward. "We...turn...all the eggs pink!"

Remus and James exchanged glances. Sirius let out a barely perceptible sigh.

"We'll put that on the shelf," James said. "But I'm thinking, like, we charm all the teachers to speak only Mermish. Or we get the giant squid to keep asking people out—"

"Bigger," Sirius said. "I'm thinking, we steal the Sorting Hat and—"

"The Sorting Hat's good, we should save that for the end of the year," James said. "I'm thinking maybe enchanting the pumpkins to follow McGonagall around, turning all the Slytherins costumes into fairy costumes, dying Malfoy's hair purple..."

"I'm on board with that," Remus said quickly.

"I like the pumpkin thing," Sirius said. "But they can't just be following her around, they have to be saying something—"

"Or singing," Remus opined. "We could have them follow her around singing 'A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Love' for the entire day."

"This sounds like my kind of plan." Sirius leaned back.

James nodded. "Okay. It's good. It's just...it doesn't feel like we're going out with a bang."

"I have an idea," Sirius said. "What if we made all the doors invisible?"

James sat up straight. "That's brilliant."

Sirius grinned. "Isn't it?"

James tossed him a high-five. "We'll do both."

Remus shook his head. "McGonagall is going to kill us."

............

"James!"

James glanced over his shoulder. Lily was hurrying towards him, face flushed and eyes suspiciously bright, bag slung over her shoulder.

"What's up?" James slowed his pace so that she could catch up. As she slowed, her hair floated around her face in a red tangle.

"I was thinking," she started.

"As you usually are."

"I was thinking about Pranktober," she said. "I was thinking I could help you win."

James stopped dead. "You're voluntarily thinking about Pranktober?"

"She's crashing the party," Sirius, who was passing by, moaned dramatically. James elbowed his shoulder and he slid by, en route to Astronomy.