Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) - Book One (Marauder Era)

Chapter Twelve - Bats Are Supposed To Be Furry Anyway

"Slytherins are the worst," Black said firmly. "They should be blasted out of this school. Hey, Lupin, you know how to do the blasting spell?" he asked suddenly, face lighting up.

"You c-c-c-can't bl--blast a st--student!" Remus half-shrieked, absolutely horrified at the thought.

"Not supposed to hex students either," Potter pointed out with a very wicked grin. "That didn't stop you."

Remus's face went brilliantly red and he shrank back a bit, as if wanting his too-big clothes to swallow him up. "I--th--th--that's--I--w--I was--that--that--I was--"

"Oh come off it, ignore James, he hasn't any manners," Black said, elbowing Potter. "You did the right thing. Protecting Peter. We're family."

Remus blinked a few times, at first thinking Black was meaning he and Pettigrew were actually related then realizing he was (probably) referring to McGonagall saying 'your house is your family'. That made more sense in the context. We aren't, though. We aren't family. You're humans. I'm not. "I w--wasn't going to--to let them..."

"Of course not," Potter said in an apologetic tone. "I was only teasing."

"You two really should have seen it though, all of sudden it just blasted out of their nose like--liek--like furry bogies!" Pettigrew laughed.

"THAT WOULD BE BRILLIANT!" Potter screamed so loudly all three boys jerked backwards, Remus dropping his school bag and putting his hands over his ears. "Lupin, mate, Lupin, is there? A spell? For furry bogies?"

"Bat-bogey hex mixed with a furry bogey hex!" Black suddenly gasped out.

Potter grabbed Black's arms and they began jumping up and down and squealing. "Lupin, come on, you're brilliant, you've got to know how to do something like that!" Potter said.

"I--wh--what?"

Then suddenly Potter was on his knees, hands clasped together. "You said so yourself, you read! I've no idea how to even start looking up anything like that. Please? Please? Please?"

"Bu--but--I--that--"

"Do you even know how to do the regular bat-bogey hex?" Black asked Potter. "Cause I don't, I've only heard of it."

"I've only heard of it too," Potter said, still on his knees. "We can practice and Lupin can figure out how to make it furry too."

"I--I didn't--that's--what?"

Potter got up on his feet and grabbed Remus's sleeve. "Can you come to the library with us tomorrow and help us find out how to do that? The regular one, I mean, I don't think there's anything for it to be furry. But you can probably think of how to do that, right? Furry bogies?"

"I--d--didn't--I--"

"This is going to be so brilliant!" Black had started laughing again and was bent over, smacking his thigh.

"I can see it now, furry bogey bats flying everywhere!" Pettigrew giggled.

"That--that sort of--that's a bit--" Remus felt like he had been picked up and dumped in an ocean, the undercurrents known as Black, Potter, and Pettigrew pulling him under until he was drowning in absolute confusion. "That's--advanced...!" he tried but none of them were listening to him at all, they were all talking about their prank idea and Potter and Pettigrew began flapping their hands around like bats and Black was practically rolling on the floor. Remus took a few more steps back and sat down on the edge of his bed rather hard.

What?!

*

In the morning Remus was certain the other boys would have forgotten all about the whole thing but after breakfast as he headed to the library for some studying he heard three sets of feet running up behind him.