Remus gave him a look. "This is the girls' bathroom. James, we can't possibly —"
"Trust me. No one ever comes here," James said confidently, cutting him off.
"Why the hell not?" Sirius asked.
"Well, I've been having conversations with Headless Nick lately, and he told me that this bathroom is abandoned. Completely," James said, smirking knowingly. "And there's a good reason for it."
"Stop messing around and just spit it out!" Sirius said impatiently.
James laughed. "Okay, okay. Follow me."
And in they went, one after the other, into the quiet bathroom. No sound could be heard inside except for the echoing sound of their footsteps and the occasional drop of water dripping from the old and unused sinks.
"Spooky," Remus observed calmly, looking around him with anticipation and thrill.
"But I don't get it," Sirius said, "this place looks just fine. Why does no one ever come he—"
"Who are you!? What are you doing here!?" someone said in a screechy voice, making the four boys jump.
They looked of at the ghost of a young girl who had glided over, hovering a few feet above the ground. Her face was glum, half-hidden behind lank hair and tick, pearly glasses.
"Err — James? Care to explain?" Remus said.
"That's Moaning Myrtle. She haunts one of the toilets," James whispered back to him.
"I heard that!" the ghost wailed. "And that's a very offensive thing to say!"
"What is?" Sirius grinned. "To say haunting?"
"No! To — to call me that!" her eyes began to glisten with silver tears. "You boys are all the same! Calling me names! Don't you think I know what you lot call me behind my back!? Miserable, ugly, moping, moaning Myrtle!"
"Well, technically we didn't say that behind your back. We said it straight to your face," said Sirius.
At those words, Myrtle's tears began to stream down her face. She wailed and wailed, floating away and diving into her toilet, causing a flood.
"Wasn't she just charming," Sirius said flatly.
"That was unnecessary," said Remus, but Sirius only shrugged, grinning.
"So this is where we'll keep the potion, huh?" Sirius looked around the bathroom, this time paying more attention to his surroundings. "This is good. The air shouldn't be too dry."
"Yeah, exactly." James nodded. "At first I was thinking about making and hiding the potion in one of the secret corridors we'd found, but the book had instructed to keep somewhere damp. This bathroom just happened to be the perfect place."
"Yeah, only if the ghost doesn't go blabbing around about what we're up to here," Sirius said grumpily, looking annoyed.
"I don't think anyone would believe her even if she figures out what you're planning to do," said Remus. "That sort of magic is basically impossible for any witch or wizard."
"Then good thing we're no ordinary witch or wizard," Sirius said boastfully.
"So," said James, turning to face them and clapping his hands together, "here's the plan: as soon as we're done with the stupid exams and we're back home, we'll wait for the full moon and put the Mandrake leaf in our mouth until the next month. We'll return the leaves here once our fourth year starts. If we're really careful and everything goes well, with a little bit luck, our transformation will be done by the end of our fourth year. Now how does that sound?"
"Perfect. Except for one tiny part," said Sirius.
"What?"
He smirked arrogantly. "We don't need luck."
***
The summer break wasn't as wondrous as it had always been. With their exams over and a few weeks ahead of them to rest, the Hogwarts students could just lay down and enjoy their time. But with the news of mysterious deaths and disappearances all over the Daily Prophet, there wasn't much space left for relaxation.
The best the parents could do was to put a smile on their faces and hide the news from their kids, hoping to give them as normal of a childhood as they could afford.
For the summer before their fourth year at Hogwarts, Marlene had invited Lily, Jenna, and Alice to their summer house to say for a whole week. Jenna was so excited that she had packed her bag three days in advance. That was pretty surprising, considering she always took so long packing her trunk at Hogwarts that Lily always ended up doing it for her.
Jenna told her parents that she would just go to the McKinnons' summer house by the Floo Network, but Mr. Potter wouldn't have it.
"It's too dangerous these days," he would say. "We don't know if You-Know-Who's forces have any control over it or n—"
"Fleamont," Mrs. Potter said pointedly, giving him a look that clearly said he shouldn't be talking about these things in front of the children.
James rolled his eyes at that. "We're not kids anymore! We know what's going on!"
"You're only fourteen. As far as I'm concerned, you are still babies," said Mrs. Potter, reaching out her hand to neaten James's hair. But he was quick to duck away out of her reach with an annoyed groan.
"This is bunkers!" James yelled out. "We live in the same world as you do! We have the right to be involved in these things! It's our war too!"
"Your war?" Mrs. Potter scoffed angrily, shaking her head. "This is not your war to fight, James! It is not your place! Your father and I are Aurors. We know what's out there. We know what they're capable of. Which is why I want you out of it. Out of all of it. I don't want you reading these things in the Daily Prophet! I don't want you talking about it! Don't even think about it! Understood!?"
"This is bullshit!" James shouted, turning around sharply and storming out of the living room, stomping his way up the stairs.
Silence filled the living room where Jenna stood with her parents. Jenna looked over at them, from her father to her mother. They looked pale, with dark circles under their eyes that showed just how tired and worried they were.
Fleamont threw out a small nervous laughter to try and loosen the tension. "Hormonal teenagers, am I right?"
Euphemia sighed, turning to face Jenna. "Ready to go?"
Jenna nodded, her lips pursed together. She couldn't bring herself to say a single word. She didn't want to worry her parents any more. James was hothead enough for both of them.
Mr. Potter had readied a Portkey straight to the doorway of the McKinnons house. Jenna said she would go by herself, but Mrs. Potter insisted to accompany her.
When Jenna arrived at the McKinnons' summer house — which was a pretty cottage close to a small lake — Lily, Marlene, and Alice rushed outside to greet her.
"Finally! What took you so long?" said Marlene, bringing Jenna into a tight hug.
"Drama at the Potter house," Jenna mumbled.
"Well, hello ladies," said Mrs. Potter, walking forward to greet the three Gryffindor girls. "How are you doing, Marlene? Is your mother home?"
"Oh, yeah. She's just taking a shower upstairs."
"Well, say hello to her from me, will you? I can't really stay for long, I'm afraid. I have to run to the Ministry now. But I've made some pumpkin pies," said Mrs. Potter, handing a box to the blonde girl.
Marlene opened the box's lid, her eyes widening in excitement. "Woah! This smells freaking awesome."
Mrs. Potter chuckled. "I hope you'll enjoy it."
"Oh, hell yeah, I will!" Marlene said, grinning widely. "I hope you come to our house more often, Mrs. Potter."
She laughed. "Will do. Now goodbye." And with that, she disapparated into thin air.
"Wow," said Lily, taken by surprise at the sudden disappearance. "You know, I don't often get to see people Disapparate. Because at Hogwarts people aren't able to do that, and back home we live in a full Muggle town."
"Oh, at our house Dad always Apparates around for no reason at all," said Marlene, already taking a bite from the pie. "He does it to entertain Marvin. Mum doesn't mind though. She laughs at him all the time."
"Marvin's your little brother, right?" Alice asked.
Marlene rolled her eyes as the girls walked inside the cottage house. "Yeah. He's so annoying. I'm just glad he's staying with my grandparents this week along with my dad."
"When will he start at Hogwarts?" Lily questioned.
"If he gets in," Marlene sniggered. "I keep telling him he's a Squib. He cries every time."
"That's mean, Mar," said Alice, but Marlene only shrugged.
"Anyway, who's up for a nice clean game of Quidditch?"
"You've got brooms?" said Jenna, feeling the excitement surging.
"Yup, we've got a few in the closet upstairs."
Jenna grinned mischievously. "Bring it on."