Mack's POV
There I am, lounging across Remus' bed when the most avoided topic is brought up, lycanthropy.
"So Mack, you will be joining us tonight for our midnight adventure, right?" Sirius shouts bouncing into the dormitory full of glee.
"Of course!" I exclaim, "I can never sit still on a full moon anyways."
Remus glares at me but James and Sirius pointedly ignore him.
"We leave the dormitories at 9 o'clock sharp..." James starts.
"...But we normally go down under the invisibility cloak..." Sirius continues.
"...We don't think four of us will fit but since you are an Animagus..."
"...We thought you would be okay with slinking down there yourself in one of your forms."
This continues on and on for a good 10 minutes with James and Sirius fully describing each and every part of their full moon rendezvous. They bounce back and forth off each other like twins do, perfectly completing each other's thoughts. I rest my chin on my hand and start playing with my wand while I wait for them to finish. I produce subtle red sparks out of my wand and immediately Peter moves next to me and copies me. Soon enough we start giggling at our mini firework show and finally James and Sirius shut up.
Remus walks over and holds up his hands. "Mackenzie will not be joining us."
"WHAT?"
"We have finals coming up, she needs to study for them," Remus says simply, staring at the other boys, challenging them to argue.
I stand up and walk over to Remus until we are standing toe to toe. "It is April 11th Remus John Lupin. Finals are not until the week of May 29th. I have plenty time to study."
"Says the girl who has spent every waking second in the library reading." He crosses his arms and glares down at me. "I won't let you do this."
I groan and roll my eyes. "You don't own me Remus. I can do whatever I please."
I spin on my heel and storm straight through the wall separating our dormitories. Lily, Alice, and Marlene all look up at my entrance. From the looks of it they were all painting their nails and gossiping.
"May I join you?" I ask softly, trying to release my anger in a calm fashion.
Lily nods and pats the spot on the ground next to her. I lay down and grab the closest nail polish bottle, blood red. I wrench open the bottle and start applying the color as fast as possible, not caring how messy they look.
Marlene starts laughing and I turn to look at her but not until after I catch the warning glance Lily had shot her. "What Marlene?"
"Your hair matches your nails," she chuckles before going back to her nails.
I tilt my head so my hair falls in front of my face and groan when I see that instead of my anger dissipating it decided to go to my head. I close my eyes in concentration as I force my hair to shorten. I hear the girls gasp as my hair turns into a short pixie with pitch black coloring. As my hair finishes I change my face, causing it to become much more structured with harsh cheekbones and deep-set eyes. I focus on my eyes next before opening them dramatically to shock the girls. My face has grown pale with dark lips forcing my bright red eyes to have an eerie look.
"How do I look now Marlene?" I say with a new sultry voice, smirking.
"Hella hot," she grins before winking.
All my hard work fades away as we burst out laughing. Alice and Lily are shaking as their twinkle like laughter fills the air. Marlene and I on the other hand have a deep belly laugh from hanging around with the Marauders way too much.
Lily laughs, "Hey Mack, you know how to sneak us out of here, right?"
I freeze, "Like out of Hogwarts? Yeah... why?"
"We should go to a muggle club!" Lily squeals. "I know you are mad at the boys so let's go while they have that rendezvous."
Marlene shakes her head. "We aren't all 17, we can't just disapparate there. We would trigger trace alarms."
Lily's face drops. "Over the summer then, you all have to come visit me and I'll take you out."
"Sounds like a plan Lily," I grin. "But I can sneak out to Hogsmeade and get us Honeydukes and firewhiskey if you still want to have a girls night."
Marlene stands up and pulls me to my feet quickly. "LET'S GO!"
"Woah, woah woah," Alice says standing up. "It is a Tuesday guys, you seriously want to do this?"
"Why not?" Marlene shrugs, "It's Easter break. It's not like we have school in the morning anyways."
"Not now," Lily says quickly shaking her head. "We can't head out to Hogsmeade until after supper. Someone will notice our absence."
"Nonsense. It is merely 3:30, supper isn't for another two hours," Marlene smirks. "Mack and I will go to Honeydukes now and we can go to Three Broomsticks later."
"No, Hogs Head later," I chime in. "Madame Rosmerta might tell one of the professors but my uncle won't tell on us. If anything, he will give us something stronger to drink."
Marlene groans, "If only we brought Sirius or James with us, then Rosmerta would qualms about giving it to us." She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms as she says that statement.
"I think someone is a little jealous," Alice smirks, leaning forward onto her fist. She's laying on her stomach on the red plush rug and casually kicks her feet back and forth.
I catch what Alice is referring to and settle down onto my bed. I cross my ankles innocently and fiddle with my wand. "Is there something you need to tell us Marlene?"
She looks back and forth at us shocked. "Merlin's beard, what are you two up to now?" She glances down at Lily who is also giving her a knowing smile. She throws her hands up in the air. "Fine, all of you target against me. I'm going to go see if the Marauders have something strong."
She storms out of the dormitory and down the staircase. "Why didn't she just go through the wall?" I ask confused, pointing at the empty corner.
Lily sighs, "She's going to go down to the pitch until she relaxes. We definitely pushed a button of hers."
I nod softly and walk over to our window. I unlatch it and open it wide. I toss my jumper onto my bed and climb onto the windowsill. "Leave the window open," I call out. "I'm going to go keep an eye on Marlene. You two got Honeydukes?"
I hear some ruffling and shoes hitting the ground. "We'll take the passage you showed us and come back as soon as possible." One of them starts to walk towards the door.
"WAIT!" I exclaim, turning around quickly. I lose my balance and start to fall backwards out the window when Lily grabs my arm firmly.
"Honestly Mack, you're going to end up killing yourself one day."
I shrug, "Most likely. But I stole the invisibility cloak that James owns. It's under my pillow."
I let go of Lily's arm and fall. The breeze pushes me up and I immediately shift into an ordinary pure white owl. I extend my wings far out from my sides and soar straight to the Quidditch pitch. I land on top of the Ravenclaw section just as Marlene marches onto the pitch. She climbs on quickly and shoots into the air before circling the pitch around and around. She keeps increasing her speed as she goes around. I nestle my head under my wing and close my eyes. I keep awake by focusing with my ears to make sure I continue hearing her flying around.
An hour later, I hear the flying come to stop. I lift my head and see Marlene walking off the pitch towards the Gryffindor changing room. I dive off the spectator stands and streamline to Marlene's side. Just as she is about to enter the changing room I transform back into human and walk in right after her.
"Nice flying," I smirk, catching her completely off guard. I lean back against the wooden walls while her mouth flops open.
"You?" Marlene looks at the doorway then back at me. "There was no one in the pitch, how did you see me?"
"A little birdie told me."
Her hand lifts up and smacks her forehead. "You were that snowy owl."
"Yup," I say cheerfully before walking over to her side. I tuck my arm through hers and pull her back towards the castle. "Alice and Lily when to Honeydukes to get us candy for tonight."
She looks over at me. "We're still on?"
I nod. "Just because you storm out on us doesn't mean we are leaving you behind."
A small smile appears on her face. "Thanks for keeping an eye on me Mack."
"That's what best friends are for."