The great hall is always quiet on Saturday mornings. Normally it's only me and a few other students who get up early for breakfast. Even the professor's table is mostly vacant. I suppose everyone likes to sleep in on the weekends.
I sat in the middle of the almost empty Gryffindor table with a box and wrapping paper out in front of me. Lily's birthday is tomorrow and I want to be prepared. This is my first close friend that I've had to celebrate a birthday with, so I had to get her a nice gift. Now I just had to figure out how to wrap it. I could always use a spell, but lately, I've been trying to cut back on using spells for normal, everyday things. The worst part about that is actually having to do my hair in the morning instead of just waving my wand and being ready to go.
I had already cut a large piece of the wrapping paper and I was now trying to fold it correctly over the rectangular box. I got Lily a really nice quill that never runs out of ink. It was somewhat expensive, but I never buy myself things in Hogsmeade or anything so I figured I could spend some of my money on a nice gift for her.
The silence in the great hall was suddenly disturbed by someone shouting my name. I spun around to see all four of the so-called "marauders" strolling in led by Sirius who was walking towards me with a huge smile on his face. Remus, Peter, and James all sat across from me while Sirius sat beside me.
"How are you doing this fine morning?" Sirius asked as he grabbed some toast. I raised my eyebrows at them, shocked that they were so cheery at such an early hour.
"It was very peaceful before you lot showed up," I joked, going back to wrapping the present for Lily.
"Peacefulness is overrated" Sirius shrugged as he ate his food, the other boys nodding while also chewing.
"Why are you all up so early on a weekend anyway?" I questioned, slightly suspicious.
"Early bird catches the worm!" James exclaimed. I squinted my eyes at all of them before resting them on Peter who squirmed a little under my gaze.
"Fine, don't tell me" I rolled my eyes, continuing my attempt at wrapping the present again.
"What are you trying to do exactly?" Remus asked, watching as I wrapped the box in the paper crookedly.
"Trying to wrap this stupid gift" I huffed, dropping the paper and watching as it fell and flattened itself on the table again. "It's for Lily"
"What did you get her?" Sirius questioned. I opened the box and pulled out the quill. It had a dark feather and a golden handle and tip with small designs carved into it.
"It's an infinite ink quill. It never runs out" I shrugged. Sirius held his hand out to me and I handed it to him so he could have a look. "If you dent the feather I will not hesitate to hex you" I pointed a finger at him. He simply rolled his eyes and smirked as he examined the quill. After a moment he shrugged and handed it back, exchanging a mischievous look with James. I narrowed my eyes at them again in suspicion before putting the quill back in the box.
"If you want to wrap it properly I could help you" Remus piped up. I nodded quickly, passing him the box and all the supplies.
"Please! I really cannot understand how muggles do this without magic. It seems so tedious" I shook my head.
"Good thing you all have a half-blood in your midst" Remus joked as he folded the paper over the box neatly and taped it down.
"Now, without changing the subject again, tell me what you are all doing here so early in the morning on a Saturday" I gave the rest of the boys a pointed look.
"Well, if you must know, today is a big day for us" Sirius nodded, his usual smirk on his face.
"Yup! We are fully dedicating the day to pulling pranks on everyone. Gotta get an early start of course. You better be careful around us" James added.
"If any of you pull a prank on me you will seriously regret it" I shook my head, watching as Remus finished wrapping the gift and taped the bow to the top. "Thank you so much, Remus!" I exclaimed, taking the gift from him as he nodded and shrugged as if to say 'it's no big deal'
"Estella, you don't seem to understand, we are the master pranksters here at Hogwarts. No one can top anything we do" Sirius brought my attention back to the conversation.
"Yea, well, that was before I came to Hogwarts" I gave them all a sarcastic smile. "You mess with me, I mess with you right back"
"We'll see about that," Sirius chuckled as he continued shoveling scrambled eggs into his mouth. I watched as the boys finished up their breakfasts, having already finished mine before they joined me. I looked over to Remus, curious as to how he got all his scars. I thought back to a few weeks ago when he was in the hospital wing, and how the day before that he was missing, supposedly visiting his grandmother.
"Hey Remus" I broke the silence and everyone looked up at me, including him. "How is your grandmother doing? I know you've been visiting her lately. I hear she's really sick" I asked, and I must have said something wrong because his face paled at the question.
"Um... She's alright. Right now at least... I visit every month though" He shrugged.
"Moony here is a real grandma's boy" James nodded his head.
"Moony? Right, I forgot about the nicknames. How did you even get stuck with that one? What does it mean?" I asked him again, and he still seemed at a loss for words. Nervous might even be a better word to describe him.
"Well... um..." He trailed off. Clearly, no one has ever asked him this before.
"Remus here showed us his arse on a dare" Sirius blurted out. We were all silent for a moment and I looked to the other boys for confirmation. They all paused before nodding their heads in agreement.
"Okay... and James? Prongs?" I asked him now.
"Got the prongs of a fork stuck in my nose... I still have a scar, wanna see?" He asked, leaning over the table and lifting his nostril for me to see up his nose. I leaned back and held up my hands in front of my face, disgusted.
"No! No thanks... Do I even wanna know about Wormtail and Padfoot?" I asked, slightly concerned about these boy's mental state.
"I doubt it" Sirius shrugged before returning to his meal. I knew something was up with them. They weren't telling me the whole truth here. Just as I was about to interrogate them further, James cut me off.
"Uh oh, look out everyone. Love birds at ten O'clock" He looked towards the entrance to the great hall and we all followed his eyes to see Alice and Frank walking in, hand in hand, Alice giggling at something Frank said. They sat at the end of the Gryffindor table, not even realizing that we were all a little further down. They were in their own little world these days.
"I'm gonna be sick" Sirius scrunched up his face and turned back to us.
"Oh hush! They're just in the honeymoon phase, it's cute!" I defended them. Sirius looked at me for a moment, something in his eyes, but before I could make out what he was thinking he looked away. Ever since Sirius admitted his feelings for me he has been acting like this, almost as if nothing ever happened. I'm not complaining though, I would rather pretend nothing happened. I've never been liked before I came to Hogwarts. Now suddenly both Peter and Sirius like me all within the first six months of being here. I've concluded that they only like me because I'm the "new girl" at the school. The more I ignore it the faster they are bound to get over it.
"Speaking of love birds, I wanted to talk to you about your cousin's wedding" James piped up, looking at Sirius. "D'you reckon I could take a plus one?" He asked hopefully.
"Sure, I don't see why not. My plus one deserves to have a plus one as well" Sirius smirked.
"More like plus three. You invited all of us, Pads" Remus joined in, shaking his head at Sirius with a hint of a smile on his face.
"That reminds me. Estella, would you like to be my plus four?" Sirius turned to me with the same goofy grin on his face. I raised my eyebrows at him.
"What exactly are you lot going on about?" I asked, completely lost as to whose wedding I was being invited to.
"My cousin Bellatrix is marrying some Lestrange guy this spring. I've gone to the liberty of inviting all my friends, and that includes you" He nodded, still waiting for my answer.
"So, technically, I would be a wedding crasher?" I chuckled.
"Think of it as an extended invitation" He joked and I couldn't help but laugh at this.
"I suppose I could make an appearance" I shrugged. It seemed harmless enough.
"Well, my plus one will be Lily" James smiled to himself, clearly excited to ask her on what would probably be one of their first official dates.
"Well James, here she comes right now. Better get a move on" Peter spoke up for the first time in a while, pointing to Lily as she entered the great hall. She first spotted Alice and Frank since they were right near the entrance, so she stopped to talk with them.
"Alright boys, the moment of truth" James took a deep breath, stood up from his seat, and froze there, just staring at Lily from across the room, fear etched onto his face.
"C'mon mate, she isn't gonna be standing there all day" Remus rolled his eyes.
"You've asked her out hundreds of times before, why is this time so hard?" Sirius also shook his head at James' sudden fear.
"I haven't tried asking her out in months, and I think that's why she started talking to me more. What if I mess it up?" He asked us, clearly worried.
"James, take it from me, she's going to say yes. I'm the one who has to hear her talk about you all the time back in our dorm room" I rolled my eyes. James lit up suddenly.
"She talks about me?" He smiled.
"Go ask her out!" I exclaimed, probably having said too much already. James took a deep breath and nodded before making his way over to Lily. We watched as he pulled her away from Alice and Frank and began talking to her, both of them with huge smiles on their faces. Suddenly Sirius turned to me again.
"Look at all you're missing out on. That could be us you know" He teased, bumping my shoulder. I sighed, smiling at his stupidity.
"In your dreams" I shook my head.
"Oh I plan on that" He smirked and I rolled my eyes, playfully hitting him on the shoulder. We all looked back over to James and Lily and I saw Lily nod her head "yes", her smile somehow getting bigger. This will be one interesting wedding.
***
The next day was Lily's birthday. I spoke with her the night before about the wedding, and since it was over Easter holiday we decided that I could stay with her family and we could go to the wedding together. I was perfectly happy with this arrangement, mostly because I didn't have to deal with my grandmother again until the summer. Sadie won't be too happy about this, but she loves our grandmother and would be happy to see her again.
We now sat in the common room in the afternoon. Alice, Marlene, Lily, and I all occupied the area in front of the fire so we could give our gifts to Lily. Marlene got a beautiful clip for her hair that she apparently got with her family on her small trip to Paris over the holiday break. Alice got her a beautiful leather-bound notebook with her name etched into the spine. Finally, she opened my gift, and when she saw the quill she gasped.
"Estella, This must have been so expensive!" She exclaimed, examining the designs in the gold holder at the tip.
"You deserve it for being such an amazing friend" I smiled. "It has unlimited ink as well!" I exclaimed and she looked at the quill in awe.
"You know, muggles have these things called pens which also don't need to be dipped in ink every minute, right?" She joked.
"I know, you let me borrow them all the time" I rolled my eyes. "But even those run out of ink. This quill will always be filled. And you can use it in class!" I exclaimed.
"Thank you so much, Estella" She smiled, pulling me in for a hug.
"You should thank Remus too. He helped me wrap it" I chuckled and she laughed as well.
"Here, take the notebook and test it out!" Alice exclaimed, handing Lily her other gift. Lily eagerly opened up the book and began to write, but something was clearly wrong. Her face fell and she looked at the paper with confusion.
"Um, Estella, I think something is wrong with the quill" She cleared her throat awkwardly before turning the paper to me. All it said was 'Estella is a loser' written in black ink. "I swear I tried to write my name" Lily defended herself. "You said Remus helped you with this right?" She gave me a knowing look.
"Yea, but he wasn't the one responsible for this" I grit my teeth, thinking back to Sirius picking up the quill and examining it, sharing a smirk with James across the table. "I'm going to murder those boys," I said nonchalantly to the girls and they all chuckled. "Sorry Lily, I'll have the quill fixed. I just gotta figure out how to reverse whatever they did" I shook my head.
"Don't worry, we can figure it out together" She smiled, putting the quill back into the box. "So, what are you gonna do to the boys?" She asked mischievously. I thought back to how they thought they were the best pranksters at Hogwarts. This was clearly their way of trying to prove that to me. I turned to the girls and smirked.
"I'm going to give them a taste of their own medicine"
***
Later that night I found myself with Lily, Marlene, and Alice in the great hall for dinner. We made sure to leave the seats beside us open so the boys could join. Before they got there I made sure their goblets were filled and poured some homemade belching powder into their drinks. This powder is much stronger than what you could buy in the joke shop, so reversing the effects will be quite difficult for them. I hid the bottle up the sleeve of my sweater, having nowhere else to put it where they wouldn't see.
Finally, they noisily joined the rest of the school in the hall, their voices audible even over the loud chatter in the room.
"Hello, ladies. Happy birthday, Lily" James smiled as they all sat with us. The other boys all wished her a happy birthday as well.
"Thanks, boys" Lily smiled at them.
"What's on the menu, tonight lads?" Sirius rubbed his hands together, looking at the selection of food before him.
"Seems to be roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, oh and pumpkin juice of course" I listed, taking a sip of my juice once I was done. "It's really good tonight as well. Must be freshly made" I nodded once I was finished drinking. I fiddled with the bottle in my sleeve and noticed Sirius squinting his eyes at me. Peter was the first to take a sip of the juice.
"Thank Merlin, I'm parched" James shook his head as he grabbed the goblet and took a deep gulp. "Too much talking today" He shook his head.
"Yea, you practically talked my ear off" Remus rolled his eyes as he also took a sip of the drink. I turned to Sirius who was still squinting his eyes at me.
"What?" I asked, hoping he would drink his drink before the other boys started burping.
"Nothing" He shrugged before picking up his cup and taking a sip.
"Here, to Lily. May you have the happiest of birthdays" James raised his glass in a toast. We all laughed and raised our classes as well before taking another sip. Thank Merlin James did that. Now I look less suspicious I hope.
Not even five minutes later did Peter begin to burp. At first, it was just a few and everyone around us made a face of disgust.
"My god Peter, hold it in will ya?" James complained as Peter continued to burp. However, James began to burp next, followed by Remus.
"What- is- happening?" James asked between burps. We all laughed at them.
"That's what you get for jinxing my gift for Lily!" I exclaimed, pulling the belching powder out of my sleeve. I turned to Sirius who sat back with a smug smile on his face, not burping at all. "Wait..." I trailed off, confused for a moment.
"Nice try there, Cullen. I saw you messing with the powder in your sleeve. I'm not that stupid" He laughed.
"Clearly not. I suppose I underestimated you" I squinted my eyes, ignoring the other boy's uncontrollable burping. "I assure you that won't happen next time"
"There won't be the next time. I'm afraid I won't give you the chance" He teased.
"You wanna start a war then, Black?" I raised my eyebrows, challenging him. He smirked, leaning closer to me.
"Bring it on"