--------------------------> IT HAD BEEN NEARLY FIVE WHOLE MINUTES since all the students had shuffled down and seated themselves in the Ancient Runes classroom. There was also a clear divide of the houses that could be seen with Gryffindor occupying one end of the classroom with Slytherin in the other and a mixture of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff seating themselves in between; as if to act as barriers between the lions and the snakes.
Yet, despite the class having technically begun, the glaring absence of their teacher was hard for anybody to ignore. So instead, they behaved like good students and took advantage of the fact that Professor Babbling wasn't present and started to chat and create conversations amongst themselves.
After another eight minutes of stolen, cautious chatting, the students had come to a simultaneous, nonverbal conclusion that they would not have a class that day. Although, they were all still hesitant to leave due to a lingering faint fear that Professor Babbling would walk through the archway of the room at any second and would direct her wrath upon them should they do so. Thus, they settled for talking among their friends, all except Halley who was still too engrossed in the book that was supplying her with the knowledge of curses to kill people.
Maeve, meanwhile, was speaking with the three-quarters of the Marauders. She had known James for most of her life. Both Mrs Potter and Maeve's own mother had had trouble conceiving children and their frequent visits to the same healer had brought them close. After that, the two of them had been absolutely thrilled that their children were the same age and had arranged many play dates with each other. Not to mention, since the Macmillians and Potters ran in the same social circles, James and Maeve knowing each other before attending Hogwarts were inevitable.
Although Maeve and James were good friends who chatted often, arranged study dates and even helped each other occasionally in their respective endeavours; they weren't part of each other's main group of friends.
James had instantly clicked with Sirius, Remus and Peter when he stepped into Hogwarts while Maeve had found comfort and warmth within Bruce (who she had also known from before Hogwarts due to the similar occupations of their parents), Halley, Kate and Max. James and Maeve were friends. Best friends, even, but each other's fourth option.
Unfortunately, the topic of conversation among them had not shifted from their transfiguration's class. James and Sirius seemed intent on discussing how someone like Snape could receive a letter from Somebody with Remus occasionally chiming in, much to Maeve's dismay.
"Do we really have to talk about this?" Maeve asked, a pleading tone intertwined in her tone. "Why don't we talk about something else- literally, anything else. Oh, how about puppies! Do you like puppies? I like puppies. Puppies are cute. I wanted to have a puppy when I was younger but apparently, I'm allergic to dogs and--"
"--Oh, I remember Mr Puppy!" James interjected with a ring of nostalgia and amusement.
"Of course you do." Maeve rolled her eyes. "You tried to sit on him when we were kids."
"In my defence, he was particularly large for a puppy and dad had refused to buy me a Quidditch broom. Plus, at least I attempted to be friendly with him." James met Maeve's eyes, a grin brightening his countenance over an inside joke. "The same, however, could not be said about you."
Maeve's lips shunned downwards. "In my defence, I was busy coughing, sneezing, rubbing my eyes and overall, being very allergic to Mr Puppy! Great name selection, by the way. Very creative."
James frowned. "What do you mean? You named Mr Puppy as Mr Puppy."
"No..." Maeve corrected slowly. "You named Mr Puppy as Mr Puppy."
James shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure it was you who named him."
"And I'm absolutely confident in the fact that you named him."
"Well, I happen to be extremely--"
"--Okay, we get it. You both can't choose names for dogs!" Sirius interrupted, simultaneously amused and annoyed before he pointedly asked. "Now can we get back to the topic Somebody?"
"Why should we talk about that?" Maeve questioned rhetorically, voice getting higher with every word. "I mean, Somebody's choices should be their own. Why should we --or anybody-- object to Somebody writing letters? That is their liberty to do so. If you want to say, write letters then it is your freedom to choose who, what, why and how you write it. You cannot assert your views on anybody, that is wrong. Also, another thing, please respect everybody's opinion as long as it doesn't disrespect anybody's existence. Is that so hard to do?!"
The Marauders were wide-eyed and bewildered by Maeve's vent.
"Damn, Maeve, relax. It's not like we're talking about you," Sirius joked playfully.
James rolled his eyes fondly. "Hufflepuffs; am I right?"
"But you do have a point, Maeve," Remus commented thoughtfully. "We shouldn't judge Somebody for who they write for."
"Even if it is Snivellus," Sirius added.
"Even if it is Snivellus." Remus agreed.
"Wait..." This was said by a flabbergasted Lily Evans who had been attracted to their conversation due to Maeve's loud voice. All of them turned to where she sat beside Remus. "You all get letters from Somebody as well?" She questioned with wide eyes.
It was James who answered, smiling brightly as he nodded his head. "Yeah, we do. Everybody gets them. Even some who do not deserve it."
"He means Slytherins." Sirius elucidated lazily in explanation. "Somebody is indeed that much of a saint to write letters to the likes of them."
"Somebody isn't a saint." Maeve's statement was ignored by all of them.
Lily's face showed that she was deep in thought. "You know... I think I got my first letter from Somebody in the first year. I got another one recently. That must mean that Somebody is in our year, right?"
Remus nodded. "Yes, we've arrived at the same conclusion as well."
"Or, Somebody could be a teacher. It would serve as an additional explanation as to why everybody is receiving letters and such. It's also more likely." Maeve's in-put once again went unheard. She was really starting to feel invisible.
"We also have a theory that the House-Elves are the ones delivering the letters," James stated. "We confronted them about it and although the House-Elves didn't confirm it, they did heavily deflect the question."
"Yes, that does make sense," Lily hummed, face brightening. "It does explain why nobody has actually seen Somebody. Somebody writes them and the House-Elves deliver them. That's incredibly smart of them." she paused. "Is Somebody a Ravenclaw?"
"Perhaps, maybe. That is also a theory that we have." Remus informed her.
Lily's eyebrows furrowed before she let out a small laugh. "You lot have really given this some thought, haven't you?"
"Of course," James puffed out his chest proudly. "In fact, we are going to find the identity of Somebody before the end of this year!"
Lily cocked an eyebrow. "Really?" She leaned forward as a smirk blessed her face. "What if I find them first?"
Sirius laughed at her declaration. "Dream on, Evans. We've done the groundwork, we'll find Somebody first."
Lily opened her mouth to counter, but someone beat her to it.
"Oh, please," the characteristic drawl of Severus Snape could be heard, prompting the Marauders, Lily and Maeve to turn to face him as he spoke. "Like the sorts of you could ever be smart enough to find Somebody."
James' jaw clenched as he said coldly. "I had assumed that the likes of you would never even get a letter from Somebody in the first place....seems I was mistaken. The same way you will be when my friends and I find Somebody before you do."
"You guys, I'm pretty sure that if Somebody wanted to be found, they would have revealed their identity. I'm not sure--" Maeve's words were interrupted by the sound of Severus laughing as he faced the glaring Gryffindors, identical amused expressions on the faces of him and all his friends.
"You? Find Somebody before us? Now, now, don't delusion yourself, Potter."
"Funny," James said coldly. "I was about to tell you the same."
Rabastan Lestrange chuckled deeply like James' statement was the funniest thing he had ever heard. "Is that a challenge then? Let's see who deciphers the identity of Somebody first- the mighty snakes or ickle lions."
"I think that there needs to be higher stakes now, don't you?" Sirius chimed ruefully, eyes darkly glinting. "Bragging rights of stating the truth of how Gryffindor is better than Slytherin doesn't seem to be enough in this case."
"For the first time, I agree with you, Black," Rabastan admitted, laughing again. "So, what shall it be? Aah, how about you all running around Hogwarts wearing nothing but a green cloak screaming that Slytherin is the best?"
"Wow, that's kinky. Didn't know you were into that stuff, Lestrange." Sirius stated and for a moment, Rabastan spluttered.
Then, realising that he could not showcase that the white sheep of the Black family had gotten under his skin, Rabastan smoothened his face. "In addition to that, you --all of you-- will have to do anything that we ask you to. It would be nice to have things in their natural order, with you being slaves to your superiors."
"What superiors? All I see is cowardly little children hiding behind a 'master'." James mocked, causing a giggle to escape Lily's throat. He smiled at that before he resumed speaking. "Your terms sound as wonderful as Sirius' mother but we agree to them. However, when you lot lose, each and every one of you urchins will have to donate a thousand gallons to a muggle charity. And, you'll also have to announce in the Great Hall during dinner time that Gryffindor is the best house and that Slytherin sucks."
Rabastan's eyes twitched while Severus was glaring at them with all the hate in the world. The other Slytherins in the Ancient Runes classroom also held similar expressions of disgust on their faces.
"Fine," Severus said finally. "We agree to those terms. Especially considering it will never happen. We will find Somebody first."
His response was Sirius' laughter. "Sure you will and on another note, unicorns don't exist!"
Rabastan ignored him, eyes fixed on James. "So, we have a deal then. We promise to comply with all your terms and you should do the same."
"Promise?" Remus asked lightly, speaking for the first time. "Forgive me but I do not wish to take your word on this matter. Perhaps we should do something a little bit more binding....say, a Wizard's Oath?"
Rabastan smiled. "Alright, half-breed. Let's do a Wizard's Oath. The rules are simple, every method is allowed and the deadline is one day after our N.E.W.Ts, so the 15th of June, 1978. Snape will take the oath for all the Slytherins." he volunteered, clapping Severus on the back.
"I'll do it for the Gryffindors," James stated unhesitatingly, lips tugging upwards. "Good luck, you'll need it."
Rabastan's reply was a sarcastic smile before he faced his friends, probably to work out strategies.
James turned to Lily with a faint smile. "So, Evans, I know that a couple of minutes ago, the two of us were about to embark on a quest to find Somebody separately but for the greater good, what say you to a temporary alliance?"
Lily faked an expression of deep thought before she smiled. "Alright, Potter. You got yourself a temporary alliance. I'll help you find Somebody; for the honour of our house and the greater good, of course."
"Of course." James grinned as they clasped hands to seal the deal.
Meanwhile, Maeve swivelled towards Halley with pained eyes, nudging her softly. "Halley?"
"Yes, Maeve?" Halley quizzed without diverting her eyes from the book that she was reading.
"Would you like to practise your curses to kill people on me?"
"No thank you, Maeve."
Maeve pouted at Halley's answer. Then, she huffed and laid her head on the table, contemplating on why the universe seemed to hate her and more importantly, why Professor Babbling couldn't have just taken class today.
The situation had skyrocketed instantly and now, she would not only have to worry about the Marauder's figuring out her identity, but also the Slytherins and subsequently, the whole school. In fact, she could already hear some of the Ravenclaws whispering on how they could decipher Somebody's identity before the egotistical lions and the arrogant snakes.
It was also at that moment that her mind decided would be the appropriate time to remind her that it was indeed she who had selected the name Mr Puppy for Mr Puppy who had been her pet for three whole days; which meant that James was correct.
So, that day went well.