ꜰɪʀᴇʙɪʀᴅ |ᴊᴀᴍᴇꜱ ᴘᴏᴛᴛᴇʀ

chapter 11 - cuts

The prank war hadn't begun yet, but the boys were still prepared. They boys were honestly paranoid, and the girls were living for it.

"Mar did you see them today! Oh my god, i'm dying!" Ember exclaimed. James came frantically running over and gripped her biceps, "Oh my god your dying, oh my god oh my god-" James was starting to hyperventilate, he was looking down, shaking his head. Ember grabbed the sides of his face with her hands, "Hey hey, James look at me, i'm fine. It was a metaphor, okay" James whipped his head to her smiling face. He looked at her sheepishly. She removed his hands from her arms. He reached to scratch the back of his neck backing away from her slowly, tripping over own feet. He scrambled up and speed walked the other way.

She turned to Marlene, giggling as she walked away. James turned around, watching her whisper to her friends. His heart leaped as he heard her talking about him. He went into a daydream about how they were together. Until he was brought out of his daydream by running into his friends.

"Prongs hey, where'd you go? You practically sprinted away from us." Peter asked him. Remus just rolled his eyes, "He obviously saw his one true love Padfoot." Sirius considered the idea, agreeing with Remus. "Well, are you going to tell us what happen-" Sirius was interrupted by James, "Oh yea so I heard her say she was dying, so I freaked out. She put her hands on my cheeks and reassured me she wasn't dying. Then I ran into you guys." "Mate, we saw the whole exchange, we know you are missing a few bits of your story." Sirius spoke up. "Like that fact you basically had a panic attack," Peter spoke. "Or the fact you tripped and embarrassed yourself," he heard Remus speak. James blushed of embarrassment. "Come on Prongs, you've done things that are waaayy more embarrassing, cheer up. Now we don't want to be late for Charms." Peter said, walking in front of them. Sirius followed Peter while Remus turned to James, "Prongs if I hear you missed any of your classes today, i'm going to tell Ember. And you know she values education" James crossed his arms, "Hey, you can't use the love of my life against me." Remus just walked in front of him turning to say, "I can, and I will." James rolled his eyes, running to catch up with his friends.

* * * *

The boys still hadn't figured out who pranked them, but the were less paranoid thinking that the person had stopped trying to get them back. They were wrong.

Ember and Marlene had decided to reveal themselves on the next prank, because it wasn't as fun anymore, seeing the boys all paranoid. But, despite it not being as fun, Peter was the most paranoid and it was hilarious.

*flashback*

Peter and the rest of the marauders were heading up to their dorm one day, calmy. Until Peter opened the door and he thought he saw a person on his bed, and he jumped back, hitting the rest of the marauders. He had jumped back so far, that he ended up sending the marauders tumbling down the stairs into the common room. James, Sirius, and Remus and landed in a heap. Two seconds later, Peter landed on top of all three of them. The common room was dying of laughter. Someone had a camera and took a picture of the scene.

Everyone paid for a copy of the picture, someone even bought an extra to pin on their door. Even the marauders ended up paying for one, after they were released by Madame Pomfrey of course. It was a great day for the Gryffindor Common Room.

*flash forward*

Ember chuckled at the memory. Every one of them had their paranoid moment.

James had screamed like a girl in the great hall after a first year tapped him on the shoulder. Sirius had tipped out on his chair, sprawled on the floor, after Madam Pince screamed at him. And Remus had almost knocked over a bookshelf after someone dropped their book on the floor by accident. Peter's incident still won, but they were all still funny. The best part was that every one of those things had happened because of Ember and Marlene.

Ember was in the boy's dorm. Marlene had sent the first year up to James one morning, because he looked extremely paranoid that day. Ember had warned Madam Pince about Sirius being in the Library. Lastly Ember and Marlene had both dropped their books near Remus Lupin, earning them a nasty glare from Madam Pince. But it was all totally worth it. Plus, Ember and Marlene had disappeared before any of the marauders could catch them.

* * * *

Ember and Marlene had split off a while back, heading to different classes. Marlene had Herbology, while Ember headed to charms. She was walking through a particularly empty corridor when a felt someone shove her against the wall.

She was met with some unfriendly faces. Avery, Mulciber, and Snape."Well well if it isn't little miss head girl. What are you doing out in such an isolated corridor?" she heard Mulciber say as he tightened his grip around her throat. She didn't want to waste whatever air she had left so she just shook her head. Avery feigned a pout, "Aww what's wrong, does little miss perfect not know how to use her words." She never let her face show her fear and instead kept a cool facade in place.

She knew she had ended up missing class, but she only wanted to get out of Mulciber's grasp. They figured she wouldn't talk, so they began to beat her up. Mulciber and Avery did all of the hard work, while Snape stood off to the side. She was kicked in the face for the 3rd time, this time she tasted blood. The copper-like substance spilling out of her mouth and nose. They didn't use anything too severe besides kick her and stupefy her, until the end.

The boys stood up, turning to their companion, "Your turn Severus, nothing too severe." He took out her arm, engraving the word, 'traitor' or her forearm. Then they put a message on her back, like a letter. 'dear pet potter, see what happens when you choose the wrong side.' The cut hurt like a bitch, her teeth gritted in the sheer pain it brought.

They sneered at her as the walked away. She was having difficulty getting up. She knew that she couldn't face the others, especially the marauders. She knew they would go and beat up the moon nature school for her, but she didn't need any attention. She very ungracefully stood up, deciding to head into the room of requirement, where the place didn't appear on their map.

She in extreme pain. Her mouth bloodied, along with her nose. Her core was sore, from them kicking it. Her lip had split in the process. She stumbled into the room of requirement, flopping onto a couch, deciding to take a nap before treating her wounds.