Mischief Managed | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 101

It was the first day after Christmas break and the students were back in the castle, enjoying the warmth inside the Great Hall on that cold snowy day.

     That year, James had wrote a letter to their parents, asking if he could stay the holiday at Hogwarts with his friends. He missed his sister and wasn't too thrilled that he was skipping the Potters' Christmas Ball that year, but their potion needed attending to.

     The four boys had spent most of their break in the abandoned bathroom, but despite how that sounds, it was the best Christmas of their lives; laughing and joking around, snowball fights in the day, exploring the castle at nights, coming up with new prank idea while having snacks in the kitchen way after midnight.

      "Only a few months to go," James whispered on the first morning of classes. The castle felt weird being so full again. "Any guesses what animals we would be?" 

     "I haven't been able to stop thinking about it," said Sirius. "A black panther would be pretty cool."

"I have a feeling mine's gonna be a lion," James said with an arrogant grin.

"How about you, Peter?" Remus asked him.

"I haven't given it much thought," Peter sais doubtfully. "Not even sure if it will work for me."

"Rubbish! Why wouldn't it?" James shrugged. "We've done every single step of the way right. This is happening. For all of us. We'll help you out. Don't worry."

      "Well, then... I guess some sorta bird wouldn't be so bad," said Peter, smiling nervously.

     "Atta boy!" James raised his goblet at him, laughing.

***

"You okay, Jen?" Lily whispered to her friend as they were sitting in History of Magic together, waiting for the Professor to arrive.

     It was near the end of spring, with their final exams only a week away.

     Jenna nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

     "You seem a little distracted today, that's all. Something wrong?"

Jenna looked away from her, blushing. "W-well..."

Lily giggled. "Who's the guy?"

Jenna laughed, nudging her teasingly. "How'd you know it's about a guy?"

"My love radar might not be as good as Alice, but I still know that look. Am I wrong?"

"You — no, you're not." Jenna laughed nervously. "It's... it's Remus," she whispered.

At the mention of the name, Lily's eyes widened and so did her smile. "Really? Tell me everything!"

"I don't know exactly why, but... I don't know... throughout the last year I kept noticing how kind Remus is, and how considerate and kind-hearted he always is. But I had never seen him like that. Until the night of Halloween."

"Oh, there's specific date for it, then."

"Yeah... I mean, I just saw him in a different light that night."

"How come?"

"He seemed different. He was just as kind and gentle as ever, but it felt different. And then he did this thing... he... just the way he looked at me. The way he put my hair behind my ear and told me how much he loved it and he told me I looked crazy and that he liked that about it too. It was funny and gentle all at the same time." Jenna chuckled lightly at the memory. "Ever since that night, I can't stop myself from thinking about it."