The Marauders: Year Two | #Wattys2016

Exploring the Tunnel

Exploring the Tunnel

Halloween night came at Hogwarts and the halls were a frenzy of excitement, hardly any of the students were able to concentrate on lessons in classes and most of the teachers had prepared fun activities for them to do in order to combat the holiday distraction. In Transfiguration, for example, Professor McGonagall had them transfigure odds and ends into bats. Lily had an impressive collection of bats fluttering about over her head before long, rivaled only by Remus's equally large cloud of them. James and Sirius had a few circling their desks, but poor Peter had only a couple of half-shapen things - including a small ball with black wings. James snatched that out of the air, "See?" he said, "I should've been Seeker - I've just caught Peter's assignment!"

The bats from all the day's Transfiguration classes were collected and freed in the Great Hall - including Peter's half-object-half-bat monstrosities - and by the end of the day, there were hundreds of student-made bats flying about among the floating candles and Jack-o-Lanterns that filled the ceilings over the four house tables as the students and faculty sat down to a feast. Stuffed baked pumpkins and chops as big as their heads and gobs of gravy and carrots with butterscotch pasties for dessert! It was rich and delicious.

"Oiiii, sakes a live," Sirius groaned when he shoved the last bite of his third pastie into his cheeks, "You're going to have to bring me to St. Mungo's if I eat even one more bite. I think I've distended my stomach with all the food I've shoved in."

"Me too," James nodded, holding his belly.

Peter, who had eaten twice the amount either of them had, wrapped several pasties in his napkin and pushed the bulging package into the pocket of his robes for later.

Lily was sitting on the bench next to Remus, though she was facing away from him as she chatted with the third year Marlene McKinnon and first year Ali Prewitt. Remus had spent a good deal of the meal focused on how close to him Lily was again, and was still eating his actual dinner long after the other three boys had moved onto desserts. He took a pasty just as all the food disappeared from the table and started to nibble on it as Dumbledore stood up at the faculty table to wish them all a Happy Halloween and dismiss them off to bed.

The great crowd slowly moved out of the hall and into the corridors. They were on the stairs when James turned 'round to the others and said, "Are you lot even tired? I'm not."

Sirius grinned, "What are you suggesting, Potter?"

"We should go to the common room," Remus replied, "We have homework to do. Especially you," he added, pointing at James, who had been shirking off his homework in lieu of practicing Quidditch in his free time.

"Blimey, homework on a holiday, you are insane!" James exclaimed. "You don't have to come, then, if you don't want to."

"Come where?"

James didn't answer. Instead, he quickly slipped away from the crowd of students making their way toward Gryffindor Tower, disappearing down a dark corridor. Sirius grinned, "Bye." He rushed off after James.

Remus and Peter had come to a stop, students streamed around them, a couple elbowed them as they shoved by, telling them to move along. They heard Bilius Weasley at the top of the stairs directing traffic and shouting instructions to various students as they passed. Remus sighed, "Bloody hell," he muttered, "We really should be doing homework..." He darted after the other two into the dark, leaving Peter alone in the crowd for a moment before he scrambled after them, squealing.

"Wait! Wait up!"

"Shut up Peter," James hissed, suddenly catching Peter 'round the middle and covering his mouth with his palm, "Do you want to get us caught then?" Peter shook his head and James dropped his hand from his mouth, "Then shut up."