The Marauders: Year Five #Wattys2017

Mouse Ears

Mouse Ears

It was two days after the Moon and nearly October. It was hard to believe that the boys had already been at Hogwarts for nearly an entire month. Sirius thought that fifth year may just be shaping up to be the fastest one yet. He reckoned they would all be driven mad by the teachers dropping not-at-all subtle hints about the O.W.Ls that Spring. McGonagall's favorite new thing to do was to wave her wand and send Sirius's feet off the desk and remind him how important it was to score well on his tests. "This is not the time to be shirking about, Mr. Black. This year could very well determine what you do with the rest of your life! Do you plan on being a hoodlum into your adult years?"

She'd been quite angry when he replied, "It's my only ambition, Professor Minnie," and had promptly scheduled a counseling session with him to plan for his future.

"Tough luck, mate," James snickered as Sirius tore up the little parchment with the date and time upon it, shaking his head, "Guess you'll be having to actually take some notes in class."

Sirius snorted, "Please. That's what my Moony's for."

Remus looked up, "What am I for?"

"Taking notes."

"Oh?"

"And snogging," Sirius confirmed, and he put his arm around Remus.

Remus smirked, "Well. As long as I'm good for something, I suppose."

"Yeah, you could be utterly and completely useless," Sirius said, laughing, "Like Peter."

Peter looked up, "I get the snacks," he said.

"That's right," Sirius said, "You do. Blimey, I guess even when you're Peter you can still serve a purpose."

Peter's face burned red as the other boys laughed - but James made a point to put his arm about Peter's shoulders. "It's alright, Pete, he's only taking the mickey out of ya. You know you're an integral part of the Marauders. We'd be broken without ya, mate." He smiled warmly at the smaller, pudgier boy.

Peter smiled back at James - though he wasn't entirely sure Sirius hadn't meant exactly what he'd said.

"OH! The Mickey!" said Lily Evans, who'd been walking with them between classes, "That reminds me! I have presents for you from Disney World. I've been meaning to give them to you for ages."

Sirius had grinned, "I do like presents."

These presents left some room for debate, however. Lily remembered to bring them down to the common room that night and plopped four pairs of Mickey Mouse ears on each of the Marauder's heads as they sat about the fire, after Sirius had kicked the first years out of the way. Remus looked about at the other three with the big round mouse hats on their heads and laughed. "You lot look like absolute idiots," he said to Sirius and James. He smirked at Peter. "Looks a fair bit natural on you, Wormtail." He winked.

The boys all laughed.

"What the bloody hell am I to do with these, Evans?" Sirius asked.

"Wear them," she said.

Sirius guffawed, "When? With my mouse costume? Do people wear these everyday in Floreeka?"

Several of the first years snickered at Sirius getting the name of the state wrong.

"Florida," Lily corrected, "And --" she was about to say no, only at Disney World, when she realized it would be far more fun to mess with Sirius Black. "-- only the most fashionable ones wear them everyday. Models and such. Punk rockers. John Lennon has a pair. There's a picture of him wearing a Mickey Mouse T-sirt, very famous. You know if he had the shirt, he had the ears..." She shrugged, "But if you don't want to be like John Lennon, then I suppose I could just send them back..." she reached for the ears.