The Marauders Year Five Part 2 #Wattys2017

Marauders Extraordinaire

Marauders Extraordinaire

Sirius pulled Lily up through the trapdoor and into the Shrieking Shack and as he let her go and she got to her feet, he spun about the living room, waving his arms, "Welcome, one and all, to this fine production of Full Moon Night by Sirius Orion Black, starring The Marauders of Hogwarts and Lily Kimblery Evans!"

"My middle name is Jane, actually," Lily said.

This didn't slow Sirius down for even a minute. He was already springing toward the door excitedly, his boots clopping on the dusty old floor, "Prepare yourselves for the rush of the wind between your furs - or your hair, as the case is, Evans, unless you're holding out on us about your abilities... Prepare for the smell of the bracken and the leaves and the stars overhead, shining, calling out -- CARPE DIEM, mother fuckers, SEIZE THE DAY!"

"I don't think the stars are saying that," Peter said.

"Yes, the stars would say CARPE NOCTIS, mother fuckers, SEIZE THE NIGHT!" James said, smirking as Peter and Lily both shook their heads.

"WE SHALL CARPE THIS NOCTIS," Sirius shouted, simply accepting what James had said without any comment or argument, "We shall carpe the fuck out of this noctis!"

Lily asked, "So what exactly is it that we're going to do?"

"Lily Veronica Evans!" Sirius cried, "Asking questions is strictly prohibited."

"It's Jane," she corrected him again. "And why can't I ask questions?"

"That's a question, Evans."

"Honestly!" She shook her head.

"THIS NIGHT WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS ONE OF THE MOST EPIC ADVENTURES OF MARAUDER HISTORY!" Sirius shouted, and he stomped his feet to make a great drumming against the floorboards that kicked up a huge amount of dust, causing Peter to sneeze several times in a row. James waved his palm before him and Lily Evans to knock the dust out of the air. "Gents... Lady... Let us begin." He turned and opened the front door with a flourish.

They all poured out into the front yard, the moon shining brightly across the grounds. Sirius pulled tight the front door of the shack and locked it with a wave of his wand. He bound over the steps to where the other three were gathered, thinking fleetingly of Remus, wondering whether he was alright. His stomach squirmed because Remus should've been there... but it was Remus's own fault he wasn't... Sirius's eyes swept the yard for dementors because at the thought of Remus not being there, he'd heard his voice telling him to go and be kissed by a dementor echoing about in there and his fists balled and he had to work real hard to shove the thought out of himself.

He shoved it out by getting even louder and more hyperactive.

"ALRIGHT!" he cried, "We all know where we are going?"

The other two Marauders nodded - Lily shook her head no.

"Excellent." Sirius said, "In that case...
The night is young and so are we,
It's time to have some fun -
Out on the grounds of Hogwarts, the school we all attend...
Run Marauders over bracken under thickest tree,
The moon shines down upon us instead of the sun -
That moon, our pale blue adventure-friend!
Living life without a care
'Tis time to run and leap and play...
For doing nothing - nothing - that we should...
Pledging ourselves, Marauders extraordinaire,
We'll do this night the wrongest right way: For we solemnly swear that we are up to no good."

"Did you just make that up?" Lily asked, blinking at him.

Sirius's eyes twinkled, and he turned to Peter, who was clapping excitedly, and James, who knew how Sirius had agonized over writing that poem for some time during History of Magic earlier in the week, rather than even trying to pay attention to Binns. (Sirius had turned to James and pointed to the second staza and asked for a word that rhymed with care that sounded exciting.)