Little Riddle | James Potter

• five

Wanderlust consumed her;
foreign hearts
and exotic minds
compelled her.
She had a gypsy soul
and a vibrant hope
for the unknown

Sirius made himself comfortable straight away, resting on the long sofa with his feet propped on the table while the ever so prepared Remus Lupin went over their plans, making sure no one had forgotten anything and repeatedly practising the Bewitched Sleep incantation, while James and Peter took a walk around, inspecting the place and listening to Alexis' ramblings.

"--and this is where Avery laid unconscious. Oh, and that couch Sirius is sitting on? That's where they caught Malfoy and Narcissa fucking." All gazes shifted to Sirius, who jumped up immediately and landed on the ground with a thud.

"Shhh," Remus scolded him, earning a scowl in return.

"Oh, oh, oh," Alexis pulled on James' arm and dragged him to a window, where they had a clear underwater view of the lake. "That dark dot you see far away? That's the giant squid. And this," she dragged him to a different window, "is where a lot of merpeople hang out." James found her enthusiasm adorable, and although he had visited the green common room on previous occasions, he found the place a little more tolerable this time around.

"Alright," Remus clapped his hands once to get everyone's attention, "Let's get to work then."

The Marauders began to make their way to the boys' dormitory while Alexis watched them from afar. It was James who first noticed her absence, making him turn on his heels to face her with his signature smirk. "Are you going to just stand there or what?"

The Marauders had been given more detention than they could physically serve. News had travelled fast about the mayhem that occurred in the Slytherin dungeons when some 'radioactive' looking rats had invaded the place. Lucius Malfoy claimed he had a fatal disease after a rat bit him and demanded to be taken to St. Mungo's immediately (Madam Pomfrey disagreed). About thirty abnormally sized rats had taken up the entirety of their dorm when Mulciber had the stupidly great idea to open the door in an attempt to get them out. Now, the rats were wreaking havoc in the common room and other people's dorms. It took four teachers to get the situation under control.

No one knew how exactly the prank had been executed, but they knew damn well who the culprits were. Thankfully, the four Gryffindors took the entire blame and never mentioned Alexis' name in their confession. She was thankful for their secrecy but annoyed that they had to be late for the first Dueling Club session. Over fifty students had shown up and they weren't looking too impressed by her introduction, which was to be expected because she had rehearsed to teach the lesson and not to be a source of entertainment. But after five minutes of her being a stuttering mess James Potter barged in, immediately capturing everyone's attention as he strutted across the room ever so confidently, shouting orders and mild insults. Everyone seemed excited after that. Remus and Sirius had joined them soon after, and together the four got to mentoring on wand movements, teaching some tricky jinxes, and fixing any deformity without bothering Poppy.