❁ BOTANY; r.lupin

13.

"The Halls"

ONCE AGAIN, THE boys had used their charming nature to convince Janice to help them with one of their mischievous plots. She didn't know why she still gave in, maybe a part of her enjoyed the thrill of sneaking out under the cover of the invisibility cloak. 

The plan was rarely ever simple; Peter was in charge of writing up a detailed, step-by-step plan of which James insisted they were to follow exactly. Unfortunately for the group, somebody had spilled miscellaneous food products all down the parchment and the handwriting was barely legible. "I'm not sure how that happened", Peter had squeaked out. 

Jan was ever so careful not to step on any toes as they creeped out of the portrait hole - in her opinion they were much too old to be squeezing all five of them under the cloak, she was beginning to think that this was some sort of rouse for Sirius to be pressed up against her. 

"Shit!"

"Moony, for merlin's sake," James suddenly pulled his foot up and hobbled dramatically.

The brown haired boy chuckled and stepped back, his hand on Janice's back to steady himself; she felt her cheeks heat up and she silently hoped that none of them would notice how flustered she had become. 

They tiptoed steadily along towards the owlery and as they grew nearer Sirius leant forward, his breath making the hairs on Janice's neck stand up, "Almost there, J. You ready?" She simply nodded in reply. 

A clang from the moving staircases made the gang pause in their tracks - the one time that they had forgot the map they needed it. Janice peered down warily at the floor, "Oh, sweet Godric."

James snapped his head around, "What?!", he whispered aggressively. 

"The bloody cloak doesn't cover our feet."

Sirius snapped into action, "Either we all get caught, or one of us distracts McGonagall."

Janice turned her head slowly and, sure enough, the head of gryffindor was making her way down the stairs at an alarming pace. 

"I'll do it."

Remus peered down at her, nobody was expecting any volunteers, "No, don't be daft. I'll tell her I was on prefect duty."

"And what will you do when she checks?", Jan sighed, "Its more believable that I would be out here for non-pranking reasons."

James chipped in, although he didn't particularly fancy taking one for the team himself, "And if that fails?"

"Dead dad card."

"Perfect", Sirius perked up, "Glad thats sorted, good luck J." He pulled the group behind a pillar and whipped Janice out from under the cloak. Remus sent her a sympathetic look and she replied with a small smile and a thumbs up. Whats the worst that could happen?

"Miss Price? Out for a stroll, are we?"

Janice rolled her eyes, took in a breath and spun around on her heel - her most charming smile plastered on her face. "Lovely night, isn't it Professor?"

McGonagall gave her a tight lipped smile, "What are you doing up past curfew?"

"It gets awfully stuffy in the dormitories, I fancied a breath of fresh air."

"Might I remind you that you have a window for a reason, Janice."

Jan opened her mouth and placed her hand over her heart, "Open it and risk giving poor Marlene pneumonia? I hope you don't mind me saying but I don't like what you're suggesting, Professor."

She raised her eyebrows sternly, "I do mind you saying. I'm sure you'll enjoy serving detention with me once a week for the remainder of the month."

Janice smiled and let out a chuckle in disbelief, those idiots truly did owe her one after this. 

"And I'm sure Mr Potter will have no trouble finding a new chaser for the term."

"But, Professor-"

"No buts, Miss Price. Off to bed."

Janice was just about ready to avada kedavra each and every one of those scheming bastards. 

When Jan arrived back in the common room the boys were waiting, ready to ambush her with questions:

"How did it go?"

"Are we in trouble?"

"What did you tell her?"

"Oh don't worry, lads. You four are in no trouble at all," Janice picked up a cushion off the sofa and began hitting them between words, "Even though it was your. Stupid. Fucking. Idea."

Remus grabbed her forearms and pulled her down onto the sofa with him. "Hey, what happened?", he said softly, wrapping his arms around her and brushing the hair out of her face.

"I'm banned from quidditch."

James suddenly sat forward, "For how long?"

"Rest of the term," she grunted.

James sighed in annoyance and slumped back into the couch. Sirius swung his arm around him, "Cheer up, Prongs. Rather it was our Jan taking the fall than us, eh?"

Jan looked up at Remus in a 'there is no way he's just said that' manner. He sighed, "I think what he meant to say was "Thank you, Janice. That was a very kind thing to do."."

They both turned to Sirius with expecting looks - he merely shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, I suppose so."

She rolled her eyes and stood up, throwing the cushion that she had clung onto into Remus' lap.

"J, don't go," Remus called out as she stormed off up the stairs to the girl's dorms. He shifted his gaze to Sirius, "You're a fucking idiot."

Janice was angrily wolfing down her breakfast when the post began to arrive. Not thinking much of it, she stabbed another piece of bacon onto her fork; the girls began to cheer and laugh. "What?!", she barked as she raised her head to see what all the fuss was about.

All of the owls were dyed various shades of the rainbow and as they flew into the Great Hall there was a flood of technicolour.

"We did it, J!"

She turned to them, "Aw, I'm so glad that you guys managed to finish your silly little prank while I was covering for you!" She grabbed a slice of buttered toast and made her way back to the common room. 

"What a bunch of stupid fucking morons," she muttered to herself. 

"I agree," a cool voice echoed in the hall.

She raised an eyebrow at the figure, "Making a habit of butting in, are we?"

He laughed, "Only when it's a girl as beautiful as you."

Janice was struck with an incredible, wicked, genius idea.