She Said What?

Chapter 56: I Wrap Up Operation MIUTJFFHB

A/N: A couple of people have brought up the fact that I haven't really let on a lot about the war against Voldemort in this story. While that's true – I've kept the Dark activity to a whisper thus far – I promise, there is going to be a larger focus on the war in upcoming chapters. I have not forgotten about that aspect of the story. I've just been biding my time until I brought that up in full, heavy force. So...trust me. It's coming. Much sooner than you think, actually. I just want to keep its entrance a surprise.

And, by the way, epic thanks to Niki for helping me come up with evil April Fool's Day pranks. My brain doesn't work like that, but hers does – which is awesome for me. Thanks, as ever, for knowing what to do when I don't, darling.

Otherwise, this chapter is really long and more fluff-tastic fun (say it with me: blegh) and you should enjoy it. Next chapter is a bit of filler, then we head into tragic waters. Yay!

Go on, then, and I hope this all works out for you.

April 1

9:05 AM
Status: Slightly nervous

Happy April Fool's Day!

That's the first thing Alice said to me this morning when she came to wake me up. It's the mantra that's been haunting my head for the time I've been awake thus far, as I got dressed, cautiously had breakfast, and came here to Charms.

Happy April Fool's Day.

Truly, I have every reason to be nervous.

Firstly, there is the tail-end of Operation MIUTJFFHB, which is the birthday party Sirius and I are planning for James. It's taking place tonight, thanks to Sirius's record-breaking planning skills: the Gryffindors have been informed and also sworn to secrecy, the food has been secretly retrieved and stored in the boy's dorm, all the drinks and fireworks and goodness-knows-what in place. The Marauders and I are set to go; but I, being me, am absolutely positive something will go wrong.

Sirius has been great – he took care of almost everything – and my only job is to lure James to the common room tonight, but I can't help it. I'm paranoid by experience.

Secondly, well...come on. It's April Fool's Day. This has been the Marauders' favorite holiday for as long as I've known them, even more than Christmas or Halloween. This is the day they wait for scrupulously every year, because it's the one day in the year where they can happily play all the pranks they want and nobody minds as much.

Over the years, we have had near catastrophes occur on April Fool's Day that were happily traced back to the Marauders and their unquenchable thirst for trouble.

I think I smell the need for a year-by-year history of the Marauders' Greatest April Fool's Day Hits to enhance the point I've been making, so...

The Marauders' Greatest April Fool's Day Hits
A list compiled by: Lily Evans

Year 1

First year was on the quieter side, seeing as the Marauders were not yet the tight-knit group they would soon be. Back then, it was just Sirius and James, and they decided to keep it on the simple: they hid under an Invisibility Cloak and ran around the corridors tripping people, hexing them, tugging on their robes or throwing Dungbombs at them. These early antics were very silly, very immature, and very unprofessional – but little did we know they would be further refined in future years.

Year 2

This year, Remus and Peter were fortunate enough to make the cut as Sirius and James' New Best Friends and played accomplice to their latest harebrained ideas. Being as House-oriented then as now, their pranks zoomed in a little more on the Slytherins this time. Somehow, someway, they managed to get their hands on the shampoo of the Slytherins in our year and switched with temporary hair-removal potion from Zonko's. Needless to say, there were many angry (and bald) Slytherins walking around all day and the Marauders were cheerfully awarded detention for their antics. They took it with honors.