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chapter twenty-two,
jack-o'-lantern boy
The next morning, Beatrice and the boys made a point of being in the Great Hall right when breakfast began at seven o'clock, so that absolutely nothing could go wrong with their prank on Snape. Even after Andromeda had told her not to get too hung up on a bit of light-hearted fun, Beatrice couldn't stop bouncing her right leg on the floor. After a bit of deliberation she had decided, to the dismay of the boys, that she would rather just watch the practical joke happen than play an active role. It made her just too uncomfortable.
"Alright, fellas," Sirius whispered once an appropriate amount of students were gathered for breakfast. "Everything's ready. When I give the signal, go!"
Remus rolled his eyes, "Yeah, we know Sirius. We've been over it a hundred times."
"Right, of course," Sirius said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "You sure you want to sit this one out, Beatrice?"
Beatrice nodded, feeling rather mature. "I'm sure."
"Alright then. Boys..." Sirius paused for a moment before yelling "CACAW!" rather loudly, the signal James had decided upon after some muggle movie he had watched during the summer. With those words, the boys scattered across the Great Hall, and Mary Macdonald shot Beatrice an alarmed look. The young witch just shrugged, and tried to look as innocent as possible.
Peter and James rushed over to the front of the Great Hall, where they made a big deal of having some sort of attention-grabbing fight. It started off subtle, but soon enough they had caught the eyes of most students in Beatrice's year, and even a couple of older kids. Professor Flitwick stood up on his seat and peered over the teacher's table, looking uncertain on whether or not he should intervene. Beatrice noticed with a certain satisfaction that Snape was completely enwrapped in the fake fight, a pleased expression on his face — he was clearly relishing in the two friends' turmoil.
"You shouldn't have kissed her, Pete! You knew I fancied her!" James cried out.
Peter, looking rather pleased with the role he had been cast, just rolled his eyes in a wildly exaggerated manner. "You don't own her, Potter."
Beatrice stifled a laugh when she saw several students' glancing over at where the second-year Gryffindor girls were sitting, clearly trying to sus out who the object of the boys' affection was. Marlene McKinnon snorted as her eyes trailed away from James and Peter and onto Sirius and Remus who were creeping over to the Slytherin table — she seemed to have realized what they were up to.
