Friends Dont Let Friends Prank Alone

[Zoe Willows]

Amy almost never took her Hogsmeade trips alone. She either met with friends there or went into the town with some fellow Hufflepuffs, but this trip Amy was starting alone. Her first plan was to head into the bookstore, Burgins&Borkes, and see if they had any new horror or mystery books, something to read in her spare time. They also offered a book trade program, where you could bring books you had just finished and were still gently used into the store, and trade them for other selections. So, bag on her shoulder, Amy tucked her head down and headed into the shop.

After some time of browsing, Amy left the shop with three slim books and two rather heftier ones. She wasn't one to read all the time, but she did enjoy it occasionally to put her mind somewhere else for awile. Next on her agenda was Honeydukes for some treats and sweets for the day and to take back with her. Hogsmeade trips were the time Amy let herself splurge a little for sweets that she didn't usually have, and maybe she would finally complete her Chocolate Frog card collection. The store was packed as usual, and it took Amy a bit longer than she expected to get through the line and out of the store, but soon she was on her way to meeting James and Gawain to spend most of the trip with them before meeting Lorna for some drinks in the Broomsticks.

Amy almost feared she was late to the spot which she was to meet her friends, in front of an old store that was abandoned now but had been called Speckers after the family that had owned it before they moved on. But as it seemed she was the first to arrive (maybe her friends had gotten caught in a crowd or line as well), Amy plopped down on the sidewalk with her back to the building and dug out one of her new books to start on as she waited for her friends to join her.


Tag: @james, Gawain Acantha

[Gawain Acantha]

Gawain had gone ahead on his own this morning, he was feeling solitary for one thing and since his owl had died last year he'd not been to the owlery much, so he wanted to go to the post office and send a letter to his parents. It'd been a while since he had written to them and he felt quite guilty about it. Once he was done he still had a bit of time before meeting James and Amy so he went off to Honeydukes (missing Amy by around three minutes) and stocked up on an assortment of treats that were probably really really not good for him. He did pick out a few dirt tasting Berty Botts every flavoured beans though, just to slip into someones food or drink later, maybe. After just missing Amy Gawain went to Scrivenshafts, he needed a new Quill and while he was there he spotted a couple of fantastic looking quills, one a deep gold and the other a vibrant pink. Grinning at the gift ideas Gawain picked them both up, along with the Peacock feather quill for himself and set off to find Amy and James.

Gawain saw Amy before she saw him, her nose in a book and slowed his walk. He shouldn't really, she'd be mad.

Gawain grinned.

Walking as softly as possible Gawain walked towards Amy and as he was a step or two away yelled 'BOO!'

[OOC: I'll let you determine if that worked Reta! Sorry my first post to you in FOREVER is a bit bland ><]

[Zoe Willows]

Amy hadn't been waiting long, but it was long enough for her to get a few pages into the beginning of the book, and she was already hooked. The sounds around her blended together into a background hum, the way it usually went when Amy started to really get into what she was reading. Someone famous could walk by and Amy wouldn't have even noticed. The thought of meeting her friends was momentarily forgotten, even though Amy didn't mean to.

The first chapter was a Prequel, setting up what Amy hoped would turn out to be an awesome story, as much as she had high hopes for it. Afterall, it was a Muggle horror mystery book, a rather popular one that she had heard alot about, and from what she read so far, Amy doubted she would be disappointed. She finished the Prequel, started the first chapter, and just as she turned the page and began mentally "rubbing her hands" together in excitement, there was a loud "BOO" to her left, that snapped her back to reality and made her jump slightly, letting out a small squeal and dropping the book to the ground between her bent knees.

"Gawain!" Amy wanted to be angry, to be upset at being startled like that, she really did, but in that moment, she had to let out a laugh. "Couldn't resist, could you?" Amy sighed softly then shook her head, retrieving the book from the ground and jumping up to her feet. She tucked the book into her bag then mock-glared at Gawain. "Yea yea." She said, then grinned and embraced Gawain in a hug. "Still nice to see you though. Even if you did give me a heart attack." Amy readjusted her bag strap on her shoulder, then pulled out a chocolate frog to snack on while they waited. "Want some?" She offered Gawain, before adding, "I figured James would be with you. Probably better for you he wasn't or you may not have scared me so easy." Which was probably a lie. James was a little prankster as well, and thankful for Amy that he hadn't been there or he might have teamed up to startle her from the other side. But then again, maybe not. 


OOC: no worries nice idea for a way to start, imo. made me giggle :3

[Gawain Acantha]

Gawain laughed allowed as Amy's reaction to his shout, pointedly not looking at the disapproving glances of some of the locals. He knew Amy didn't like things like this, but at the same time, she always seemed to end up smiling when he (or James) did. 'Of course not, you could've kept a hold of that book though!' Gawain was still smiling when she jumped up and hugged him, his eyes widened in surprised for a second before he relaxed and quickly hugged his friend back. No matter how often it happened Gawain always found himself surprised when people hugged him though he supposed not so much when Amy did.
'Amy, I excel at giving people heart attacks, it's what I do.' Gawain explained casually whilst mockingly buffing his nails on his cloak. Gawain took the offered bit of chocolate frog with a smile. Usually Gawain would have come in with James and he may well get a bit of a telling off for not waiting for him when he got here. 'I just had something to do so I came in ahead, you're right though, he totally cramps my style!' Gawain replied with a completely straight face, though now he was canning the crowd while Amy wasn't looking for James no reason he shouldn't give his cousin a helping hand if he wanted to shock Amy too!
'Is there anywhere else you wanna check out before we get the fireworks?' Gawain asked

[Deleted]

'We're not getting Fireworks.' James said, striding up towards Amy and his cousin, 'we're getting Transfiguration books. Right Amy?' he gave her a sly wink, remembering the conversation they had had not long ago.

'Besides, Hufflepuff are so totally going to destroy Ravenclaw I really wonder what the point of Gawain getting any celebratory fireworks would be. I mean... you could try and set them off in the Ravenclaw common room, but I doubt you'd find it.'

He laughed. Admittedly he was bound to get a telling off from at least one of them, possibly two, for being late. But he had had his reasons. Word was flying high at the moment that Tobias King was after revenge and James wasn't going to let that smarmy git get it, so he had made triple sure he was not followed, that no enchantments were on him or anything before he left the common room. Sure he may be being slightly paranoid but as his father always said 'paranoid men survive' and James planned to carrying surviving for as long as possible.

[Zoe Willows]

'Of course not, you could've kept a hold of that book though!'

Amy's eyes widened slightly, and she punched Gawain in the arm lightly before shaking her head and saying, "Oi, if soooomeone wasn't constantly trying to give me a heart attack, then maybe I wouldn't have lost it, now would I? Hmmm?" She stuck her tongue out at her friend then added, "Poor book. Just bought it and it's already covered in dirt and been dropped to the ground. I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to cherish books." She cocked an eyebrow at him, then giggled to let him know she was kidding.

'Is there anywhere else you wanna check out before we get the fireworks?'

Amy opened her mouth to say no, that she had done all her shopping before hand, but it was then that James joined them, and Amy smiled and greeted him with a hug as well. "Ah yea that's right. Transfiguration books, not fireworks. Wouldn't want to get in trouble with a certain Prefect, eh?" Amy grinned then elbowed James lightly. Not that she though Lorna would turn in any of the three if she caught them. Then again, it was her duty after all. Better the less she knew anyways, so she could claim ignorance.

"Celebratory fireworks?" Amy questioned, cocking an eyebrow slightly. "Well, we both know Hufflepuff is going to stomp Ravenclaw, that's true," She agreed in a teasing manner, "so maybe they are to celebrate our house win?" Amy smirked. She loved Quidditch, the thrill and teamwork of it, and of course she liked to win, who didn't? But as long as they had a clean competitive match, Amy would never be upset if her best friend's house won a game, or two. She wasn't that competitive about it, and of course would celebrate with him. But Amy always knew Gawain as a prankster, and kind of doubted that the fireworks were for a potential Quidditch victory ... or were they?


So Amy decided to ask, "We're being sarcastic right now, right?" She crossed her arms over her chest lightly and leaned against the building as she looked towards Gawain. "And here I thought you'd have some elaborate prank plan set up. Tsk tsk. Gawain is losing his knack." She clicked her tongue then smiled, waiting for Gawain or James to explain and wondering what they were really getting.

[Gawain Acantha]

Gawain grinned at Amy chuckling slightly. 'Well, you'd think after this long you'd be used to it! And I do cherish books thank you very much, if you're going to throw yours around that's just terrible!' Gawain's eyes were glittering with Merth when James showed up. Not taking the prime opportunity to follow up on Gawain's shock to Amy made him sigh to himself, but he couldn't suppose to have it happen every time he set things up.

'No, there are actually some advanced Transfiguration books that I'd like to get hold of...' Gawain trailed off at the end of his sentence realizing he hadn't told his friends what he'd been thinking for the last year now. Gawain laughed aloud 'Yeah, keep dreaming guys, I'll admit your chasers are pretty good and you have a not half bad keeper, but your seeker, he's a joke guys, butter fingers doesn't cover it!' Gawain gave James a mischievous wink. This was generally how he reacted to teasing directed at him, by teasing right back.

Gawain took a step back with a hand on his heart at Amy's last comment. 'Amy, you wound me, I always have a plan!' Gawain leaned a little closer to Amy and whispered. 'That's why I'm buying extra!' To be honest Gawain didn't have a solid plan other than basic mayhem sometime, but the fireworks were James' idea after all.

Looking at James Gawain remembered a conversation about how they'd explored almost everywhere in the last four years. Gawain highly doubted that, Hogwarts probably had new places to explore every year, he highly doubted that anything stayed the same for long there. 'Hey James, How have we ever explored the haunted house, I think we can all fit that in before the joke shop, don't you?' Gawain was trying very had not to grin as he made his suggestion.

[Zoe Willows]

'Well, you'd think after this long you'd be used to it! And I do cherish books thank you very much, if you're going to throw yours around that's just terrible!'

Amy rolled her eyes mockingly and thrust her hands on her hips. "Oi, well if I didn't have to constantly watch my back then I wouldn't have dropped my precious book." Of course Amy couldn't resist a Muggle Lord of the Rings reference in there when she stressed the words "my precious". "Well, excuuuuuse me for thinking you would resist just this once so I could enjoy my book a bit in peace before you two arrived but noooo." Amy mock sighed and clucked her tongue at Gawain before grinning.

'No, there are actually some advanced Transfiguration books that I'd like to get hold of...'

Amy cocked an eyebrow, and decided to ask, "For any specific reason or something you are looking into?" She was curious if it was something he planned to research on his own, or a plan, or just for knowledge, or maybe a career choice. Amy cared about her friends, especially James and Gawain, and wanted to know what was on their mind, especially if she could help in any way. Personally, Amy still wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life or as a career after Hogwarts, if she would pursue Quidditch still or go for the typical "dream job" of an Auror.

'Hey James, How have we never explored the haunted house, I think we can all fit that in before the joke shop, don't you?'

Amy gasped softly. It was true, she had never explored it with them or on her own. The thought had never crossed her mind. Not that she was scared exactly... well... much, but also felt no real need to do so, from the stories that were told of the place. But, hey, there was strength in numbers right, and Amy trusted these two of all to have her back and not abandon her, for them to stick together if something happened. If. So Amy shrugged and said, "Sure, Im up for it if James is."
  

[Deleted]

'Hey James, How have we ever explored the haunted house, I think we can all fit that in before the joke shop, don't you?'

James sniggered 'We haven't explored it. I know we're not generally allowed in there but...when did we ever pay attention to the rules?'

The Shrieking Shack terrified the people of Hogsmeade though James wasn't entirely sure why. Ghosts were just that, ghosts. Sure they could give you a scare but what harm could they actually do to you, they were dead. And having lived at Hogwarts for three years, James knew how scary ghosts could get, not very scary at all.

Grinning he turned to Gawain and Amy and said 'Come on then, what we waiting for?'

[Gawain Acantha]

Gawain cursed his slip silently to himself as he wondered what to say to Amy, he wasn't so sure his friends would approve of his little experiments, sure some of it was fine, but he was also trying to learn things that just weren't taught in the Hogwarts curriculum. 'Nothing in particular, just something I'm reading up on.' He supplied even doubting the sincerity in his own voice, he quickly moved on to talking about the Shack.

Gawain looked confused for a moment'...Rules? James, stop making up new words!' he replied, then leaning close to Amy he whispered, 'Though mr "I'm gunna be a Prefect" over here would know about rules, wouldn't he?' Gawains eyes were positively glowing with mischief at his teasing.
Gawain looked around for a moment, the haunted house had been silent for years from what he remembered, but the residents of Hogsmede still avoided the place like the plague.
Leading the way Gawain weaved through the streets leading James and Amy along, it wasn't long and they came to the Haunted House, known really as the Shrieking Shack, it was like they'd walked into another town, one step was the good cheerful Hogsmede, the next was barren, uncared for and oppressive. The shacks wood looked sound but still had that old, wet moldy look to it that some old wooden buildings had. Even the air seemed colder, if that was possible. 'You know, I've heard that not even the Ghosts go in here.' Gawain supplied casually, his breath misting in the air. 'You can chicken out if you want Amy, I wouldn't blame you!' Gawain wondered if his Jab at her pride would work and get her in...

[Zoe Willows]

'Nothing in particular, just something I'm reading up on.'

"Hmm." Amy cocked an eyebrow but didn't push further. If Gawain didn't want to tell her something, and didn't want to elaborate, the she wasn't one to push. Gawain knew he could come to Amy with anything and trust her, at least she hoped he knew that. The subject changed to the Shrieking Shack and Amy let it drop for now as well.

'...Rules? James, stop making up new words!'  Gawain replied, then leaning close to Amy he whispered, 'Though mr "I'm gunna be a Prefect" over here would know about rules, wouldn't he?

"To be fair, I don't think there are any rules saying not to enter the Shack. Just that most people are too scared to." Amy shrugged. What were ghosts anyways? Peeves was the most harmful one she had encountered, and he wasn't even that bad, as much as he thought he was. More like annoying. Amy snickered slightly at Gawain's whisper to her, but rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh come on, we want James to be a Prefect, remember? That way he can let us get away with everything." Amy joked, elbowing James lightly. 

Gawain started walking in the direction of the abandoned shack. Well, most of that end of the street was barren and abandoned even. It added to the creepy vibes of the place, and made Amy wonder why no one had bothered to restore the shack or even tear it down and rebuild or replenish the area. Maybe it was a "tourist" factor, come see the creepy abandoned shack. Not like people of the magical world aren't use to ghosts or anything, Amy thought sarcastically. But shrugged the thoughts away as she followed closely to her friends.

'You know, I've heard that not even the Ghosts go in here. You can chicken out if you want Amy, I wouldn't blame you!'

It was almost as if Gawain was reading her mind, and Amy snickered. "I bet Ghosts don't go in there simply because there is nothing in there. Or they go to scare people who happen to be there." Amy rolled her eyes slightly and shrugged, then grinned at Gawain. "Please, you can't scare me. I may not be a Gryffindor but I have the braveness of one." Amy snickered slightly at her own joke, holding her hand to her heart and standing tall, then said, "Come on." There was a fence around the place, and Amy pushed open the gate, rattling the lock and sending an echoing creeeeeeeeak into the air. "Ooooooh." Amy waggled her fingers at her friends and snickered before leading up to the front door. "Shall I go first, Gawain. You can chicken out if you want, I won't blame you." She mocked his words back to him then stuck her tongue out at him.

[Deleted]

"Oh come on, we want James to be a Prefect, remember? That way he can let us get away with everything."

James nodded sharply. That was the idea. Well, it would be the idea. He would be a terrible prefect. In all fairness he'd rather be Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. But Lorna was on the team as well and she was a little bit older than he was so if anyone got the spot it was much more likely to be her.

'Enough messing around. Let's get in there and cause some trouble for some ghosts.'

A memory came flooding back to James. His Great Grandfather had a house in the New Forest. A couple of years after he had died James had been taken there to help clear up a few things, he remembered bumping into several ghosts that were less than pleased to have a six year old boy running around their house and even less pleased to have him flying a toy broomstick along the corridors of the old mansion. Not scary, at least to a six year old.

Most of the windows of the shack were barred. The door itself seemed a little stiff but with a push James managed to get it open releasing a cloud of dust on them all. He grinned up at Gawain and Amy.

'Ready then?' he asked.