I hide behind a corner, covering my mouth with my hand. I could feel the laughter bubbling up into my throat, but I had to hold it in, or else I'll get into serious trouble. The familiar bombing noise of my homemade wizard bombs nearly does it in for me, but James Potter, my best friend, claps a hand over my mouth, pressing my own hand harder against my face. I slide my hand away just to lick his hand, making him jump away from me in disgust. 

"Julia! What in the bloody world were you thinking?"

Looking both ways, I grab onto his arm and drag him away from the scene of the crime. He should know better than to speak to me after a prank, especially one of this monstrous size. Once we are a safe distance away from the people I pranked, I stop walking and say, "You should know to never do that to the Julia Peters."

James stalks forward slightly, and my heart rate immediately rises. There's a cross look on his gorgeous face, scaring me. Did I really upset him by licking his hand? Or is he joking with me? He wouldn't joke with me, though. I'm his bestest friend in the world. Even he's said that before! Since we are the bestest friends in the world, we have this agreement to be completely truthful with each other about everything, so that means no joking about much of anything.

He closes the distance between us, and I end up pressed against the wall. I stare up at him in surprise as he leans down. For a split second there, I think he's going to kiss me. Would I be upset? Of course not. The next thing he does, though, surprises me. 

James Potter licks my cheek. 

"What the actual --"

James bursts out laughing, backing away from me. My hands dig into the stone wall behind me as the anger courses through my body. Apparently, James can make me feel more than butterflies and giddiness. He bends over, his laughter ringing out into the hallway. Using one hand, I wipe my cheek, cringing when I feel his spit still on my face. 

"I hate you," I say to him. That just makes him laugh even harder, which makes me angrier. Yes, we don't joke around with each other, but we do prank each other. There's a difference. "How could you do that to me, you dummy? I was worried that you were mad at me!"

"You are so gullible, Juls," James says in between laughter. 

The next couple of minutes are filled with his laughter and my grumbling. Finally, James straightens up, wiping at his eyes with his button down shirt that unsurprisingly came untucked from his dress pants. I have to tear my eyes away from his midsection, so I turn my glare to his face. He has a silly grin tugging at his lips, and I really just want to slap it off. 

I open my mouth to say something when I'm cut off. "Julia!" More than one pair of arms wrap around me, and I let out a strangled scream. The people come up behind me, so I am not able to see who is hugging me. However, I know who it is. It's the rest of our friends catching up with the two of us. They were in on the prank, but they know that James and I are the masters at the trade.

"Sirius, Remus, let go of her," James says, though I could tell he isn't very upset at our friends interrupting our terse moment. I swear, these boys are going to be the death of me. If only I could find friends who were girls, but I never have. "Oh, hey, Peter."

"What's going on here?" Peter asks from beside me and the other two boys. He's glancing around the hallway with a frown on his slightly pudgy face. "Where's Julia? I thought you said she'd be with James, Sirius."

"I'm in here!" 

"Oh."

Sirius and Remus simultaneously squeeze me tighter before letting go of me. The two good looking boys step beside James and Peter, identical grins on their faces. No wonder they are the closest out of the rest of the boys. Most times, they share one braincell between the two of them. Whenever they are together, they are the worst people to be around because they have no common sense at all.

"I'm so glad we got away with that prank. It was brilliant, if I do say so myself," James says, a sly grin crossing his face. An adorable dimple pops out on his cheek, causing my heart to thud against my chest. "But I shouldn't take all the credit for what happened tonight." He faces me with that adorable face of his. "It was all Julia's idea. She was the one who lured Severus out of the Slytherin common room as well as planting the bomb near the Severus and the Slytherin common room."

I can feel the blush creeping across my face, starting at the tips of my ears and finishing on my cheeks. Hearing such high praises from him does something to me that I can't explain. "I can't take all the credit," I say, shaking my head. And then I flash them a grin. "Wait, I can take all the credit because I built the bomb!"

"So, that's who did it." Her steely voice stops me in my reverie, and I slowly spin around. Behind me and the Marauders are Professor McGonagall and the very Severus Snape that we pranked. He's slumped over, covered in sticky syrup. Hate is in his eyes and he's staring at the five of us, sending chills down my spine. "I thought it was James this time, but I'm glad you cleared it up for us, Miss Peters."

"It wasn't just her!" Peter says, speaking up for me. I give him a quick grin but then see Sirius and Remus glaring at his back. James has a blank look on his face, one that he has perfected over years of denying his pranks. "We all planned this, Professor. She doesn't need to be the only one who gets detention for something we all did together."

Professor McGonagall glares at us over her glasses, a disappointed look on her face. Even though I absolutely love pulling pranks, I hate getting the disappointed looks from my professors. They think that pulling pranks is a waste of time, when it's our lives. They don't understand that it's probably the only thing we're good at. They needn't be disappointed in something that makes us happy. 

"I wasn't going to just send Miss Peters to detention, Mr. Pettigrew." I hear the boys sigh behind me, and I deflate ever so slightly. "Thankfully, detention is just beginning. Follow me, young men and lady." She spins on her heel, walking down the hallway. 

"If you guys ever do that again," Severus says, taking one step forward, "I will find you all and end you." After his meaningless threat, he walks away. 

"I cannot believe you, Peter!" Sirius says as I follow McGonagall down the hallway. She's leading us off toward her classroom, but the boys are lagging behind us. "I was going to let Juls take the fall for this, but you had to open your big mouth --"

"Thanks, Sirius," I say, drily. I turn around and start walking backward, keeping my gaze on the one boy. "I appreciate you helping me out during needy times." He glares at me, his longer dark hair brushing against his collar. My eyes flick over to Remus and I say, "What were you going to do? Follow your boyfriend's lead?"

"Sirius is not my boyfriend!"

"That's the only thing you can focus on?" I cock my head to the side. "Thanks a lot, Remus." And then my gaze fall onto James. He doesn't meet my eyes, though. Instead, he's looking over my head at McGonagall. "James, what do you have to say for yourself? You were silent the whole time, so what were you thinking about?"

His eyes move downward, locking onto mine. A smirk is playing on his lips, and then I crash right into something. McGonagall makes a noise, which means that I ran right into her. Great. I'll get a longer detention because of it. 

"I was going to say that you guys cannot talk during detention," she says as I turn around, "but I don't really care anymore." She has a mischievous look in her eyes as she looks at me. "I do believe that Miss Peters has a good point about you three not sticking up for her." She motions for us to walk into her classroom, and when we do, I notice that she's still outside. "Have fun, young men." McGonagall winks at me. "You get them, Julia."

She softly shuts the door and then I turn toward the boys. Peter has a hopeful look on his face, so I say, "You're fine, Peter. I'm not going to yell at you."

His shoulders slump as he sits down in one of the seats in the classroom. "Thank goodness. The last time I was at the end of your anger was one of the scariest days of my life."

The three other boys are still standing. I head over to Sirius first, stepping right in front of him. I may be shorter than him by a few inches, but my anger makes up for it. I poke his chest. "You, sir, are rude. Do you happen to remember the time that we pulled a prank of Lily Evans?" His eyes widen and the grin falls off of his face. "I took the blame for you, and this is how you repay me, your fellow pranker? I'm hurt."

Sirius places his hands on my shoulders, holding me in place. "Julia, I'm so sorry. I just didn't want to go to detention again!"

I roll my eyes, shaking off his hands. "I forgive you," I say, laughing. His scared look is replaced by relief. "Don't let it happen next time, though."

Sirius heads to sit down, so I move onto Remus. The little guy has his head hanging, which gives me such glee. I'm so happy that I can scare these boys. We've been friends since Year One, so they should know that I would never intentionally harm them, but they are still afraid of me. 

"I've kept your secret for years now, Remus Lupin," I whisper, narrowing my eyes. "You know I'd never tell anyone about it, but I could let you stay in the Shrieking Shack for days without clothes and food after your transformation."

His head whips up. Remus looks terrified of staying in the shack without his things. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would."

"Fine, I'm sorry for not sticking up for you." He shakes his head. "Just -- please don't leave me alone in there without my precious food and clothes."

"Got it." I watch as he moves toward Peter and Sirius, and then move in front of my last target. His pretty face has a small smile on it, which makes me actually angry. He looks so smug that I was caught, so I punch his shoulder. 

"Hey! What was that for?"

I punch him again, saying, "You are the worst out of the four of you." His smile slips off his face quickly, but then he replaces it with a huge grin. I'm not even sure if I saw his smile leave or not, it was that fast. "You just stood there, James. I thought we were better friends than that."

James takes a step closer to me, brushing my stray curls from my face. My breath catches in my throat at the gentle touch, and I can hear the other boys take in a breath as well. James' lips tug up into a smile as he says, "Maybe we aren't as close as you thought."

"Yeah?" My heart drops at his words. Of course we aren't as close as what I thought. He probably doesn't like me the way I like him. "I guess I shouldn't be in this group, then."

"You didn't let me finish." James grabs onto my arms before I can walk away. His grip is iron tight, but I don't care at the moment. I'm confused and happy and angry. "I was thinking we can be much closer than friends." 

And then James Potter kisses me. 

I immediately react to his touch, bringing my hands up to his hair. His disheveled locks are silky to the touch, just like I imagined they would be. A fuzzy feeling spreads through my body, blocking out all the noise and light. The only thing I can feel is his hands running over my hands and his lips against mine. Oh, and my heart thudding against my chest. I can't forget that. 

I'm the first to break away from this kiss, and I collapse into his arms. Everything comes rushing back to me, and the first thing I hear are Peter, Remus, and Sirius yelling. I bury my head in James' chest, a blush creeping across my face. 

"What just happened?" Remus asks loudly. "Did I just see my two best friends kiss each other?"

"Yeah," Sirius says, sounding dumbfounded. Then I hear shuffling and more shouts. "Remus, come here!"

"Never!"

"I'm sorry for doing that in front of everyone," James whispers, and I glance up at him. He has a small blush decorating his cheeks, but he has a huge grin on his face. "But I couldn't stop myself."

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," I whisper back, giggling nervously. "I've been in love with you for a while, James."

"Honestly? Same here."

We both start laughing, holding onto each other tightly. The other boys are arguing behind us, but it sounds like music to my ears. These boys are my life, and nothing is going to tear us apart. It's a bonus of having one of them as a boyfriend, the very James Potter that I've been crushing on for years. This has been a dream of mine for years, and now it finally has come true. I can die happily now, thanks to James.