We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands

[James Potter]

James awoke earlier than anyone else in his dorm, which consisted of him, Remus, Sirius, and Peter. The thoughts of helping Remus get his sister back taunted his sleep. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. It dawned on him. They could still save her. After all, he had an invisibility cloak! James jumped up out of bed and quickly dressed. He ran over to Remus' bed shaking him awake. "Remus," he said. "Wake up!" James ran over to Sirius' bed, then over to Peter's. "Sirius, Peter, wake up!"

He groaned because none of the boys moved. James then grinned, grabbing his wand. He made the room sound proof and then he walked over to his trunk, pulling out his cloak, and then one of the items he bought in Zonko's. All he had to do was set the thing off and a loud popping noise would start, hence why James made the room sound proof. He leaned down and set the thing off, taking a few steps back and getting ready to enjoy the boys waking up.

[Remus Lupin]

Remus hadn't been able to sleep for most of the night, and had only finally drifted off to sleep around dawn. Most of the night, he had been thinking about Kris, worrying about her and hoping she was OK. He couldn't help but feel like he had failed her somehow. He couldn't blame Sirius, since it had just been a matter of bad timing. So instead, he blamed himself, even though he'd had no way of knowing what could have happened to her.

Suddenly, he felt someone shaking him, but he was too tired to move. Maybe they would go away... he thought. But then he heard a loud popping noise, as if someone had just lit fireworks in their room.

POP POP POP-POP-POP

"What the...?" he moaned, sitting up sleepily. "James, what are you doing? Some of us are trying to sleep!"

[James Potter]

James started to double over with laughter as the boys started to wake up with laughter. Now, he knew just the trick to wake them up. Finally the popping noise subsided. "Wake up," James practically yelled. "You boys sure do sleep heavily. I tried shaking you awake but none of you moved! You need to rise and shine my sunshines for I have a plan! You just have to get up and get dressed, unless you want to go in your pajamas that is. We're going for a little trip, so the sooner all of you get up and dressed, the quicker we can go!"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus squinted over at James, rubbing his eyes in confusion. "James, you have way too much energy this morning... what are you even talking about? Where are we going? And why does it have to be now?"

[James Potter]

"What do you mean what am I talking about," questioned James. "I have a plan. It has to be now because no one else is really up in the castle! If we don't go now we probably won't have a good chance to get out! Now come on and don't look at me like that. I couldn't really sleep last night and I ended up thinking and I figured out this plan how we can get out of the castle. I can't just let one of my best friend's sister just sit in some place scared out of her wits while he just sits in his room moping about. So hurry up, all three of you, let's go! We're going to turn invisible but make sure you're dressed and have your wands!"

[Remus Lupin]

A slow smile spread across Remus's face. He was suddenly really glad for James and his schemes. He rubbed his eyes once more, then kicked off the blankets. "James, you're the best!" he said. "Come on, then tell us the plan already!"

[Sirius Black]

Sirius sat up slowly after hearing the loud popping noise. He had also had trouble sleeping the night before, but in his case it was his guilty conscience that kept him up. He was secretly worried that his family was starting to rub off on him, and that maybe the sorting hat had been wrong when it placed him in Gryffindor. What kind of person cheated on a girlfriend, then lied to his best friends about it?

He'd lain awake most of the night, thinking these things and flashing back to the horrible moment when he'd walked out to find Kris gone. Finally, exhaustion had taken over and he fell into a fitful sleep. When James tried to shake him awake, he woke up but didn't move. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to face the day.

Now, though, James was saying something about a plan, and he perked up at the thought. "Yeah, James, let's hear your great idea," he said, his voice still husky from sleep.

[James Potter]

"Since obviously the majority of the castle is still asleep, we're going to sneak out. How are we going to sneak out I know you're wondering," said James walking over to his bed. He picked up his cloak. "By my invisibility cloak of course." A grin spread across his face. "We can fit this over all of us if we're careful and then we can just slip out of the school and straight to Knockturn Alley. We can even use this to sneak into Knockturn Alley to avoid any weirdos down there, then find out where the crazy lady has Kris. Once we have that information, we can just slip into the room, grab Kris, make her invisible, and get out of there. I can't promise it'll be easy, but we can do it. We just have to work together to make sure we do it right."

[Sirius Black]

Sirius broke into a grin. "That's perfect!" he said. "The Invisibility Cloak.... why didn't I think of that?" He shook himself awake and slid out of bed. "But here's an idea. Why don't we take the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley? We can walk to Hogsmeade under the cloak, take it off, then summon the Knight Bus. Then we can hide behind a building or something, put on the cloak, and go to Knockturn Alley. That way it won't take us so long to get there."

[James Potter]

"Or we could just sneak over to the secret passage way behind the witch to get to Hogsmeade. It'll be quicker to get there that way. Remember that one we happened to stumble across while we were looking around the castle Sirius? We can take that one. End up in Hogsmeade, take the Knight Bus and get Kris," said James. "Alright. If you want to go, you better get dressed! Don't forget your wands! Who knows if we may need them?"

[Sirius Black]

"Oh, right!" Sirius said. "I can't believe I forgot about that secret passageway! Yeah, that'll be perfect! It brings us out right into Honeydukes. We wouldn't even have to wear the cloak very long that way. And it's better not to risk getting caught leaving the school. Only thing is, it will be a little hard to come out of the passageway in Honeydukes, with four of us. But we'll manage."

He began to get dressed quickly. "Come on, Peter. You coming, or what?"

[Peter Pettigrew]

Peter sat up in his bed slowly as he heard the popping noise and rubbed his eyes sleepily. He decided to keep quiet again as the boys talked amongst themselves, listening to every word they said. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," said Peter throwing the covers off of him. Peter began to dress quickly and stuffed his wand in his pocket. He was going to finally have a chance to show them that he could fit in with them. "Alright I'm ready."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus got dressed hurriedly as well. He didn't say much, but he was grateful to James and Sirius for coming up with a plan to try and save Kris. He couldn't stop thinking about how miserable and scared she must be, and he wanted to go to her as soon as possible. Once he was dressed, he came to stand with the other three boys.

"All right, I'm ready," he said. "Let's go!"

[James Potter]

James looked at Remus, then to Sirius and Peter. "Alright then. Let's see how close we have to stand with this over us. We have to make sure that our feet stay close together so that they won't show. Luckily we're all about the same height so it's not going to be that hard to do it." James draped the invisibility cloak over then. "Just make sure that you're quiet. No sneezing, no coughing, no yawning, and breath quietly. And no one stop until we all stop. Alright now, let's go." James started to lead the boys out of the room under the cloak.

Once to the witch, James tapped on it and gave the password. He waited patiently as it moved and then moved inside. Waiting until the witch moved back into her place, James tugged the cloak off them. "Just follow, and light your wands," he whispered turning back towards them. "Lumos," he said quietly with the end of his wand lighting.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius followed close behind James, his mind focused on what they were doing. He couldn't let himself get distracted from their mission. At this point, it didn't matter why it had happened or whose fault it was. All that matter was rescuing Kris. And he was determined to find her, no matter what it took. He had to make this right.

"Lumos," he said as James lit his wand. "So far, so good, guys. It's kind of a long tunnel, but we'll get there soon enough."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus lit his wand as well and followed closely behind James and Sirius. He wondered what would happen when they actually found Kris, and if they'd be able to get her away from the crazy woman. Since the woman was a squib, it might be possible for them to use the little bit of magic they had against her. He just hoped there wouldn't be a fight.

[James Potter]

"It's just a little bit further," said James walking further into the passageway. The walls were slightly damp but it didn't bother him at all. Stopping, James glanced back at Remus and the others and pointed upwards. "Alright, here we are. Now, we'll just slip up through the floor and be in the back room. It's still the weekend, so students are still allowed to come here, so it doesn't really matter even if it is early in the morning. Just act natural and we'll get out of here and head towards the direction of the Shrieking Shack. That's where we'll summon the Knight Bus." He took a deep breath and gently moved the trap door, pushing himself upwards.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius followed behind James and waited while he pushed the trap door open. He glanced back to make sure that Remus and Peter were both still there, and was relieved to see that everyone was present. He turned back to James. "Do you need any help with that?" he whispered as quietly as he could.

[James Potter]

James tried pushing the door again, but failed to open it. "If you don't mind," replied James. "I think there's a crate or something on corner of the door and I can't get it myself." He moved over a little to allow Sirius room to help him.

[Sirius Black]

"Yeah, no problem," Sirius said. He walked over and climbed up the little stairs, standing next to James. "OK," he whispered as he put his hands on the door. "On the count of three, push as hard as you can. Ready?" He took a deep breath in preparation. "One... two.... three.... push!" He pushed as hard as he could, and he could hear James straining next to him. Slowly, he could feel the trap door beginning to give way. Then abruptly, it flew open with a loud crash. "So much for being sneaky," he whispered. "Come on, let's get out of here fast." He walked up the rest of the stairs and into the basement, then waited for the others to do the same.