"Bugger!" James Potter cursed. "Bugger!"
"What is it?" Peter asked timidly, almost as if he was going to be in trouble for whatever had gone wrong.
"The ink has gone and disappeared again," James muttered. He set down his quill, found the lid to the ink jar he had been working with, and screwed it on tightly.
Sirius picked the jar up and eyed it suspiciously. "I love the idea of invisible ink, but if it keeps disappearing on us rather than other people, it's no good." He looked in the jar. The ink had become so invisible that by all accounts, there did not appear to even be a liquid let alone black ink in the jar. He began tapping the jar and shaking it alternately. There was no effect.
"This ink is just going to have to learn who the bosses are," James grumbled. He drew his wand and grabbed the jar from Sirius.
"James, no!" Remus barked from the portrait hole.
James, Sirius, and Peter turned and saw Remus entering the common room along with several members of the Charms study group that met weekly.
"There you are," Sirius called. "This ink has vanished again."
Remus was soon at the table and picking up the ink bottle. "I've told you three constantly, you've just got to know the key. The ink is not that complicated." Remus then launched into a rather complicated explanation and demonstration of how to make the ink visible and how to avoid making it invisible, but he had already lost James's attention. Lily Evans had arrived in the common room at the same time Remus had.
"I don't know how you ever get anything done," Remus sighed, returning the bottle of now visible ink to the table James had been working on. "She's as oblivious to you now as she ever has been."
"What's that she's carrying?" James asked to no one in particular.
"Some letter," Sirius answered as he squinted at Lily and her friends who were standing nearby. She was indeed holding a piece of parchment and showing it to her friends. Whatever it was, it had certainly provided something for Lily and her friends to talk about.
"Where?" Peter asked, leaning forward and craning his neck. His elbow brushed the jar of ink off the table. It fell and shattered, spreading ink all over James's books and notes.
"Peter!" Sirius barked.
James and Remus spun and groaned-Remus mourning the loss of the valuable ink and James for his possessions. Several of the other Gryffindors were quietly snickering.
"I'm sorry guys," Peter mumbled, scrambling to do what he could to clean up the mess.
"We can just charm the ink to be invisible, can't we?" Sirius said. "Problem solved."
Remus sat down in a chair. "That's only a temporary fix. You'll have to do some sourgifying."
James picked up his History of Magic textbook. "Scourgify this? I don't think it's worth the effort."
They all laughed raucously, and Sirius picked up another one of James's ruined possessions. It was a piece of parchment. "Hey, looks like you've utterly destroyed that invitation from Ashworth."
There was more raucous laughter, but this time, it was interrupted by a female voice. "Professor Ashworth invited you ?"
The Marauders glanced up to find Lily Evans standing next to the table, staring at the ink-soaked invitation.
"Yeah," James admitted. "He invited Sirius, Remus, Peter and me to some dinner he's having later this week."
Lily's face was the picture of pure consternation. "Why would Professor Ashworth invite you?"
"Well, I don't know," James said slowly. Did it mean something? Had Professor Ashworth paid him a compliment?
"That's easy to explain," Sirius said. "I got invited because my cousin Bellatrix is in charge of the invitations."
Lily spun to face Sirius. "What do you mean? How do you know that?"
"Well duh," Sirius said, "the invitation was in her handwriting."
"No it wasn't," Lily said. She grabbed the ruined invitation from Sirius and promptly cast a spell to clean it. She gestured to the signature. "That is definitely Professor Ashworth's signature!"
"Yeah, it is," Sirius said, "but in whose writing is the rest of the letter? Even the salutation with the names?"
Lily looked at it carefully and after a few moments said, "Not Professor Ashworth's."
"Exactly," Sirius said triumphantly. "It's Bellatrix's handwriting. I should know; I'm her cousin."
The skin near Lily's ears began to go pale and her green eyes were blazing. Sirius was beginning to regret his telling Lily about the handwriting even though he didn't quite understand what about it had irritated her so severely. After a moment of silence during which Peter quailed and Remus feigned indifference while James and Sirius stared at Lily inquiringly, she finally spoke. "Well? Are you going to the dinner?"
"I don't know," Sirius said, stifling a yawn. "I'm not fond of Bellatrix and as for Ashworth… it's not like he's that great of a professor."
"He's a fine professor!" Lily retorted.
James was quick to jump in and mollify Lily, though he wasn't about to turn on Sirius. "He's a decent bloke and all that, don't get us wrong, but he isn't that brilliant with brewing potions."
"Well… whatever," Lily mumbled. "I'm going to his dinner, and I think he's a good professor."
"We're going too," James announced.
Sirius rolled his eyes and Remus snickered quietly.
"I'm sure it will be a wonderful experience," James added.
"It will be," Lily said curtly, smart enough to realize that James's willingness to respond to Ashworth's invitation had nothing to do with the professor. She walked away stiffly and rejoined her friends.
The Marauders sat back in their seats, James absently humming to himself.
"I guess we know what was in that letter she was carrying around," Peter observed.
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