The Inquisition and the Discovery.

Chapter Five - You're a dick.

"Now, Linny. That isn't exactly an acceptable riddle answer. . ." Sirius Black teased, a dashing smile etched across his handsome face.

Whether it was because he indeed did want to shag Meilin or simply because he found her saucy antics amusing, his current company would never know.

In response to his sly remark, Meilin nearly screamed at his stupid audacity.
"You - you damned pillock!"

Her latest, most scathing little insult was followed by a wave of awkward silence.

". . .pillock? Who even says that anymore, mate?"
James inquired after a few moments of nearly drowning in the quiet atmosphere.

At this inquiry, Meilin's face became almost as red as a Weasley's hair.
"I - I do! And, as you made very clear earlier, Potter. We're not mates."
She huffed, hoping that the reminder would serve to be as hurtful for the Gryffindor boy as it had been for her, moments earlier.

In response, James' expression became that of mock injury. This in turn instilled a feeling of sympathy in his best mate, Sirius, who ruffled his dear friend's hair in what was probably meant to be a comforting manner rather than a playful one.

"Don't fret, Prongs. . ." Sirius began reassuringly. His gaze flickered from James to Meilin, a certain twinkle residing in his dark orbs once catching sight of the latter.

At the unusual nickname, Meilin immediately shot a glance at her two, flustered companions. Prongs, Padfoot, Mooney, Wormtail? In her opinion, the aliases were far too suspicious for her to overlook. . .even if they could end up being harmless little names between friends. Whilst discussing it with Portia and Tansy, they had reasoned that they were probably an allusion to nasty little inside jokes as most teen-aged boys were accustomed to making. But in Meilin couldn't shake the feeling that they were far more important than that. . .that there wasn't merely a story, but a secret behind them. A secret behind the Marauders. . .

"She's just a bit salty about people catching on to the fact that she often loves to use cock references in accompaniment to my name . . .~" Sirius suggested, narrowing his eyes at the pretty, raven haired girl. This action alone brought Meilin out of her reverie, as she brought her attention back to the matter at hand.

"And why do you think that is?" Meilin shot back almost immediately, glaring heatedly back at the suave gentleman.

Before he could so much as begin to part his lips to speak, she continued on.

"Because quite frankly darling, you're a dick!"

As James let out an empathetic wince at her words, Meilin felt satisfaction swell within her soul.

"Nice one, Linny!" Tansy praised, followed by a yop of approval on Portia's behalf.

Hell, even ickle Peter Pettigrew managed to snort at his mate's misfortune.

Trying his absolute best to shake off the insult, Sirius turned his attention to the two less audacious females, as if noticing them for the very first time.

"My, my, Linny. . .I always pegged you as a lone wolf sort of girl. . ." Sirius trailed off, a smirk the most prominent feature of his face at this particular moment.

Following the example of his fellow Marauder, James Potter nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, Chang. Since when did you acquire the admiration of Fuck and Damn it?" He questioned curiously.

At this, Meilin did her very best not to let out an exasperated sigh. Of course this would happen to her sooner or later, she reasoned. Of course people other than her cunning elder brother would notice the new addition of friends. Especially, if it was the supposed Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum of Ravenclaw - Tansy "Fuck" Fulke and Portia "Damn it" Dagget. Yes, the idea of Homophones definitely did not work well in their favor. . .

"My name does not sound remotely similar to damn it, Sirius!" Portia wailed defensively.

When Tansy seemed as if she was going to say the same, everyone shot her a bemused glance.

"Well. . .it's not spelled the same at least, you gits. . ." She muttered meekly though few failed to hear or care.

By the time it took for her lackeys to complain, Meilin had regained her cool composure.

"You might say that we've united under a common goal. . ." She replied finally.
Her sentence was vague enough to catch 3/4th of the Marauder's attention.

"And what exactly would that be, hm?" Sirius inquired in amusement.

Much like the secretive glances exchanged between those mischievous Gryffindor boys from time to time, Meilin glanced back at her two acquaintances as if having a conversation with their body language alone.

"Well. . ." Tansy began, feeling ever so smug at would she knew for certain her quirky friend was about to reveal.

"Originally, we didn't plan upon revealing this to you, dear Marauders, but now we've collectively decided that it's better if you know. . ." Meilin explained, her sentence trailing off as she glanced at Portia, urging her to pick up where she left off.

At the mention of their group name, the three boys immediately tensed, anticipating what was to come.

"To keep you on your toes, you know? For you see, the three of us. . .are going to figure you out."

Portia finished promptly.

The Ravenclaw females assumed that they had stunned the idiots into suspenseful silents when, from out of nowhere a new voice joined the party.

"Well, that was a bit melodramatic. . ."

The blunt statement, hailing from the lips of the fourth Marauder in all of his Prefect glory, quickly ruined the seriousness of the situation.

"Good one, Mooney!" James exclaimed before promptly bursting into obnoxious spouts of laughter with his fellow cohorts.