"Harry," A voice whispered in his ear, the person's breath tickling his earlobes. Harry gave an inarticulate grunt as he kept his eyes screwed shut. He knew very well who the voice belonged to, and he chose to ignore it in favour of more sleep. They had stayed up late at night celebrating, and he wanted to sleep in. At least until ten in the morning.
"Harry!" The voice said, louder now, a note of conspicuous urgency in it. Harry resumed his pretence of deep sleep and ignored the voice once again.
"If you don't wake up this instant, you'll miss everything and you'll regret it. Just thought I'd tell you that.'' chanted the voice, very close to his ear again.
That caught his attention, and after fighting a mental battle between his curiosity and the sleepy part of his system, Harry opened his eyes to meet his father's amused ones, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Why the devil are you waking me up in the middle of the night, Dad?" He asked, sitting upright. The curtains were drawn, so it was very dark in the room.
"It's not the middle of the night, it's nine in the morning, Mr Lazy Potter. Now get up!" James said, looking mysteriously self satisfied. It was rather terrifying. Harry knew that look all too well. That was the very same look that appeared on Peeves's face whenever he was about to initiate havoc in Filch's office or the transfiguration classroom. And to say in the least, seeing that look on his father's face was very disconcerting, especially since he knew all about the marauder times.
"Mr Lazy Potter?" Harry repeated with a raised eyebrow, unimpressed. When James merely shrugged, he continued, "Why are you looking so happy?''
"Do I look happy? Really?" inquired James, with a look of innocence on his face.
"Now you look plain mischievious. Dad, tell me what's going on-?"
"All in good time," said James breezily, getting up from his seat beside the bed and bringing his wand out of the folds of his dark blue robes. "Now wake up Ron and Hermione, then get downstairs. Otherwise, you'll miss everything."
"Dad, what on earth did you do?" Harry asked, becoming increasingly worried.
"Questions, questions," said James mysteriously. "Just get downstairs before you miss all the fun."
"Okay?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"That's my boy," The elder Potter said with another satisfied smile, and he walked out the door without turning back, humming to himself, leaving Harry very baffled and horrified indeed. Harry quickly got out of the bed and hurried to Ron's, shaking his best friend awake before the two of them set off to find Hermione, discussing anxiously about what they had to expect in a few minutes.
***
"Remus, if you don't stop pacing this instant, I'll have to perform a full body bind on you." said Sirius irritably.
"So many things can go wrong with our plan! I can't help pacing," argued Remus.
"Relax, besides, we have an escape plan," said James, walking in with his hands buried deep into his pockets as usual. "At least, kind of." He dropped into a seat beside Sirius and watched Remus pace.
"I still can't believe I agreed to do this," muttered Remus. "I give in too easily. Especially to you two."
"That's true," said Sirius, his eyes playful, washing away the previous irritation. "We can be quite persuasive. And don't let me you didn't enjoy the planning! After all, who's the one who thinks up all the brilliant ideas?"
A smile crept into Remus's face, which culminated in the disappearance of the many tired lines on his face, knocking a few years out of it.
'Once a true marauder-" James began, smiling from ear to ear as he waited for Remus to continue their old phrase.
"-always, a true marauder." finished Remus, with another small smile. He then properly grinned, anticipation washing away his feeling of uneasiness.
"Now," said Sirius, his eyes glinting with a mischief which had been absent for the past fourteen years. "we start."
The three of them had sat late into the night, getting every detail right and triple checking the spells. James had brought out the idea casually last night, as the three of them sat with bottles of firewhiskey again the night before after everyone else had gone to sleep. Remus had refused to drink more than one small bottle, but James and Sirius had shrugged and opened another one, feeling as though they needed to celebrate Sirius's freedom a bit more. Though they had been quite drunk in the end, spouting out rather delirious things from their mouths, they had all agreed on one thing: what better way to celebrate the marauder's reunion and Sirius's newfound freedom than a prank? Age certainly knew no bounds when it came to the three. Thankfully, they had their anti hangover potion with them, or else, their prank would backfire on them if they were hung over.
"Have you arranged everything upstairs, Padfoot?" asked James solemnly, going over spells in his mind.
"Everything is set," said Sirius with a grin. He then strolled out of the room and into the kitchen.
"And have you double checked the doors, Moony?'
"Everything is ready, Mr Prongs.'' Remus said, rolling his eyes. It had taken nearly an hour for James and Sirius to convince him into doing this. He had been more than a little reluctant at first, and had firmly said that he would not take part. But his resolve had crumbled when the two of them continuously pestered him for an hour, talking about how they would never be able to do it without his help and then when they had highly praised his intellect. After Remus had submitted with a sigh, he had been secretly excited.
After all these years, he was going to be a marauder again. With his friends.
His years at Hogwarts had been great times, and he had never imagined that he could get into more mischief after the events of 1981. James Potter was going to prove his earlier assumptions wrong.
"The meeting's over, and since Molly is arranging breakfast, they're all scattered around the house. The best time for them to be pranked." reported Sirius.
Dumbledore had informed them about the small meeting that would be held in the morning, where they would discuss the next Order mission. They had received information from a trusted source about a gathering of Death Eaters, and they needed a few members to tail them and find out their location.
"Where do you think McGonagall is?" Sirius asked casually.
"I think she was in the living room, last time I saw her. With Kingsley." James replied.
They got up and walked towards the dining room, watching the plates hover onto the table piled with food as Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley talked intently about something.
At that moment, Ron, Harry and Hermione came downstairs, looking as though they desperately wished to be back in their beds.
"So why did you-?" Harry's question was cut short by a loud shout emanating from upstairs.
"MUM! WHY IS THE BATHROOM RAINING?"
James exchanged a smug look with Sirius and Remus, all three of them looking rather pleased with themselves to hear that they had had their first victim. Harry, Hermione, and Ron stared at the three with mounting disbelief.
"You three-?" Ron asked weakly. James, Sirius and Remus nodded. The three men were grinning widely, and Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling as usual as he sat by the table. Harry had the distinct suspicion that the headmaster was enjoying the show. But then again, you could never tell when it came to Dumbledore.
"What is it, Ginny?" Molly called as she came out of the kitchen.
"The bathroom is raining!"
"Oh dear," Molly muttered as she hurried upstairs. "Fred and George must be at it again."
Harry and Ron exchanged a grin. Fred and George definitely weren't responsible. Three grown men were, who were grinning proudly at the trouble they were causing.
"Arthur! How can you stop a toilet from raining?" Molly hollered from upstairs. She had probably failed in her attempts.
"Why not try the usual? Finite incantatem?" Arthur called back.
"She shouldn't do that," Remus murmured.
"But isn't that supposed to stop it?'' Hermione asked curiously.
"Not in this case," James replied mysteriously.
"We've already tried it and it's worse!" Ginny shouted, a bit of panic lacing her voice.
"Raining toilets?" Ron asked sceptically.
"It's just a warm up. It gets better," Remus said assuringly.
Suddenly, Fred and George bolted in, both looking rather out of breath.
"The doors won't open," Fred panted. "Door handle disappears when you try to open it. It can only be opened from someone outside, George had to get me out. What's happening?''
"You're not responsible?" Arthur asked in disbelief.
"Would we prank ourselves?" George countered with a bemused look.
"Oh, dear," said Arthur worriedly. He glanced at James, Sirius and Remus, and realisation dawned on his face when he caught sight of their smug expressions. And Harry had the impression that the admiration Fred and George had for his father and two best friends had increased tenfold. Molly and Ginny just entered the room looking worried.
"PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE!" hollered a voice. Everyone jumped. Nobody had ever heard Minerva McGonagall sounding so angry. The woman in question was charging into the room, looking quite capable of committing murder, with a very ruffled looking Kingsley at her heels. The marauders then rearranged their features, and they now had varied looks of innocence upon their faces. Looks of innocence which would have been passable and believable, if the others had not witnessed their self satisfied looks and smug grins earlier.
"Yes, Minerva?" Dumbeldore asked, getting up from his seat at last. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Problem?" she asked. "Disappearing doorknobs! Doorways with tripping jinxes, I had been tripped TWICE! And I can hear things about raining toilets! And-" she broke off, looking as though she was on the verge of a collapse.
"And what?"
"There's writing everwhere!" exclaimed Bill, walking in with a chuckle. "I wonder if Snape and McGonagall saw them, and I'd give anything to see Fudge's expre-" He stopped dead with his face a mask of horror when he caught sight of a furious Minerva McGonagall.
"And this is all the work of those three!" she said, pointing her finger at James, Sirius and Remus, who were trying their best to subdue their grins while they struggled to maintain their politely interested, innocent expressions.
"But you can't know that for sure, Minerva. How do you know that it was these three?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling.
"Oh. I can," She said, seething. "Why else would the magical ink write things about 'Minnie' everywhere and-" she broke off as she tried to gain control of herself. Harry began to seriously wonder what the ink had written. "And things about Severus? About how he is a big greaseball and what not? The twins wouldn't go that far! Who has such a grudge against Severus? This is certainly the work of those three, not the twins!"
Fred and George were staring at James, Sirius and Remus with a mixture of admiration and incredulity.
"It was nice knowing you," Ron said to James, Sirius and Remus. "Too bad you have to die after you just returned, James, and just after your trial Sirius, and after you've become a prankster again, Remus." The three men chuckled.
"We'll survive," Sirius assured him. "We always have."
"I highly doubt that," Harry said, his green eyes darting from McGonagall's furious face to the marauder's indulgent ones.
"I never would have thought that you would take part in this, Remus," accused McGonagall, pointing a finger at him. "Surely you had more sense?"
"I think you should get out of here," Hermione whispered to the three. "Make a clean getaway before things get out of hand."
"No, no, there's more to come," said James, looking intently at the doorway. Remus and Sirius were staring there too, maintaining the innocent expressions as they ignored McGonagall.
"THAT'S IT, POTTER!" A loud voice shouted. Remus visibly gulped, and he exchanged a look with James. ''I think you should take whatever you said to Ron earlier back,'' he told Sirius. Sirius shrugged. James was grinning widely. He removed his glasses and pretended to be immersed in the task of cleaning them with his robes, but there was a smirk on his face. This seemed to be what he had been waiting for.
A furious Severus Snape had come marching into the room, his face so angry and filled with loathing that even Harry flinched, having been subjected to many hate filled looks by him. But this one had outdone the others.
"You can kiss your little truce good-bye." muttered Sirius to James, staring at Snape with a wary eye. "This was all your idea."
A few dozen things were flapping madly around the outraged man, looking vaguely like magazines. Sirius let out a snort, but disguised it as a very unconvincing coughing fit.
"He was the one who was so adamant about refusing my apology." James said shrugging. "I can't not prank him, he's the most-"
"You have crossed all limits!'' shouted Snape in fury. "What is this?" he demanded, picking a flapping book from the air and tossing it before James's feet. James picked it up, gave it once over and passed it to Harry. Harry took one look at it and tried hard to not dissolve into hysterics. He tossed it to Ron and Hermione, who turned around to cover the expressions on their faces.
Severus Snape's picture was on the cover of Witch Weekly.
"It seems like your picture is on a woman's fashion magazine, Snape," said James casually. "Have you had enough of your job at Hogwarts?"
That proved to be too much for Sirius. Abandoning every attempt at covering his laughter as a coughing fit, he collapsed onto a chair, howling with laughter.
Snape raised his wand and shot a curse at the ground just before James's feet, causing him to jump back.
"Now, now, Snape, no need to get grumpy-"
Another curse was shot, which missed James's face by inches. James instantly backpeddaled, his expression now slightly worried.
"There's something called anger management you know, Snape, I would gladly like to help you with-"
Another curse came hurtling in the air, and James had to duck. He still didn't make any move to take his wand, however.
"James!" Remus called, realising that things were getting out of hand. James nodded, exchanging a look with Sirius.
Remus leant over to Dumbledore. "Are there too many people at Hogwarts?"
"No, very few. Children seemed rather eager to go to their homes for the holdays, considering the defense teacher...you can escape there."
Remus nodded and grabbed Sirius's robes. James was still ducking Snape's curses. Remus picked a tea-pot from the table, brought out his wand and muttered, "Portus."
"Meet us at Hogwarts. Use the floo and bring your cloak." James whispered to Harry as another curse came hurtling by. Sirius reached into his robes and tossed something onto the floor. The room was instantly in darkness, and it stayed like that for a few moments as the occupants fumbled around blindly. The darkness faded in a few minutes, and they all turned around.
The marauders had disappeared.
***
"The look on Snape's face!" exclaimed Sirius as he dropped onto the couch in the guest room, roaring with laughter. James and Remus laughed along with him, their faces flushed with happiness while they wore broad smiles on their face. The three of them were exhuberant.
"I think he would have murdered us had we not gotten away on time,'' remarked Remus, as chuckles escaped his throat.
"I hope Harry and others can escape." said James.
"They will. They're good at things like that,'' said Siruis. "What should we do now? We can't go back there until things cool down a bit."
"No," mused Remus. "We'll have to stick around here until the writing on the walls stop insulting Snape and write the spells which stop the toilets from raining and allows the door handles to stay in place again."
"D'you think we should go annoy Filch?" suggested James. "We can just nip under the cloak and-''
"No," said Remus firmly. "We've caused enough trouble for one day."
There was a whoosh from the fireplace, and three grinning teenagers clambered from the fireplace.
"That was bloody brilliant!" said Ron, while Harry laughed and Hermione joined in.
"Why, thank you," said James.
"We barely managed to escape," revealed Harry. "We got the cloak and told Mr Weasley that we were going to disappear for a while. I don't reckon they'll miss us soon, there's absolute pandemonium there!"
"Mum was livid," said Ron, shaking his head. "Dad seemed to have enjoyed it a bit, though."
"So did Dumbledore,'' added Hermione with a smile.
"So what should we do? We can't be seen here; Harry and Ron have had excuses made up for their disappearance from school. And me, Sirius and James would certainly look odd here." said Remus.
"That's a thought," mused Sirius.
"Do you have your Firebolt here? Maybe we can floo over to Potter Manor and play some Quidditch?" suggested James.
"That would have been a great idea," said Harry, looking glum. "But my broom is with Umbridge. As well as Fred's and George's. The three of us have been given a life long ban from Quidditch."
"WHAT?" exploded James. His happy mood dissipated instantly. "Banned? What on earth for?"
"Malfoy," said Harry bitterly. "We had a fight at the Quidditch pitch, and Umbridge took the opportunity to kick us off the team."
James muttered a few things under his breath, and Harry was sure that it was a string of profanities and not a Weird Sisters song.
"We'll get them," said James, snapping his fingers. "Give us the cloak."
"You're going to get them?" asked Harry incredulously.
"Of course," said James impatiently, reaching for his cloak. Harry passed it to him uncertainly.
"Where is it?"
"Her office."
"Who's coming with me?" asked James, looking at his best friends.
"You go ahead," said Remus, nodding at Sirius. "The three of us are too big for it."
Sirius nodded, and he covered himself and James with the silvery material. Shrouded by the almost weightless cloak which rendered them invisible to everyone else, the two of them made their way out of the room.
***
After nearly twenty minutes, the trio and Remus had exhausted topics to talk about, and they sat around the room, wondering what was taking James and Sirius such a while. There was suddenly a loud sound, and the door opened, revealing James and Sirius, wearing triumphant looks on their faces while they carried the brooms.
"You got them!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Of course," said James with a grin.
"But Umbridge is bound to notice that they're missing!" said Ron.
"Do you really thing that we're that thick?" asked Sirius, feigning a look of hurt.
"It was simple. We found Peeves, he was rather pleased to see me again," said James with a chuckle. "I managed to convince him to wreck the DA classroom, so Umbridge went trotting away with her pink robes flapping. We snuck into her office and we performed a few other spells to try and pick the lock to the brooms. Hours of time spent in the library researching new spells in our years at Hogwarts paid off, and one of them worked. Then it was a matter of duplicating the brooms, and placing the copies back. Those copies won't fly, they're just brooms. Umbridge certainly won't test them to see if they'll fly."
"That's just- wow." said Ron.
"Her office is just so. . . pink. There was too much pink. It hurt my eyes." said Sirius, crinkling his nose.
"And all the cats on the walls," said James, shaking his head. He then stared at the Firebolt with an expression of longing before passing it to Harry.
"Do you think Fred and George will mind if we borrow their brooms?" asked Sirius dubiously.
Harry snorted. "If you and Dad use it?"
"They would be tripping over their own two feet trying to offer them to you first," said Ron, laughing along with Harry.
James and Sirius ginned, and Remus said with a wry smile, "What are we waiting for, then? Lets not delay Maddy and Mickey the opportunity of seeing Harry again."
James laughed, and led the way to the fireplace.
***
"Harry Sir has come back!" shreiked a voice, and a little house elf came into the room, her eyes filling with tears.
"Oh, Maddy, of course he would. You didn't think that we had lied to you, did you?" asked James good naturedly as he clambered out of the fireplace.
"Master Sirius," said another voice, a note of awe in his voice. Another house elf was standing by the doorway, staring at the little party with an expression of disbelief.
"It's Sirius, haven't I always told you that, Mick?'' said Sirius with a broad grin. "Now where's my hug?"
Mickey the house elf smiled along with an ecstatic Maddy as they regarded the best friend of the person whose house they worked at.
"We didn't believe a word of the papers, sir!" said Maddy to Sirius. "We knew you is innocent sir!"
"Thanks," said Sirius, his eyes filling with gratitude.
"Remus sir!" exclaimed Mickey.
"Hello, Mickey," said Remus with a smile. "Hello Maddy. How are you?
"Very well, sir." replied Maddy.
"Lets fly," urged James. He was eager to get to his home court again.
"Lead the way," said Harry with a smile.
The backyard of Potter Manor was not like any backyard. It was very spacious, and James informed them that he, Sirius and Remus used to play Quidditch there when they had been in their teens.
"Want to try?" Harry asked James, holding his broom.
"What do you think?" James replied with a grin. James eagerly clasped it in his hands, mounted it and kicked off from the ground.
James most definitely had to get himself a firebolt the next time he visited Gringotts to withdraw money.
The broom seemed to obey his thoughts more than his actions, and it zoomed in the sky, guided by the lightest of touches, flying higher and higher in the air with a speed which would have lead to an inexperienced flyer toppling down. But, the former Quidditch captain was at home in the sky, and he felt the wind against his face as he made a deep dive.
"This is brilliant!" He hollered to no one in particular, exhilarated by what the lastest model of broomsticks could give him.
He just had to get himself a firebolt.
His old Comet 150 was a decrepit old joke next to the Firebolt, though it had been one of the best brooms in his time.
As he sped off with the broom, doing loops, stunts and heart stopping maneuvers, the only thing that was running through his head was how at home he was in the sky. After a few more minutes, he made a steep dive and landed on the ground, with a wide grin on his face. His hair was windswept, and his hazel eyes were shining.
"That was exhilarating!" he exclaimed, staring at the broom fondly.
"You're not bad," said Harry with a sly smile.
"Not bad?" repeated James with a derisive snort. "Is that all I get?"
"You're the best flyer the world has ever seen, now it's my turn to ride it," said Sirius impatiently. James passed it to his best mate, and all of them watched as Sirius shot off into the sky.
Harry, who had never imagined that he would see a day when his godfather rode a broom with the natural skill he was displaying, moved closer to James and Remus and asked, "Was Sirius on the team?"
"Of course," said James. "See how he's flying? How could he not be?"
"What position?" asked Ron curiously.
"Beater," answered Remus with a smile.
"And I played chaser," said James. "I played seeker whenever our seeker wasn't available, but I preferred to chase.''
"What about you?" Hermione asked Remus. "Didn't you play?"
"I never favoured Quidditch much," said Remus lightly. "I would only play when James and Sirius forced me to here at Potter Manor during the holidays. I commentated a few matches though. McGonagall wanted someone who wouldn't show bias, but I must say, I failed her at that."
Harry, Ron, Hermione and James laughed.
"Especially when the other team did one of us an injury. Remus just couldn't keep quiet," said James with a chuckle. Remus smiled a bit.
"They couldn't get away with foul play," he said.
"Did you get a lot of injuries?" Harry asked James. James reflected for a few moments.
"All I can say is that I spent so much time in the hospital wing that Madam Pomphrey assigned a particular bed specifically for me. Though I must say, the worst had been a bludger to my head."
Everyone flinched.
"That coupled with a twenty foot drop," mused James.
"He had been knocked out for over a day. But you had a nice surprise when you woke up, didn't you James?" asked Remus with a sly grin. James suddenly became very interested in the fingernail of his right thumb, but there was a sad smile on his face.
"Shut it, Remus."
"What happened?" asked Ron.
"Lets just say it turned a break up. . . right side up." said Remus.
"That's enough you old bugger," said James good naturedly.
"Don't you start being all condescending," said Remus. "You may look young, and may behave like a ten year old most of the time, but-"
"Don't say I'm old," scowled James. "Or I'll start the professor thing all over again."
As Remus opened his mouth to retaliate, Sirius landed with a huge grin on his face.
"I knew buying this broom had been worth it!"
Everyone laughed, and Harry took his broom back. James and Sirius each took the other two and sped off into the sky. After a few minutes, Sirius got down and offered his broom to Ron, who eagerly kicked off from the ground.
"How I missed flying," said Sirius reminiscently.
"You won't have to anymore," said Hermione with a smile. "And have you thought about what you're going to do now that you're free, Sirius?"
"I don't really know," said Sirius thoughtfully. "I might stick with working for the order. Properly this time. And then me and James might think about renewing our old Auror's license."
Hermione and Remus nodded. Ron then got off from the broom with a smile on his face.
"Can't ever compete with those two," he said simply. The others stared out into the sky, watching the two Potter's fly around, laughing and cheering when the other did a particularly difficult maneuver.
Father and son were at their home court together, and the others were content to watch them with fond smiles on their faces. Both were exceptionally good flyers, and seemed well matched and equal at talent, though the others faintly wondered if Harry was better than his Dad, the one who had been a Quidditch star in his time. James wondered that too as he watched his son rocket through the sky with his Firebolt.
And he was beyond proud of him.