A few months passed by after the death of James's father. Lily was an outsider looking in on his grief and didn't have any idea how she could make things better for him. Even worse, he hadn't really paid her any particular attention since the kiss they had shared. She couldn't help but feel sad about the whole situation despite Sirius's protestations that he wasn't any less interested in her. In fact, he was. He just didn't quite know how to approach her.
Lily decided it was time to take matters into her own hands. She couldn't spend her time watching him being thoroughly miserable. She wasn't the only person to observe the change in him either; other people in school had questioned her about his sudden change in mood.
She knew his father's death was a terrible, tragic, unexpected thing. She did. However she couldn't help but feel his father would be disappointed in him for just giving up on life. Which was what he had done. He was a shell of his former self, conversing only with people within his closest circle of friends and ignoring those outside.
So when she saw him walking down the stone steps to their Herbology lesson, she walked a little faster and tried to match his pace. She fell in step beside him and said, "James."
"Hi," he said softly. "I'm sorry -"
"There's no need to apologise," said Lily flatly. "I just wanted to see how you are."
"Never been better," said James with a smile.
"You don't have to pretend with me, James."
"I know," he said simply, "but I can't help it."
Lily took his hand in hers and said, "I'm always here."
James went to say something, shook his head, then said, "Thanks."
"Does that mean I get a 'thank you' kiss?" asked Lily.
"Always," said James, gathering her into his arms.
When they broke apart a few seconds later Lily said, "Thank goodness for that then."
Sirius poked his head out of the greenhouses, spotted them, and beckoned them over with his hand. He was grimacing as the giant plant behind him tickled one of his shoulders.
"Oi! James!" called Sirius. "Get over to Herbology. We've got some depodding to do."
"Race you there, Lily," said James.
They arrived at Herbology a few moments later completely out of breath, Lily bent over with a stitch in her side and James's glasses slightly lopsided.
Professor Sprout took a look at their dishevelled appearances, glanced at Lily, and then rolled her eyes. "I see he's corrupted you too, then, Miss Evans."
"Is it still corruption if you enjoy it?" she asked, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear as she took a look at the plants they would be studying.
"Obviously did a good job of it too," said the Professor to James.
"Like I do everything."
"I haven't deflated his ego at all though," said Lily wearily.
"Everybody would be upset if you even tried, dear," said James.
"Right then, class!" called Professor Sprout. "Pair up, put your gloves on, and make sure you do not go near the back of the class. Some of our most…interesting…fruits are ripening."
"I'd hate for her to explain how lethal they are," mumbled Remus darkly. "She thinks even the largest of plants are completely harmless. Next she'll be telling us that the Whomping Willow is friendly."
"Mr. Lupin, would you like to demonstrate the depodding process for us? You clearly know so much about it."
"No problem, Professor."
*
The term gradually passed by, full of Quidditch practises, lessons, homework, and much else besides. James was finding it increasingly hard to find time to spend with Lily. When he wasn't working, she was. Their timetables seemed to be completely incompatible despite them sharing most of their classes.
Finally on a Thursday evening she walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Right, I want to see your timetable."
"Why?" asked James, looking up from his chess game. "No, Sirius! You cheat every time! That queen was originally over there -"
Sirius rolled his eyes, placed the queen in question back in the right place, and then continued to make his next move.
"What were you saying, Evans?"
Lily glared at him.
"Sorry, it was out of habit. What were you saying, Lily?"
"I want to take a look at your timetable," she said, placing her hands on her hips.
"It's over there somewhere," said James, waving his hand in the vague direction of his bag contents. "Sirius! I saw that!"
Sirius roared with laughter, flicked his wand, and made another move. "I'll beat you anyway. I do every time."
"No you don't!" said James indignantly.
Lily looked at them, smiled, and rolled her eyes.
"I've reorganised your timetable, scheduled time for your Quidditch practises and colour coded the parts where I'm free -"
"You're amazing," said James.
"- and the ones where we're both free. I've also done free periods and the Hogsmeade dates."
James actually looked up from the chess board at this.
"You did all that in that time?"
"Yup," said Lily, sitting down beside him. "And if you move your piece to the left - there, like that - you'll win."
James followed her instructions, then rested his head in his hands.
"No way," said Sirius dubiously, looking at the board thoroughly. "This will be the first time you've beaten me at this in seven years. I don't believe it."
"You better believe it," said Lily, leaning forward, "because it'll be happening more often!"
Sirius glared at her but she responded by poking her tongue out childishly.
"I can't accept this. I want a rematch, Potter, when your girlfriend isn't around."
"James, what was that noise you just made?" asked Lily.
"What noise?" asked James, blushing.
"That weird coughing, choking sound you made when he said 'girlfriend'!"
"He did it again," said Sirius, laughing.
"Nobody has used the word before," said James, looking horrified.
"You mean you don't want to be my boyfriend?" said Lily.
Her lips had turned down at the edges. James sat up hastily and said, "No!"
"You don't?" she laughed somewhat humourlessly.
"No, of course I do," said James. "I just…I don't do…you know…"
"Commitment," said Lily, laughing.
"Yeah, that. I don't do it."
"You are now," said Lily.
"I know," said James, shaking his head. "Sirius! Does this go under 'entrapment'?"
"No, Prongs," said Sirius, shaking his head. "Plus you've had plans for your wedding since fifth year. It definitely doesn't count."
"What a disappointment that is. I wanted to get something on the Head Girl."
"Well, I have a few ideas…" said Sirius wonderingly.
"Don't you dare," warned Lily. "I know just the charms that would work on you two."
James's lips quirked in amusement.
"Whatever you say, dear, whatever you say."
*
Sprigs of holly were placed sporadically around the Great Hall the next day. Flitwick levitated giant Christmas trees into the four corners of the Hall while the Head Girl and Boy added their own spell work. James charmed all of the baubles to be identical to the charms used on the ceiling (with the effect that they, too, were the same as the snowy weather outside) while Lily added a glistening effect to the stone walls. It was quite a spectacular sight to behold.
"You can't help but admire their spell work at a time like this," said Lupin, standing behind them.
"You seen the Daily Prophet?" asked Peter, jerking his thumb in the direction of his opened one on the table.
"No," said Sirius. "Don't tell them until they're finished. They can find out if they choose to read them. I don't want James being reminded of -"
"That," finished Remus.
"Yeah," said Peter, looking off into the distance. "I have no idea how anybody could do that."
"Ask my brother," said Sirius darkly. "He'll be in amongst them, you mark my words."
"Don't say that," said Remus, shaking his head.
Sirius looked at him, smiled sadly, and walked off to join James.
"All right, Padfoot?" he asked as he stood upon the ladder.
"Oi, Potter! Watch out. I don't want to fall," called Lily over her shoulder. She, too, was standing
upon a precarious ladder that looked as if it was about to fall at any given time.
"I'll catch you, Lily," said Sirius cheekily.
"Don't you dare!" said James. "I have that covered, thank you. She's only falling for me."
"I thought she'd already fallen?" asked Sirius.
"Padfoot, if you carry on -"
"All right, all right. I won't say another word. My lips are sealed but for the charm work I'll be helping you with."
"And not even then!" said Lily. "Practise the non-verbal spells."
Sirius rolled his eyes at her, muttering something about only professors telling him what he should and shouldn't do, before waving at her.
"Of course. Anything for you."
James glared in his direction.
"I mean, anything for James. Which includes you," he hastily corrected.
"That's better. Now go join in the festivities before I hex you."
Sirius strolled off into the opposite direction, trying to hunt down a plate of kippers and toast. He was munching through his third piece when James decided to sit down and join him.
"Any news in the Prophet then?" asked James.
Sirius stayed quiet for a few moments, shrugged one shoulder and continued to eat his marmalade on toast.
"Sirius," repeated James firmly, "I said 'is there any news in the Prophet'?"
"Of course there's news in the Prophet," said Sirius. "It's a newspaper. What else do you expect to be in there?"
"You know what I meant."
"A whole wizarding family, down south," responded Sirius dully.
"What happened?" asked James in hushed tones.
"The usual. I don't even think the killing curse was used; the torturing was enough."
James stared at him in incomprehension. It was one thing for the Death Eaters to use the Killing Curse; killing was a monstrosity. But to allow the people to die in agony, knowing full well how excruciating the pain would be…he shook his head.
"I'm not sure how much more of this I can take," said Lily, when she walked over. "The Great Hall now resembles a glitter ball."
When neither of the boys responded to her statement she looked at them both, spotted the newspaper, and took it to her space on the Gryffindor table. She read the headline, whimpered slightly and then looked back up at them both.
"You know what this means?"
James shook his head.
"We fight back."
Sirius looked at her admiringly for a second before responding.
"How do we do that?"
"We form a defence group. We need to be prepared for what lies ahead. We need to make people realise exactly what's happening out there. We can help."
"An unofficial group? Lily, are you suggesting what I think you are?" said James incredulously.
"There's nothing more important than winning this war."
James stared into his pumpkin juice for a second.
"I'll get in contact with all the Gryffindors," he said. "I'll get Lissy onto the Ravenclaws."
Lily eyeballed him for a second. "I'll do the Ravenclaws, thank you very much. Sirius can do the Gryffindors, and you'll do the Hufflepuffs."
"What about Slytherin?" asked Remus.
Sirius snorted.
"They're more likely to be the ones we're fighting."
"We should still see if any of them want to come along though," pressed Remus. "It should be open to everybody."
"Peter will do it," suggested James.
"Of course I will."
"That's settled then," said Lily with satisfaction.
*
With the group given the nod of approval by Professor Dumbledore himself, the members swung into action. Sirius recruited all the Gryffindors in their year with the exception of the few that had gone back home to their parents and a fair few from the younger years. James, taking his task seriously (or as seriously as a Marauder can take anything), recruited over half of Hufflepuff. Lily managed to persuade a respectable amount of Ravenclaws, but Peter was relatively unsuccessful; he only managed to get promising feedback from a couple of Slytherins. So they were established: a motley crew of students, with mixed abilities, coming together to train against the evils that would face them when they left school.
"Where will we practise?" asked Peter one evening.
"The Great Hall," responded James instantly. "Dumbledore said we could at the latest Head meeting. We might as well take him up on the offer. Once the tables are moved there will be plenty of room."
"We don't actually have any plans though," said Remus, furrowing his brow.
"I was thinking that we would lead the group," said Lily uncertainly. "The five of us."
"Not me," said Peter hurriedly. "Defence isn't one of my best subjects."
"The four of us then," continued Lily. "I'll do the research into the spells that we should think of using. I might see if Dumbledore has any suggestions. I reckon that James should lead though -"
"Why me?" said James, looking appalled. "You'd be a far better teacher than me."
"They won't listen to me," Lily pointed out. "They'll drool over Sirius -"
Sirius sniggered.
"So they won't drool over me too?" said James with narrowed eyes.
"- and Remus said he'd rather take a back seat when dealing with Boggarts."
"When's the first meeting?"
"This weekend."
"That's the same date as Hogsmeade!"
"Nobody's going anyway," said Remus. "Nobody has for a long time. They're all terrified."
"Right then," said James determinedly. "We'll have to put a stop to that."
"To the Defence Association!" said Sirius.
James decided to finish his homework after that. If he worked a little harder on his Potions and finished his essay on Golpalott's Third Law, then he would be able to spend time with Lily later on in the evening. That was, of course, if he didn't fall asleep on his book. He couldn't remember ever being this tired.
"I'll help you if you want," offered Lily. "Then you can head off to bed early."
James looked up at her gratefully momentarily but then shook his head.
"That would just be lazy. I've only got two hundred words left."
"Then stop looking at the back of your eyelids and write them then."
"So unsympathetic."
"Well you do insist on staying up ridiculously late into the night."
"I was looking up spells we could use for the defence group!"
"Of course. Let's see them then," said Lily.
"I thought we could start with Patronus Charm."
"Why don't we start with something more basic before we go into the complex spells?"
"But he's using Dementors," said James, "and once people manage to achieve these then they're equipped to do almost anything."
Lily looked at him, smiled and then said, "C'mon, you can finish that tomorrow morning. Come for a walk in the grounds with me."
"We'll be out of bounds!"
"Oh, who cares? Do you suspect that Voldemort is going to be hiding behind the Whomping Willow?"
"Well, no…"
"Exactly. You like to live life on the edge. Let me live it with you."
"You'll regret saying that one day."
Lily went on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
"I really doubt that."
*
A few weeks later Lily was beginning to regret what she'd previously said about 'living on the edge'. James Potter and his gang were the only people who were meant to behave in such a way. It was just how things worked. Lily was born to abide by the rules unless a situation arose in which they needed to be disregarded.
"James Potter, if you honestly believe that I'm sneaking around school when I'm Head Girl, then you are obviously more of an idiot than I thought," said Lily, hissing into his ear.
"Lily! It's perfectly innocent. We're the head students. We're allowed to sneak around the school. We'll just tell them that we heard sounds in the dungeons -"
"Which just so happens to be as far away from Gryffindor tower as you can possibly get," she replied waspishly.
"Haven't I taught you anything?" said James, grinning.
"That I've obviously gone delusional to even agree to do something like this just because you want me to!"
"I know, I know. Who would have thought they would see the day?" asked James before continuing, "This is all part of my evil plan, you do realise."
Lily rolled her eyes to heaven, surveyed her fingernails and then, just to humour him, said, "What evil plan would that be, master Marauder?"
"For me to marry you," he said wickedly. "A bit premature, though, because I did make this plan back in fifth year."
"Why does this not surprise me?" she said.
"Well, everybody knows that I'm hopelessly in -"
"Save it for Christmas."
"Christmas?" he squeaked. "That's the thing where we're meant to give each other presents right -"
"Well, actually, as it's after midnight we should be giving them now…"
She saw the horrified look on his face, turned to him and said, "You've forgotten, haven't you?" Her eyes had narrowed, and her hand was now tightly clenched around her wand.
"Wha - No! Of course I haven't!" said James quickly.
"If you have we are…over," said Lily. "No excuses. You forgot my birthday, too, just because you were dreading having a detention with Snape."
"I know, but you forgave me for that," he said.
"For the last time then, James, where the heck are we going?" she said. "If it's the Astronomy tower, I don't want you getting any ideas."
"Yes, yes. I've learnt from the last time," said James forlornly. "Although it is actually there. What we're going for."
"Quelle surprise," she said under her breath.
They had reached the tower now, and James looked slightly apprehensive.
"So, um, Merry Christmas!" he said a little too loudly in a feeble attempt to hide his nerves.
"If this is anything that will explode in my face, you better be good at dodging hexes."
She stopped talking though as she looked at the box inside. She gingerly opened it and just looked at it silently. Inside was a white gold necklace, with a small pendant love heart in red gem stones. It sparkled prettily in the light of her wand.
All hexes forgotten she threw her arms around him ("Okay, no need to kill me for it," he choked out) and whispered in his ear, "Merry Christmas, James."
*
Christmas Day dawned bright, crisp, and full of snow. In the Gryffindor common room there was a huge pile of assorted presents for the students. A few owls were tapping against the windows trying to get in with their last minute presents and Christmas cards from friends and family.
After Christmas lunch Lily and James decided to sit around in the common room. They were both extremely full from the food: treacle tarts, chipolatas, Yorkshire puddings, chicken, roast lamb, the food never seemed to end.
Lily was just beginning to relax when she heard screaming outside.
"What is that noise?" asked Lily, pulling herself up from beside James. "I know it's Christmas, but that's not an excuse-"
James groaned. He had a strange suspicion that he knew who was creating the noise. He pulled her down beside him again hastily. "Ignore them."
But, taking it upon herself to live up to the badge she was wearing, she stood up and pulled the window open.
"WHAT ARE YOU -" she screeched. A snowball hit her squarely on the face. She withdrew quickly and closed the window.
"Right, Potter. Come with me."
"No. I think I'll just stay here. Relax in front of the fire -"
Before he could finish his sentence he was being pulled out through the portrait hole and into the grounds beyond.
"James!" yelled Sirius as the Great Hall doors were opened. "Come join us!"
Snowballs were soon flying through the air, and James happily joined in, completely forgetting that his girlfriend was standing disapprovingly in the hall.
She was about to yell at them again, demanding that they come inside. But that was before she saw the look of boyish happiness upon James's face.
Sighing in resignation, she walked outside to join them.
*
They were located in the Great Hall a month later with almost two hundred students hanging on their every word; well, James's, at least. More than a few girls had slightly glazed looks in their eyes when the handsome Marauders passed them by. Lily couldn't help but think they had very little intention of learning advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"Right! Wands at the ready! Think of the happiest memory you have and repeat the spell 'Expecto Patronum'! Don't worry if you don't get it at first. I've never seen anybody do it on first try…"
Remus smiled from the corner he was in as he helped others.
"Remus, you try," said James as he walked over. "Show us how it's done."
Remus smiled at his friend proudly. His face was crumpled slightly as he tried to think of something that would be powerful enough to produce a corporeal Patronus. In the end he settled for the memory he always did: when he had met his three best friends on the Hogwarts Express.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
An indistinct shape issued from his wand and, goaded by Remus, chased down the target that they had been practising with.
"Excellent," said Lily, looking admiringly at him. "Who's next then? Lissy? There you go -"
Ten minutes later everybody in the hall had managed to produce at least vapour. "They can be useful too, don't worry," said James to those who seemed a little deflated. "We'll try it next time too."
"When is next time?" asked a Ravenclaw fourth year.
"Every Wednesday at 7 o'clock," said Sirius.
"Prefects are exempt from their duties if they want to come along. I'm sure we'll be able to arrange something with the Slytherins who haven't attended," said Lily.
"I think we're done for today, everybody!" said James.
The group slowly filed out of the hall with the Prefects guiding them back to their dormitories safely.
"I think that went fairly well…" said Remus contemplatively.
"Let's just hope it makes a difference."
"Of course it will. Look at how many people can't defend themselves against Dementors."
James shrugged noncommittally.
"I could really do with a prank at this moment in time."
"You'll be getting the best one at the end of the year," said Sirius grinning. "Don't you worry about that, Prongs. We'll surpass ourselves."
"You can bet on that," said Remus. "The best."
*
Winter slipped into summer, bringing with it the dreaded N.E.W.T exams. James wasn't particularly worried about them; he reckoned he could count on a full set of 'Oustandings' without revision. Lily, however, was practically having kittens over the impending exams.
"Relax, Lily," said James, rolling his eyes.
"Test me!" she nearly screamed.
James took the Transfiguration book from her hands and began to read the questions.
"Did I get that one right word-for-word? I'm sure I missed something. Let me just have that -"
She wrenched the book of him, accidentally hitting him on the nose. His eyes began to water, and a trickle of blood came from his nose.
"James! I'm so sorry!"
He gave her the book back.
"Test yourself. I'm not suffering any more injuries. It'll probably be decapitation next."
Lily, however, wasn't actually listening to him any longer. She had her head buried back in the text book and was mouthing the definition of Animagi to herself. James looked at her, shook his head ruefully, and returned to his friends.
"I didn't think it was possible for somebody to be as obsessed with revision as she is," said James to Sirius.
"Leave her to it. We can go out and explore instead."
"The statue of Gregory the Smarmy?" asked Remus.
"Meet you there," said Sirius. "We'll go and get some Butterbeers for when these exams are over. I'm sure everybody will need a good celebration. I'm still disappointed by the last seventh years. Going to sleep after Nastily Exhausting tests? I think not, thank you."
"I'm glad to see you have your priorities right," said Peter. "Honestly, will we ever mature?"
"No," laughed James, "which is just how I like it."
Five hours later, after the last exam, Lily sat down with her friends.
"It could've been worse," she muttered.
"No, really, it couldn't," said Sarah. "I mean, I could've blown us all up. But for how many marks I got for that Vanishing Spell, I might have been better off doing that. At least then I could have said that I did it on purpose or something."
"Don't be silly," said Lily. "You know it wasn't that bad."
"I was so nervous that it took me ten attempts to Vanish the stupid hedgehog. Even then there were bloody pins all over the floor. I think the examiner trod on one too from the look on her face. Either that or it was just a look of pure terror to see what I was going to do next."
"Maybe it was that bad then," laughed Lily. "You can always make up the marks on the theory."
Sarah's voice rose an octave. "Can you explain the definition of a Vanishing Spell? No! That would require you to be able to do one!"
"Honestly," said Hannah as she walked over, "I wish you two would stop. I thought we'd agreed to leave the exams in there?"
"We have!" protested Sarah. "I just wanted to share the news of my impending doom."
"Of course," said Hannah, gazing over to the table where the Marauders were sitting. "Did they say how they thought they did?"
"Excellent," said Lily. "Apparently it was 'Outstanding' that they'd bothered to revise, let alone when they put their pen to paper."
"I shouldn't have expected any less from them," said Hannah wistfully.
Lily looked at her friend, opened her mouth to make a snide comment and then resolutely closed it again. It was none of her business what her friend got up to.
"Oi, Evans!" called Sirius. "Looking forward to the end of term feast?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" she questioned dubiously.
"Oh, you know…" said Peter, grinning. "We might have a few surprises for you!"
"For everyone actually," chipped in Remus. "Hopefully we won't disappoint."
"You never disappoint," murmured Lily, gazing at James. "Never."
"Stop drooling over him and tell me what you put for question 12b, would you?" implored Hannah.
"Was not!" said Lily.
"Was too!" Sarah giggled.
"I'm glad we've matured over the years."
*
Before the Gryffindors knew it, the last day of the year was upon them. The last of the summer had passed without any real events (unless one considered the Dementors being officially outside Ministry control as news) and life remained relatively peaceful within the school itself. Especially as Lily Evans was no longer shouting at James Potter for being an 'egotistical, arrogant, prat'.
"Oi! Evans! Will you go out with me?" called James as they walked into the hall.
"Oi, Potter! I ALREADY AM!" she said back laughingly.
They walked into the hall hand in hand with the rest of the Marauders and Lily's group of (rather giggly, it must be said) girls following behind them.
As they walked to the Gryffindor table, they saw that none of the food had been put out as of yet. Clearly Dumbledore was waiting for his very own end of term speech to send the seventh years off in style.
"Welcome!" he said. "To the first years, I hope your year has been everything you thought it would be. To those who are leaving this year I would like to personally say what a wonderful time it has been having you all here. There aren't any more words to say; you always have been, and always will be, welcome at Hogwarts. I know that you're all looking forward to your exquisite feast -"
On cue, Sirius's stomach rumbled loud enough for the whole of the Great Hall to hear.
"- but I think it is time to sing our school song any way you wish."
The teachers groaned at this news, but there was uproar from the students; this was definitely one of their preferred times of the year.
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something, please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
Dumbledore conducted with his wand from his place at the staff table whilst the students joined in the loud chorus.
"Why we're singing that at the end of the year I really don't know," said Lily, shaking her head in wonderment at their Headmaster.
"While the song might be wholly inappropriate…at the wrong time and in the wrong circumstances… I cannot help but wonder about the true magic behind music. Now: tuck in!"
With that Dumbledore sat down himself, the food appeared on the tables, and everybody began grabbing the food nearest to them.
"This is - oomph - gwate," said Sirius with chicken half out of his mouth.
"You truly disgust me," said Lupin, looking at his friend.
"Nah, I don't," said Sirius, trying to swallow his food before taking another bite.
"Yeah, you don't. I'm going to miss your horrible eating," said Lupin somewhat wistfully.
"You'll see me so much you'll wish you could get rid of me. And James. Oh, and Peter," he added as an afterthought.
As the plates were finally cleared (nearly every last crumb had been demolished) James clapped his hands. "Ready then, Marauders?"
"As I'll ever be," said Peter softly.
"Right then…" said Sirius slowly. "Say the incantation on three. One… two… three!"
"MISCHIEF MANAGED!" the boys said in unison.
Fireworks sped through the air leaving trails of glittering dust behind them. Soon the atmosphere was full of laughter and applause as the fireworks collided, creating new species. A firework of the Quidditch Cup, won by Gryffindor, floated into view. It was followed by a firework of nearly every person within the seventh year. All of them bore legends: "the boy who never scored", "the one who ran away"… the list went on. But not only the students had their moment of fame; every teacher who had taught at Hogwarts during their time also had their own commemorative firework.
Professor McGonagall's was especially large: it started off as her in human form, but with a resounding cracking nose it quickly became a beady-eyed tabby cat. Professor Dumbledore followed shortly thereafter with the legendary words, "Nitwit! Oddment! Blubber! Tweak!" beneath him.
Finally, when the crowd was laughing fit to burst, there were four more images. They flew to the back wall, narrowly missing Dumbledore's hat (he chuckled merrily), and lined up next to each other. Beneath them came the words, "I solemnly swear that I will always be up to no good."
Just before the images disappeared a smaller, lighter, glittery, firework hovered next to James bearing the words, "Marry me, Lily."
The students and teachers alike broke out into rapturous applause.
The Marauders had certainly made their mark upon Hogwarts. They'd ensured that they would never be forgotten for as long as they lived - and maybe even after. They had forged history and had laid down the foundations for any troublemakers-in-chief who succeeded them.
-
And that is that. The end. As always, thank you to my wonderful beta, Mortalus. One day I will learn about parenthetical statements and dialogue attributes. When I do it'll be purely because of her words of wisdom. Over seven chapters and the same mistakes repeatedly made, I'm sure she lost the will to live. But I can only thank her for her wonderful contributions. Without her the story wouldn't be worth reading! Thank you to all of you who managed to get through to the end. I hope it was worth it. This is my first chaptered fanfiction and the only one I've really thrown myself into. Hopefully it paid off.