"I've done it!" James yelled, grinning cheekily as he ran into the potions room. "I've done it!" he repeated happily as he sat down on a chair by Remus and Sirius and his girlfriend Lily.
"I've finished the Marauders' Map!" he said proudly. He pulled the piece of ordinary-looking parchment out of his bag and shook it in front of Remus' face. Sirius, on whose lap Remus was sitting, grabbed the map.
"Well done!" he said approvingly.
"How did you do it?" Remus asked. The Marauders' Map had been on the verge of completion for quite some time, but none of them had been able to find a way of hiding its secret.
"And how do you work it?"
"Tap it with your wand and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!' And when you've finished with it you say 'mischief managed!'"
"Cool!" Lily got out her wand and tried it out.
"Who's the best?" James said smugly.
"Yes but HOW did you do it?" Remus said. "Why didn't we get it before? What did you do…"
"Well," James started, "I…it was, er…a very complex process, erm, involving…"
"…complete fluke?" said Lily innocently.
"Was not!" James retorted quickly. "OK, alright, so it was," he admitted as Remus and Sirius laughed at him.
"What was that about, er, being the best?" Remus said.
"Shut up. Yes, so it was all down to luck and I don't know how I did it, but does it matter? It's done, finally!"
Remus nodded.
"Our legend will live on."
" 'Course it will!" Sirius said.
"Where d'you reckon Professor Samuels is?" Lily said. "The lesson should have started AGES ago…"
"Who cares!" said James. "He's a miserable git anyway…"
They looked around the teacher-less classroom, in which multiple varieties of havoc were being wreaked.
"Anarchy!" Sirius shouted delightedly, pulling out his wand and standing up suddenly, causing Remus to fall to the floor.
"Hey!" he protested but Sirius had already dragged James off to join in the ensuing chaos. It wasn't long before James found himself walking around on the low ceiling from which lights and streamers had been hung for Christmas.
"Hey look!" said Lily, observing the delicate flakes of snow that had begun to fall outside, and that nobody else had noticed. "It's snowing!"
"Wow!" said Remus. "No work, snow…it really feels like Christmas now. Heey! I have an idea!" And before Lily could enquire about this idea he had rushed out of the room.
"Our last Christmas at Hogwarts…" Lily said quietly to herself, but she didn't have much time to feel sad; she soon heard James' plaintive cries.
"Lily… Help?" he was saying vaguely. "I can't get down! And my glasses have fallen down. Lily? Is that you?" he said, blindly tapping someone who looked nothing like Lily whatsoever on the head.
"No! Get lost!!"
"I'm over here!" Lily called, laughing.
"Oh." James began to make his way slowly over to her as she looked around on the floor for his glasses. Just then, Remus rushed back into the room.
"Sirius! Sirius, will you come and help me a second?"
Sirius, who had been turned bright blue, was busy filling the room with tiny purple stars and didn't notice.
"Hey, Black!" Lucius Malfoy yelled mockingly. "Your boyfriend wants you!" Malfoy had always found Sirius and Remus' relationship a source of great hilarity.
"Does he?" Sirius replied sweetly. "That's nice. Nobody wants you."
Everyone who heard laughed. Lucius coloured slightly and glared malevolently at the bright-blue Sirius who went to help Remus with a huge Christmas tree that he was trying to get into the room.
"Sirius, you're blue!"
"I'd noticed!" Sirius replied, grinning charmingly. "You know, I kind of like this colour!. Maybe I'll keep it. What do you think…"
"Er, well, I'd have to say I'd prefer lighter blue. Do you have one in a different colour?" Sirius laughed, and with a tap of his wand returned to his usual colouring.
They stood the tree up in the corner of the room and decorated it with little fairies, stars, tinsel and anything else they could think of that could be found or magicked into existence. James produced a big glittery silver star that he put on top of the tree. Although Lily had given him his glasses he was still stuck on the ceiling, and somehow she had got herself stuck up there with him.
"You know, this could get fairly annoying. Er, Remus? Feel like helping us down?"
Remus and Sirius stretched up and pulled at their friends' hands, which achieved nothing at all.
"Sorry! Maybe you'll fall off after a while…?"
"A comforting thought," Lily said wryly.
"Watch this," Sirius said, and, waving his wand, covered the floor with snow and hung icicles from the shelves and all the pictures.
"Pretty!" Lily said. "What about some holly and mistletoe? I'd do it myself, but, my wand's…well, it's somewhere."
"Good idea!"
Remus pointed his wand at the clock, and instead of the clock there was now a small and neat wreath of holly tied with red ribbon.
Lily had an idea. She took a deep breath, and jumped as high as she could. Her shoes left the ceiling and landed on the floor.
"James! It worked! I'm down! What you've got to do is jump!"
"Oh. Alright." James closed his eyes and jumped as she had done, and found himself on the floor again.
"Hey. I'm...the right way up! Lily, what's wrong?"
She looked slightly sad.
"Nothing," she said, smiling and blinking. "It's just…James, it's our last Christmas here! It's like, suddenly we're leaving, and it's really soon and it's just TOO soon!" She smiled again and shook her head.
"I know what you mean. Hard to believe isn't it?"
"Never mind. We should be happy. It's Christmas! Shall we have some music?"
She found her wand in her bag and waved it. Christmas music started playing from somewhere.
"Silver bells, silver bells, it's Christmas time in the city…" she sang along.
Sirius and Remus came up and sat with them.
"Cool, isn't it!" they said happily, looking at the wintery room. Someone had made a little snowman while others threw snowballs around. Others were admiring the impressive tree, a few wondering how the hell anyone had managed to get it into the small room. Some added to the Christmas mood with various decorations of their own. Someone had produced a massive Christmas cake and everyone had a piece. Everyone was enjoying themselves a lot.
"Much more fun that boring potions!" James agreed. "Still, I wonder why Professor Samuels isn't here?"
"No idea!" said Sirius, grinning cheekily.
James raised an eyebrow. Suspicion forming, he pulled the newly completed Marauders' Map from his pocket and tapped it.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"
The tiny lines and curly writing materialised on the parchment and James examined it carefully. After about a minute he found the minute ink figure labelled "Professor Samuels". The figure was standing in a tiny room that James knew to be a cupboard. He was waving his little wand around agitatedly.
A tiny speech bubble appeared by the figure.
"Hey! Help me! Someone let me out!! Hey!" it said as the figure tapped his wand on what appeared to be the door of the cupboard.
Another speech bubble appeared.
"Hey! I am going to get you for this… You are in SO much trouble, Sirius Black…"
fin
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!