Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Time Travel … Oh no!

The Future is not Prepared

Chapter 1: Helpless

It was child's play for James and Sirius to breach the library after hours. Peter was with them, but unlike them, he did not need to crowd under James's invisibility cloak to remain unnoticeable. Peter Pettigrew was a very talented wizard in his own right, as an animagus.

Tonight's target was the Restricted Section. Severus Snape thought he was so clever. Well, payback's a bitch, and this was going to be as close as Snivellus ever got to a woman. Get it? Payback's a bitch? Not everyone has the mental capacity to understand the Marauders' wit, but you'll try to keep up, won't you?

Anyway, Lupin never liked sneaking into the library when it was closed, and he definitely frowned on the pilfering of anything from the Restricted Section, and they weren't here to pick out a spell that was all sunshine and daisies. Wait, perhaps they should, Snape could be deathly allergic to sunshine and daisies.

So once again, back to business, now that they were in sixth year, three gorgeous teenagers that the entirety of the female population of Hogwarts simply adored and could not get enough of under Prongs's invisibility cloak no longer did the trick so it was simply a matter of leaving Remus behind in case they needed an alibi. Moony was good at that, especially since he was a prefect. Not that they hardly ever needed an alibi, since all four were experienced with sneaking about the school and its grounds during the night.

Peter found what he thought was the perfect spell. In triumph, he pointed at the page in the black-bound heavy book that he had and announced, "Fiendfyre." Today was the last day that Wormtail was going to be Snape's victim, and the first day of the rest of his wonderful life. Without Snivelly around embarrassing him, he'd get as many girls as Padfoot, take up quidditch like Prongs, and hm, well, he did not want to study like Moony, but Peter was sure he'd think of something.

"Uh ..." Sirius uttered as he tried to remember why that spell was a bad idea.

"No," hissed James.

"Yeah," agreed Sirius. "We want him to live to regret ever messing with us. A pile of ash is not regretful."

"It's final," Peter argued. "We can enjoy ourselves without him lurking about. Can't you imagine it? C'mon, can't you? What about Evans?"

"What?" James automatically answered. "What about Evans? Ever since that greasy git called Evans a mudblood, they're no longer friends. Not that they were really friends in the first place. She felt sorry for the friendless, greasy git, and he couldn't help trying to kiss up to her. But y'know, his true colors finally showed themselves."

"Yeah, bloody death eater," explained Sirius. Everyone knew every Slytherin student was a death eater. Just look at his little brother. Cast from the same mold as his dark arts-loving father.

"If he's a Death Eater, we'd be doing everyone a favor killing him," Peter whinged.

"No, suffering. He's definitely got to suffer. And regret. Years of regret for ever thinking he was even worthy of lifting his wand to defend himself against our pranks," Sirius replied, looking for a better spell.

"Yeah, the whole bloody rest of his miserable, greasy life," James agreed with a lop-sided smirk. How he hated Severus Snape. James hated him more than any other Slytherin, and perhaps even more than Voldemort, since with Snape, it was personal. Prongs knew it the first day he met him on the train. He was so steeped in the Dark Arts then, it was a surprise the little git didn't sweat oil. That was the original reason why James tried to ask Evans out all the time, but eventually he grew to like the fiery witch. She had to be special, just look at how many times she told him 'no'. No one said 'no' to James Potter. He'd wear her down. It was inevitable. She may think she was safe in her knickers, thinking they were stronger than any fortress, but as soon as Snape was out of the way once and for all, James was going to begin his siege.

After a couple of false hopes were crushed by the other two, Sirius said, "Oi, what about this? This one makes him younger so he'll be a crying little baby in soiled nappies."

Peter simply made a face. How was that better than fiendfyre? Babies had limited emotions, and a little Snape would not know who they were, and even the ugliest baby appealed to some women. They could get into trouble, if Pomfrey or some other witch decided to defend him.

James laughed at the picture that formed in his mind. Snape would be helpless!

Having decided on their solution to rid themselves of Snivellus Slimy Slytherin Snape for good, or at least till he grew back up and was still powerless to do anything because they'd be long gone from Hogwarts, Sirius copied down the lengthy incantation and made a diagram of the complex wand movement. Wouldn't want Moony yelling at them for taking a book.

Of course, since Severus Snape is in this tale, one should consider the unexpected. Not that Severus fighting back was unexpected, but when dealing with Gryffindors, they rarely considered anything going amiss with their masterful, clever plans or the consequences of their actions. That was for lesser people, or in other words, Ravenclaws.

Impatient to cast the spell, Potter began it at the first opportunity. No one ever stopped them, so it did not matter that they did not have Snape on his own. Besides, it was always more fun to do something like this with an audience. They always cheered the Marauders because they were the heroes.

Severus had been reading when he noticed a considerable drop in the volume of conversations around him. The sheep were looking expectantly at Potter as he cast something. Since Potter was looking at him, Severus could guess who Potter's intended target was and with an exaggerated sigh, waited for the finalizing wand movement of whatever spell Potter was attempting to cast, and flicked his own wand to the side with a hissed protego. Potter's spell flashed off his shield charm. Dunderhead.

"Oi!" cried Sirius. Dirty rotten Slytherin! He grabbed Prongs's arm to pull him out of the way, but it was too late.