Hi! First try with a Marauder fic. I understand this time travel thing is kind of a popular idea, so it's hard to match up to all the fantastic writers out there. But please R & R anyway! Tactlessness is fine (:

"Ogling someone again, Prongs?"

James Potter quickly swiveled back in his seat, fighting the urge not to crane his neck and look down the table. Beside him, Sirius sniggered pointedly.

"Nope, 'course not," James said easily, ignoring Sirius.

Remus raised his eyebrows and asked mildly, "It's not by any chance Lily Evans, is it?"

James grabbed his friend in a painful headlock.

"Ah, Moony, ever the imaginative one!" he declared loudly, mussing up his sandy-brown hair just a bit too violently. Lupin groaned and extricated himself, averting his eyes from James' death glare.

"Tough luck, mate," Sirius said sympathetically, now craning his neck to spot her. "Looks like she's going to hang out with old Snivelly again." He watched the pair exit the hall, then chanced a sidelong glance at James, who was suddenly glaring furiously at his roast lamb.

"Aw, c'mon, Prongs, lighten up," he laughed suddenly. "Surprisingly, there's a lot more to life than Evans!" James looked up at him dully, and he muttered in an undertone, "Not that you'd know it."

"Now," he returned to his normal volume, which was undisputedly loud, "we could either annoy teachers till they snap and go tearing out of class, attempt to poison the giant squid, help, ah, rearrange the books in the library, or sneak down to the kitchens!"

A reluctant smile tugged on James' face, until he realized a great flaw in the plan. "Bit boring, isn't it? I mean, we've done all that, oh, I don't know, a couple dozen times. And teachers don't go tearing out of class anymore, they just give you detention. Then when we terrorize them during detention–"

"I know!" Sirius gave a dramatic gasp; Remus, Peter and James rolled their eyes. "We can infiltrate Dumbledore's office..." he paused for effect, "and steal a Time-Turner!"

There was no response.

"What?" he demanded at the anticlimactic silence. "Does no one appreciate my brilliance?!"

"Um, Padfoot," said Lupin gently, with the air of one explaining to a child throwing a tantrum, "don't you think Dumbledore would notice? He's not Headmaster and a great wizard for nothing."

"Yeah, and you're about as brilliant as the Gernumbli Gardensi, but not to worry, we appreciate it, you could have turned out much worse," snickered James.

Peter Pettigrew chose this moment to cleverly add, "What's a Time-Turner?"

Sirius, whose scowl seemed to be getting more pronounced with each comment, glowered at his friends. "Okay firstly, Moony, we're Marauders, we take risks. Take off that prefect badge and don't be such a wet blanket. Secondly, James, I neither know nor care what Gernumbli Gardensi means, as long as it's nothing to do with Snivellus. And thirdly, Wormtail, please don't antagonize me anymore with your intellect, or lack thereof."

He glanced determinedly at each of his friends, who seemed to have been more or less swayed by his charismatic little speech.

"All right, let's do it," agreed James at last. Remus echoed him rather reluctantly while Peter nodded his consent, still contemplating Sirius' last words thoughtfully.

***

"I think you've put on some weight, James," grumbled Pettigrew some hours later. "We can't fit under this Cloak of yours anymore. I think my feet are sticking out."

"Whatever," James whispered back. "I wasn't the one who made a great big fuss about missing dinner." Peter pouted unhappily. "And can the puppy look, Wormtail, that's for dogs, not rats. You look constipated."

"Hey," interjected Sirius, "You most certainly will not see that revolting look on my face. Ever."

Remus decided not to join in the argument. There were better things to do, he believed, when they were standing in front of the Headmaster's office, especially if Wormtail's feet really were sticking out. The heated dispute between the three Animagi was abruptly cut short by Professor Slughorn hurrying out of Dumbledore's office, muttering to himself.

"Now!" Sirius hissed, their little spat forgotten immediately.

The Messrs approached the gargoyle tentatively.

"Chocoballs?" Moony suggested hopefully. He frowned as his friends tried to stifle their laughter. "Well, if you have a better suggestion!"

"Pepper Imps?"

"Fizzing Whizzbees?"

"Jelly Slugs?"

"You have got to be kidding," James groaned as the gargoyle sprang aside. "Jelly Slugs? Is this guy some sort of fanatic?"

They tiptoed up the spiral staircase, Sirius swearing as someone trod on his foot. The circular office was thankfully deserted, the portraits of past headmasters snoring peacefully. Remus felt uneasy. This was too good to be true. Nevertheless, James had eagerly slipped off the cloak and was heading towards Dumbledore's cabinet of rare-looking instruments, and he was in no mood to dampen their spirits.

"Here it is!" James called excitedly, and they went over to join him, Sirius plucking the tiny hourglass from his hands to examine it more closely. James' attention, meanwhile, had wandered to the rest of the Headmaster's precious possessions.

"What's this?" he said interestedly, marveling at a spindly silver object as he plucked it from its shelf. "It looks delicate, and... oops!"

The ill-fated, mysterious item crashed onto the floor, proving its delicacy by accordingly splintering into a thousand irreparable shards. Sirius winced.

"James, what in the name of Merlin's too-small underp–"

Mercifully, Peter never finished that sentence, but the portraits were already stirring.

"Quick, QUICK!"

The four Marauders were out of the office and down the stairs before Armando Dippet had even opened his eyes.

***

Sirius spotted an adjacent classroom and they all scrambled in, hurriedly shutting the door behind them. Silence ensued, punctuated only by Wormtail's occasional coughs as the boys caught their breath.

"Well, we succeeded!" They could practically hear Sirius grinning in the darkness. "Let's have a look at it then... lumos!"

Light flared from the tip of his wand and the Marauders leaned forward, scrutinizing the abducted Time-Turner.

"C'mon, put it on," suggested James eagerly, but as he threw the fine gold chain over the four of them, they heard footsteps coming down the corridor. Remus whirled around; they seemed to be getting louder.

"I think someone's after us!" he said nervously, turning back. "We have to hide– Sirius, what are you doing!"

Sirius was pointing his wand at the Time-Turner, which was revolving at such a furious speed that it became a golden blur. James and Peter were looking on, transfixed; Remus was horrified.

"What do you think, I'm getting us back to before this happened! Yesterday night, or something."

Remus was still extremely suspicious. "Are you sure that's going backwards? Because I'm pretty sure clockwise is forwards."

"Ah, Moony, your sharpness astounds me," Sirius replied absent-mindedly. Remus swallowed, with difficulty, a yell of frustration.

"Sirius, just how many times did you turn it?!"

"A couple hundred thousand?" Sirius finally paused to consider this question. "Well, I don't really know, I..." The realization of what he had done finally hit home. "Oh."

And before Lupin had time to yank the chain off, cuss shockingly or smack Sirius on his shaggy head, he felt the world dissolve into blackness around him.

***

Nothing seemed to have changed when they reappeared – they were still in a dark, deserted classroom with a chain cutting into their necks and no idea what they were going to do. Moony was the first to untangle himself from the mess of limbs that belonged to the four Marauders. Without further ado, he hastily snatched the Time-Turner and stuffed it away in his robes before Sirius could send them into the next millennium.

"Owch, geroff me Prongs!" Sirius shoved his friend off him and sat up, rubbing his face blearily. "Where's the... thingy?"

Remus thrust his hands into his pockets. "No idea," he replied promptly, "we must have lost it on the way."

"Aw, shucks," said Sirius. "'Cause I'm pretty sure I could have set us back to the right time. Just, um, turn it anticlockwise, right?" He rubbed his head and frowned. "Or was it clockwise? You mentioned something, Moony."

Lupin privately thought that it was most wise of him to take possession of the Time-Turner. Aloud, he neglected to say anything, instead choosing to watch James brush himself off and inspect his surroundings.

"If you ask me, the whole thing was a failure," he sighed. "Because we're in precisely the same spot. And I'm definitely still fifteen. Same raging teenage hormones and all."

"Yeah, the kind only you possess, Prongs," complained Peter, who was feeling distinctly uncharitable towards someone whose foot had been sticking in his face just seconds before.

"For once, Wormy, you're right," smirked Sirius. "Did I tell you about the time he tried to enter the girls' dormitory to look for Evans? A real riot, that was. Lots of shrieking and jinxing."

James considered himself too dignified to reply. Not enjoying the discussion of his previous exploits, he cast around for another subject. "I left my Cloak in Dumbledore's office!"

"Doesn't matter," Remus piped up. "I bet he'd have found out anyway." Sirius shot him a sullen glare. "C'mon, let's go find out just what we've got ourselves into this time."

"'This time'," mused James. "Is what time, exactly?"

And no one could quite answer that.