"You lads ever considered that we could be ghosts right now? And all the ghosts walking round are the alive people?" Sirius wondered out of the blue, thinking aloud to the two other occupants of the room. The three third years were waiting up on the forth member of their gang, Peter Pettigrew, who was in detention after taking the fall for them regarding their latest prank. It was certainly worth it, though.
Remus groaned as he looked up, quill between his teeth, at his mate. Why the hell had he been distracted? Freaking Peter had left his transfiguration essay - identify the characteristics of an animagus and how they differ to those of a metamorphmagus - to the last minute, having been too busy spectating Sirius and James planning and pulling off their latest prank. Of course, the squat boy couldn't do it now, so the task had been left to the dutiful werewolf.
"How did this come about?" James wanted to know. The messy-haired, bespectacled boy watched his mate with a carefree eye, absent-mindedly tossing and catching a quaffle he'd nicked from the Quidditch cupboard.'
"I had a dream," Sirius announced, as if it were some incredibly fascinating and important thing.
Remus scoffed, and went back to Peter's badly spelt essay, tickling his nose with the end of his sparrow-feather quill as he thought, out of habit.
James snickered. "What, that Snivellus was standing in the middle of the Great Hall wearing nothing but his spotty underwear?" Turning rival Severus Snape's robes invisible, using a tricky sort of spell that was like a less advanced version of the spellwork that created an invisibility cloak had been the marauder's latest prank. "Because that wasn't a dream, mate. That really happened."
Remus rolled his eyes privately. The other boys were good friends of his, but sometimes they could be a little immature.
"No," Sirius corrected, after allowing a brief snigger at the memory of Snivellus' red and white spotted undergarments. "That we were all ghosts, and Nick was human."
James wore a pout at this. "But I don't want to be a ghost. Because if I was a ghost, then I wouldn't be able to snog Lily."
"Fantasize about snogging Lily, you mean," Sirius correct drily.
"Shut up," James muttered, ceasing his one-handed Quidditch practice to stare thoughtfully into the distance, images of Lily's fiery red hair, a cascading volcano down her back; and the way her ruby red lips moved as she answered the teacher in class. "It will happen. Some day."
"Keep dreaming, Potty," Sirius scoffed.
Now, ever a nerd, Remus had to cut in, correcting a statement James had made earlier. "Actually, ghosts can decide if they are corporeal or not. They can make themselves solid if they want to, or non-corporeal so that they can pass through stuff. So technically, even if you and Lily were ghosts, you'd be able to keep on snogging." The beast had to grimace at the mental image given, however, disguising his expression by pretending to be disgusted at a certain spelling error in Peter's work (Snout was NOT spelt s-n-a-u-w-t).
"Okay then, I give permission for this fantasy of yours, Siri," James allowed.
"Why would you guys be ghosts, though?" Remus questioned, having finished spell-checking Peter's now finished transfiguration essay, and fully joining the conversation. "Well, any of us really. Ghosts are made out of unfinished business. What's ours?"
"Not enough pranks pulled," Sirius declared. "Snivelly isn't too embarrassed to show his face in public yet."
"Not enough snogging time with Lily," James offered at the same time.
"So, James, apparently you want to come back as a ghost to snog Lily for the rest of eternity," Remus translated, hoping to deter the prankster.
It did the opposite. James grinned. "I can get on board with that. My life's goal would then be complete."
Remus groaned. Boys.