So, my friend and fellow HP obsessive Lizzie had a birthday recently and I wrote this chapter as a present for her (and also as an excuse for me to write it all down) so happy b'day Lizzie.

PS: I hope you all enjoy the special name I've chucked in here. In honour of the wonderful actor himself and for a bit of fun :)


"Ah Rosmerta, my darling! How are you this fine morning?" Sirius asked loudly as he walked into The Five Quaffles, essentially the Three Broomsticks of Above.

Madam Rosmerta turned from her reorganization of the shelves behind the bar to grin at him. "Sirius, just because I give you Firewhiskey every other day does not make me your 'darling'." She waved at the rest of the new entries who waved back in amusing synchronisation.

"You know, Sirius, if you keep addressing every women you know like that I may give up on you," Nikki warned, jabbing her finger in his chest as their group found a table.

He snorted, "Please, you couldn't live without me if you tried. You would miss me so! You would miss my fantastic jokes, and stunning good looks, and you would especially miss that thing I do that you love. You know, the one where I—"

"For the love of Merlin, Padfoot shut your trap!" James snapped, slapping him over the head while everyone else covered their ears, now completely scarred.

"What?" Sirius looked around innocently.

"It is far too early in the day to hear about…that." Lily grimaced, "although time of day has never stopped you before."

"Nothing has ever stopped Sirius Black from saying or doing what he wants!" Sirius announced banging his fist loudly on the table and making everyone in a two-table radius around them turn around.

"Well that is certainly true," Remus muttered, smiling slightly. "No matter how we used to try to stop you from doing stupid and/or dangerous things at school you somehow managed to get it done anyway."

Sirius grinned proudly, "and that's why I'm such awesome company!"

Lily rolled her eyes, "No, it's why people can only handle you in small doses. Speaking of, it is my day off Sirius-duty tomorrow, since its Dora's today. So I expect not to be disturbed as I will be doing something very important."

"Your going to go to the library and read as many books as you can, aren't you?" James smiled affectionately.

"Yes, and I'm so excited!" Lily cried with a big grin, bouncing on her chair and making everyone laugh.

"What's Tonks doing today?" Nikki asked Remus.

He shrugged, "She's probably hanging out with her dad, or Moody. She hasn't seen either of them in a while."

"That's nice," Lily smiled, "It has been very busy around here since Sirius has been so hyper and restless."

"Well that is really no-ones fault but your own, Lil." James sighed, "I told you he would be a handful if you didn't let him run around outside the other day, but what did you do? You kept him inside the house with nothing to do but tear up the cushions."

Lily shook her head, "But James, you know how Sirius is when he's let loose. He would just bolt and we would never know where he's gone—"

Just as she said it, Sirius gave a huge gasp and bolted from his seat without a word, leaving everyone confused and annoyed.

"See." Lily muttered.

"Where's he gone?" Nikki sighed in exasperation, unable to see her hyper boyfriend in the crowded room. Luckily, Sirius was not only fast but also loud, and the group was able to track his voice to a back table, half hidden in the corner of the bar.

"It's Minnie! Minnie, Minnie, Minnie, oh I missed my Minnie!" He was crying with glee, jumping from one foot to the other in front of the embarrassed transfiguration teacher.

"Shut up Black!" McGonagall was snapping just as the rest of the group wandered over. "And how many times do I have to tell you that I am not 'your' Minnie."

Sirius grinned, "At least once more, my Minnie. What are you doing here, may I ask?"

"No you may not ask." McGonagall retorted just as she saw her audience. "Oh good, the cavalry is here. Just pick him and be on your way, will you?" she gestured vaguely to Sirius.

"Well, its lovely to see you too, Minnie," James pouted.

McGonagall rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry Potter, but I'm a little busy at the moment."

"With who?" Sirius demanded, looking around before finally seeing the other person sitting at the table, across from McGonagall. His eyes narrowed as he took in the other women. "I know you from somewhere…" he muttered.

"Sirius, if this is another woman that you claim got with you while under the 'Sirius Spell' I may beat you to a pulp," Nikki crossed her arms and glared at him menacingly.

"No, that's not it!" Sirius defended himself, "Its something else."

The woman, who had maintained a silent and casual expression for this whole exchange finally smirked, "Black, if you really don't recognise me I will be quite disappointed in you."

Sirius still stared at her, uncomprehendingly but it became clear that the others had recognised her. James and Remus laughed while Lily and Nikki smiled.

"It's wonderful to see you again Professor Radcliffe," Lily said, reaching forward to shake her hand, "Just ignore Sirius. You should know that he can be quite determined when he wants to be. He'll figure it out eventually."

"Yes I remember as much," Professor Radcliffe smiled, "It's lovely to see you again, Lily. And the rest of you, of course. I still remember those few weeks I knew you – not exactly all fond memories, but they certainly got stuck in my head."

James nodded, "The Marauders do that. We aren't easily forgotten."

"A strength and a weakness, I'm afraid." Remus mused, "not very useful when we were trying to get away with pranks."

"I remember that as well," Professor Radcliffe laughed, "When I refused to forget that one particular prank on the Slytherins involving attacking furniture you attempted to bribe me with all sorts of things to not turn you in."

James and Remus laughed loudly, remembering while Lily and Nikki sighed, not even wanting to know what they offered to poor professor. Sirius suddenly gasped loudly, pointing at Radcliffe.

"Professor Radcliffe!" The others rolled their eyes while he grinned, "I knew it! How are you dearest Lizzie? Remember that time you wanted to put me in detention for making the furniture in the Slytherin common room attack them and I offered you a ride on the Sirius Experience instead? Ah, good times." He smiled, reminiscing.

His trip down memory lane was interrupted by a sharp slap on the arm by Nikki, "Sirius!" She shouted, ignoring his girlish scream, "Did you seriously offer her… that?"

"Sure did," Sirius smirked, "She almost agreed, too."

Everyone turned to look at Radcliffe in surprise and she rolled her eyes, "I did not! I only didn't say anything for a moment because I thought he was joking."

"Sure, sure," Sirius grinned.

McGonagall made a point of turning her back to Sirius and said to Radcliffe, "Elizabeth, why don't we leave? We will find the others on the way out."

"Others? Who else are you with?" James asked curiously before spinning around quickly to survey the room, "Slughorns not here is he?"

Radcliffe snorted slighty, "No, Horace isn't with us, although I'm sure he would love to see you all," she chuckled as they all made a face, "We're here with our husbands."

McGonagall sent a pointed glare her friend's way just as James and Sirius yelled, "WHAT?"

"There's a Mr Minnie?" Sirius yelled in excitement, "Where is he? Where?"

"How come you never told us you had a husband, Minnie?" James wailed, "How could you keep such a secret from us?"

Rolling her eyes, McGonagall said, "I never kept it a secret, James I just neglected to tell you – there's a difference. And I didn't tell you, because I was afraid this would happen." She motioned to Sirius in annoyance.

"Mr Minnie! Mr Minnie!" Sirius was now shouting out loudly, ignoring the irritated stares of the other patrons. He attempted to stand on a chair to get a better look around the room, but Lily pulled him down roughly. Turning back to McGonagall, he asked, "Why won't he answer me? Your husband is very rude."

"He's not rude!" McGonagall snapped before quieting her tone, "He just won't answer to 'Mr Minnie' because that's not his name!"

Sirius sighed, slumping back down on his chair. "What's his name then?"

McGonagall rolled her eyes, "I'm not telling you that, Black. You would have to be very stupid to even think I would tell you his name. Oh, sorry, for a moment I forgot who I was talking to." Sirius frowned and the others laughed while McGonagall continued. "Also, I warned him about you and your obsession with calling me 'Minnie' and he is on his guard to avoid you at all costs."

For a moment Sirius pouted but within a minute he was over it and turning to Radcliffe with a cheeky grin. "So, Lizzie, what's yourhusband's name?"

Radcliffe's mouth turned down at the nickname, one she had not been called since she taught at Hogwarts all those years ago. Only one student had dared to call her Lizzie back then. Three guesses who. She glanced at McGonagall for a moment before looking back at Sirius. "Unlike my friend, I see know harm in telling you my husbands first name since you know mine. It's Daniel."

James snorted, muttering "Daniel Radcliffe. That is so a loser's name." Lily hit him on the arm and he backtracked, "I mean, it's the name of someone with great power and lots of money."

Not at all offended by James's words, Radcliffe smiled, "I always thought it was very much a famous person's name – it has lots of authority."

Sirius intervened then, obviously bored by this conversation, "Anyway Lizzie, how have you been since you were last in the presence of the Great Sirius Black?"

Employing her old tactics and ignoring Sirius completely, Radcliffe rose from her seat just as McGonagall did. "It was lovely to see you all," she smiled at the group, before looking back at Sirius, "Black, as wonderful as it was to be in your presence once again, do not pay me any unexpected visits, alright? However, I'm sure you would be welcome at Minnie's anytime you like." She winked before turning with a flourish and hooking arms with a dark-haired man on the way out.

McGonagall stood there gaping at her friends back for a moment, fuming that she had left her with the Marauders. She may as well have left her to be eaten alive by hungry hippogriffs. McGonagall turned slowly to be greeted with five laughing faces. "Don't you dare!" She began in her teacher voice, attempting to regain some dignity, "All of you, ignore Professor Radcliffe."

"But she's a teacher, Minnie," Nikki said cheekily, "You were the one who taught us to neverdisobey a teacher."

"Professor Radcliffe was merely a substitute, in my subject no less." McGonagall managed after a moment, "Therefore my word immediately trumps hers. If I see any of you in the near future I will not be held responsible for my actions." Then she turned and stomped off, disappearing through the crowd.

Sirius and James immediately jumped on chairs in order to try and see what Mr Minnie looked like as McGonagall joined him, but all they saw was the back of his head as the pair walked out.

"She just adores us," Remus snickered.

"I didn't get to see Mr Minnie!" Sirius moaned, stepping down from his chair, "I didn't get to interrogate him. No one will ever be good enough for my Minnie."

Nikki smiled, slipping her hand into his, "I'm sure he loves her very much, Siri. I bet their relationship is as good as ours."

Sirius snorted immediately, "Right." For his sarcastic tone he received a jab in the back of the knee from Nikki and collapsed to the floor with a little yelp.

Everyone but Sirius, who was still on the ground, sat down at the table that McGonagall and Radcliffe had just vacated. Lily smiled, "it was so nice to see Professor Radcliffe."

James laughed, "Lil, you think it's nice to see everyone."

"That's because it is! It makes me feel more normal, more alive. Sometimes I forget that I'm actually dead and seeing other people is comforting, I guess."

"Why would you need comfort from others?" James demanded, "You have me!"

Lily laughed loudly, "Oh yes, because you're a great comfort, Mr being-dead-is-awesome-coz-then-I-can-do-pranks-whenever-I-want-without-any-consequences."

"That's a really long name, Lilyflower," James said with a wink, "I prefer to be called Mr Potter."

"Smartass." Lily muttered, but everyone could see her lips twitching, fighting her smile.

"Well I think it was fun to see Professor Radcliffe again," Nikki grinned, "Remember when she taught us?"

"POTTER!"

Lily Evans stormed into the Transfiguration classroom, Nikki and Mary hot on her heels. The Marauders, all causally lounging by Remus's desk – and unusually early to class – looked up in surprise at Lily's angry scream.

Sirius grinned at James, "Good luck, Prongs. If you don't survive this, can I have all your money? Oh, and your new broom."

"You say that every time Evans yells at him," Peter snickered. "It's been six years and he hasn't died yet."

"Maybe this time I'll get lucky," Sirius winked at James who sighed and sank lower in his chair as Lily and the girls caught sight of the Marauders.

He glared at Sirius, "I told you we shouldn't have – hello, Lilyflower," he turned to her and put on his most charming smile, "I love the new look. Really brings out your gorgeous eyes."

"You dyed all our clothes!" she snarled at him, gesturing to her friends who were currently ripping in to the other Marauders for their outfits. Lily's clothes were all dyed a sparkling emerald green (James's choice; he really did think it brought out her eyes), while Nikki had fluoro pink robes and Mary's were a blinding yellow.

"Well I didn't." James defended himself, "It was all Sirius's doing, I swear. I just chose the colours." He winked but then had to duck immediately as Lily's hand swung perilously close to his head. "Really Evans, violence is never the answer." He reprimanded.

Lily glared at him, "Just tell me how to change them back before I pummel you to the ground."

"Ask Sirius."

"BLACK!" Lily immediately rounded on Sirius, "How do we change our clothes back?"

"Don't bother, Lil," Mary sighed, "Nikki and I have already asked and the asshole wouldn't tell us—"

"I think 'ask' is a bit of a stretch," Sirius pointed out, "it was more like tortured."

Nikki stepped towards him menacingly, "Believe me, Black, you haven't even begun to experience the torture I am capable of. If you prank us one more time, I swear to Merlin you will have real problems upholding your 'Best Shagger' title."

"But Williamson," Sirius smirked, "I know you wouldn't want to torture yourself as well. Someone like you wouldn't survive being abstinent from me."

"SOMEONE LIKE ME?" Nikki shrieked, lunging at him.

Sirius ducked under the table in a practiced move, while Mary had to grab Nikki from behind before she raged around, destroying the furniture like the Hulk.

"I hate to detract from this important argument," Remus stepped in, "But don't you think its strange McGonagall isn't here yet. She's usually halfway through the lesson by the time we arrive."

For a small moment, there was a confused silence amongst the group as everyone looked around, waiting for McGonagall to walk in and demand her usual silence.

Then Nikki yelled, "Screw her, I want to KILL BLACK!" and raced from her spot too fast for Mary to catch her.

"I'm too hot to die!" Sirius squealed, weaving between the desks and amused students before running behind James for protection.

Nikki paced in front of James, glaring at the top of Sirius's head that was poking over his protector's shoulder. "Potter, I suggest you move so I can kill your friend. I don't want to have to kill you as well – I'll leave you for Lily."

"Now, Nik, do you really want to do this?" James held out his hands to her, holding her off.

"Yes, I really do." She growled.

"Okay," James shrugged, and gave a smooth step to the left, effectively leaving Sirius helpless.

Sirius gave a squeak before taking off again, Nikki's nails just managing to scape the back of his robes. "PRONGS!" Sirius yelled as he ran from Nikki, circling the classroom.

"Padfoot, I tried to tell you not to dye their clothes, but you wouldn't listen," James laughed, sitting on his chair lazily.

Just as Lily and Mary managed to restrain their murderous friend, an irritatingly familiar voice sounded out above the racket.

"Oh look, there's a rainbow in our classroom," Snape snickered, eyeing the girls' clothes in amusement.

James was instantly on his feet again, hands clenched into fists at his side. "What do you want Snivellus?"

Snape looked at him condescendingly, "I'm just admiring your handiwork, Potter. You really know how to brighten up someone's day, don't you?"

"Shut your face, Snape." Sirius snapped, "nobody asked for your opinion. And thanks, by the way – you don't often admire our pranks."

Rolling his eyes, Snape said, "That's because they're most often directed at me, Black. It's a nice change to see you inflict some pain on others who are more deserving."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Mary demanded, her voice increasing in volume swiftly.

"Mary, don't," Lily stepped toward her, placing a hand on her arm, "he's not worth it. It's the Marauders we should be mad at."

Something flashed across Snape's face, his eyes softened and the corner of his mouth turned up before it was replaced by a hard sneer, "Thank Merlin someone in this room as some common sense. Ironic that it should come from a—"

"You better not finish that sentence," James growled, "If you say the word I know you're going to say, I will not be responsible for my actions, Snivellus."

"You certainly will be." A completely different voice rung out across the room, full of authority, but it was not McGonagall's.

Everyone turned, having not noticed the door open in the heat of the moment. At the back of the room, watching the scene fold out in front of her was a tall, blonde witch in dark purple robes. She was a whole lot younger then anyone expected, and a lot prettier then all of the other Professors at Hogwarts combined, but something about her face held power and authority.

"You're not McGonagall," Sirius stated rudely, frowning at the newcomer.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, young man. I can only assume that you are Sirius Black?" The woman smirked at him slightly. Sirius gave a small start but nodded. The woman's smirk grew more pronounced, "Professor McGonagall warned me about you. So far you have only been slightly obnoxious, but the day is still young."

Sirius frowned at that, not completely understanding her implications, but Remus and Lily snickered softly behind him.

The woman swept to the front of the room, before turning and facing the class. She raised an eyebrow, "Do you usually spend the entire lesson standing, or just until the fights are over?" Everyone immediately scattered from the small circle that had been around James and Snape as they faced off. "I didn't think so," she smiled.

"My name is Elizabeth Radcliffe, but I will not respond to anything but Professor Radcliffe," she said once everyone was seated, "Professor McGonagall is unable to teach you for the next few weeks so I agreed to take her place and continue your studies until she has returned. She has briefed me on this class a little. And from the small amount of student interaction I have seen," she looked pointedly at the Marauders, "I can see she was not exaggerating."

"Minnie's been bragging about our awesomeness, has she?" James laughed, nudging Peter who was sitting beside him. Peter snickered and nodded, even though he really didn't know what he was laughing about.

Radcliffe turned her eyes to James, who had the sense to sink a little lower in his chair under her intimidating gaze, "You must be James Potter," She said, "Professor McGonagall warned me about you also. I see you pranked these helpless girls recently," she motioned to Lily, Nikki and Mary who were all sitting sullenly in their ridiculously bright robes, "And I must inform you Potter that she did not mention your 'awesomeness' at all to me. However, I'm pretty sure the words 'arrogant, infuriating, pranking jokesters' came up."

The rest of the class laughed while the Marauders scowled. McGonagall was one of their favourite teachers, mainly for her ability to handle the teasing, and simultaneously make them work. As a result, being a substitute teacher for McGonagall was always a dangerous job as it increased your chances of being pranked remarkably – all teachers knew that.

But Professor Radcliffe was determined to prove herself as a teacher, and one who could be as respected (and feared) by the students as Professor McGonagall. All the other teachers in the school scoffed and said "Yeah, good luck with that" behind her back, but she was stubborn and wouldn't rest until she had reached her goal.

So far, she was doing well on the fear part, but the respect aspect…not so much.

"You better watch it, Lizzie," Sirius was taunting Radcliffe, "You might just wake up tomorrow morning and find a bunch of porcupines in your bed."

Radcliffe glared, "If you do that, Black, I will spare no time in contacting Professor McGonagall and demanding that she come back and lock you in her office until you have eaten the entire box of ginger newts before making you lick all the trophies in the Trophy Cabinet clean."

Sirius immediately paled and sunk further into his seat. He suddenly had the feeling that he wasn't going to like this teacher at all. He had an unhealthy appreciation of Professor McGonagall, or his 'Minnie', as he called her. Then and there, Sirius decided that if this Lizzie person didn't stop acting like a cow then he was going to make her life miserable until his Minnie came back.

With that thought, he raised himself from his low position in his seat and smiled in anticipation. While he pretended to listen to Professor Radcliffe's lecture, his mind began to run wild. He had to decide which prank would be most appropriate for this new unwelcome professor and oh, the options…

"Thank Merlin we're finally out on our missions again," Sirius whispered to his fellow Marauders as they scampered down the corridors of Hogwarts. He couldn't wait to restart their pranks again. He almost laughed in anticipation of seeing Lizzie's face tomorrow morning.

It was almost midnight, and the moon shining through the windows was just enough for the four of them to be able to see obstacles like suits of armour and walls before they crashed into them. Well, for most of them – Peter had crashed into so many walls with his poor eyesight that James was now forced to piggy-back him all the way to their destination to prevent him from making more noise and getting them caught.

"Padfoot, can you please stop referring to our pranks as 'missions'?" Remus sighed, studying the Marauders map with the limited light his wand provided, "We're not James Bond."

"James who?"

"Never mind."

"And it hasn't been that long since we've last pranked," James huffed from beneath the weight of the small elephant he was carrying…I mean Peter. "It was only last Tuesday."

"That was 9 days ago, Prongs!" Sirius cried, then immediately lowering his voice when his friends hissed at him to be quiet, "that's way too long between fun. The school's been far too peaceful if you ask me."

"Most people really enjoy that peace," Remus muttered.

"Well, we're not most people," Sirius said, running up a flight of stairs as it moved, "And life here is so boring when the Slytherins aren't yelling abuse at us for turning all their hair into seaweed."

Petersnickered, "That was a fun week."

"Besides," Sirius was on a roll now, "Lizzie is really starting to annoy me. She's trying too hard to be Minnie, but no one can replace the true, wonderful Minnie McGonagall."

"Padfoot, I really think you should stop calling Professor Radcliffe Lizzie," James puffed, his face now red and sweaty with exertion as he clambered up the stairs while Peter lounged comfortably on his back, "I'm starting to think she may want to kill you."

Remus opened his mouth to say something but James cut him off with a grin, "Don't worry Moony, I've already added her to the list."

"What list?" Sirius asked curiously.

"The list of people who would happily kill you if given the chance," Peter said, "We started it in second year and it is now at a rather impressive length."

"Almost 6 feet of parchment," Remus added proudly.

Sirius gaped as James even pulled the thick roll of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to his friend. Sirius scanned the list quickly with a frown on his face. He surveyed the whole thing, right down to the newest edition of 'Professor Lizzie Radcliffe'. "That's just ridiculous." He scoffed, "I can think of so many more people who want to kill me. Really guys, I'm disappointed."

They laughed as James tucked the list back into his pocket, "You can add to it when we get back to the dorms then, mate."

"Good," Sirius nodded, then held out the piles of bags in his arms "now let's get onto this prank. How many bags of pine cones are we using again?"

A familiar voice came out of nowhere, "I sincerely hope those pine cones are going back to the Forbidden Forest, Black."

The Marauders froze and Peter slid right of James's back in shock.

They turned slowly to see Professor Radcliffe standing in a doorway wearing her purple pyjamas and looking at them wryly.

"Um, well…" Sirius gulped.

"Well? What are they for?" Radcliffe raised an eyebrow.

"We're gonna turn the pine cones invisible and then cover the floor of the Great Hall with them!" Peter babbled before slapping his hand over his mouth. He always found his brain-to-mouth filter disappeared when in trouble with teachers. Remus, James and Sirius glared at him and he gave a sheepish smile.

The corner of Radcliffe's mouth turned up. "Really? I would have glued them to the benches, personally. They would be very painful to sit on. But that's just me."

The Marauders gaped at her for a long moment. Slowly, they began to smile. "Lizzie," Sirius began gleefully, "Did you just help us with our prank?"

"No, Black, I just gave you my opinion," Radcliffe corrected sternly. There's a difference. And stop calling me Lizzie."

"Never!"

She rolled her eyes, looking like she was going to say something, but then seemed to think the better of it. Instead, she just turned and walked back down the corridor the way she came.

"Wait, Lizzie!" James yelled as loudly as he could without waking anyone else, "Aren't you going to help us with our prank?"

She looked back at him blankly, "What prank?"

Their shocked expressions cracked her stern exterior. She grinned and winked, "I never saw anything."

The boys continued to stare at her as she walked away, their mouths open in surprise. "Did that just happen?" Remus said, unable to comprehend that a teacher just caught them in the middle of a prank and purposefully turned a blind eye. "Wormtail, pinch me. I have to make sure I'm not dreaming. OW!" he jumped, rubbing his arm and glared at his friend.

Peter was confused, "You told me too."

"Right, um…" James shook his head to clear it, rather befuddled with the latest development. "That was weird. Obviously she's a cooler teacher then you thought, Pads."

"I know, how strange." He mused, "A Transfiguration teacher ignoring our pranks, that's unheard of!"

He was slightly annoyed. He had been so looking forward to pranking her, but then she went and showed off how awesomely helpful she could be. Damn her for spoiling his plans. Luckily, Sirius had the attention span of a three year old, and got over this predicament quickly.

"Ah well, I think we run with her suggestion, don't you, boys?"

They grinned at each other before continuing on to the Great Hall. Their grins remained on their faces for the rest of the night. Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

There was havoc in the Great Hall when the Marauders eventually strolled in, rather late for breakfast. Having been out all night, they allowed themselves to sleep in, also knowing that they wanted to have the full impact of their tricks when they got the breakfast the next day.

The four of them stood in the doorway for a moment, surveying the damage they had created with identical smug smirks on their faces. Girls were shrieking in pain whenever they tried to sit down, and boys had turned over the benches or were bashing them into the ground in some poor effort to rid the spiky cones from the normally comfortable surface.

The teachers had all resigned themselves to eating whilst standing, most of them lounging against the walls. None of them looked particularly bothered with the mayhem in the hall. They had tried to exert their authority early on and stop students sitting down, but it had been no use, and they all had given up. Besides, these pranks were a regular occurrence and most of the staff found them amusing, particularly Slughorn and Dumbledore, who smiled at the boys when they walked in. Only one teacher was sitting down comfortably.

When Professor Radcliffe noticed the boys standing in the doorway, she gave a small smile and toasted her goblet to them casually. They had purposefully left her chair un-pine coned, as a thank you for the wonderful idea.

"Brilliant, just brilliant." James whispered to his friends as they headed towards the Gryffindor table, "This is absolutely fantastic."

"The pinecones on the floor wouldn't have had nearly the effect," Remus agreed.

Sirius gasped, "Maybe we should ask for Lizzie's help on all our pranks!"

Remus had opened his mouth to say, 'No Padfoot, that's a stupid idea' when Nikki stormed right up to the four of them, annoyance written all over features.

"You did this, didn't you?"

"Aw, why do you have to always assume it was us, Williamson?" Sirius whined.

"Well, was it you?"

"…yes."

"That's why!" She glared at them, "This is the most annoying prank, you prats. Why ruin breakfast for everyone?"

The Marauders looked at each other before shrugging in unison. "Because its fun." James said.

"And because we can," Peter pointed out.

"Besides, we often ruin breakfast for the Slytherins and you never seem to mind, Nikki," Remus said, "If I'm not mistaken, you usually laugh."

Nikki blinked at him, stumped for a moment. "I…well, I…why aren't you being yelled at yet?"

"But we are." Peter said blankly, "you're yelling at us."

"I mean by a teacher!"

Lily and Mary had just gotten up and joined the conversation, evidently bored with not getting their share of ripping into the boys. "Yeah, why aren't the teachers giving you detentions and things?" Mary wondered.

"Because they're all secretly amused by our pranks but just won't admit it. Besides, Minnie is usually the one to hand out the punishments left right and centre," James laughed, "And she's not here."

"Then I'll get Professor Radcliffe," Lily said smugly, waiting for the cheeky expressions on the boys faces to change to one of horror and fear.

Naturally, she was extremely irritated to find they did not change. If anything, their grins got wider.

"By all means, bring Lizzie down here." Sirius chuckled, anticipating the shocked look on Lily's face when the teacher came down and did not yell at them like everyone was expecting.

"Fine," she huffed, turning on her heel and marching up to the teachers table.

"Fine." Sirius echoed, even if she was now out of earshot. "This is going to be so good," he murmured to his friends, who nodded in agreement.

"What's going to be good?" Mary couldn't help but asking. Unfortunately, she didn't get an answer because that was when Radcliffe found her way to the group, Lily trailing behind with a smile.

Professor Radcliffe faced them sternly, not even cracking a smile while all four boys continued grinning at her. "What are you lot looking so happy about?" She demanded, "you look as if I've come to give you a present, not to punish you for this immature prank you've pulled."

"Punish us?" James asked, his smile fading slightly, "But you were the one who hel—"

"I most certainly am going to punish you!" Radcliffe cut him off, giving him a glare that caused his insides to wither slightly, "You have acted foolishly and selfishly by using the pain of the rest of the school for your own personal amusement. Miss Evans is certainly right, Professor McGonagall may not be here, but seeing as I am her substitute, I believe it is within my rights to punish you as she would have."

The boys paled noticeably, "Oh, Lizzie," Sirius tried to charm her, "Don't be silly, you don't really mean that."

"I definitely do!" She marched forward out the doors, "Come along boys, lets go for a little trip, shall we?"

"A trip," Remus repeated warily, "Where to?"

"To McGonagall's office," Radcliffe replied, a slight smile in her voice, "I believe there is a large tin of Ginger Newts that are just asking to be eaten."

The boys followed her, shoulders slumped and heads down. As soon as they turned the corner and were out of earshot from everyone else, Sirius stopped walking and looked up at Radcliffe, "Alright Lizzie, that was very convincing, but can we go now and just tell everyone you gave us detentions for a week or something?"

"Certainly not, Black, I truly do think you need to be punished."

"So, we actually are going to McGonagall's office?" Peter whispered in fear.

"Indeed we are, Pettigrew. I do not joke about such things – COME BACK BLACK!" Radcliffe suddenly whipped out her wand in order to drag Sirius back. He had tried to flee from the group, and had managed to get a good distance away before Radcliffe's charm reached him and he was physically dragged along the ground, struggling the whole way.

"…hate Ginger Newts…helped us…not being punished…hate Ginger Newts…" could be heard by the group in between unattractive grunting and whimpers of pain.

"Come along, Black." Radcliffe muttered, continuing to drag him along the ground, all the way to McGonagall's office (up several flights of stairs, I might add) and only released him when the door was shut firmly behind them.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Radcliffe rounded on them, "That was a very immature prank to pull! You could have seriously hurt some students, all of them innocent! I am frankly astounded that you have been allowed to pull these pranks in the past, but certainly not while I'm present! You shall have two weeks worth of detentions, with me personally, so I can keep an eye on the four of you of nights to ensure these tricks do not happen again!"

The boys stared at her in shock, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

Then, suddenly, Radcliffe smiled and her voice became a great deal softer. "Well, now that's over with, how did you manage to get all those pinecones to not come off the seats? I've been dying to know all morning."

The boys continued to stare, now all the more confused and unable to follow her sudden change of mood. Several minutes passed before Remus was able to gather his thoughts enough to say, quite articulately, "Um, what?"

"Yeah, what Moony said." James added, rubbing his forehead.

"You obviously weren't aware, but you're little girlfriends have been following us since we left the Great Hall," Radcliffe chuckled, "They weren't very sneaky about it so I'm surprised you didn't notice. Actually, thinking about it, I'm not that surprised. Anyway, I had to throw them off somehow didn't I?"

"So, all the yelling and detentions…" Remus trailed off in question.

"They were listening at the door, waiting to see how you would be punished obviously. I think I satisfied them. You really aren't in their good books."

James snorted, "Now you're just stating the obvious."

Sirius's smile was slowly growing, as were the blue bruises on the whole right side of his face from being dragged across the floor. "So, we're not punished?"

"Well, I do think you should be punished slightly. I'll give you a week of detentions with Hagrid, but tell everyone you got at least two." Radcliffe winked, knowing that the boys didn't mind hanging out with Hagrid.

"You're the best teacher ever, Lizzie!" James grinned.

"Don't call me Lizzie," she grumbled, but was ignored. "But really, how did you manage to get those pinecones so strongly stuck on?"

The boys filled her in on their entire prank, and Radcliffe wasn't ashamed to admit she felt slight admiration for them and their creative minds. They were a little like geniuses in disguise. With the exception of Sirius, of course, but his enthusiasm more then made up for this lack of common sense and attention span.

Eventually, Lizzie farewelled the boys from the office but only with the iron-clad promise of not performing any more pranks for at least a week so it would seem she had scared them slightly. They scoffed at that and insisted that the Marauders were never scared, but then hastily agreed when she began to open the tin of Ginger Newts.

"Oh and Potter?" Radcliffe called before the boys left.

James turned with his eyebrows raised expectantly.

"I don't really think that you should continue sitting with Sirius in Transfiguration, at least for the duration of my stay here."

"What? Why?" Both James and Sirius demanded.

"Well, frankly you're very irritating." Radcliffe said plainly, "You never listen and you annoy me and others around you. You disrupt my class and don't make me look at all good. So, I'm moving you."

"Where to?" James asked sullenly, knowing that she couldn't be argued with.

"From now on you shall sit next to Miss Evans," Radcliffe smiled, "and Miss Williamson will be placed next to you, Black."

Both boys groaned. "Lizzie, that's really not a good idea," James insisted, "We will have killed each other by the end of the day!"

"Well that's just not true," Radcliffe replied, "it's only for the lesson. Someday you might thank me for it."

"I doubt that." James mumbled, but both he and Sirius nodded their heads and the boys trudged out of the office, feeling rather happy and being very confused by that.

Before Remus left, Radcliffe managed to get his attention. "When they get married, you let me know alright?"

His mouth slowly split into a knowing grin. "You're the bomb," he replied, high-fiving her quickly before running out of the room to catch up to his friends.

"So that's why she was at our wedding!" Lily exclaimed, eyeing Remus wryly. He grinned and nodded, not at all shy to admit it.

"I hate it when she knows better then us." Sirius grumbled, but his annoyed tone was ruined by his smile.

James smiled down at Lily, "We really should thank her."


It's so lovely to be back in the fanfic world. I have lots more time to write now as school's out for the summer so hopefully there will be more chapters and tid bits from Above and maybe other places popping up here soon so stick around and let me know what you think! xx