I survived! So sorry for the wait between chapters, I hadn't intended for it to take me this long; though the length of the chapter did play its fair part, all flames should be sent to my wisdom teeth and not me.

Great big thanks goes out to all those who have taken the time to review throughout this fanfic, I beg you to please keep it up! It means the world to me, and it makes me type much faster (this is a proven fact; I was able to update twice in one week last time, and all because I got a few words of feedback!). Can we make it happen again?

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine.

Chapter 25

As the week progressed, the student population started to hide from their Transfiguration Professor (especially the entirety of Gryffindor House, aside from, of course, the group of sixth years). While they were not to blame, the students noticed McGonagall's eye twitching from all the restraint it took her from refraining to assign detentions straight away, and they all wisely decided to not tempt their luck. Finally, after an exhausting week, she summoned the four into her office with nothing more than a glare and a finger point. They went without complaint, though Sirius gathered his confidence and began strutting as soon as her back was turned. As she perched herself behind her desk, Sirius reclined in his own chair with his legs stretched out and his ankles crossed, while Remus sat up properly yet comfortably, Peter slouched meekly and James plopped himself down, openly and yet unabashedly.

'Do you four realize just how serious some of your more elaborate pranks were this year?!' She demanded, glaring at them all from behind her desk.

'But, Professor, we won! Against Peeves! That's three years in a row, you know!' Sirius said smugly, munching on some of McGonagall's biscuits that she always had set up on her desk (Remus started noticing that she started carrying all of their favourites after their third year and so none of them ever felt guilty when they snagged one, though Sirius wouldn't have regardless).

'To be frank, boys –'

'–why would I want to be Frank, Professor?' Sirius interrupted cheekily. 'I mean, he's a decent bloke and all, but I think I'm far more attractive, don't you agree?'

'Mr. Black.' She said, her lips thinning.

'Yes, Professor?'

'Do not interrupt me again, or I will transfigure yourself into the cleaning supplies necessary for the detentions you will otherwise be assisting Messrs Potter, Lupin and Pettigrew.'

'Yes, Professor.' He mumbled his agreement, returning his focus on the plate of biscuits in front of him.

'As I was saying, you boys took it too far this year, why I have never –'

'–To be fair, Professor, not everything we did goes against school policy.' James interrupted assuredly, allowing a small smile to grace his features. While Remus straightened himself in preparation of backing up James' claims, Peter and Sirius hid their amused smiles behind their biscuits. McGonagall thinned her lips even further, though many students would've thought that they could go no thinner (those who, like the Marauders, spent much more time in her presence than the casual student knew that they could indeed go much thinner, and that they might even be hiding a smile, if you were lucky enough).

'How do you figure, Mr. Potter?' She demanded, quirking an eyebrow. While it had been a long time since he faltered under that look, James made sure he gathered his defence before continuing. He figured it'd be best to go in chronological order, starting with the prank that followed the day after the Welcoming Feast.

'We were only displaying House pride when we charmed everything into Gryffindor colours, Professor, we swear!'

'Yes indeed, Mr. Potter. However, you did not charm the belongings of fellow Gryffindors, but rather the Slytherins. I fail to see how that can be applied.'

'Can you imagine Snivellus' face when he saw that even his underwear was gold?' Sirius snorted under his breath, causing Peter to breathe out a chuckle so that McGonagall did not shift her attention to them, rather than on James and Remus.

'That's besides the point, Professor.' James said, unable to hide his grin.

'Explain, Mr. Potter.' She huffed impatiently.

Now, James Potter was not stupid.

He was smart enough to research his Head of House, trying to determine her thought process in the hopes of to better be able to justify his actions. While he knew that he'd never met someone more Gryffindor in his life, he also knew that she had been a Hat stall –where the sorting hat took over five minutes to decide on a House. It just so happened that the hat was torn between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. After researching and debating with the other Marauders for a month in their first year, they'd decided on a course of action in regards to defending themselves to their Head of House; turning to her Ravenclaw side and fighting with knowledge. Since then, they had stuck to their tactics and managed to not be expelled, despite some rather daring pranks; while Sirius was usually the best when it came to twisting the truth to work to their interests, they all took turns so that she wouldn't pick up on it. It helped that James and Remus were very well versed in the school policies (they had been since they got their acceptance letters, though for two very different reasons).

James smiled as he turned to Remus, allowing him to explain the situation to their testy Head of House.

'You see Professor, it never specifies that we must demonstrate House Pride on members of said House, only that it is permitted. Furthermore, we cast all of the enchantments during class time, rather than after hours or in the hallways.'

Pursing her lips, McGonagall replied, 'I see. And what about the love declarations of Misses Bellatrix and Narcissa Black the following morning? I highly doubt that the both of them felt such passionate sentiments concerning Professor Slughorn, not to mention the damage of school property that their little… spat, if you will, resulted in.' Sirius smiled and pretended to wipe a tear of joy as he remembered seeing his cousins fighting over who loved the Potions Professor the most. Peter laughed as he remembered Narcissa furiously tackling Bellatrix over the breakfast table in retribution for loving what was hers.

'No charms were cast to cause for that to happen, in class or otherwise. Frankly, I'm surprised that they managed to hide their feeling so well over the years. I found it rather obvious myself.' James said. Sirius smirked into his biscuit, glad he wasn't the one doing the 'Twisting Of The Truth' (as the boys had dubbed the position) this time; he doubted he'd have much success at controlling his joyous emotions, though he did not feel particularly inclined to do so at the moment. 'In addition, we did not cause any damage to come to school property, that was all the Blacks. One would call it an …unforeseen bonus.' James supposed, eyes shinning in amusement. While burying all traces of her own amusement, Minerva highly suspected that they'd used a potion –she also knew that she had no way of proving it, unless they were caught; unlike with using a spell, where casting Finite Incantatem would just reveal it, it was extremely difficult to prove a potion had been ingested (unless one could recognize it by the effects and was able to counteract them) but in most cases, there were too many possibilities concerning the exact potion used unless there was a sample of the potion available.

'And the theft of all of the faculty's undergarments, only for them to appear the next day, strewn about on every chandelier in the Great Hall?' She demanded, a furious pink tinge coloring her cheeks. The Marauders smothered their laughter, remembering some of the more outlandish articles that they had seen; they could no longer look Professor Sprout in the eye without seeing Venus fly trap adorned knickers.

'Surely by now, Professor, you've learnt that the House Elves take care of all of the laundry? They must've set out a load to dry during the night and …forgotten.' Chortled Remus, unable to disguise his snort that time.

'I swear, you four, half of my gray hair is due to you.' McGonagall sighed, rubbing her eyes wearily from under her glasses.

'Aw, but you know you love us, Prffs'r!' Sirius chirped, passing her one of her favourite type of biscuit from the platter that had moved into his lap.

'Two weeks detention, be glad that's all. Dismissed.' She sighed, accepting the biscuit and banishing all of their chairs with a wave of her wand. As they were still sitting on them at the time, all four Marauders fell to the ground with an oomph! of surprise. They left her office smiling and waving at her cheerfully before shutting her office door and leaving her in peace –and seriously considering a drink.

'What's wrong with his ear?' Lily asked Remus as she approached, gesturing to James -he was scrutinizing his ear in Marlene's borrowed hand mirror and seemed to be grimacing at what he was seeing. 'If I had his face, I'd grimace too, but he seems to be rather focused on his left ear.'

Chuckling at an indignant James, who'd heard her comment, Remus answered the redhead, 'He's proving to us that thanks to McGonagall, his left ear sticks out more than his right.'

'But what would McGonagall have to do with anything?' She asked, slapping James' hand from his ear as he continued to study it. 'Stop it, it looks as fine as usual.'

'Evans! Did you just call it fine? My ear is woefully abused and misshapen!' James protested, pointing between his ears. 'If only McGonagall would switch ears for once when she's yanking me to her office –or, better yet, just stop doing it altogether –we wouldn't have this problem!'

'Yes, but if you stopped doing stupid shit, she wouldn't be dragging you there every other day.' Marlene said, coming to stand beside Lily with a smirk. Lily snorted at James' unbelieving expression.

'Please, Marls, like that'll happen. He amuses himself too much.' Lily scoffed smiling, linking her arm through her friend's before walking away to their DADA class. As the rest of the group slowly filtered in –including the Marauders –Professor Vane, a retired Auror, entered the classroom with a bang of the door.

'Can anyone tell me what a dementor is?' He asked once he had seated himself behind his desk. He watched as a handful of students raised their hands, some more confident than others. 'Evans.'

'A dementor guards Azkaban. As soulless creatures, they feed off of human emotions and cause depression and despair in its victims. The Dementors Kiss is where the dementors suck the soul out of a person, leaving them an empty shell. It's been said to be a fate worse than death.'

'5 points to Gryffindor. Can anyone identify possible defenses that we have against them?' The Professor asked, peering out at the sixth years Gryffindor and Slytherins. 'Mr. Lupin?'

'The Patronus charm is the most known, sir, though isn't it supposed to be beyond NEWT level?'

'Very good, take another 5 points. The charm conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all your most positive feelings. The Patronus Charm is difficult, and many witches and wizards are unable to produce a full, corporeal Patronus; however, given the situation outside of the castle's walls, the Headmaster has granted me the permission to teach the NEWT level students. Can anyone tell me what could influence the form of a Patronus? Greengrass.'

'The specific animal forms that corporeal Patronuses take vary from person to person and reflect each individual's personality, sir. They can be subjected to change however, should the caster go through an emotional upheaval of some sort, like falling in love. The origin for this is mostly based on the fact that Patronuses are conjured by recalling happy memories, it stands to reason that a Patronus might change its form after one falls in love and the memories used to conjure the Patronus largely revolve around the person the caster is in love with.' Answered Solange Greengrass promptly.

'Correct. Five points to Slytherin. In normal circumstances however, the Patronus will often be the same animal as the Animagus from -undiscovered or otherwise -as is the case with Professor McGonagall. I will gather the assigned three foot essay on the charm and the dementors now, and while the correct performance of the spell is not required for a passing grade in this unit, extra credit will be given depending on the success of the charm cast. Today you will all be tasked with casting the Patronus charm, though do not be disappointed if you do not succeed. The complete spell would produce a corporeal Patronus in the form of an animal, though mist is often all that an average wizard can produce.'

As Professor Vane sent all of the desks and chairs to the outskirts of the room, the class separated themselves. After he established the wand movement and incantation necessary, he demonstrated the charm. 'Expecto Patronum!'

He let his beaver roam around the classroom for a few seconds, much to the students' delight, before he let it fade away and ordered them to begin practising. All around, chaos soon ensued as incantations were cast, along with varying degrees of volume. In total, the sound emanating from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom resembled that of a tidal wave; loud and never-ending.

After more than an hour, he saw much progress had been made with some and very little with others. He smiled encouragingly at those who had failed to produce even a fine mist and clapped encouragingly when a student succeeded. As most of the class had succeeded with producing mist, he almost missed when the first student achieved the fully corporeal Patronus.

'Miss Evans! What –was that –did you really –Merlin, girl, do it again!' He said, hurrying over towards the blushing redhead. When everyone had ceased in their own attempts, he gestured impatiently for her to cast the charm again.

'Expecto Patronum.' She murmured quietly, yet with full conviction. As James was focusing so intently on the girl in front of him, the girl who possessed such self-confidence, in a way that never merged with cockiness, he was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost missed seeing what the form of her Patronus was; that is, until he felt Remus nudge him sharply in the side, just as Sirius gasped from shock. While James, along with the rest of the Marauders, had assumed it would be in the form of a lion, as was her Animagus form that they discovered during a prank in the beginning of the year, they realised that they were wrong.

Lily Evans stood there, directing her Patronus to stride around the classroom, her head held high and her legs straight, just as James stood there gaping, ready to faint from shock. Her Patronus wasn't the lion they had all assumed it would be, but rather a doe.

As the rest of the class slowly managed to regroup in an attempt at success before the bell rang, James approached Professor Vane and asked if he'd be able to be given the opportunity to demonstrate his Patronus one-on-one once everyone headed off to lunch. With a confused expression, the Professor agreed.

Once the class all left, including their group of friends (but especially Lily), James waved his wand in the continued circular motion required as he thought as hard as he could about Lily, curled up in his sweater and sleeping contentedly –and willingly –in his lap, and said 'Expecto Patronum.'

James had been confident that he could do it; before he approached the professor, he had cast the charm enough times and found that he had been stopping it more and more often from being at full capacity as the class went on.

He kept his face impassive as he saw the Professor's eyes widen at the stag, who had begun to canter around the empty classroom, and turn to him. He could see that the Professor realized exactly why he had asked to stay behind and so, without another word spoken, he grabbed his bag and left to make his way to lunch.

What he failed to see was the corner of Snape's robes as he ran away from the sight of the stag, the horrifying conclusion dancing across his brain just as the doe had done earlier around the classroom.

Lily's cheeks hadn't stopped flaming since their DADA class earlier that day. Just because she was the first person to manage the spell didn't mean it gave everyone permission to gawk at her for the rest of the day. By the time dinner rolled around, Lily became extremely fed up with the staring and decided to retreat into the Room of Requirement for some peace and quiet after scarfing down her meal (the boys had made a comment about her wolfing her food down and she had retorted, saying that she'd leave that to Remus, not that anyone but Sirius caught on to her actual meaning). Just as she turned down the empty third floor corridor to enter the hidden passageway that'd take her straight up to the sixth floor, she heard someone call her name. Groaning, she turned around.

'What? Oh. It's you.' She said, gazing upon the furious face of Snape. 'What do you want? I'm in a hurry.'

'Oh? No doubt you're going to meet your boyfriend, right?' He snarled, disgusted.

'What are you on about now, Snape? I don't have a boyfriend, not that that's any of your business.' She asked impatiently, wishing that she was far, far away from here.

'You know, Lily, I really thought you were better than that. Of course, that was before this summer, but it's good to know that I'm still right about these things.' He said, staring at her in contempt.

'What on earth are you talking about? Are you still on about James?' She asked, getting furious.

'You know, I knew you were a slut, I just didn't realize you were this stupid. You think he actually cares about you? Please; you're nothing more than another notch on his bedpost. Potter's only ever wanted one thing from you, Lily. And that's to win. So maybe he'll finally move on, because he's already won.'

'What the bloody hell are you on about now, Snape?' Lily asked tiredly, unable to decipher whether or not she actually gave a shit about his answer.

'You've fallen for him. The little Mudblood slut actually fell for his little act. I bet he's pleased. Tell me, is he worth it? Is the sex worth it, Lily? Because it seems as if it's cost your entire personality, including your brains.'

'Oi! You listen here, you fucking wanker! Would you just lay off? For Merlin's sake, Severus! Why –Do –You –Even –Bloody –Care?! We aren't friends anymore! So why the hell does my personal life affect you? Not that its any of your business, but James and I aren't together, you sodding twat. But you know, even as friends he treats me better than you ever did.' Lily yelled, furiously.

'The blood traitor and the Mudblood; it's a match made in heaven, apparently. Too bad sluts like you won't ever be there.' Snape snarled.

Suddenly, Snape was sent reeling backwards; once again, it seemed as if he had a broken nose. Only this time, it wasn't because of Lily.

'Bloody hell, that hurt. You could've warned that breaking his nose hurts so much Evans.' James said, gripping his right hand with a grimace of pain as he continued to glare at Snape, who was clutching his bloody nose.

'Oh look, Mudblood. It's Potter, here to save the day. Wonder what he'll have you do to thank him later…' Snape said, pretending to contemplate.

As James' face turned steadily darker due to rage, Lily turned her back to James and faced Snape.

'Fuck you, Snape. Leave him out of this. Just because you feel like you need to stick your abnormally large nose into my business, doesn't mean you can get away with doing it to the people I care about. Oh, by the way; you might want to get your nose looked at; wouldn't want it to stay any bigger than it already is.' She snarled, turning on her heel and dragging James by the elbow to the Room of Requirement.