A/N this fic is drawing to a close I'm afraid! But there's the new companion piece, and sequel up soon! Review:)


"Okay, everyone knows what they're doing?" Sirius asked them all.

Everyone murmured in agreement.

"Evans?" he turned to her.

"McGonagall."

"Absolutely. Potter?"

"Peeves."

"Exactly. Stevens?"

"Garotting gas."

"Excellent. Burton?"

"Stink pellets."

"And finally Lupin?"

"Dungbombs."

"Okay, let's go!" Sirius commanded. Lily thought he was taking it all very seriously, but then breaking the rules was very close to his heart. James gave her a final wink before heading off down the corridor, and everyone else began to move off. Lily's job was first; fetch McGonagall. She had been picked owing to the fact that no one in their right mind would ever believe Lily Evans would be doing anything wrong. She was a saint.

"Professor!" she cried, running up to McGonagall at the staff table. Everyone who had not been inviting to the Gryffindor party was still eating dinner; the teachers were all in the hall which presented the group with a perfect opportunity. Once they finished, the group would come by through a secret passageway back down to the hall and slip out unnoticed with the rest of the students. Lily thought generally it was very well thought out. "Professor!" Lily repeated, sounding realistically distressed.

"Is everything alright Miss Evans?" she asked concernedly.

"I think someone's planning a huge prank!" she wailed.

"A prank?"

"Yeah! On the fifth floor, it looks like someone's letting off garrotting gas!"

"Garrotting gas?! That could be dangerous! Whose idea of a joke is this?"

"They're letting off dungbombs too Professor! And I heard someone mention stink pellets!" Lily lied with expertise.

Professor McGonagall exhaled exasperatedly; when would she get a moments peace? Dumbledore however looked reasonably amused by Lily's news. Lily had a sneaking suspicion he saw through her well rehearsed act; but no matter, he did not seem to be making an attempt to stop her.

"We have to hurry!" Lily pressed McGonagall.

"Alright, Miss Evans," McGonagall replied wearily. "Lead the way!"

"Professor Dumbledore?" Lily asked, slightly worriedly.

"Yes, Lily?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"I think you should keep the students in here for now, it might not be safe," she said, looking at his velvet ruby coloured hat embroidered with silver and gold rather than into his eyes.

He maintained a straight face just barely and replied; "Certainly, Miss Evans."

Lily nodded to him and then led Professor McGonagall out and up to the third floor where, if James had been successful, Peeves should be smashing up the trophy cabinet. She walked slowly up to the trophy room and listened for signs of chaos inside. When she heard the unmistakable sound of breaking glass she turned to McGonagall abruptly and said;

"Professor, I think I just heard someone inside the trophy room!"

McGonagall bustled past her and pushed open the door behind. Her eyes met a scene where Peeves was cackling merrily whilst hurtling objects into the cabinets, breaking the glass, and then strewing the contents about the room.

"Peeves!" McGonagall screeched. "Stop that this instant! I'll go and get the baron!"

While McGonagall moved around the room, fixing things with her wand and trying to reason with Peeves, James sprung out grinning from behind Lily and gave her a kiss.

"Okay so that worked! Shall we both take her to Remus then? When she's done? I think this is all buying Sirius enough time…" he whispered to her.

"This is going to be so good--" Lily was saying just as McGonagall came out of the trophy room, looking rather flustered.

"What happened Professor?" James asked, sounding convincingly confused.

"Peeves," McGonagall answered shortly. "I got rid of him in the end." She dusted down her robes.

"James just told me that someone's letting off dungbombs on the fourth floor," Lily lied again. James gave her a look of approval when McGonagall wasn't looking.

"Oh, very well, come on then," McGonagall said, turning on her heel to head up to the next floor.

Lily and James looked at one another in satisfaction before linking hands and following in McGonagall's wake.

When they arrived upstairs, Remus and Peter were busy chucking dungbombs into every broom cupboard, classroom and corridor; and as soon as they caught sight of Lily's hair they dove behind a tapestry and waited there with baited breath.

"It looks like every room is full of them, Professor," James stated the obvious, pinching his nose in disgust.

"I see that, Mr Potter," McGonagall replied agitatedly, covering her nose and mouth and scourgifying the nearest room. Instantly the air smelled slightly cleaner. Lily and James wondered whether McGonagall would deal with it quicker than they'd anticipated. Nevertheless they still had Emma and Lizzy as further backup. McGonagall moved fast from room to room and soon all trace of the smell of dungbombs had disappeared. Just then she turned to her head boy and girl to say;

"Well, that's cleared up now; never mind finding the culprit. Off you go to the common room you two!"

Unfortunately for her, before she had even finished, Remus fell out from the behind the tapestry and ran up to her, sounding completely out of breath.

"Professor!" he gasped. "I've just been told---someone's letting off stink pellets on the fifth floor!"

McGonagall was starting to get slightly frustrated now; "For Heaven's sake! Isn't this a job for filch--" she continued mumbling to herself as she ascended the staircase to the fourth floor. Remus joined James and Lily, flashing them a mischievous grin.

"Are we just leaving Pete there?" James muttered to Remus as they followed McGonagall once again.

"Ah, he'll just get in the way," Remus shrugged.

Lily and James nodded understandingly as they arrived at the end of the fifth floor corridor and saw Lizzy scuttling away; having distributed a rather hefty amount of stink pellets in every possible place. McGonagall went about clearing it up much the same as before, and just when she had finished, thinking about how lovely it would be to retire to bed with her tartan box of ginger biscuits, Emma burst through a pair of double doors at the end of the corridor, having done a loop, and gasped;

"Professor! I just heard about some garrotting gas on the sixth floor!"

James and Lily took this opportunity to slip away unnoticed to join Sirius and help him with the finishing touches. Remus, Lizzy and Emma led McGonagall upstairs to the non-existent garrotting gas.

"Just…here," Emma said, indicating down a corridor which seemed completely normal.

"Miss Stevens I don't see anything wrong," McGonagall frowned.

"That's because it's colourless," Remus put in.

"I shall just section off the corridor and deal with it tomorrow," McGonagall announced.

"Oh but by then the gas might've diffused and could be a danger to the pupils," Lizzy said, sucking on her lower lip.

"Very well, then, fetch Professor Hutchinson will you?"

Once McGonagall had dealt with Peeves, the dungbombs, the stink pellets and the garrotting gas which she later found out had never been there in the first place, Remus hurried up to the seventh floor to alert Sirius, James and Lily that they could not stall everyone any longer. Fortunately they were finished, and so James sent the suits of armour clanging into one another like a set of dominos, so that the bangs reverberated around the castle. Downstairs McGonagall looked up when she heard the noise, and furiously marched up the staircase to locate the source of the noise. What on earth was going on that night? Other students had heard it too and some arrived on the seventh floor to find out the source of the commotion. Lily and James and Sirius dove into the secret passageway and stood hidden, waiting to hear the reactions to their handiwork. They only hoped McGonagall and the other teachers did not explode.

Professors Hutchinson, McGonagall, Waterston and Montgomery stood gaping at what they saw. They would have praised it as a most wonderful piece of wizardry had it not been entirely inappropriate. Behind them was a crowd of students, and at that moment Professor Dumbledore appeared, looking mildly surprised, and said;

"Good grief. The seventh floor has become a giant chess board."

McGonagall advanced slightly, still gawking open mouthed and tried to walk past the giant chess men at the front. Immediately they brought out swords and blocked the way.

Inside their tapestry, Lily, James and Remus were struggling not to laugh and give away their position.

"What in heaven's name is going on?!" came McGonagall's shrill voice.

"I believe we must play our way across to get to the other side," Dumbledore replied calmly.

"Play our way…" McGonagall repeated in disbelief. In the space of around ten seconds she put two and two together and shrieked. "POTTER! BLACK!"

"Time to go," James whispered urgently to Lily, and they all legged it along the narrow passageway, and down to a side door into the great hall.

"This is an exceptional piece of transfiguration, Minerva," Dumbledore said to her, eyeing the giant chessmen up and down admiringly. "I think James could give you a run for his money!"

"Is this his idea of a joke?! The students will have to play chess every time they want to get to their classes! This is unacceptable!"

"Indeed it does pose rather a problem. Of course I suspect they will have placed anti-jinxes on every one of them; rendering them extremely difficult to move. Well, I suggest we leave it until tomorrow to clear up. I almost feel it is too skilled to touch for the moment."

McGonagall just spluttered at him in frustration, eventually coming out with;

"They all distracted me while Black, Potter and…Evans set it up! And now they've disappeared! I shall have to find them and deal with house points!"

"Absolutely. I suggest ten points for Miss Burton and Miss Stevens, Miss Evans, Mr Potter, Mr Black and Mr Lupin shall each receive twenty."

"I hardly think twenty is enough--" McGonagall began, before saying; "RECEIVE?!"

"Well, it is all rather genius. They deserve rewarding," Dumbledore raised is eyebrows in amusement.

Little did they know that a trick very similar to this would be used to protect a highly valuable philosopher's stone, not fifteen years later.

Once in the hall, the friends all burst into laughter. McGonagall could be heard screeching from floors above; it was almost worth the punishment they were bound to end up with. Lily never realised breaking the rules would be so much fun.

"Hey, hey, hang on!" Sirius said, rushing over with a very sizable box and breaking it open to release around fifty Cornish pixies. They flew off in the direction of upstairs; undoubtedly to wreak further havoc. "Finishing touch," Sirius explained.

"Nice," James nodded. He then turned to his Lily; "Hey, Lils, I want to show you something, will you come with me? I think it's best we vacate the building anyway," he grinned.

"But I thought Dumbledore banned us from leaving school grounds unattended? And it's like…eleven o' clock!"

"Well, we can take my cloak. Come on, we'll be okay," he persisted.

"Well, okay then…" Lily caved. They'd already broken about a hundred rules why not break a couple more?

"Be right back, I'll just grab my cloak," he said, clasping her hands. She watched him go, a smile spreading itself across her face. She tilted her head slightly to study his backside, just when Emma interrupted her musings--

"Lils! We did it!" she drew her into a hug excitedly.

"Err yeah!" Lily replied, eyebrows raised. "Shouldn't we move? I'm sure McGonagall's probably already on her way."

"Yeah, I think we should go and hide in the boy's dorms. Everyone coming?" Emma turned to them all. There was a general consent, except from Lily who was waiting for James and his big surprise. She ambled to the front doors of the castle and stood crossing her arms and looking out on the grounds. It made her feel sad to think she would be leaving it forever in a couple of week's time. It had been her home, her life, her sanctuary from the outside world. The place she'd met the love of her life. The place she'd made the best friends anyone could wish for. The place she'd become who she was. And now it was all over. At that moment she felt warm, familiar arms snake around her waist and hold her, a beautiful peachy smell wafting in her direction.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Come on, Miss Evans," James whispered into her ear, before planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Where are we going?" she asked suspiciously, as he threw his cloak over them both.

"Hogsmeade of course," James replied.

"Why?"

"Surprise," his eyes sparkled in the moonlight.

She decided not to persevere, there was no way he'd ruin it by telling he. Their bodies were pressed close together as they hunched over to the Willow, and Lily was no longer afraid of how it made her feel.

"Immobulus!" she whispered, much as she had last time she'd been here.

"Lily, there's a little knot on the bottom of the tree you can press," James told her, pointing to it.

"Oh," she replied. "Oops."

"Your way's better. It's hard to get to it unless you're a rat animagus. But that's why Peter's so useful for this stuff."

"Well, at least he does have his uses," Lily sniggered, as they fell through the entrance in a heap. When she stood up and freed herself from the cloak she felt a guilty twinge. "I shouldn't have said that," she muttered to herself more than anyone else.

James' eyes locked with hers for a second, and he gave a tiny nod. They were all guilty of neglecting Peter at times. He tilted his head down the tunnel to suggest they get going. She paused for a moment before following in his footsteps. Her guilt at Peter had reminded her of another guilt she felt; should she reveal Snape to the Order or not? It was her duty…but she couldn't help but let her personal feelings get in the way. She shook her head and pushed the nasty thoughts away, concentrating on James.

When they arrived at the shack he pulled her out of the trapdoor and they fell backwards slightly, and James pinned her up against the wall, playing with her fingers and kissing from her neck up. She whimpered in delight and lifted his chin to kiss his lips. It all just felt so wonderful and for a moment James forgot what he had brought her for. Definitely not for making out in the shrieking shack.

"Come on," he said quietly into her mouth, reluctantly pulling away and dragging her with him. He led her out of the house and up the hill next to it. Conveniently there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and they looked up to see the inky blue dotted with hundreds of stars. He smiled up at them, and began spinning in circles.

"James, what are you doing?" Lily laughed.

"Try it!" he said happily, taking her hand and spinning her around. She giggled, looking up as she spun. It made her feel so small. Eventually when she became dizzy she practically collapsed into his arms, revelling in their sturdy hold.

"So what are we doing here, James? Other than star dancing?" she smiled.

"Well, I believe I owe you an engagement ring, Miss Evans," the corners of his eyes creased as he grinned down at her.

"What?" she said quietly, wrapping her arms around his neck and turning to face him.

He pulled out a little velvet box, buried deep in his robes pocket. She pulled her arms back down to her sides; her eyes flitted between his eyes, his lips and this box, waiting in anticipation. His beam never faltered as he looked into her excited eyes, and opened the box to reveal a ring which made Lily gasp.

"Oh—wow, James, it's beautiful!"

It had a diamond encrusted in an emerald stone, set onto a silver ring.

"Appropriate colour too," she added.

"Here," he said softly, taking her hand and slowly sliding the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly, and James was touched to see Lily's eyes had filled with happy tears, it made his heart ricochet inside of him. He kissed her forehead and her arms wrapped around him and his around her. They knew they'd never feel the way they felt in that moment with anyone else; this was it. This was the feeling. Hearing the gentle thud of the other's heart, hearing and feeling the tickle of their soft breath, looking into one another's eyes and seeing right into their souls. They had so much ahead of them, so much to share, so much to see and be, so much to enjoy and have. Neither of them noticed that they levitated off the ground; they could not see anything but each other. Nor did they notice the sparks encircling them, and neither did they need to. The magic didn't need to tell them they were forever, they did that themselves.


A/N Actually, I think this is the last chapter. That's it folks! Unless I change my mind...review!