When Lily was next able to see again, James and Remus were gone.

Ebony was still standing there, chest heaving and wand outstretched, but where James and Remus had been, there stood a black shaggy dog, and a tall, handsome stag.

'Prongs,' Lily breathed, having never seen James transform before. The stag nuzzled her cheek, licking her gently, before letting out a confused bleating sound. The dog looked around at everyone, whimpered and then went to hide under a table. Lily was confused. The dog was Sirius, but he had not been there, and if the dog was Sirius, then where was Remus? Lily settled for looking worried.

McGonagall was livid. 'You are not to do magic outside of lessons!' she bellowed at Ebony, who winced. 'What have you done to them?'

Ebony shrugged and pocketed her wand and then disappeared with a loud CRACK. 'Did she just Disapparate, Professor?' A fourth year asked.

'Miss Evans, will you kindly help me clear the room?' Lily nodded woodenly and ushered the students out, until it was only the stag, dog, herself, McGonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn and a Hufflepuff third year named Gilderoy Lockhart who insisted he could change them back.

'This is advanced magic, Mr Lockhart,' McGonagall said curtly, 'Third years will be more hindrance than help here.' Lockhart opened his mouth to protest, but the Head of Gryffindor spoke again in a somewhat kinder voice. 'It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt.' The blonde boy frowned and shuffled out.

'I believe this is your area of expertise, Minerva,' Flitwick said anxiously, rubbing his little hands together.

'Yes,' McGonagall sounded as if she had a head cold. 'I didn't recognise the spells though... and that student that Disapparated must have been powerful to overthrow Albus' enchantments. Slughorm nodded, ashen.

The stag bleated again and came to stand next to Lily. McGonagall smiled, 'At least we can be sure it is them. The stag is certainly Mr Potter, and it is somewhat fitting if you think about it... as for the dog, I am sure that girl thought it funny to play on Mr Lupin's ailment, though how she found out I don't know...' The other teachers nodded.

'She was Mr Lupin's date this evening,' Slughorn said quietly. 'Her name was Ebony Grave.'

McGonagall's nostrils flared. 'I think I know now what we are dealing with.' She waved her wand. There was another bright flash of light; 'That wasn't meant to happen,' she muttered, but then Remus and James were standing there in only their pyjama pants, shivering slightly James came and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her fiery head. Ebony Grave also emerged from behind a table. 'Petrificus Totalis!' Flitwick shouted, McGonagall and Slughorn all shouted, pointing their wands at Ebony. Remus and James looked at each other and laughed as Ebony crashed to the ground, blinking indignantly.

'Ebony Grave,' McGonagall said, looking amused. Lily was shocked at her tone. She had been expecting anger.

'I'm not sure that I follow you, Minerva,' Slughorn said uneasily.

'Ebony is a synonym for black. Grave means sombre or... serious. Sirius Black.' Lily felt James shake with silent laughter. Lily looked at Ebony again and started to see Sirius. The eyes were the same, but more feminine (did he have mascara on?), the nose was slightly shorter, the height was the same, the hair was the same although the curls were arranged a little more neatly. Lily was sure Sirius had plucked his eyebrows.

McGonagall waved her wand and Sirius' features returned to normal. She removed the body-binding curse, but put an unlockable charm on the door.

Sirius sat up. 'Hi, Professor. Lovely night tonight isn't it?' James and Remus snorted with laughter. James buried his face in Lily's hair. Lily wondered how they could all be so calm and light-hearted in such severe circumstances.

'Where is Mr Pettigrew?' McGonagall asked.

'He's not in on this one... He didn't get an invite,' Remus said cheerfully, but it was blatantly obvious that he was telling the truth. It was also obvious that his smile was more than a little forced at the mention of Peter.

'Very well. Explain yourselves.'

Sirius nodded, 'It's all Lily's fault.' James and Remus nodded in agreement.

'Mine?' Lily screeched. 'I had nothing to do with it. Why are you throwing me to the tigers?' she hissed at James.

'She's a tabby cat actually...'

'Miss Evans, did you have any part in this?'

Lily shook her head violently. 'I asked James to come with me tonight and I suggested Sirius and Remus come to keep him company. I had no other part in it.'

'Did you know Ebony Grave?'

'No, Professor.'

'She didn't,' Remus laughed. 'Didn't you see her face when you were explaining it to Slughorn?'

'Priceless,' Sirius chortled.

'Explain yourselves,' McGonagall said again.

'Well, Remus wasn't going to come unless he could get a date,' Sirius began, 'he was too shy to ask anyone... for obvious reasons,' Remus reddened. 'I also needed a date, so we decided to go together. I had to be the girl because Remy was the one with the invitation,' he sounded annoyed at this. 'James came up with the name, and we all cast some concealment charms... good practice for N.E.W.T.S. and for when we're Aurors... and then we came here.'

'And the clothing changes?'

'Easy,' James said, 'I had my wand in my sleeve and was casting charms to replace the clothing he was taking off... He only had three real layers to begin with. The school robe pocket had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it... the inside of it is about as big as the Gryffindor common room. Sirius went in there, where my House Elf Mildred was waiting. She Disapparated with Sirius to a storeroom and then he walked in again.'

'Why didn't we hear it?' Flitwick asked, intrigued.

'Silencing charm, cast by Sirius once he was inside. We heard them Apparate outside and removed the Extension charm once they were outside, in case anyone checked the pocket.' McGonagall's hollow cheeks reddened. James beamed.

'Then,' Remus said, 'Sirius cast a basic transfiguration spell on each of us. I made the white light so that you wouldn't see me cast a Disillusionment Jinx on Mildred, who was in a back corner. She then Apparated with Sirius again and you changed us back.' Lily was sure there was more to it, but knew now was not the time to ask.

McGonagall blinked, and then, looking irritated said, 'You haven't broken any school rules.'

James, Remus and Sirius laughed. 'We know! That's the best part, and the only reason we confessed. We've decided that, when caught, we will confess because that will make our legacy live on... and it means that you'll know just how ingenious we can be before we leave for good.'

'What about magic outside of classrooms, Minerva? Attacking another student? Impersonating another student? Illegal use of school Elves?' Slughorn asked.

James shook his head. 'We're of age, Professor, and we didn't cause any damage with the spells we cast... we didn't attack each other because there is willing consent from each of us to have the spells performed... Ebony Grave is not a student here, so we weren't impersonating anyone else... and if you think using House Elves is breaking the rules, Millie is my Elf, so it's all legal.'

'I actually think you should deserve a detention, Fillius,' Sirius said lightly. 'You attacked a student, me, when you did that body-bind jinx.'

'Student safety was at risk,' McGonagall said stiffly.

'No, it wasn't,' James said.

'From our point of view it was,' Flitwick said firmly.

'No,' Remus said, 'when we duel in the corridors our safety may or may not be at risk, but we get detention anyway, because what we did was wrong, no matter how we reasoned our actions. We accept that. It's time for you to do the same.'

The three teachers looked at each other and slowly, reluctantly, nodded.