The randomness of the ostriches reduced the school's talk of the Dark Mark for a few hours, then it returned, though slightly less prevalent then before.

The talk of the Mark went unnoticed by James, Sirius, and Peter, however. They were in their dormitory, where they breathed loud sighs of triumphant relief as they closed the cover of The Complete Animagus Transfiguration with a snap.

"Finished!" James said happily.

"Finally," Sirius sighed. "We're done."

"We should get those leaves and dew and stuff," James said.

"You need to keep the mandrake leaves in your mouth for a month," Peter said. "We've got exams next week, then school's out. There's not enough time."

"Yeah," Sirius said. "I don't about you, but my mum would go mad if the house smelled like mandrake leaves. Not to mention that we can't do magic outside of school. I don't fancy being dragged to the Ministry to explain what I was doing."

"And we don't even have some of the ingredients we need," Peter said.

"How soon can we get them?" James asked.

"I'll bet that I can get that moth thing at my house, I think my parents have one," Sirius said. "It might be tricky to get my hands on, but so long as Kreacher doesn't catch me, I think I can do it. We probably have a silver teaspoon, too. Maybe in the attic with all Dad's musty relics."

"Alright," James said. "If we've got everything, we can get it going first thing next year."

"What about the dew?" Sirius asked. "It'll only be around in the warmer weather, and with the warm weather, everyone will want to be on the grounds-"

"There might be dew in the Forbidden Forest," Peter suggested.

"Brilliant," James said. "We'll collect that during our camping trip."

"You're still on about that?"

"Of course. I was thinking we'd do it at the end of this year, but we can wait."

"Or we can do it this year when Remus comes back," Sirius said.

"Oh yeah. That's tomorrow, isn't it?" James said. "Did he head in early?"

"Yeah, I think so," Sirius said.

"Alright. We should check in on him later."

Sirius and Peter nodded.

"Right, yeah. Anyway, if we went after exams…."

"We've still got a good three days after exams end," Sirius said. "There'd be time."

"I don't think that camping in the forest is a good idea," Peter started.

"Of course it is!" Sirius insisted. "It'll be brilliant!"

"Are you serious-"

"Peter, mate," Sirius said cheekily, "Is there ever a time when I'm not Sirius?"

James and Peter sighed.

"You need better jokes," James said.

Despite Peter's (and when he heard the plan, Remus') protests, James and Sirius were determined to drag the Marauders on a camping trip.

"Sirius, that's mad, you can't go camping in the Forbidden Forest," Remus said exasperatedly.

"Not alone. That's why we're turning it into a family trip," Sirius said eagerly. "You, James, and Peter are going to keep me from doing something stupid."

"Don't count on my help!" James called from across the room.

"Well, then it's just you and Peter stopping me forming doing something stupid," Sirius said.

"Like trying to camp in the Forbidden Forest?" Remus asked dryly.

"Exactly. Oi, James, did you pack my toothbrush?"

"We're not packing yet, we have to wait until exams are over before going," James said.

"Oh, right. When are we starting packing?"

"I just told you, after exams," James repeated.

"And speaking of exams, I thought you were supposed to be studying," Remus said.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Bugger."

To the dismay of Hogwarts, June came, and with it, exams.

"Two hours for History of Magic?" James was looking at the exam schedule with dismay. "Then Potions?"

"At least it's not an O.W.L," Peter said. "That would be even worse."

"With History of Magic first, I would definitely fail Potions, I'd be bored out of my mind," Sirius agreed. "I'll still fail Potions, but at least they're not important tests like that."

"Yeah," James said.

"They're still important, even if they're not O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s," Remus insisted.

"Sure, mate," James said.

With the exceptions of the obvious boredom and stress that came with exams, the week of testing passed smoothly.

This left the majority of Hogwarts students outside, enjoying the warm breeze and watching the Giant Squid gilde lazily across the lake, soaking in the sunshine.

With everyone inside, no one noticed the Marauders slip into the Room of Requirement carrying empty bags.

"We need a tent, sleeping bags, there are pillows in the dorm, we can get s'mores stuff from the kitchens…."

As Sirius listed off items, they appeared in the room one by one. He paused.

"What else do we need?"

"Maybe blankets," James said. "And dry wood."

"There'll be wood in the forest," Peter said.

"Just in case."

A few dry logs materialized in the center of the room, a stack of blankets atop them.

"Right, start filling the bags," James said.

The four boys broke off and began stuffing blankets, sleeping bags, and wood into bags.

"We're not missing anything, right?" Sirius checked.

"Some sanity?" Remus offered. "Maybe a realization the camping in the Forbidden Forest is not a good idea?"

"I don't think so," James said.

"Come on, Remus, we're going to have fun!" Sirius said enthusiastically. "And don't give me that, you're coming, even if we have to drag you there."

"We're not going to have fun if we don't have s'mores," Peter said. "We've still got to stop in the kitchens and get the stuff for those, then we need to stop back at the dorm to grab the pillows."

"Good point, let's go," James said.

"Wait-" Sirius was attempting to pick up the package with the tent, without much success. "I can't get a good grip on this thing-"

Remus pulled his wand from his pocket, pointed it at the tent, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa."

The tent package rose a few feet into the air, Sirius clinging to it.

"Nevermind, I got it!" he said.

James laughed. "You're floating a foot above the ground, how do you 'got it?'"

"I'm multitasking," Sirius said. "I'm floating and carrying the tent."

"Technically, I'm carrying you and the tent," Remus said.

"No," Sirius said. "I'm floating because I felt like it."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes-"

"Do you want to finish packing or not?" James interrupted.

It took another hour, but eventually they were packed. By then, the sun had begun to set, and people were clearing from the grounds for a later dinner.

"We have everything?" James repeated for the tenth time. "Everything's in a bag?"

"Of course, we do, let's just go already!" Sirius whined.

"We should wait for the grounds to clear," Remus said.

"If we do that, it'll be dark. I'd prefer to wander through the forest when it's not pitch black," Sirius said.

"Alright, fine," Remus sighed. "But it's your fault if we get caught."

"We won't get caught," Sirius said.

Surprisingly, Sirius was right. They made it into the forest without being spotted, shouldering backed bags with the tent levitating silently behind them.

The boys walked on for a while with James in the lead, followed closely by Sirius. Remus and Peter were more hesitant, warily noting the dimming light.

As they ventured farther into the thick trees, squinting into the darkness, there was a yelp.

"Ouch!"

"James, that was my foot!"

"Sorry!"

"What happened?"

"I ran into something, probably a tree. Hold on, lumos."

A dazzling light flickered at the tip of James' wand.

The other boys blinked as their eyes adjusted to the sudden light.

"Yeah, it was a tree," James said, rubbing his forehead.

Sirius looked around. "Hey, we should set up camp here!" he said.

Remus hesitated. "I don't know, it's pretty…." He paused, looking for a word. "...Tree-ey."

It was true; the trees were extremely thick and clustered where they stood, leaving no room for a tent.

"Tree-ey?" James said. "Is that even a word?"

"Well, no, but we can't camp here," Remus said. "Maybe we should head back-"

"Absolutely not! We're going forward, it's decided!" Sirius said.

"I think the trees aren't as close together back that way," Peter said, pointing in the direction they had come from.

"Nice try. James, let's move out!"

"Peter has a point," James said. "We could head back that way to camp-"

"James, how could you?"

"Sirius, how could I not?"

"We have to do a majority vote first," Sirius said. "Remus, Peter, if you don't vote that we continue on, I'll do… well, I don't really know what, but I'll do something to you. Yeah."

"All those in favor of camping Sirius' way," James said.

Sirius raised both his hands.

"All those in favor of camping Peter's way."

Peter, Remus, and James raised their hands.

"It's settled," Remus said lightly.

"Sorry, mate," James shrugged apologetically.

Sirius gave him an unhappy look.

"Right. That way it is," James said. He turned and began walking.

"That's the wrong way," Peter said.

"Oh," James said, stopping. "Yeah, I knew that."

The Marauders set off again, this time heading in the right direction. After about ten minutes of weaving through trees by wandlight, James gave a call of, "Found it!"

"Brilliant, let's get set up," Sirius said, giving his wand a flick.

The levitated tent fell to the ground with a dull thud.

"Sirius!" Remus said quietly. "We've got to be quiet, we don't want to attract anything-"

"Like what?" Sirius asked. "That was only a rumor that there was a colony of ancromantacula here, and I'm betting you're the only one with a furry little problem for miles-"

"And if we don't bother the centaurs, they won't bother us, probably," James added.

Remus tried to protest. "Still-"

"Okay. Let's figure this thing out. Have any of you ever camped before?" Sirius said. He unzipped the bag the tent was in and shook it out, watching as a bundle of green cloth fell to the crowned with a clatter.

"Once," Peter said. "It was a while ago, I went with an uncle."

"Brilliant," James said. "How does this thing work?"

"Well, there should be a bunch of poles that you use to get it to stand up- yeah, those. And then there should be a flap of some sort about here…."

It took awhile to set up the tent. When they had at last managed to make it stand up, it was crooked on one side, which James insisted on fixing.

After the tent was set up at a questionable angle, preparations were made for the night.

"Alright, Remus, you and James start setting up inside the tent, Peter, you're helping me get the s'mores done," Sirius said.

James and Remus grabbed a few of the bags and lugged them into the tent.

"Wait, we need that wood!" Peter said, hurrying after them. "And the stuff for s'mores!"

"Oh, right. I think the wood and stuff is in this one," James said. He popped his head out from the tent's flap, holding a heavy bag.

"Right," Peter said, grabbing the bag. He turned and went to where Sirius was planning to set up the fire pit.

"Maybe we shouldn't be lighting a fire in the middle of a forest," Remus said from the tent.

"It's fine, I have a plan," Sirius said.

"I think that's why he's worried," James remarked, then stepped back into the tent.

It didn't take long to get the fire going, fortunately without burning anything down… yet.

"Well," Sirius said. "I think when people sit around campfires they sing songs."

"Yeah," Peter said, "or-"

"I think we should sing that one about the bowtruckles-"

"Please no," Remus said.

"What about the one with-"

"Or," Peter said, "people tell stories."

"Or," James said, "They just eat their s'mores."

"We haven't even roasted our s'mores," Remus said.

"Good point- who has the marshmallows?"

"They're sitting behind you, James."

"Oh, right."

Sirius snatched the package from James, tore it open, and popped a marshmallow in his mouth.

"Those are for the s'mores," Peter said.

"And the s'mores go into my mouth," Sirius said.

"Pass a marshmallow," James said.

Sirius complied.

"Here's some sticks for the roasting." Remus passed the others each a long stick for their marshmallows.

The roasting began, the boys laughing and joking around all the while.

"You know what?" Sirius said. "You can't have ran through a campsite, you know why? Because it's past-tents."

The pun was met by deadpan expressions.

"Past-tents, get it?"

"That's even worse than 'I'm always Sirius,'" James said.

There was a moment of silence before the four began to laugh.

That was the only sound besides the rustling leaves, but those were far above them. They, if only for a brief moment, were the only thing that mattered there, in the forest, under the leaves and stars….

They laughed until James said, "Tell you what, mate, we'll get you a new arsenal of puns."

"A new arsenal? Sounds good," Sirius grinned.

"Oh no," Remus said. "Now we're going to be stuck with bad puns for the whole of next year."

"Not just next year," Sirius said, still grinning. "The rest of Hogwarts, and everything after."

"That's worse," Peter said.

"Maybe for you, but better for me. When we get back to the castle, we're having a full-out Marauder lock in. Then we'll come up with the puns."

"Isn't this a Marauder lock in?"

"Peter, you're right! We've got to get started now!"

"Why'd you have to say that?" Remus asked exasperatedly.

"Because it's true. Now come on, let's get started!"