Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his affiliated theme parks... but one day I would very much like to visit

AN: I know none of you are interested in excuses for my 3ish month absence from fanfiction, but I am going to give you three very good reasons. 1) my laptop completely died! all the keys in the upper right hand corner of the keyboard stopped working. i couldn't even sign in!!! so i had to buy a new one (a mac wooo!) and that took me a while, considering i am a poor uni student with limited funds. 2) university. okay, so we've been on holidays for about two months but the stress lingers on. choosing new subjects, sending in lots of paperwork for my education degree (nightmare!) and generally struggling to accept the fact that i still have THREE YEARS left on my double degree (please, kill me now!). and 3) i have had the WORST case of writer's block in the history of the universe... mostly i think because I don't want to finish this fic (and this is the last chapter before the epilogue). My theory is that my subconscious was secretly preventing me from constructing worthy sentences in the hopes that it could hang onto this story for a bit longer. BUT at last i have finished and I hope that it was worth the wait and that it isn't too crap :D

So, in conclusion, I'm sorry for being stupidly slow updating. Thank you for your continued support and reviews!! and enjoy :) happy fanficcing!

Last time - I can't actually remember... It was their last few weeks of Hogwarts. A graduation ceremony, etc.


Chapter 53 - Goodbye to Hogwarts Part Two

Cat's Occlumency Diary

It's strange to hug a stranger and know that they are someone you've known your whole life. Surreal, really.

On its own, that sentence does not make much sense. But, then again, no one should be reading my diary so it doesn't really matter, does it? (In case you're thinking of answering, don't - it was rhetorical).

I'm not looking forward to going 'home'. It's nicer since Sirius and I fixed it up back in April but it's still not the same. It just reminds me of what happened to Dad and where I really should be; at our real home.

It's weird seeing Mum and Jake in other people's skins.

I sometimes wonder if the muggles know that they've got doppelgangers walking around Scotland and Cardiff half the time. It'd be weird to have a double. I can only imagine the damage someone might be able to do with another person's identity. Not mine, of course. I'm not that important. But imagine if someone got the Minister for Magic and pretended to be him for a day. It'd be a catastrophe.

But there's really no point to this rambling. I just can't sleep.

We've finished all the graduation stuff and now we've got only a week to say goodbye to Hogwarts. I got Mum to bring me some stuff to give to the teachers. I think Lil got her presents last time she was in London - she's just that organised - and Anna, well… she's been in a coma, so no presents but I'm sure she's got some really nice cards for them. She always was quite good with words. We're going to give them out before we go, just as a thank you for all their hard work over the years. Lily's idea, of course. I think she feels a bit guilty on behalf of all the mischief her now boyfriend has caused. By her standards, so should I. But I've never been a great follower of rules myself so it doesn't really worry me.

I'm getting off topic again.

So the plan for next week is to give the teachers their presents, say goodbye to the quidditch pitch, and hopefully make some lasting memories that will take me through the horror months of advanced auror training. I know the boys have some big prank planned but none of us know when it's going to happen, only that it's going to be huge. The people of Hogwarts should be on their guard…

I'm going to miss it here. I've gotten quite used to this bed, these curtains, the strange smell in the common room and having classes with everyone. Okay, so I won't miss the classes or anything, but the people. Not even just my friends - I know I'll still see them. I mean, I'll be living with Lils and Anna, and I don't think I could get rid of Sirius if I tried. But it's going to be the random people that I miss. That fifth year kid from the team cheer squad who always used to wear a bizarre lion costume to open training sessions, the twins from second year who spent the better half of the term following Lily around between classes trying to get her autograph, the kid whose name escapes me who always leaves the dining table just as I sit down (and I could never work out why). These are the people I will miss seeing all the time - I'm just used to it here.

Mind you, I'm not going to miss the study. I'll have plenty to keep me busy at Auror training.

Dumbledore managed to get me, Sirius, James and a few others into the advanced course so that we can do in a year and a half what would normally take three years, so it's going to be pretty full on.

I don't want to get all mushy and girly but I'm really, really glad that Sirius and I are doing it together. At least I'm guaranteed to see him at least once a day. I feel kinda sorry for Lily, though. She's doing some sort of internship/training course thing at St Mungo's to be a healer. I can only imagine how awful her hours are going to be. She and James, between them, will have so little spare time I'll bet they'll hardly see each other.

I think this is probably the last time I'll write in this at school - I'll be too busy next week to think about it. So I think it only fitting that I write about my favourite Hogwarts memory (I got the idea from Lily).

It's tough, because there are quite a few good ones - I'll give you the top five:

Five - it was the first time I met Lily when we had just been sorted. I was sitting opposite James and Sirius who I ended up sharing a boat with across the lake, and Lily came over to the table. Sirius made room for her but she just turned her back on him and James and sat down. I remember just laughing at their identical looks of surprise (and James' mild look of disappointment). And then Lily looked at me sort of embarrassed that she'd obviously been rude to the boys and I stuck out my hand and introduced myself. The look on the boys' faces then was even better. When Lily and I became quick friends James couldn't believe it. He kept trying to tell me she was friends with the 'weird greasy kid from Slytherin' but I didn't care because it turned out Lily was very funny, bright and slightly odd so we made perfect friends. So, yeah, it was when good old Lils blatantly gave the cold shoulder (the first of many) to two boys who I am sure had never heard the word 'no' before. Classic.

Four - Third year when I beat the boggart in our defence class. I was the first one to do it and it felt really good. I had quite a good year in that class, actually. I remember duelling practice when I was paired with Remus (who was the best in the class) and I managed to disarm him and put him in a full body bind within minutes. It hasn't exactly happened since then, but I won about twenty house points AND got the respect of the newly titled 'Marauders' (even though I had enough blackmail dirt on Sirius and James to make them do anything I wanted anyway).

Three - My birthday in sixth year. We'd only been back about three weeks but everyone was already stressed because of the amount of homework the teachers had piled on us. And I remember waking up to a stack of presents at the end of my bed and then going down to breakfast with Anna and Lily. At the time I hadn't noticed anything wrong but when we sat down at the table and I looked around I noticed everyone else had brightly purple coloured hair - my favourite colour. Everyone except me, the girls, James and Remus, that is. I couldn't stop laughing! The best part was that no-one realised their hair had changed colour, except those that were unaffected. I knew it was a sort of birthday present from the Marauders - it had good-humoured mischief written all over it. The fact that James and Remus had gone and pranked Sirius and Peter as well just made it even better.

Number two is an easy one - When Lily, Anna and I skived off transfiguration in fourth year. Anna's parents had forgotten her birthday and she was really upset but trying not to show it, so I suggested a picnic afternoon instead of going to McGonagall's class. We got supplies from the elves in the kitchens and went up to the astronomy tower, I think. The whole time we were there Lily was nearly wetting her pants because she was so nervous she was going to get caught. And we nearly did get caught by the batty divination professor, too, but Anna talked her way out of it, saying she had predicted that she would meet a tall, dark stranger in the tower and, being an old romantic, the professor let her go. I just remember playing stupid games and eating and laughing and having a generally wonderful time. It was before all this Voldemort stuff got huge, so they were simpler times. Good times.

Which brings me to number one. And, let's face it, this was an easy winner. The quidditch cup this year when we won! Sure I nearly fell of my broom a couple of times and broke my hand punching a Ravenclaw in the face, but it was worth it. My broom did end up shattering against the goal post but it's about time I got a new one anyway and Mum did promise to get me one as a graduation present. AND I scored a fair few goals (I do know the precise number but to write it down would seem like boasting).

So that was clearly my favourite memory.

Well, that's about all I have time for. I should be getting some sleep.

Goodnight journal.


Saturday afternoon rolled around, warm and sunny, providing the new graduates an opportunity to frolic in the sunshine. As such, Lily and Cat had planned a picnic for themselves and the boys. Anna was doing her best to make up for lost time with Caradoc, so it was just the Marauders that joined them under the beech tree near the lake.

"There's something odd about the smell of this rug," Lily said, wrinkling her nose as she unpacked the red chequered sheet.

"Well, we found it in the Room of Requirement, so who knows where it's been?" James agreed, grabbing the corners and helping Lily to lay it flat.

"That's reassuring," Remus intoned sarcastically, flopping down on the grass next to the rug.

"It's the best I could do on short notice," Sirius said, "It was this or my bed sheets and you all know as well as I do what goes on atop those."

"Not something they needed to know, Sirius," Cat muttered in exasperation.

"I hope there's cheese in here," Peter said, riffling through the basket Lily and Cat had had the task of filling.

"Yes, Peter, there's tasty, cheddar and brie. Just for you," Lily rolled her eyes.

"Awesome," the greedy boy muttered. James shook his head; sometimes it worried him how much Peter really was like his animagus counterpart.

"Aside from the smell, this is really nice," Remus commented, rolling onto his stomach and opening a thick book in front of him.

"Aww, Moons, you're not going to read the whole time, are you?" Sirius whined.

"I should think you'd have enough people to entertain you without me joining in, Pads," Remus replied, turning a page. Sirius pouted but was then quickly distracted by the breadstick Lily had extracted and begun to slice up.

When they'd all eaten their share (and some, more than their share) they continued to just generally laze about, enjoying a moment's peace. Lily was lying with her head in James' lap while he absently played with her hair, Sirius and Cat were rolling an empty butterbeer bottle back and forth between them, Remus, as ever, had his head in a book and Peter was snoozing on his back.

"I wonder if he'd wake up if we rolled him into the lake?" Sirius mused aloud.

"Of course he would!" Cat replied.

"I don't know, he's a pretty heavy sleeper," Remus added.

"Care to test the theory then, Moony, my good friend?" James grinned. Lily raised a disapproving eyebrow at him but got off his lap anyway.

"I'd rather observe the results," Remus said casually.

"You just don't want the blame!" Sirius cried.

"Maybe we should roll him in, too. So it doesn't look suspicious," James grinned.

"Okay, fine, I'll help," Remus conceded, carefully placing his bookmark at the appropriate page and pulling out his wand. "I think it'd be better if we used magic."

"Done," Sirius agreed. In synch, the boys raised their wands and wordlessly cast a spell that set Peter rolling gently towards the lake.

"I can't believe you're going to sit by and watch this happen, Miss Head Girl," Cat muttered to Lily, who just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't really feel that role belongs to me anymore - we're practically gone. And besides," the redhead smirked, "I've always wondered whether the Giant Squid is male or female. This way we can find out for sure."

"I disagree, Evans," Sirius said, flopping back down next to her, "Male or Female, who would want Peter?"

At that moment, Peter's sleeping torso touched the water and the boy let out a shriek to rival a six year old girl's. Unfortunately for Peter, he could not seem to stop rolling for the next few metres, so by the time he was in control of his limbs to swim back in, the Giant Squid (ancient, and probably lonely, inhabitant of the Black Lake) had heard his shriek and had come swimming.

"Oh no, we'd better help him out," James said with no real conviction.

"We're coming, Pete," Sirius called, half-heartedly.

"Yep, any minute now," Cat agreed. She, like the rest of them, was transfixed by the spectacle.

Peter flailed about, splashing madly as he tried to get back to shore.

"Come on, help him out, guys," Lily said at last.

"Okay," James conceded, raising his wand. At that moment, a thick scaly tentacle broke the water's surface, reaching towards Peter.

"Uh-oh," Sirius said.

"AHHHH!" Peter cried as the tentacle made to wrap around his middle.

"Relashio," Remus shouted, blasting the offending tentacle with the relinquishing charm. The tentacle recoiled away from the sparks that had come from a distance but fortunately for the Giant Squid it had several more tentacles with which to assault poor Peter.

Another long tentacle rose from below but instead of wrapping itself around Peter, it clumsily stroked the side of his face, forcing the boy to hysterical tears.

"Levicorpus!" James commanded, jerking Peter into the air by his ankle.

"Mobilicorpus," Sirius added, setting their friend the right way up and levitating him back to safe ground. Peter crashed to the ground, dripping and spluttering. "It- it, and then. It was… ughh!" he shuddered, then promptly passed out.

"I wonder if he'll work out that it was us when he comes to," Remus mused.

"I guess that answers the question about the Giant Squid's sexuality then," James said, unable restrain his smirk.

"Pity, Evans. Guess you'll have to stick with quidditch-head over there," Sirius grinned.

Lily just looked confused.

"Remember in fifth year when you said you'd sooner date the Giant Squid than James?" Remus prompted.

"Oh, yeah," Lily smiled. "Shows what I know."

"Clearly you didn't know the squid was a she," Cat chuckled, sending the whole group into a fit of laughter.

It was one of those rare moments when everyone felt perfectly content with the way things were. It was, in fact, the last moment they all spent together that weekend, as the Marauders then went into their version of conclave, only emerging when they had a plan for their massive prank.


Peter's Occlumency Diary

I still can't work out how I ended up in the lake. I mean, one minute I was dreaming of cheesecake and fluffy pillows and a pretty Hufflepuff girl, and the next I was cold, wet and being molested by a slippery tentacle. It was AWFUL!
I could have rolled into the lake because, well (and I don't mind admitting to a diary), I'm a little bit round. And the lake was downhill a little. But why would I have started rolling in the first place?

It seems like the sort of thing the guys would do but they wouldn't do it to me, would they? Anyway, they didn't mention it so I guess not. If they did, then I guess we're not as close as I thought we were. But that'll all become clear when we leave Hogwarts - if we stay in touch or if we don't, you know?

James and Sirius are the most popular guys in the school so it's good to be their friend. Plus Remus is really smart and helps me with my homework. But once we've left Hogwarts are we all still going to hang out together? They might not have time for me with auror training and everything. And will I even need them?

Things are changing and it's going to be different after school. There's that group that's gathering followers and soon I know James and Sirius won't be the biggest people in the playground…

Anyway, I don't want to think about that at the moment. For now, they're my friends and that's all that matters.

I'm preoccupied with our plans for the big prank on Tuesday. It's going to be unbelievable. All the hard stuff is being done by the other guys but I get to help with distracting the teachers. AND they were even going to let me put the first part into action. But I don't want to spoil the surprise (it's to do with the owlery…).

I'd better go, I have to pack and I just know it's going to take all week. I'm not even sure which bits of the mess in here belongs to me or even whether it's even this year's mess…


Tuesday began as any other Tuesday… well, aside from the fact that the fifth and seventh years had finished their big exams, and only the ickle firsties still had the end of year testing to go. And the fact that due to an unexplained dung bomb incident, the Hogwarts owls had taken up residence on the ends of the house tables in the Great Hall. Oh, and the fact that everyone who had sat down to breakfast had begun to sprout little green hairs on their hands as soon as they touched their cutlery.
So, really, it wasn't an ordinary Tuesday after all.

The student body at large had been generally apprehensive since the graduation of the seventh years because everyone knew that the Marauders would have to have one last hurrah before they left. It seemed that the distinct lack of pranks over the weekend and Monday had lulled them all into a false sense of security, for none of them performed anti-enchantment spells before breakfast - a notoriously opportune moment to prank a whole lot of people at once.

"It wouldn't work anyway," Remus had explained to his fellow Marauders as they discussed potential hazards on the way to breakfast. "I made the spell work largely undetectable for this morning's instalment."

"We didn't," Sirius said, "But by lunchtime I hardly think anyone will care anymore."

As they entered the Great Hall, dozens of suspicious pairs of eyes stared up at them. The Marauders chose to ignore this and casually sat down amid the owls and Gryffindors, picked up their cutlery and began to eat breakfast, also ignoring the little green hairs that sprouted from their own hands.

Lily and Cat, who had come down before the Marauders, looked up at them with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

"Why are you guys affected by your own wand work?" Cat asked.

"Sweetheart, I'm offended!" Sirius cried dramatically, to the eye rolling of his friends. "To think that we would prey on the students of this school in such a crude and unsubtle manner-"

"We know you guys did it, Sirius," Lily said.

"Wouldn't be fair otherwise," James answered, before shoving a spoon-full of cereal into his mouth.

"Aww, my Jamesie is all growed up," Sirius mocked, before Lily kicked him under the table then leaned across and gave her boyfriend a big, sloppy kiss on the forehead.

"I'm proud," she said.

"You won't be in a minute," Remus said with a smirk.

"Why?" Lily said, suddenly on her guard.

"Because James was in charge of the next bit."

"What next bit?"

"You have to wait til the hall's full."

"What next bit, Remus Lupin?" Lily growled in her renowned prefect voice.

"The owls," Peter grinned.

As soon as the words had left his mouth, the aforementioned owls (who were currently perched on the ends of the house tables) all rose up into the air.

"Oh dear," Lily moaned over the oohs and ahhs of the assembled students.

The tawny owls and barn owls formed a large circle flying clockwise, while the lighter-coloured owls (namely, the snowy owls) circled in the opposite direction. Simultaneously, five owls pulled into a sharp dive, swooping in opposite directions over the staff and house tables, long coloured ribbons attacked to their feet unfurling as they went.

"That's quite nice, actually," Cat said.

"Just you wait," Sirius grinned. As he spoke, four owls broke off from the group and dive bombed the Slytherin table. With poo, of course.

"Oh, James, why?!" Lily moaned, burying her head in her hands.

"That bit was my idea, actually," Sirius confessed.

"I thought you'd all gotten past that vendetta."

"Nope," Sirius and James chorused.

"Fine, I'm done here," Lily said, rising to leave.

"Wait, Lils, the best bit is yet to come," James pleaded.

Lily looked to the ceiling which had suddenly turned to a beautiful soft sunset, bathing the room in soft pink and orange light. All the owls assembled together again, flapping so as to remain in the air, but not moving about as they had been before. They appeared to be hovering and if Lily wasn't very much mistaken, they appeared to be spelling something out.

"I still can't believe of all the things you could've had them spell out, you chose 'I love Lily Evans'," Sirius scoffed. James had the decency to blush a little at this.

Lily gave in and smiled. "You know you won't always get me to forgive you for pranks you pull on the Slytherins by getting some owls to tell me how much you love me," she said.

"I know… but there's always the hippogriffs and I hear they're much more difficult to train."

Lily hit him playfully on the arm, chuckling.

"You know McGonagall is going to know it was you lot because of that," Cat said.

"As if she wouldn't have guessed anyway," Sirius replied. "Besides, all we have to do is avoid or distract her for the day so we can continue our good work. After that she can have at us for all I care. In fact, it'd be good to have one last yelling at… for old times' sake, you know?"

"Well, it looks as if you'll get your wish. She's sending you death rays with that glare of hers," Lily said.

"Time to go, then. We need to get ready for phase two," Remus said.

"Should we be concerned?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course not. The next bit was Sirius' idea," James grinned, chuckling at the look of horror on Lily's face.

"Come on, guys. Time to go," Peter said, grabbing James by the shirtsleeve and tugging, as they all turned to see McGonagall approaching.

"Later, Lils," James said before dashing off.


Phase two, as it turned out, was more for the entertainment of the Hogwarts quidditch fans than anything else. The boys had managed to bewitch seven suits of armour from the third floor corridor to come down off their plinths and mount brooms borrowed from the quidditch storage cabinet (brooms that had been specially reinforced to carry the extra weight, of course). They then proceeded to fly around the school and select the players for their opposing team. Sirius had made sure that the suits of armour would keep heckling the chosen players until they gave in. After all, clunky suits of armour speaking old English and demanding a game of quidditch ought not to be ignored - they can be quite intimidating when they want to be.

It ended up that the student team consisted of Caradoc Dearborn, Flint from Slytherin (chosen so that the Marauders could see him get injured by one of the suits), Diggory from Hufflepuff, Meghan McCormack (a first year from Gryffindor whose mother played for Puddlemere United as a chaser and who had not been on this years team), Galvin Gudgeon of Hufflepuff (another first year who showed potential but had been too young), Nathan Wood (the reserve Gryffindor keeper who would've liked more on-pitch time during the final), and Madame Hooch, just to make things interesting.

"I wanted to put you in, mate, but it might be seen as bias," Sirius said, clapping James on the back as they followed the crowd down to the quidditch pitch.

"You put all the other captains in," Peter pointed out.

"Yes, but to be honest I anticipate that Flint will get knocked off his broom within the first, ooh, thirty seconds. Then there will be three Gryffindors, two Hufflepuffs and only one Ravenclaw. So for reserves I chose that girly blonde Slytherin fourth year-"

"Candace Sleeth? Why?"

"Because she's too prissy to be on the team but I've seen her fly and she's pretty good. The other reserve is some Ravenclaw third year that you'd probably know, Rem. I think he was in one of your tutorial groups for something."

"Oh… good," Remus replied mildly. "So who will be commentating the match?"

"I really wanted Dumbles to do it but I think that might be pushing it a bit…"

"I'll ask him," James offered, "I am the Head Boy, after all."

"It's okay, I'll do it, I'm charming. My prank idea, after all," Sirius grinned.


Two hours, three serious injuries and the announcement by Dumbledore that "Sir Thwackington has caught the snitch, the suits of armour win!" later, the quidditch match was over and the Marauders were receiving a combination of admiring and apprehensive, what-crazy-thing-will-they-try-to-pull-next looks from the student body.

Peter just shrugged it off.

"It doesn't matter what they work out, there's no proof we did anything."

"Come off it, Wormtail. Who else would go to this much trouble to put together a day of pranks?" Sirius scoffed.

"Even though the whole school knows we're behind it, I'd like to think they're grateful to know that we're not immune to our own pranks. I've still got some green hairs," Remus mused.

"And anyway, it's not like they can avoid the next stage," James said reasonably.

"I must say, this is the bit I've been most looking forward to," Remus added.

"You would, you muggle-poetry-lover, you," Sirius said.

"It'll be funny, just you wait," Remus pouted.

Cat and Lily met up with the boys on the way up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey boys," Lily said, catching up to James and kissing him on the cheek.

"That quidditch prank was a great idea!" Cat enthused, "I wish we were going to be around next year to see the talent develop."

"We could always come back to watch matches," Sirius suggested.

"No we couldn't," Lily argued. "They only let in family and that's only on special occasions."

"I do believe that Sirius is referring to the map and my cloak," James said, wrapping an arm around Lily's shoulder and steering her towards a couch by the window.

"But he'll be too busy training to be an auror anyway, don't worry," Remus winked, causing Lily to chuckle.

"So, what's the next phase of prank day?" Cat asked.

"That would be telling," Peter said, taping his temple instead of his nose in what he obviously thought to be a conspiratorial manner. Cat merely rolled her eyes, as most people did whenever Peter did or said something a little daft… which was quite often.

"Suffice it to say it will be… amusing," James said.

Sirius snorted. "More like annoying. All I know is I won't be eating the rice pudding today at lunch."

"You always eat dessert, though," Cat said.

"Let me say that I am choosing the lesser of two evils."

"If you think rhyming is worse than a rash you-know-where…" Remus smirked.

"A rash! You didn't mention anything about a rash!"

"Yes, well as it turns out, mixing chocolate with that particular potion has the unfortunate side-effect of-"

"Fine! I'll take the rice pudding," Sirius huffed, "I just will make a point of not talking until it wears off."

Remus laughed as Cat followed a now sulky Sirius and a hungry Peter back out to the Great Hall for lunch.

"There's no rash, is there?" Lily asked apprehensively.

"No, of course not. As a matter of fact, I couldn't be bother making a singing solution, so the rhyming potion is in both desserts. I, personally, think the results will be hilarious," he grinned, also leaving for lunch. Lily was about to get up and follow him, but James' hand on her wrist stopped her. She looked questioningly at him.

"I feel like I haven't seen you all day," James whined, tugging Lily into his lap.

"So needy for a boy," Lily teased, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"It's because I wasn't in our common room this morning. And then I've spent the whole day with the guys…"

"James, they're your best friends, don't be silly. I'm still going to be here when you get back," she smiled, wondering where all this melancholy wondering had come from.

"It's going to be like this when we leave, though," James replied, absently running a hand through Lily's hair. "I'll be living with them, working with Sirius. I won't see you every morning or even every day-"

"We've got some holiday time before then. And anyway, I'll make sure to see you every day. We are magic, remember? It'll be easy."

"Aren't you going away with your family in the holidays?"

"Oh, right. I forgot. I mean, I can not go if you don't want me too-"

"No, Lils, go. I'm not a pathetic boyfriend. I'm sure I'll manage…"

"C'mon, cheer up. This is prank-day. Your day of glory!" Lily grinned. "Be happy."

"Hmm."

"Everyone loved that quidditch game."

"Meh."

"And everyone loved the owls letting loose all over the Slytherin table at breakfast," she wheedled.

James let out a weak chuckle. "That was funny."

"Yes, it almost was. So get going and spread more of that humour around."

"Are you going to eat the rice pudding?"

"For you, James, for you."


"I've never eaten such a delicious dessert, but all this rhyming is making me hurt!" Sirius scowled.

"I love how you can start a sentence how ever you please, and the potion makes you rhyme the second half with words just like these," Cat chuckled.

"Oh, make it stop, I sound ridiculous. Damn you Remus and your being so meticulous!" Sirius cried.

By this stage, Lily was in fits of laughter.

"I think you'll find that we'll make less sense, by the time that afternoon classes commence," Remus replied coolly. "But I wish someone would say something more poetic, mundane sentences muck with my sense of aesthetic."

"You know that you all sound absolutely stupid, right?" Rachael Rawlins piped up.

"How come she's not speaking in rhyme? That's practically a crime!" James yelped.

"I'm allergic to rice and related grain-y, rice-y products, and I just don't happen to feel like chocolate mousse. Which, as it turns out, was pretty lucky for me."

"I think she's insulting us, her implications are thus," James said with a grin - he obviously wasn't taking things at all seriously.

"I don't care, this prank's beyond compare!" Lily grinned. "I thought you were rubbish at potions, how did you cause this commotion?"

"I had some help from James, you know how he loves these games."

"Okay, guys, this is getting old. Prongs, I believe you owe me some gold," Peter said.

"He had a bet that we'd get Sirius to rhyme, and he's done it twice this time. It's a pity his fear of a rash, was a load of trash."

"WHAT!? You mean I wouldn't break out? MOONY YOU MAKE ME WANT TO SHOUT!!!!"

Lily was still in hysterics.

"Lils, you haven't said much, is there a problem as such?" James asked.

"Give me a minute, okay? I want something special to say."

James grinned and eagerly awaited his message.

"You going to say something special to me? (I can't wait til I'm free)," Sirius muttered under his breath.

"Not today, sorry. You know I love you, don't worry," Cat replied.

"While you're thinking of something to say, I'd like to repeat something I read, okay?" James said. Lily nodded.

"She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
"

Lily was speechless. She had never had poetry recited to her before, let alone by the man she loved, in front of the entire school who had fallen silent when James had quietly stood up on the bench where he had been sitting.

The boy in question was now very red in the face and sat down quietly, while the rest of the school whispered in varying degrees of quality rhyme about how sweet, strange and corny their Head Boy was.

"It's not something I wrote, it's by Byron - a lord. And for performing that in public, I think I deserve an award. I'm over this rhyming malarkey and I just want to spend, a quiet afternoon with my lovely girlfriend."

"I don't know what to say James, that was corny and sweet. I can't believe you did that in front of the whole school, on your feet-"

"I told you the rhyming would start to wear off, now our rhymes will start causing others to scoff," Remus muttered to Sirius.

"I'm touched, really, I just don't know what I could say? Just, I guess that I love you, and every time I see you (when you aren't hexing Slytherins) it makes my day..?" she frowned. "I agree with Sirius, this rhyming is ridiculous!"

The group laughed, the seriousness of the moment forgotten. Well, until James leaned over and kissed Lily rather passionately.

"I give it a ten out of ten," Sirius said, eyebrows raised. "Five galleons says they do it again." This comment earned him a goblet of pumpkin juice in the face.

As the potion began to wear off, the rhymes began to get more and more strange, and their sentences pretty much stopped making sense. It made for great amusement, particularly when McGonagall told the students to get to class, telling one Hufflepuff to shift his... well, it rhymes with class.


Getting back to their common rooms (and to their classes, for the first years), however, was no small feat considering that the next phase of the Marauder's pranking involved the expert transfiguration of at least half of the one hundred and forty two staircases in Hogwarts.

Water-slides, bouncy castle steps, climbing ropes and grassy slopes were now in place of the great stone steps, and the students were really struggling to get from A to B.

"This is really getting a bit much," Lily puffed, as she pulled herself to the top of the rope ladder. Cat offered her friend a hand, and they both tumbled to the ground of the third floor corridor.

"I'm enjoying myself, I just wish I had my swim suit on me," Anna complained as she looked at her friends on the floor.

Lily wordlessly transfigured Anna's casual shift dress into a two piece bikini with a roll of her eyes.

"Ooh, aqua looks good on me," Anna grinned before running all of two feet down the corridor to where a water-slide was conveniently waiting.

"Where'd your boyfriend get to?" Cat asked.

"He's off talking to Madame Hooch about quidditch. He's trying to get in contact with the trainer for a professional quidditch team."

"Oh, really? Which one?"

"I think whatever he can get into. He's even willing to start at the very bottom and work his way up."

"Which means Pride of Portree, right?" Cat smirked.

"Urgh, yes. I don't know how I feel about purple on Caradoc. He looks much better in blue. Plus I don't much fancy the commute to Scotland everyday," Anna wrinkled her nose.

"I though Caradoc wanted to become an auror, though," Lily said, following Cat to the edge of the water-slide.

"Well, he's interested in doing the right thing, I guess. You know... the order?" she whispered. "But I'm not sure if he wants to jump straight into auror training. He is young and... virile, you know."

This set Cat and Lily off laughing.

"Virile?" Lily chuckled. "Now I see why you're dating him."

"Oh, shut up. Like you're one to talk, anyway. James was after you for ages but you only gave in once you'd seen him without a shirt on."

"Ha bloody ha," Lily deadpanned. "Anyway, we should get a wriggle on. It'll take us ages to get back to the common room at this rate. And I want to get changed before dinner. I'm going to take some photos for posterity's sake."

"Ooh, a muggle camera? Is it the polar one your parents had at graduation?" Cat asked.

"The polaroid, yeah. So let's go. I won't have the future generations looking back on me in this state!" Lily grinned before getting on her stomach and following Anna down the water-slide.


"Okay, boys. This is it. The final prank (organised prank, that is) that we will pull at Hogwarts... unless there is an emergency," Sirius said thoughtfully. The Marauders were gathered in the kitchen for the third time that day, once again preparing for a meal-centric prank.

"So the transfiguration is done. As soon as the first person enters the Hall, everything will fundamentally transfigure itself," James said. "Moony, did you take care of the ceiling again?"

"Yep, it was more complicated this time, though, considering the special rain," he replied.

"Pete, did you organise the lolly-bags?"

"Yep, took the trip to Hogsmeade this afternoon. They're already on the tables ready to be sent up," he nodded at the tables behind them.

"Good, so now all we have to do is go upstairs and watch the magic unfold," James grinned.

"Except for what happens afterward," Remus asserted. "Remember we need to allow the map to be confiscated by Filch so that it ends up in his cabinet for troublemaking objects of desire."

"So the plan is, after the final hurrah, that we announce to the student body that today's shenanigans have been courtesy of the Marauders and then confess to a few choice incidents in the past."

"Then we take a bow and run like hell," Sirius added.

"Pads and I will take the stairs to the third floor corridor, as Filch is bound to follow us... well, follow Sirius at any rate," James grinned. "We'll meet you outside the statue of Eargit the Ugly, hand over the map to you two, then get ourselves sent to McGonagall for our punishment. Filch will then pursue you both. Split up and give the map to Peter. He gets to be the lucky last caught with the map."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Remus smiled.

"Go go banana," Sirius added. The others just looked at him oddly. "What? It seemed appropriate!"


Third year student, Jessica Stevens, was the first person to enter the Great Hall for dinner that evening. Upon walking in, she immediately wished she hadn't, for the walls of the enormous room began to ripple and shimmer. "Uh-oh," she said loudly.

The other students who had been milling about in the Entrance Hall or casually making their way to dinner rushed into the Great Hall to see what all the commotion was about.

The walls which had started to take on the appearance of wobbly glass, started to emit puffs of orange smoke.

"Oh, what now?!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed as she entered the hall with the rest of the teachers.

"Are we unable to have one uninterrupted meal today?" Professor Slughorn complained. "I must say, this is very upsetting to my routine."

The enchanted ceiling, which had been doing a rather splendid job of representing the clear, starry night sky, began to cloud over with shimmering, lilac clouds. Aside from that, the hall seemed to appear as normal. As the students sat down, the food from below in the kitchens appeared on their tables and with it came the small lolly-bags that Peter had put together for everyone. It was really a rather sweet idea.

When everyone seemed satisfied that it was okay to start eating their steak and kidney pies, the clouds overhead gave an ominous rumble before big purple drops of what could be water began to fall from the sky. In turn, they all abandoned their food and looked heavenward in would-be exasperation (they were too amused to be seriously annoyed).

As the liquid hit the students, their robes and assorted casual clothing began to shimmer and glisten in a strange, magical way.

"We are so going to cop an earful from Minnie for this," James grinned.

"LOOK AT THE WALLS!" an fourth year Ravenclaw shouted. Ignoring their slippery-looking clothing, everyone turned their attention to the walls of the hall which had lost the rippling effect and had turned into jelly. Orange jelly. What else would a prankster do to the walls of the Great Hall, after all?

"Food fight!"

"Brilliant, it's all going to plan," Sirius grinned. "Now I'm waiting for someone to notice that their clothes have become transparent!"

This didn't take long at all. Much screeching, yelping and catcalling ensued when the students (and teachers) in fact realised that their clothes had lost their visibility. Aside from undergarments, that is. The Marauders weren't complete perverts. Nor did they have any desire to see Professor Slughorn's private bits. Seeing his flabby stomach was bad enough.

"BLACK! POTTER!"

"Ah, music to my ears," Sirius grinned. "It's go time!"

The four boys rose from their seats and sprinted towards the door, expertly dodging globs of jelly and whole pies that were being flung at them by their peers.

"I am so very glad that they are our friends," Cat said to Lily.

"Really, why? Mostly I am just embarrassed."

"Because I knew to wear my sexiest bra to dinner tonight, didn't I?" she grinned.


Sirius' Occlumency Diary

The day of pranking was, without a doubt, the best moment of my Hogwarts career. Seeing Flint get knocked off his broom by a suit of armour was beyond entertaining. The rhyming irritated me no end, but the grand finale made up for it. Especially when the jelly walls/naked rain resulted in anarchy of the best kind - a food fight. And that wasn't even in the plan!

Of course, when it came to giving up the map it wasn't as easy as anticipated. As planned, Peter was the last to get caught and we all saw him hand over the wiped piece of parchment. I felt the unexpected urge to turn into Padfoot and take a chunk out of Filch's leg when he touched it with his grubby hands and unceremoniously shoved years of our hard work into an ordinary, ugly filing cabinet.

But I suppose we did what's right. At least the next generation will benefit from our sacrifices.

We got a standing ovation at breakfast the next day, too. After everyone had checked their cutlery for mischief-making charm work, that is. And I felt that everything was right in the world.

It's a pity we have to leave so soon.

I almost feel like we should have trained some youngsters to take on the mantle of trouble makers. Taught them a few secret passages, the best hexes to use on Slytherins - you know, the essentials. But I suppose they have to make their own way in the world. I think it's all this leaving Hogwarts, change-y, end-of-life-as-we-know-it stuff. It's turning me into an old sap.

Although it does have it's benefits. Cat and I decided last week to have one last 'private get together' in the room of requirement for old times sake. Phwoar! Won't forget that night in a hurry.

In fact, I have so many great memories of Hogwarts that I'll be taking with me. It was my home for seven years, more of a home than Grimmauld Place ever was. Even more than James' place, I guess. I know Mr Potter thinks of me as a son, but sometimes I felt like I was intruding. Especially when it was the anniversary of the attack that killed Alex and Mrs Potter.

Hogwarts was mine to do with as I pleased. It was my domain. And as the Marauders, we ruled the school. Going from this to being a lackey in a Ministry training program, even if it is advanced and run by Mad-Eye Moody, is going to be a painful change.

Just imagine it. No mucking about, no joking with the teachers, no fun!

But I guess it'll be worth it in the end. I hope, at least.

On the plus side, I get to see my girlfriend everyday. Not like James, poor guy.

But that's his problem, I guess. I probably shouldn't be wasting my time writing in this silly thing - there have to be more important things for me to be doing... Like spontaneous pranking...

It's not like the whole 'occlumency diary' thing worked anyway. I still have nightmares. The attack in Hogsmeade, mostly. But some are about my family. Their abuse, their use of the dark arts, me having to hunt down my family members - no one wants to dream about that, but that's what's coming. As an auror, as an order member, that will be my task. And they deserve it, but that doesn't make it easy.

I pretend like I don't care, but I do. Especially about Reg. I don't want to have to bring him in, but I will if I have to.

And what's worse are the dreams about me becoming as bad as them. It's in me somewhere - it's in my blood. My stinking, pure, bad blood. What if one day I wake up and I'm different? What if I want to take the easy way out? What if I don't want to be estranged from my brother? I've proven myself capable of murder with sending Snivellus to the Whomping Willow when Moony was transforming. And at the time, I thought it was all a bit of a laugh. Is that how my family feels about torturing muggles? Do they think it's a bit of a laugh - do the Death Eaters? Is that why they do what they do?

This has all gotten a bit dark, hasn't it? I guess it's late and I'm pretty buggered. Remus and Peter are asleep and Prongs went back to his dorm with Lily so there's no one to talk to. But I can't sleep like this. I think I'll go for a fly around the pitch just for a bit to relax.


"Okay, so that's Merrythought, Sprout and Ili done. Now all that's left are McGonagall, Slughorn and Flitwick," Anna said, consulting the list Lily had written. It was the Wednesday following what had become known as 'Prank Day' or 'Almighty Day of the Marauders' (although it was only Sirius and Peter who called it that) and the girls were making their way about the castle, handing out farewell gifts and cards to their teachers.

"And you've already seen your other professors, right?" Lily asked, receiving nods from her two friends. "Good, so who next?"

"Well, I don't particularly want to see Slughorn and listen to him harp on about how his best student is leaving him-"

"Oh, shut up!" Lily interrupted.

"So I suggest we see the others first then leave his cards and presents in his office so we don't have to see him," Cat finished.

"I second that. Motion passed," Anna grinned before Lily could argue. "Off to see Flitwick then."

The girls made their way towards the tiny Charms Professor's office, taking care to avoid the staircase that was still in the form of a water-slide.

"Ah, girls," Flitwick squeaked when he opened his door to them. "How can I help you?"

"We had actually come to give our thanks for a great year, sir," Cat said politely, knowing how much their tiny teacher valued manners.

"And for the many years that you've taught us," Lily added with a smile - Professor Flitwick had always been her favourite teacher and she his favourite student.

"Oh, come in, come in," he beamed, ushering them through the door.

"Thank you," Anna said.

"So, yeah, we got you this as a farewell gift," Cat said, handing the golden parcel to Flitwick.

"It's a muggle radio we bought last time we were in London," Lily explained. "We know that muggle devices don't work in Hogwarts so we altered it a bit."

"And charmed it to pick up signals from the national stations in Britain because we know how much you like classical music," Anna added.

For a moment, Flitwick looked as though he might cry but his face suddenly split into a broad grin and he exclaimed, "What a wonderful gift! So thoughtful of you. And to think you used charms to make it work. I feel as though my work here is done."

"Thank you for everything these past six years, Professor. Charms has always been my favourite class and I think that was, in part, due to your enthusiasm and guidance and I really appreciate all the hard work you put in helping us prepare for our exams but also for life in the wizarding world," Lily said in one breath. The red head herself looked as though she was tearing up. If he hadn't been so very small (and a teacher) she would have given Flitwick a hug. Instead, they said their final goodbyes and left to find McGonagall.

Usually, McGonagall would be patrolling the corridors at this time of day, making sure that students were where they were supposed to be before retiring to her office to plan her lessons. However, following the exhausting Prank Day, Minerva was content to sit in the staffroom drinking tea with the standard ginger newt biscuit because she knew that the Marauders had nothing else up their sleeves.

It was here that the girls found her and each presented her with a farewell gift and gave the fairly standard thanks-for-everything speech. Anna gave McGonagall a silky crimson scarf, Cat gave her a nicely engraved oak chest that held a tin of ginger newts inside, while Lily gave her an elegant brooch in the shape of a cat. According to the shop owner, the cat would sometimes change position in accordance with the emotions of the wearer (for example, if McGonagall was tired, the cat would curl up into a ball).

Of course, the strict Transfiguration teacher was touched by the thought that had gone into the gifts and was quite sad to see such strong students leave.

Giving a watery smile, she thanked the girls and wished them the very best in their endeavours, inviting them to write to her at any time if they needed help or if they wanted to keep her up-to-date with their successes. Lily realised that McGonagall really was full of surprises and she suddenly felt very sorry to be leaving the teacher, even though she had never been that fond of her subject.

Last on the list was Slughorn. They had wanted to check the map to ensure that he wouldn't be in his office but given that the Marauders had practically given it away ("the stupid gits") they just had to play it by ear.

Luckily for them, his office was deserted when they went down after lunch.

"Okay, so I'll write him a note so he knows it was from us," Cat said.

"Don't bother about putting my name on there," Lily said. "He'll know that this is my present."

"Seriously, Lily? A bowl of water? What's that all about?" Anna said, wrinkling her nose at the bizarre present.

"Doesn't matter," Lily smiled. Of all her presents, this had been her favourite to choose because she knew it would impress Slughorn but also make him smile. He had once told the class (although probably only Lily had been listening) about a fish he had owned once as a child who had somehow jumped from his fishbowl into the cauldron next to it and had consequently become a part of a befuddlement draught gone wrong. It had been a lecture on keeping a clear work bench but Lily had felt that Slughorn quite regretted the loss of his pet. When the lily petal in the bowl of water reached the bottom of the bowl it would transform into a fish - a piece of magic that would surely make Slughorn smile. Although he had a tendency to be pompous and self-important, Slughorn had always treated Lily with great respect for her skill and her kindness and she felt a certain affection for the large potion master.

"Well, that's that I suppose," Cat said. "Let's roll. It's perfect weather for sun-bathing."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Anna enthused. "I need to even up my shoulders!"

Lily just chuckled at her friends as she shut the door behind her, the finality of the action making her feel a little bit melancholy.


Players Pose for Prophet Magazine

Players from the Puddlemere United Quidditch Team have stripped down today for a photo shoot with the Daily Prophet in a bid to raise money for London's newest wizarding orphanage. The photos will be compiled into an 18 month calendar, the proceeds of which will go towards a fund for Euston Road orphanage, which opened last week.

"I think it's a really great idea," said the team's current manager, Fredrick Flarge. "The team are really excited about making a positive change in the community and they love an opportunity to strip down for the cameras."
The matron of Euston Road Orphanage, Mary Ambrosius, is also feeling positive about the campaign.

"We hope that the money raised from this bold project will be able to afford us some furniture for the dormitories. And perhaps furnish an additional bathroom."

The calendar will see the quidditch stars wearing next to nothing in varied suggestive poses, much like the cheeky muggle calendars that are often used to raise money for local churches or sporting clubs. Anyone wishing to purchase a calendar will be able to order them through the prophet for a minimal fee of two galleons. For an order form, see page thirty-four. For more on the scandal surrounding Mr April and his 'night out on the town' see the gossip column on page twenty.


Friday saw the students leave Hogwarts for the final time. There was much crying, hugging and laughing going on as they boarded the horseless carriages on the way to Hogsmeade. On the train home, the boys and the girls sat in separate carriages. Not because they didn't want to share the moment with each other, but because it was a tradition. Anna even abandoned Caradoc to be with Cat and Lily. They sat, as ever, in their compartment with a seat full of lollies from the trolley lady, racing chocolate frog cards and playing with each other's hair - sure, it was juvenile, but it was tradition.

The boys, on the other hand, were more subdued than usual. They played exploding snap once or twice, and Sirius challenged Remus to a game of chess, but somehow it wasn't quite the same. When Remus and James left to attend the final prefect meeting, Sirius took to staring broodingly out the window, while Peter aimlessly picked at a bit of thread on the seat.

"In conclusion, we'd just like to say thank-you all for all your hard work this year," Lily said to the group of prefects before her.

"We know it's been a tough year," James added, "But your efforts made things so much easier and Hogwarts was better for having you as leaders."

The Head Boy and Girl then handed out some of the leftover Honeydukes sweets as reward/goodbye gifts, much to the appreciation of their peers. As she was leaving, Marlene McKinnon mentioned something about how glad she was that Lily and James had finally gotten together. This caused Lily to blush and look away, which Remus took as his cue to go back to the boys' compartment alone.

"It's funny that everyone seems happy we got together," James grinned bemusedly.

"Not everyone," Lily reminded him, thinking of Severus and how sour things had become between them.

"Hmm, well Snape doesn't count. He's just jealous," James said dismissively. "But everyone else seemed to see it coming, didn't they?"

"Yeah, I guess so..." Lily smiled softly.

"So that means you were the only one who ever doubted us?"

"I didn't... Well, okay, sort of."

"But you're glad it worked out, right?" he grinned.

"Yeah," Lily agreed softly, a smile tugging up the corner of her mouth before she leaned towards him as they kissed.


James' Occlumency Diary

It's the end of Hogwarts, it's the end of pranking, it's the end of life as I know it... (should I be listing my top ten Hogwarts memories or something? Don't need to, I already know what they are).

But it's the end and now I have no idea what will happen next.

Yes, I know it's not like I've ever been able to see the future or anything, but all this change and uncertainty is stupidly unsettling! I've always been in control of what happens in my life. Well, mostly. I mean, I always knew what subjects to take, which girl to go after (of course!), how to handle a broomstick - the essentials. But I'm worried about what will happen after we leave school, especially to the Marauders.

Sirius and I will see each other practically everyday because we will be training together and I know that we'll all be sharing a flat but it just won't be the same. It'll be hard because Sirius and I will be going off every singe day to do the job that we love an want to do, but Moony will be stuck at home or trying to find a job. I don't know, but it feels kind of like we'll be rubbing his face in it just by living together.

And Peter... Well, who knows what he'll end up doing but I doubt it's going to be anything particularly exciting. He's more of a follower than a leader, and Merlin knows he won't be following us to the Ministry. I mean, he's great but he's never been the cleverest of wizards.

And another thing, he seems to be more withdrawn of late. He's less... hero-worship-y... Not to sound conceited or anything. It's just unlike him, is all. I'm glad, though, that he seems less dependent on me and Sirius and Remus. It's just a bit odd. I hope he's okay.

And I know there's nothing that you can do about it, but I'm really worried about what'll happen to me and Lily. I've been obsessed with her for so long, I was able to see her every day and talk to her, even if the result wasn't always the positive reaction that I wanted. But now we're together and it's great! And I love her. That much is clear to me, as it is to anyone else who has seen us together. But...

This is going to sound stupid, because I wasn't after Lily because she was the only girl who never gave in to my persistent charm and good looks (and I can write that because it's only egotistical if you say it out aloud)... But maybe now that some of the thrill of the chase is gone, we'll lose our chemistry. Or she'll lose interest. Or I'll lose interest (highly unlikely).

I don't know. I guess I'm just being irrational. There's nothing that can come between me and Lily, not even the 'dark wizard of the century' or whatever.

Voldemort. What a joke. He just kills and tortures and manipulates. That's not power, that's fear. I mean, what he does isn't a joke. All those live that he's taken... Nothing to be lighthearted about. But the man himself. He's just a man. Granted, an evil, sadistic, heartless, fearless, incredibly powerful man, but a man nonetheless.

And one day, we'll get him. Of that I can be certain. I just hope that I don't lose anyone else before it happens.

I miss mum.

There are so many things I want to say. All these stupid worries and all this stupid change, I just want to talk to her about it but I know I can't. I can't talk to Sirius about it. He'd try to understand, but I don't think he would get why I'm worried about me and Lily. And Dad's great, but he's busy, and I don't want him to know that I worry about him.

And obviously I can't talk to Lily. She's got enough on her plate - after all, she's going through pretty much the same stuff as me and then some (ie moving house, being a muggle-born, etc).

I'm sick of thinking about all the bad stuff that could happen. I want to think about the things that make me happy but I can't help but wonder how long it'll last.

Argh, I'm just tired. I'm sure I'll be more cheerful in the morning. A night's sleep in my own bed should be good... Although I have to admit, it's weird not having Lily nearby. Oh well, I guess I'll just owl her in the morning.

Goodnight.


AN - Well, that's that, I suppose. Now all we've got left is the epilogue which is basically Harry and co summing everything up. I'll try and have it up by Christmas as a present :P because it'll be quite short, not like this 11,000 word monster.

So yes. Please review if you have time and let me know what you thought of the excess of pranks (particularly that terrible rhyming! i used an online rhyming dictionary for help haha), James' odd behaviour at the end, how the pairings have ended up, and what you think WILL or SHOULD happen in the sequel, which I'm actually excited about writing (so the wait between chapters won't be soooo long).

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all, and thank you for sticking with me and my scribblings that i have the audacity to call a story. I hope you all have a wonderful 2010 and may it be full of lovely fanfics :) happy fanficcing!