Friday 3rd February 1978

Seventh Year Gryffindor Boys Dorm, 00:00

"Why are we doing this again?" Remus felt like he had to ask.

He really was the only voice of reason in this get up. He had some responsibility here. Sure, it was like the bare minimum but still. It was the point the counted.

"Because it's not against the rules. Technically." James replied.

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"No, no, no " Sirius shook his head, curls flying everywhere and brandishing a bit of parchment with a jagged edge. "It isn't. We checked. See?"

Remus hesitantly plucked it from his grasp and raised his eyebrows. "Please tell me you did not rip this out of a book."

Two of his best friends blinked innocently at him.

"We didn't rip this out of a book," James repeated slowly.

Sirius nodded. "It was more of a tome, really."

Remus groaned and pushed the bit of parchment back to Sirius. He wanted none of him on that. No way. He was not going to get involved.

"It's your life you're risking with Madam Pince," he told them.

"We could take her," James said far too confidently.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes."

"I'd rather take on McGonagall," Peter gave his opinion.

"Same," Remus agreed. "An angry McGonagall."

They all shuddered at the thought. Winding their Head of House up was fine, amusing even, but making her angry? They had only crossed that line a few times and they had all been on accident.

"Anyway," said Sirius, shaking the bit of parchment. "Look, read the rule, Remus."

"You keep holding it," Remus instructed.

Again, he wanted no evidence that might even hint that he helped those two idiots rip a page out of a library book. But he did read it.

Yep, just like he thought, the rule quite clearly stated that 'All students must remain in their beds at night'.

"See?" Sirius said earnestly."

"All I'm seeing is that I'm right, we aren't supposed to be out of bed at night."

And he already knew that. Not that it mattered, they were out of bed at night all the time and they hadn't been caught yet. Sound dampening charms and an invisibility cloak did wonders for that.

"We're not going to be out of our beds."

"Yeah, but they're going to be out of our rooms."

"There's no rule for that," James said quickly. "I checked."

Remus sighed heavily. Of course, he did. He ran a hand down his face. Was it even worth trying to persuade them otherwise? Probably not. Definitely not. Even if he knew with one hundred percent certainty that this wasn't going to end well. Oh, well.

"Just, make sure you put a sticking charm on all the pillows and blankets," he instructed.

The last thing they needed to do was go on a wild goose chase in the middle of the night for a pillow of all things. That and the more padding the better in his book. He did not want to be the one explaining to Madam Pomfrey how they broke bones in the middle of the night.

They all gave a cheer at his acceptance. Idiots.

They all scrambled onto their beds - their Dorm still having four beds despite James status as Head Boy so he didn't have to return to his Suite. Good, less chance that they'd get caught. Hopefully. It was still am absolutely awful idea but that wasn't going to stop any of them. And, if he was being truthful, Remus did kind of want to do it, even if it could only end badly. Really badly. Eh, as James was always saying, you really do only live once.

"Remember, cast the spell on all four corners," James reminded then, brandishing his wand. "Or else you'll always be unbalanced."

They all nodded at him and did just that. Even though he was expecting it, Remus almost fell off his bed in shock when the bed started to levitate.

"This is so cool," Peter said in wonder.

"Um," Sirius interrupted their self-congratulatory pats on the back. "How are we getting out of the Dorm?"

They all turned to look at the decidedly too small door. Their beds were definitely wider than it.

It took several minutes of awkward manoeuvring and them remembering they were wizards until the door was magically expanded enough for their beds to come go through. A quick smell also took care of opening the portrait door, much to the surprise of the Fat Lady.

And they were off. They were officially riding their beds around the castle. They all hovered in a clump. Or, as near a clump as you could get with four four-poster beds.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Remus asked.

Sirius and James looked at each other and then grinned. Nothing good ever came of that look. And he was right.

"Race!" They both cheered.

"Right down to the Greta Hall," James added.

"Whatever way you can," Sirius finished.

"No knocking paintings off the wall!" Remus felt like he had to state that as a rule.

They were already going to be in enough trouble. No point in added breaking school property into the mix.

"Deal!" James said. "Ready?"

"Wait, no, this is a bad idea," Remus said in sudden panic.

They weren't really going to do this, we're they?

"Three," began Sirius.

Oh, yes, they were.

"Two."

Bad idea. This was a bad idea.

"One!"

You know, steering a bed was an awful lot harder than you think it would be. It was really hard, James was finding. It was so big and bulky and if you weren't careful around corners, you could tilt it too much so you almost fell off it. Not that that had almost happening to him or anything. No. He was good at steering. The best.

"James! The wall!"

James yelped and made the bed turn sharply, again, nearly throwing him off. But at least he didn't end up squashed into the wall. Small mercies, huh? Still, they were definitely an improvement in his steering. He had stayed on the bed, after all. Something none of them could claim they had managed completely. They were all definitely going to need some bruise balm tomorrow morning.

"Do you think we can manage the Dungeons?" Peter wondered as they all came to a stop in the Entrance Hall.

They could actually line up some by side.

"All those sharp turns?" James said doubtfully.

"You're just scared you couldn't manage it," Remus taunted, his competitive spirit completely fired up.

Or maybe it was because, so far, he was the most accurate at steering.

"I can do it!"

"Uh huh."

James glared at him. "I can!"

"Prove it then."

"We'll all prove it," Sirius interjected. "Let's have a race. We can all start at the same point from here so it's fair."

"What about the finish line?" Remus asked. "It has to be at a decent distance or else it won't be a challenge."

Well, that crossed out the Potions Lab.

"The Slytherin Common Room," Peter said.

They all looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Perfect," James said happily, raising his wand again. "On your marks."

"Get set," Sirius said, leaning over the end of his bed.

"Go!"

And they all shot off like they had rockets strapped to their beds. Oh, wow. This was fantastic. Brilliant. Amazing. James couldn't think straight with the adrenaline pumping through him and all the twists and turns. None of them could help but shout with glee as they made it around corridors. Well, not really shouting as it was the middle of the night but even normal talking echoed like a shout down in the Dungeons at this time of night.

"Ha! I win!" Remus crowed, raising his fists in the air in triumph.

And somehow managed to stay upright despite the speed he was going. James had to admit, he was impressed.

Of course, all this couldn't happen and not wake someone up. Just as they were arguing what places the rest of them came in, the Slytherin Common Room door opened making them all jump.

"What the hell are you two idiots doing?" Severus demanded.

They all sighed in relief. Thank Merlin it wasn't any of the Death Eaters in Training.

"Racing. Obviously," James replied.

"Racing," Severus repeated.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because we can."

"What you can also do is get into trouble and how in Merlin's name did you get your beds out of your rooms?"

"Trade secret," Sirius replied at the same time James said "Expansion charms."

Severus just blinked at him and just shook his head slowly.

"I'm going back to bed," he said, turning his back on them. "Please try not to kill yourselves."

"Scared you can't beat any of us?" Sirius challenged.

"Of course, I can beat you," Severus instantly replied. "But I am not going to because that would be stupid."

"Chicken."

That earned Sirius a glare and Remus sighed. He knew where this was going to go. Oh well, at least it would be fun.

"Bwawk, bwawk," Sirius even made his arms into wing shapes to taunt Severus.

Which was apparently the last straw.

"Oh, I'll beat you!" He claimed. "Wait right there."

Saturday 4th February 1978

Professor McGonagall's Office, 10:00

"Just what in Merlin's name were you boys thinking?"

James opened his mouth to answer but it turned out that that was a rhetorical question.

"I mean," she started to pace behind her desk. "Of all the stupid, reckless, dangerous things you have done this really takes the biscuit."

Sirius made as if to talk but she either ignored him or didn't see him.

"What we're you thinking? I'll tell you; you weren't thinking. Not thinking at all. Do you know how much damage you could have done to school property? How you could have injured yourselves? What if you'd got tossed off? Beds aren't meant to be flown for good reason!"

"We'd get a soft landing at least," James bravely said then shrank back in on himself as she glared at him. "You know, with the mattress and blankets," he finished in a mutter, looking firmly at his feet.

There was no way he was going to look up into that basilisk glare. He rather liked living. He'd have a better chance with an actual basilisk.

"Indeed, Mr Potter, but you failed to consider that every surface of this castle is made of stone. You could have cracked your heads open a nobody would have known!"

What is it with woman and being worried about head injuries? They weren't completely subject, ignoring last night- obviously.

It had gone so well, too, until they crashed into those suits of armour. They had kept their shorts and shrieks to an absolute minimum and they hardly ever bumped into the walls after they got used to steering. Mostly. But the corridors weren't wide enough to avoid suits of armour. Which took up a surprising amount of space. And made quite the impressive noise when they went down like dominoes. Sirius didn't know about Remus but his ears were definitely still ringing from that.

"You are all very much adults now, gentlemen. And, yes, you can still have fun and make people laugh but you have got to think more about your behaviour," she continued to scold. "In three short months your time here at Hogwarts will be over and the world out there is a lot harsher towards such stupid stunts."

They all tried to look suitably remorseful at this statement. She gave them all an extremely intense glare that sent shivers down their spines.

"Do you have anything 5o say for yourselves?"

They were all silent for agonisingly long minutes before Peter very bravely piped up.

"There's no rule against it."

McGonagall turned to look at him.

"Excuse me?"

And now Peter was back to looking very firmly at his feet. Sirius didn't blame him; he wouldn't want their Head of House to be looking at him like that.

"Would you care to explain that comment, Mr Pettigrew? Because I am sure that the rule is that no students are allowed out of their dorms at night."

"Actually, Professor," Remus interjected politely. "The rule states that students may not be out of bed after curfew. We were in our beds."

"You know that that is an overly legalistic view of that rule."

"But it's what it says," James complained.

He better not start to whine. Everyone knew that McGonagall hated whining.

"It does not matter what the rule specifically says, Mr Potter. The point is that you should not be racing your beds around the school in the middle of the night."

"But, Professor," he tried in a more polite tone. "We weren't breaking any rules." McGonagall looked like she was about to speak when he turned to Remus. "Sure, we didn't, Moony?"

Remus shook his head. "We really didn't, Professor."

"I'm sure you broke several rules, boys."

"We really didn't," James said earnestly.

"Yeah," Sirius had to nod his agreement at that. "There's no rule against staying in your bed all night."

"Like you mentioned before, Professor," James added. "We were actually following that rule to the letter by staying in our beds."

"There's also no rule about casting spells on our beds or enchanting them," Remus continued.

"There's no rules on having races either," Peter told her, only stuttering slightly. "Except for racing poisonous snails."

That had definitely been the weirdest rule they had come across. And oddly specific too. The full rule read, "Students may not hold any competitive game with any breed of poisonous snail in public areas of the castle". Sirius really wanted to know the full story behind that rule.

"I also want to say that there's no rule about knocking over the suits of armour," James said. "Only about enchanting them."

McGonagall made a rather disturbing spluttering noise in response to their reasoning. And was her face supposed to be able to turn that shade of purple? That couldn't be healthy...

Tuesday 7th February 1978

Gryffindor Common Room, 19:30

"Marlene! I have an emergency," Lily announced, throwing herself on the bit of free space on the sofa next to her best friend.

That got Marlene sitting up straight.

"What's the emergency? And is it safe to say in the Common Room?"

"Yes, because James isn't here."

He was currently in their Suite trying very hard to stay withing the guidelines for their Transfiguration essay. Which was difficult for him because it was on a topic he loved. Which was pretty much all topics of Transfiguration but apparently, he had a lot to say on this one.

"So, it's James related."

"Yes."

Marlene put her quill down and pushed her homework away.

"Then, fire away."

"Valentine's day is coming up."

Her friend just stared at her as Lily looked at her expectantly.

"Wait, that's it?" Marlene asked. "That wasn't a question."

"But it is my problem," Lily said earnestly.

"Problem? You have a problem with Valentine's Day? But you have a boyfriend for it this year."

"Exactly."

"And now you've lost me again."

Lily made an impatient noise. This made perfect sense. Marlene just wasn't getting it even though she should.

"I need to get James something for Valentine's Day."

"So?"

"So? I don't know what I should get him for Valentine's Day!"

She really had no clue. What were you supposed to do for Valentine's Day? Lily didn't even know. She had never had a date on it before. Birthdays and Christmas were easier.

"How am I supposed to know?" Marlene demanded. "He's your boyfriend!"

"But you should know better than me."

"Why do you think I know this stuff?"

"You've had a boyfriend for longer than me!"

"Me and Sirius aren't your typical boyfriend and girlfriend!"

"But you still are boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Yeah, but we don't really go for gifts. Not really."

Lily knew that this was because Sirius had far more money than Marlene ever would at his disposal so neither of them wanted to have the pressure of getting gifts for each other for Valentine's Day at least. They had decided it wasn't worth the stress it caused and the ensuing aggravation. But still, they had once thought about gifts and exchanged gifts so Marlene was way more qualified than her on this subject.

"Also," Marlene added before Lily could say anything. "It doesn't matter if I have a boyfriend or not, James is still not my boyfriend!"

"But I don't know what to get him!"

Yes, Lily was extremely aware of how stupid she sounded but she really didn't know. What was supposed to be an appropriate gift for Valentine's Day to your boyfriend? Not something big - she didn't want it to be something stupid either.

"That's your problem, not mine."

"Oh, you're no help."

Sunday 12th February 1978

The Three Broomsticks, 12:30

This was nice, James couldn't help but think as je looked around the table they had commandeered. It had to be a big one because, you know, all of them were here. All of them being him and the rest of the Marauders, Lily, Marlene, Severus, Chryssie and Tonks. How the two younger girls managed to become part of their little group James still wasn't sure but he definitely wasn't complaining. You definitely couldn't have enough friends in his book. Especially good ones.

"You know, most couples on St Valentine's Day have a meal to themselves," Sirius commented idly, not looking too bothered by this.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Do you and Marlene want to be by yourselves?"

Marlene shook her head. "Nah, we're all splitting up after anyway. Having lunch with people is more fun."

"Dinner's more romantic anyway," James added.

Lily squinted at him. "Do you have something planned for dinner, James Potter?"

He gave her a look like he was a deer caught in the headlights.

"Maybe."

Remus, Severus, Peter and Sirius all snorted. The traitors.

"Anyway," James said hurriedly. "We're not all couples today anyway." He nodded his head at Remus, Tonks, Severus and Chryssie. "We have some hanger ons."

"We said we could leave you lovebirds alone," Chryssie said with an eye roll.

"It's not like we're going to do anything romantic in the Three Broomsticks."

"You could go to Madam Puttifoot's."

Everyone at the table shuddered at that. No. Madam Puttifoot's was definitely not an option there. James was of the opinion that the tea in there was drugged and that's why everyone got all soppy eyed. Which none of the people in the Three Broomsticks were, thankfully.

"Did you know that the author of 'Defensive Techniques that will Stretch You' is in the bookshop today? Tonks said to Remus.

"I did! I was going to go there after lunch."

"Me too. His book was so good."

"Want to go together?"

Both of them looked incredibly excited about this.

"Sure thing."

They both looked down at their pretty much finished plates of food.

"Should we go now?" Remus asked hopefully. "I'm finished here."

Tonks stood up in answer. "So am I. Let's go."

"Bye, guys," Remus waved at the group as he and Tonks hustled for the door.

Everyone stared after them.

"Well, that was weird," said Peter.

"Eh, they're going off somewhere together on Valentine's Day," Sirius said with a shrug. "I'm down with that."

"Down with it? Really, Sirius?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not my fault if you aren't up to date on cool lingo."

"Lingo?"

"See, that just proves you aren't cool."

Lily shook her head in fond exasperation. Honestly, James had been hoping that she would have persuaded Sirius not to keep talking like that. It was odd and not in a good way.

"Speaking of cool," James interrupted and turned to Lily. "Do you want to go on that walk before the snow starts?"

"Please," Lily said and looked down at her empty plate. "I'm actually finished."

"Let me finish my butterbeer and we can go."

As James was gulping down his butterbeer, Marlene and Sirius were making their own plans.

"Quidditch supplies?" she suggested.

"It's a date," Sirius said with a smirk.

"No going off to snog behind the broom racks," Lily told them. "I'm not getting you two out of trouble again."

Severus watched as the two couples paired themselves off and went to do whatever it was couples did. He scrunched up his nose, not really wanting to think about it. And he was thinking about it. Yuck.

"Have you got anything planned for today?" He asked the only remaining bachelor. Peter.

"Yes," he replied somewhat apologetically. "Morwenna said that she'd try to get into Hogsmeade later in the afternoon. She was home for a funeral Friday evening and she said she'd be returning after lunch."

"Are you going out with her?" Chryssie asked in interest causing him to blush.

Severus had to shake his head. Chryssie was always so blunt. Actually, both Evans girls could be. Frustratingly so, sometimes, though Lily did have a bit more tact. Thankfully. Not something you'd expect from a Gryffindor but there you go.

"Um, yes," Peter stuttered when he realised that Chryssie was still looking at him expectantly. "I am."

She beamed at him. "Good for you."

"Um, thanks?"

Peter sort of twitched for a minute and then nervously looked at his watch.

"Would it be weird of I was there early?" He asked them both.

"How early?" Severus asked at the same time Chryssie said, "Depends."

I don't know. She just said she'd be here after lunch because she was eating with her family."

"Well, it's barely one," Chryssie said, glancing at her own watch. "Still technically lunch time..."

"We could order another butterbeer?" Severus suggested.

It was kind of nice just sitting with friends like this. And it didn't always have to be all of them together.

"I don't know," Chryssie said. "I've drank so much liquid that my stomach feels like it's sloshing around."

Peter's head suddenly snapped around to look out the window and his eyes widened. Severus and Chryssie also looked. A tall-ish girl with a long brown braid was waving in. Peter blushed a pretty impressive shade of red and gave a weak wave back.

"Um, that's her," he fumbled. "I, uh, I have to go. Thanks."

Peter left, leaving the two of them being the only ones at the table. It suddenly seemed very big.

"Have you got any plans?" Severus asked her.

Chryssie shook her head. "No. Have you?"

"No."

That made her raise her eyebrow. "No Valentine for you, Sev?"

He had noticed that she was calling him Sev more often now. Normally it was only Lily. Not that he minded Chryssie calling him that. Of course not.

He scoffed and shook his head. "No."

There was just no girl that he liked. Well, he thought he liked Lily like that but he really didn't. He just really liked being her friend and being close to her like that. He didn't want anything more there despite what he thought when he was younger (and far more idiotic).

"Really?"

She sounded so disbelieving.

"It can't be that hard to believe."

He definitely wasn't a "catch". Not like Sirius or James were. Or have the best of personalities, like Remus. Severus was fully aware of this and accepted it. He was good at what he was good at and flirting and chatting up girls wasn't it. He didn't even feel like he wanted to anyway. It didn't interest him.

She fiddled with her napkin and looked away from him.

"It sort of is."

Severus didn't know what to make of that so he decided to change the subject.

"Want to go for a walk? There's some pretty cool caves on the outskirts?"

Tuesday 14th February 1978

Head Boy and Girl Suite, 07:30

James bounced on the balls of his feet, waiting eagerly for Lily to come down. He checked his watch for the umpteenth time. She should have been down by now. What was taking her so long? Why did she pick today to be late of all days?

Oh, oh, oh, that was the sound of her door opening. Perfect. Yes. Wait. He had to be at the foot of the stairs. No. Too weirdly formal. Maybe sitting down? Waiting by the door?

Lily was frowning as she came down the stairs. That wasn't right, she shouldn't be frowning on Valentine's Day!

"What's wrong? You didn't get some bad news, did you?" James asked worriedly.

Just because Lily's family were muggles and not involved in this whole war going on didn't mean that something bad couldn't happen to them. People got killed and hurt all the time even when there wasn't a war on.

"Oh, nothing's wrong. Not really."

"Which means there's still something wrong."

"It's nothing," she dismissed and leaned in for a kiss.

Now, that was something that he wasn't going to pass up on so of course be returned it.

"It's obviously something," he said as they broke apart.

"It isn't."

"Lily."

"Okay, it is. But it's stupid."

"It's not stupid if it's getting you all upset," James pointed out.

"I'm not upset, I'm annoyed."

"Well, it's still not stupid."

"Wait until you hear what I'm annoyed at."

"Nothing will make me think you're stupid," he said confidently.

Lily wordlessly passed him a little card. A very familiar card, in fact. Oh, he hoped his face wasn't heating up.

"A card?" He said, trying to sound confused.

"A Valentine's Day one," Lily corrected. "An anonymous one. I get one every year."

Yeah, James knew that. In fact, he made sure of it. He still didn't understand why she was annoyed one.

"What's wrong with it?"

Lily gave him an incredulous look.

"You're not bothered by the fact that I have a secret admirer when I have a boyfriend?"

"Huh?"

And then his eyes widened in realisation. Oh. Had she actually never figured it out? Whoops. And maybe he shouldn't have given her one when he was her boyfriend this year...

Double whoops.

"Um."

That one word (and probably his guilty tone) was more than enough to get all of Lily's attention.

"Yes, James?"

Now, what was the best way to explain this?

Seventh Year Gryffindor Girls Dorm, 08:30

Alice happily clutched a card to her chest before putting it on her bedside table. It was her Valentine's Day card. From Frank. Apologising yet again for not being able to get time off for the Valentine's Day Hogsmeade Weekend and wishing her a Happy Valentine's Day at the same time. Not that he had to do the former - Alice hadn't been expecting him to get time off so soon. New Auror recruits were strictly supervised for the first few months and she knew that Frank really wanted to get away for Easter so of course she wasn't going to see him for Valentine's Day. She understood that. Supported that.

It still was nice to get a card and a present from him. She hoped that he liked what sue got him. It was only a wand holster but it was a good one. Could withstand all sorts of things the shop clerk had told her.

She read over his word again and smiled. He really did have a way with them. Spoken and written.

Hopefully their next Valentine's Day he could speak them. In bed. They would be married, after all. Oh, what a lovely thought.

"What's got you all red and embarrassed first thing in the morning?" Marlene asked.

Alice sighed; the moment broken.

Sunday 19th February 1978

Head Boy and Girl Suite, 19:00

"All I'm saying that if any princesses had magic, then they'd just get themselves put of any locked tower," Sirius was saying. "And they would defeat any dragon that was allegedly guarding them."

"Do dragons even make good guards for humans?" Peter asked doubtfully. "Aren't they only good for guarding treasure."

"Maybe people are its treasure," James suggested.

"That's soppy," Remus told him. "But it's just the way muggles think they can be used. They don't know about Gringotts after all."

Lily had found out this year that apparently if you zone into the middle of a Marauder conversation you were definitely going to be confused with a high chance of being disturbed. Thankfully, this time she was just confused. Why were they even talking about Muggle fairy tales? That's what it sounded like anyway but she probably shouldn't assume. That was also very dangerous to do around the Marauders.

"Anyway!" Sirius said loudly. "That doesn't answer my question about why can't the princesses just kick the door down and fight for herself?"

"Damsel in distress?" Peter offered. "Makes them more attractive?"

James snorted. "All the girls I know are more than capable than fighting for themselves. And are scarier than any dragon. Surely a princess would have to be the best of that type of girl?"

Aw, James was so sweet. And very flattering to. At least he didn't think that females were some strange, helpless species. But princess, princess. That reminded her of something. But what? Oh yes!

"Did you know that people think that I act like some sort of Princess around you Marauders?"

That got them all to be quiet. Huh. Impressive. Also, she never knew there were so many ways to look incredulous. Each of them was wearing a completely different expression.

"You are as pretty as a princess," Peter offered, the first to break the silence.

"You're so sweet, Peter," she gave him a smile.

"Hey, I'm supposed to be the adoring boyfriend here," James said jokingly.

"Then adore me," she stated.

He pulled her in close and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Gladly."

"Seriously, they think you're the Princess of the group?" Sirius was struggling to understand this.

Lily was struggling not to laugh as she nodded.

"It's because I'm the only girl, see?"

James shook his head. "Have they never met Sirius?"

"Obviously not."

"I mean, come on! You're obviously the Brain or the Muscles of this outfit!"

Lily thought for a moment, "Muscles, definitely. You wouldn't get anything done without me."

"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm always thinking up things to do!" James protested.

"Exactly. Thinking. That obviously makes you the Brain."

"I'm pretty sure most people would think that's Remus."

"He's the Insanity."

"Obviously," Lily said with an eyeroll.

Honestly, most of the crazy ideas came from Remus. Well, the crazy ones that could be pulled off, anyway.

Wednesday 22nd February 1978

Gryffindor Common Room, 20:30

Of course, Lily couldn't just let this be. No, she had to go and set Marlene straight. Well, not immediately because life happened and Seventh Year was busy but several days later. With, of course, all the Marauder in tow.

There was a brief moment of confusion as her friend had completely forgotten about her comment from a few weeks ago but was willing enough to hear her explanation, getting more and more amused as the explanation went on. And it did for a bit considering everyone wanted to contribute to it.

"What's Pettigrew then?" Marlene asked sceptically as James finished explaining his bit of reasoning to her.

"The Criminal." Sirius said with a straight face. "He's a bit of a rat, you see."

"Real wormy about things," James agreed solemnly.

"Padfoot, Prongs" Peter whined, flushing a bright pink.

That was a bit mean of them but Peter really should be used to in now in Marlene's opinion.

"I would like to point out that I am very obviously the voice of reason in this get up," Severus said loudly only to get several cushions in his face.