Lily slid through the darkness that the covered the sleeping castle like a blanket. She loved the castle at night, empty and deserted. There were no prying, curious eyes here, no whispers, no one watching as she walked past. Tonight was different though. She could sense someone nearby, someone following her, and she had a good idea of who it was. She ignored them, gliding slowly through the hallways, her cape wrapped tightly around her and her broomstick in her hand.

She arrived at the doors to the grounds, held up her wand and whispered a spell the boys behind her couldn't quite catch. They couldn't see it do anything, but they almost gasped as she just walked through the massive doors leading outside. The Marauders glanced at their map, what they considered a work of genius, and Dumbledore, the headmaster, secretly knew about and applauded them for it brilliance. It had involved complicated spells that they had somehow mastered as second-years. Their map showed Lily right outside the doors, and standing next to her were Emma Carson and Jane Winters. James had sparked the other Marauder's curiosity when he told them about the conversation he heard in the library. They were now cowering under James's invisibility cloak.

"How do we get outside without them noticing the doors opening?" James whispered.

"We'll just have to go another way and hope we get there before they move to far away. Lily had her broomstick, did you see. They must be planning on flying."

"There's a passage in the great hall. Let's use that one." With that, the four Marauders tiptoed off, trying to silently hurry so they could figure out whatever 'it' was that was so important that the three goody-two shoes of Hogwarts would sneak not only around the castle after curfew, but onto the grounds, and why they had never noticed before.

Outside the girls were talking in hurried whispers, bunched in a tight circle. Lily glanced at her two friends. Emma was tall and graceful, with chestnut curls and hazel eyes, she was easily one of the prettiest girls at Hogwarts. All of them were pretty, actually. Jane was blond and well-proportioned, with warm blue eyes, and Lily a red-head with striking green eyes and petite figure. The girls didn't care much for beauty though. It was rare that they were caught without their noses in books, and the Gryfindor common room had come to look incomplete without the three of them curled up in their favorite armchairs in the corner reading. They were easily the smartest students at Hogwarts, but few people really noticed them. They didn't participate in class, and certainly didn't associate much with their peers. No one really knew very much about any of them, and that was the way they liked it.

"Someone's following us. They stopped when I went through the doors," Lily whispered.

"Who?"

"The Marauders." Jane whispered. The other girls nodded, trusting their friend.

By now the Marauders were huddled behind the girls, close enough that they could hear their conversation. "How do they know that." James whispered.

"Jane's mother's a seer. Jane must have some of the sight." They all stared at Remus.

"How do you know that?"

Remus shrugged. "My mum's friends with Jane's mum."

"And you didn't tell us. What else do you know about them?"

"Not much. They're all really smart, practically inseparable, they all spend their vacations at Jane's house, but I'm not sure why. They don't like us very much. Think we're too stuck-up and self-centered, which, compared to them, we are. They do something outside of school too, something really secretive, but I don't know what it is, but sometimes, when my mum asks where the girls are, Jane's mum says something like, 'They're off working again.' Don't know what that means. That's all I know."

"And you never told us this before?"

"I didn't think it mattered. You've never taken an interest in them before. They're nice girls. Fun, when you give them a chance."

"You've spoken to them?"

"Of course. My mom used to drag me to visit them. I don't really know that much about them though. I'll tell you later. Let's listen. I've always been somewhat curious about where they go when they're not in the common room."

The girls were still whispering. "So what do we do?"

"I think we should just ignore them."

"But what if they tell someone."

"No one would believe them. Can you hear them? 'Oh professor, you'll never believe who I just saw out on the grounds after curfew, flying around on broomsticks like madwomen.' They'd have to admit to having been out on the grounds after dark anyways."

"Ok, shall we start?" They all nodded, straddled their brooms, and pointed their wands at the stained glass window above the front doors of the school. The whispered something that the boys couldn't make out, and jets of white light poured out of the tips of their wands, hitting the glass. For a moment, it glowed, and when the glow faded, several glowing numbers were left, but the boys didn't understand what they meant. The girls took off, flying as far from each other as they could. The numbers started changing, and the boys could tell the group of numbers in the middle were a timer. Just then, a ball shot out from where the girls had been standing, and the girls raced in to catch it. The boys just stood there, mesmerized by the girls as they zoomed in to catch the ball, and then, once Lily caught it, the other two chases her across the grounds, until Emma caught her. Lily threw the ball, and stopped for a while, while the other two chase the ball. Remus leaned over to the other two. He'd been watching the numbers on the glass too. "I think I get it. It's a game. Whoever keeps the ball longest wins. Whoever tags the person with the ball gets points and the person who was tagged is frozen for 15 seconds, and she throws the ball and the other two chase it, and then the ones who don't get the ball chase the one who has it and it starts all over again."

The other two nodded. "They're dammed good." James whispered. He was in awe. He'd thought he was the best chaser at Hogwarts, but he would be happy to never play against these three. They were amazing. They zipped and dove on their brooms as if they had been born in the sky. Remus nodded, remembering having flown with them when they were younger. James had a sudden urge to play too, to see if these girls were really as good as they seemed. He got a crazy idea.

"Accio broomstick." His broomstick came swishing into his hand. Sirius stared at him, catching on to his best friend's train of thought.

"Are you bloody crazy? They'll be furious if you interrupt their game. Remember what they did to us in third year?" The marauders winced at the memory of the borage of hexes that were sent their way after they had been so foolish to play a prank on the three friends. They had left them alone after that. James turned back to the soaring objects above him, and again felt the overwhelming urge to join them. He shrugged.

"I'll take my chances." With that, he took off.