"Are you sure this isn't against the rules?" Harry asked James as they walked down to the Quidditch pitch with Lily and Ron.

"This is Hogwarts! Nothing is against the rules!" James replied with a wave of his hand. "Unless you get caught," he added. Harry grinned.

"I dunno about this, Harry," Ron said worriedly. "What if-"

"Ron," Harry interrupted him. "Would you rather sit up in the Common Room all day bored half to death, or have a little fun for a change?"

Ron hesitated and glanced back at the castle. The others stopped walking and looked at him expectantly. "Well, what are we waiting for?" said Ron at last. "Let's go!"

"Shh! Quiet!" Sirius scolded Fred, George, and Remus as they crouched behind a large statue in one of the corridors at Hogwarts. "Places, everyone. Here they come!"

"I have no time for your petty complaints," Snape said as he swooped down the hallway with Ginny following closely behind.

"But I really don't understand this essay, Professor!" Ginny protested. "If you could just explain-"

Snape spun on his heel and faced her directly. "I am a teacher," he snarled, "not your personal tutor. The assignment was thoroughly explained during class, andyou will be expected to complete it on your own just like all of your classmates."

Ginny, however, was no longer listening to what he was saying. Her eyes were glued fearfully to a spot just above Snape's head. "P-p-professor, look!" she stammered, pointing her finger.

Snape turned around and found himself face-to-face with the ghostlike figures of Sirius and Remus. His reaction was one of deep puzzlement. "Who are you?"

"We are the ghosts of Hogwarts past," Remus said in a hollow voiceas he hoveredslightly above the ground. "I am Remus Lupin-"

"And I am Sirius Black," Sirius added, not to be outdone. "We have come to haunt you, Snivellus Snape!"

"What have I done wrong?" asked Snape, becoming even paler than usual. "Wait a minute," he said, peering closely at Remus. "Why are you a ghost? You're not even dead!"

Remus' eyes widened in panic for a moment, but he recovered quickly. "It does not matter!" he boomed, lifting higher off the ground. "The spirits of Hogwarts are displeased with you, and they have chosen me-"

"And me!" Sirius chimed in.

"They have chosen us," Remus corrected himself, "to rebuke you."

"What must I do?" Snape asked, falling on his knees before the awe-inspiring figures.

"Stop treating the Gryffindors like dirt!" Remus shouted. "If you do not, your punishment will be too terrible to imagine."

"Is that all?" said Snape.

"No!" said Sirius. "Ginny Weasley will not be required to turn in her Potions essay this week. And," he continued, "you must wear this t-shirt for the rest of the day."

Remus tossed the shirt to Snape, who discovered that it read "Snivelling Snivellus."

"Now be gone!" said Remus, shooing him away. "The sight of you is making me nauseous."

Snape got up and hurried away, glancing back over his shoulder nervously as he went. As soon as he was out of sight, Ginny, Remus, and Sirius burst out laughing.

"You can put us down now," Sirius called to Fred and George, who had remained hidden behind the statue and were the ones responsible for Remus and Sirius' ghostly levitation. The twins complied and emerged from their hiding place.

"Wasn't that fun?" Remus asked them.

They shrugged. "It was alright," Fred and George replied in unison.

"We could have done better," said Fred. "Wouldn't you agree, George?"

"Without question. It lacked subtlety. Sophistication. Finesse."

"Precisely. Far too low-brow for my taste."

"This from the boys who think it's funny to plant dungbombs in my room," Ginny retorted. The twins fell silent.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it," Sirius said to Ginny.

"It was fabulous," she confirmed. "And thanks for getting me out of my Potions essay."

Sirius smiled. "My pleasure."

Harry raced across the field on his broom, the Golden Snitch only inches ahead of him. He reached out his hand, but it was still just out of his grasp. If he could just stretch a little farther...

"Got it!" yelled James triumphantly, swooping in and grabbing the Snitch just as Harry reached for it. "That's twice in a row, Harry- I thought you said you were good."

"This isn't exactly the kind of equipment I'm used to," Harry informed him, indicating the rickety school broom he was perched upon.

"Oh, sure, blame the broom!" James teased. There was a pause. "Best of five?" he asked. Harry nodded. The Snitch fluttered off again, gleaming in the sunlight.

"Boys," Lily sighed as she watched from the stands with Ron, who had decided that given his recent difficulties with staying conscious, getting on a broom might not be the best idea.

"What do you mean?" he wondered defensively.

"They're such show-offs," she explained. "Always competing to be the toughest or trying to impress some girl... It gets tiresome."

"Well, it's not like we do it on purpose," Ron replied. "Proving ourselves is just part of our nature, like belching."

Lily, with a disgusted look on her face, decided to let the subject drop. She turned her attention back to Harry and James, who were still chasing each other around the field in search of the Golden Snitch.

"There is something strange about those two," she observed, watching as Harry and James executed identical maneuvers simultaneously. "It's almost as if they're related or something."

"Yeah," said Ron with an uneasy laugh. "Weird."

At long last, I have returned! I hope this chapter is as good as all the other ones; this is the first thing I have written in quite a while, as you may have noticed. I am going to try to be more punctual, and reviews would be very encouraging in this regard. So, as always, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or recipes you would like to share, please review! Thanks! -Luna