Six earlier ones. Short-cut: sometime in year 4, but best is if you'd read all. It'll be easier to understand ^_^

Disclaimer: To whomever in question, the Marauders, Hogwarts, all don't belong to bunny chan. In fact, the only thing she owns is just the Marauders [uhm, their personality, at least], Loopy Village [which she doubts exist], minor characters and Adele Varens ^_^ those mage stuff are my conjurations, so don't you DARE mess with them!

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The Marauding Five : Year Seven

Chapter 1: Hello Responsibilities!

  Remus sat up in bed, thinking deeply in his own philosophical way. How often is it that one wakes up and suddenly thinks, 'hey, childhood is far from reach and adulthood is just a step ahead'? Pretty rarely, for the five Marauders. No. Rephrase. It's the FIRST time.

  'Argh!' Remus groaned, 'we passed our sixteen already?? I don't believe it! Where's all the sweetness???' As far as the fair-headed boy can remember, none of them had been sweet at all. And they're already seventeen.

  James, the leader of the Marauders, had devised new plans and such to get back at the Slytherins for the Orientation pranks. Nothing so sweet about. Lily refused to acknowledge the stone fact that she's getting married to James directly after their seventh year. The marriage had actually been scheduled by their eccentric parents to be in a week, but somehow, Lily had talk – er, YELLED – that out of them.

  Sirius, on the other hand, is just as nutcase as ever, annoying Lily and James all the time. Adele… well, Adele is certainly the sanest of them all, after Remus.

  Not one of them was sweet. It's amazing that Santa is still handing them presents every Christmas.

  'Section B ready??? Section A all set up, over!' Remus heard James's alto voice called. Two seconds later, a window slammed open.

  'Aye, aye, capt'n! Section B awake and up! Complete check-ups!' Lily called. 'How goes Section C?'

  Section C didn't reply after a minute. Remus wondered bluntly who Section C was… he was Section D, right?? Anyway, he got his job done already.

  'Oy, Remus! Are you awake yet??????' James demanded. Remus jumped. C! HIM!!!

  Remus opened his window sheepishly. 'Er, yeah, sorry. I'm ready. Er, Section D, how—'

  'YES!!!!!!!' and over enthusiastic Sirius yelled.

  'I'm all set up, too!' Adele chirruped from her window. Adeline Varens waved behind her twin sister, indicating that Adele's telling the truth. The girl tended to forget things at some times.

  'Right! We'll bring all the stuff to the normal place!' James ordered with authority. With that, all five windows slammed shut in unison.

**

  'Sorry, waylaid,' Lily panted, holding her owl, Lotus in her right hand. James, Sirius, Remus held theirs; Jackpot, Soot and Radish. Adele was holding her pet Yumi, Castria.

  'Waylaid? By whom?' Sirius inquired curiously.

  'Gram, mum, dad… good thing Petunia's still asleep! I don't want to know what use SHE has for Lotus!' Lily sighed. 'I mean, seriously, how many people in a house need an owl at the same time?? I tell you, they're PURPOSELY doing it! Just because I refuse to have a wedding with James! I'm surprised '

  The Evans are giving Lily a hard time for not wanting to marry James. Countless of yells have been heard daily ever since Lily returned from Hogwarts. Now the parents-daughter relationship was shaky and looked quite ready to fall into pieces with a drop of rain.

  'Well, all of them,' Adele suggested. 'You're here with Lotus though, and that's all that matters!!!'

  'Are you implying that my owl is all that matters here?' Lily glared.

  'Er, no! Of course not! I mean, … oh my…'

  'Let's just get over with it,' James said. He plucked a flower from the village's centre garden (the ONLY garden in Loopy Village anyway) and made Jackpot eat it. The other four followed his example. Curious joggers were frowning disapprovingly at them, judging it as Animal Cruelty.

  'How dare you bring your owls to the public!' someone hissed suddenly behind the Marauders, who were now ready to cast a spell on their owls to see if their plan had worked. 'Mistreat them and poison them with plants! And what are you doing, planning to do magic with your wands? DURING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS??'

  The five Marauders turned to face Allan Rittardo, father to Elley Rittardo, who is cousin to Tally Chapman, making him Tally's uncle. The five teens blinked at him innocently, making their wand vanish with a simple wave of will. They smiled sweetly.

  'Good morning!' they greeted cheerfully.

  'Lovely day, isn't it?' Lily added thoughtfully.

  'No, not at all,' the burly man growled. 'Where are your wands? Did you use an invisibility bewitchment?'

  'Hm, is there such thing?' Sirius pondered innocently. Perhaps too innocently, for Allan was suspecting them even more. 'Besides,' Sirius went on lazily, 'what wands?'

  'Don't know, Mr.Rittardo,' Adele said. 'After all, my Yu – ah! Hamster! – was taking a walk for fresh air.' She added thoughtfully to her Yumi, 'right Castria?' Castria wisely looked dumb.

  'Don't try to change the subject,' Allan growled again. 'Misusing magic again, eh? I know your sort.'

  'Really? How'd you know?' James asked in mock shock.

  'Don't pretend, Potter! I know you rogues far too well!' the man yelled. 'You have been in the hands of the Ministry of Magic – and MINE – for a long time already!'

  'Yours?'

  'I'm of the spell reversal squad team,' he added venomously. 'It's because of your pests that Loopy Village needs a special Spell Reversie here—and that's me.'

  'Well,' Lily said slowly, 'Six years isn't eternity. Yet. You'll have to add another hundred of years.'

  'Never ever try magic when you're out of school!' he hissed. 'Or I will personally confiscate your wand! And have you expelled out of Hogwarts!'

  'We doubt the latter would happen,' Sirius said silkily. 'We're the top students. Besides, you can't turn out an untrained wizard out.'

  'As for the wand…' Remus said thoughtfully. They pondered for a while and then shrugged it off casually. That annoyed Allan even more.

  'That's not much of difference,' James said reasonably.

  'As philosopher Prokt say about magic and wands: wands are just a symbol of connecting magic,' Remus said brightly. 'Hey, I bet that if we'd practise magic without our wands, we might be able to do magic with our bare hands!!!'

  'Tempting, tempting,' Adele grinned. Lily didn't say anything. There was a sudden pain in her head and she was trying to calm it off. It was surprisingly pain and it affected her breathing for a short moment.

  'Don't be foolish!' Allan yelled. He lowered down and pushed the Marauders to a more secluded area. 'Raw magic should NOT be tried at all costs! Even He-Who-Must-Not-Be—'

  'It's Voldemort,' Lily interrupted, the pain slightly showing on her calm face. 'And he can be name. He is named. And why not?'

  'Silence, Evans!'

  'But why?' Lily countered eagerly. 'There's no crime to talking. Look, even YOU are talking, for crying out loud!'

  'Shut up, girl! I've heard a lot about you!'

  'Really? We're all so honoured!' James gushed, turning to his friends, who in turn gushed the same point in many other sentences. Allan was losing his patience fast. He pulled out his wand and waved it.

  The Marauders were silenced, by force – or magic – of course. He rummaged their jacket pockets for their wands and took them.

  'Now, if you would all listen,' he said, smiling broadly (something uncommon) that he had been smart to take their wands and make these unruly rebellious teenagers listen, 'raw magic practise is totally not allowed and very unheard of! Do not try it.' He glared as Remus tried to open his mouth. 'Don't try talking, Lupin.'

  Lily fumed as Allan went on lecturing about rubbish and whatnots that she couldn't bother to care about when she's still very much ignorant to all those. She cast a glance at her friends. Hm, Remus seem to have something interesting on his mind… Lily smirked and sent Lotus to tap on Remus's shoulder.

  After a number of waves, owl flight and aura glowing from Lily, James and Adele, and Sirius using telepathic connection with the owls, all five beamed broadly.

  The Marauders are never prisoners. Never. …Not even when Voldemort got them in the tower last year. Hey, there weren't any bars! And they escaped. More of, climbed out of the invitingly unlocked window. Allan was still oblivious to them, because he had his back turned to them, rattling off the list about why raw magic is non-existent.

  'Well,' Remus said, 'I thought everything was worth a try. And if it's unheard of, how come there's a law to not allow it?? Then why's there a "Why Raw Magic Is Non-Existent" at all?? That means it IS heard of. And it DOES exist. Any idiot with such a theory could grasp it like this,' and he snapped his fingers triumphantly.

  Allan blinked. Then he turned to them, frowning angrily. He stared at the wands that are still in his hand, five in total. So how on earth did Lupin talk anyway??

  'May we have out wands back, please?' Adele said sweetly. 'We'll be late for our breakfast. If you hadn't guessed yet, it's ten o' clock already.' Dumbstruck, Allan handed their wands over. He can't not. After all, it's THEIR wands. The five teenagers grinned at him, bowed Marauders-styled at him before marching off, the pets on their shoulders.

  After what seemed like a safe distance, all of them burst out laughing like a pack of hyenas.

  'HIS FACE!!!!'

  'Now I really don't blame Elley for being such a good girl at home!'

  'Haha! Ha! Did you see him??

  'Didn't expect us to use "Raw magic" I think!'

  'Expect? He doesn't even KNOW, Lily!'

  'We're geniuses! Utterly intelligent!!!'

  Of course the four that freed the strong silencing charm had used their magic to do so. There was no other way. Black magic – Adele had used it to break the effects of silence – the Blue Magic – James, to allow them to move because a body-bind was placed – and White Magic – for protecting them from further charms. Sirius had told the owls who had eaten the certain flowers to free them COMPLETELY from the spells.

  What the Marauders don't know was that another magic had been at work, after being dormant for so long.

  Sirius sighed. 'The uses of owls… and we only use them for mail! What a great pity.'

  'I guess our experiment to make the owls sing the letter's contents fail then,' Adele said. In her pocket, Castria breathed a sigh of relief. She had to use HER fur to rub at those owls in that spell that they were about to do, and the Yumi was quite sure that the owls would eat her first.

  'Hey!' Tally Chapman called from across the road. The Marauders turned to wave at her. 'Why the laugh?'

  'We just got lectured,' Lily sniggered.

  'By whom?'

  'Your uncle Allan.'

  'You should really see his face,' Adele added. 'It looked like some cooked radish!'

  Tally giggled. 'Hang on, I'll come over! Can't yell all the time.' The blonde girl looked left, then right, then left again before crossing the road. Village roads are usually clear anyway, so it didn't matter much. After all, all modes of transportation (minus wizardry ones) travel at a leisurely speed.

  'Watch out!' Adele yelled suddenly as she spotted a car that turned up out of nowhere. Tally stopped in the middle of the road, wondering what did Adele mean.

  Lily and James flung their right arm upwards in hopes that they can levitate either Tally or the car. Tally froze with shock, just as the car ran over her. There was a piercing shriek that disrupt the calm village air.

  The Marauders stood rigid, aghast. Much quicker than the others', Adele's senses returned to her as her face went from a surprised one to an angry I'm-so-angry-I-can-easily-kill-everyone-with-a-finger expression.

  'You- you stupid goon! This is a VILLAGE, for goodness' sake!!! What's the point of racing here, huh? Where'd you get your bloody license from? You should be SUSPENDED!!!!' Adele screamed madly, waving her arms at the car with unspoken anger. The engine burst into sparks of flames, causing a silent explosion when met with Adele's Black magic. It halted with a sharp jerk that would injure the driver immensely.

  Remus jumped up towards Tally, Lily and Sirius in tow as James and Adele sped off to the car to catch the criminal. Cottage doors burst open as everyone streamed out, shocked.

  Lily hurriedly cast a barrier all around Tally as Sirius and Remus feverishly checked for her pulse—or any sign to show that she's still very much alive.

  The heartbeat was there. Faint and weak, but undeniably there. Sirius magicked a first-aid kit with his wand. Loopy Village has nine-tenth population of magical folk, and the muggles who knew couldn't bother themselves to care. After all, they're all squibs with half of them bearing long wizard heritage. So Loopy Village is a nearly-pure-wizarding-community in Britain after Hogsmeade.

  Adele blasted the door of the car open.

  'What do you think you're up to, mister?? Running over my friend like that and not even stopping to—!' she stopped abruptly.

  'Weird. There's no one here,' James said in puzzlement. 'How did it run, then? Wizards don't use cars… er, or not,' he paused, remembering that his parents use a car, and they're wizards. Wizards pretending to be muggles, for crying out loud. 'But there's no such spell for these sort of things!' he added confidently.

  'I remembered placing a lot of spells around it just now,' Adele growled, angry at not being able to catch the culprit. 'No one could've apparated off, let alone leave this spot!'

  James's eyes trailed to the passenger seat. It was a letter. Addressed to the Marauders.

  'WHAT DID YOU DO AGAIN?????' Rose Evans screeched.

  'Nothing!' Lily retorted simply.

  'LET ME IN, LILY!'

  Lily glared. 'If you're that great, mum, go ahead,' Lily said calmly, her voice holding an edge of somewhat sinister confidence to it. Rose pushed herself against the invisible barrier. Nothing.

  'LILY EVANS!!!'

  'Yes, that's my name,' Lily said, turning a sweet smile at her mother, enveloping Tally in a white light as Remus and Sirius proceeded to the first-aids.

  'I forbid you to use your you-know-what on her, Lily!'

  'It's not it,' Lily replied. 'It's called magic, mum. Didn't you know? I thought you did!'

  The onlookers were beginning to sense that Lily and her family were at rough tides at the moment. After all, Lily was always polite to her parents.

  'TALLY!!!!' Allan cried out, pushing his way past the curious village folk, which had formed a human body around the round spot. 'Tally!!!'

  'She'll be alright. Hopefully,' Remus called out to him. He turned back to his job. 'SIRIUS! I said give her a shock, not give her a shot!!! Don't use it to give her a jab!'

  'Oops,' Sirius said sheepishly.

  'You could've killed her!' the other boy added coldly. 'Move off, I'll handle her.'

  'It's not my fault you speak in low tones!'

  'You two should stop arguing and maybe try your best to save her quick,' Lily said. 'I can't hold this on forever you know. I do have limits!'

  'What would Tally say about that,' Sirius commented dryly.

  'LILY!!!!' Rose Evans shrieked again as the five (invisible-to-others-but-not-to-the-Marauders-and-Rose) Maggles tried their best to hold her back.

"She just have to make life-saving harder, doesn't she?" Lily Trenna muttered.

"She ALWAYS makes things harder," Adele Green corrected, rolling her eyes.

"Rose, just hold it, would ya??" James Chore grimaced as Remus Pepper and Sirius Brad pulled her.

"I just remembered why I hate her so much," Brad stated.

"Glad for you," Pepper puffed.

"Now we'd better concentrate on stopping her from interrupting them saving Chapman's life!" Green remarked.

  'How's Tally?' James called, running into the invisible barrier with Adele. They didn't seem to have any trouble at getting in. Puzzled, Rose rammed her body at the unseen wall again. For a short moment, it seemed as if she had succeeded.

  Boing! Boing! Or …maybe not. She was sent bouncing out.

  'I'm trying to concentrate. Concentrate, Lily, concentrate. Coonceeeentraaaaate!!!!!' Lily murmured to herself. 'Concentrate. Concentrate. Keep it up. Don't fail. I sound dumb. Who cares.'

  'We found something,' Adele stated. 'But at the moment, how is she?'

  'Can be better if we move her away,' Sirius said intelligently, holding a roll of bandage for Remus. The fair-headed boy utterly banned Sirius from touching the first-aid box already.

  'Aye?' James said, raising his brow. He grabbed his owl by the neck and ruffled poor Jackpot's feathers before producing three blue chalks. Jackpot coughed, and gagged, and choked flusteringly.

  'How big is this barrier, Li?'

  'Um, about this and this and this, I think,' Lily said, sparing an arm to hold her long ankle-length hair. James groaned.

  'And what's this "THIS"?' he asked wanly.

  'Er, I don't know. This?'

  James threw his hands up in resignation. He couldn't get sense out of her at the moment. He hadn't lived with her for sixteen years for nothing!

  So with a little 'hmph', he dragged his chalk to draw a small circle around the Marauders and Tally. Lily made the barrier visible to the crowd so that no one would know what's happening ('You should've done that earlier,' Adele said, noticing James's frustrated face).

  In ten seconds, the barrier vanished. So did the five Marauders and the injured Tally Chapman. Only four different owls stood in their position, but they too, sought flight for their respective homes.

**

  'A hospital,' Adele exclaimed disgustedly, glaring at the familiar white walls and people in white coats and stethoscopes.

  'Well, yes, it's very obvious, isn't it?' Sirius mused. 'That's always where one ends up in if one gets knocked down by a traffic maniac.'

  'Send her to the emergency room, would you???' Lily called out impatiently at all the nurses and doctors who were staring at them. You don't get visitors – especially teenagers – who appear suddenly out of nowhere. It freaks one's mind out. They froze.

  After all, it IS a muggle hospital…

  'Get. To. Work,' Adele said coldly with a piercing glare. She obviously had the looks to look dangerous. Not often do you see a pale white girl that has ebony black hair and flashing purple eyes. The medics hurried to Tally.

  'Wow,' Remus remarked in amazement, staring at Adele. 'You're even better than Lily AND James!'

  Adele rolled her eyes. 'Thanks. The letter, James,' she reminded. 'Read it. Might be whom the culprit wrote to, or is addressed.'

  James pulled the letter out and tore the envelope off. They were immediately swallowed into pitchblack darkness. The five Marauders clung to one another.

  'James here speaking! Anyone missing?'

  'I'm here…' Adele.

  'Sirius, is that you that's squeezing my arm? Can you please let go of it?? I believe you're suffocating it so much that it's beginning to feel limp, cold and purple. You seriously don't want a taste of honed Red magic!' That would be Remus to you.

  'Sheesh! I thought it was your hand, it was so bony. Now I wish it were your head!' Sirius's annoyed voice replied.

  'What was THAT? This dark thing, I mean, if you don't understand.' Aaaaand Lily.

  'Hm, looks like we're the only ones swallowed.'

  'Maybe this is some other dimension.'

  'SIRIUS! LET GO OF MY ARM!!!!'

  'Chill, would you?? I hate dark places!'

  'Ha ha…'

Welcome… Marauders… it is really pleasant to speak to your again…

  '…I should think not!' Lily huffed. 'Thomas Riddle. Huh. What's it this time?'

This… is your last chance… to joining… me… with our wizardry skills, we shall be undefeatable…!

  'He can't hear us,' Adele concluded. 'It's just the letter speaking.'

If you will join the Dark Side with me, say Dunderheads. If you refuse to join the Dark Side, say Dunderheads. You have only two such choices.

  'See? Automated response!' Adele said smugly. 'Hah! Like we're stupid enough to say Dun—' Lily clamped her hand over Adele's mouth. '—mmpf!?'

  'Don't say it,' Lily advised.

  'Oh. Then I won't say whatever he asked me to say,' Adele said triumphantly. 'I'd say… Acid Pop!! Haha! Take THAT!'

  'I'll say that Voldemort's like a vomit-flavoured jelly bean, then,' Sirius said brightly.

  'I think that a Hell-flames-flavoured one would fair better,' Remus suggested. 'If there are any, that is.'

  'And flare our dear Dark Lord's ego? Dear me, no!' James laughed. 'I'll keep to calling him Cockroach Clusters!'

  'Wouldn't Blood Pops do, too?' Lily asked.

  'Well, all of them, then.'

  The letter hesitated. You could hear it doing so. It was obviously not magic-programmed to face these sort of answers.

If you… do not join… everyone you know… will be in danger… just like your little friend… It said finally.

  'That's a threat!!!' Sirius snapped. 'And I'd NEVER join your pathetic circle! EVER!'

  'Bravo Sirius!' his friend cheered as the boy humbly bowed down.

…your… verdict…

  'We refuse!' the five yelled in unison. 'So bleh!!!!' They stuck their tongues out and made a face into … nothing.

  BOOM! The dark enclosed space shattered into tiny pieces, shaking them violently. And in a blink, they were jolted to the seats at the waiting room.

  'Er?' Lily said stupidly. 'How did we get here?'

  'I don't know,' Remus muttered, thinking hard, just as the doors to the Operation Room was opened.

  'In a stable condition now,' the doctor said shortly in his twiddly voice. 'You her family? Good job. Broke her leg. Will be in wheelchair. Resting. Have a nice day.' With that, he left. The five teens blinked.

  'Huh?!'

  'Well,' James said dubiously, 'I guess we inform her uncle and aunt and Elley, then. Should we call Dan too?'

  'Maybe,' Lily shrugged. Remus stood up and walked towards the door, jingling his pocket for coins to make the calls.

  'TALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Dan Trevor yelled, bursting in. 'Are you here? Are you here? No! ER! AAAAAH!!!!' He was about to dash out again when he paused, seeing the Marauders. 'Hey. What are you folks doing here?'

  'Owb. Mai nbosfe,' Remus moaned painfully, gently pushing the door that slammed his face (and him) into the wall. He suspected a broken nose.

  'We're here because of your beloved Tally,' Sirius stated. 'How did you know that she's here?' Dan stopped to think it.

  'We'll tell you where Tally is if you tell us,' Lily added.

  That sounded quite fair to him. 'We… I, um, odn't know, but I have a weird feeling that she's in this hospital. Or something like that.'

  'Right you are,' Adele said dryly. 'True love, huh? Soul mates? That's incredibly sweet!'

  'What? You don't mean to tell me that she's REALLY wounded?? In HERE?!?!?! Where is she???' Dan demanded, grabbing Adele by her shirt's collar. Adele numbly gulped and pointed at the operation room, where Tally still lay. Dan dashed in. Adele coughed hackingly.

  'That's cool,' James grinned in amusement. 'Now to spy on them! Last I remember, it was hate. Oh boy, what a show… and free tickets, too!' Sirius and Adele seemed interested, while Remus was just busy nursing his poor broken 'nbosfe.'

  'No,' Lily said firmly. 'Leave them alone.' She gripped their wrists tightly (how she did grab three wrists is a mystery). Lily's grip was pain.

  'Fine, fine… whatever you say.'

**

  Lily was almost driven mad by her mother, who had gotten it into her head to start a war against her daughter. First, she was told off for not spending time with James privately. Lily retorted with an intelligent point: 'which mother or father willingly give up their kids just like that??? They're suppose to be VERY protective!'

  Second, was cleanliness. AND tutorials on how to cook, which Lily simply will not hear about. Her point of argument: 'My magic is absolutely superb and I don't like these stupid chores!'

  Next was about not behaving properly. And a whole lot of other things about studies and disciplinary tactics, which Lily have NO interest at all. It went as far as buying her new clothes.

  'LEAVE ME ALONE!!!' Lily would often yell.

  'Don't you dare talk to me like that!' Rose would shriek in reply.

  'Stop it, please!' Gram would cry desperately. And then Lily would stomp off to her room, lock the door with all sorts of spells, envelope her whole private domain with magic, grab her broomstick, and seek her friends for comfort.

  She rattled on all sorts of things to James before she ran out of words. Which was at least twenty minutes later.

  'Calmed?' James said, grinning. 'Good, you can go home now!'

  Lily sulked. 'No, I don't want to meet mum again, not today. And dad just got home, so I might get extra yelling.' James opened his window. 'Are you listening, Prongs? I don't want to!'

  'Well yes, Lily, but my room needs fresh air, don't you think?' James stated cheerfully, pushing his glasses to press his face.

  'Oh.' She gave a string of nervous laughter.

  Just then a little breeze blew in and two owls rolled into James's room.

  'Owls in daylight again,' Lily muttered boringly. 'I thought they were nocturnal! Have they changed sleeping patterns? Stupid animals of dark.'

  'No,' James said, pulling the owls out of his cupboard since they were stuck in there. 'Look! They have letters—for US!'

  'Ah,' Lily said thoughtfully.

  'Hm, let's see…

Dear Mr.Potter,

You are selected as the HeadBoy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry—'

  'WHAT?!' Lily screeched shrilly, toppling from James's bed. 'You can't be serious!' James ignored her and continued.

'—by Professor Albus Dumbledore. I have seriously no idea what he has in mind, though I SERIOUSLY disapprove of his choice! You had better show a sense of responsibility whilst you hold that title of yours, Potter!

Make sure you check the other letter.

Deputy Headmistress,

Professor M. McGonagall

(Professor Minerva McGonagall).'

  James looked up from the letter and grinned broadly at Lily.

  'Wow. Sounds like it's PERSONALLY written, and not just printed over by the years!' Lily mused, giggling comically as she tried to imagine the Gryffindor head's face when she discovered that James will be the next HeadBoy. 'You're HeadBoy! Yay!! That's wicked cool, James!'

  'Check the other letter?' James said, puzzled, holding the other letter. 'It's for you, Lily.'

  'Probably to inform me that I'm fired from being a prefect because you got HeadBoy post,' Lily grinned happily. 'Here it goes. Ahem!

Dear Miss Evans,

You are selected as the HeadGirl—

  'WHAT?!?!?!?!'

  'Read on,' James said, grinning with devilish interest.

'—of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry by Professor Albus Dumbledore. I objected to him. Again.

But of course, he actually insisted that you are the BEST CHOICE [Lily felt sarcasm and was pleasantly happy about that] and will do a great job at it. If I personally catch you doing mischief in the castle, I will- I will-- …

Well. You'd better keep your flighty head and wild notions off the prefectorial body, Evans.

Deputy Headmistress,

Professor M. McGonagall

(Professor Minerva McGonagall).' Lily gaped as the letter slipped through her fingers.

  'Wow, we must be the few – or ONLY – HeadStudents to receive such personalized letters about our duties!' James laughed.

  They shook the envelope for its contents. Two gold badges and a few notes fell out.

  Note Number One read:

Do not let me catch you misusing or abusing your titles! As I had said, I will personally skin the two of you if you neglect responsibility and/or cause mischief. Don't you dare try anything stupid! –Professor M.McGonagall.

  Note Number Two, however, had another view on the couple's new posts:

Professor Dumbledore, we feel, has chosen quite rightly for his HeadStudents this year. Do not disappoint him. Do not intend misbehaviour of any sort, as we have trust that you can cope with things, being talented students that you are. –Professors Flitwick, Sprout and Halley.

  'Hm, amusing,' Lily commented with a smirk. 'Talented, eh? That's new.'

  Note Number Three fell out from one of the owl's feathers. It read:

I have hidden this note beneath the owl's feathers so that Minerva will not find it. I am absolutely positive about choosing you two as HeadStudents for this term, and have not a doubt that you will be one of the best ones ever. Professor McGonagall has supplied plenty of… comments, regarding your posts.

Watch out for Lord Voldemort. Stay away from dark corners, and keep in groups. Keep watch for unusual happenings.

Congratulations for saving Tally Chapman. Not many could have the courage that you have all displayed. Remus, Sirius and Adele did a marvellous job.

Again, stay low. –Professor A.Dumbledore.

  The two of them blinked, then exchanged glances: 'Huh???'

  'Now that was weird,' Lily said bluntly, not knowing what to make of the last, strange note.

  'Yeah,' James nodded in agreement. He held out the glistening badges. 'Oh joy, we have a new addition to pin on our robes.'

  'As if pinning our prefect badges, note, handkerchief, and miscellaneous knick-knacks (A.K.A. prank items) aren't making our robes holey enough!' Lily sniffed upsetly. 'NOW we have to just have a new contribution to the holes! Huh!'

  'But we're HeadBoy and Girl!' James stated, grinning at the thought. 'Think of all the rules we're going to break!'

  'I doubt that,' Lily said promptly. Then she paused. She hadn't intended on that. Oh well. They say slip of tongue is a sign of the future your subconscious mind is trying to tell.

  'Well…' James said, tilting his head on one side in confusion.

  'Um. Should we tell the rest about it?' Lily asked, changing the subject.

  'Nope! We'll just give them a surprise! Let's just hear who they think are appropriate for this post!!' James said brightly, beaming.

  Lily's face broke into a broad grin. 'Wicked. Now I'd better tell mum some fibs. What do you think of "did you know, mum, that James tried to break off the engagement?? He called me a prig!"' Lily cackled at her own joke. Rose would probably freak out and march over to Mischief Portal to demand an explanation (or maybe place a spell) on the boy in question. James paled for a moment before glaring at her.

  'That's not funny,' he said sourly.

  'It IS.'

  'Not.'

  'Is.'

  'Not. Not to ME.'

  'Well, then, in that case, yeah.'

  'Shut up, Lily, and get out of here!' James scowled. 'Out! You're annoying me! NOW!'

  'Monster,' Lily remarked, pulling a face at him, before jumping off the window lithely.

____________________________________________________________________________________

AN: let me make a point here, please! *stares* what do you mean you won't let me? You HAVE to! I'm making an important point! So if you want to know what's up, you'd better let me!!! LET ME MAKE A POINT! *receives yells* still no???? Someone… LISTEN, kay?? ~silence~ Thank you. Now.

  I'll be leaving for my cousin's wedding. Not mine—hah, I'll die before I marry anyone at such an age! Besides, I don't like boys. Anyway, I'll be leaving for my hometown, probably on my way, when you'd read this. It's a Chinese wedding, with loads of foods and extra red packets! People, I can buy more manga and anime and books now!

  Er. That's not the point. The point is, I probably won't make it back in time to post the next chapter on 31 May, although I would try. I'm planning to post every three days, truth to be told, but all plans are… disrupted, since the wedding's up.

  If I make it back in time, good, you'll have chapter 2 on 31st of May. If I don't, the latest would be June 3, before my school starts again.

  Like Ginny said, c'est la vie.

*bows Marauder-style again* I like this bowing style, you know? My friends like it when I do it, too!! *grins* --bunny chan!!!!!