"Two words huh?" grinned Alice. The trio were sitting in the astronomy tower, finishing some star charts for their class.

"Two words. That's interesting," commented Bella, marking down a constellation. "What did he write?"

"Perfect Gentleman." Lily answered, sweeping away a stray strand of hair. "It really reflected his behaviour. Who knew, Pretentious Potter was actually, and I'm loath to admit it, but he was actually quite charming." she muttered, glaring at the parchment in front of her.

"So have you arranged another date?" Bella asked conversationally.

"No. I'm going to make him work for it." the three girls had a bit of a giggle, as they set their completed parchments to the side, and lay down to look up at the full moon. "I don't get why Lily always gets all the good ones. Take Amos Diggory for example." Alice complained.

"Alice, that was way back in fourth year!" Lily exclaimed, digging into her past.

"James was right rotten about that for months," smiled Bella, looking over to examine her friends reaction. "He was always brooding about the common room, and that time when Gryffindor versed them, that bludger hit was no accident Lil's."

Lily's brow furrowed at this. Had James really been upset over that? She couldn't remember.

"But we broke up." she stated the obvious. He was studying for exams at the time, and was more focused on them than anything else. Not that that was a bad thing, Lily thought, but it was just too hard to juggle.

"You cant talk Alice," muttered Arabella. "Frank Longbottom has been eyeing you."

"He has?" questioned Alice, who was completely oblivious to her subdued attractiveness. Whilst not nearly as beautiful as some, Alice was not unfortunate looking.

"Oh my," she breathed, "I wonder if he might fancy me?" she joked, putting the back of her hand to her head.

"O'course he does." winked Bella. Darkness engulfed the three of them, as they made their way back to the rest of the castle, led only by the light of the full moon.

"What was that all about?" questioned Sirius in regards to his whole two words system.

"Well I needed her to relax." remarked James, staring at the photo. He was smiling, Lily was smiling, and a leaf off the tree was falling in the background. Underneath the image was Lily's curvy handwriting. 'Unusual and Interesting.' she had written.

James was over the moon. Maybe, just maybe this left the door open for future dates? He hoped so.

"So whats next on the agenda boys?" asked Peter, adjusting his belt buckle.

The marauders were gathered in a small circle in their dorm room, seated for their weekly meeting.

"Our next prank." grinned Sirius. All the boys smirked at this. It had been a while since any of them had wreaked any havoc upon the population of Hogwarts. "How about," Remus said slowly, "We do something to all the girls?" Remus was not usually a big prankster, being a prefect he had a lot of responsibility that usually kept his head together. "Old Dumbly," he continued using their favourite nickname for the headmaster, "Helped me out a couple of days ago, so how about we do something that would amuse him?" all the boys nodded here, the respect for their headmaster was well felt between the boys. Many a time had they gotten in trouble and were a lemon sherbet away from expulsion when he would step in. "We owe him." nodded Peter. "Ive got an idea…." muttered James. And thus the planning began. The boys pulled an all nighter working on a surprise for 'Old Dumbly's' birthday surprise.

The next day dawned bright and early, and the faint snores emitted from the boys dormitory were an indication of the work they had put in. Muttering unintelligibly Peter awoke the other three boys by pegging their bath towels at them, one hitting Sirius in the face. Groans and Obscenities were filling the room like the rising sun peeking through the window by James' bed. Stretching, they got up and trudged through the castle in the early hours of the morning to abuse Remus' privilege of entrance to the Prefects Bathroom. After a quick scrub and hurried changing all four were groomed and ready to start the day's preparations.

Lily's morning started more uneventfully and certainly much later than the Marauders'. After grtting ready to the hum of Bella's magical blow dryer the three best friends headed down to breakfast. Upon arrival the girls gazed around at the sight before them. Decorations hung from every inch of the great hall. Balloons, Streamers, everything muggle. A massive banner bore the slogan 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUMBLY' that was hanging above the teachers table. Muggle candy decorated the tables in massive bowls, and party hats were at each plate. The girls couldn't believe their eyes, this had to be the work of the marauders. Taking seats at the Gryffindor table, the three began talking animatedly between themselves. "I had no idea it was Dumbledore's birthday!" exclaimed Alice.

"Who did all this?" questioned Bella.

"The marauders." came the response from Lily. They had really outdone themselves this year.

The hall became increasingly full as the student body arose for another bright day of school.

Chatter melted into silence as the headmaster strode into the hall. He glanced around, brow furrowing slightly before letting out a bark of laughter upon reading the sign. Eyes twinkling, he turned to the students before him, seeking out the marauders. "My, my," he began, looking at each of the four boys in turn. "I had quite forgotten that it was this time of year again. I think, perhaps, that might be why I found a block of Honeydukes finest chocolate at the end of my bed?" his smile grew.

As soon as Dumbledore had taken his seat upon the highlighted headmasters chair, all the girls in the great hall suddenly stood up.

Wrinkling her nose, Lily could not come up with any form of idea that could explain why all the girls including herself had stood up.

Looking around the room, everyone was speechless, but not for lack of anything to say. Above them the marauders hovered on their brooms, wands drawn.

Oh god, was all Lily could think. "Welcome, Welcome," boomed James' voice around the room. "To the Marauders famous, delightful, spectacular birthday surprise for dear old Dumbly." he zoomed around, the other three marauders muttering incantations. "So sit back and enjoy the show, this one is for you sir."

The boys were now upstanding, and the four house tables flew off to the side of the hall, leaving a great space for everyone. As if like puppets on a string the entire student population of Hogwarts began to move. Their attire changed too, no longer were they wearing the mandatory uniforms, rather, were sporting outrageous outfits. Mismatching socks that would flash, tutus of fluro colours, top hats, talis, tiaras, sweatbands, leather, anything and everything.

Above the crowd the designated puppeteers better known as the Marauders were in a frenzy trying to orchestrate the whole thing. The four waved their wands in a complicated sequence, and everyone's mouths opened. More wand waving and everyone found themselves singing an unknown song, their bodies twisting into some badly choreographed dance moves.

"Dumby, Dumby, Dumbledore,

How old are you, we're not quite sure,

History of magic is a bore,

Marauders we are, the famous four."

The tempo abruptly changed and so did the dance moves. Everyone grabbed someone else, and began some erratic twirling, shaking and lifting. It all looked quite like a scene from an awkward dance contest.

"Headmaster dear, another year you age,

Your skin is supple, far from sage,
Quidditch is all the rage,

Sirius Black is drop dead gorgeous."

Here a big picture of Sirius was projected on the far wall.

"You git." laughed James, pegging an orange he had levitated off the Ravenclaw table at his head.

Down below, Dumbledore chuckled to himself.

The song continued on, as strange as it began, until minutes later, with a final pirouette from a scowling Regalus Black.

Dumbledore and the rest of the staff arose, clapping wildly, laughing jovially, and wiping tears of mirth from their eyes. Calm restored to the hall as the four flying boys moved the tables back to where they originally were, and everyone sat themselves down. Dumbledore rose, and the hall plunged into silence. "Thankyou for that display of controlled chaos," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his half moon spectacles. "That one would usually call a musical. It was a pleasant surprise, and as a reward, I have decided that all classes will be cancelled for the day, which I believe, if I am not mistaken, permits you to a three day weekend." he finished to raucous applause.

"Who'd've thought," Bella started, "That something good would've come out of something the Marauders did." the other two girls nodded.