Soft, hazy light drifted through the cracks between the curtains that covered the
windows. The divination tower was stifling hot; the thought of cooking eggs and bacon on top of the students textbooks sounded more appropriate than staring at boring, motionless crystal balls. But then again, since when was divination interesting?

Remus shifted in his seat, but comfort had left him ages ago. His elbows rested on the hard wood of the circular table in front of him, on which lay a crystal ball. White mist swirled through it's inside, it's only visible content. No funny signs, no readings..

Just..

Fog..

Beside him, Peter muttered something. Not that it meant anything, of course- he had fallen asleep over twenty minutes ago. His head rest on his arms, the only sign that he wasn't paying attention being the fact that his eyes were closed.
Sirius had fallen asleep first. Followed by Arthur, then Malfoy and then Peter.

The only thing that kept James awake was the back of Lily's head.

Again Remus turned his attention towards the crystal ball. Nothing. Just swirling..

Floating..

He jolted upright, a whisper in his ear pulling him into full awareness. That didn't sound like Peter.. Remus looked at the clock. He had only slept five minutes, but what had awoken him?

The crystal ball caught his eye. The room around him seemed to dull so he could listen. Whispers drifted from the ball, inaudible and hushed. A flicker of movement, what looked like a flash of gold.

What was he seeing? Maybe he was still asleep. Or...

Remus leaned closer, straining to see through the fog. He felt as though he were gazing into the depths of a lake, or to the bottom of a pit. Finally, a shape appeared. James stood with his back to Remus, looking disappointedly and angrily at him over his shoulder. The other Marauder shook his head and turned away.

The image rippled like a pool of water and changed.

Students gave Remus that same look through the surface of the crystal ball, glares and surprised anger, as though he had done something terrible no time could fix..
He frowned as another picture entered. People dancing, cheering, laughing.. A loud screeching voice overtop..

Lily stood in front of him, looking around uneasily. She looked at Remus, bit her lip with a wry smile, and leaned forwards-

"Moony! You alright?" A hand nudged him, though the touch was dull as if his arm no longer worked. The intense heat from the crystal ball left him, leaving him cold and shaking. The images vanished, white swirling mist taking over.

"Moony?" Sirius asked again, pushing a book into his bag yet keeping his eyes on Remus. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing," he stuttered, tongue loosening slightly. What was that?

"Until our next class!" called the teacher, clapping her hands together. Remus stood, slinging his bag over his shoulder and making his way towards the silver ladder. Sliding down the ladder and walking down the corridor, he shook his head to rid of the images he had seen. Nothing worked. Obviously.

What was with James?.. He looked so fallen, as though the world was crashing around him.

Before long Remus found himself standing on the long bridge from the castle to the grounds, soft lights lit along the small wooden roof above his head. The sun was sinking quickly, vanishing behind the mountains, leaving only a red-yellow reflection on the frozen lake. It was beautiful alright, but it still didn't distract him.

With a sigh he dropped his bag beside him and leaned onto the railing, ignoring the soggy snow that soaked onto his sleeve.

He jumped slightly as someone entered his vision.

Lily stood a few feet away, hands clasped in front of her. Her hair shone brilliantly in the dim light, like the sun on the horizon. Her loving green eyes glimmered, close to tears.

"I know what you saw, Remus," she said quietly. She stepped forwards and stood beside Remus by the railing, looking out onto the grounds.

It took a moment to find his voice. "Y-you saw.. In-"

"In my crystal ball too, yes." She sighed and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "I don't know how.. But.." Her voice trailed off. "..It was strange, wasn't it? I mean, I saw what you saw.. But I saw you, not myself."

Remus watched her from the corner of his eye. Did she really see it, or was she playing tricks with him?

You're talking about Lily. Not Sirius.

"Do you think it's going to happen then?" he said finally, looking out towards the sunset.

Lily brushed a finger along her eyelid and sniffed. "Do I think it'll happen? I pay no matter to what I think, but whether it does or doesn't happen. I find it more useful. What about you? What does your heart tell you?"

Remus bit his lip. "Of cour-"

"What does your heart tell you?"

"..It tells me nothing."

They looked at one another.

"See you later!" they both chorused quickly, walking off in opposite directions. Only after Lily had entered the castle did Remus follow, keeping a great amount of space between them.

------

"Potter! Black! Do try to pay attention."

"Begging your pardon Professor McGonagall, but we were."

"And I assume that is why your frog, rather than roaring, is swelling like a balloon, Mr. Black?"

"Er.. Why, yes. That was my intention in the first place."

McGonagall peered down at Sirius, ignoring the frogs' croaking protests as it floated into the air. From beside Sirius, James tucked a piece of parchment into his sleeve, away from the prying eyes of their Transfiguration teacher.

"Mr. Black," she continued, "you are only one strike away from detention; you are a constant disruption to my class, yet your grades remain the same pitiful mark. If you do not pick up your act soon, I will have no choice but to teach you in your spare time."

"I have no spare time," Sirius said with the most innocent expression he could muster. "I'm constantly busy. There are unfortunate children to help, strugglers to assist. Slytherins to be pranked."

"Well then, I'm sure the unfortunate children, strugglers and Slytherins will have to cope another way. One more warning, Black, and you are working with me after class. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" Sirius yelled with a stiff salute. Classmates around him giggled.
With a disapproving glare, McGonagall returned to her desk. As she turned away, James yanked the note from his sleeve and tossed it towards Sirius. He had scribble a new line under the original message.

Padfoot,
Try and catch your floating frog. I think we can make a good prank out of it.
P.S. And I've got something we can use against McGonagall, if you're interested.
Prongs.

Sirius looked up from the note towards James. A grin crossed his face.
You know. The type of grin someone gets when revenge is near.
Grabbing his quill, Sirius began a fast scrawl against the back of the parchment. The moment McGonagall looked back down towards her essays to-be-marked, he crumpled the note and threw it at James.

Prongsy darlin',
You've caught my attention. What shall we do? Send McGonagall hot sauce-filled chocolates?
P.S. Too late. If you'll look towards Peter, you'll see the demise of our dear froggy friend.
Padfoot.

James frowned and searched the room for the frog. Sure enough, it was floating beside Peter's head-
Before it blew up, showering the poor boy in frog guts.

-----

James looked at Sirius. Sirius looked at James.

Sirius coughed.

"So.. What have you for me today?"

James smirked, leaning back in the large comfy armchair by the Gryffindor common room fire. A small bag sat on the table before him, tied with a small rope. "One of my greatest inventions," he said, grabbing the bag. He slipped the rope off the end of the bag, upturned it, and-

A clump of mistletoe fell onto the table.

Sirius leaned back onto the couch, raising an eyebrow at James. "Mistletoe? That was already invented, wise guy. What do you want me to do, throw it at McGonagall?"

James sighed. "No. Think logically-"

"But-"

"Yes, you can think logically. Now, what do we do with mistletoe?"

"Stuff it up Snape's-"

"No. The OTHER thing we do with mistletoe."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "Right. We hang it up at Christmas as an excuse to kiss pretty girls."

James smiled. "Exactly. But see here, I've done something fancy with this mistletoe. In fact, with a whole closet-full of mistletoe. See, here's the plan.." He leaned forwards slightly, so the studying students nearby wouldn't hear. "He hang them all over the school," he whispered. "You remember how frustrated McGonagall got last Christmas, what with all the giggling girls chasing after boys. All the students will catch the fever again."

Sirius blinked. "That's it?"

"No, of course that's not it." James glanced out of the corner of his eye for onlookers, then leaned even closer. "This mistletoe," he muttered, pointing at the one lying on the table, "won't let anyone get away from them until they kiss. It's physically impossible. Also, it will shout towards the kissers, drawing more people in to watch. And here's the best part," he said, lifting a finger. "I've got this on in special reserve for you-know-who." He grinned. "Pretty good, eh?"

"Not bad." Sirius admitted, eyeing the mistletoe. "Not bad at all."