Chapter 6: The Romantically, Awesome Halloween Prank

A/N In honor of Harry's birthday on July 31st and Neville's birthday today, July 30th, I finished another chapter and just in time too. I hope you enjoy it. Also, I may not update any time soon given that I'm going to be out of town for the next week and therefore I likely won't write anything.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything in this story that appears to come from anything Harry Potter related. The only thing that I own in this story is my OC, Jasmine, as well as the plot of this story.

Weeks later after James and Lily's first official date, the couple was still going strong. They spent a lot of time together, but some of that was because they were head boy and head girl. With all of his head boy duties plus holding quidditch try out for the Gryffindor quidditch team, James was quite busy. He wouldn't be as busy if his best mate would just agree to come back to the team and be a beater. James knew he was one of the best ones, but Sirius always refused after what happened in their 2nd year. It didn't matter though, because James was going to keep asking him, that is if he could find Sirius. Anyway, with how busy James's schedule was, he had really no time to meet up with the Marauders to plan their annual Halloween prank.

Meanwhile, since Sirius was avoiding James, he wasn't around the Marauder very much nor was he around Lily. He ended up spending a lot of time with Jasmine in the meantime. When he wasn't with his girlfriend, he was doing his schoolwork, usually in the library. There were also strangely times when he seemed to just disappear completely. He wouldn't be with Jasmine nor in the library. Then when one of the Marauders would check the map to see where he had gone, he was nowhere to be found. They couldn't understand it, but respecting their friend's privacy, they decided to leave it alone. They figured that if Sirius wanted to share where he was disappearing to, he would, eventually.

So, it was looking as if the Marauders' Halloween prank wouldn't be happening this year. It was a shame, really. The Marauders, from the very beginning of that term, when they pulled their first prank of the year, had planned on leaving their mark on Hogwarts. They wanted to be remembered after they left. Now they probably wouldn't. What kind of mark or memory would they leave if they weren't even going to pull their annual Halloween prank? It was ridiculous!

That's when Remus decided to take action. Since it appeared that James was too busy to even remember that Halloween was coming up, Remus figured he wouldn't even be included in the planning of their annual prank. So, Remus decided that at least Sirius could help then. The werewolf knew exactly why Sirius was avoiding James, and he could still avoid the Gryffindor chaser while helping them plan and pull their annual prank. It wasn't like he would be too busy, at least not as busy as James was. Sirius would still have time for them.

Remus goes to Sirius to talk to him about the prank about a week before Halloween. He only waited so long because Remus himself was busy too with his own stuff. Anyway, he went to find Sirius, who just so happened to be in their dorm room, which wasn't unusual it's just that he hadn't been hanging out in there a lot lately. So, to Remus, finding Sirius in the room was odd, but what was even odder was the fact that he was just sitting on his bed with a letter in his hand. Sirius was just staring at the piece of paper blankly as if he couldn't comprehend what it said. Remus doesn't understand what is up, though he thinks it might just have something to do with his family. "Hey, Padfoot!" Remus calls. Startled, Sirius jumps slightly and looks up from the letter finally. He looks right at Remus. From the look on his pal's face, Remus can tell something is very wrong. "What's the matter?"

Sirius doesn't respond. He just hands Remus the letter to read. Remus reads the letter and is surprised at what it says. Originally, Remus had thought it was going to be yet another letter from his mate's parents (or maybe even his brother) or other family member insulting Sirius about being a traitor, but that's not at all what it was.

As Remus was reading the letter, Jasmine entered the dorm room. She and Sirius had made plans to work on some of their work together. They were supposed to meet in the common room so they could go to the library together. When Sirius didn't show, she came up to the dorm to see if he was there and whether he was ready to go. She saw Remus reading something in his hands by Sirius's bed and wasn't sure what to make of it. Then she started to walk over to where the werewolf was. Immediately when she saw Sirius's face, she knew they weren't going to be doing any work anytime soon. She locked eyes with him and could see that something had happened, though it wasn't necessarily something bad. Jaz went and sat right next to Sirius on the bed. She pulled him into a hug and whispered in his ear, "What happened?" The only response she got was Sirius pointing at the letter that Remus was reading once she released him.

Remus finally noticed Jasmine when he finished the letter. He figured she would want to read the letter too. It would give her a better idea of what was going on. So, once she finished reading the letter, she pulled Sirius into another hug. When she released him, Remus says, "I'm sorry for your loss, Padfoot, but I don't understand. I thought your entire family hated you and the feeling was mutual."

"Not everyone hates me. My favorite cousin Andromeda loves me. I used to love seeing her, the few times that I did. I wasn't allowed to see her anymore after she ran off with this Muggleborn. That got her disowned and burned off the family tree. I haven't seen her since. We write to each other every so often, especially now that we have both been disowned. And then there was my uncle Alphard who according to that letter is dead now. He was my favorite uncle. Clearly, he liked me too or he wouldn't have left me anything much less that much gold. He's bound to have been disowned now and burned off the tree for leaving me anything. I just wish I could tell him how grateful I am for this." Sirius frowned.

Jaz hugged Sirius again. She whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry about your uncle, but at least you knew he cared about you in the end."

When Jaz pulled back from her hug with Sirius, Sirius looked into Jasmine's eyes. "Oh, Mare. I'm sure your mum loved you and your dad too." He knew what she was getting at from her words and knew he had to reassure her of her parents' love.

"I know, but I can't help but think what if sometimes, you know? Like what if my dad hadn't died when he had? Do you think my mother still would have drunk herself to death or took up drinking so much?" Jaz was on the verge of tears, but she held them back. She had to be strong for Sirius. She wasn't about to break down when Sirius needed her.

"Mare, I get it. I sometimes wonder if my brother would have come with me if I asked. I wish I had asked Regulus to come with me. At least then I would know for sure," Sirius confessed. "But there's no use thinking about what-ifs and wonder what could have been. It happened and we can't change it."

"Here I am trying to comfort you and you end up comforting me," Jaz laughed as the tears started to silently fall down her face. Sirius's responded by pulling her into a side hug and kissing the top of her head. They ended up lying down together in Sirius's bed and cuddling. Eventually, they both fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Remus had been long gone. Remus, having recognized the intimacy of the moment, decided to make his exit, and left the two lovebirds alone when they were too busy hugging to notice his departure. He didn't need to be there anymore. He could leave Jaz to comfort Sirius now. But this threw a wrench in his plan as now he would have to come up with something else for Halloween. It was only a week away and they haven't even met once to plan their Halloween prank. They were running out of time. And despite Remus being as smart as he was, he couldn't plan and execute the entire prank with just Peter (and Jaz if she was available) and it still be a Marauders' level Halloween prank. The prank wouldn't be as elaborate as their others if it was only two or three of them. Plus, Remus didn't think Peter would be that much of a help when it came to planning. Peter typically didn't contribute much when they were planning their pranks. Therefore, if Jaz was unavailable, Remus would be all alone in planning their last Halloween prank. He would just have to figure something else out. Maybe he could find someone else to help them with their prank.

Remus thought about who might be willing to help with the prank as he headed to the common room. In the common room, he happened to pass by Lily. That's when an idea pops into his head. What if he asked Lily for help? She wasn't nearly as busy as James (and now Sirius) were at the moment. Plus, it could be like an initiation type thing like they had done for Jar when she became a Marauder. It was a brilliant idea that solved his problems, basically. Sure, that this would be for the best idea that he would come up with, Remus stops Lily just as she was about to go up to her dorm. "Lily! I have something I need to ask you!"

Lily turns away from the stairs she was about to climb to face Remus. "Yes, Remus? What is it?"

Remus smiles. "I was wondering if you would like to help plan the Marauders' annual Halloween prank?"

"What?! Really?" Lily asks stunned. "You're serious?

Remus resisted the urge to make the joke that James or Sirius would have made. He had been spending way too much time with Sirius lately. "Yes, I'm not kidding. I could really use your help."

"Just you, Remus?" Lily questioned. "What about James and Sirius? Peter? Mina? Do they not need my help? Also, why would you even want my help? I'm not a prankster or anything."

"Well, here's the thing. James has been so busy lately what with quidditch and his head boy duties with you. Plus, he's got his schoolwork to do as well. So, he hasn't had much free time let alone time to plan for our annual prank. And well Sirius has been busy avoiding James so that James doesn't keep asking to come back to the quidditch team to be one of the beaters. And well I was going to ask him since James wouldn't be available, but he just got this letter about his family today. Now he's got that to deal with, so I just don't think he'll be up for planning this prank. That just leaves me and Peter and Jaz if she has the time, which I'm sure she will. Therefore, that leaves only 3 of us, and typically it takes a least four of us to be able to pull off and plan our bigger pranks, so we need you, Lily."

"I see, but you didn't answer my last question, Remus." Remus looked at the redhead confused, so Lily elaborated. "Why me? Why ask me to become this 4th person you need?"

"Well, now that you are dating James, I figure you need to become an honorary member of the Marauders and in order to become one, we've made it sort of stipulation that you need to help plan and pull a prank. Jaz went through it, so now it's your turn, Lily," Remus explained.

Lily rolled her eyes. "That's really stupid. And I don't even want to be an honorary member."

Remus sighed. "Why are you making this so difficult, Lily? Just please will you di it. I really need you and Jaz will agree with me, so please?"

Lily just laughed in response at first. "There's no need to beg Remus. I already decided I would help from the start. I mean I did want to know if there was a reason besides me dating James that you asked me."

Remus was now bright red. "Dammit, Lily! What the bloody hell? Why didn't you just say that? Now I've gone and told you all about our initiation that you aren't supposed to know about beforehand."

"It's okay, Remus. I won't tell anyone." Then Lily turned around and started heading up the stairs to the dormitory. She was hallway before she turned around and added. "Except Mina of course." Then she ran up the rest of the steps before disappearing into her dorm.

Remus cursed at the bottom of the staircase. "How did I not see that last bit coming?!" He cursed to himself.

When Jaz found out about the initiation ceremony, she wasn't the least bit surprised. She had already figured out long ago that that first prank she came up with and then pulled with the boys had been some kind of test. She had completely understood why too. They had to be able to see it they could trust her, which is why she wasn't mad when she figured out what they had done.

Though, when Lily told Jaz about how she was going to help them plan the Halloween prank, Jaz was a bit skeptical. Then Lily reminded her how busy James and Sirius were as of late as well as to the fact that Halloween was only a week away. They had no time to lose if they were still going to pull a prank on Halloween. After that, Jaz was all on board. She knew they would need the help.

So, the next day, once they were all free (after classes and such), Jasmine, Remus, Lily, and Peter gathered in an empty classroom (the one they typically used) and started to plan. They had plenty of snacks thanks to Peter. And Remus had brought the pile of old prank ideas they had sorted through at the beginning of the year. He figured it best not to have to start completely from scratch. Many of those ideas were still good and deserved their consideration. Plus, given the fact that they had less than a week, they needed all the ideas they could get.

Obviously, they wanted the prank to be somewhat Halloween-related, so a lot of the ideas were immediately dismissed. They weren't left with that many, but apparently, enough for Lily to find the perfect one. "I think I found the perfect prank. We will have to modify it slightly, but I have some ideas about that. We'll also need to set it up the night before, which might be tricky, all things considering."

Jaz, who had been sitting next to Lily, leaned over to see the prank idea Lily was looking at. She recognized it as one of hers and smiled. "She's right. It is the perfect prank. But I don't think that setting up the prank will be as hard as you think, Lils. We've got ways to hide ourselves from sight."

Lily perks up at this and agrees. "Yeah! That's right, the Disillusionment charm. That will hide us, at least to some degree."

Then Jaz just rolls her eyes, flashes a knowing look at Remus and Peter, and says to Lily. "Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking, Lils." Then she shares another knowing look with the other two, both knowing that at least 2 of them (not Lily) would be using James's invisibility cloak. Jaz would try to keep it from Lily the best that she could. She thought it best if James was the one to tell Lily about his cloak. It wouldn't be fair to him if Jaz showed Lily first or told her about it first. But for now, Jaz decided to move on. "Now what did you have in mind to modify it, Lils?"

Lily grinned and told the other two confused Marauders what her plan was. It wasn't overly complicated, which is why it was brilliant. It was perfect for Halloween too. And the best part was the twist Lily had suggested, which wouldn't require them to learn any new spell that they didn't already know. It was perfect, and they couldn't wait to see how it turned out.

Halloween couldn't come fast enough for the Marauders minus James and Sirius plus their honorary Marauders, Lily Evans. They couldn't' wait to pull their prank, mainly Lily. She was especially excited since this was her first ever prank. She was excited to find out how she would do. She was also interested in seeing a certain two Marauders' reactions to the prank. She couldn't wait to see their reactions when they realize they forgot about their annual Halloween prank, but see that it still somehow happened and without them. Even better will be James's reaction when he finds out who helped pull and plan the prank.

Lucky for Lily (and the others) it was the eve of Halloween before they knew it. That night they would be setting up the prank of a lifetime so to speak. But before that happened, they would have to go through their classes as they would any day. Normally they would act like it was any old day, but throughout the entire day, they (meaning Lily) were giddy with excitement. This brought questioning from James since he couldn't understand what Lily, his girlfriend, was so excited about. He brought it up when they were walking to class together. "Hey, Lily-pad! What's got you so excited today?"

"Oh, nothing. Just excited is all for tomorrow. It's going to be a great day tomorrow," Lily answered, vaguely. And it was vague alright. All her answer did was confuse James more than he already was. He still didn't understand what was so special about tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Jaz had been keeping her cool, as she usually would the night before she pulled a prank. It was the key to not getting caught or suspected. Though of course, since Sirius knew her best (except Lily) he could tell by the glint in her eye that she would get before she pulled a prank. It was an odd sight to see for Sirius, as he was usually in on whatever prank she was pulling. But unlike James, Sirius didn't particularly care about what was going on with whatever prank Jasmine had planned. He knew he would soon find out anyhow, so what did it matter. Therefore, instead of talking about what was up with Jasmine, Sirius decided to leave it be.

So, as Jaz and Sirius trailed behind James and Lily on their way to class, Jaz instead asked Sirius how he was. "Pads, I know how hard it is to lose someone you love, so I just wanted to make sure you're doing okay."

Sirius smiled at Jaz. "No worries, Mare. I'm fine. I wasn't all that surprised about my uncle's death anyway. Reg told me that he hadn't been doing well as of late. What was really surprising was how much he left me."

Jaz stared at her boyfriend in utter shock. She wasn't sure if she had heard Sirius correctly. "Wait! What?! What do you mean Reg told you? Have you been in contact with your brother since you ran away? Since when? And how much did your uncle leave you?" Jaz had so many more questions. And she would have asked more, but she couldn't find the words.

Sirius hesitated. "He left me enough to get us a place together after Hogwarts. That is if you want to live with me. I know we haven't really spoken about it yet." Sirius decided to ignore the Regulus questions for now. It was not the right time or place to talk about how he and Reg had been meeting up in secret every so often. He would tell her about it later when they were alone.

Luckily, Jaz decided to let it be and ignore the fact that Sirius ignored her questions about Regulus. She figured he hadn't meant to bring it up, and plus she was sure Sirius would tell her about it later. "That's great, Pads! And of course, I'll live with you. I figured that was the plan already. I guess we should talk about it. It is our future, after all."

Sirius grinned. "That's what I was hoping you'd say. I have a place in mind. We can talk about it later." They had arrived at their class, so Jaz just nodded in agreement.

Later turned out to be immediately after their last class on that eve of Halloween. Sirius had pulled Jaz off to the side as soon as they exited the classroom. "Let's go somewhere and talk," Sirius whispered in her ear. Jaz smiled and nodded. Then Sirius dragged her off toward the 7th floor to a place where no one would disturb them (even if they wanted to).

Jaz let herself be led to wherever Sirius was taking her. She had originally thought he would be taking her to their usual place, "their" empty classroom. She soon realized that was not where he was taking her as they weren't going the right way to be going there. Now, as Sirius led her down some halls and up several flights of stairs, Jaz couldn't help but wonder where Sirius was taking her. She wasn't familiar with this part of the castle as she had no reason to ever be over here. She wondered why Sirius had ever been to this part of the castle. She would have to ask him whenever they got to wherever they were going.

It didn't take long before they eventually reached where they were apparently going. They were now on the seventh floor standing in front of a tapestry that Jasmine had never seen before. She wasn't sure who the people were nor what they were doing. It didn't matter, though, as Sirius finally decided to explain himself. "Okay, so I know that you must have a tone of questions right now Mare, but can you just trust me for another moment?"

"Of course, Pads! I'd trust you with my life. But you better explain soon. I can only take so many secrets."

Sirius smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't worry. I'll explain everything soon. It will all make sense soon, my love."

Jaz smiles as she blushes. She loved when Sirius called her that. She went over to the side and did as Sirius had asked of her. She trusted Sirius even if he had been keeping secrets from her.

Once Jaz was off to the side, Sirius started to walk back and forth in front of the tapestry. He thought about a room that would give him and his girlfriend privacy. A room that allowed them to talk about sensitive stuff without anyone interrupting them or hearing anything they shouldn't. And despite himself and because he was a teenage boy, he couldn't help but think about his future with Jaz. Therefore, he thought about a place where he could have a romantic evening with his girlfriend. And he was subconsciously thinking about the place he had been thinking about getting for him and Jasmine, so the room took that into consideration too.

Jaz watched as Sirius walked past the tapestry three times. She couldn't understand why he was doing what he was doing until after the third time that he walked past the tapestry. After he walked past it for the third time, a door had appeared across from the tapestry. Jasmine knew that it hadn't been there before, so she knew it must have had something to do with Sirius and his walking past the tapestry. That was only confirmed when Sirius walked over to where Jaz was standing in awe at what just occurred.

"Shall we Mare?" Sirius held out his hand as an invitation. Jaz took it, but she still couldn't get over what just happened. And if she was amazed by that then one could say she was about to be completely and utterly astounded at what she found just behind the door

Upon entering the room, Jaz was floored by what she was met with. Sirius and Jaz walked into what could have been their own little apartment. It was basically just a smaller version of what Sirius had looked and pictured their place to look like. The only thing was that instead of there being separate rooms, everything was in the same room. It didn't really matter, though, as they weren't planning to actually live there despite how perfect it was. Jaz had no idea how this perfect room had gotten there but she wasn't going to question it at the moment.

The first thing that drew Jasmine's attention wasn't the small yet beautiful kitchen but rather the gorgeous queen-sized bed on the opposite end of the room. She ran right over to it so that she could get a better look at it. The sheets were Gryffindor gold, a gorgeous color. It was just barely visible hidden beneath the lovely comforter (or blanket) that was a startling Gryffindor red. It perfectly complemented the sheets as did the pillowcases of the same color. Now what Jaz liked the most about the bed was that similar to the beds in their dorm, the bed was a canopy bed. The difference between them being that the curtains hanging from the posts wasn't the typical red. Instead, the curtains were gold, but not like the same color as the sheets. The curtains were a shimmering, metallic gold that was absolutely breathtaking. Jasmine absolutely loved them. They were her favorite part of the whole place, and she told Sirius so. "I love these curtains, Siri. We should try and get some for our future place."

Sirius, who had walked over to the couch that was in front of a lovely fireplace in the center of the wall, smiled over at his girlfriend. He loved this place that the room had concocted. He hadn't really expected it to come up with something so perfect, but he loved it nonetheless. He would have to make sure to remember what he asked the room for when making this place so that he could bring Jaz back here on a date before they graduated. Next time he would just need to get some food from the house elves in the kitchens. Maybe he would even make Jasmine something. So, he would definitely have to come back here with Jaz before they left Hogwarts behind for good. And with everything the room had created, it was times like these that Sirius would the room knew more than what Sirius had thought up. The reason being that this place was perfect and rather similar to the place that Sirius had in mind as a place for him and Jasmine after he had gotten all that money from his uncle. "They're great, Mare, but I don't know if we will be able to find ones quite like those anywhere else, so why don't you just take those. I'm sure the room won't mind."

"I don't know. Maybe. I'll think about it," Jasmine said as she walked over to the couch and sat down at the other end. "But speaking of the room, where exactly did it come from. One minute there was no door, then there was a door there? Care to explain?"

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah. About that. I'm not exactly sure what this room is called. I only know about it through Regulus. He's the one that showed me this room and how it works. I think he called it the Room of Requirement. I think he said one of the house elves down in the kitchens told him about it when he was talking with them. That brother of mine might have some twisted beliefs in terms of the dark arts, but if there is one thing, he loves is house elves. I swear, he treats Kreacher like an actual friend. It's kind of sad really."

Jaz just about questions who Kreacher is and why shouldn't they treat house elves better but thinks better of it. She decides to save that for another day knowing it would only lead to an argument between them. Right now, Jaz didn't want to argue with Sirius. They needed to get right to it if she was still to help with the prank that night. She would rope Sirius into the prank if she could, but she couldn't not with what they had planned. Anyhow, Jaz still wanted her questions from earlier answered. "So, hen you have been meeting up with your brother in secret. Since when? And why didn't you tell me?"

"Reg sent me a letter over the summer," Sirius began. "I'm assuming he managed to do it without our parents finding out because he didn't appear to be injured nor disowned yet. Anyway, he wrote that he wanted to talk to me about something but not until we got back to Hogwarts. I knew why. It was dangerous for us to be seen together. I knew what would happen to him if our parents ever found out. I still want to protect him as much as I can. You know how much I regret leaving him behind in that awful home. And despite everything, including those beliefs our parents indoctrinated in him, I still love my brother." Sirius would have kept going on, but Jaz stopped him. She had heard some version of the same explanation multiple times prior. Jaz was on a time limit now, so she didn't have the time to hear the explanation again. So, she moved it along as best she could.

"I know, Pads, I wish it was different. I really do, but what happened after you got the letter from Regulus."

"I agreed to meet him when we got back. I sent a response back with 'his' owl, which apparently had expected a response. After that, I only received one more letter from him. All it said was: 'Meet me on the 7th floor by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy with the trolls after the feast and after curfew.' Now I wasn't entirely sure where that was even though we had explored enough of the caste to have made a map, but that's beside the point. So, since I wasn't familiar enough with where that was, on the night of the feast, I snuck out of the dorm once all of the others were asleep. I snagged the map and invisibility cloak from James. I knew he wouldn't mind. Plus, he wouldn't even know they were gone, which was the idea. Then I snuck out and found Reg on the map. It appeared he was already on the 7th floor at the meeting spot. Therefore, I hurried to his location. I didn't need nor want him getting in trouble just for me.

"When I got there, I almost didn't see Reg. He had hidden himself with the disillusionment charm. He disengaged it when he saw me appear from under the cloak. Then he showed me this room and explained how it worked."

"So, how does it work?" Jaz interrupted. "I figured it has something to do with you pacing in front of the wall where the door to this room appeared."

"Yeah, it does," Sirius confirmed. "Basically, you think of what you want and walk in front of it 3 times thinking out it. You need to be specific about what you want too especially if you don't want to be disturbed. Otherwise, Reg told me that as long as whoever is trying to get it knows what you are doing, then they can enter too. Don't worry though. I made sure no one would be able to interrupt us or hear us. I don't want anyone else finding out about Reg and I's secret meetups. The fewer people that know, the less likely he is to get hurt or worse."

"Wow! That's amazing. And I completely understand why you didn't tell me about meeting up with Regulus. It wouldn't end well if you two got caught. But how about next time you two have a clandestine meeting, you tell me, and I can come too. I know it's risky, but I'd like to meet your brother. He's so important to you, so I'd really like to meet him."

Sirius couldn't help but smile at Jasmine's words. He appreciated the sentiment behind it, but he wasn't sure Regulus would see it that way. "I would love nothing more than to introduce you to Reg, but I'm sure he wouldn't go for it. Not that I care about his approval, but I'd prefer to still keep meeting up with him. I don't want to lose Reg."

"I got it, Pads. It's no problem, but maybe ask him before you go assuming things that might not be true," Jaz suggested.

"I'll ask, Mare, but I can't promise he'll be open to the idea," Sirius told her.

"That's fine." Then Jaz changed the subject. "Now that that is out of the way," she began. "What's this about you finding a place for us to live after Hogwarts?"

Sirius pulled a newspaper out of one of the pockets of his robes. It was a recent edition of the Daily Prophet. He opened it up to the house and apartment listings. Sirius pointed to one particular house for sale in a mostly wizarding neighborhood. From the description, it appeared to be the perfect three-bedroom house for the two of them to start their life together in. "See this one here. I thought it would be perfect for us. And there's a picture of it right here." Sirius pointed to a picture near the description of the house. And since it was a wizarding picture, it moved and showed other parts of the house. "Once I saw the picture, I could really picture us living there together. I wanted your opinion before I got it, though."

"It's perfect, Sirius. I love it!" Jasmine exclaimed. "But let me pay for some of it. I want to at least pitch in some for our future place. "

"That's really sweet of you, Mare, but there's no need. My uncle left me plenty of money to way for the house and still have extra leftover to spare."

"I know and I get that, but I can afford to help pay for it, Sirius. I'm not completely broke. I actually have quite a tidy sum in my vault that I set up for myself in Gringotts."

"Since when, Mare? Where have you been hiding it? And where did it even come from?" Sirius was seriously confused. He had always been under the impression that his girlfriend didn't have much, at least in terms of wizarding money.

"Well, originally, I didn't actually have all that much, but over the summer I got a letter from the bank my dad used in France. This was the bank he used after we moved there, and I went to Beauxbatons." Sirius nodded, understanding. "Yeah, well apparently, before my father died, he set up an account for me joined with his own account. He basically had money set aside for me. The only reason I didn't know about it before now is that he made it a stipulation that I would be able to access it until I was of age, which I became over the summer. I'm pretty sure he planned to tell me, but then he died. Also, his money was what I used to pay for my books each year at Beauxbatons. Though I never accessed it directly. He had set it up so that I would always get enough to get what I needed each year. But when I transferred schools, that changed since my dad had set that up in France. Thus, I had been treated like a Muggleborn thus far at Hogwarts in terms of money for books and other supplies. Therefore, ever since I moved to England, his money hasn't been touched so it is all still there. Anyway, now that I know about this money, I asked the bank in France to transfer the money to my vault at Gringotts. I had only saved up a little bit at the time, but now there is quite a sum in there. I had no idea my dad had so much money saved up in his account, let alone a nice sum saved up for me for my future. He really loved me more than I knew, and I really miss him. But I know that he would want me to use at least some of that money toward what it was intended meaning toward a house and my future. I'm sure he would approve. I believe he would have liked you, Pads."

Sirius could only stare incredulously at Jaz for several moments. He had not expected to hear that her recent influx of money had come from her now deceased father. Sirius, though, soon regained his ability to speak. "Wait! So, you're telling me that your dad, who's been dead for 6 years now, left you a bunch of money that you didn't know about until now?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Jasmine confirmed.

"That's insane!" Sirius exclaimed. "But amazing all the same. And Mare, you know your dad loved you so much, even if he didn't leave you all this money. Based on the stories you've told me about him, he definitely loved you. And I'm sure I would have liked him too, but it is good to know that he would have liked me and approved of our relationship."

Jaz has been able to resist the urge to kiss Sirius up until that very moment. With those reassuring and kind words, Jaz was pushed over the edge. She basically leaped over to Sirius's side of the couch. Then she attacked his lips with her own. It was a rather messy but passionate kiss full of heat and want. And if Jaz had let it continue, they might have ended up in that bed with a lot less clothing than they were currently wearing right now. Sadly, that didn't happen as Jaz was subconsciously still aware that she was on a time limit. She only had a limited amount of time before dinner, which was her deadline. Normally, she wouldn't mind skipping a meal especially if it meant more time alone with Sirius, but she still had work she needed to do before tomorrow. Plus, she and the others were planning to meet up not long after dinner to go over the plan one more time before they went through with it that night. Any other night and Jaz might have been up for going to bed with Sirius.

Upon breaking the kiss, Jaz thanked Sirius. "I appreciate that Pads. And I know he loved me, more than I thought. He would just want me to be happy if he were alive today, and I know it. Since you make me happy, I'm sure he would be supportive of our relationship. Though, I guess if he hadn't died, I never would have met you Pads."

"Don't think like that, Mare. I'm sure we would have met at some point, Probably at James and Lily's wedding. Even without our meddling, I'm sure those two would have eventually gotten together. And there is no way they aren't going to end up married after we leave here despite only being together for a few months."

"You're probably right, Pads. I wonder how we would have got on. I mean we got along right away when we first met on the train, but I'm not so sure in other circumstances. I'm sure that I would at least try to get along with you, for Lily's sake. After all, she is my best friend."

"I have to agree. I wonder how our first meeting would have gone then. Though, I'm sure I would have immediately hit on you," Sirius teased.

"What makes you say that?" Jasmine asked.

"Being the best man, it is my sworn duty to hit on and try and hook up with the maid of honor, especially since you are gorgeous, love," Sirius responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Of course, you see it like that, but what make you say I would be maid of honor."

"You said it yourself, Lily is your best friend. And I'm sure that Lily sees you as hers. Why would that have changed if you finished school at Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts," Sirius explained.

"I don't know, Pads, but it doesn't really matter, does it? I'm here now and with you. That's all that matters to me anyhow." Jaz, now cuddled up in Sirius's arms after that messy passionate kiss, smiled up at her boyfriend.

"I love you, Mare," Sirius proclaimed looking down at the girl in his arms.

"I love you too, Pads," Jaz responded, looking up into Sirius's eyes. They kissed, but unlike the earlier one, it wasn't very long only a few seconds.

The two of them stayed cuddled up on that couch just enjoying each other company. They cuddled together in comfortable silence, looking into the fireplace. They were so comfortable that they almost fell asleep again. The only stopping them was Jaz being so focused on making sure that she didn't miss dinner as she couldn't afford to. But they still ended up being late for dinner.

As they left the room, making sure they didn't leave or forget anything, Sirius told Jaz, "Don't tell the others about this place. There's a reason I haven't told them about it, and I'd prefer to keep it that way, at least for now."

"Don't worry, Pads. I promise I won't tell them. We wouldn't want them finding out about our secret rendezvouses now, would we?" Jaz winked at Sirius then walked right out of the room.

Sirius chased after Jas after a few moments. He wasn't about to just leave the conversation there. "Jaz! Mare! Wait up!" Jasmine was a few feet ahead of Sirius when he exits the room. Thankfully, she stops and waits for Sirius to catch up to her. Upon catching up to her, Sirius kisses her on the cheek, then says, "I appreciate that Jaz. And you really mean that about us coming back here?" Sirius waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

" What do you think?" Jaz asked, with a knowing smile. Then she kissed Sirius before taking his hand. Then they walked with their hand intertwined all the way down to the Great Hall.

After dinner, instead of heading up to the common room with James and Sirius, Lily and the other 3 remaining Marauders hung back. They gave James and Sirius their excuses and were able to convince them to go up to the common room together. Before the duo left, Sirius gave Jaz a wink, which she took to mean that he knew exactly what they were up to. She smiled and returned the wink before they finally went their separate ways.

The four who were left headed toward their usual empty classroom. There they went over the plan once more. Then they addressed any concerns (Peter was concerned that James and Sirius would be mad at them doing this without them, but they dismissed his worries). After that, they found the supplies that they had hidden in that very classroom. They made sure that it was all there and that they had everything they needed. Then, deciding they were ready for tonight, the 4 of them headed up to Gryffindor tower to finish any schoolwork that they still needed to finish.

Before any of the 4 of them knew it, the time had come for them to finally set up their prank. They agreed to meet in the common room before heading out. Jaz and Lily were there first. The two boys came down shortly after. Jaz gave Remus a look saying, 'Do you have the cloak?' Remus shook his head. He couldn't find the cloak and he couldn't just ask James where it was without making James suspicious. But Remus did manage to grab the map. He produced the piece of parchment out of his pocket as well as his wand. He tapped his wand on the parchment and was about to say, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" when Lily interrupted him.

"What are you doing with that piece of parchment, Remus?" Lily asked.

Remus wasn't sure what to say. He didn't exactly want to give away one of their secrets to how they avoid getting caught. It turned out he didn't have to say anything as Lily snatched the parchment out of his hand.

"Is this some kind of thing that's going to help us?" Lily asked. "If it is, then I'm guessing you guys use some kind of spell or something of the like to make whatever is supposed to appear." Lily took out her wand and tapped it on the parchment as Remus had before saying, "Aparecium" (the revealing charm). Instead of the map appearing, Lily was greeted with some words:

"Mr. Moony would like to state that that was not very clever and rather simple for a girl that is supposed to be quite clever."

"Mr. Wormtail agrees and thinks that Ms. Evans should give up while she's ahead."

"Mr. Padfoot would like to say that Ms. Evans should stop before she screws this but because she's clearly not clever enough to figure this out."

"Mr. Prongs would like to add that Ms. Evans is insane-ly beautiful. Darling, you look gorgeous."

The last one was the best:

"Ms. Mare wants to tell Ms. Evans that she is absolute wor best friend a girl could have."

Lily stared down at the insults and strange compliments for a few more moments before looking up at her three companions. The 3 Marauders present were beet red, but Lily didn't notice. "Why would we need a piece of parchment that insults and weirdly compliments people? What use does this have?"

No one said anything for several minutes Jaz finally gave in and was like to hell with it. "That's not what it is Lils." Jaz takes out her wand and puts it to the parchment and says, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." That was when lines of the map started to appear on the parchment. Across the top in big curly letters, as it usually would, appeared:

Messrs. Mare, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prangs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present
The Marauder's Map

Lily stared at the map in astonishment. She could hardly believe what she was looking at. "This is a map of Hogwarts!" Lily finally exclaimed. Then on further inspection, she noticed something else. "Are those dots showing everyone in the castle in real time?" She looked up from the map to see all three Marauders that were present nodding. "Wow! This is some pretty impressive magic, you guys. I can't believe you did this. This map is amazing. But I have to ask, why did it insult and weirdly compliment me before?"

Remus answered her question this time. "Yeah, about that. It's a preventative measure we added to keep it so that people who aren't mischief makers wouldn't be able to open the map. We don't want to get in trouble for having this map and we wouldn't want future mischief makers getting in trouble either. So, we made it seem like it was just a piece of parchment that insult people. So, I'm not entirely sure why it complimented you."

"Who complimented you exactly, Lils?" Jaz asked.

"I believe it was Mr. Prongs and Ms. Mare, which I'm sure is you and James, Mina. And since you both love me, I doubt your magic in the map would be able to insult me," Lily reasoned.

"You're probably right, Lils. Either that or something is up with the map," Jaz agreed. "Now that that's out of the way, we should probably get going if we want to get going if we want to get this prank done before morning." And with that, the four of them headed out to grab what they needed and then went to set up their prank.

On the morning of Halloween, the students and staff alike were met with quite the scene outside the Great Hall. A few meters in front of the doors to the Great Hall were two chalk outlines of people. The area around the two chalk outlines was taped off with yellow caution tape making the whole scene look like a crime scene. What was even more damning was that there were a few miscellaneous things marked with numbers. Any Muggleborn (and most Half-bloods) recognized it as a crime scene and stayed as far away from the area s they could. The Purebloods were a bit confused by the scene but still stayed clear upon hearing whispers of it being a crime scene. This wasn't all there was, though.

Upon entering the Great Hall, they were met with some of the typical decorations for the feast later that night. There was something different, though. At the other end of the hall on either side of the podium in which Dumbledore gave his speeches were two headstones. They were set on the first level of steps. The one to the right said, "Here lies James Fleamont Potter, prankster extraordinaire." The one on the left said, "Here lies Sirius Black III, Ultimate rebel and prankster."

It was quite a surprise for many students to see the names of the head boy and his best mate on the headstones. The looks on the students' faces were a mixture of horror, surprise, confusion, and a twinge of sadness (particularly those who knew the two well). Lots of students, mainly Gryffindor looked around for the two pranksters. Sadly, they couldn't find them. This worries some of them, particularly one Slytherin by the name of Regulus Articulus Black.

The grand finale of the prank came when most of the students (and staff) were in the Great Hall. That's when Jaz and Lily came running in acting as if this was all news to them. They ran right up to their respective boyfriend's gravestone. Then both girls started crying. Remus and Peter "had" to come and "console" them. They helped the two cousins up and led them to the Gryffindor table. That scene caused quite a flurry of talk within the Great Hall. It was almost as if it was confirmation that this might be real and not another prank. That is until James and Sirius finally showed up bursting into the Great Hall, disheveled.

See, no one (*ahem* Remus *ahem*) woke them up that morning when they were supposed to. Therefore, the two had to hurry to get ready so they weren't late for breakfast or class for that matter. So, they burst into the Great Hall completely missing the scene outside as well as the gravestones. They were too preoccupied to notice much of anything.

Upon entering the Great Hall, the two friends were met with everyone staring at them. Students and staff alike were staring in pure shock and disbelief. But once the two boys sat down everything made sense. After James and Sirius took seats at the Gryffindor table, a banner appeared out of nowhere above where the staff sat. The banner read: "Happy Halloween. Love the Marauders."

It was almost as if a collective oh was said in everyone's head as they all realized it was just a prank. Many of the students had to admit that this was one hell of a prank. They wouldn't be forgetting about this anytime soon. It was a brilliant way to make sure no one forgot about them anytime soon.

Meanwhile, as the day went on, James and Sirius were told by several people how glad they were that they weren't actually dead. And if that wasn't confusing enough, people also told them that the prank they pulled was pretty devious and twisted but brilliant all the same. Each time they were told that they would always respond with, "What prank?" Now Sirius knew they were likely talking about whatever prank Jaz had pulled, but he didn't understand why they were complimenting him and James for it. James, on the other hand, was as oblivious as ever. He had no idea what was going on with everyone today, at least not until lunch.

When lunch rolled around, James and Sirius had finally noticed the fake crime scene outside the Great Hall. From what they had heard, they figured it was the prank they heard about all day. They thought it was a pretty decent prank. But then they saw the gravestones with their names on them. And finally, when they sat down, they noticed the banner. It all made sense now. They finally understood what everyone meant.

The two boys had to say that this was one deviously brilliant prank. It was also very well executed, especially after they heard about the scene with Jaz and Lily that morning. But really what made both boys really go pale was the banner. When they read what that banner said, they realized what had happened. Both of them had forgotten about Halloween. And now, they were both realizing that the other had planned and executed the annual prank without them. The look on the two boys' faces was priceless, which is why Lily snapped a photo of them.

Upon realization, James and Sirius turned to each other and said at the same time, "We forgot out the annual Halloween prank!" Then they started laughing.

"I can't believe we forgot about the prank, Prongs," Sirius said to his best mate.

"I can't either. I don't know how it managed to slip our minds," James agreed. Then he turned his attention back to the real pranksters behind the Halloween prank. "I do have one question. How did only three of you pull this off?"

Lily was the one to correct him. "I think you mean the four of us, Darling," Lily teased.

James stared at his girlfriend sitting next to him in awe. "Wait! What?! Are you serious, Lily? You helped them with this?"

"Well, I'm not Sirius, but who do you think's idea it was to make it look like it was the two of you who'd been murdered?" Lily asked sarcastically.

James was so stunned he missed the joke. "Seriously? That was you, Lils? Since when are you a prankster?" James could barely comprehend what his sweet, not-so-innocent girlfriend was telling him.

"Well, not Siriusly. More like Lilyly, I guess," Lily joked. "But anyway, yeah that was me. And I'm not a prankster. I just wanted to help for once. You could say it was my right of passage for dating you."

This time James caught the joke and laughed heartily at it. "That's great, Lils," James complimented. "Well, I'm thoroughly impressed. What about you Padfoot? You approve?"

"Hell, yeah I do!" Sirius laughed and held up his hand for Lily to high five (and she did). "But James, I will warn you, if you don't marry that girl, I going to smack you into tomorrow. I mean what other girl are you going to find that makes a pun like that with my name? So, if you screw this up, I'm going to be helping Mare kill you or whatever she has planned."

James chuckled. "Consider me warned, Pads."

For the rest of lunch, the Marauders plus Lily their new honorary member talked about the logistics behind the prank. The pranksters told James and Sirius how they pulled the prank and all that jazz. You could tell this group of six people had become closer than they were before. They were now an unbreakable force, ready for what Hogwarts and life might throw at them, and they better be ready. This last year wasn't even half over. There was still a lot to come.

A/N Yet another really long chapter completed! Hooray! I hope you all enjoyed it, but you better not get used to these long chapters. One quick thing before you go. While writing this chapter, I really liked the idea of writing an AU (of my slight AU) where Sazzy meets at Jily's wedding. So, I wanted to know what you all thought about me writing a one-shot about that. Let me know and I will write it when I get the chance. And I'm sure Lily will have another encounter with the Marauders map real soon.
Also, originally in my word doc that I am writing this in, the Marauders map stuff is in different fonts, but since that's not a thing here... Anyway if you want to see how I did it, check out this chapter on my AO3 (same username) or my Wattpad (Username: Belle6700). I added it using pictures.

Love you all, my wonderful readers,
❤ Knk6700 ❤