AN:

Hi everyone! I hope January is treating you well.

Updates will continue to be sporadic, I'm afraid. This is currently due to a crippling case of writers block affecting me across all my stories and fandoms.

I know where I want this story to go, finding the right words is becoming rather challenging is all.

Only one more chapter already written, but I'll get it up by February, I promise.

Until then, I hope you continue to enjoy.

A crystal ballroom, filled with stars, gentle instrumental music, a cocoon of warmth. It was a dream, but as far as dreams of dancing under the stars went, it was pretty perfect. Distant strains of music, Glam Rock, broke the lulling bubble, like shattering crystal. David Bowie wondered who could love Aladdin Sane, but Rose wasn't feeling too pleased with him at the moment. Alas, it was Bowie, so she followed the call to consciousness - as if she could ignore her favourite artist. Lily was smirking at her from her wingback chair, Snowflake curling around her ankles. Hermes hooted balefully from the top of her armoire, bright eyes fixed on Snowflake. Rose groaned at the mischievous light in her twin sister's eyes, knowing that it never meant anything good. Lily despised mischief, so it really took some doing for her to act mischievous of her own volition. "Spit it out, Lil" Rose sighed, smothering a yawn. "I don't have all day." She tilted her head like an owl. "At least I'm told I don't."

"No, you don't" Lily agreed cheerfully, far too chipper for boxing day. "The pain in my arse's pain in the arse best mate says it's time to get up and get dressed to go out. He wanted to wake you himself, but Remus was busy threatening valuable parts of his anatomy." Lily smiled evilly. "So, I got volunteered. Black even made me promise to be 'nice' and put that on so you weren't all Petunia-like when you woke up."

"Considerate, isn't he?" Rose yawned, glaring unhappily at her clock. "Just once I'd love to sleep in without being up pranking half the night, or recovering from Bellatrix." She looked pointedly at her twin. "Is that so much to ask?"

"Your fault for being a night owl, Rosie" her twin shrugged happily. "Besides, Black mentioned something about a surprise while running from Remus."

"Sirius will say anything is a surprise if he thinks it'll make him sound more mysterious" Rose laughed. After all this time together, Lily still didn't understand the Marauders. Lily smiled her agreement, trying to avoid the many incarnations of David Bowie on her walls. The most recent was a black and white poster of the Thin White Duke that the Girls had sent her for Christmas. There were also far too many wizarding pictures of the Marauders to count, all of which made it very hard to see the original colour of the walls. Not that Rose was complaining; she would much rather see David Bowie and the Marauders than not.

"Astra!" Peter yelled, running into the room, red faced from his effort. "You've got to come downstairs. Moony's going to kill Padfoot and then where will we be?"

"Rem isn't going to kill anyone" Rose sighed, feeling McGonagall's pain for a brief moment. Merlin were they a handful. "He just hates not getting his beauty sleep."

"Anyway" Lily interrupted swiftly. "Why isn't Potter helping?" Peter glanced at Lily, and had the decency to look embarrassed. Good Godric, what had that stag gotten himself into now?

"Prongs is hiding under the kitchen table, nursing the spot where Moony accidentally threw a fork at him instead of Padfoot." Lily burst into delighted laughter, emerald eyes sparkling. Rose, on the other hand, dropped her face into her pillow.

"Merlin's left-"

"Language, Lady Astra." Rose stopped and levelled a glare in the direction of the teasing voice. Sirius leaned elegantly against the wall, looking incredibly handsome in black jeans, a Queen t-shirt he'd bought at a concert, and a black leather jacket. A smug smirk completed the ensemble nicely. He knew how good he looked, and looked nothing like he'd just been chased by an angry werewolf. Whereas Rose probably looked like she had. Typical. His grey eyes flicked over her with amusement before coming to rest on her with something that looked far more like heat. "Good morning, Rosebud." Peter squeaked and fled the room. Lily rolled her eyes and followed.

"Sirius " Rose replied, a little ungraciously . His smirk widened, but he wisely made no comment. As he'd said himself, he knew that she hated mornings with a fiery passion reserved only for members of the Slytherin house. "I don't suppose you are going to let me in on your surprise now?"

"Not yet, Sweetheart" Sirius agreed, absently tossing an owl treat up at Hermes. "But we are getting breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron if that makes you more inclined to grace us with the pleasure of your company."

"Stop with the flirting" Rose huffed, busying herself with a book to keep Sirius from seeing her blush. "I won't know what to do with myself."

"If I might suggest getting dressed, Rosebud" Sirius offered with another smirk. "Unless that is you want to have breakfast in that fetching ensemble. I am rather partial, but..." Sirius let his voice trail off rather tellingly. A new surge of heat brightened her cheeks. Of course he'd love her to parade around in public in little more than one of his old shirts. Possessive bastard.

"I'll just get dressed now then, shall I?" Rose checked, making a show of going over to her dresser. Rose smirked at the abrupt intake of breath from the doorway. Really, it was Sirius' own fault. He of all people should know better than to challenge a Marauder. She hummed happily along with the Aladdin Sane album as she selected a Ziggy Stardust T-shirt to go with her purple cords and long black coat. Sirius shook his head at her, his eyes dark.

"You, love, are a Marauder" he told her, kissing her once on lips before making a graceful exit. She wasted no time in getting ready, curiosity itching away about what Sirius and James were planning that needed to be kept so secret.

James was rubbing his bicep, grumbling into his tea, when Rose descended the stairs. Remus had his head buried in a book, his free hand idly holding onto a full mug of tea. Peter helped Violet cook something at the stove, while Lily seemed to be in a three-way debate with Sirius and Jim about the logistics of actually making his motorcycle fly. "I see now" Rose teased, leaning against the table. "The surprise is you actually getting along with Lily."

"Ha!" Sirius scoffed, his eyes dancing with amusement. "I said surprise, Rosebud, not bloody miracle."

"How true" Rose agreed, sharing a smirk with Remus. "What in the name of Merlin's saggiest y-fronts was I thinking?"

"That it's time to go?" James suggested hopefully. "I don't much fancy getting attacked by cutlery again." Peter patted him on the shoulder.

"Poor Pronsgy."

"We can leave you behind, Wormtail" James threatened, ignoring Lily's glare. "But really you lot, we're going to be late."

"A Marauder is never late, James Potter" Remus announced severely. "Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

"You are such a swot" Sirius laughed, ruffling his hair fondly. Remus pushed his hand away, glowering.

"I still haven't forgiven you for waking me up, Padfoot."

"Yes, you have" Rose trilled, turning up the radio as high as she could for Life On Mars, her favourite song ever. Remus watched in a sort of resigned fondness as they hovered about the kitchen for the entirety of the song. Sirius even deigned to sing quietly along with that smooth voice of his. Sirius and David Bowie, Rose really felt spoiled. Of course, there was one person who looked a little unhappy; Lily was watching them like she was seeing a door closing in her face. It was almost as if Lily thought that whatever they had done this Christmas, she was still losing Rose to the Marauders. That was one of the many reasons that Lily hated James so much; they were fighting a war for Rose that she didn't know existed, and the Marauders had won by a landslide. Rose ached for her twin, but there was nothing she could do. The Marauders were her family, she was in love with Sirius, they were the wolf pack of Hogwarts. Her place was with the Marauders, but Lily was far too stubborn to see that the same was waiting to apply for her. James wanted to offer it all to her, any fool could see he worshipped her, so why was it so hard for Lily to let go of her damned prejudices and give the both of them a chance at real, lasting happiness? Sirius broke her thoughts with the lightest brush of his hand. His grey eyes bore into hers with an intensity that suggested he knew where her thoughts had been and he hurt along with her. For James. Still, there was nothing he could do with everyone else in the room; no words could be spoken on the matter in front of the affected parties, not that they would welcome it even in secret. Rose smiled sadly as the last notes of the beautiful song faded away.

"Now we really have to go" James stated with a touch of desperation, ushering them all outside. "Bye, Evanses!"

"You're worse than Peter" Sirius mourned, shaking his head. "But, we must away." Remus crossed his arms over his jumper.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell us where we're going now?" Sirius gave him his best mischievous smirk - the one that meant nothing good for the person on the other end - and threw his arm around Remus' shoulders .

"London."

In true Marauder fashion, James and Sirius had rented out a private dining room in the Leaky Cauldron, not wanting to risk mingling with anyone of a Death Eater/blood Puritan scumbag persuasion. Tom, the ever faithful bartender, welcomed them with his usual toothy smile, returning almost instantly with platters of Full English breakfasts . Peter tucked in right away, Rose choosing a stuffed omelette for her breakfast. Throughout the meal, Sirius and James communicated mostly with significant looks and silent exchanges, Sirius' left hand never very far from touching some part of Rose. Not that she minded at all. Remus saw his chance to eat like the majority of Ravenclaw and took it, propping up his Advanced Defense textbook on a jug and reading it while he ate. James amused himself by aiming bits of fried bread at the book, cheering every time it made contact. Remus then got retribution in the form of the orange juice getting a mind of its own and pouring itself into James's lap. His resulting yelp was hilarious. Rose accidentally inhaled some of her tea, and bent over, spluttering and laughing and trying hard to keep breathing. Peter pounded her on the back with Hagrid like exuberance, wilting back into his chair at a furious glare from Sirius. James waved his wand and cleaned up the mess on his jeans, glaring petulantly at an utterly unrepentant Remus. The prongs of his fork stabbed viciously into a bystanding sausage. "I have half a mind to cancel today's sojourn" the stag grumbled, Sirius raising an eyebrow in a way that clearly said 'oh, yes?'.

"And just what is the purpose of today's sojourn, Prongs?" Rose invited, turning hopeful eyes upon him. James wagged a finger at her chidingly.

"Never you mind."

"Oh, but I do mind, James" Rose replied calmly, polishing off the last of her delicious omelette.

"Patience is a virtue" James sang.

"Not for a Marauder" Sirius replied, seemingly without thought. James glared at him, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Whose side are you on here, Pads?"

"Whichever side pisses you off more, mate" Sirius smirked, James giving this the consideration it was due.

"Fair enough." Suddenly, Remus slammed his book shut and fixed his most unimpressed look on James.

"I hate surprises" he said in a carefully conversational tone. "I hate them with the fire of a thousand fiendfyre curses. So" he waved his hand around invitingly "would someone please tell me why in the name of Merlin's left buttock we are here and where we are going?" James grinned unrepentantly.

"Why we're here you'll see" the stag announced calmly. "And where do you think we're going? Why, Diagon Alley of course." Why exactly that made Remus grin brightly, Rose wasn't quite sure, but James looked pleased with himself so she let it go. James then took to bouncing around them all like an excitable puppy, throwing his arms around them and generally acting overly affectionate. Sirius and Remus took this for only so long. Then, they grabbed his arms and hauled him down to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

James whistled as he led the Marauders down the familiar sidewalk of the wizarding shopping street. He glared at the vendors trying to con them out of their gold with promises of protection. He ignored Quality Quidditch Supplies, and didn't even blink as they passed Gambol and Japes. Remus wove his arm through Rose's. Mischief danced in his eyes. "I think something's wrong with Prongs."

"Nothing's wrong with me, Moony" James replied, putting a little bounce in his step. "I'm a stag, in case you were worried."

"It's a lovely, freezing day for a stroll down Diagon Alley, isn't it?" Peter grumbled, nose and cheeks red from the cold. James flicked his wand at him and Peter sighed in relief. "Thanks, Prongs."

"Where are we going, Prongs?" Remus asked with the air of a man knowing he wasn't going to get a decent answer. James gestured grandly up the road, pointing to- was that an empty store?

"Number 87 Diagon Alley" he announced grandly. "Former premises of Monsieur W. C. Villebourne, wizarding chocolatier." Remus peered towards the dusty and abandoned shop with great curiosity. The mere mention of the word chocolate and he was interested .

"Tell me more."

"Villebourne went out of business when he married a muggle-born witch against the wishes of a family known as the Black's" James sighed, glancing apologetically at Sirius. "They kicked him out of his own business about fifty years ago, bought out the shop." Remus' jaw twitched in irritation. Danger, Will Robinson. James hastened to continue. Smart man, not wanting to risk the wrath of Remus. "Fortunately, Sirius' Uncle Alphard was one canny bastard." Sirius took this as his cue to interrupt.

"He royally screwed over our deranged family, and put the property - which he had inherited upon my grandfather's death - into a special trust."

"A trust which conveniently allowed us to purchase the property and give the finger to Orion and Walburga in a spectacular fashion" James finished, smirking triumphantly.

"I'm confused" Peter stated, a pained expression on his face.

"Thought you would be" James agreed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Come on. We'll show you around."

"About bloody time too" Sirius muttered, James ignoring him cheerfully. For a moment, Remus looked as though he was quite envious of that particular talent of James'. To be fair, a lot of people were envious of James's abilities to ignore Sirius Black.

The ground floor of Number 87 Diagon Alley was, frankly speaking, a tip. Remnants of the chocolate business remained even after all that time, Remus even finding a bar of chocolate that he ate with excuse that chocolate never went off. It was spacious enough, not that they would ever actually use the ground floor for anything; the glass storefront wasn't conducive to privacy. However, the upstairs was utterly spectacular. Large and open, it was completely empty, a clean slate for them to do with as they saw fit. The entrance led straight into the kitchen, then a step down took them into the empty area James called the living area. To the left was a single door that led into a corridor that led into a dead end. Rooms branched off from the corridor, to the left a bedroom, the bathroom, and another bedroom, then the closet. To the right were three bedrooms all in a row. Each room was exactly the same size, doubtlessly the magic of the ever-fair Remus Lupin. James gathered them in the empty living room, hazel eyes glittering hopefully at them. "What do you think?"

"Add some Gryffindor colours and you've got yourself a nice place" Remus observed, James slapping the back of his head. Try as he might, Rose didn't believe he hadn't been here before.

"It's ours, all five of ours." Rose felt her mouth drop open. It was something they had always talked of, but she never thought it would actually happen. James grinned widely, rubbing his hands together. "We've got the rest of the holiday to fix it up, then Pads and I were thinking we could come here during the Easter break, but" he visibily reined himself in. "If you don't like it-"

"Shut up, Prongs" Remus said for all of them. "It's perfect."

"Which is my room?" Peter asked eagerly.

"First on the left" Sirius pointed, crooking a finger. "Then Moony, Prongs and I on the right. Rosebud, you're on the far left."

"Thanks, love" Rose smiled, bouncing a little in place. "What are we doing about paint and furniture?" What? She was still a girl, capable of thinking of creature comforts.

"All taken care of" James explained quickly. "The beds and bedroom furniture are being delivered tomorrow. The living room/kitchen stuff when we've finished everything in here."

"What the berk is saying" Sirius clarified with a helpful drawl. "Is that we've only got today to paint the bedrooms." Remus looked, not for the first time, like he wanted to bounce his head off the wall.

"We have no paint."

"Wizarding paint, in the rooms" James dismissed, walking towards his own room. "Tap the lid with your wand and think of the colour you want, then paint away." Rose made a face at his back, Remus winking at her, then glanced at her clothes. She liked her shirt.

"Oh well" she sighed, opening the door to her room. It had two lovely windows that let in grey London sunlight, and smooth wood flooring. True to James's word, half a dozen cans of paint waited for her on the floor, along with assorted rollers and paint brushes. Her wand tapped the top of the first can, the paint inside turning exactly the shade she wanted. "All right then" she rubbed her hands together. "Let's get started."

Exactly fifteen minutes later (Rose knew because she'd transfigured a paint lid into a wireless and she knew the length of the songs), Sirius crossed the hall into her room. He lounged on the door jamb with easy grace, an unlit cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. A streak of dark grey blue smeared his cheek, a matching splotch on the cuff of his jeans. Rose narrowed her eyes at him, somehow suspicious. "You can't be done already" she pointed out, making a shooing motion with her paint brush. Sirius just gave her one of his classic pitying looks. It was just her luck that it made him look incredibly handsome; like everything he did.

"First of all, you're sounding like Moony" he told her, not moving an inch from his casual lean. "And second, sweetheart, I'm a wizard." Sirius prowled towards her, something dark in his gaze. "Besides, I'd much rather help you paint your room than do my own." Rose pointed her brush severely at him. She was trying to channel McGonagall, but she doubted it worked.

"What makes you think I'd let you?"

"Oh, Rosebud" Sirius shook his head. "Are you really going to stop me?" Damn him, that was a good question - and the bastard knew that she would do no such thing.

"Fine" she capitulated. "But if more of that goes on me than the wall, you are going to be in big trouble, Messr Padfoot." Sirius gave a flourishing bow.

"As my Lady commands." She shook her head but allowed him to steal a single kiss. It was one of the perks of dating him.

Somewhere between the first and second brushes of pale gold paint, Sirius had decided that painting was dull work. In typical Marauder fashion, he had then decided to spice it up a bit. Paint dotted both of them from head to toe, Rose long since past caring, especially given every splotch he gave her she paid back with interest - or he did. They'd finished the first coat quickly enough, giving them time to fling paint at each other like children while drying the walls with the help of magic; Rose's only magical concession to getting the job done. They were now working on the second coat, music blaring at full volume, Sirius singing along to some unusual punk wrock number by the strangely named Knobgoblin. When Rose had asked, Sirius just smirked and told her to think the name really fast, and then she threw a paint brush at him. He had a nice streak of gold on his nose now, something Rose laughed at every time she looked at him. Sirius did a rather elegant slide across the floor in time to the music, catching Rose with a streak of gold paint across the seat of her purple cords. Rose spun around, mouth open in disbelief. Sirius winked at her, catching her wrist and pulling her into an improvised ballroom dance with him to the tune of Moonage Daydream, which segued nicely into Elton John's Your Song. Rose lost her paintbrush somewhere along the way, swept up in Sirius and his energy and the way he could turn any ordinary moment into something perfect between the two of them. In the moment between, Rose could hear the Beatles coming from what she assumed was James's room (he was as obsessed with the Beatles as she was with Bowie), while the Rolling Stones came from Peter's room, and the Rat Pack echoed in from Remus'. Sirius gave her a eye-twinkling look that spoke volumes on his thoughts on the sanity of their friends, only to promptly start singing along with Lovin' Spoonful's Do You Believe In Magic. Rose threw her head back in laughter. "You're the biggest kook in history!"

"Yeah" Sirius grinned, dipping her. "But you love me anyway."

"Don't hold it against me."

"I wouldn't dare, love" Sirius murmured, voice low and intense. When he kissed her this time, it was with more promise than the innocent pecks they had been enjoying beforehand.

Sirius reluctantly broke away with a smile, grey eyes darker with suppressed emotion. The silence was heavy with unspoken apology. Even if they were ready for that step (and she couldn't deny that she wanted him), this wasn't the time or the place for such things. Not yet at least. They went back to painting, lightness coming back into the atmosphere with the distant sound of James cursing up a blue streak. "Painting isn't rocket science, Prongs" Remus called, voice light with laughter. "Failing simple understanding of how to move a brush up and down without completely cocking it up, you could always remember that you happen to be a wizard." Suspicious silence came from James's room. "Just a suggestion."

"Done!" James yelled cheerfully, as if he had in fact being using magic all the time. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Wizards." Sirius turned to her, paintbrush in hand, laughter sparkling in his eyes.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Lady Astra?"

"Why, Messr Padfoot" Rose widened her eyes innocently. "Whoever said that I was implying anything at all?"

"You're a Marauder, Rosie" James called, sounding like he was standing next-door in the bathroom. "All happy with a Willow theme in the bathroom?"

"It's just the bog, Prongsie" Sirius shrugged, finishing up another coat on the wall he was working on. "Willow's fine, but I swear to Merlin, if there is one seashell in there, I'll set Evans on you."

"He'd enjoy that" Remus opined, Peter snickering in the background.

"Bugger off, Moony" James said pleasantly. "Pads, mate, I need you in here, so stop snogging Astra for ten minutes and be useful." Sirius glanced at the wall separating the two rooms.

"You know I'm a contrary bastard, right Prongs?" James groaned, the bathroom acoustics doing unusual things to the sound.

"Just get in here."

Half an hour later, Remus called Rose out into the kitchen, Peter still behind his closed bedroom door, singing along to the Rolling Stones. Noises came from the bathroom, James and Sirius muttering, bickering and playfully insulting one another as they were wont to do. Those two were perfectionists when it mattered. The green eyed Marauder leaned casually against the kitchen counter, arms crossed and a mischievous glint in his eyes. Rose leaned her hip into the kitchen island, an answering light in her violet eyes. "We know that nothing short of an apocalyptic calamity of McGonagall's thin lipped proportions is going to stop Prongs from decorating our living room in Gryffindor colours" the werewolf reported dryly. "However" he held up a finger, radiating mischief. "Since Prongs and Padfoot have commandeered the decoration of our bathroom, and due to Wormtail still painting his room, it falls to you and I, Lady Astra, to rescue the kitchen from suffering a fate similar to the bathroom." Rose leaned forward, intrigued.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'm glad you asked" Remus smirked, waving his hand towards the cabinets. "Pale green." His fist dropped onto the countertop. "Marble effect." Rose nodded eagerly, seeing it.

"A muggle refrigerator over there" she pointed to the far right. "Black and hints of gold for the splash protector." Remus crouched at the back of the kitchen island (the part that faced the living room), his darker-than-usual eyes dancing.

"And here, I'm thinking a forest scene with mountains at the right, and a rat, a dog, a stag, a unicorn, and a wolf running together through it all."

"Make it so" Rose agreed, running back to her room to collect the tins of paint she hadn't needed. This was something she could definitely rationalise using magic for. She could suddenly see them all living here, gathered around, laughing and joking and never regretting a single minute of it. And anyway, what was the point of being some of the most gifted witches and wizards of their generation if they didn't use their talents to Marauderise their future home? Wands in hand, they got to work making the kitchen what they dreamed it would be. It was certainly a good thing that James said they'd be gone the whole day; they weren't going anywhere for a while, and this way they wouldn't be missed.

Rose's wand danced in intricate spirals while Remus's moved in concentrated arcs. Before Remus's eyes, his forest vision came into life; a perfect image of capering Marauders. Rose charmed cabinets into moving, magical windows into showing scenes of views from the Astronomy Tower, she transfigured Formica into marble, metal into brass, and wood into stone. She magicked a special area for Remus's best chocolate, and cleared an area specifically for firewhiskey, butterbeer, and redcurrant rum. Paint magically coated the cabinets in shades of pale green while Remus tackled the installation of the magical stove - the original from W. C. Villebourne's days. At some point, James and Sirius joined them, wordlessly tackling the difficult, intricate transfiguration and charm work. Peter came out in time to help paint the living area Gryffindor gold (they'd have scarlet couches and chairs like true Gryffindors), and put the finishing touches to the unfurnished rooms. It turned out that when you were the Marauders, painting/decorating your flat only took ten hours and fourty three minutes and copious amounts of magic. The final touch came from Remus, who touched the tip of his wand to the kitchen island painting, giving the Marauder animals their freedom in wizarding painting fashion. James clapped Remus on the back, wordlessly offering him a cold butterbeer. There were definite perks of having a pub literally just up the road a bit. Sirius saluted with his own bottle, looking around in approval. "I've said it before, chaps" James announced, counting Rose in the chaps comment. "Welcome home."

"Shall we kip here tonight?" Peter wondered, gesturing expansively around.

"Jim will kill me" Sirius pointed out. "And if he doesn't, Lilykins will." Rose rolled her eyes. Overprotectiveness ran in her family.

"I'll handle Dad and Lil" she grinned, expression telling them not to ask how she would tackle that Herculean feat.

"Then it's settled" James stated, rubbing his hands together. "Dinner at the Cauldron, anyone?"

"Live a little, Prongsie" Sirius chided, rolling his shoulders. "Let's grab something from muggle London."

"I could go for some chips" Remus said, and that seemed to settle it. Chips it was.

Once they got into muggle London, they realised their error. While they did have some muggle currency, they had less than a clue about where in Godric's name they could go to get the chips Remus craved. Sirius, with his keen nose, decided to sniff out a good chippy, leading them on a little stroll throughout London around the Leaky Cauldron. They got their orders and strolled through London, heading back to the Leaky Cauldron and their flat. Of course, nothing for them could ever be that simple. Screaming came from deep within Diagon Alley, the sound of spells and reflective lights reaching their eyes and ears. James drew his wand instantly. "Why is it always us?"

"Right place at the right time?" Remus shrugged, managing to look dangerous with the last of his chips hanging from his mouth. It was the wolfish gleam in his eyes.

"Hey, Prongs, would you mind sending one of those message patronus things to the ministry or something?" Sirius drawled, gaze fixed on the chaos in front of them.

"Already done" James replied, quickening his footsteps. Fortunately, the aurors were already there, dealing with the situation, but Marauders didn't understand not helping when the Death Eaters were involved. James and Sirius threw themselves right into the frey, wands dancing with each movement of their skilled hands. Rose stayed back with Peter, Remus rushing ahead to help James and Sirius. For the first time, Rose saw the destruction left in the Death Eaters' wake, the Dark Mark swirling in the sky above them. Death, destruction and the Dark Mark, and they were too late to stop it all. Peter looked at her with angry, terrified eyes.

"They're never going to stop, are they?" James heard him and grinned. This wasn't his usual, I'm a Marauder time to cause havoc grin, no it was more of a Merlin help them grin.

"Of course they are, Wormy. Because we're going to stop them."

The war is starting to surround their lives once more. But what will happen when they go back to the relative safety and immaturity of Hogwarts next chapter?