A/N:
Hello everyone!
Just a quick update today so you don't think I've forgotten about this fic!
As ever, I do hope that you enjoy!
If there was one part of the Ministry-approved Hogwarts sixth year curriculum that wasn't guaranteed to be an unmitigated waste of time, it was the Apparition Lessons. From January until late April, the Marauders had cleared their very busy pranking schedules (naturally rescheduling their genius practical jokes on the Slytherins and the odd professor to after their apparition lessons had finished - Marauders never let boring necessities like learning get in the way of their solemn duty to prank everything living within the Castle) so that they could be in attendance to all twelve weeks of the classes. Generally, they had all agreed that they found all twelve lessons to be almost entirely without merit. Almost but for the fact that they did actually want to achieve their Apparition Licenses - and watching their entire year act like buffoons trying to get the hang of the whole apparition lark really was quite amusing. If the constipation face had been prevalent during their nonverbal Transfiguration lessons, it had nothing on the twisted expressions of intense concentration the rest of their year wore during Apparition Class.
It was so that, much to the surprise of their fellow sixth year cohort, the Marauders had behaved through the twelve weeks of lessons, only occasionally snickering at the instructor's obsession with reciting the three D's in his whistly voice (except of course on those occasions when Sirius would loudly recite them for the amusement of their classmates - in the exact same tone). For the most part, they stood in their little group (no one brave enough to come and stand by them), their five hoops kept just enough away from the rest of their cohort that they practically taught themselves - just like most other areas of magic, and frankly how they preferred it. Focusing on the inside of a hoop - either in the Great Hall or out in the sunny grounds - was fairly boring, but there was also a certain novelty to it. Most of their year got to witness first-hand the Marauders learning something at the same time as the rest of the mere mortals they called classmates.
Initially, Rose had found apparition to be a rather tricky area of magic. The concentration required was incredible, as was the effort not to leave half your body behind (or some embarrassing part of your body, as Rupert Farthingale discovered in week seven). But, not to blow her own horn or anything, Rose was rather clever. She had managed the animagus transformation in fifth year, after all. Well, with a little help from her friends. Apparition wasn't even half as difficult as that. They certainly didn't have to go around with a Mandrake leaf in their mouths for a month this time, so she definitely could see the improvement. She certainly felt like less of a buffoon anyway. Whether it was among the more difficult branches of magic or not, the Marauders had no intentions of failing to learn apparition. It wasn't just the inevitable freedom such a method of transportation afforded them, it was the sure and certain knowledge that knowing how to apparate and disapparate would literally save their lives once they graduated and officially joined the war against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Plus, Rose really hated floo powder - words could not describe how much she despised that method of travel, so never to have to do so again was a very strong motivation.
One surprisingly crisp, if sunny, Saturday in late April found the majority of sixth year – at least, those who had turned seventeen (which fortuitously included all of Gryffindor's sixth year) – gathering in the entrance hall at an ungodly hour. Well… it was nine o'clock, but Rose considered anything earlier than eleven on the weekends to be too damn early, quidditch practice notwithstanding. Hiding a yawn in the sleeve of her red and gold striped jumper, Rose trailed after her obnoxiously peppy housemates. Dorcas had awoken them at the stroke of eight, bouncing on each of their beds and hitting them about the head with a cushion. Rose, by some stroke of luck (or more likely Dorcas' desire not to be the latest Gryffindor victim of revenge pranking), managed to snatch an extra half hour of sleep before Lily had shaken her awake with an order to get ready for Merlin's sake. Rose tried to hold that against her twin, but this was an important day in their school year, so she got her revenge by loudly singing the Puddlemere United team song in the shower.
Most of their year was already waiting in the Entrance Hall, either yawning and staring blearily around or jealously guarding their stacks of jammy toast. Remus beckoned her over with a waved hand, looking as exhausted as Rose felt. He had a reason to look so shattered, with the Full Moon coming next weekend and all the late night patrols and just-in-case defence training they'd been doing of late, but he also managed to exude a rare 'just rolled out of bed' careless charm. It looked well on him. Peter, emerging from the Great Hall with what appeared to be bacon piled upon a few slices of toast, grinned brightly at her, both moving to join their friends. James and Sirius, typically, were huddled together, muttering and laughing to themselves. Rose would be lying if she said that they too were not looking unfairly handsome for that early on a Saturday. James's hair was messier than usual, definitely giving it his favourite 'just off a broom' look, while Sirius was his typical nonchalantly handsome self. To be fair, Sirius could walk out in Peter's bright orange jumper (which her sartorially clueless friend was wearing, Merlin help them) and still look gorgeous, so maybe she was a tad biased.
"Good morning" James greeted, eyes sparkling with excitement. The irritating berk was equally happy waking up at the arsecrack of dawn as he was with a nice sleep in. It was one of the things she found most annoying about him - his pathetic insistence on mooning after her sister notwithstanding.
"Is it?" Rose grumbled, already missing her nice comfy bed. She was a Marauder precisely so she didn't have to adhere to other people's schedules.
"You look as exhausted as I feel" Remus remarked, frowning sympathetically at her.
"Thanks" Rose said sarcastically, unable to stop a smile from twitching her lips. "Emmeline discovered Lily's Rod Stewart records last night. I swear they were still playing them at four this morning."
"I thought you didn't mind Rod?" Sirius asked, raising a curious eyebrow.
It was true, she didn't really mind his music - it wasn't like they'd ever gone to one of his concerts, but he was quite passable really. Nevertheless, Rose scowled over at her dormmates. "Four o'clock in the bloody morning, Sirius. For music that wasn't Bowie."
"Fair point."
Rose smiled, caught in the way his eyes twinkled with just the right mix of warmth, good humour and mischief. She reached up on tip toes to press a kiss to his cheek. There was a swooping sense of disappointment in her stomach reminding her that they'd had precious little time to be an actual couple since coming back to Hogwarts. It was her fault - her head always seemed to be elsewhere, and when it wasn't more often than not Sirius was off with James doing something covert and undoubtedly sneaky.
As ever, Sirius seemed to know what she was thinking, dipping down to brush his lips gently over hers. "Good morning, Rosebud" he wished, his voice caressing her name lovingly as it always had.
"Morning, Siri." She blushed and resisted the temptation to duck her head shyly. Their eyes met, Rose trying to communicate everything she felt while those grey eyes just sparkled at her.
"Don't worry, love" he murmured, for her ears alone. It was possible that James heard it, given the pointed way he began staring over at Lily (his go-to when feigning interest in literally anything was required), but otherwise it was as if it was only the two of them in the entire entrance hall. Rose inclined her head curiously, but Sirius - that infuriating man - just smirked his sweetest smirk. "I've got it all in hand."
Normally, Rose would be ever so slightly worried about the implications, but she let it pass. Trusting Sirius came to her as easily as breathing. She knew he would never do anything deliberately that would not be right for them. Besides, she had missed their rare alone time. She wouldn't change whatever Sirius had in mind for the world.
James clapped his hands, effectively ending whatever moment she and Sirius were having. "So" he began, grinning with all of his characteristic mischief. "How many of that lot do you reckon will be coming back here smelling of that undeniable stench of failure and self disgust, if they bother to come back at all?"
Sirius grinned back, ever so slightly malevolent as his sharp gaze found some panicked-looking Hufflepuff sixth years. "Ooh, I'm sure a few. Five galleons says Farthingale splinches at least his little toe."
"Five galleons for a missing eyebrow somewhere in the bunch" Remus smirked, apparently feeling that mischief was the order of the morning. Rose pretended she didn't see James pointedly side-eyeing Peter as Remus spoke.
"Oh, would you quit picking on them" Rose laughed, bumping gently against a laughing Remus. "It's not their fault they're going to fail. Not everyone can be a Marauder, you know."
James fell back against the wall, hand shading his forehead. "Oh, it's a curse" he swooned, winking over at Lily in case she had seen. She hadn't. Even if she had, Lily wouldn't have cared. That was James's curse.
Rose teasingly rolled her eyes, pretending to be irritated. "Why on Earth couldn't I have sat in a different train compartment all those years ago?"
James snapped his head towards her so suddenly he cracked the back of his head on the wall. "First of all - bugger! Secondly, you don't mean that, Astra."
"Of course she doesn't" Remus agreed cheerfully. "She only regrets sitting with you two imbeciles." His twinkling green gaze flicked between sullen James and smirking Sirius. Rose bit back a smile, just knowing that this was good to backfire on her - but somehow not really caring.
"Think what you like, Mooniwoonikins" Sirius replied easily, ruffling Remus' hair despite the volcanic glare this earned him. "We all know it's just this berk that's the problem."
Rose shook her head, wondering how exactly this came back on her. "There's nothing wrong with Prongs that my sister doesn't cause. Well, except for his natural prattishness."
James looked ready to protest, but visibly thought better of it. "Fair point."
From their past experience with these mornings (pranking the poor students waiting to go to Hogsmeade and take their apparition tests had been a staple of their previous years of schooling), Rose knew that they would be waiting a while before their whistly-voiced instructor came to get them. Rose was almost grateful for the deliberate delays. For one, it gave her the added time to wake up, and for another it gave her more time to just be with her friends. Now that they were rapidly approaching their sixth-year final exams, the time to just be with her Marauders was hard to come by. Especially with dear, far too studious and frankly sometimes quite irritating, Remus. So, she nibbled on a few pieces of bacon, detoured into the Hall for a nice cup of tea (or three), and cheerfully leaned against the wall with her balmy mates. Beside her, Remus finished off his final piece of toast, absently wiping his fingers on his jeans before he pulled out a pamphlet. It was a common sight in the entrance hall, many of their fellow sixth years reading the same thing with a quiet sense of desperation. It was the condensed version of their twelve weeks of lessons, something only Remus hadn't burned symbolically as soon as the Marauders had received it. On her other side, James and Sirius were smirking wickedly, taking it in turns to erase the words written on the pamphlets of the students closest to them. Peter grinned across Remus at Rose, nodding over at the other members of the boys' dormitory (and Caradoc). Benjy's voice carried over to them, bemoaning the odds that one of them (specifically Benjy himself) would end up bottling it and splinching themselves during their all-important test.
Sirius rolled his eyes, instantly homing in on the trace of defeat already present in their dorm mate and fellow quidditch teammate. He jabbed James in the side, aiming a wicked smirk over at the blond. "What a prize plonker" Sirius smirked, grey eyes sparkling.
"What's Prongs done now?" Peter sighed, head buried in his bag, searching for Godric only knew what.
"Oi!" James squawked, hair visibly bristling with offense. "Pads wasn't talking about me!"
Sirius shrugged a nonchalant shoulder. "Not this time, anyway."
"Makes a change" Remud quipped dryly, unfazed by James's gasp of betrayal.
"Nobody asked you two bastards to put your two knuts in" he said, turning back to Sirius with a much more Prongs-like grin. "It's fussy Fenwick we're talking about, chaps."
Sirius cut an almost pitying gaze over towards Frank, Benjy and Caradoc. "Splinches himself twice in class, suddenly he's worried he'll make a prat of himself on the test."
"Clearly he's forgotten the importance of the Three D's" Rose snickered, recalling the repetition with which the Whistly Instructor had recited the principles.
"Ah yes" Sirius nodded wisely. "Destination, deliberation, and don't cock it up."
"Not quite right there, old chap" James smirked "but close enough."
"Well" Remus mused, double-checking his stash of chocolate. "It is pretty good advice."
"Words to live by" Rose agreed cheerfully.
James's lips twitched in a reluctant smile, eyes twinkling behind his glasses. "I think it's time we gave our comrades the kind of inspirational pep talk we Marauders are renowned for."
"Nothing like making someone feel even worse" Remus muttered sarcastically. Peter opened his mouth to add his own quip to the conversation, but the stag animagus was already in action.
James bounced across the flagstones to sling his arm around Benjy. "Don't be so glum, Fenwick" he grinned, visibly vibrating with excitement. "Even if you cock it all up, you're still getting a free trip out of the castle grounds. A complementary day trip to Hogsmeade, buggering it up or not."
"Which is pretty much just a normal day for you lot" Caradoc grumbled, undoubtedly thinking of the mountains of homework waiting for him upon his return to the castle after the exam. Rose would be sympathetic but Caradoc was essentially just complaining about having a sanctioned day out at Hogsmeade - without the rest of the school from third year and up.
James staggered back a pace, his wide eyes completing the picture of shock he wore upon his face. "I am wounded, sir, that you could utter such slanderous falsehoods" he cried, soap opera dramatic. "This is far from an ordinary day for us!"
"It's true" Remus conceded dryly. "This lot are actually going to sit an exam for a change. That almost never happens."
James glowered through his glasses, jabbing Remus in the ribs with a sharp elbow. The werewolf danced away, smirking in the sarcastic but still somehow responsible way only Remus had ever seemed to perfect.
"We sit exams, Moony" Sirius shrugged, tossing his hair back into place. He didn't sound as if he cared much either way. "We just enjoy the novelty of doing so when we want to."
"No" Peter corrected, flashing a grin. "We enjoy not going to class, then acing our exams, and taking the time out to go visit Hogsmeade whenever we feel like it."
Caradoc frowned, brows drawing close together. "So, remind me why today is a novelty for you lot?"
James shook his head, his look telling the Ravenclaw that he was an idiot. "Because we're getting our apparition licenses today, old chap."
"Bold words, Potter" Lily called, cocking her head at him in a way Rose just knew was going to have James gushing tonight. Poor besotted fool. Her eyes sparkled at him across the flagstones, daring him to fail the test. It wasn't necessarily that she wanted him to, it was just that Lily firmly believed that James's ego needed deflating. Rose sighed, watching James watch Lily. Her sister then smirked and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Let's hope the test doesn't leave you eating crow."
James smirked back, ruffling his hair. He looked confident, calm, ready to go out and do this thing. Lily's eyebrow raised, unimpressed by James's confidence. For once in his life, James didn't let that faze him. Instead, he just smirked all the wider, shoving a hand in his pocket. "I'll be supping with victory tonight, Evans, never you fret."
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