A/N:

Hello everyone! As I write this note, it is Christmas Eve in my part of the world. I want to take this chance to wish you all a very happy holiday. I hope you're all spending it the way you want to - or at least without too many disruptions.

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

It was the night before the official start of the Hogwarts End of Year exams. Most students had the good sense to spend the day holed up in their common rooms or dormitories, swotting up on everything they had learned throughout the year (or in the cases of the OWL and NEWT level students, everything they had ever learned while at Hogwarts). Most students, that is, except for Remus Lupin, James Potter, Sirius Black, Rose Evans, and Peter Pettigrew. They had spent the day out and about in the castle, indulging in their habitual last day before exams ritual of pranking the rest of the school by doing nothing more than simply enjoying themselves. Their laughter and good-natured bickering had rung around the grounds of Hogwarts, drifting through the open windows of common rooms and libraries, making everyone who heard it instantly jealous. None of the Marauders cared in the slightest, especially not once they were invited into Hagrid's Hut for a nice cup of tea and some home made biscuits (fortunately not akin to small, round lumps of concrete). In short, they had spent the day as they wanted to - having fun and making their fellow students hate them all the more.

The tension was thick in the air at dinner that evening, scowls shot up at suddenly despised Professors at the high table, comfort foods consumed like there was no tomorrow - and for fun there wouldn't be for a few weeks. Following the Hogwarts tradition, the Marauders had carefully planned and executed a spirits-raising prank for the night's entertainment. It was both a peace offering and a way for the Marauders themselves to let out any negative feelings they had towards their inimitable professors (and Grimhorn). Remus had spear-headed the prank, doing more research than any of the others had been entirely comfortable with, but Rose had to admit that it was worth it. The prank wasn't technically in their usual league, not particularly mean or funny, but it was a wonderful morale booster for the stressed students. Up at the High Table, the Professors had been enjoying their meals, oblivious to the magic wrought by the five pranksters. Mid-way through the main course, the glowering students, glaring up at the high table as if they wished their professors to spontaneously combust (or come down with a bad enough cold the exams might be cancelled), were all unable as of yet to see what the Marauders had done. Yet the Marauders could, and it was good.

Each and every single professor - even their esteemed and slightly batty Headmaster - had glowing golden writing floating in the air above their heads. For their most favoured professors (within the Castle as a whole, not just by the Marauders standards), the writing was more akin to flowing calligraphy; almost impossible to read but for the most discerning students. Only Sprout and Flitwick had such indecipherable writing, but McGonagall came a close third in writing clarity. For the rest of the Professors, the writing got progressively clearer and simpler, making it a doddle to read - even for those students way at the back of the Great Hall. Grimhorn's writing was the clearest yet - bold and blocky and impossible to miss. Rose had expected as much, the poor buffoon being widely agreed to be the worst and most hated (for the aforementioned uselessness, among other reasons) of all the professors at Hogwarts.

Compared to some of the other legendary pranks by the Marauders, this prank was almost laughably tame. There were no spontaneous eruptions of extra body parts, no sudden transformations into characters from beloved wizarding folk and fairy tales, no outbreaks of uncontrollable operatic singing. But, in Rose's humble opinion, that was where the true genius of the prank lay. It was so simple, yet for all it's simpleness it didn't lose anything in the execution. She supposed she had the unbeatable pranking talents of James and Sirius for that. Nothing could stop the two of them when they got a prank idea in their heads - all she, Peter and Remus could do was mitigate their ideas where possible, and tone down the most outrageous and unexecutable of their suggestions. Not so tonight. Tonight, each of the Marauders were working in concert, their own ideas duly represented within the scope of the prank - no Marauder left out. Peter's idea had been for the calligraphy, Remus for the prank idea itself, James for the clarity of the writing, Sirius for incorporating the degree of dislike towards their professors into the prank, and Rose? Well, Rose humbly took credit for both the lovely Gryffindor gold colour of the writing and for helping Remus research the prank. Tonight, the night before the exam madness officially began, the prank was truly from the Marauders to the Hogwarts students.

Rose was in the middle of enjoying a hearty meal of Shepherds pie when things began to happen that night. James caught her eye, that telltale twinkle shining in his eyes. With a subtle motion of his head, he drew her gaze up towards the high table and everything that was happening there. Remus was preemptively hiding his face behind a textbook (one of the many advanced defense textbooks he had been devouring as of late), while Peter was grinning widely, his chuckles muffled behind the large serving of mashed spud he had just shoveled into his mouth. A small glance to the right of their daring ringleader (Marauder loyalty meant she had to think that during their pranking evenings) and she was staring at Sirius. His lips were drawn up in the most wicked smirk she had seen since Snape was hanging upside-down and losing his pants (after the frankly disastrous but also embarrassing and memorably hilarious Defence OWL), grey eyes glittering with barely suppressed mirth, entire face shining with glee. Sirius winked at her, once, eyes refocusing on the once in a lifetime spectacle their prank provided them. Then, and only then, did Rose let her gaze drift up towards the high table.

An inelegant snort escaped Rose's lips, setting her darling friends off. Peter let out a nervous high-pitched giggle, his eyes shining with the typical Marauder mischievous pride. Remus remained silent, but his shoulders shook next to Rose, and the textbook he was hiding behind began to raise even higher than before. James whipped his glasses off his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in the vain attempt to hide the fact that he was the one responsible for the loud chuckles escaping his lips. Sirius was just as he ever was. He let out a loud bark of laughter, clapping his hands together in appreciation of their perfectly performed prank.

Lily glared down the table towards them, breaking away from her multitasking dinner - eating mechanically while trying to absorb as much knowledge in during their dinner as humanly possible. Rose shrugged innocently, knowing her twin far too well to know that Lily would just drop this.

Rose mouthed a smug 'Hi Lil', smiling mischievously up the table at her twin.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "What in Merlin's name is so funny?" she hissed, leaning further down the table and happily attracting the attention of most of the people around them.

"Why, Lilikins" Sirius gasped, as if shocked that Lily even needed to ask. "Have you forgotten what today is?"

If looks could kill, Sirius would be a smoldering pile of ashes on the Gryffindor bench. "Don't act clever with me, Black" Lily glowered, Marlene leaning back in her seat to give Lily better glaring access. "Of course I know what tonight is. It's the last night before our exams start." Emerald eyes flashed, Rose fleetingly glancing at James to see if he was getting any flashbacks to Lily rejecting him a thousand or more times. Fortunately, James was still staring at Lily, besotted, so Rose guessed that everything was running as normal for them.

Sirius smirked winningly, charm flowing from him as naturally as breathing. Which, for Sirius, it was. "Then, my dear Evans" he remarked cheerfully. "You know exactly why James, Pete, Remus, my darling Rosebud and I were laughing."

Lily blanched, paling in horror. "Tell me you didn't" she breathed, eyes wide and unblinking. "Not tonight."

James rolled his eyes, snapping out of his besotted daze. "But if course we did, Evans" he beamed, chuffed with himself. "It's Marauder tradition."

"Oh please" Alice rolled her eyes, blonde hair bouncing around her jaw. "You five spit in the face of tradition. If you did something the way it has always been done, you'd probably come out in hives and a big red rash. One year you boycotted eating dinner at night because it was 'too ordinary to be borne' and insisted on eating breakfast for dinner every day for a month."

"We were proving a point" Remus muttered, barely loud enough to be heard. Alice just pointed to Remus as if his comment had corroborated everything she had just said.

James waved his hand, dismissing Alice's point like swatting away an annoying fly. "That is everybody else's traditions, Fortescue" he announced importantly, raising his chin. "Marauder tradition, however, has been painstakingly established through our six year at this esteemed - and often quite boring without us - institution. It guides us on the path we must tread within this castle, providing us with the groundwork upon which we base our very beings."

Benjy scoffed loudly, leaning his elbows on the table as he turned towards James. "That, mate, is cobblers. You five just use Marauder tradition as an excuse to prank the living daylights out of us."

James stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Isn't that what I just said?"

Sirius patted him on the back in a consoling manner. "Mere mortals cannot hope to understand that which you or I know for certain" he reminded him, his serious expression cracking into a smirk. Benjy flipped him the middle finger, aggressively taking a bite out of his chicken. "Testy testy" Sirius chided, a laugh echoing through his voice. "But, I say, Moony, Prongs, isn't it about time we share with the class?"

Remus lowered his book, seeming to give that thought more than the consideration it was due. "I don't know, Padfoot" he mused, stopping just short of stroking his chin. "I don't think they deserve to know what we've done this time."

"Why Moony" James held a hand to his chest in disbelief. "That is downright Scrooge-like of you."

Remus shrugged, taking a long sip of pumpkin juice. "Nobody ever appreciates our pranks" he sighed, looking pointedly up at where Lily and Alice were still waiting to be filled in. "All the research, the hard work, the effort, the flawless planning and timing and execution" he shook his head. "And all so they can complain and nag at us. We get no respect, I tell you."

"No respect" James agreed, his head shaking like a particularly disappointed father after discovering his children misbehaving. Or playing with the box rather than the very expensive toy 'Santa' had brought them for Christmas.

"It's disgusting" Sirius stated, a corner of his lips turning down.

Peter nodded his head in frantic agreement. "They don't deserve the nice things we do for them!" he cried, drawing most of the students' attention to them. "No respect!"

Rose felt herself getting caught up in her mad friends' enthusiasm. "We perform a public service to this school" she announced, winking ever so slightly at Sirius. He inclined his head back, raising his goblet in a toast only she could see. Something in her chest gave a tiny flutter - she hoped it was just her spleen or something similarly unromantic, they didn't have time for the Rose and Sirius show right now. "The things we've done would blow your minds." She paused, thinking. "Well, they would if you weren't so busy being irritated at being the recipients of the brilliant ideas we have."

James finished his goblet full of juice and stood up. "We are the Marauders, we get no respect!"

"Earn it then!" Caradoc called, grinning cheekily from the Ravenclaw table.

James narrowed his eyes. "Oh, Sirius, Dearborn wants us to earn it."

Sirius widened his eyes as if this was news to him. "Does he, indeed?"

"The audacity" Peter yelled, the outrage in his voice drowned out by the laughter he couldn't hold in.

Rose just laughed, watching James and Sirius play off the rest of the Great Hall. Natural performers they were, Rose sometimes (okay more than sometimes) felt privileged just to be in their company.

Remus, on the other hand, raised to his feet and tapped James on the shoulder. "Much though I despise the need to earn anything, I think it's time we do what we came here to do."

"I'm guessing that's not going to be eating dinner like the rest of us mere mortals" Benjy quipped, still a little touchy about that last bit.

"Of course not, Benjy" Sirius grinned, lighting up the entire hall. "What do you take us for man?"

"The best and most annoying pranksters ever to walk the Halls of this castle?" Frank wondered, both sarcastic and not.

James pointed at him jubilantly. "Precisely!"

"Just get a bloody move on" Marlene called, a fork raised more threateningly than a fork had any right to be. "Some of us want to finish our dinner and get back to studying some time before summer."

James and Sirius bowed in unison. "Your wish is our command, Ms McKinnon" they replied, something almost unsettling about it.

Nevertheless, Rose joined James and Sirius in standing up in front of the school - much as they had done many times before - Remus and Peter following them. As one, they twirled their wands counterclockwise thrice, clockwise once, then swished, flicked, and jabbed the air. Then, they sat back and enjoyed the fruits of their labour.

A shower of silver light rained down from the enchanted Hogwarts ceiling, blocking the High Table from view. Gasps rang out through the Great Hall - some impressed by the feat of charm work, others shocked at the sight of the professors vanishing from sight. Lily's eyes widened, glancing briefly back at the Marauders, her expression torn between shock and reluctant amazement. Rose nodded back to the High Table, knowing James would be disappointed if Lily missed the great unveiling. With a clap that echoed throughout the Great Hall, James again became the centre of attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, gentle beings," hazel eyes flickered to the table at the far right of the hall. "And others. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the night before your brains melt from all the useless knowledge you've crammed in there."

Sirius bowed before them all, seamlessly picking up from where James had left off. "This night happens but once a year, like your least favourite relative's birthday" Sirius flicked a gaze towards the Slytherin table "or a really rubbish anniversary."

"Guy Fawkes" Peter coughed, Rose jabbing him in the side.

"I like Bonfire Night" she hissed, turning a warmer smile on Sirius to tell him he could continue.

Sirius inclined his head, smirking with just a hint more warmth than before. "And so, it is only fitting that we - your friendly neighbourhood mischief makers - make this rubbish night fun for you all."

"Do you mean fun for us, or fun for you?" Raven Lovegood wondered, her musical voice drifting over from her place beside Caradoc.

"Why both, of course, Miss Lovegood" Remus replied, the tips of his ears reddening. "Why cannot what is fun for you all be fun for us?"

"It usually isn't" Edgar commented in his quidditch commentator voice, scattered laughter greeting his words.

"Nobody asked you, Edgar" Rose smirked, Remus scrubbing his hand over his face to hide his grin.

"Nevertheless" James interjected, regaining control of the situation. "It gives us all great pleasure to welcome you all to the sixth annual Night Before Exams Prank!"

Sirius snapped his fingers, the silver shower brightening almost unbearably before it faded away.

As the bright light from the silver shower faded into nothingness, the true genius of the Marauders' prank was revealed. All along the High Table, glowing golden words were now visible for all. Flitwick's near impossible to read calligraphy read 'History of Magic - P'. Sprout had 'Divination - D' floating above her head. Slughorn had 'Care of Magical Creatures - P' lazily hovering above him. And so it went, above every professor, a subject and grade burning in the air. Even Dumbledore had 'Potions - A' and McGonagall 'Arithmancy - A' emblazoned above them.

At first, confusion filled the Great Hall. Rose could see the wheels physically turning in the minds of their fellow students. The questions were palpable. This was their prank? What did it mean? What was going on? What was up with the writing?

Rose shared a grin with her friends, knowing that for all its subtlety, this prank was genius. And, she would be lying if she said that it wasn't amusing to watch the rest of the school look absolutely clueless at what they had done. Even Lily had a contemplative frown on her face as she stared up at the High Table, their professors continuing to eat their dinner as if absolutely nothing was floating above their heads. Rose knew that they were perfectly well aware but the Marauders had long since accepted the fact that their professors were desensitised to being the victims of their pranks. It was quite rude of them not to even react, but Rose wasn't sure she wanted them to. Perhaps it really was for the best that they were acting as if nothing whatsoever was going on.

There were one or two muffled gasps from the quicker-thinking students scattered throughout the Hall, but most of the students kept on frowning as if they had no idea what the Marauders had just done. And so, with a regretful sigh, and a winning smile from James to Lily (to the silent but definitely obvious tune of 'go out with me, Evans'), they swished their wands one final time, altering the writing to it's final state. Instead of elegant degrees of legibile writing, it all changed to familiar scrawls like the red ink they were all familiar with marking their essays.

Lily clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes going wide as the realisation hit her. "Oh you didn't" she breathed, almost horrified and yet also reluctantly amused. "You are going to be in so much trouble."

"Trouble is relative, Evans" James shrugged, eyes twinkling. "Well done for working it out."

And then, just as Lily had done, the rest of the students began to realise the meaning of the Marauders' prank, and the gift they had all been given.

"A gift from us to you" James announced brightly, grinning around at the smiles lighting the Great Hall. "Remember, even when things look awful, even your professors had bad grades."

"Nobody is perfect" Remus added, his textbook tucked underneath his arm.

Sirius smirked, tilting his head a little to the left. "Unless you're us."

James laughed, slinging his arm around Sirius' shoulders. "Good luck with your exams!"

Another shower of silver light filled the Great Hall, when it was gone, so were the Marauders.

Later that night, when the stars were shining clear and bright high above the Castle, Sirius and Rose strolled arm-in-arm down towards the Black Lake. There, Sirius had laid out a red and gold checked blanket under the welcoming branches of their beech tree (his favourite place to relax in the castle and grounds). A few butterbeers were chilling in a silver bucket, and an assortment of their favourite sweets and desserts were waiting for them. And so, they laid out under the stars, enjoying the rare peace and the chance just to be alone together. They talked, of course they did, of everything and nothing - as if they didn't spend most of every day in each other's pocket. Sirius regaled her with stories she had heard before and others she hadn't, their laughter drifting over to the other side of the lake, where a few Centaurs had emerged to stare at them. It was a beautiful night, one Rose imagined most people in their lifetime might enjoy, and yet that didn't diminish the joy of it at all. With the stars above her and Sirius by her side, there was nowhere in the world she would rather have been than right there, alone under the Beech Tree.

Later still, they'd steal one final kiss under the stars and chase each other back to the Castle, where their friends would be waiting to smirk and tease them. Together, they'd all spent the rest of the night in their Marauders' Den, joking and laughing as a million times before.

It was a good night, for all of them. They never dreamed they would come to regret it. But that is a story for much later.

Thank you for reading!

Happy holidays!