A/N:

Just a quick update today!

As ever, I hope you enjoy!

When Rose opened heavy eyes again, it was to see the familiar white walls of the Hospital Wing surrounding her. Big Ben had stopped ringing in her ears, replaced by the sweet sound of her friends breathing, deeply and steady. If she closed her eyes and let the background dull pain surround her, she could imagine that it was months before, and she was again lying in the Hospital Wing, recovering from Bellatrix and her very illegal spell casting. But, the lack of freezing chill in the air told her that it was no longer November, in fact a very mild spring. There was to be no hiding behind the almost comforting memory of danger outside of Hogwarts. The truth, uncomfortable and unavoidable as it was, was that the danger had come into Hogwarts, and the Marauders - solemnly sworn to prevent it, if they could - had failed.

Perhaps it was too early, or perhaps they simply didn't have all the information yet, but Rose didn't feel that coil of self hatred curling in her stomach. They had done their best, she knew. And if it had been the aspiring Death Eater society, then Rose knew that they could have had warning - if they weren't so focused on their exams. And yet, they had had to be. All the fighting in the world was no good, not if they sacrificed their education and through that their chances of joining the Aurors when they graduated. And maybe this wasn't even Mulciber and Co's fault, maybe this was the work of other forces. They simply could not know yet - especially not when they were stuck in the Hospital Wing. So, she decided to take a leaf out of her friends' book (AKA Set Fire to the Book and Have Some Fun - by the Marauders), and let herself feel grateful that they had escaped once again, relatively unscathed.

Muscles screamed in protest, but Rose stubbornly hauled herself up into a sitting position, back against the fluffy pillows of her hospital bed. To her left, just as last time, lay Lily. This time, however, her sister remained asleep, red hair fanned out across her pillows. Lily seemed mostly unharmed, a few scratches on her face telling the tale of what they had been through. Remus, as ever, was at Rose's right. He was oblivious to the fact that she had awoken, his head buried in a volume of one of the Russian greats, lips moving soundlessly as he read. There was a bandage on his right hand, but it didn't seem to be bothering him overly much and he didn't seem to be in too much pain, so Rose just smiled and moved on.

Opposite her bed, just like November, was Sirius. His hair was an absolute mess (what he got for letting it grow out as he preferred), little scratches covered his arms and cheeks, but his breathing was deep and even, and Rose knew he would wake when he was rested enough. To his right (unsurprisingly opposite Lily) was James. James slept with his arms covering his chest almost protectively, the stance unnervingly like the times he had broken his ribs during their more rambunctious Full Moon escapades. His face too was a map of cuts and abrasions, but there was a serenity to his slumber that reassured Rose that her friend was well.

On Sirius' other side was Peter. The loud snoring echoing in the room was coming from his bed, but Rose could see little of him under the blankets as he was. A quick glance up and down the Wing told her everything else she needed to know. It seemed like the entirety of Gryffindor sixth year was lying in the Hospital Wing, Caradoc sleeping too in the bed next to Benjy's. It made a horrible sort of sense - they had all been the ones closest to the doorway when the blast (whatever it had been) had gone off. There wasn't a Slytherin to be seen in the whole of the Hospital Wing, even the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw houses were only represented by Edgar Bones and Caradoc Dearborn respectively. Gryffindor was everywhere, not just the Marauders bound within the white walls. There was one upside, however; the boxes of Honeydukes confectionery that seemed to appear from nowhere whenever someone came to stay in the Hospital Wing. Rose was almost convinced that the majority of them came from Dumbledore, but their brilliantly nutty Headmaster would never say, just smile with that twinkle in his electric blue eyes.

A loud groan came from James's bed, the stag animagus propping himself up on his elbows before managing to sit back against the headboard. "Why do I feel like I was just hit by about twelve of Sirius' best bludgers?"

Remus closed his book with a snap. "Well, Prongs, you were just thrown across a classroom by the force of an as yet unidentified explosion."

James scowled at him, blindly reaching for his glasses on the bedside cabinet. "Thank you so much for that, Remus."

"I live to serve" Remus replied dryly.

Sirius hauled himself upright, seemingly by sheer force of will, then smirked at Remus. "Well, at least Minnie can't fail us for not showing up. We have the perfect excuse."

"Yeah, you and the rest of the house" Lily scowled, her expression gentling as one by one the rest of the ward woke up - even the deeply snoring Peter. Once they were all somewhat upright, sipping glasses of water, Lily turned a burning emerald gaze to James. "What happened today? What was that thing?"

James glanced at Sirius, sharing a long, wordless conversation. "Dark magic" he said eventually, reluctance weighing heavy in his tone. "Nothing I was familiar with. Powerful and old."

"How can you tell?" Alice wondered, hand reaching across the gap to find Frank's.

James nodded to Remus, who sighed sadly. "It would have to be old magic, and powerful too, in order to stay undetected within Hogwarts' walls." He took on his professor voice, sitting up a little straighter. "The castle is protected by old magicks we cannot understand, yet protect us from dark magic and artifacts. Whatever it was, whatever spells it contained-"

"Could only have entered the castle today, yet had to be powerful enough that they could hide as they passed through the wards."

Remus nodded across Rose, smiling warmly at Lily. "Exactly" he said, Lily frowning at the news.

"Why today?" Frank demanded, looking from James to Sirius and back again. It was obvious that the others expected them to have all the answers.

Sirius shrugged carelessly. "Is there a better time to attack the castle unexpectedly? When we're all in one place, distracted by ensuring the continuing future of our academic careers?"

There was silence for a while, while they all digested the implications of Sirius' casual words.

"If they were aiming to attack Gryffindor house, they certainly got lucky" Lily commented, settling stiffly back against the pillows.

"Lucky?" James laughed bitterly. "Oh no, Lily, this wasn't luck." Hazel eyes stared out towards the doors to the wing. "This was calculated."

"Someone who knew our routines, our habits" Sirius agreed, a muscle jumping in his jaw.

"It could just have been serendipitous for whoever set that explosion" Marlene suggested, always ready to explore all the available options.

"And I'm Godric Gryffindor" James snarked, shaking his head at Marlene's naivety.

Remus smiled slightly, inclining his head with a touch of his usual impishness. "Well, you are descended from him."

James made a face, acknowledging Remus' attempt to lighten up the atmosphere. "If it was Mulciber and Snape, I don't think this was what they were planning."

"No" Sirius conceded grimly. "This was no potion nor dark spell they could have conceived of themselves. This has Black Family Vault written all over it."

"Bellatrix?" Rose breathed, horrified at the thought of her reaching within Hogwarts itself.

Sirius shook his head, an anger burning deep in his eyes. "Not Bellatrix" he said, voice a thunderclap about to boom. "And not Reggie either, if that's what you're thinking, Prongs."

James frowned heavily. "Then who?"

"Why Narcissa, of course."

Remus' eyes widened with surprise. "Narcissa?!" He couldn't believe it. Neither could Rose for that matter. "She hasn't shown the slightest inclination towards joining the fight!" His pale green eyes snapped with surprise. "She's practically an innocent in all this."

Sirius barked a mirthless laugh. "Oh Moony" he chided gently. "Your chivalrous nature really does do you credit."

"But?" Remus demanded, hearing the word unspoken in his friend's tone.

Sirius inclined his head in wordless agreement. "But, you're forgetting that she's as good as betrothed to Lucius Malfoy, and that bigoted swine is the Mastermind behind this little recruitment campaign."

Remus scrubbed a hand across his face, ten years older in that instant. "Even those that ought to be safe from this war are being dragged into it."

Marlene scoffed, seeing Remus' point but not entirely agreeing with it. "I doubt Narcissa Black had to be dragged into anything" she seethed, rubbing the edge of her wrist where the bandage was chafing. "She is just as bad as her sister, only marginally saner."

"Is that a good thing?" Benjy wondered, tossing Caradoc one of the chocolate frogs from his stash.

Sirius waved a hand, his gaze distant. "Narcissa has too much Andromeda in her to be as psychotic as Bellatrix" he admitted, tone almost wistful. For a moment, Rose could see the young boy that had loved his cousins, fleeting as their choices had made it. "For us, that is a good thing. For her? I fear that one day she will find something she loves more than following the path she's now set on. And when that day comes, being like Andromeda - the Black who walked away - may not serve her well." Sirius shook the introspection from his face, smiling bitterly. "But, Cissa's made her choice, and nothing in the world can make her stray from it. That" he smirked, almost proud "is the Black family strength."

Emmeline raised a hand, glancing almost timidly from Marauder to Marauder. "So, what do we do now?"

James ran a hand through his hair, smiling tiredly. "We can't prove what we've surmised here" he said, resigned to the levels of their helplessness. "All we can do is what we were doing before. We watch, we wait. And in the meantime, we finish our exams so we can graduate."

Lily rolled her eyes, a burst of bright laughter slipping from her lips. "Oh Potter" she groaned, tossing a box of Every Flavour Beans at his head. "That was awful."

James pouted, rubbing his head where the box had struck him. "I was rather pleased with my little rhyme."

"You would be" Sirius sighed, tossing a few of the beans into his mouth.

"What about our exams?" Mary wondered, teeth still chattering from a few Ice Mice. Lily turned to her with a puzzled frown. "I mean, did they get blown up when we did?"

"Nope" James cackled, both he and Sirius glancing pointedly over at Peter, who snickered, blushing hotly. "Couldn't do that, could they, Pete?"

"No idea what you mean Prongs" Peter replied evenly. He could have fooled them too, had his eyes not been darting furiously around the room, trying to find a way out of this discussion.

"Of course you don't" Remus agreed in the way that meant he definitely didn't.

Dorcas rolled her dark eyes, already fed up with them. "Are you going to tell us why not, or is this some deep Marauder secret us lesser beings couldn't possibly understand?"

"Oh it's no secret, Meadowes" James laughed, clear and warm. "No secret at all."

"Prongs" Peter squeaked, trying to glare around Sirius at him. It didn't seem to be working, Sirius moving every time Peter did. "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh yes I bloody well would" James corrected, smirking wickedly. He settled back against his pillows, sucking on the end of a sugar quill in lieu of a storyteller's pipe. "It all happened back in third year-"

"Oh Merlin" Peter groaned, tossing the blankets over his head.

James got a mischievous twinkle in his eye but continued. "Back in third year, our dear colleague in mischief making, made a bit of an error on his Charms exam-"

"I hate you" interrupted Peter's voice, muffled by mortification and blankets.

"Love you too, Wormy" James grinned, his eyes focused on Lily, laughing at the silly situation. "So Pete made a booboo, and only realised it when all the exams were handed in."

"I don't get how that relates to our exams not being blown up" Caradoc interrupted, probably just because he could.

"I'm getting to it, my impetuous young friend" James chided, sucking at the quill a moment more. "So, later that evening, while all the rest of the castle was enjoying a well-deserved dinner, a certain band of courageous young mischief makers - who shall remain nameless-"

"The Marauders" Lily stated firmly.

At the same time, Sirius also said "It was us, we did it."

"Yes, thank you Pads" James glowered, hurt that Sirius was ruining the mystery. "Nevertheless, the intrepid young quintet braved the deepest parts of this castle-"

"We opened a lock and slipped into Flitwick's office" Sirius deadpanned.

James scowled deeper, but refused to let Sirius' truthfulness ruin his story. "Where upon the daring but ultimately foolhardy Mr Wormtail-"

"Of the canny order of the rat" Peter piped up, still hidden beneath his blanket fortress.

"Yes, yes" James conceded. "Mr Wormtail set fire to the whole stack of exam papers."

Lily's eyes blazed with fury. "How could you?!"

Rose laughed, surprised at the strength of Lily's outrage. "Relax Lils, it didn't work."

"It didn't?" Lily asked suspiciously, as if Rose was having her on.

"Of course it didn't" Remus smirked. "Tell her what happened next, Prongs."

James chuckled, wincing as it hurt his ribs. "The fire set off an alarm, which brought McGonagall running right into us."

"Naturally, Minnie didn't believe a word of our innocent protestations" Sirius added, wounded.

"And she gave us all detention" Remus cried, glaring at the lump that was Peter.

James happily finished off the story. "Where upon we learned, while enduring a long winded lecture, that the exam papers were bespelled against incineration, evisceration, and being eaten by dogs, nifflers, owls, and any other manner of creature. In short, they are utterly indestructible."

"So" Rose announced brightly. "Our exams are still intact, wherever they may be."

"Goody" Benjy muttered sarcastically, his voice almost unable to be heard over the laughter echoing in the room.

Peter burrowed deeper into the protective shell of his blankets, cursing James and Sirius with a flair Rose almost felt jealous of. It didn't stop her laughing at him, though. Just as Sirius had said that morning, Merlin it felt good to laugh.

Thank you for reading.

Reviews are always appreciated, if you have the time.