Ravenclaw had won the House Cup with 483 points, followed closely by Gryffindor with 472 points, Slytherin with 459 points, and Hufflepuff with 440.

In honor of this, the Marauders used the secret passage behind the stature of the one eyed witch to buy plenty of blue fireworks, with a few red and yellow ones to be used as accents.

"Shouldn't we have green for Slytherin?" Peter asked.

"No. Slytherin doesn't count," Sirius said stubbornly.

The fireworks were lit directly after the end-of-year feast, spelling out a message:

Happy Retirement, Dolores! Courtesy of the Marauders.

Umbridge shot the boys a withering glare.

The boys replied with triumphant smirks.

The next morning, all of the Hogwarts students had packed up their trunks. The Hogwarts Express left at eleven, and as much as anyone wanted to, they had to leave for the Summer Holidays.

As always, the teachers bade the students goodbye from the station.

"I'll see you next year, Minnie!" Sirius said brightly. "Don't forget to write!"

McGonagall gave what almost appeared to be a smile. "Hypothetically, Mr. Black," she said.

"Hypothetically," Sirius agreed.

As the train pulled out of the station, the Marauders made sure to call out a smug, "See you, Professor!" to Umbridge.

The last look they got of her was one of complete fury and resolve.

They settled down into their compartment, watching the spires of Hogwarts disappear into the distance.

"Well, what are you doing for the holiday?" James asked.

"Mum said that we'll be visiting family in York," Peter said.

"I'll probably just stay home," Remus said.

"Staying as far away from my parents as possible, when they hear I got a teacher to quit they won't be happy," Sirius said, a slight edge to his voice.

"We'll be home all summer," James said. "Why don't you spend a week with us? I'm sure my mum wouldn't mind, and Remus, Peter, you could come, too."

Sirius brightened a bit. "Thanks, mate, that would be loads of fun. Much better than being locked up in my room."

It was about an hour before the call of, "Anything off the trolley, dears?" reached their ears.

"We'll take some of the Bertie Botts, a few chocolate frogs, and some pumpkin pasties," James told the witch.

"Here you are," the witch said, passing James the sweets.

James paid her and passed Peter a box of the Bertie Botts Every-Flavored Beans.

Peter tore open the package and spread the beans on his suitcase which he had placed between them like a table.

"Dare you to try that yellow one on the edge," Sirius said, beginning the game.

"Only if you try the cream colored one," Peter said, reaching for the bean. He gagged as he at it. "This one tastes like eggs."

Sirius tried the cream colored bean and shrugged. "This one tastes like vanilla."

"No fair, Remus, you dare him to try one, you're good at picking out weird tasting ones," Peter said.

"Alright. Sirius, you try that one there," Remus said, pointing to a green speckled one towards the center.

Sirius grabbed it and popped it in his mouth. He made a sour face. "Does that taste like… chives?"

"I dunno, someone give me one," James said.

"Try that brown one there," Remus said.

James tried it and announced, "It tastes like chicken. Remus, try the one in the middle."

Remus grabbed center bean. "Pear."

The game lasted for another half hour before any real conversation started again.

"Best prank this year?" Remus asked.

"The snakes," James said.

"The food fight, definitely," Peter said, grinning.

"Muggle Awareness Day," Sirius decided.

"The tea cups," Remus said.

"And April Fools," Peter added.

"And that," James agreed.

"Seeing James flattened by that Hufflepuff was brilliant," Sirius said.

"Was not!" James argued.

"Definitely was," Sirius said. "But aside from that, I think there were a few important things that happened outside of the pranks. Minnie and I kissed!"

"You kissed her, and when you proposed, she turned you down," Peter pointed out.

"Well, that was because Evans told her to," Sirius said.

"Speaking of Evans," Peter said, turning to James. "Remember when she said you were brilliant?"

"She then took it back seconds later," Remus reminded them.

"It's still a step forward, we'll get there soon," James said confidently.

"Sure, mate," Sirius said.

The conversation shifted to the homework they had been assigned over the holidays.

Sirius complained that they shouldn't have homework, especially over the Summer Holidays. "The teachers will have weeks to read those chapters we're supposed to summarize, we shouldn't have to do it!" he said.

"Well, they'll be looking for a new D.A.D.A teacher," Remus pointed out. "That'll take time. And anyway, you're supposed to do it so that you retain information."

"Who cares? We'll go over it when we get back."

All too soon, the Hogwarts Express was screeching to a halt.

Peter peered out the window. Rather than the green rolling hills they had seen a mere hour ago, a station crowded by witches and wizards greeted them.

"Platform 9¾," Peter said. "We're there."

"Oh no," Sirius moaned. "Kreacher."

"Kreacher?" James asked.

"My mum's house elf. Why does he have to pick me up?"

"Well, considering what you've told us, better than her," James said.

"Yeah, but not by much."

Ten minutes later, the boys had lugged their luggage out from their compartment and onto the platform.

"There's my mum," James said, nodding to a dark haired, moderate woman. "I'll talk to her about you guys coming over."

"Don't forget to write," Remus reminded them.

"Once a week?" Peter asked.

"I think we can do better than that," Sirius said. "We are the Marauders, after all. Maybe three times?"

The Marauders grinned.

"See you soon!" James called as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Bye!" Peter shouted.

"See you guys later," Sirius told them.

"Later," Remus agreed.

The Marauders went their separate ways, grinning. Their second year might have been over, but their mischief was not.

They just had to wait until September.