Friday 1st April 1977

Great Hall, 08:00

"I still maintain that this is a bad idea," Remus told them as they sat down. "Everyone's going home for Easter today - no one is going to appreciate a prank."

"Yet you still helped us plan it," Peter said, shaking his head.

"Obviously," Remus scoffed.

He wasn't just about to let poorly thought-out ideas go ahead. They were going to stick the Marauder name across it after all. He couldn't let something he was associated with fall flat like that.

"We can't not pull a prank on April Fool's," James said in an outraged voice. "It's just not done."

"Everyone pulls pranks today," Sirius agreed. "The Marauders can't come up short."

Remus shrugged, knowing that whatever he said wouldn't change their mind. Not that he wanted to, he had put quite a bit of effort into this himself after all, but he felt that someone had to make a token argument and he was the Prefect here. Not that any of his friends ever listened to him.

"Do you know what you're supposed to do?" James asked him.

"Of course."

He was almost insulted that James would ask him so. Just because he felt the need to point out that this was potentially a bad idea did not mean that he came unprepared. Honestly, what did they take him for? A Hufflepuff?

"Well, let's get going then!" Sirius said impatiently.

"You're the one that has to go first, Padfoot."

Sirius blinked. "Oh yeah."

He gave a discreet flick of his wand and the four of them exchanged grins. It was time for April Fool's Day begin properly.

A burst of pale yellow, pink, blue and purple smoke appeared from each corner of the hall making everyone shout in amazement and slight panic.

Oh yes, April Fool's was starting.

Monday 4th April 1977

Potter Manor, 13:30

"Maybe your mum was right," Sirius said dubiously, looking around them.

The grass was glistening with water droplets - still damp from the rain overnight.

"She was," James agreed, feeling the ground in vain for a dry spot. Or dry-ish.

Mrs Potter had told them that they wouldn't be able to "chill" outside. Despite it being warm and sunny today, it didn't negate the fact that the last three days had been pouring. Everything was wet. The grass squelched under their feet and Sirius was pretty sure the hems of his trousers were soaked.

"So, what are we doing?"

"Now we have to prove her wrong," James told him.

"Excuse me?"

There was no pricing anyone wrong here. Well, except for James because Mrs Potter had been right - it was too wet to sit under the little wooded area on the Potter property.

"Come on, sit down," James urged, doing just that himself.

Sirius, on the other hand, stayed firmly on his feet.

"But it's all wet!"

"It's not too wet."

Sirius knew that was a lie. The ground was damp, there was no denying that. But for some reason James wanted to sit on it. Why? What was he trying to prove?

But he gingerly sat down and nothing happened. Except for his backside realising that the ground was definitely still very much wet. Just like he told James. He sprung back to his feet again.

"It's soaking!"

"It's not too bad," but James shifted in a way that implied he definitely wasn't comfortable.

Sirius shook his head.

"You're being ridiculous."

"Am not."

"You really are. What even is the point of this?"

"To prove mum wrong!"

Sirius just stared at his friend, not having a response for that. Was this a normal family thing or a Potter family thing? That was an important distinction to make. Either way, he was not going to sit on the wet grass and give himself a chill. He hated taking Pepper Up Potion, it made his ears all tender for days.

"Well, you can sit here and get wet all you want," Sirius told him. "I am going to get my broom and fly."

It was his favourite activity here at Potter Manor. He loved flying and he never could do that at Grimmauld Place - no balcony garden to speak of. He normally would have had to wait to go to the seat of the Black family - his grandfather's house, if he wanted to do any flying.

That made James look torn. Flying was his favourite activity as well, after all. But was it more important than proving his mother wrong (even if he wasn't proving her wrong)? Well, Sirius wasn't going to hang around for him to come to a decision.

"Hey, wait up!" James called after him, jumping to his feet.

Thursday 7th April 1977

Ravenclaw Common Room, 14:00

Kingsley frowned as he tried to make sense of his Defence textbook. For the life of him, he could never seem to remember this one concept and it was driving him insane. It was bound to come up on the NEWT exam, questions around it were always worth loads of marks.

He was trying to persuade himself that it was a good thing that he didn't go home this Easter. There was just no way he would have been able to get any work done. Never mind the fact that he hadn't exactly got much work done anyway. It was because he was stressing about NEWTs which meant he panic studied which meant nothing went in which meant he got stressed again. It was a vicious cycle. One that he wasn't having much luck breaking.

"You'll see, that signature of mine is going to be worth so much, one of these days."

Kingsley almost snapped his quill in half in annoyance. Would Lockheart ever stop his useless bragging? No one cared about these grand deeds he was supposedly going to do. It wasn't like he had done anything yet. Or even tried to do anything. Kingsley had never seen him actually say anything- he was just full of hot air.

Hot air that made a lot of noise that distracted everyone else. Did he not realise that there were people who actually wanted to work and do well here? You would think Ravenclaw House was the place to be when you wanted the best study conditions but it really wasn't.

Yes, having good marks always mattered to him but now they managed even more. He had officially put his name down for the Auror Program and he needed those good marks now. It was a tough program to get into and he didn't want to stumble at the very first hurdle! That would be too much to bear. So, studying is what he spent his days doing. His Charms and Potions marks had to be higher. Those were definitely the next important subjects after Defence (obviously). Yes, Transfiguration was useful but you could do a lot more in fights with Charms. And Potions knowledge was necessary when you were going to probably be handling poison-laced things. He grimaced. What a lovely thought.

Enough daydreaming! He had to work! Not just work but finish his work. No daydreams allowed.

Kingsley tried to write something down only for his writing to go all splotchy due to his bent quill from his earlier Lockheart frustration. He gave his parchment a doleful look. His notes had been so neat up to now.

Saturday 9th April 1977

McKinnon Farm, 15:00

"Oh no you don't," she got scolded just as she put her hand on the doorhandle.

Seriously, how could her mum even sense that? Marlene thought she was being sneaky!

"But mum!"

"No."

She didn't even listen to her excuse, how unfair was that?

"We had an agreement," Mary told her.

"Yeah, but-"

"Have you fulfilled your part of it?"

"...no," Marlene admitted sulkily.

"Then you aren't going out. Back upstairs you go."

That just wasn't fair! Of course, Marlene was completely ignoring the fact that she hadn't done the work her mum had wanted her to do but still!

"Come on, there's jobs and stuff to do outside," she protested. "And it's so nice out!"

It really was. The sun was shining and there wasn't even a threat of rain. It could even be called warm! Impressive for Northern Ireland.

"Which is why we let you do whatever you wanted this morning. On the understanding that you would do some work this afternoon."

"Oh, come on!" Marlene complained. "This year isn't even a big exam year! It's just the normal end of year exams, not my actual NEWTs."

That didn't faze Mary, however.

"Exactly. This gives you the opportunity to get into some good study habits."

"I have good study habits." but Marlene couldn't make herself sound convincing even to her.

"Uh huh."

Her mum could at least sound a little bit believing. You know, backing up her youngest child and all that. Whoever said the youngest child was meant to be the darling of the family evidently hadn't spoken to her parents. Hmpf. You'd think that they'd let her get away with this one thing but no, of course not. Instead, they were constantly on her case about it.

But there could be no disobeying that raised eyebrow and folded arms.

"I'm going, I'm going," Marlene said disconsolately, turning around and walking towards the stairs.

Mary McKinnon didn't have to say anything in response, just had to look smug and satisfied.

Hmpf.

Wednesday 12th April 1977

Potter Manor, 14:00

Sirius felt like he was frozen to the spot, unable to move, fear coursing through him. He hated this feeling. Hated it. Hated it. He thought he was never going to have to feel it again. The Potter weren't like that, not even a little bit. But his parents were and they were the ones standing right in front of him at the moment.

The Potter had to let them in because, as much as he despised the concept, they were his parents. The Potters hadn't looked too thrilled to have to do this either.

To summarise the extremely brief conversation (if you could even call it that when his father was just stating something and expecting no arguments) that had just occurred - they wanted him to come home. To be exact, they had apparently given him plenty of time to get over his "foolishness" and "unreasonableness" so he had to come home.

Unfortunately, Sirius didn't quite agree with that.

"I'm seventeen, now, you can't force me to do anything!" he burst out.

They couldn't. Not anymore. They couldn't sign his name to anything either. He was an adult in the eyes of Magic. His own person. Not some plaything for his parents to... well... play with! He wasn't going to play their games. He never wanted to. Never. Never. Never!

Then he realised what he had shouted and took an instinctive step back. Of course, father was completely in control and didn't even raise his hand (he was in someone else's home, after all) but Sirius couldn't help it. It was an automatic reaction.

"We may not be able to physically make you do anything but we can force you to see the consequences of your actions."

"You mean consequences for you," Sirius said bitterly. "How much were you going to get as a dowery, huh?"

"Don't be so crass, Sirius."

He didn't see how it was being crass if it was the truth. But then again, he knew how impolite it was to speak of money. Anyway, it wasn't just the forcing him into a betrothal contract that was the problem. It never really had been - it was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

"You don't get it, do you?" Sirius asked instead, changing his tact.

That actually confused his father.

"Excuse me?"

He resisted to say that he was excused. That might actually get him a punishment despite being in someone else's home. No, that wouldn't be worth it. He wanted to make sure that his family understood his position once and for all.

Once he started, he couldn't stop. Sirius told them that he wasn't comfortable with the magics he had been being taught, that they sickened him, that they felt wrong. He didn't believe in blood purity nonsense either and that wasn't going to control his life anymore (no matter how loose that control had been over the last six years). There were other things that he threw out there, like being u comfortable with the company his family kept and the fact that they were basically horrible parents but those were the main points covered.

When he stopped Sirius was panting. He didn't think he had stopped to catch his breath even once.

The silence left was deafening. No one was saying anything and he didn't think anyone was breathing either. Well, until his father spoke.

"Is that all you're going to say?" his father asked coolly.

The atmosphere in the room seemed to shift, throwing Sirius off balance. But not off balance enough to talk.

"Yes." He said resolutely.

"No changing your mind?"

"No."

Where was Father going with this? Surely, he wasn't going to change his mind and give in? Orion Black didn't do that.

"Very well." Orion took a step back and looked him up and down. "Then it will come to no surprise that you are no longer welcome in our home until you come to your senses."

Before Sirius could even process that, Mrs Potter had started hugging him from behind.

"Well, it's just as well he has a home here, isn't it?"

She didn't voice it like it was a question. It was like it was an undisputed fact. Orion looked at her for a long moment, Mrs Potter not blinking or even looking slightly intimidated. On the other hand, Sirius was holding his breath and every muscle was tensed, ready for fight or flight. What was his father going to do?

Nothing. Apparently, Orion Black was going to do nothing in response to this. All he did was pull his Cloak tighter around him and turn around.

"We'll see ourselves out."

Longbottom Manor, 16:30

Alice laughed at a story he was recounting to her and pressed herself closer to him. They were walking hand in hand around the grounds of the Manor, enjoying the evening sun. And it was a marvellous evening, not just because of the weather (or anything to do with the weather at all, actually) but because, well, Alice was here. Here and happy and they were friends again. Together again.

Was it a bad thing that he was glad that they had had a fight? Never mind airing the air between them but it seemed to have brought them closer together. More walls had dropped. They were more real with each other. Frank liked it.

They seemed to be more than just pouted and kind to each other. Now there was a real depth to their relationship. Who knew fighting would do such a thing?

"Frank?" Alice interrupted his thought.

He looked down at her, "Yes?"

"It's a lovely evening, isn't it?"

She was looking across the grounds at the blazing light the sun had left behind.

"Yes," he agreed quietly, though it wasn't the sky je was talking about. "It is."

Saturday 16th April 1977

Evans Home, 14:30

"Lily, what on earth are you doing?"

Which was a fair enough question considering that she was bent over the back of the sofa, trying to find something.

Coughing and spluttering (why was there so much dust back here?), she pulled herself out.

"Looking for something."

"I can see that," Rosemary told her daughter, helping her off the furniture and brushing her down. "What are you looking for and do you really expect to find it down the back of the sofa?"

"Well, it wasn't anywhere logical so I thought I would try the illogical. Dad's car is next."

"Heaven help you there."

Gavin Evans was many wonderful things and had many admirable qualities but the ability to keep a tidy car was not one of them. Which was ridiculous because he took great pride in its exterior. Not so much its interior.

"I was rather hoping it would be inside," Lily agreed.

"I night know where it is, if you tell me what you're looking for," Rosemary offered.

"I want to bring Cluedo to Hogwarts," she told her mum. "They don't seem to have anything like it there. Just chess. And Gobstones."

"And you want a game you can actually beat people at," Rosemary said knowingly.

Lily flushed. "Well, yes."

"You could just try to learn some strategies for chess."

She shook her head. "I'll never be good at it. Sirius beat me in five minutes and I think that was him being kind."

"Sirius? I've never heard that name before?"

Her mother was giving her a considering look and Lily rolled her eyes.

"He's one of Potter's friends, mum."

"Ah," a look of understanding crossed Rosemary's face. "Yes. Those boys that have that name... Mischiefers or something?"

"Marauders," Lily corrected. "But yes."

"I thought you didn't like them, Lily. Every time you speak of them it's a complaint of some sort."

"I don't. Like them, I mean."

Well, that wasn't entirely true, she supposed. She had never disliked Remus - he had always been a friend. And, to be honest, she didn't have much of an opinion of Pettigrew. Oh, he got into as much trouble as the rest of them but he wasn't exactly the driving force. Or, if he was, he didn't brag about it like Potter and Black.

But Potter and Black... well, they were definitely something else. Arrogant. Loud. Far too smart for their own good. Lazy. Intelligent. Full of fun and not much else. Which was good, she supposed.

Anyway. She shook her head. That wasn't the point here.

"Do you know where it is?" she asked her mum. "Cluedo," she clarified at the brief look of confusion.

"Have you tried under the stairs?"

Under the stairs? Why would it be under the stairs? That's where all their coats went and the vacuum cleaner and such. Why would any of their games be under there?

But sure enough, there it was. The slightly battered box was nestled between the vacuum cleaner and a drill kit her dad had never used in his life. How did her mum just know where things were all the time? There was no way Lily would have ever have thought to look under the stairs.

Lily tugged it out and did a quick check of the box's contents. Yep, looked like everything was there an accounted for. Perfect.

"What about Monopoly as well?" Rosemary suggested, holding the box out for her.

Now where on earth had that come from? Maybe her mum was just magic.

Lily gave it a doubtful look. "I want to beat him at something, not cause chaos."

"Don't be dramatic, dear, it doesn't suit you."

"When was the last time we played Monopoly without it ending in an argument?"

Rosemary didn't have an answer to that.

Tuesday 19th April 1977

Library, 15:45

A bag came crashing down on her table, causing some of her parchment to flutter. She grabbed it before it drifted off the table.

"Hey!"

What was the big idea anyway?

"Haven't been seeing much of you recently."

Tonks looked up from her book and then back down at it again.

"I've been busy."

"Too busy to leave your Common Room or your Library?"

"I go to the Great Hall too," she said absentmindedly, turning a page and frowning at the diagrams. What on earth was that supposed to be?

She had to get sustenance into her if she wanted to work well, after all. She had learnt that the hard way - and had got a right strong from Madam Pomfrey for her trouble.

"Well, you need to relax too."

"Do nothing, you mean."

Sirius made an impatient nose and flopped himself onto the opposite chair.

"You better not be sitting on any of my stuff," she warned.

He shifted in his seat and extracted her Herbology textbook from under him.

"Not there!" she said as he went to put it on top of some of her notes. "Or there!" as he tried elsewhere.

"Where do you want me to put it then?" he asked in exasperation.

"Back on the chair."

It was doing just fine there before.

"Then I'll be sitting on it again."

"Not of you leave."

And met her get some work done.

"You've gone all boring," he complained.

"Sirius, it's my OWL year." she said in exasperation.

And they were closing in fast which meant she had no time to spare for mindless chatter!

"OWLs aren't that bad."

Okay, that made her put her book down and look at him. Though it was an annoyed look.

"Not bad for those who don't have to work to get good marks! Not everyone is like you!"

The only way she got good marks was if she worked for them. So, she was going to work for them. And she wasn't going to put up with any distractions either. Her OWL results were going to be important- they determined what she got to do for NEWTS and she wanted to do some tough courses then. She wanted to be an Auror, you see, and that meant high marks. The best marks. Especially if you were a girl. She didn't want to thought of as weak or an easy target. She was going to do well.

Sirius had stayed silent after that outburst, just watching her instead.

"Are you having some trouble with your work?" he suddenly asked.

Immediately, Tonks flushed red. Face and hair. Stupid abilities. Giving all her emotions away. What was next? A little storm cloud over her head?

"No!"

Sirius raised an eyebrow, making her sink slightly in her chair.

"Okay, maybe. But not a lot!"

"Uh huh. What subject is it?"

Tonks furiously chewed on her lower lip, trying to decide if she should tell him or not. Oh, you know what? She may as well tell him. He would probably pester her until she did, anyway.

"Defence." She reluctantly muttered.

It was embarrassing, okay? Especially since wanted to be an Auror! That required you to be good at Defence. And, normally, she was. She really was. Just... not for this topic. It was confusing and they textbook hadn't been written that well. At least, she couldn't make out what the author was trying to say.

Sirois frowned. "Couldn't it have been Transfiguration? I'm good at that."

That made Tonks snort. Of course, Sirius would complain about the subject she was struggling in. Oh well. At least he was trying to help.

"Remus is much better at Defence," he told her.

"Really?"

She knew Remus was smart, obviously, but for Sirius to call him the best at Defence?

"Flitwick says he's better than the seventh years."

"Wow."

"Yeah," Sirius nodded proudly. "He's the man you need."

"Wait, Sirius, no..."

But of course, her cousin paid her no mind.

"Hey! Remus! Remus!" Sirius called across the library, getting the darkest look Tonks had ever seen from Madam Pince.

"Sirius, no!" Tonks hissed, face going red again.

"Moony is the best at Defence in our year," he assured her. "And he's great at explaining things."

It didn't matter if Remus Lupin was better than Merlin himself! There was no way that Tonks wanted to make a fool of herself in front of him.

And now he was walking briskly over to them. Because of course he was. Remus was too nice to refuse a plea for help. With a groan, Tonks buried her head in her textbook and parchment, ridiculously hoping that it would camouflage her.

Saturday 23rd April 1977

Potions Lab, Dungeons, 11:00

"I told you brewing burn salve was the right thing to do."

"I never said it was a bad idea," Severus said in exasperation, wincing as Lily slathered the cream onto a particularly tender part. "I said that it was ridiculous the amount you made."

"Well, I know us and I specifically know you, Severus Snape. You always seem to be experimenting without the proper precautions."

"You experiment too," he said petulantly.

Because she did. It wasn't fair to pin all the blame on him. Especially when she regularly managed to dye her skin different colours.

"Not as much. And with the proper safeguards."

Severus repeated what she said in a mocking tone under his breath. Unfortunately, Lily heard him and poked a fingernail into her a different tender part.

"Ow!" he yelped, trying to yank his arm away but she bad a surprisingly strong grip.

"Behave," she scolded. "I'm trying to help."

He almost mocked her again but clamped his mouth shut at her warning glare. Had he mentioned how scary Lily could be? Because she really could.

At least her concern for his skin trumped her need to tell him off because she continued with the slithering of the cream. She had basically used a whole vial and Severus thought that that was quite unnecessary. He wasn't burned that badly. Okay, sure, his skin had started to peel a little but it just looked dramatic. It wasn't really anything to worry about.

Of course, Lily didn't think so but sometimes she was just far too overprotective. It was silly.

"You're lucky I learnt this stronger healing balm in Healing. The standard one would not have healed your skin so fast. I even made it so that it would reduce chances of scarring as well."

"See! You experimented!"

"Under the eyes of Madam Pomfrey! She was quite impressed."

"That's brilliant."

"It was by accident," Lily confessed, wrapping the strip of bandage around his arm. "My hand shook as I added the ground up beetles and I added too much. Madame Pomfrey wants me to see if I can replicate it then write up an essay explaining why it worked."

"That ought to earn you some bonus points."

Always useful for NEWTs. This year had been hard. You took all the points you could get.

"And more work. I don't have time for more work!"

"You'll manage, you always do."

"Now," she said, tucking the ends of the bandage in. "Keep that on overnight and your skin should have absorbed everything and it will be good as new. It might itch a bit."

"I can live with that," he replied, lifting his arm to inspect it.

He had to admit, Lily had done a really good job. The wrapping was neat, not too tight, didn't pull at his skin or feel like she used too much of the bandages.

"Thanks," he added.

"No problem. Just no more silliness."

Those four words could apply a lot to him during the last year.

"I won't."

He would at least make sure to have healing potions on hand. That would have been a sensible thing to have in the first place.

Monday 25th April 1977

Gryffindor Common Room, 17:00

"Sure, I'll go to Hogsmeade with you," Lily agreed with a small smile.

Fawley grinned at her and then made an awkward move with his hand like he wanted to shake hers. Then he realised what he was doing and put it back down by his side.

"Cool," he replied instead, looking pleased as punch. "I'll meet you down here in the morning, then?"

"Ten sound good?" she suggested.

That way they could hang out for a while until lunch.

"Sure. Ten's good."

"See you then, then."

The two of them parted ways and Lily couldn't help but smile. Yes, Alice had been right- she never had had a proper boyfriend so to speak. Not one that lasted for weeks anyway. She happily accepted Hogsmeade invitations from boys she knew and sort of liked. Maybe even a little bit attracted to but it never lasted long. They were more flirtationships than anything else - nothing too serious. Because she didn't want to do serious. Or even do a lot of dating. She hadn't even accepted any dates until this year - some boys had actually matured a bit by now. They were easier to be around. Thankfully. But it still wasn't the focus like some of her classmates. She had maybe gone out with three guys this year. Fawley being the fourth. Maybe. She'll see how this date went. She just didn't want things to get serious while she was still in school. It just seemed pointless to her, they were all trying to grow up and having an extra person alongside you like that didn't help.

Still. Fawley was kind of cute. This weekend should be fun.