Disclaimer: How DARE you ask me to do this again? Go back and read it from the first one, should you have forgotten.

Author's Ramblings: Yes! Chapter two! I feel so… so. Yeah, I feel "so."

Duh: Review! And if you can't do that, just read the whole way through, kay?

MUST READ about the chapter: There are going to be "…" in this chapter. That simply means that the "scene" is going from one to another. Got it? Good.

Can't forget the P.S.: Yep, sorry for any typos.

Chapter Two: Plots and Plans

(Letter from the Headmaster to the parents of Lily, James – and Sirius – and Remus)

This will in no way interrupt your plans, but I feel it important to inform you that the few kids staying will have to ride the Hogwarts Express back to King's Cross and then return to Hogwarts. Also, they haven't been informed that other students are staying.

Professor Dumbledore

"We are staying at Hogwarts for summer! This is so boobing fantastic!" Sirius exclaimed as he closed the door of the marauder's compartment.

"Boobing?" Remus asked, looking at his friend worriedly.

"Yes, well… I like boobies and its better than sayin' 'flippin' cause I don't like 'flippin' very much…" he said, not going anywhere with his sentences.

"Mmhmm," James said, nodding his head in fake agreement.

…

"Oh, gosh, Lily, can you believe it? This is our last summer away from Hogwarts! Then we're back for our last year…" Alice said sadly.

"Well, for me it isn't."

"Lily, you know very well you're not repeating your seventh year," Alice said sternly.

Lily punched Alice in the arm playfully.

"I know that silly. I meant the summer."

"Oh, really?" she asked in confusion.

"Yeah… I told you, didn't I?" Lily answered, slightly lost.

"Told me what?"

"In that case I guess I didn't."

"Lily, you ought to tell me now."

"I'm staying at Hogwarts for the summer. On my own. Isolated."

Alice let out a shriek.

"You ARE?"

"Er – yeah…"

"OHMIGOD! Lucky!"

"Haha, maybe…"

"Oooo, I know what you can do!"

"What?"

"Raid the boys' dorms and vandalize their stuff with girly things."

…

"Fif if sfill."

"Sure it is, Pads."

"Fo one felse fan do fis."

"Oh really?" James challenged.

Sirius swallowed his mouthful of twelve chocolate frogs.

"Yes," he said clearly, taking a swig of pumpkin juice to clear his throat.

"Wanna bet?"

"How much?"

"If I can't do this then I have to break into McGonagall's office and write something 'foul' on her desk."

Sirius grinned at the idea.

"And if you can?" he asked.

"Then you have to take a pair of her knickers and wear them," James said.

Sirius made to interrupt him.

"While," James continued, "getting a picture taken."

Sirius thought about it for a minute.

"Who's our judge?" he asked suspiciously, still weighing the options.

"Moony," James said defiantly.

"Pardon?" Remus asked, looking up from his book.

"Be our judge, Moony?" Sirius asked, dropping to the floor and crawling across to Remus's feet, putting his hands on Remus's knees and looking pleadingly at him.

"Er – sure… as long as you get your perverted hands away from me," Remus said, flicking his hand with his fingers.

"Excellent," James said with a grin.

…

Lily smirked.

"What kind of girly things?" she asked, already playing with the lock to unleash her 'bad self.'

"I dunno… undergarments, feminine things… new bed sheets… paint," Alice said, wishing she could be there to help.

"Oh, this will be fabulous!" Lily squealed.

"So when they come back at start of term, they find their stuff all… girlified."

Their fellow roommate who was sharing a compartment with them scowled.

"What?" Lily asked her innocently. "I've got to have something to do for three months! I'll be all alone in a large stranded castle!" she finished, her voice raising a couple octaves.

The girl smiled at her and laughed, then returned to the book she was reading.

"It's not that bad, is it?" Lily asked Alice.

…

"COME ON, JAMES!" Peter screamed, sounding oddly like a girl.

James gave his friend a scared look (obviously for the boy's sanity), and shoved his ninth frog in his mouth.

"He's got four more to go, Sirius, before he beats your record," Remus said coolly, observing James's bulging cheeks.

Sirius crossed his legs and looked out the window with a pout.

"JAMES! JAMES! JAMES!" Peter chanted. His voice echoed around the compartment as he received odd stares from his fellow marauders.

James unwrapped his tenth frog and popped it in his gob with ease.

"Three more," Remus said, repeating the pattern he'd been using since the second frog.

…

"Do you want to borrow my pink shawl, Lily?" Alice asked as she grabbed her muggle clothes from her trunk. "For use in girlifying the boys' dorms, of course."

Lily laughed at the comment.

"No, I think I'll pass, but thanks."

"Suit yourself," Alice said as she shuffled out of the compartment to change.

…

"Two more," Remus yawned as James held his cheek open while inserting a new chocolate frog into the group of gooey mess.

James raised his eyebrows and nodded enthusiastically at Sirius, his nagging voice of "Haha! Told you so!" echoing in Sirius's mind.

A still silence sat in the compartment as James opened another chocolate frog.

Destiny was getting – dum dum dum – closer.

…

"Twenty minutes till Kings Cross," Emily, the girls' roommate, said as she plopped back down in her seat.

"Fascinating," Lily said unenthusiastically.

The girls stared at each other in silence for a minute.

"Someone wanna go visit Frank with me?" Alice asked.

"No," the girls said in unison.

…

Wrappers littered the compartment floor like a new layer of carpeting. There was chocolate and some white substance smeared on the window and a string of blue goo sliding down the door. It looked like a small food bomb had exploded in the compartment. But, of course, nothing of the sort had happened. This was typical with boys, marauders in particular.

Sirius sat in steely silence, watching James's every move as he crammed another chocolate frog in his mouth. His fist clenched tighter as Remus said (with a bored tone), "One more frog."

James took the final chocolate frog with one hand and his bulging cheek with the other. Placing the frog on his lap, he used his other hand to pry open his mouth and stretch his features further (his lips were starting to crack from being stretched so far). He grabbed the frog again and slid it into his mouth, the chocolate melting slightly and leaving a blob of the substance on the corner of his lips.

"Hmm?" he asked, clearly saying, "See?"

"He still has to be able to eat them," Sirius mumbled, crossing his arms in a pout.

…

"Ten minutes, thank God," Emily said.

"Are you going to count down the minutes until we actually get there, Em?" Lily asked sourly, sick of the constant sighs of "nineteen – eighteen – seventeen" and such coming form her friend.

"Well, I wasn't planning on it, but if you'd like me to, I'd be more than happy…" Emily said.

"Em, are you aware that you've been counting down the past ten minutes?" Lily asked, straightening her knee-high sock.

"Um… no…"

"Then kindly be aware of it now and shut the ruddy hell up."

…

A large squelching sound was heard as James's teeth sank into the chocolate mess inside his mouth. The sound was followed by another one… and another… and another…

"I don't think he can do it," Sirius said happily.

"I think he can," Peter said with an energetic nod towards James.

James gulped down a mouthful of chocolate and began chewing again on the remaining frogs in his mouth.

"This is rather unappetizing," Remus said with a grimace.

The following five minutes passed in odd silence as the only sound was James's chewing.

"We're getting clo-serrrrrrr," Peter sang.

"Peter, don't you have clothes to change into before we get to the station?" Sirius asked, shooting an annoyed look at his "friend."

Peter sighed as he changed out his robes quickly, still watching James eat.

"Hurry it on up, Prongs, ole Wormy here's gotta run in a sec," Sirius said with a sly grin, getting up close and "personal" (although Sirius didn't know the meaning of "personal") with him.

James raised an eyebrow in mock threat as he continued to chew.

With a surprising gulp, he swallowed the whole mess of chocolate.

"Done," James said with pride. "And McGonagall's knickers are looking pretty nice to me."

…

The girls gathered together in a large group hug as the train slowed to a stop.

"I'll miss you girls so much," Lily said, hugging each of them in turn for good measure.

"Don't forget to write," Emily said.

"And don't forget to give us news!" Alice squealed, giving her friend a tight squeeze.

"I won't and I won't! Don't worry! Have a great summer girls!" Lily said, sniffling a bit.

Lily stood at the door of the train as her friends shuffled off, their trunks wobbling slightly behind them. They met up with their parents and turned; she waved one last wave at them before turning back around and heading back to her compartment for the journey back to Hogwarts. It seemed all too soon for the trip.

…

James and Sirius leapt off the train like ballerinas and onto the platform where all the parents stood. Remus stepped off like a regular gentleman while Peter clambered off with such disgrace that he ended in a pile of a hooting owl, trunks, robes and clammy gray knickers. The boys let out an "urgh" at the sight and waited while in laughter as Peter made his way up to a normal standing position. It took him another five minutes to reorganize his bags.

"Shall we depart to give your love one final goodbye kiss?" Sirius asked, bowing to James.

"Yes, we shall," James grinned, ruffling his hair and looking around for Lily.

"I don't see why you do this every year, James," Remus said, coming up beside the boys as Peter was engulfed in a hug from his mother. "It's completely pointless; she doesn't like you and she always tells you to piss off every year you do so."

"But that's her interpretation," James said confidently, standing on his toes for a better view. "I prefer to interpret it as 'playing hard to get.'"

"You may prefer it like that, Prongs, but what you're seeing isn't the truth," Sirius said, sounding oddly like Remus.

"Padfoot, this is going to be one of the last times I ever get to do this," James said, seeming slightly sad for a moment. He looked at Remus. "Moony, next summer will be torture cause I probably wont see Lily again. You do know that, right? I mean… this is slightly important to me, if you don't mind."

"Of course, Prongs," Sirius said, patting his mate on the shoulder. "Let's go give Peter a noogie before we get back on the train," he added as an afterthought, dragging Remus along with him, leaving James to look for Lily.

…

The train probably wasn't going to leave for another couple of minutes. It was time Lily stopped pacing and came to face that fact.

She sighed and dropped onto the compartment seat. Maybe a magazine would make the minutes pass faster.

…

"I don't see her," James grumbled sadly as he joined his friends.

They looked after Peter whose hair was sticking up in a million odd angles as if licked by a cow. He followed his mother through the brick wall then let their eyes travel to girls' boobies for a couple of moments before actually hearing James's words that were spoken minutes before.

"Pardon?" Sirius asked, still goggling at a girl with particularly large melons.

"I said I didn't see her," James repeated.

"Oh, sorry mate," he replied.

"Its okay… it's not like my whole life just went down the drain or anything."

"Prongs," Remus said sternly. "This is now our summer vacation. We get to explore Hogwarts. We get to roam those halls like mad and learn every secret we haven't learned yet. We get to know all the goings-on of this gorgeous castle and wander unsupervised. Cheer up, mate! This is going to be the best summer of all time!"

"Wow," Sirius said quietly.

James leaned over to his friend. "What?" he whispered to him, still watching Moony.

"I didn't know he had it in him."

"Had what in him?"

"That ability to drop the Prefect-ism and become… a true marauder."

"Wow," James echoed.

"I know."

…

The stupid kids were already off the pissing train – what was taking them so bloody long to start it back up and hit the tracks back to Hogwarts?

No, Lily wasn't impatient… she was eager. Very, very, very eager.

For nothing, of course.

…

"The train – is – moving."

"Thank you, Padfoot, for making us aware of that."

"No! The train is moving."

"Once again, thank you for pointing that out."

"The train is moving!"

"What is your ruddy problem?" James roared, throwing his Quidditch through the Ages book at Sirius's head, which promptly bounced off with a thud.

"I forgot something!" Sirius cried.

James stared blankly at his friend.

"What, Sirius," Remus said politely, "did you forget?"

"My Quidditch Illustrated magazine! It's the swimsuit edition too!"

James and Remus exchanged worried looks.

Sirius whimpered.

"Then RUN, MAN!" James screamed, as he ripped open the compartment door and pelted down the hall after Sirius to collect the magazine.

Sirius wrenched open the side door and leapt out of the train and onto the platform.

"C'mon, Pads! You can do it!" James called encouragingly.

Slowly Remus walked up besides James and stuck his head out the door to see the commotion.

Sirius skidded to a halt where the magazine was abandoned, plucked it from the cement and ran back towards his awaiting friends.

He gasped as he reached out to the door handle, stretching to get aboard.

"Take the magazine!" he hollered, throwing it at James.

James caught it with great ease and held it close, making sure it was safe.

"Sirius! Come on! Just jump!"

"I can't – I can't do it, Prongs!" he cried weakly.

"Yes you can!" James replied loudly.

Sirius gave one great heave and landed with a thud on top of James in the train. As soon as the pair got up, they were looking into Remus's rolling eyes.

"You are aware that you're both idiots, correct?" he asked, straightening his robes.

"Yes, of course we are," Sirius said stupidly.

"Then you are aware that the train wasn't moving at all whilst your dramatic 'scene', correct?"

James and Sirius exchanged blank expressions.

"I don't understand you, Moony ole pal," Sirius said, puzzled.

Within a second, Remus grabbed Sirius gruffly by the neck of the robes and thrust his head to the window so his cheek was pressed against the glass, leaving smudge marks.

Sirius looked down at the unmoving platform.

"Well, I'll say, the train isn't moving after all."

…

Lily marched along the hall up to the driver's compartment. She was ready to give the man a piece of her mind.

Of course, she wasn't able to, seeing as the train had already started to move.

…

"Floral knickers or plaid?"

"I don't know, James."

"Pads, would you like to wear floral knickers or plaid?"

"Does McGonagall even wear floral knickers?"

"Well, I'd assume she does, seeing as she's old and every old lady wears floral knickers."

"How do you know that, James?"

"It was a disastrous day, Moony, when I came upon my Grammy's old, graying floral knickers."

Remus nodded his head in acknowledgement but went back to his book.

"So, Pads," James said again. "Floral or plaid?"

"Can I have plain ones?" Sirius replied with a grimace.

"Sure you can… if you want lacy ones."

"Oh, no, please no! Bad images! BAD IMAGES!" Sirius began punching at his eyes. "BAD IMAGES!"

"Okay, Pads, I get the point!" James said, trying to get Sirius to calm down.

Eventually Sirius stopped abusing himself, and calm was restored to the compartment. Temporarily.

Silence.

"I'm in a muggle-mood."

"Pardon?" Remus asked.

"Yes, a muggle-mood."

"And what, Sirius, might that be?"

"You've got those… whatcha'mcallits… ressods?" he asked, snapping his fingers in thought.

"Records?" Remus offered.

"Records! Yes!" he exclaimed happily, waving his snapping fingers around, missing James's face by inches.

"What about the records?" Remus asked cautiously.

"I want to listen to them – dance!"

"Oh dear Merlin," James mumbled, burying his face in his hands.

"Oh! I know!" Sirius said suddenly. "I'll serenade you, James!"

James's eyes widened in horror at the idea.

"No, Pads, really, it isn't necessary."

"Oh, I heard a song a while ago… what was it… it was all girlish and perfect for you and your Lily obsession."

James slunk lower in his seat, even though there was absolutely no one who could see him and laugh at him for life.

"Bugger!" Sirius exclaimed. He took a lock of his black hair and began to chew upon it while thinking.

"Please tell me you don't have any records with you," James mouthed to Remus.

He looked down sheepishly.

Once again Sirius snapped his fingers.

"I know it!" he squealed.

He drew breath. So much breath, in fact, that he knocked himself over and began a coughing/choking fit. After recovering from his near death experience, he took a smaller breath and began to belt out:

"I've been cheated by you since I don't know when; So I made up my mind, it must come to an end; Look at me now, will I ever learn?; I don't know how but I suddenly lose control; There's a fire within my soul; Just one look and I can hear a bell ring; One more look and I forget everything, o-o-o-oh; Mamma mia, here I go again; My my, how can I resist you?; Mamma mia, does it show again?; My my, just how much I've missed you!"

He would have continued into the second verse if it wasn't for the fist that had just made contact with his face.

…

The distant sound of music was starting to drive Lily up the wall. Who on earth would be singing on the Hogwarts Express when there were no students aboard? Surely the workers on the train didn't sing… and even if they did they wouldn't be singing Mama Mia, a muggle song.

She stood up and pushed open the door to her compartment. It was the brightest decision, seeing as the singing got louder with the door open. Lily sighed to herself and shook her head, unable to believe that she was already annoyed out of her mind and she hadn't even gotten back to Hogwarts yet.

She walked slowly down the hall, trying to place the singing. It sounded oddly male. But when the high notes were hit it sounded female.

Lily contemplated going back to her book and just ignoring the music – letting whatever person it was sing to their hearts content – but she fought her own preferred intentions and continued down the hall, determined to find the source of the noise.

…

"Next part!" Sirius called happily. He dodged the pillow that was thrown at him.

"I've been angry and sad about the things that you do; I can't count all the times that I've told you we're through; And when you go, when you slam the door; I think you know that you won't be away too long; You know that I'm not that strong.; Just one look and I can hear a bell ring; One more look and I forget everything, o-o-o-oh; Mamma mia, here I go again; My my, how can I resist you?; Mamma mia, does it show again?; My my, just how much I've missed you!"

"Sirius!" James screamed, shoving his fingers in his ears. "Will you shut your pie hole?"

"One more part, Prongsie! Please!" Sirius begged.

James rolled his eyes in response but hit his head against the window nonetheless.

Much head banging followed as Sirius began to shake his butt and do random bouts of fist-pumping.

"Yes, I've been brokenhearted; Blue since the day we parted; Why, why did I ever let you go?; Mamma mia, even if I say; Bye bye, leave me now or never; mamma mia, it's a game we play; Bye bye doesn't mean forever!"

He continued to shake his butt even though he had stopped singing. He happily caught sight of his reflection in the glass and continued to shake his rear end until he noticed a large yellow sticky note on his behind.

"Well that's one rather embarrassing shadow," he commented. "My arse does not look that fat!" He looked to his friends. "Does it?"

James stared at his friend for a moment.

"You done now?" he asked.

Sirius turned around and peeled the sticky note from his bum and read:

You want to sing one more time? Go ahead but you're getting THROWN OUT THE BLOODY WINDOW WHEN YOU DO! Signed, Remus.

He scratched his nose with the paper, coughed, then said, "Yes, I do believe I am."

…

The singing had stopped. Abruptly, at that.

Lily paused outside one of the many compartments, unable to decide if she should continue the search or just go back to her own compartment. She could be the first one (the only one, she reminded herself) to get off the train; she was at the front, like a good student. She wouldn't have to worry about a long walk up to the carriages after getting off the train. She'd just hop right off the train and into one of the few carriages that always stood waiting and she'd be back up at Hogwarts before eight. Then, of course, she'd pick up some dinner in the kitchens and return to her dorm to await the deadly boredom of summer.

Yes, that sounded like a good plan.

Lily reluctantly turned around and headed back to her compartment, to follow her own boring plans.

…

Hogwarts was coming closer; if they craned their necks the right way they could see it in the distance. Another forty minutes or so and they'd be back at the place where they made all their mischief. Hogwarts: the mischief factory. After getting off the bus they'd be able to get some slight exercise by walking up to the carriages – they sat in the back of the train, like the troublemakers they were – then go to the kitchens for dinner and retire to their dorms to plot out some pranks and examine the Marauders Map…. If they felt up to it they'd mosey around the grounds for an hour or so before hitting the sack. Or, in Sirius's case, being force-fed sleeping potion after keeping everyone up for two or three hours later than necessary.

With all that in mind, the train slowed to a stop just under an hour later. The three marauders stretched and yawned, moaned and groaned and got their lazy bums off the train. Lily, however, was already in her carriage before the boys had even gotten the chance to stand upright properly. The sky was bright, not a single cloud out to dampen the mood. Hogwarts was home, and the four students had it all to themselves.

The day was ending but summer had just barely begun.

Author's Ramblings: If you hate long chapters, then I apologize. Although I honestly hope you enjoyed this. I had a lot of fun writing it. I kept saying "just end it here" to myself, but no such luck. I wanted the train ride to be one chapter, and I wanted it to be interesting… one of my many sub-plots.

The song lyrics were for Mama Mia by Abba, of course. I actually wanted Sirius to have his mini-Karaoke-night, but I wanted to keep it in tune with the whole Hogwarts scene (not modern day Rock music, LOL)… so I looked at the Top 100 charts for 1997 (when this takes place)… and I found that on there. And I can entertain myself for a while, imaging Sirius belting out those lyrics.

Anywho, I hope those of you who read this are willing to put me on your alert list and keep watch. Also, if you enjoyed it, please review. Reviews just make my day. D