James Potter was running. He was late. Again. Moody was going to explode on him. Again. So basically all was normal in the life of James Potter. James was always running notoriously late. But with his charm, wit, and looks no one really seemed to care. Except for Moody that is. If James was lucky, Moody didn't already send out a search party – after all, an hour late off the field is quite some time.

Most people would say that James was at the top of his game – only two years out of the Auror Academy and he had already surpassed people who had been working in the office for ten years. He and Sirius were basically what you could call prodigies.

As James stepped into the lift, he mentally urged it to go faster. 'Why do the Aurors have to be on the last floor,' he thought miserably to himself. Although he was very upset, James was still rather…fun to look at. Standing at 6'1", James had kept himself in shape from his times as a Quidditch player at Hogwarts. With unruly black hair and sparkling hazel eyes, James was a catch. A big one.

Finally, he reached his floor. Starting to run again, James glanced at his watch. 'One hour and eight minutes late. Moody will not be happy.'

Making a sharp left, he came face-to-face with Moody in his office. "One hour and eight minutes Potter," Moody growled.

"I know sir," James said sheepishly.

"Do you want to be confined to desk work?" Moody asked angrily.

"No sir," James said almost monotonously. He knew that Moody wouldn't assign him desk work – he was just too good.

"I don't like that tone Potter. And just because you're one of the best does not mean that I won't keep you from the office."

"What tone sir?" James asked dully. This was their daily routine. James comes late, Moody gets angry, James gets bored, Moody gets angrier, Sirius comes to laugh at James.

Speak of the devil… "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Jamie!" Sirius said mockingly with a smirk on his face. "Late again! You ought to know better by now."

"Thank you Black," Moody cut him off, "As I was saying –"

"Just because you and Black are top prospects does not mean you can do whatever you want! You're not in Hogwarts anymore, damn it! This is the real world and in the real world people get fired for being late," Sirius said in a gruff voice. He added as a side note, "Lecture number six, nice choice Alastor. I was hoping that you were going to go with number four personally, but all's well that ends well." He finished this off with a seemingly angelic smile.

Moody gave an exasperated sigh. "You two have until the count of ten to get out of my office unless you want to be fired. One, two, three,"

"Now Alastor, you wouldn't fire us, would you?" Sirius pouted.

"FOUR, five, six,"

"You're just testing us! You're such a silly goose!"

"SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE,"

Quickly, James ran out of the office, grabbing Sirius on his way. As they turned the corner, Sirius called back, "You shouldn't scream like that, really. It doesn't help your blood pressure at all!"

Reaching their shared cubicle, James pushed Sirius in. "You know mate, one day you're really going to get us fired," he said solemnly.

The two stared at each other seriously for a good minute before they started to laugh hysterically. "That was a great one Pads," James said through his chuckling.

"Ahh, I know, I am pretty amazing," Sirius said mock cockily. "What took you so long? I don't get how even though we're on the same mission I always manage to get back on time."

James gave a small sigh and said, "Yeah, I know. But you also have to remember that I have that little extra step added to mine."

Sirius gave a confused look. "You were there tonight? Why didn't you just tell Moody then?"

James blushed a little. "Um…I had to finish up some extra paper work…at the office…the other one."

Sirius gave a bark of laughter as he reclined on his desk chair, balancing on the back two wheels. "Come on James what did you really do? I mean, extra work? Who do you think you're trying to fool?"

Giving a small sigh, James gave in. "Fine. I was planning on leaving Diagon Alley when I saw –"

"Hey guys!" a loud feminine voice shouted from behind Sirius.

Startled, Sirius lost his balance and fell off the desk chair. Looking up, he saw a hysterical James and a giggling Marlene McKinnon, leaning over the wall between their cubicles. "McKinnon!" Sirius growled. "What have I told you about coming into our office unannounced?"

"It's a cubicle Black, a cubicle," she shot back. "And I'm so sorry, Sirius. I don't know how I'm going to live with myself. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, please tell me," she added sarcastically.

"Well," Sirius started slyly, "There's nothing a good snog couldn't make up for…"

Giving an exasperated sigh, Marlene said, "Sirius, we've been over this before. I have a husband and a daughter. I am not willing, nor will I ever be, to leave them for you."

"Fine," Sirius grumbled. "Prongs, you deal with her. I'm going home." With a pat of James back and a terse bye to Marlene, he was on his way.

"Well someone's a little sensitive today," Marlene commented.

"I think that it's his time of month," James whispered loudly.

Laughing lightly, Marlene said, "Anyway, Alice, Frank, Gideon, Fabian, and I were going to go out to eat somewhere. You want to come?"

Miserably looking at the stack of papers on his desk, James said, "Sorry but I really can't. I got back late…again. Looks like I'm going to be here for another hour."

Shooting him a sympathetic look, Marlene said, "It's okay, I understand. If you get done early though, we'll be at the Three Broomsticks." With a small wave, she was gone too.

'Might as well get started on these,' James thought to himself. Sitting down, he picked up the first manila envelope. Just as he broke the seal, Moody came in.

"Good, you're still here. You're wanted Potter."

Giving a nod of understanding, James got up and quickly followed Moody down the hall.

HA! Not five months! Special thanks to all who reviewed! Please review some more!

Isabel