The weather was terrible, even Sirius, who was previously in his hyper mode, was quiet. It seemed as if all the rain in the world was plummeting down onto Hogwarts. The droplets came crashing down, drenching everyone in the space of a few seconds. James was presently holding onto his owl, Rudolph, with all his strength.

James and Lily had spent the rest of the train journey conversing with their respective friends about how bad the other was. Although it was more like giving a speech than conversing (it had been a thoroughly one-sided conversation in both cases.) In the boys' compartment, Remus had the sense to tell them to change early, causing a gap, albeit a short one, in James' monologue.

The marauders trudged up towards the horseless carriages. James knew about the Thestrals that dragged the carriages. This was the result of endless discussion with his fellow marauders about what/who could drive them; James was impossibly inquisitive.

Remus gave a glance to the forbidden forest near Hogwarts. Only a fortnight till the marauding, Remus felt a pang of guilty at those words. 'Marauding' made it sound as if it was an adventure, not a time when he was supposed to be alone, keeping the inhabitants of Hogsmede safe.

Sirius on the other hand looked up at the castle and the forest with a boyish smile. He was FINALLY at home. Unlike the others, Hogwarts was the only place where he felt at home. Well, other than the joke shops. He had spent most of his summer at James' house, he had a wonderful time there but he knew that he could not live there forever. Only a few more moths and the gold in his fault given to him by Uncle Alphard would be accessible, he just had to wait till his birthday.

The boys headed into a carriage, Sirius peering around for any sight of Snape, while the girls got into theirs.

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'My hair,' moaned Marlene, squeezing puddles of water out of her hair, 'I washed it last night.'

'Imagine what its going to be like indoors,' commented Lily.

'What?' said Alice.

'Peeves,' chorused Marlene and Lily. They both knew that subtlety was never Peeves' strong point (yes, I know Nearly Headless Nick said that.) and he would probably be preparing himself in the Great Hall now, holding water balloons like grenades.

'I wonder who the new head girl is?' questioned Lily. Alice and Marlene shrugged, they knew that Lily had wanted to be head girl but they didn't know who the actual Head was.

'I can't believe I'm asking questions like that now,' exclaimed Lily. 'You-know-who is out there and is getting power and I'm sitting in here wondering about who the flipping Head Girl is. I wish I could do something,' she exclaimed. 'It could be anyone next, Lucy Bones was just the first, absolutely anyone. I wish I could leave school now and do something.'

Alice and Marlene shared a surprised glance. Academics were the main part of Lily, she would always put in tons of effort into every essay, into every spell, but she was also passionate. After years of being her friend, they knew she was extremely stubborn and obsessive. If she believed in one thing she would follow it up till she was satisfied. However, the reign of Voldermort was something she couldn't control, something out of her reach.

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All the school, other than the 1st years, entered the castle. They breathed in a sigh of relief, no signs of water bombs. Suddenly Paracelsus (a statue in Hogwarts, mentioned in HP and the OP) came zooming down from the staircase, crashing down onto the terrified students below. The poltergeist laughed loudly from behind the stairs, watching the people pulling pieces out of their hair.

'This is absolutely preposterous, Peeves. Reparo. The headmaster will know about this,' announced the strict voice of Professor McGonagall.

'I don't care,' shouted Peeves, blowing a raspberry and flouncing off.

James grinned, lots of fun was in store this year, tons of it.