Sixth Year

Lily hummed quietly as she made her way through the empty halls, her rounds for the evening completed. The prefect had already parted ways with her Ravenclaw counterpart and was looking forward to a little time curled up in front of the fireplace. It was a little after midnight, which meant the common room would be mostly empty and she might get a chance to sit in the cushy armchair beside the fireplace, the chair everyone fought for. Maybe she could even get in a little reading before she went to bed. Pleased at the thought, she rounded the corner with a smile on the face.

She was shocked to find four people standing in the hall, three of them facing her. 'Oh these boys,' she thought as she saw the Marauders, rolling her eyes. Their faces lit up momentarily before they shot her a pleading look. Facing away from her was Filch and Mrs. Norris; judging from his tone, he was overjoyed at finding the boys out their common room. Besides Peeves, the Marauders were Filch's archenemy; the boys had been pranking him since they were first years. "Out of bed after curfew, I'll have you lot in detention for a week," he rasped with a chuckle. "Have you hanging by your thumbs for hours, I will. Always knew you lot were trouble, always causing some mischief from the very first day. Just as bad as Peeves, you are. Flooding corridors, planting stink bombs, disrupting halls. If there's ever trouble, it's always you four behind it. You thought you'd sneak one past me, but you won't. Me and Mrs. Norris are too smart for you troublemakers, aren't we, Mrs. Norris?"

Shaking her head, Lily plastered an overly cheerful smile on her face, striding toward the group purposefully. It was fun to watch the boys squirm, but she didn't want them to get into trouble. "There you lot are," she said happily. Filch turned toward her, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Good evening, Mr. Filch, Mrs. Norris." She turned back to the Marauders, forcing herself to maintain her fake smile. "Sorry we got separated; I didn't expect the staircase to move just yet. Absolutely awful contraptions, aren't they?" The boys nodded, obviously prepared to go along with whatever story she told.

"These three are with you, Evans?" Filch questioned. He looked over at the three boys before turning back to her. "Found them roaming the halls."

"We were not roaming; you found us right here," Sirius retorted, shutting up as Lily glared at him and Peter elbowed his side.

"Unfortunately they are with me; they've been with me all night," Lily replied, rolling her eyes. Taking a step toward Filch, she lowered her voice to a stage whisper. "You know how this group is; if you turn your back on them for a moment, they'll be causing some sort of chaos. Can't trust them one bit. They've no respect at all, not for the school grounds or their fellow students or our esteemed staff, like yourself." Filch puffed up with pride at her words so she continued on. "Lupin is alright most of the time, but Black and Pettigrew, well I couldn't leave them alone while we went on our rounds. Merlin knows what disaster I'd come back to. I figured the smartest thing to do would be to take them with me, put them to work."

"Laying it on a bit thick, isn't she?" Sirius whispered, earning himself another elbow to his side.

Lily gave him a quelling look before turning back to Filch. "You've got to keep them busy, can't take your eyes off them for a second. I had them clean out one of the potions cupboards on the third floor," she explained. "I would have had Potter too, but he's already got detention with Professor Sprout."

Filch gave a grunt of agreement, "Heard Sprout mentioning something about that."

She nodded, "I got separated from them on one of the moving staircases; we were heading back to the common room now. Unless you needed us for anything else?" Lily said innocently, her green eyes wide.

Filch looked back and forth between the Marauders and Lily before grunting. "Go back to your common room. If I catch you in the halls again, I'll throw you all in detention. Even you, Evans," he grumbled in acquiescence.

"Of course," Lily said immediately, turning back to the boys. "Let's be off then. Good night, Mr. Filch, Mrs. Norris. Have a good night." She led the way down the hall, a smug Sirius, speechless Peter and amused Remus trailing behind them. They were a few corridors away from Filch when she finally doubled over with laughter, her green eyes sparkling with amusement. The boys joined with her quickly, their laughter echoing around the silent hall.

"You saved our skin back there, Lily," Peter said appreciatively as they began to calm down. "Filch would have given us a month of detention if you hadn't come along."

Sirius draped his arm across Lily's shoulders. "I think we can corrupt you yet, Lily flower," he added gleefully. "You've only been friends with us for half the school year and we've got you covering for us. Soon you'll be planning your own pranks."

Lily waved her hand dismissively at Peter's appreciation. "Don't worry about it; it's what friends do. What were you all doing out there anyway?" she asked as they continued to the common room. "Gone to spring Potter from detention? He should be back in the common room by now."

"Kitchen run," Remus explained, pulling a pumpkin pastie from his pocket and offering it to her. "Padfoot got hungry."

"Growing boys have to eat you know," Sirius stated. "We didn't think we'd run into Filch on our way back."

She bit into the offered food, a smile forming on her lips. "Everyone needs a late night snack. I try to keep some Honeydukes candy in my trunk."

"Our stash doesn't last a week between the four of us," Remus laughed, giving the Fat Lady the password to enter the common room.

"I wondered where you three got off to," a familiar voice called from the armchair by the fire as the group made their way into the common room. James Potter was slumped in the armchair, his sleeves rolled up and his tie tossed onto the coffee table.

"The boys got hungry," Lily explained as she moved toward the armchair, leaning against the side of it. She offered James the last bite of her pumpkin pastie. "And then I had to get them out of trouble with Filch."

James accepted the pastry, popping it into his mouth. "How'd that go?" he mumbled around the food.

Sirius flopped onto the couch, grinning broadly. "Our Lily flower lied to keep us out of detention," he said happily.

"Prefect Lily Evans lied to a Hogwarts staff member?" James gasped dramatically, pressing his hand against his chest. "Now I've seen everything. Who knows what sort of mischief she's really capable of? Maybe she's been playing pranks over the years and we never knew. This is a life-changing moment."

Lily laughed, pushing his shoulder gently. "Shut up all of you," she retorted. "And move over, Potter; you're in my chair."

James made a show of looking around at the chair. "I don't see your name on it," he replied cheekily as he scooted over, allowing her to squeeze into the space beside him.

"How was detention with Sprout?" Remus asked curiously.

He groaned, shaking his head. "Awful. Do you know how much rubbish they keep in some of the potions cupboards? Took forever to clean it all out. But I found a few things that maybe we can use for our next prank," James replied before looking at Lily. "I'm not sure our Gryffindor prefect wants to hear the rest of the conversation."

She relaxed back into the chair, rolling her eyes. "I'm too tired to go anywhere, so I won't tell a soul what I hear," Lily answered.

"Marauder's honor?" Sirius asked.

"I'm not a Marauder, but sure why not," she laughed. "Marauder's honor, I won't tell anyone."

The four boys looked at her for a moment before James nodded, a smile on his lips. "Trust me, Evans, you'll be glad to know about this prank from the beginning," James said before turning back to the boys, launching into his story about the potions cupboard.

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