By mid-October, May had grown very aware that being James Potter's younger sister came with… certain drawbacks.

"They're everywhere," Olivia whispered, flattening herself against a stone column near the library entrance. "I swear Black popped out of a tapestry yesterday just to ask where we were going."

May peeked around the corner and sighed. "That's because James told them to keep an eye on me."

"I thought the Marauders were supposed to be troublemakers," Olivia muttered. "Not full-time babysitters."

They made a break for it — fast steps, muffled giggles, books clutched to their chests. They nearly made it to the greenhouses before they were caught.

"Oi! Potter!" Sirius's voice rang out from behind them.

May groaned, not even bothering to turn around. "Which one?"

"Both of you, apparently," Remus added, emerging from another hallway like a summoned ghost.

James followed, looking smug. "Going to study, huh?"

"We are!" Olivia insisted, holding up her Herbology textbook like a shield. "Studying plants. Plants that don't need an escort."

James raised an eyebrow, and Sirius grinned. "Funny how you always study just out of sight."

"I wonder why," May said under her breath.

Remus, as usual, stepped in to restore balance. "Let them go, James. May's not sneaking off to duel a Slytherin."

"I might," May said dryly, "if Regulus keeps looking at me like I hexed his cauldron."

Sirius perked up. "Did you?"

"No!"

They eventually let the girls go, though not without Sirius theatrically offering them an "emergency whistle" and James reminding May — again — that all she had to do was send a message and they'd show up.

"Yeah," Olivia muttered as they finally reached the greenhouses, "like that's comforting."

May shook her head with a smile. "I'll never get away with anything."

But somewhere deep down, it also felt a little like home.

⸻

"You know what your problem is?" Olivia said one evening, parchment sprawled across the Ravenclaw common room table.

May didn't look up from her Transfiguration essay. "I have a list. Which one are we on?"

"You've never fought fire with feathers."

May blinked. "…Feathers?"

Olivia leaned in, eyes gleaming with mischief. "We can't beat your brother and his overgrown Golden Retrievers by dodging them. We have to outsmart them."

"You're suggesting a prank war," May said flatly.

"I'm suggesting a lesson in boundaries."

It started with something simple. A quiet morning, an unassuming satchel, and one of Olivia's enchanted feathers — one that danced and flitted just out of reach whenever someone tried to grab it.

The feather burst from Sirius's bag in the middle of breakfast, pirouetting around his head and trailing sparkles that spelled out "Big Brother Patrol."

James narrowed his eyes at May across the Great Hall. She just smiled sweetly and offered him a napkin.

The next day, Remus opened his Charms book to find every page enchanted to read How to Mind Your Own Business: A Guide for Nosey Prefects.

Olivia and May kept their faces completely innocent. "Must've been Peeves," they said in unison.

But the best came on a Saturday morning.

Peter, attempting to spy on them in the courtyard, accidentally triggered Olivia's newest creation — a self-inking quill that sprayed a trail of ink in the shape of tiny rats. They led James and Sirius on a merry chase around the castle.

"They think we're helpless," Olivia whispered later, dangling upside-down from the Ravenclaw common room armchair. "But Ravenclaws are underestimated."

May grinned. "Let's keep it that way.