To work

Friday, May 20, 1972.

The day of the final prank had finally arrived. Friday night, after dinner, the marauders headed to their room. After curfew, they would have to sneak out of the castle and head for the quidditch pitch, as tomorrow was the Slytherin match.

The potions had already been brewed by James. They managed five flasks full thanks to getting more ingredients than they needed.

The next day of their excursion to the greenhouses there was some commotion, as Professor Sprout was angry about the theft of two Mandrakes and the damage of two Poison Tentacles.

"Well, gentlemen. Let's toast before we begin the final mission," Sirius said in an eloquent tone, as he grabbed a mug of butterbeer.

Lupin looked at the five glasses full of butterbeer resting on the coffee table and asked curiously, "Where did you get them?"

"From the Prewett brothers. They smuggle them to students who can't go to Hogsmeade. Since I'm their friend, they gave me a discount," Sirius replied with some pride.

James and the others each took their mugs and stood up, "Here's to the last prank of the year and those to follow," said Sirius with a smile and raised his mug.

James with an amused look in his eyes exclaimed excitedly, "To the Marauders!"

"To the Marauders!" they all exclaimed in unison as the mugs clinked with a joyous clink, and the aroma of butterbeer filled the air.

It was past eleven o'clock at night. When there was no one left in the Gryffindor common room. The marauders emerged under the invisibility cloak. This time all five of them were under it which made the trip a bit uncomfortable.

Since they had to leave the castle, James didn't want to take any chances and preferred to go under the cloak.

"Ouch, don't step on my foot!" complained Lupin.

"Then walk faster," said Sirius, defending himself.

"It's because it's dark, you idiot," growled Lupin.

"Can we take off our cloak now?" asked Toby, who was very uncomfortable.

"Yes. I think so.." replied James.

As they took off their cloaks they could see that they were only a few feet away from the quidditch pitch. As they arrived they could see the huge, very well-manicured lawn.

"Imagine the faces of those snakes when they see the message at the match," Sirius said with a slight smile.

"Alright guys, time to make our mark on this pitch," said James with a grin.

"Time to get to work!" said Sirius enthusiastically.

"Let's make sure it's accurate and well done..." said Lupin in a serious tone, but with excitement.

James quickly settled everyone in. They would write first: The.

He would take the letter "T." Sirius and Toby would take the "H." and Peter with Lupin would take the "E."

Minutes passed as they used the Terraform charm to shape the earth. The manicured lawn was getting worse and worse because of the charm.

"Phew... done," muttered James as he looked at his finished work, even though it was only one bloody letter and there was still a lot of work to be done.

It took him almost twenty minutes to complete one letter, as it was a large size. The others as they worked in pairs managed to finish in fifteen minutes and were now resting a bit, as it was tiring to spend 20 minutes casting a charm non-stop.

After resting for about ten minutes, they went on to write: Marauders. Each one was dedicated to one letter, to make the work faster.

"Yes it is tiring," muttered Sirius with sweat on his forehead. He had finished writing the letter 'U.'

"Only four more letters to go..." commented Toby as he sat down on the grass. His clothes were full of dirt as was everyone's.

"James, you rest. You need to get your energy back for the drawings. We'll take care of the four missing letters," said Lupin, approaching James.

"Well, thank you..." said James as he sat down to catch his breath. After a few minutes, Lupin and the other three got down to business.

James looked out over the field. A few hours ago, it was very even and manicured, and now it was a mess. He looked up at the night sky where the stars could be seen. There was not a cloud in sight.

'It's a nice night...' thought James with strange feelings, he never imagined that going to school could be so much fun. The night breeze gently moved his jet hair. He watched his best friends hard at work, now and then Sirius would shout something at Lupin or Toby.

James remembered his past life as Edward Rothschild, an expressionless and lonely genius with no friends. He had changed a lot in this time.

'It would be nice if we could stay this way forever...' thought James in a strange mood. He knew that as time progressed the danger from Voldemort and his mad followers would increase.

He would no longer be able to devote as much time to these things. Maybe it would be his last joke.

The hours passed, and finally, the marauders finished their work. James had already drawn the stink bombs and flowers under the group's name. Then in smaller print, they left a message to Slytherin.

"Well done, guys. I have to take a shower," said Sirius, satisfied to see that everything went well.

"Now all that was missing were the potions," said Peter, as James from his handbag withdrew five vials and handed one to each marauder.

Following the trail of letters they left behind, they poured the magic rooting potion onto the ground. Luckily, they had enough and even had half of one vial left over, which they used to reinforce some parts, as they had no other use for this potion.

"Job done... Next year will be much better..." commented Sirius in a different tone than usual.

"You have to pass your exams first, and I don't see you studying too hard," James teased with a slight smile.

"Shut up. I'll be studying seriously starting tomorrow," Sirius said with a yawn.

After shaking the dirt off their robes and shoes, so as not to leave a trace that would leave them in evidence, they headed back to the castle in a weird mood, almost forgetting to put on the invisibility cloak.

Upon returning to Gryffindor Tower, they all went straight to bed. They were very tired as they had been writing giant letters for hours.

'I wonder what the face of the Slytherin team will look like...' thought James as his eyelids slowly closed, and he fell fast asleep.

That night, he slept a few hours and had a strange dream. He found himself on the quidditch pitch itself. The strange thing was that the whole place was destroyed, there were only two people, him and a tall figure that he couldn't see his face for some strange reason.

The tall, black-robed figure made a swift movement with his wand and out came a flash of green light heading toward him at an incredible speed.

Before the flash hit him, he was awakened by Sirius' excited shout, "Wake up, James! Let's get some breakfast!"

Sirius had opened the curtains of James' canopy bed and was hitting him in the face with his pillow.

The thumping of the pillow caused James to open his eyes in annoyance. Also, how the curtain was open, the light from the hot sun was hitting him in the face, "Don't bother!" said James irritably, taking the pillow from Sirius and hitting him back.

"It's a good thing you're awake, mate," said Sirius, moving to the next bed, Toby's.

"Wake up, Toby! Let's get some breakfast!" said Sirius, repeating the same process as before.

James sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his eyes. He could see that Lupin and Peter were also sitting on their beds with sleepy faces. Clearly, Sirius had woken them up.