The Day The Rules Changed, a harry potter fanfic

Title: "The Day The Rules Changed"

Summary: Can't really remember – will have to look at and Spoilers: No real spoilers as set in past, unless you have no clue who the Marauders are, therefore WHY ARE YOU EVEN READING THIS STORY? Set in the summer holidays before the MWPP's sixth year at Hogwarts. Ootp consitant.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and any related characters and setting are all the property of J.K. Rowling and not me.

Extra: This fic is entirely based on one line in 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', said by Aunt Petunia:

"Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared of to that – that school - and came home every holiday her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats."

The Day The Rules Changed

A last stream of pink ethereal light sank seamlessly into the orb and it was finished. The sphere was hovering above an old mahogany table, ripples of rainbow colours playing across it's surface. It sparkled in the candle light and played light across all surfaces.

"Well," commented Remus, peering at the orb from over the top of his book, "it would make a nice paper weight."

His two best friends glared at him.

"That's not what it's meant for, Moony, and you know it," said Sirius Black, looking indignant. Sirius was, undoubtedly, one of the handsomest people Remus had ever known. His hair was as black as his name – in more ways than one – and strands of it dropped elegantly into his equally dark eyes. Remus had seen many girls sighing at Sirius longingly, although the dog-animagus never seemed to notice. Sirius Black was headstrong, had a short temper and tended to act before he thought, but he was also a loyal friend, extremely intelligent and had a wicked sense of fun. Although he could be slightly immature at times.

"Yeah," said James Potter, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. James was also much admired by girls although he wasn't as good looking as Sirius. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was Gryffindor's star Seeker, Remus didn't know. He wasn't a girl, so he couldn't tell you. James' hair – far from falling exactly how he wanted it, like Sirius' – constantly looked like he had just fallen out of bed. This was on a good day, mind you. On a bad day it looked like he had spent several millennia in a raging tornado. But James didn't mind. In fact, he purposefully messed it up, making it appear as if he had just got off his broom. James had hazel eyes that always twinkled mischievously and that could not be dampened even by the round framed glasses that he wore. James was just as clever, loyal and quick as Sirius was, but he tended to think a little more. But that did not make him any less fun. "Much too light and spherical for that – it would work better as a night light."

Sirius hit him over the head.

Peter Pettigrew – who had been watching the whole procedure fascinated – laughed at the familiar antics. Peter was the last of their foursome. He was not as bright as James, Sirius or even Remus himself, but what he lacked in brains he made up for enthusiasm. He practically worshipped James – who had stopped Snape bullying him one time – and admired Remus and Sirius as well. Sirius – who had rather low tolerance for those less brainy than himself – tended to be slightly scornful of him, but Peter took it all good-naturedly. He was rather scrawny looking and looked slightly ratty – rather fitting as his animagus form was a rat. His hair was mousy and he had rather a sharp nose. He was also slightly plump and tended to be self conscious around his popular friends.

Remus himself had light blond hair that looked a little grey already, even though he was only 16 years old. He was always a little pale and had slightly amber eyes. This was all the result of Remus' deep dark secret – and, ironically enough, the real reason that they were all such close friends. Remus was a werewolf. The result of an unfortunate accident, he was now haunted by the prejudices and fear that was associated with his curse. He and feared that his friends would turn on him and tell everyone his secret when they found out. But they hadn't. In fact, they had done the best thing they could have – they became animagi.

They had only managed the transformation in the last year and had already given each other nicknames according to their form. Remus had always been Moony because of his werewolf bite. Peter – as already mentioned – had become a rat and was given the name Wormtail by Sirius and James. Sirius was a big black dog that looked suspiciously like a Grim. At first, Sirius had all been for calling himself that, but James had said that it wasn't fun enough. Surprisingly, Peter had come up with the name Padfoot and it had been pounced on by Sirius at once. James – being a stag – was the hardest one to come up with. What can you call a stag, after all. Remus couldn't remember who had come up with the name Prongs – it was ridiculous enough to be Sirius – but that was who James was. And collectively – Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs – were now known as the Marauders.

At the moment, they were in the middle of their Summer Holidays and they were all at James' house. It was unusual that all four were together, as Sirius' parents greatly disliked all of Sirius' friends – they despised Gryffindor's almost as much as Sirius despised Slytherins. They usually wouldn't let him go, but this summer was different. This summer he had run away and left 12 Grimmauld Place for good. He was currently staying with James and his parents and was already looking much happier for it.

James' room was more of a tower than a room. It had a circular bedroom upstairs – with, would you believe it, a circular six poster bed (Remus had been totally astonished the first time he set eyes on that!) – and this circular living room downstairs. Above the bedroom was an open roofed observatory where the gang would hang out on hot summer nights. James, avid Gryffindor as he was, had decorated his room in vibrant reds and golds. Just like his bed, the chairs and shelves had slightly curved backs so that they could be placed properly against the wall. It was a very strange sight. James also had his own personal fireplace, complete with connection to the floo network.

For the past couple of days, James and Sirius – helped reluctantly at points by Remus and enthusiastically by Peter – had been working on this current fad of theirs, the 'Dusa Orb. It was utterly pointless to Remus' point of view, who had used much of the time to get some holiday reading done (his homework was completed) even though he had to admit that it was a very accomplished piece of magic. He as not sure that he could design anything like that. Sirius and James were just imaginative that way. And also, Remus would never want to make one.

"I still don't see why we had to do this," he remarked, laying aside the book and staring at his friends. "I mean, what are you actually going to use it for?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Moony," he said, in a bored whine, "you just don't get it, do you? I don't need to do things that are useful – I just do things because I can!"

"And you never know – we might find a use for it," protested James, grinning wickedly at Sirius. "If we run into your old mum..."

Sirius made a face and shuddered. "Don't even think about it," he warned, unpleasant memories playing across his face. He was so glad he'd finally escaped the Black house. "She's evil enough without any extra powers!"

James looked at him sympathetically, even as Remus persisted. "But it's useless," he pointed out. "If you spent as much time on your holiday homework as you did performing useless spells you wouldn't have to copy mine every year!"

"Well, I think it's great," said Peter, grinning at Sirius and James. "I mean, I can't even do normal spells, let alone make up my own."

"See!" said James triumphantly. "It's not pointless!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "But Peter worships everything that you do, Prongs," he drawled, leaning back in the armchair he was sitting in. "So he would support whatever you did, even if you were trying to find a cure for Snape's greasy hair!"

James gave a derisive snort. "Like that's even possible."

"You know, Sirius," said Remus thoughtfully, grinning cheekily at him, "you just contradicted your own point. You just admitted that that spell orb was pointless."

Sirius drew him self up indignantly. "No, I did not, Moony!" he protested, before his expression turned to one of horror. "Holy Merlin, yes I did!" He put his head into his hands and groaned as the others laughed. "I think I'm going to have to reiterate my earlier point; we do things because we can, Moony."

Remus let the matter drop and asked, "Well, what are you going to do with it now?"

Sirius and James exchanged clueless shrugs. "You know, we've never actually thought about it," admitted James sheepishly.

"You could just keep it in your room," suggested Peter, but James shook his head vehemently.

"No way!" he exclaimed, looking annoyed – though it was not directed at Peter. "You don't know my mum! She tidies my room every chance she gets – and not only tidies, but searches, too! If she finds that spell..." He broke off and gave a shudder of dread.

Again, the other Marauders laughed. It was so weird to think of James Potter, fearless Gryffindor (dived head first off his broom once to catch the snitch in a Quidditch match) being terrified of his nosy mother.

"Well, what about my room, then?" asked Sirius, twirling his wand between his long fingers. Having run away from his family, Sirius had taken up residence at James place. Plus, the orb had been Sirius' idea in the first place, making it the ideal spot.

But, again, James shook his head. "No way, Sirius," he said, putting his feet up on the oak table (carefully avoiding the still hovering orb). "She feels sorry for you and is giving you about a weeks grace. And then she'll be searching through your rooms, too!"

Sirius looked horror struck. "WHAT?" he roared, in astonishment.

James smiled sadly, shrugging his shoulders. "That's my mum for you."

Sirius was looking slightly alarmed. "I'd better move my 'PlayWizard' magazines out then."

The others laughed. "Well, you can't keep it at my house," said Remus, finally. He stared at the orb, frowning. "Not only would my parents notice a glowing orb, but our house is being repainted."

"My mum's almost as nosy as yours, James," added Peter, staring at the orb, also. "Plus I'm pretty sure I'd manage to set it off somehow." He shivered. That was not a nice thought.

James suddenly hit himself on the head. "I know!" he cried, suddenly. "I'm such an idiot! I'll put it in my vault!"

"You have a vault?" asked Remus, sceptically.

James grinned and nodded. "Brand new. Mum doesn't know, but Dad said I needed some independence."

"But that's miles away, Jamsie!" he wailed, pouting and staring up at James with his puppy dog eyes. He had got it down to a tee, more's the pity, because of the fact that he could turn into a dog at will.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, Sirius!" snapped Remus, reaching out for his book again. "I mean, it's not like your ever going to use it. The only people you could use it on would be people you hate and then it would be wasted 'cause they'd be more powerful than before! It really is the most pointless charm either you or James have ever created!"

Sirius scowled at him. "Alright, alright!" he agreed grumpily. "The 'Dusa Orb goes in James' vault. Happy?" he asked Remus sarcastically, who answered by opening his book again.

"James? James, where are you?"

The voice floated up to them from down stairs. His friends sniggered as James visibly paled. "Oh no!" he hissed, leaping to his feet and grabbing a small red box off a nearby shelf. "Mum! If she sees that orb we're dead! Come on, we're going to Diagon Alley now!"

And he carefully placed his hand round the small hovering orb, shoving it into his pocket. It was still trying to levitate and it felt very bulky and uncomfortable. Grabbing a handful of green powder, he muttered "Incendio" and a small fire appeared in the fire place. Throwing the powder hurriedly into the fire, he stepped forward and yelled, "Diagon Alley!"

Sirius smiled good-naturedly as James disappeared. He had never known anyone so terrified by their mother – especially such a sweet, caring one as James. He scowled. He would give anything to swap James' for his, except that that would mean James was stuck with his awful relatives. Following James quickly, he too flung some green floo powder into the fire and disappeared.

Peter followed next, grinning. His smile faltered a little as he heard James mother call again. The last thing he wanted to do was to explain to James' almost possessive mother where her son had gone. And he hurried forward.

Remus was the last one to leave. Feeling a little guilty at just leaving Mrs Potter with no clue of their whereabouts, he conjured a small note and quickly scribbled on it with a nearby quill. 'Just gone to Diagon Alley. Will probably be back by' - he checked his watch: it was 3:40 – surely it would take no more than twenty minutes? – '4:00 Bye!'.

Leaving the note in plain site, he scooped up some floo powder and span away to London.

7------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

James opened his eyes as the spinning began to slow down and braced himself, ignoring the faint nausea in his stomach. After years of escaping from his well meaning but slightly overly energetic mother he had gotten a bit of an expert. But that didn't mean he had to like it.

Suddenly, his feet hit solid ground and he bent his knees, absorbing the shock. Having landed perfectly, he grinned vaguely at the curious glances passed his way and stepped out of the way. Sirius, who came next, stumbled a little, as did Peter. Remus, of course, was perfect.

"I shall be sooo glad when we can take the apparition tests," commented Sirius dryly, looking a little pale. It appeared he didn't like Floo Travel either.

James grinned at his friend. "Shall we?" he asked, and motioned for the others to take the lead out of the pub. James followed, pulling the orb back out of his pocket. He told himself at first that it was because it was uncomfortable, 'but who I am I kidding?' he asked himself, grinning even more widely. 'Who knows, maybe Evan's here!'

Up ahead, Peter had already opened the entrance to Diagon Alley and noise assaulted James from all sides. He really loved this place. Everyone was always bustling around, shop keepers calling out to passers by, kids peering in wide eyed at the windows and laughing teenagers eating ice creams at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. And speaking of teenagers...

Chatting happily to two other adolescents was Evans. James' breath caught in his chest as he stared at this vision of beauty. Her startling emerald green eyes were shining in the afternoon sun, glinting with happiness. Her hair was a beautiful, striking red. It wasn't a flaming red, but was darker and sultry and set James' senses tingling. Her skin was pale and completely unblemished, her cheeks tinged naturally with rose as she laughed daintily. Her lips were so full and beautiful...

Sirius was the first to notice James drifting off, staring dreamily at something – or one – further ahead. Sirius grinned. A dreamy James like that could only mean one thing... Looking ahead, he laughed and nudged Peter, who was next to him. "We've lost, James," he told him. Peter turned his face up to Sirius, confused for a second. Then he followed Sirius' gaze and gave a laugh. Remus gave a half-hearted groan.

"Now we'll be here for ever!" he complained, but his smile ruined it. Lily-James rendezvous were always particularly amusing. Lily hadn't noticed them yet, but Sirius was keen to change that.

"HEY!" he bellowed, affixing his most dashing smile to his face and half dragging James to Lily. "EVANS!"

Lily's head jerked up and her eyes latched on them. After a brief flash of surprise, James was dismayed to see hatred boil up in her eyes and she scowled at them.

"What, Black?" she snapped, pointedly ignoring him.

James felt his heart sink. He was going to kill the person who said 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder'. What a lie! He attached his usual expression that he always wore around Lily – cool, cheeky and as dashing as possible. "Hey, Evans," he said, shooting her a smile that should have made her weak at the knees. Her two friends behind her certainly did, giggling excessively behind their hands. Lily, however, just glared even more.

"Potter," she greeted, placing her hands on her hips. "Been wasting your time over the holidays? I see your head hasn't deflated one bit."

Ignoring the usual jibes to his character, James just smiled all the more sweetly at her. "But, Lily, my darling flower!" he cried, reaching out to hold her arm. Lily wasn't quick enough and he managed to grab her hand. "If you would just take the time to get to know me, I'm sure you would love me."

Lily wrenched away her hand, giving him a disgusted look. "You're such an idiot, Potter," she hissed, fists clenching at her sides. "You think you're so brilliant – so clever, so fantastic, such a wonderful Quidditch player... well, get this. I think that you're just a class A bully – a real loser!"

And she turned her back on him and walked off angrily, her friends hurrying to catch up, shooting James – and Sirius – some furtive glances over their shoulders. James shrugged and tried to ignore the sinking feeling of disappointment. He let himself be content with the sights of those swaying hips, retreating into the distance.

"Still chasing after that mudblood, hey, Potter?" came a catcall from the little audience he and Sirius had managed to collect. There was quite a lot of shocked hissing at these words – although some people were laughing – and the crowds withdraw to reveal an all-too-familiar figure.

Severus Snape and James Potter had been sworn enemies, almost from word go. Severus Snape was a perfect example of a Slytherin – he despised muggleborns and just muggles in generals. He came from a long line of so called 'Purists' – whose blood had never been 'tainted' with any from the muggle line. When he had started school, he had known more Dark Arts spells than all the seventh years put together. And James hated anyone who was for the Dark.

Severus Snape had short black hair that was almost smothered with grease. Nicknamed Snivellus by James and Sirius, he had black eyes that were almost like endless tunnels, colder than ice. He had a rather large hooked nose and sallow skin. His mouth was curved into it's infamous sneer and his menacing eyes glinted with hatred. He was dressed, as usual, in solid black.

"Don't you call her that!" snarled James, fists tightening as furious anger coursed through his veins like fire. Beside him, he felt Sirius and even Remus tense up. Remus usually made a point of ignoring Snape, especially since Sirius had played that trick on him.

Snape ignored him and continued, shaking his head in mock sadness. "Poor, poor, Potter," he said, smiling evilly. "Even the filthiest scum of the wizarding world won't go out with him."

James, seeing red, looked around desperately for something to throw at Snape. He wanted to hurt him - bad. And there, right in front of his nose, was a glowing orb. Brain not really connecting this action with any shred of common sense, James reached out and grabbed the glowing sphere. He drew his arm back and released it with all his might.

Too late, he heard the horrified cries of Remus, Sirius and Peter as the orb cut through the air. "No, JAMES!" And just as the orb was inches away from Snape's oily face, James' common sense came back to him and he uttered one word:

"Oops."

And then the Orb exploded.

7------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

Peter flung his arms in front of his face as a bright white light flashed out across the street. Even so, it left sunspots dancing across his eyes for minutes after. But when his eyes cleared, he immediately wished he was blind once more.

Snape was standing exactly where he had been before, seemingly frozen in place. The mocking laughter was not gone from his eyes, although his mouth had opened in surprise. But whilst Snape was standing perfectly still, his hair was not.

It was growing.

It was writhing and coiling, twisting and squirming as it lengthened dramatically. Only it was growing upwards. Not down. And it was shedding all the grease that had lived in Snivellus' greasy hair, making it splatter wetly on the floor. To be honest, Peter didn't know what was more nauseating – the dripping of thick, yellow coloured grease, or the endless shifting of Snape's hair.

A low hissing was coming from the hair now as many people backed away in alarm, Peter included. He had been kind of hoping that, for once, James and Sirius had done something wrong and the spell wouldn't work, but, as usual, they were too clever for their own good. The hair began to separate into distinct groups and the end of these locks grew fatter and rounder, with small red eyes, a gaping mouth each complete with hissing, flickering tongues. They were snakes.

"Oh boy," Peter heard Sirius say as they all began backing backwards again. "Well, you've done it now, James."

"Ordinarily, I would take that as an insult," came James' voice, "but, right now, I totally agree."

For Snape had become Medusa, complete with the megalomania to match.

"I think Snape-Dusa is a better term, you know," said Sirius remark, casually. "And look how well the spell's worked," he added, as Snape, freed from the freezing spell, cackled insanely and glared at some terrified children nearby. "I thought the best we could hope for was a head full of snakes, but the personality's coming through really well and – "

"That's not a good thing, Sirius!" Remus cried as Snape began to turn their way. Peter started running with the others – Sirius had to be dragged to begin with – as they tried to escape Snape-Dusa's wrath. They literally flung themselves behind a row of silver dustbins and lay there, panting, hoping that Snape-Dusa had been distracted. When James risked a peek around the corner, they were very gratified to see that he was too busy freezing all the other people around him to bother with them. Plus there was a certain amount of pandemonium as everyone rushed off, screaming and yelling in one great stampede.

"Great, so now what are we going to do?" asked Peter, stealing glances back round the dustbin every so often. For some strange reason, all the statues seemed to be pink. "Erm, Prongs, why are all the statues pink?"

James shrugged. "We thought it'd be more interesting that way," was his reply before they moved onto the more pressing subject. "So, how do we get rid of Snape-Dusa?"

Remus gave him an exasperated look. "What do you mean, how?" he asked incredulously. "Don't you know the counter-jinx?"

Sirius looked a little sheepish. "Well, it's not so much as not knowing the counter curse as it is not actually making one up."

"WHAT?" Remus yelled in shock. He glared at the two cowering – yes, cowering - Gryffindors before him. "You mean that there is no way to end the spell?"

"Keep your voice down, Moony!" hissed Peter, who had been peering through the dustbins again. Snape had paused at Remus' angry yell and looked around for a minute. "We don't want to get Snape-Dusa's attention!"

Sirius was pouting now. "Well, I wouldn't say that there was no way to end the spell," he protested, again with the puppy dog eyes. "I mean, we hooked it into the original Greek myth of Medusa. All we need to do is cut off Snivellus' head and, voila, we're 'Dusa free!"

James and Peter grinned at the idea, but Remus – if possible – glared even more fiercely. "Not funny, Sirius!" he growled, amber eyes almost sparking in his rage. "You can't kill, Snape, no matter what jinx he's under! Especially seeing that your the one that put the spell on him in the first place!"

Hey, that was Prongs, not me!" protested Sirius, looking all indignant. Then his eyes widened and he grinned enthusiastically. "Does that mean I can cut off Snape's head, now?"

"No, it does NOT!" snapped Remus, going red in the face now. "You'd get sent to Azkaban."

"But if I was saving all those people out there...?" Sirius' voice trailed off suggestively.

Remus hit him.

"There must be some other way of taking off the spell," said Peter, wringing his hands. "Maybe it just expires after a while?"

But James shook his head. "The spell's duration is directly proportional to the amount of energy put into the spell," he explained, flicking a banana skin off his knee disdainfully. "That's why custom bought jinxes from places like Zonkos only last for a few seconds. If you've got to produce hundreds of thousands of the things, only a few seconds to a minute is spent on each one. That's why they last for such a short time. But me and Sirius..."

Peter's eyes widened in understanding. "But you and Sirius spent several days working on that Dusa Orb," he finished, as James gave a nod. "So the spell will last for 4 more days?" he squeaked.

"No," Remus said, looking ready to explode. "There were two of them – and you and I helped, Peter – so the spell will last for ABOUT 16 DAYS!"

"So, head chopping it is, then?"

7---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

Lily was annoyed. She had been having a lovely time in Diagon Alley with Melissa and Carrie, gossiping, shopping and eating ice creams, when /he/ had to come along and spoil her day. James Potter – he was such a big headed bully and she hated him so much. And he knew that she hated him, so why must he always talk to her?

To make matters worse, Melissa and Carrie were still berating her about James.

"I still don't get why you hate him, Lily," said Carrie dreamily, twisting her long brown hair around one finger. "I would give anything to go out with him – or any of them, for that matter."

Melissa giggled. "Not Peter, though," she said.

Carrie laughed, too. "No, not Peter," she agreed.

Lily gave a slight growl and continued to pretend to be thoroughly absorbed in the clothes rack before her. But as she turned dress after cloak after cloak, her movements became more forceful and her face was getting redder and redder.

"But Sirius Black – he's nice," continued Carrie. Lily could just imagine her eyes twinkling dreamily.

Melissa sighed, too. "Gorgeous – and that hair!"

Lily had had enough. "Look, would the two of you shut up about stupid Potter and his moronic friends!" she snapped, whipping round to face her friends as they jumped out of their dreamy state in shock. "I don't care if they are the most gorgeous beings on this planet, they're rude, haughty, arrogant, conceited bullies and I would never go out with any of them, even if we were the last humans alive!"

Far from dissuading her friends, however, Lily had just given them more room. Carrie stared at her incredulously, before arching a delicate eyebrow. "The 'most gorgeous beings on this planet', hey?" she quoted, grinning mischievously at her red headed friend.

Lily blushed bright red. "It... it was, erm, hypothetically speaking," she snapped, but it came out as more of an embarrassed mumble. Feeling as though she wanted the Earth to swallow her, Lily raced out of the small shop, out onto the street, her friends following and still chatting about her.

"I knew it was all an act," Melissa confided loudly to Carrie. "I mean, she always goes out of her way to yell at him – and he is so fit!"

"I think they'd make a great couple, you know," said Carrie, thoughtfully. "They'd look so... right together and – what was that?"

Several loud screams meet their ears and a great rush of people suddenly stormed towards them. "What the...?" was all Lily had time for before the crowd hit her.

Lily tried to frantically ask those around her what was going on. "What is it?" she cried, but people ran past her, jostling her every which way and before long, her sense of direction was completely lost. She saw a small first year – now second year – Gryffindor and grabbed his arm. "Martin!" she gasped, as the boy looked up at her in fright. "Is it a Death Eater attack?"

The boy shook his head frantically. "No it's Medusa!" he gasped and twisted out of her grip. Lily stared after him in shock.

"What?" she yelled, but he was lost in the stampede. There was an echoing yell of "WHAT?" and realisation hit her. That was Remus' voice. And Remus meant Potter – just how typical. And, as usual, she was going to have to sort it out.

Suddenly, Carrie and Melissa were there again, eyes wide with fright. "What's going on, Lils?" they asked, clutching her arm almost possessively. "It's not... you-know-who, is it?"

Lily shook her head, anger replacing shock. "No, it's that stupid Potter playing a prank," she informed them, eyes narrowing. She set off against the crowd that was starting to thin out. "Come on."

Carrie and Melissa exchanged sly looks and Lily heard a faint, "I told you so" but she ignored it, anger thundering in her veins. 'Trust Potter to create a stampede,' she thought, roughly elbowing past a middle aged witch. 'He's just sooo immature!'

Then her gaze latched on someone ahead – some one vaguely familiar and who was dancing on the spot with glee, laughing evilly. She gasped out, "Snape?" incredulously, noticing too late the snakes on his head and connecting them with Martin's earlier statement. With a strangled yell, she made a dive for some bins she saw nearby, trying to avoid his direct gaze. But she already felt her arms beginning to tire and freeze up, becoming heavier and heavier.

But she managed to get behind the safety of the dustbins and instantly crashed into someone.

7---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

"Snape?"

James' head jerked up at the small gasp. He groaned. That was Lily's voice – he'd recognise it anywhere – and if she got turned into a statue... well, not only would going out with her by a definite no, she would also never forgive him. Damn.

Then something came flying over the dustbin and crashed painfully into him.

"OW!"

7--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

Sirius froze in shock as something pink flew over the dustbins and crashed painfully into James, making him cry out in pain. There was a corresponding exclamation from the statue and Sirius saw James stop struggling suddenly.

"Why, Lily, dear," came James' voice from somewhere by the wall, "I had no idea you were this heavy!"

Lily the statue got off James and scowled at him. "Potter," she snarled. "What have you done now?" Then she looked down at herself and screamed.

"Merlin! I'm a... a STATUE!"

"Now this is an interesting development!" cried Sirius, staring at Lily intently. She was most definitely still Lily. She still looked like Lily and was wearing the same clothes as Lily had this morning, except that she was solid pink. And she was made entirely of stone. This was confirmed as her rapped his knuckles on her head.

"Hey!" she protested, glaring fiercely at him – or he thought that she was glaring at him. It was hard to tell when her eyes were solid pink.

Sirius ignored her. He peered through the dustbins again, where Snape was examining two new statues happily. They were Lily's friends – 6th year Ravenclaws. Sirius couldn't remember their names. He turned back to a still slightly dazed James. "None of the other statues are moving," he noted, looking Lily up and down in an scrutinising way. "Just her. I wonder why that's happened?"

James was looking at Lily, too, but in a nowhere near as indifferent way as Padfoot. "Well, Evans always has been special," he remarked, smiling dreamily up at her.

She gave a humph noise and continued to glare at him. "Well, you'd better get me out of this mess, or you'll never get to go out with me," she snapped, crossing her arms across her chest grumpily.

All Four Marauders stared at her in surprise (James in hope). "You mean... you will go out with me then?" asked James, breathlessly and automatically reaching to ruffle his hair up. Lily scowled at him.

"No," she snapped, but she smirked at him. "I'm just giving you some incentive, aren't I? I mean, you can't very well date a statue, can you?"

James stared at her in confusion for a bit, before grinning and saying, "Well, off with his head, then?"

"James Potter, don't you dare!" hissed Lily in shock and anger. "Just perform the counter jinx and be done with it. Yes, I'm sure we've all had our fun – hahaha! – but end it already!"

To Lily's immense surprise, James looked a little sheepish. "You see, that's the thing, Evans," he explained, looking up at her and attempting the puppy-dog look. "Me and Sirius just made up this spell. And we weren't actually going to use it – we were just on our way to put it in my vault – so we didn't bother with a counter spell."

Lily looked speechless for a few seconds, then...

"WHAT?"

Peter turned around, as dozens of whip cracks hit the air. "It doesn't look like it's going to be much of a problem anymore," he told his friends, who had all jumped at the sound. Lily – who was still half on James' lap – had jumped too, and now James was going red in the face from restraining all the curses and swear words he wanted to emit right then.

Remus looked at him curiously. "Why not."

"The Ministry's just arrived."

Sirius gave a wicked grin and immediately scrambled over to be nearer the dustbins. "Lemme see!" he demanded and Peter obediently moved out of his way. Sirius gave a cackle that was almost as evil as Snape-Dusa's. "I can't wait to see this!"

The Ministry aurors were closing in on Snape, wands at the ready. But they didn't look particularly keen to use their wands in fear of getting the statues that surrounded Snape. Snape, on the other hand, looked as though Christmas had come early and he was glaring at every witch and wizard he could find. Slowly, all the aurors were being turned into pink statues. Sirius groaned as the last one turned into pink stone. So much for seeing Snape's ass being kicked.

Snape was again laughing evilly and began screaming to himself. "With these powers, I can take over the WORLD!" And he burst into more reams of evil chuckles.

"Remind me again," said Sirius gloomily as he turned back to his friends, "why did we have to include a psychotic personality with this spell?"

Remus just glared at him. "I spent the entire last four days telling you so!" he snapped, folding his arms grumpily. "In fact, I spent the past four days telling you shouldn't even be doing the spell in the first place."

"Alright, alright, Moony," Sirius dismissed, waving a hand at him. "Well, it really is up to us now. Ministry Aurors have taken up residence in the Diagon Alley art exhibit and Snape-Dusa's just as crazy."

Peter groaned. "What are we going to do?" he asked, hurriedly cutting Sirius off as he opened his mouth again. "And I don't mean cutting off Snivellus' head, before you suggest it. Although I must admit, the idea does appeal."

Sirius threw him a hurt look. "Actually," he sniffed, drawing himself up, "I was going to propose we use a mirror."

James hit himself on the head. "Of course!" he exclaimed, feeling like an idiot. "That will reflect the spell back on him and he'll become a statue! Brilliant, Padfoot!"

Sirius didn't even try to look modest. "Well, it is me," he said, grinning.

"But will that take the curse off the others – ie. me?" asked Lily anxiously.

James shrugged. "No idea, Lily Flower," he admitted, smiling at her and stroking her cold pink arm comfortingly, "but at least it will stop him turning others into statues until the spell wears off in, ahem, 16 days."

"16 DAYS!" thundered Lily and Sirius, peering through the dustbins saw Snape jerk his head up and give a menacing smile.

"That's done it!" he told Lily angrily. "Snape knows we're here now!"

Lily wasn't listening. "16 days?" she repeated, incredulously. "I have to stay like this for 16 days? What am I going to eat?"

"Look, shut up, Lily!" snapped James, surprising everyone with his harsh tones. "It's the only plan we've got – shut up, Sirius!" he snapped, as the black haired teen opened his mouth to protest. "This was your idea in the first place!" Sirius just looked grumpy.

"Does anyone actually have a mirror?" asked Remus, looking round.

"I do," said Lily gloomily. "But it's been turned to stone, just like me!" she spat at James who actually squirmed under her fierce glare. It is very disconcerting to have a pink statue glare at you.

"Well, why don't we use the dustbins?" suggested Peter, tentatively. Everyone stared at him in shock. It was rare for Peter to come up with ideas – and especially ideas that worked so well. Remus grabbed a nearby dustbin lid that was leaning up against the wall. It was made of a shiny metal and he could see his distorted reflection on it.

"They're not very smooth," he pointed out, handing it over to James and Sirius. "Any reflection we'd get would be very distorted."

"Snape is distorted," objected Sirius. "He'd probably come off better looking."

"But that would distort the spell, Black," snapped Lily, turning her pink glare on him again. "And goodness knows what will happen then!"

"And it's not big enough," said James, staring at his own reflection. "It needs to be bigger."

"Well, whatever you're gonna do, Prongs, do it quick!" said Peter, staring through the bins again. "Cause Snape's nearly here!"

Sirius swore and Lily actually hit him over the head, looking chastised. Being hit over the head by James or Remus was one thing. Being hit over the head by a solid statue was something else. His eyes almost popped out of his head and he saw stars shooting across his vision. "Argh! Lily!"

Lily looked slightly abashed but snapped, "Just perform the engorgement charm already!" she hissed at him. "I would, but my wand happens to be made of rock, too." She shot James another poisonous glare.

Whipping out his wand, Remus muttered, "Engorgio," and immediately the dustbin lid come mirror began to swell. Peter gave a small 'eek' as it spread further and further, threatening to cut into them.

"Get behind it!" hissed James, bumping Lily off his lap with an effort and holding the bin out in front of him. "Come on, Wormtail, get behind it!"

Wormtail gave another squeak and scrambled behind the lid-mirror. James and Sirius making faces, they heaved the lid-mirror up, so that it faced directly onto Diagon Alley. They were was a last, muffled evil cackle, before they were all hit by blinding white light again.

7-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

Lily came too with a groan. Her head was aching furiously and she felt as if she was being squashed into the very hard, cold, rough ground. Then she realised that this was because there were a number of people lying on top of her. She groaned.

"Gerroff!" she snapped, but with her face pressed against the ground, it sounded like "Guff!"

Above her, one of the warm bodies moved slightly, groaning and saying, "That is the last time I let Padfoot talk me into a Fire Whisky drinking contest."

To Lily's complete astonishment, the voice belonged to Potter from school. 'Ok, it's official,' she thought, dazed. 'I'm dead and this is hell – or a nightmare.' And she renewed her struggle for freedom, making indistinct noises as she hissed curses at whoever was squashing her. "Guffee ou fuffes bafes!"

Above her James gave an unsteady, "Ooh!" as the bundle he was laying on gave an violent tremor. There was something very heavy and cold laying on his head that smelt faintly of sewage.

"Eeurrgh!"

He flung off the gigantic dustbin lid as memory came surging back. Suddenly hit by light, he could make out a clump of vibrant red hair at the bottom of the pile. "Lily!" he cried and flung his friends off the very squashed red head at the bottom of the pile. She glared at him, an imprint of the road pressed on a redder than usual cheek.

"Evans!" he cried, delightedly. He pulled her to her feet and gave her a hug. "You're not a statue any more!"

Pulling away from the sudden hug in shock, she stared at him in suspicion. "I'm not a what?" she asked, incredulously.

"A statue!" repeated James and he put on a suggestive smirk. "Now, how about that date you promised? After all, I did save your life."

Lily's memory flooded back and she was so angry at James that she actually slapped him across the cheek. "IT WAS YOU WHO PUT THE SPELL ON HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE!" she screeched, red in the face. "AND AFTER ALL THAT, YOU EXPECT ME TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU? YOU'RE JUST INCREDIBLE!" And she stormed off, collecting her startled friends on the way.

"Very smooth, Prongs!"

James turned round with a jump. His three friends were awake now and grinning at him. He ignored the sarcasm and replied. "You know what, I think she's warming up to me. She's never called me incredible before. And she cares enough to slap me." He raised a hand to his cheek which was still stinging from Lily's slap.

"Ah, the elegant touch of Lily!" drawled Sirius, stepping out from behind the dustbins to survey the scene. "Look, all the statues have turned back into people again."

And so they had. A lot of the teenagers were standing in small clumps, utterly bewildered as to what had happened. The aurors had all congregated in one big clump, looking at various bits and bobs.

"Where's Snivellus gone?" asked Peter suddenly, staring all around them. For the second time that day, James, Remus and Sirius blinked in astonishment at something Peter had said. For Snape really was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe he disintegrated?" asked Sirius, hopefully.

"Or turned up in the Sahara desert somewhere?" suggested James, hazel eyes twinkling.

"Maybe he popped in Voldermort's hide out and has turned him into stone as well?" added Sirius, enthusiastically.

"Maybe he's rubble!"

"Maybe he's on exhibit in the Hogsmeade Art Museum."

"Come on, Sirius, who would ever pay money to see greasy Snivellus?"

"Ah, very true."

"Maybe he's – "

"Um, guys?" interrupted Remus, eyes fixed on something across the alley. "Those aurors don't look too happy. They're kind of heading this way."

"Huh?" Both James and Sirius looked up and saw the aurors were indeed heading their way. And in the lead was...

"Oh Merlin!" cried James in shock and apprehension, jumping behind Sirius to try and hide. "That's my dad!"

"What?" asked Sirius, peering ever more closely. "I didn't notice him before!"

"He just arrived," said Remus, gloomily. "They talked for a bit and then they all looked over here."

Sirius and James exchanged nervous glances. "They can't possibly know it was us, could they?" asked Sirius, gaze flickering over the murderous looks the aurors were now giving them.

"Lily did kind of yell out for the whole street to hear that you put the spell on Snape, James," Remus pointed out.

James growled. "She's lucky she's so fit, otherwise I could be seriously annoyed about this."

"I don't care how good looking she is, Prongs," remarked Sirius, glowering. "I'm gonna kill her any way."

James' head whipped round to his friend. "Don't you dare!"

"Boys!" came a falsely cheery voice. "We' like to have a word with you!"

"Run?" Sirius mouthed at James, but James shook his head. They both turned to face the aurors, grins plastered on their faces.

"Hey, Mr Potter, can we help you?" Sirius asked politely. he had the distinct feeling that James did not want to talk to his dad.

"Yes you can help us!" snapped a mousy haired witch. "You can help us by coming down to the Ministry!"

James – with an effort – raised one eyebrow and said, "Oh?" in a very polite voice that clearly said I-have-no-idea-what-your-talking-about. "Why?"

Mr Potter glared at his son and James lost his cool a little bit. "Don't you play games with me, son," he warned, reaching out and grabbing James' arm. "We know that you did it, this time." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the mousy haired witch do the same to Sirius, who was also looking a bit flustered. They were in deep trouble now. But as two other aurors reached forward to do the same to Peter and Remus, Mr Potter stopped them.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Not those two – just these."

The aurors looked a little taken aback. "But these two have been with them the whole time," one fairly young wizard protested. He had long coarse blond hair that was pulled back into a pony tail and a rather odd nose. It looked like it had been broken and then twisted out of shape. "Surely – "

"No," repeated Mr Potter, glaring at his son. "I know who did it."

And he apparated.

7----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

As the weird rush of air stopped, Sirius' feet hit the floor unsteadily. Luckily for him, it was beneath his dignity for him to fall over and he remained in perfect balance. Sirius was used to getting in trouble. Actually, it was half the fun of pranking, though no one apart from James would ever understand that. Currently, the two were competing for the title of most detentions ever at Hogwarts. Much to Sirius' disgust, James was winning.

But Sirius was getting the distinct feeling that this was not the kind of trouble he liked to be in. There was a definite hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach as he was dragged through the little side door that lead into the main entrance of the Ministry of Magic. Sirius had never been here before, but he didn't take the time to look around. He was too busy focussing on the dread he felt. If he got expelled, it wouldn't hurt his education – he and James could probably take their NEWTs now and get 'Outstandings' on all of them. It was more the guilt he would feel at leaving Remus and Peter alone to face the full moon. They had only just completed the animagus transformation, damn it, and now all their efforts would have been for nothing. He settled into doom and gloom and trudged through the Atrium, eyes never leaving the dark panelled floor until James' astonished gasp caught his attention.

Looking up, Sirius mouth dropped and he burst into laughter. "At least that solves that mystery," he managed to choke out, before loosing himself in hopeless giggles again.

It was Snivellus.

The larger than life pink statue filled the Atrium, snakes still in place on his head almost grazing the ceiling. Snape-Dusa's face was fixed in an expression of pure glee, pink eyes glinting menacingly in the soft light that emanated from the magnificent blue and gold walls. His teeth were bared and his mouth was curved into a hideous sneering-smile. It was possibly his arm position that was the funniest. Both arms were bent and hands shaped into claws, brought up by his face, like a bear. Something all the Marauders had missed earlier, was the very long, slinky dress that covered him from head to foot. One set of toes poked out from the dress and Sirius could see evidence of the Greek Sandals. He had forgotten that they had added an authentic Greek Outfit to the spell, male or female. A small crowd of Ministry workers were gathered round the base of the statue, staring at it in shock and others in amusement.

All in all, the scene was so utterly hilarious that Sirius and James couldn't help but laugh. Sirius' knees felt weak and he sank to the floor, pounding the ground with his strong fists. James was on the floor by that time, tears streaming out of his eyes and clutching his stomach.

"It's not funny!" snapped James' father, glaring at the two teenagers. This only made them laugh harder. 'I can die happy!' thought Sirius, shaking uncontrollably with roars of laughter. 'Snape in a dress! Holy Merlin, I have to get a photo!'

Their hysterical laughter was gaining the attention of the Ministry Workers, who peered around at them curiously. James' dad was getting more and more flustered. "Oh, for Merlin's sake!" he snapped finally, hauling James to his feet and literally dragging him along the Atrium. James was still howling with laughter. A wizard stepped up to do the same to Sirius.

As Sirius was dragged past the Snape-Dusa statue, he heard James choke out, "The inscription – oh, Merlin!" before he dissolved into more peals of laughter.

Sirius peered and caught sight of the inscription. As he read it, his eyes and his smile widened considerably, until he felt his face would be torn apart and that he would be sick with this need to laugh. The inscription read:

'Snivellus, the Snape-Dusa, was defeated on this day,

by the two heroes amongst pranksters, Sirius Black and James Potter,

by use of courage, wit and their damn good looks.

Snape-Dusa was banished, never to inflict his grease on a civilisation again'

Beneath it, in smaller print, it read:

'This prank was brought to you by the infamous duo, James Potter and Sirius Black'

7-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

"Look, we weren't actually going to use the 'Dusa Orb!" cried Sirius, getting very close to loosing his temper. 'And no wonder,' thought James, equally annoyed. 'We've been sitting in this damned court room for yonks, going over and over the same bloody point!'

The good feeling from seeing the statue was gone and James was feeling less and less like himself. They were attending an emergency hearing at the Ministry, overseen by the entire Wizengamot, the Minister of Magic (Rhubarb Plonkitt) and the Head of Underage Wizards Office, Susanna Berriesworth.

"But you did!" sneered Rhubarb Plonkitt – even after a few hours, James couldn't help a snigger at the name. What was his mum thinking? – "You used on it on Severus Snape."

Sirius growled at the man and James thought he had better answer before Sirius ripped his throat out. Sirius wasn't known for thinking things through and his best friend had inherited the infamous Black temper. "Yes, that's because he was really pi – er, I mean, annoying us and I lost my temper and chucked the Orb at him!" James snapped, himself resisting the urge to gore the man through. "We were on the way to put the Orb in my vault to keep it safe! As we've told you about, oh, only a MILLION TIMES BEFORE!"

Susanna Berriesworth looked shocked. "There's no need to yell, Mr Potter!" she reprimanded, sniffing.

"YES, THERE IS, BECAUSE YOU AREN'T LISTENING!"

"That's enough, Mr Potter," came a very familiar voice, one that made him fell utterly relieved.

Professor Dumbledore stood out of the shadows by the door, blue eyes twinkling merrily as he smiled at the Minister. "Sorry I'm late, Rhubarb," he said, moving to take his place next to the Minister. "I had a problem at the school."

James and Sirius weren't the only ones who looked relieved. "Albus, thank goodness you're here!" he said, shaking Dumbledore's hand. "I simply don't know what to do with these two boys and seeing as they are pupils at Hogwarts, I thought that you could help."

"But, of course!" replied Dumbledore, smallest hint of a frown appearing on his face as he looked around at the Wizengamot. "But really, Rhubarb, was it necessary to assemble the entire Wizengamot for something as trivial as this?"

Plonkitt puffed himself up indignantly. "I think so," he stated, glaring at James and Sirius – who glared back. "These boys performed a harmful spell on a fellow Wizard and they endangered several others."

"Hey!" protested Sirius indignantly. "They would have turned back into statues after about two weeks!"

Plonkitt gave him another poisonous look before adding, "And they wasted some of my aurors' time. What if there had been a death eater attack or another muggle raid? My aurors would be too busy dealing with your mess when they should be helping save innocent lives!"

James saw Sirius swallow. The man had a point, but so had he – one this idiot couldn't seem to comprehend. "WE DID NOT PLAN THIS, YOU IDIOT!" he bellowed, going red again. "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"

"THEN WHY WERE YOU WALKING AROUND WITH THAT SPELL IN YOUR POCKET?" retorted Plonkitt, equally angry.

Now it was Sirius' turn. "BECAUSE WE'RE TEENAGE BOYS!" he yelled, jumping to his feet, fists clenched. "THIS IS THE KIND OF STUPID THING WE DO JUST BECAUSE WE CAN!"

"I seriously doubt they were actually intending any harm, Rhubarb," said Dumbledore honestly, blue eyes searching them thoroughly. James shivered unconsciously. He always felt like Dumbledore could see right through him. "James Potter and Sirius Black are just a little impulsive and always have too much time on their hands."

"A little impulsive?" Susanna Berriesworth repeated incredulously. "Too much time on their hands? Dumbledore, we've put our best curse breakers on that statue in the Atrium. None of them can do a thing. I refuse to believe that two teenage boys can just create a powerful curse like that just because they're bored. They couldn't have!" (James, even when overwhelmed with fear of being expelled from Hogwarts and put In Azkaban couldn't help a surge of pride at that. 'Damn, we're good!' he thought to himself.)

Dumbledore smiled ever more widely at her. "Normally, I would agree, with you my dear," he admitted, elbows on the table and fingers arranged in an arch, "but Mr Potter and Mr Black have always been exceptionally bright students and I wouldn't put anything past them. However, they are good students and I do very much doubt that they set out to deliberately harm Mr Snape. How were they even to know that he would be in Diagon Alley that day? I have talked to Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew who were accompanying them and their story correlates with these two's."

Plonkitt looked at a loss as to what to say. Finally, he managed, "Well, then, Dumbledore, what do you suggest we do?"

Dumbledore actually grinned. "Technically, there's nothing you can do, Rhubarb, if you want to stay within your own laws," he pointed out. "They are fully entitled to use magic out of school, they didn't deliberately create that spell to harm someone – they were going to lock it away and the usage was not intentional, merely the result of a rush of anger. They effectively repaired any damage they did and there's nothing you can do."

"But what about Snape?" spluttered Berriesworth, looking equally astounded and slightly grumpy, as she realised that what Dumbledore was saying was indeed correct.

"No harm done," Dumbledore assured her. "He will return to his usual self in just under 16 days. For the duration of the period he can stay here, relatively safe from... ah, tourists. And rest assured" – his twinkling eyes settled on James and Sirius for a moment – "the boys will be suitably punished when they return to Hogwarts."

James affected a scowl, although it was all an act. Inside he felt relief and utter joy! He was off the hook! He felt as if he could kiss Dumbledore and then take him out for a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant! And as for being punished at school, that was nothing special. He exchanged delighted glances with Sirius. And Dumbledore was letting Snape stay here! Well, he would definitely take a picture now.

Plonkitt, looking still a little dazed and slightly sour, nodded at the two boys in what they assumed was a dismissal. They almost skipped out of the room, but they had a feeling that would ruin their reputation and harm their dignity. Once out of the courtroom, however, they burst into laughter once more.

"I'll get the camera, shall I?" asked Sirius and, both laughing, they headed up the long slope to the lift.

Behind him, James faintly heard Dumbledore talking to the rest of the Wizengamot.

"Now, Rhubarb, this issue clearly highlights some concerns I've been having of the use of magic by under age wizards..."

7--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

"Don't worry, Prongs," said Sirius, although he, too, looked miserable. "It could be worse – and it's only for one year."

James nodded dolefully as he read again the front page of that days Daily Prophet:

"MINISTRY PLACE RESTRICTIONS ON UNDER AGE WIZARDS

In a surprise announcement yesterday, the Minister of Magic revealed that new laws had been passed, banning any witch or wizard from using magic until age 17 upwards. This change has been a long way coming, says Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"It has long been my opinion," says Albus Dumbledore, "that young witches and wizards do not have the discipline nor the restraint to be allowed to practice magic outside of school, where they can be supervised by teachers. If allowed to perform magic at home, it is highly probable that some sort of mistake could ensue or that they could reveal the presence of the magical world to muggles, especially if they are muggleborns. As I have already said, young teenagers tend to be a little hot headed and eager to show off their magic and do not have enough experience to know when this could be both dangerous and ill advised."

The new system will involve 'tagging' or logging an underage witch or wizards magical signature, either from birth or from when they buy their wands. This will mean that a wizard or witch can be picked up when they perform both wandless magic and magic with a wand. Hogwarts students will be receiving letters informing them of this change – which begins effective immediately – today.

This new legislation has come about very suddenly and rumours that it came about due to a misspelled curse at Diagon Alley two days ago have yet to be denied."

On the table were four envelopes, made of thick yellow parchment. James and Sirius had already opened theirs to find identical words printed on a sheet of parchment:

"Dear Mr Potter (Mr Black),

It is our duty to inform you of certain new laws that have come into place. From now on, any wizard or witch under the age of 17 will be banned from using magic. Anyone found still using magic after this could be faced from expulsion from Hogwarts. This begins effective immediately.

Have a nice summer.

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress"

"Misspelled curse!" mumbled Sirius darkly, peering over James shoulder at the newspaper article. "I'll have you know that that curse would perfectly – even better than I was expecting!"

"As I keep saying, Padfoot," came Remus Lupin's dry voice as he came down stairs, " that is not a good thing." He stopped abruptly when he saw their gloomy faces. "What's up?"

Sirius shoved the paper at him. Remus' eyes widened in shock as they skimmed across the page. "Well, I actually think it's a good idea," he said as he finished, dropping the paper on the table. "I don't think that witches and wizards our age have enough responsibility to be able to assess when to and when not to use magic and this point – "

Remus' opinion was abruptly cut off as Sirius and James leapt on him. He gave a startled yelp and had just started to hit back when Peter came down stairs ,yawning. He stared at them wide eyed.

"What are you doing?" he asked, astonished.

"Killing Moony," came Sirius' voice from somewhere within the bundle of limbs. "Want to join in?"

"Er, no thanks," said Peter, sitting down at the table watching them confused. His attention was soon caught by the paper – and, more importantly, it's headline. "Oh!" he gasped, astonished. "Is this what you're fighting about?"

He caught a glimpse of James' head rolling his eyes before he disappeared once more into the fray. "No, Wormtail, we've decided to eat Remus for breakfast, only he doesn't want to," came James' voice, positively dripping with sarcasm. "Of course that's why we have to kill him."

"Oh," said Peter, looking down at the paper again. He didn't understand. "/Why?"

This time Peter got a glimpse of Sirius' head before it, too, disappeared. "Because this traitor agrees with it!"

James mother walked in at that moment, arms laden with bowls, spoons and various packages of cereal. Behind her floated four mugs, some porridge, a cloth-towel and a jug of pumpkin juice. Mrs Potter greatly believed in feeding people – one of the reasons why Sirius loved her so much. James' mum had long brown hair that was always neatly secured in a bun. She had hazel eyes very like her sons and she had an attractive face, always ready with a smile or a laugh. James made a great act of pretending to be annoyed by his mother – or maybe it wasn't an act, she could be very nosy when she wanted to be – but he loved her very much. It was merely the fact that he was a teenager that made him unable to express his feelings.

She stopped as she caught sight of them and gave a glare that rivalled even with Snape-Dusa's. "Boys!" she snapped, voice threatening. It was remarkable the effect she had on the teenagers as they all froze suddenly and bolted to their feet, giving her sheepish looks. She grinned at them, even if it was a little cooler than usual. She was still very upset about the whole Snape-Dusa idea and had grounded all of them – yes, even Sirius, Remus and Peter who were just guests.

As she set breakfast down on the table she caught sight of the newspaper and her eyes twinkled in sudden understanding. "Ah, yes," she said, smiling much more happily now. "Your father told me about this last night. A great relief it'll be, too."

Chuckling at their aghast faces (Remus' was noncommital) she left them to their own devices, calling over her shoulder, "And don't forget, you're still grounded!"

"Great!" said James, banging his head on the table, conveniently forgetting that his mother had just placed a bowl full of porridge there a minute ago. As the others burst out laughing, James sat up, face covered with sloppy porridge. He scowled at his friends and pulled out his wand to clean up the mess.

"Scou– "

"No, James!" Remus cut him off. "We're not allowed to use magic, remember?"

James stared at him, panicking. "Holy Merlin! How do I get this off my face then? Arrghh!"

"Use a cloth, Prongs, you idiot!" laughed Sirius, grabbing one from the far end of the table and chucking it at him. "It's not like we can't do /anything/ without magic."

Wiping his face (taking a little longer than usual to make sure his face wasn't red when he emerged) James said, "But what can we do without magic?" he asked, frustrated.

"Homework?" suggested Remus hopefully.

"No!" chorused the others horrified and Remus sighed. It had been worth a try.

Ten minutes later they were still arguing over what they could do, when James had a sudden epiphany. "I just had a great idea!" he said, grinning so suddenly the others were startled.

"What?" asked Remus warily. He knew what happened when James grinned like that. Usually a lot of trouble and a months worth of detentions.

"Well, I thought we could try and make a map..."

7---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

The End! Phew – Geez, this is probably the longest one shot ever! It's like 26 pages long – that's 10,726 words, not including the intro, my ramblings or even the title. That is a lot of words! I hope you enjoyed – if you didn't get bored after the first 15 pages and read something else! Originally, the Snape-Dusa prank was going to be the end of the prank of Chapter 11 of 'Time is a Healer', but my sister said it was too random! I wanted to do a one-shot about how the law changed for ages, but couldn't think of anything bad enough. Maybe you can come up with a better one, but this was my idea!

Oh and just so you don't get confused, I know that the Marauder's Map is magical, they start planning it in the holidays and don't actually make it until Hogwarts – not that they can because, hey, the map is of Hogwarts and they don't know it quite that well!

Review if you want, but thanks for reading!

Toodles,

Hannanora-Potter

xxx