“It’s not in here,” announced Sirius Black, eyebrows furrowed. “The spell isn’t here.” His finger was tracing the spidery crawl of Professor Flitwick’s book, paused in-between posthab tog and pota.

Remus sighed and slowly got up to see where Sirius was looking. “You probably just skipped it over or something…” Skimming the page, a puzzled look came over Remus’s face. “It’s… not there.”

“What did I just tell you? Do you not believe me?” Sirius appeared offended, but then turned serious again. “I don’t know how the heck we’re ever going to find James now.”

“It must have been a spell not in use anymore,” mused Remus, still rereading the page in hopes of just missing the enchantment. “I think they might have it in the restricted section in the library, so we could check there.”

“You would know all about it, you’ve been in that library so much,” muttered Sirius, but still didn’t reject the idea.

“How would we get there? It is called restricted for a reason, Moony,” interrupted Peter.

He could almost see the gears clicking away in Sirius’s mind. Sirius’s eyes were half way closed and finger perched on the side of his mouth in a thinking manner, making strange humming sounds that were obviously for laughs. When Sirius’s eyes snapped open and lips twisted into a full grin, Peter started to tremble. “We have our ways… I don’t believe James would mind if we used his invisibility cloak for a while, would he Moony?” Sirius lifted one of his eyebrows and wiggled it, implying an idea.

Remus quickly caught on and smiled back. “Not at all, Padfoot, not at all.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lupin was on his way to the Whomping Willow when he felt a stare. Not an obvious, “I’m just looking around” kind of stare, but a stalker one. Looking over his shoulder nonchalantly, he saw nothing but the darkening sky and the castle looming under it. Shaking his head, he plundered on, listening to the owl hootings and howls in the distance.

The Shrieking Shack will again be haunted tonight, he thought and smiled sardonically at the thought, but he had another one in his head. Why did Dumbledore want me to come here? He could have sent me to another place, maybe the Forbidden Forest. Again he shook his head.

Stop thinking! he chided himself, and continued on faster this time. The sun was already swinging down low and brilliant hues danced across the sky when he heard a twig snap.

This time he took no hesitation in whirling around, where he saw a deer pawing restlessly on a spot of ground. Its head was reared majestically, pronged antlers balanced atop the fearless stature. Remus’s face whitened, appearing almost bloodless. It can’t be a ghost! he thought wildly. No- wait- James is here. He traveled back here- it’s all right. “James,” he said, his face returning back to just regular pale, breathing deeply. “What are you doing?”

At once the stag transformed into a laughing James. “Moony, you should have seen the look on your face! Like you’d seen a ghost, or something.”

“I thought I did,” he murmured slowly, then recovered and replied in a louder voice, “Just startled, that’s all. And I believe I asked you a question?”

“You seemed so old back there, Moony! I thought I could lighten you up… you know, to have some fun! It looks like you haven’t seen that in a while.” He could almost detect a flicker of a smile on Lupin’s face, but he couldn’t be sure.

“I suppose it has been a long time. You’d better get back to the castle now; Lily and the rest are probably looking all over for you, I’ll be fine.”

“No, not Lily,” James muttered. “She’s not looking for me. We got into a fight. It was about something stupid too- God, I can’t even remember!”

“I can assure you, it will blow over,” he said, stopping to sit down.

“How do you know?” questioned James. “Did you turn into a Divination teacher?”

“I suppose everyone nowadays is a future teller for you, Prongs,” said Lupin, purposely using James’s nickname. It felt surprisingly good, and apparently James liked the name too. He slid down beside Lupin as they both stared off into the fading sun.

There were several moments of silence until James gathered the courage to ask his question, one he knew would not please his friend. “What happens?” he asked.

“I’m not quite sure I understand what you mean,” Lupin responded, voice strained. He understood the question perfectly, but he was trembling inside. He couldn’t tell James… but wouldn’t his younger self had liked to know?

“In the future, I mean,” James continued, ignoring the tight face of Lupin. “It’s so tempting… just to know what happens. Tell me one thing, just one, and I promise I’ll be happy.”

Lupin shifted and seemed to be profoundly immersed in his thoughts. He finally managed to let out, “The Marauder’s Map is in the hands of an expert troublemaker- used to be in the hands of the possibly worst ones. We did our duty.”

James smiled delightedly when a flurried call sounded from the castle. “James! Where are you?” He started to leave but then looked over his shoulder at Moony, who struggling to get up as fatigue overwhelmed him. “Thanks, Moony. Do you think we can have a get together with the Marauders? You know, see what Padfoot and Wormtail are up too.”

“I would if I could, James. I really would.” His voice sounded more haggard than ever, and James helped him up to his feet. “I’ll try to get onto the charm tomorrow,” promised Lupin as he leaned against the trunk of the tree for support.

“Thanks- and please don’t kill yourself down there,” replied James, his face almost completely enclosed in darkness.

“I won’t.”

“James!” shouted Lily again, only her voice seemed closer this time. “Are you over there?”

“Yes… I’ll be back there in a minute,” he assured her and turned his head back toward Lupin. But he was gone, gradually making progress to the Whomping Willow.

What happened to you, Moony? thought James as he began to jog up to Lily.

“I’m sorry James,” apologized Lily as soon as he had approached near, “I was a complete idiot. I know you didn’t mean to get us into this situation… and I know we can get out of it.” She smiled, but her eyes conveyed the regret of her former actions.

“It’s fine,” he replied, winking to show her, “but I was the one that was the jerk. I did get us into this position in the first place, right?”

Hermione felt some of her stress let go as she watched the two make up. Finally, at least one problem was solved. Ron appeared to have gained some anxiety, however, as his eyes suddenly bulged and he made rapid hand motions.

“Go ahead and brand me, Evans,” James joked. “Write jerk all over me! I’m fully willing to admit my guilt.” He bowed low, gliding backwards into the castle as the heavy wooden door creaked open.

Lily was walking with him, ready to joke along too, when she felt a tug at her neck. Gasping, she realized that someone must have jerked on her cloak from behind her as she violently looked for the attacker. Instead, she only found Ron who had whisked her behind the looming doors.

“What…?” wondered Lily as Ron put a finger to her mouth.

“Look there… through the crack,” he whispered and Lily dubiously peered through the small split from the doors.

Bump. James had backed into someone, someone rather tall and wearing masses of robes. At once, he thought up of a plan to get Evans laughing, as he slowly spun around in a lounge fashion and drawled lazily, “I know you’re ever so fond of me, Miss Smith, but please refrain yourself from such… inadequate… behavior.” It was a word he’d heard from Moony, and he secretly congratulated the intellectual boy for teaching him so many words. Prejudice, inadequate- why, he’d be the next Merriam Webster! “We can do this privately, if you’d like, but not while my fans are watching,” he smirked while praising himself under half closed lids. Gazing up in what he thought would be a devil may care attitude and arching a brow; James received the shock of his life.

“What exactly did you mean by that, Mr. Potter?”