Chapter Text
1
James Potter had always had a penchant for trouble. Even long before starting Hogwarts, he had never backed off from any challenge, no matter how barmy or low-rewarding it might've seemed to others. As long as it was good for his friends or something the crowd would remember, any risk or outlandish display of daring was fair game. The way he saw it, he was doing society a service. In dark times like these, any mood-cheering undertaking was worth its own effort.
Six years at Hogwarts hadn't changed James' foolhardiness one bit. His friends were no strangers to memorable pranks and bold feats either, so naturally they had all amassed quite a reputation in school — which would hopefully endure long after they were gone. The Marauders, they called themselves.
As a talented young wizard with scores of brilliant ideas and a mad determination to prove himself, James was the driving force of the group. One time, he had bewitched Professor Flitwick's glasses and smuggled Sirius out of detention, the professor being none the wiser that James had switched his best friend for a transfigured gnome. Another time, the four marauders had managed to hide exploding dungbombs inside the Quidditch balls used by the Slytherin team, bringing about an unmissable spectacle during the next practice. Regardless of his accomplishments, however, James' past experiences in troublemaking paled in comparison to what he was about to do. To be honest, he felt a tad unprepared, since nothing he'd done so far was half as gutsy — nothing half as mental — as breaking into McGonagall's office.
Perhaps this latest self-imposed mission was probably how he'd die, and he might never get the chance to fight Voldemort after all.
With a careful pace, James made his way towards McGonagall's office, over to the window that faced the Quidditch pitch. The voice of reason inside his head was so used to being ignored at this point, that it barely put up a fight. He was doing this. If he was to die a victim of Minnie's wrath, so be it. He would rather go out as a hero than as some spineless sod who died of old age and never accomplished anything.
Pfff, there was never much sense in you, anyway.
It wasn't that surprising for his conscience to sound an awful lot like Evans — a girl he had fancied since his early days at Hogwarts, and who, by some twisted turn of fate, happened to be the least interested in dating him. That might change if she found out about his latest daring act. Maybe she'd be so impressed that she'd be the one asking him out.
As if. Maybe McGonagall catches you and turns you into a prairie dog.
Now that was uncalled for. James huffed at his own conscience and continued on, safely covered by his invisibility cloak.
The weather was still a tad chilly, though with the coming of March, the sun was starting to grace the skies more often. The Hufflepuff team had taken advantage of it and they'd reserved the Quidditch pitch for practice that day. They were a minor inconvenience to James' plan, but their presence couldn't be helped. With this being the only free period for the sixth year Gryffindors in which McGonagall was out of her office, there was no better time for James to make his move. Besides, if he took too long to pull off his heist, the professor might unknowingly destroy the map altogether.
It was so that James scurried aptly and without hesitation to the base of McGonagall's office then, once a drill serious enough to get all the Hufflepuffs' attention began, the lad slipped into the room unnoticed. Inside, James took off his cloak, sighing in relief. He walked around the large wooden desk, taking a good look at the office around him.
"So far, so good," he told himself.
James had been in that office probably hundreds of times by now, listening to who-knows-how-many lectures from the Head of his House. The room was exactly as he would expect it to be. The bookcases had all the book spines almost meticulously aligned, and not a single quill or parchment was out of place on the desk. Still, James found the whole thing eerie and unsettling. The emptiness of it made him feel watched, and he made a big effort to keep the fuming face of McGonagall out of his head.
The door got his attention. James knew the spell placed on it was immune to simple Unlocking Charms — as he'd discovered early on in his mission. Considering that forcing their way in or trying a multitude of spells to see what worked on the door would have caught unneeded attention, James had opted for the window.
Uncharacteristically careless of you to not charm the window as well, professor.
Grinning smugly at his feat, James made his way to the door. He pulled out his wand and cast the dimmest of lights under the crack of the door, then waited a moment for the sign. It took a while, but eventually a defined pattern of knocks echoed quietly from the other side and James put his hand on the knob, hoping for the door to unlock from the inside.
It did.
"I'm telling you, one of these days I'm going to come up with something that makes lockpicking as easy as it should be," Sirius said in a hushed voice. He hurried inside and closed the door behind him, then added in a reproachful tone, "What took you so long?"
"Just adding a bit of suspense."
"By having McG catch us and yell so loud that Dumbledore would know we're in detention before we do? We're on the right track then," Sirius replied casually. He walked to the centre of the room, inspecting the surroundings without meeting James' eyes.
"Since when are you all business?" James scoffed, opening the first drawer on the large desk.
"I'm not. But if that was always the plan, we could've at least smuggled some drunk imps here. If I'm ever expelled, I want to go out with bang."
The first drawer had nothing of interest. Mostly grading papers for the first years and a second edition for A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration. Sirius wasn't having any better luck searching through the papers on top of the desk.
"Oh, please, don't be so dramatic. We'll get away scot free."
Sirius shrugged and resumed the search.
The Marauder's Map — which showed the whole castle of Hogwarts, along with the exact location of its inhabitants at any given time — was confiscated a week ago by Professor McGonagall, along with a stack of unsuitable muggle magazines. James hoped that she hadn't given a second look to the piece of parchment that she had taken along with the magazines. Even when the map was protected behind a password, the old witch was certainly savvy enough to uncover its secrets if she were to put her mind to it. And if she found out what it was, there was no way she would ever let them have it again. That being said, the four marauders had burned candles at both ends for the better part of the year to invent that map, and James wasn't willing to let it go that easily.
"You think McG would notice if we change our grades?" Sirius asked after a while. He was looking at a piece of paper that James imagined must've been their grade reports.
He was just fooling around. Sirius knew as well as James did that their Transfiguration scores weren't half bad.
"Focus, Padfoot. I didn't think I needed to clarify, but the plan is not to get caught. We take the map and leave everything else as it is. Even the magazines. Puff! Like we were never here."
"Look who's no fun now."
James ignored his friend's complaint. "How much time do we have left?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?"
Sirius took out his two-way mirror that his Uncle Alphard had helped him charm. As James leaned over, he saw not his reflection, but one of Hogwarts corridors, where the door to one of the classrooms was still thankfully closed.
"Seems like we still have time," Sirius grinned.
That wasn't the concrete answer James was looking for. Swiftly, he grabbed Sirius' wrist and took a look at his friend's watch, realising at once that there was no reason to relax. "Ten minutes. McGonagall's class will be over in ten minutes. Nowhere near my definition of enough time."
Remus, who was outside McGonagall's classroom on the other end of the mirror, had just noticed them watching and seemed to agree with James. Their friend looked impatient, and was mouthing something that James couldn't hear. Peter peeked over his shoulder, nodding frantically at James and Sirius from the mirror.
Whatever Remus and Peter were saying, it was obvious that they wanted them to hurry. Considering that there was no way of hearing each other through the mirror anyways, James rushed Sirius to continue with their mission.
James searched exhaustively through McGonagall's desk drawers, avoiding at all costs leaving anything in disarray. Going through a cabinet near the window, Sirius wasn't near as cautious.
"Careful, Padfoot. The last thing we need is McGonagall finding something out of place."
Sirius snorted, then he set his eyes on a small bust of some famous witch that was displayed on the desk. He left the mirror on top of the cabinet and pointed his wand lazily at the bust. Before James could say a word about it, the blasted thing was transfigured into a dancing sculpture of Professor Dumbledore.
The dancing statue looked just like the headmaster and his moves did have a nice rhythm to them. James had to give it to Sirius, it was a sweet trick. However, not the right moment for it.
"You want us to get caught, don't you?" James asked, containing a chuckle. He swiftly transfigured the figure back into the serious lady bust and tried to put it exactly as it was before.
"Oh, come on. Where has your sense of adventure gone?" Sirius grumbled as he pushed his long hair back.
"Here! Isn't breaking into this office thrilling enough? And, for us to live and keep pulling daring feats, we need to get out of here unnoticed."
Sirius shrugged, casually looking into another drawer.
His reaction made James curious, who besides himself and their time running out, couldn't help putting his pressing task aside to narrow his eyes at his friend. "You… want to be expelled?"
"What? You're barking. I'm just fooling around, of course I don't want to get expelled," Sirius answered as if by reflex, though he then added, "I wouldn't mind if I got out there sooner, you know what I mean? But it's not like I'm looking to get my arse thrown out of school on purpose."
James sighed, adjusting his round glasses. "The war?"
At once, Sirius' eyes sparked with life and his lips curled up again. "Don't tell me you don't want to see what it's like."
"Oh, don't you worry, Padfoot. It doesn't look like the war's going anywhere. There will still be plenty for us when we're done here," James replied, gravely.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not that thick. I know the war can be dead serious," Sirius winked, earning a roll of James' eyes for the overused pun. "Still, I just want to get out there, you know. See what I can do."
"Yeah, I get it."
James knew Sirius had a great urge to prove himself. Not only in a personal matter, but to stick a point to that nasty piece of rubbish he had for a family. It might be a selfish reason to join a war, but James would wager his own life on Sirius' heart being in the right place.
"I want to see what I'm made of as well," James admitted after a moment. "Pranks and clever displays are good and all, but feats that truly mean something would be good for a change. I want my parents to see I can accomplish something that truly matters. I want to keep them safe as well, and… I don't know— Maybe give them some grandkids down the line?" he jabbered, averting his eyes from Sirius. In doing so, his gaze found a nearby bookcase, where some slim spines stuck out from an otherwise tightly ordered sea of books. "Wait a moment, is that…?"
It was.
James quickly pulled out the familiar magazines and, when he found the Marauder's Map safely between them, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Brilliant. Let's get out of here then, so you can retell this victory one day to those kids you dream about," Sirius teased.
"Evans won't like me telling them of my mischief," James played along.
"I don't see how she'll care, as she's as likely to be the prats' mother as I am of going back to my mother's house."
James felt compelled to throw a book at him, though that would go against his intention of being discreet. With a wave of his wand, he closed all the drawers he had left open, and skimmed around to double check that they had left everything in place. Sirius took care of the cabinet he had been looking at, but before he closed the last drawer, he picked up something that caught his attention.
"You know what this is, don't you?" Sirius asked, lifting a shiny hourglass out of McGonagall's cabinet.
James had no idea what the ruddy trinket was. "Enlighten me."
"A Time-Turner."
At the statement, James' eyes bulged in surprise. He knew what a Time Turner was, onlyhe had never seen one in person.
"And why does McGonagall have one?"
"It beats me. A mystery pet project, perhaps."
James nodded. "Thank Merlin that's the weirdest thing we found today. If you had stumbled upon the wrong drawer, you could be lifting Minnie's knickers right about now."
Sirius gave a nasty grimace. "Mental image, Prongs."
Proud for his cheek, James moved his impatient attention back to the window as he grew aware of the time. "I think we better—"
But he didn't get to finish his sentence, because at that moment a loud knock on the office's door echoed and the two lads jumped in their places. In the commotion, the Time-Turner fell from Sirius' hand, and with wide eyes, they followed the object until it crashed on top of Sirius' mirror, breaking into a million pieces.
"Crap," Sirius muttered.
The mirror glowed and, to their great astonishment, the sand from the broken Time-Turner started swirling on top of the mirror as if it were a small whirlwind. Open-mouthed, James stared at Sirius who appeared to be equally stunned. Inexplicably, the Time-Turner went on to repair itself as if by product of a Mending Charm. It took the thing only a few heartbeats until it was resting unscathed on the mirror, looking exactly as it had before breaking apart.
"What the hell…" Sirius said, lifting the flawless Time-Turner by its chain. Below it, the mirror's glow was diminishing by the second.
James had trouble finding the words to explain what they had witnessed, but decided to leave that for later when they heard someone knock on the door again.
"Mr Lupin, if you don't explain yourself at this very moment—" the voice of Professor McGonagall reached them from the other side of the door.
James and Sirius turned to the mirror by instinct, however, they couldn't see what was going on outside anymore. The mirror reflected random images that made no sense. There was a raging sea with a tall dark building in the distance, followed by a blinding green light, then a hollow arch with a fluttering fabric, and finally that green light again.
"Let's go. Now!" James whispered.
Sirius didn't have to be told twice. He shoved the mirror inside his pocket and put the Time-Turner back in its place before closing the drawer in a hurry.
The door knob turned.
James threw the magazines and the map to the floor to take out his wand. He was able to cast a non-verbal Knockback Jinx at Sirius, who to his good senses didn't groan too loudly when he stumbled behind the desk. Then, at the last possible second, James took out his Invisibility Cloak and sat on the floor hiding under the familiar fabric.
Professor McGonagall entered the room, followed closely behind by Remus and a terrified Peter.
"Those antics of you were unnecessary. As you can see, Peeves did not break into this office," McGonagall told Remus, arching an eyebrow.
"Ehm— Sorry, professor. I— I thought I'd seen him go in. I must have been mistaken," Remus explained, though he looked somewhat relieved from finding the office apparently empty.
The professor must have noticed something off as well, because she walked slowly to her desk and set her eyes on the bust of the witch that Sirius had transfigured earlier. She narrowed her eyes. "Hmmm," she muttered curiously. She then rotated the small figure a little, until she was satisfied with its placing.
"Can we go now?" Peter asked, looking at the door behind him as if it were the last drop of water in the desert.
The professor raised her hand, then frowned at a spot near James. For a moment, James' heart skipped a beat, thinking that he had left one of his feet uncovered by the cloak. However, he soon realised that McGonagall had seen the magazines and the map scattered all over the floor.
Blimey!
The professor bent down and picked them up, giving an attentive glance at the open window. Even if they weren't caught and McGonagall laid the blame of the fallen magazines on a capricious wind coming from the window, the whole mission would still feel like a waste if they lost the map. They had risked themselves for nothing.
I was so close. I had it in my hands! Why didn't I just put it in my pocket as soon as I could?
Maybe because you're a daft toerag who seldom thinks things through.
James was beginning to get seriously annoyed at this newfound Evans' tone in his conscience. Nevertheless, his musings were cut short when McGonagall turned to the place where he was sitting. His cloak had never failed James before, but the professor was too bleeding close. Even when James closed his eyes and tried not to breathe, his hopes of not being discovered almost evaporated when McGonagall raised her hand with the intention of passing it through the air that James occupied.
She would have touched him for sure, if it weren't for a loud noise coming from the desk that made her turn.
Sirius. How stupid can he be? Unlike James, Sirius didn't have a cloak, and couldn't yet make a half decent Disillusionment Charm to save his arse.
Professor McGonagall stood up and walked towards her desk, where Sirius was hiding. Without a second to waste, James uncovered his head and turned to Remus and Peter. To their credit, neither of them made a sound that could've alerted McGonagall. James pointed hysterically to the desk as he mouthed his next words without letting a sound out, "Sirius. Do something…"
Thankfully, Moony was a quick thinker. He took out his wand and cast a spell out of the door. A loud blast echoed from the hallway and McGonagall spun around, finding only an innocent-looking Remus. "What in Merlin's name was that?!"
Remus shrugged.
"Must be first years, p-professor," Wormtail stuttered, standing by the door's frame.
"Or your missing friends," McGonagall snapped.
The professor moved away from the desk and towards the exit at a quick pace. Because James was a bold one and didn't like half-victories, he pointed his wand at the moving shape of his professor.
Accio Map.
The piece of parchment fluttered between the magazines in McGonagall's hands and then flew to James. The professor didn't notice a thing.
Peter grinned in admiration at James' nerve, while Remus shook his head in disbelief. After a pressing look, the two of them followed McGonagall out the door, making sure they closed it behind them.
As if he had a bludger stuck up his arse, James ran to Sirius and almost pushed him out of the window. He jumped out afterwards just as he heard the door opening again. Laying with their backs against the grass silently under the window, James and Sirius heard McGonagall's voice.
"... there was no one else in that hallway. I swear, if you two had anything to do with that."
After some muffled mumbles and a feeble explanation from Remus, James heard McGonagall pacing among her office, even standing very close to the window for what he could tell. It took some tense moments of holding their breaths before the professor walked away and the door closed again. James and Sirius waited a whole minute later before they burst into laughter on the grass outside her window.
When they finally stood up, James felt exhilarated by their victory. He felt as if he'd been touched by luck. Invincible. Unstoppable. As if he could get away with just about anything now.
James knew where he wanted to try his luck next. It had been ages since he had last asked Evans out. And maybe — just maybe — she would be more open to give him a chance this year.
Evans didn't give James a chance. She didn't even give him a chance to ask for a chance. Whenever he approached her, she just huffed away with her usual group of friends. Not the most promising of signs.
All that aside, James Potter was not a quitter — or someone who could be easily deterred by the prospect of failure or embarrassment. A week after the incursion into McGonagall's office, James was already thinking of asking Evans out in front of her friends — humiliating scenario be damned — when a new idea came to him. A brilliant idea. One that for some mad reason had never occurred to him before. And one that happened to backfire spectacularly as well.
He wrote a letter. Not a mushy love letter by any means, but a couple of rushed together phrases inviting her to the Three Broomsticks on the next Hogsmeade weekend. In the small piece of parchment, James insisted that if she just gave him a chance, she might discover that he wasn't the big-headed prat he appeared to be after all. To add a final touch of mystery, James had even made use of his always reliable cloak to deliver the letter. Elegant and simple. Perfect.
Or at least it would've been perfect, if it hadn't been for Evans turning at the very same moment James was putting the letter in its spot. Needless to say, the girl had gasped at the floating hand appearing out of nowhere, and James had bolted out of there before she tried to grab him or something.
"She saw you!?" Sirius shouted as James retold the story to his friends.
James nodded gravely, passing a hand over his hair.
Opposite of Sirius, Remus had given no indication of what he thought about it so far, yet his eyebrows were slightly raised. Peter, on the other hand, kept turning from James to Sirius. The lone classroom where they had met was so far away from the crowded areas of the castle that no living soul ever wandered around there.
"Blast! The whole school could know about your little trick by now!"
"She's not like that. She won't go around the hallways blathering about it."
"Oh, please. She sees a floating hand and suddenly she's just going to shrug it off and go on as if that's a normal thing to see?"
James sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face vigorously. "Still, she's not the gossipy kind."
The way Sirius narrowed his eyes told James that his friend wasn't convinced. "Absolutely sure about that, Prongs? How can you know her so well if she keeps avoiding you as if you were dragon dung?"
Peter chuckled. "We could keep an eye on her," he proposed. "See what she's up to."
After guiding them to the desk by the window, Sirius took out the pair of hand mirrors. One of them would show a faint glint from time to time. "Not with these. They've been busted since our little stunt breaking into McGonagall's office. One would only show your ugly nose, and the other refuses to show anything that isn't total blackness since that ruddy thing broke over it."
James remembered the odd images that had appeared in the mirror back then — the one that was now completely black. They had told Remus and Peter all about it, but the images hadn't returned, and they had made no progress in unravelling the mystery.
"We have the map."
"That we do."
Remus unfolded the map over the desk as the four marauders leaned over it. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."
The old parchment soon started filling with a multitude of names and rooms. James felt optimistic about finding Evans quickly, as it was a breeze to track down anyone whenever the four of them were searching at once. What he didn't know was how much the map could help them. The girl would of course be near her friends, but the map wouldn't tell them what she was talking about.
As soon as he spotted the small tag labelled 'Lily Evans' that became the least of his worries.
Slowly, the four of them raised their heads from the desk. With pale faces, they turned around to see a frowning girl staring at them with her arms crossed over her chest. Her hair was deep red and the green of her eyes was as vibrant as emeralds. James couldn't help feeling startled by the sudden sight of her, especially since he hadn't expected to find her from up close.
"Evans! Fancy seeing you here! Are you following me?" James asked, composing himself at once. Nevertheless, his voice still came out an octave too high.
Evans rolled her eyes, although she fortunately appeared more annoyed than shirty. "Drop it. I know that floating arm was you, even if I don't know how you pulled it off," she said, pausing briefly to throw suspicious glances at the other boys before returning her eyes to James. "Obviously it wasn't a Disillusionment Charm. Your attempts at those in class are nothing to brag about."
Thinking that perhaps his friends could help him out, James turned around to give them a pleading stare. Unfortunately, the prats weren't of much help. Peter looked even more lost than James felt, while Remus merely pretended to find his trainers more interesting. Only Sirius met his eyes, however, the git appeared amused and was patiently waiting to see how James would get out of that one.
"I…" James turned back to Evans. "I don't know what you mean. Floating arms, Evans? Please, are you listening to yourself?"
The girl let out an exasperated huff before pulling out a piece of parchment.
His letter.
Oh, right! The blasted letter. Blimey!
A faint chuckle that sounded an awful lot like Sirius' reached James' ears.
"So, the only reason I followed you here is to get a particular question of mine answered."
"What time I'm picking you up?" James tried to guess cheekly. "I knew I forgot to write in that little detail."
Evans frowned before shoving the letter towards James, "Don't flatter yourself. What I was wondering was, if I hadn't been clear enough when I said I had no interest in going out with you."
The rest of the marauders could barely hold in their mocking laughs. Such friends.
"Well, to be fair, that was last year, Evans. I thought you might've wanted to reconsider," James replied in his most nonchalant tone.
"Not this year. Not in fifteen years."
With a decisive stride, Sirius walked over to stand by James' side and patted his shoulder. "I say give it a shot in sixteen, James."
A glare was James' way of telling Sirius what he thought of his proposal.
Evans didn't pay much attention to their exchange, or even address James' smirking friends behind him. She turned around and made for the door, her red hair cascading gracefully behind her. However, halfway there she reconsidered and walked back to James. "Ugh! Just tell me. How did you do it? How did you disappear? And what was that about breaking into Professor McGonagall's office? It was just a joke, right? Your decisions are rarely sound, but your head can't possibly be that thick as to attempt such a thing."
"My words, precisely," Remus muttered.
"Whose side are you on?" James snapped.
Remus rubbed his face, looking as if the argument was more exhausting than his monthly outings.
"I stood watch, didn't I?" Remus reminded him.
Evans didn't look any less exasperated. "Unbelievable! You did do it. There's truly no limit to those stupid ideas of yours, is there?"
"Impressed?"
"How daft can you be? Professor McGonagall would have skinned you alive if she had caught you messing around her office."
"Again. I said pretty much the same," Remus added.
Ignoring Remus this time, Evans kept her reproachful look on James. "What did you even go in there for?" she asked. Peter turned unconsciously to the desk, something she didn't miss. With a sure step, the girl pushed between them to admire the map splayed out before her. She followed the name tags with silent awe until she noticed the ones that belonged to them. "This map shows what is happening right now? That's incredible! Who did this?"
"You're looking at them," James boasted proudly, leaning against the window closest to her.
A look of utter amazement was plain on her face, but before she could say anything more, Sirius interrupted her. "Mischief Managed," he ushered, folding the map. "Sorry, Miss Prefect, but we can't let you in on our secrets. You're not a member of our select group, or even a girlfriend of a member."
"Yet," James added with a grin.
Evans snorted, "Oh, shut up."
"She already saw it," Peter pointed out.
"Brilliant deduction, Wormtail," Sirius snapped in a mocking tone before focusing on Evans, who stared back at him defiantly. "Hope you got a good, long look, because that's all you're getting," he spat, turning his attention to James. "Honestly, James, if you're so keen on spilling our secrets, then you can very well start with your own. Like the floating arm, for instance."
James gave a nasty scowl to Sirius, but his friend didn't appear guilty. He stood there smugly, daring James to tell the truth. It made James doubt for a second. For some stupid reason, he trusted Evans and felt she wouldn't rat him out. Still, the cloak felt very personal and he hadn't considered telling her about that secret when he'd woken up that morning. Sirius must have expected him to baulk though, because his eyes widened when James pulled out his cloak and set it in Evans' hands. The girl's eyes grew wide as she marvelled at the invisible fabric.
"You really have it bad," Sirius grumbled.
James didn't even turn to him, instead smiling nervously at the girl in front of him. "So, this is a family relic, and supposed to be private. A secret. Can you perhaps… Not tell anyone about it?" James asked her, hopefully.
The girl stared at him in disbelief for a while, all eyes set on her. For a dark moment, James imagined her not caring and announcing that she would reveal his little secret to anyone who would listen to her. That fear left his heart as soon as she spoke. "I may not agree with your stupid games, but I'm not the kind of person who goes about blabbing other people's secrets."
James beamed, and Evans placed the cloak carefully on the desk, admiring it as it rested on top of the map. "So, this is how you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Everything. All those pranks and whatnot. This is how you get away with it."
"We don't always get away with it," Remus argued.
"Not even half the time," Peter agreed, though he still didn't seem sure about how to behave near the girl now that she had discovered so much.
"And what's this?" Evans asked, picking up the black mirror. "Another one of your tricks to avoid responsibility for your actions?" she asked, though she did so with a small smile.
"Just an old trinket from Sirius. It's rubbish now, but it was actually quite useful until recently. A two-way mirror."
As if offended, Sirius took the mirror from her. "Oy! It would still work if it weren't for that Time-Turner falling on it."
"A what?"
"A Time-Turner," James explained. "Something used for time-travelling. We found it in McGonagall's office. But don't fret over it, the thing is alright and safely in her drawer. It did something to the mirror though."
"So… It did something? Like what? The mirror looks into the future now?" Evans asked sceptically as she stared at the mirror.
"That we don't know. And if it does, we haven't figured out how it works," Remus admitted.
"Well, have you tried asking the mirror to show you something?"
Am I hearing this right? Is Evans giving us advice to fool around with something not in the curriculum?
James smiled, beside himself.
"Talk to the mirror?" Peter asked, intrigued.
Evans shrugged, "Some girls own talking mirrors. They give them advice about their appearance. It's pretty normal, though it caught me off guard the first time they used one in front of me."
The marauders looked at each other. It wasn't the most unusual way to get something from an inanimate object, now that James thought about it.
"Actually, no. We haven't tried that."
With a grunt, Sirius passed the mirror to James. By the look he shot at Evans, it was obvious he was still not comfortable that she had learned so many of their secrets. "Give it a try then, Prongs. Ask the mirror about your future children."
"Prongs? What's up with those names you give yourselves anyways? It's childish, if you ask me," Evans said, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing. Some stupid joke," James rushed to say.
Too many secrets unveiled for one day for sure.
James cleared his throat, "Well, err… Mirror? Can you…? I don't know… Show me the first memory my first child has of me?"
That sounded specific enough to not get a bunch of images at once.
All of them leaned over the mirror to get a peek. They waited, and then waited a bit more. Still, nothing came up. Just blackness.
"It is busted," Peter announced.
James shoved it back to Sirius. "Here. Now you give it a try. Try to find your kids."
"Ha! Better luck trying with yours again," Sirius said before turning back to the mirror. "So, listen, mirror. Show me the first memory that James' eldest kid has of me."
He said it so casually that it was clear that he didn't expect it to work. However, when James leaned closer, he noticed that this time the mirror was showing something. It wasn't easy to distinguish, because the image was in the night, but something was appearing there alright.
"Those are houses," Remus said as soon as he saw the image.
"They're all the same," Peter elaborated with a nod.
Lily frowned, "That's odd. It looks like a muggle neighbourhood."
"Muggle?!" Sirius asked in confusion, "Why would James' first kid meet me in some dark muggle neighbourhood?"
"Not meet you. Just the first memory he has of you. He might be four or something," Remus guessed.
"Why would Padfoot take my four-year old on a night walk through this muggle neighbourhood though?"
If there was an answer to James' question, it didn't come to them then, because the mirror shone so brightly that for a moment, they couldn't see anything more. Suddenly, everything was darker, and James could feel a night breeze blowing through the air. Above them, the ceiling of the abandoned classroom was gone, and instead, a starry sky covered it all.