Rain fell down in heavy sheets as the boys trudged up to the Astronomy Tower and the group was shivering despite being wrapped up in their sweaters, scarves, gloves, and hats. Being a mere 5º C outside, the boys were absolutely miserable, it was days like this that the students wish it was snowing, but unfortunately, it was just wet and freezing. Ascending the stairs, the boys felt like the tower couldn't possibly be any taller, as they reached the last few steps, they were met with the harsh cold of the open Astronomy Tower.

They were early for their midnight Astronomy class due to Remus' incessant nagging to ensure they weren't late. On the positive side, Remus got his wish and no one would be receiving detention for tardiness, however, on the negative side, the boy would have to stand in the cold weather longer than necessary. With the wind picking up and the temperature not budging an inch, even Remus was regretting their early arrival.

"I'm freezing my arse off up here," Sirius grumbled. "Hope you're happy Remus"

"We might've left a tad bit early," Remus admits guiltily.

"A tad?" James stated incredulously "If we'd left an earlier it would still be light out."

"Think you're being a little dramatic, James" Remus snorted.

"Whatever, mate." James laughed. "But you can't deny that you're freezing too."

"Of course I am! It's bloody five degrees out here!"

"Will you two stop bickering," Sirius cut in. "We need to grab a telescope before everyone else gets here or we'll have no chance of getting our homework right."

"Not that you do your homework," James muttered, laughing.

"Oh, and you're so much better?" Sirius snapped back. "You haven't turned in work since the first week of class."

"That's not true!" James defended.

"Yeah, c' mon, Sirius. That's not true" Remus agreed. "He made it to the second week at least." Both Remus and Sirius busted out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. After a minute even James joined in. Calming down, the boys heeded Sirius' advice and found a telescope. They walked over and waited for class to start.

The lesson that day was particularly boring. The entire class period was dedicated to just looking at the star patterns they could see and the assignment that was given was to write ten inches about the change in patterns they had seen in the past month. This was not a strenuous task, but that didn't stop the boys' complaints. Back in the common room, the boys—which was really just Sirius and James— were still whining about the essay until nearly two in the morning, much to Remus and Peter's dismay.

"Would you give it a rest you two?" Remus sighed. "You can complain until you're blue in the face, but it won't do you any good"

"You have a whole week too" Peter piped in. "So you don't have to worry about it that much." Despite their undying need to 'protest the unfair burden that is their schoolwork', it appeared the boys were going to let the matter rest for now.

"Alright, it is late anyway." James relented.

"More like early" Remus muttered without the others hearing, but then spoke up in appreciation for the boys finally being quiet. "Thank you, and goodnight."

"Goodnight" The rest of his dorm mates responded and with that, finally, all was quiet in the dorm.

The next morning, all of Hogwarts was in the Great Hall for breakfast. As the students munched on their breakfast, the flurry of owls came in to deliver mail. A letter arrived for James from his parents, a parcel of treats for Peter from his mother, and the newspaper arrived for Sirius. It was a habit for Sirius to read through much of the Daily Prophet every morning at breakfast. James reckoned that Sirius was turning into a crotchety old man already, but Sirius could not help his interest in the happenings of the wizarding world. Today, he was especially displeased with the news and it was apparent by his facial expression.

With a piece of toast still in his mouth, James began to talk "What's wrong, you'd think somebody died by looking at your face" Although it sounded more like incoherent mumbling because his mouth was full.

"Gross, James," Remus said in disgust "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Yeah, seriously," Sirius said. "No one wants to see that."

Swallowing his food, James grinned at the two. "Happy Now?" They nodded in response. "Back to my question, what's going on in the news that's got your panties all in a twist."

"You're hilarious," Sirius said sarcastically, "It's quidditch"

James groaned. All four Gryffindor boys had expressed disdain for the newly appointed International Director of the International Confederation of Wizards Quidditch Committee. "What's he said this time?"

"He said 'The only thing I dislike about Quidditch is the crowds'"

"Are you kidding me!" James exclaimed. It was essentially chaos at the boy's section of the table. It got so rowdy that Lily went over to investigate.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Have you read the paper today, Evans?" Sirius asked.

"Oh yeah, about the supposedly corrupt member of the ministry, I think-" She was cut off.

"No Lily! About Quidditch" James shouted as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," She said confused. "I'm not sure I read that article" This was met with more outrage from Sirius and James.

"Honestly, I wouldn't bother with them" Remus laughed. "They're hopeless once Quidditch is involved. But if you want to read it then here" He finished handing her the newspaper.

"Sure, Remus," She said happily taking the paper. "Good luck with those two, I'm sure you'll need it" Turning back to the table Remus did his best to mediate the conversation to no avail. The boys got even louder and eventually got the attention of Professor McGonagall.

"Boys! What seems to be the issue over here?" She asked. Immediately, James and Sirius started ranting about the paper and Royston Idlewind's statement. "Will you two be quiet for a minute? I swear all of your yelling can be heard from Hogsmeade." the boys paused at her command, but the fire remained in their eyes. "I'm not sure what you think all of your yelling will accomplish, but like it or not Mister Idlewind has been appointed as the International Director and you can't change that, you are merely students. So please for the love of Merlin, be quiet and eat your breakfast"

"Yes Professor" They grumbled before taking their seats, they knew arguing would only land them in detention.

"Good." She said. "I will see you four in class." On that note, she walked back to the teachers' table.

"Oh, but who is she to judge us simply because we're students," Sirius said. "We still have opinions"

Now that Christmas was fast approaching, most students were headed home for Winter Break. After class finished on the seventeenth, Peter was already happily stuffing his clothes in his trunk. He was more than excited to be going home to see his family for the holidays. James, despite being eager to see his family, was quite the procrastinator and had not yet started packing. After Peter had finished preparing his luggage for the trip home, he went to join the rest of his friends in the common room. Remus was reading and James and Sirius were in a lighthearted discussion when Peter walked into the room.

He was a very shy person, he lacked the courage that was a staple for all Gryffindors.

He was surprised by his sorting but was happy to be among some of the bravest wizards his age. In this instance, his timidness prevented him from striking up a conversation with the three others. It wasn't until James spoke out to their whole group that anyone even really acknowledged Peter's presence.

"Since we will all be apart for the break, we should have one last prank before the train leaves tomorrow"

"It's a tad bit late to plan something for tonight, don't ya think?" Sirius asked.

"Not if we start now" James argued.

"Fine, nothing too crazy" Remus sighed, "I'd like to be allowed back after the break."

"Moony, you wound me. How dare you insinuate that we would get caught" Sirius feigned being offended, but it was clear that he was just being his usual overdramatic self.

"Of course, because we've never gotten caught" Remus sarcastically added, rolling his eyes. They all laughed, only a handful of times had they managed to scathe by without punishment after a prank. They sat on the couches surrounding the fire as they deliberated what their options were for the prank. Eventually, they came up with their plan.

With an hour left before they were expected at dinner, they made sure everything was planned perfectly, but they were in a big rush to gather the necessary equipment to enact the prank. To get everything, they would have to go to Hogsmeade. To most, leaving campus presented unique challenges, but the ever-curious Marauders had a few tricks up their sleeves. They made their way down to the third-floor corridor.

Stopping at the statue of the one-eyed, hump-backed witch– the witch's name was Gunhilda of Gorsemoor, but no students knew nor cared about that fact –and stopped to see that the coast was clear. Positive that no one was around, James tapped the witch and muttered 'Dissendium' revealing the secret passageway.

Clambering in hurriedly, they closed the entrance and started the journey to Hogsmeade. After their 15-minute journey, which was normally 20, they emerged in the Honeydukes cellar. Lucky for the boys, the sweets shop was always busy and one could easily slip into the crowd and go unnoticed. They walked quickly, wrapping their robes tighter around them to make sure no one saw their uniforms, attempting to make it to Zonko's as soon as they could.

Once inside the store, they split up to look for what they needed. In a few short minutes, Sirius emerged with a handful of Dungbombs. The boys had a quick celebratory moment before quickly paying and going back into the street. Running back into Honeydukes, down into the cellar, clambering into the passageway and hurrying on the way back to the castle.

Fortunately, when they exited the passageway into the corridor back at school, they found it deserted. Practically running, they went back to their dorm to act casual as they waited out the remaining minutes before lunch.

A few minutes early, for probably the first and last time, the boys walked towards the Great Hall. Spotting Severus from across the corridor, James kicked Sirius in the shins to get his attention.

"Ouch, what the hell, James?" Sirius cursed under his breath.

Nodding up to where Snape was, James whispered, "It's Snivellus, now's the time" agreeing quickly, Sirius sped up making a beeline for Severus. Ramming right into him, Sirius dropped the dungbombs into Snape's bag.

"Watch out Snivellus" Sirius sneered, walking back to join the rest of the boys, laughing. James and Sirius high-fived and walked into the Great Hall. Severus, none the wiser, glared at the boys as they walked away, assuming they were just being their usual pompous selves. Finding Lily, he walked alongside her, forgetting about the Marauders as he sat down at the Slytherin table.

About halfway through dinner, James and Remus exchanged glances, now was the time. Almost silently, Remus muttered the incantation to get the dungbombs out of the bag and slammed into Severus' face. The impact of the hit set the bomb off, causing it to explode in Snape's face.

Snickers could be heard across the hall, it was distracting enough that even the ever-so-oblivious teachers lent their attention to the situation. Standing up from the teachers' table, Professor Slughorn made his way towards the Slytherin table, being the head of the house, this was going to be partly his responsibility. In addition to him, McGonagall stood walking directly towards the boys. In her mind, there was only one person –or in this case group of people– who could be responsible. Reaching their table, the Professor cleared her throat snapping the boys out of their laughter as they turned to look at her.

"Have you anything to say for yourselves," McGonagall said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about professor," James said, feigning confusion.

"I think you know exactly what I am talking about" She responded sharply.

"I can't believe you don't trust us!" Sirius faked gasped. "What could we have possibly done to break your trust?" The sarcasm in Sirius' tone was not going to do him any favours if they were getting detention, but that thought didn't deter him.

"Show me your hands, all four of you." The boys knew what she was up to, anyone who touched a dung bomb, let alone threw one, would get their hands dirty. Little did she know, the boys had thought of this in advance.

Sirius, who is the only one who had to physically touch the dung bomb for this plan to work, had grabbed them with his robes covering his hand, meaning his hands had stayed clean. They also did not throw the bomb but rather used a spell, Remus' hands stayed clean too. Smirking, all four boys showed their hands to McGonagall, enjoying the confusion on her face.

"It appears that I might have jumped to conclusions," McGonagall stated. "However, if I find out that you four are responsible, there will be consequences"

"Of course, Professor" Remus said sweetly, "We understand." Seemingly satisfied, McGonagall turned and left the boys alone. By now dinner was winding down and some kids had already headed back up to their dorms, the marauders following suit.

Realising they should have packed earlier, James and Sirius rushed about shoving clothes in their trunks. Remus was reading quietly in his bed, amused at the boys' antics, knowing that had they only listened to him earlier when he told them to pack, they wouldn't be in this predicament.

It was not until around two in the morning that the boys had finally finished packing, and getting ready for bed, by then their other two dorm mates had already gone to sleep, very quietly they shuffled over to their beds and talked for a little while.

The next morning, the boys got on the train to go back to London, chatting away during the ride and talking about the holidays. At the platform, the boys climbed off together looking around for their parents, Peter saw his first, running over and hugging them, waving goodbye to his friends quickly as he got whisked away. Remus saw his parents next, walking towards them, smiling at his friends before leaving.

James and Sirius were left on the platform, in a sea of students and parents, looking around. Sirius was quite fidgety as he glanced around nervously, in a few minutes, he paled a little bit rushing off into the crowd, not even saying goodbye to James.

Only looking hurt for a second, James recovered, dismissing Sirius' strange behaviour and resumed his search for his parents. As the platform cleared out a little bit, James spotted his parents. Rushing over towards them, James was engulfed in a big hug from his parents. Smiling wide, he left Kings Cross Station in pursuit of home.

The Potter family holidays were nearly picture-perfect. They had their fair share of traditions, one very important one was that everyone had to be home before they put the star on top of the tree. So naturally, now with James home, they could properly finish the tree.

James had only been home for two days when he started to miss his friends. His wistful thoughts led him to his desk where he started writing letters. First, to Sirius, quite a lengthy draft talking about Quidditch, the holidays, school, and other random things, it was clear from this letter that James was a rambler and he could go on for a while. Finishing the letter, James moved to write to Peter, talking about new sweets and what he hoped to get for Christmas, rambling about Wizards Chess, and his aspirations to finally beat his dad in a match. Lastly, James wrote to Remus, wishing him a happy holiday and sending love for his mother in the hopes she would feel well, talking about books he had around the house that he thought Remus would love.

Each letter was unique, just like his friends, he was never much of a writer– any of his teachers can attest– but when it came to his friends, there was no stopping him. Completing all three letters, he sent the family owl off, anxiously awaiting a response from each of his friends.

A few days had passed and it was Christmas Eve, James was sitting at the dinner table when an owl swooped down to the window.

"That'll probably be Sirius," James said. "Can I go and read it?"

"May I?" Mrs Potter corrected, smiling.

"Mum!!" James whined.

"I'm only joking, of course, you can," She laughed along with her husband. "Don't take too long, wouldn't want to miss presents." Nodding in agreement, James rushed to the window to fetch the letter, heading to his room he opened the roll of parchment.

Seeing the handwriting, James realised it was another letter from Remus, and not Sirius. James was not disappointed to hear from Remus, they had been exchanging letters throughout the break, but Sirius had not responded to his letter even though it had been nearly a week.

Ignoring that for the moment, James wrote out his response to Remus. Deciding to also send another to Sirius, in case the first letter had gotten lost. Sending those letters off, James rejoined his parents in the living room.

Another Potter family tradition was that on Christmas Eve, you were allowed to open one of your presents. This was easily one of James' favourite traditions. He sat down on the soft carpet next to the tree, bouncing with excitement, he grabbed the largest present of his, a technique he used every year because in his mind bigger meant it was probably cooler. When he opened the box, he was a little concerned to see another box inside of it, opening that one was another box.

Thankfully for James, that was the last box, he opened the third box and saw shining shimmery cloth, that almost flecked gold when the light caught it. Confused, he pulled the item out, inspecting the strange material that almost seemed fluid.

"What is this?" James said, looking up to his parents with a puzzled look.

"That is an invisibility cloak," Mr Potter said matter-of-factly. "My father gave it to me my first year at Hogwarts, just like his father before him, so I thought it was about time to pass it on to you" he finished with a smile. James' face lit up, not only was he thrilled that his dad wanted to pass it on to him.

"Thanks, Dad!" James said jumping up and trying on the cloak and watching in amazement when he could no longer see his body.

"Just don't go getting into too much trouble" Mr. Potter responded laughing "If you cause half as much chaos there as you do at home, then Dumbledore is in trouble" Mrs. Potter joined in laughing and James rushed off to his room to brainstorm how many pranks he could get away with now that he had an invisibility cloak.

The entire ride to Kings Cross Station, James bounced his leg in anticipation. His hyperactivity was verging on annoying, but his doting parents still found it humorous.

"Jamesy, if you keep bouncing your leg like that it's going to fall off" Mrs. Potter laughed.

"I told you not to call me that," James whined, but the argument did not get anywhere because they had just arrived at Kings Cross. Pushing their way through muggles with his trunks, James made it to the pillar between platforms nine and ten. Deciding that running was easier, he ran at the wall, his parents following behind him.

Platform nine and