I stood tentatively away from Fleamont as he slowly poured four vials of Polyjuice potion for me. He'd been surprisingly willing about it telling me that he often tried potions that Euphemia could never dream about. I had so many questions but I also had somewhere to be so perhaps I would save them for the next family dinner.

"And there we go, three vials of Polyjuice potion! It's an old batch, you should have told me sooner and I could have brewed a fresh batch for you, it would have been a gift for both of us!" He said, excitedly passing me the four vials which I promptly almost dropped on the floor, "Careful now! Not that it matters, I have plenty more."

"Thank you so much, Fleamont," I added quickly, "I'll tell James eventually but right now, thank you so much for keeping it just between us."

"Not at all, not at all," He said, "If you don't mind me asking what is it for?"

My mind went blank as I awkwardly stuttered, "Um... I'm... I'm trying life out as a ... boy. Yeah, that's what me and the girls are doing, James already had a turn and I want to see life from the opposite perspective."

I expected Fleamont to give me a confused, judgemental look but instead he looked slightly dreamy, "Been there." He quickly snapped back to the present; I made the educated decision not to press further, "Anyway, I shall see you at some point soon, I hope. This has been a lot of fun, please do come and see me if you have any more potion related queries, I have nobody to discuss it with since all my old friends are dead."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be, natural causes most of them although Reggie did have that unfortunate Inferius accident a good ten years ago now," He gave another wistful sigh, "Ah, Reggie. Ha, I think it was a lesson to all of us not to meddle in Dark Spells... terrible sorry, I'm rambling, you need to be somewhere, do you not?"

I nodded, "I'm meeting my friends and it is kind of urgent."

"Well, you know where to apparate from," He said as we walked to the door, "Come and see us both again, Euphemia loves to see you."

I felt a pang of guilt that I'd seen Euphemia more in the past few months than my own mother but shook it aside. It was for her safety, Euphemia and Fleamont were protected by strong, ancient spells which I could hardly even begin to fathom; my mother had some hasty, probably ineffective spells that I had done. I could have got James and Sirius to help, they probably knew a lot thanks to their upbringing but I was still clinging to this vaguely ridiculous notion keeping this whole thing a secret. Looking back, if I'd been up front, it probably would have been better, I had made this a bigger deal than it was.

The moment I was out of range of the house, I apparated off to Dorcas's flat, the chaos of the Chiswick high street contrasting nastily to the quiet countryside. I hastily ran towards her building, my fingers tightening around my wand as an automatic reaction to being outside and vulnerable, only loosening once I was safely inside Dorcas's house.

Dorca's flat was, surprisingly, the least Dorcas place I'd ever seen. She was usually quite messy, wherever she went, she left trails of paper and random knick-knacks but her flat was uncharacteristically clean, to the point where it was unnerving. Everything was neatly stacked and folded; her pencils were sorted by colour, running perfectly from darkest to lightest and all of the moving pictures had been taken down, replaced by boring still paintings.

"This looks... different from how I'd imagined," I said and Dorcas nodded, her face slightly blank.

"I guess so. I wanted a change of style."

"Where's that photo of the three of us?" Marlene asked from the sofa, "It used to be there - " She pointed towards a cabinet which now had a painting of a flower in a neat brown frame in it's place, " - just over the cabinet. You know the one, taken when we went for that walk in the hills back in Fifth Year."

Dorcas shrugged, "Couldn't have them all watching over me. I'll put it back when all of this is over, though."

"Okay," I said, quickly changing the subject from the strangely awkward subject, "I have the Polyjuice potion and Alice sent me a patronus message to let me know she'd acquired a portkey. Let's try and be as quick as possible as I left James and Sirius to look after Dumble-paw whilst Remus had lunch with Peter and between James's constant hugging and Sirius's silent resentment, I wouldn't be surprised if when I came back, Dumble-paw was dead."

Alice got there not long after me and we were ready to set off. It felt very odd to be in Chiswick one moment and then the hills of Scotland thanks to what looked like a strange fez-like hat but that was magic for you. There was a slight walk to the castle but we got there quickly and stood still in the hallway, all of us feeling the same sense of deja vu as we stood in the corridor.

"So many memories," Marlene said, taking a long deep breath, "This is where I had my first kiss when I was fourteen with that guy Sam... something or other."

"I used to walk down here for early morning Quidditch practices," Dorcas said softly, "It's where I met Glenn..."

"I always used to drop my books down here without fail. No idea why it was this corridor but I always did," Alice said with a small laugh.

"Ladies, we have a mission, we need to focus," I hissed, "We can be nostalgic any day but not today. Channel the Marauder inside you, use them for trouble making."

We walked down the corridors, trying to find the lost property cupboard, all the while having to listen to Alice figure out which Marauder we were, "I mean Lily is James obviously... wait, no she's Remus. I think I'm Peter. Dorcas is James and that makes Marlene, Sirius!"

"Bitch, no," Marlene scowled, "You are not making me my ex."

Eventually we found the cupboard and managed to find robes that fit us all after a lot of searching leaving us only two things to find out; Dumbledore's password and students to disguise ourselves as, both of which were essentially problematic tasks. However, Alice said she could do this first one and Dorcas ominously said that we should leave the last task with her. They both left, leaving me and Marlene standing there alone to discuss the 'glory days'. I'd expected the pair of them to take ages but Dorcas was back within minutes, grasping several hairs in her hands.

"Oh God, Dorcas, you didn't attack anyone did you?" I asked, dashing forwards.

"What? No! I used to help train the younger students for Quidditch," She said, looking a little offended, "They gave me them, I wouldn't go up and grab some hair off of a random student's head, honestly Lily."

"I just assumed," I mumbled which was met by a slight glower from her. Eventually Alice returned, her hands shaking slightly.

"I... I did it," She whispered, "He just... gave it to me, he didn't suspect anything, I guess I'm very innocent looking, nobody suspects me of anything. It's Hinkypunk."

"We've got it," I said softly, "We can actually do this... is this going too well?"

"Too well? Lily, this is us," Dorcas said, "There is not too well. This is just average."

There was one slight problem, we'd forgotten that we wouldn't be wearing the robes and Dorcas had hairs from fourth years but somehow, it all worked out eventually, the robes fitting well enough to pass. We examined ourselves in the mirror of the bathroom.

"The best part is the people we've transformed into have agreed to stay in their dorms until their next lesson," She said, "So that's one problem solved."

"Nice job, Dorcas."

"What can I say? I'm good at getting things," She said as Marlene and Alice emerged from their stalls. Alice was a short, teenage boy and Mary was a tall, lithe girl, it was all very odd. Dorcas looked the most similar, an average height plump girl with dimples and golden curls whilst I was way off, a tall, surprisingly chiselled boy with dark, rich skin and thick dark curls.

"Okay, ladies - "

"Maraudettes?" Alice suggested but Marlene shook her head.

"No, we need to be original. We can't just add -ette to the end of their thing we need our own thing," She said, "Nothing comes to mind but I'd rather be 'Ladies' than the 'Maraudettes', okay?"

"We can be Godric's Hoes," Dorcas suggested, "or Godric's bitches. We're reclaiming the phrase."

"I'm kind of feeling Godric's bitches," Alice said, giggling, "I've never been a bitch before, maybe this will be fun."

"Okay, fine, we're Godric's bitches," I snapped, "Okay, Godric's bitches, here's the plan, we get into Dumbledore's office during lunch. Me and James used to be Head Boy and Head Girl - "

"We KNOW!" They chorused and I glowered at them.

" - and Dumbledore was always gone for like an hour at lunch, from twelve to one so we have until about one which gives us about... twenty minutes plus we're in disguise as some random fourth years so we should be fine. Basically just look for any sign that Dumbledore could be conspiring with Grindlewald or even in contact with him. We can try accio but I doubt it will work."

"Ha, imagine if you said accio Grindlewald and Grindlewald came out of the cupboard and was like 'Dumbledore, you naught - Oh, you're not Albus' and then - " Dorcas began but was cut off by Alice squealing and covering her ears.

"Dorcas, STOP! Too far, I can't hear this, it's weird!"

"Could happen," She shrugged.

"If that did happen it would be very useful to the investigation," I said, putting an end to the conversation, "Anyway, the Polyjuice potion doesn't last forever and we've probably already wasted valuable time discussing the obvious. Save your dirty jokes for later on when we're ourselves again, it feels wrong to see them coming out of an innocent fourth year."

The four of us crept out of the bathroom, before straightening ourselves up and walking along the corridors, trying to arouse as little suspicion as possible. I thought that pretending to be someone else would be easy but I had no idea how boys walked despite the fact that I spent 99% of my time around them. I walked quite quickly, usually with my arms loosely folded but thinking about it James and Sirius tended to walk with a slight swagger, leaning back slightly. I tried that but Dorcas gave me a sharp look.

"What the hell are you doing, Lily?" She hissed, "You look like you've broken your back!"

"I'm not Lily, I'm... Dorcas, what is my name?"

Dorcas looked away quickly, "Make it up?"

The three of us stopped, cornering her against a wall. Alice's eyes narrowed as she said, "You don't know our names? I thought you said you trained these kids in Quidditch!"

"I trained one of them, the others just gave me a hair because their friend told them to..." She said slowly, "I'm sure it won't come up."

"Sure," Marlene said, turning away and moving her arms in frustration, "Why would our names come up? It's only the main thing that people identify us with."

I was about to say something else before I noticed that Dorcas suddenly looked very small, looking away distantly and decided to move on, "Well, there's nothing we can do, let's just try and be quick about it so we don't get caught."

We quickened our pace as we neared the office, checking that nobody was around as Alice said the password and we stepped inside. I'd been in the office before but never without Dumbledore, the whole place felt slightly empty without his usual presence. The three of them turned to me for guidance even though I was still trying to figure out what to do.

"Okay... um, I'll start at his desk, you guys just rifle around and see what you can find?" I said, awkwardly and with a shrug they took to different corners of the room. I'd expect Dumbledore to keep his drawers locked with numerous enchantments but instead the first few drawers opened easily... mainly because they contained nothing of interest. The first drawer seemed to only contain beer bottle lids with strange moving women on them and that was the most normal. The others contained everything from gold rings to random bits of wool, Dumbledore was a hoarder.

"Guys," I looked up to see Marlene struggling with an old chest of drawers, "It won't open."

"Did you try alohomora?" Alice asked, craning her neck to see.

"No, Alice, I didn't use the most obvious and useful spell ever.... yes, of COURSE I used alomomora, I'm not a muggle!"

"Maybe you need to think like a muggle," Dorcas said, slowly standing up and walking towards Marlene. Marlene stood back slightly warily, glancing at Dorcas who took a deep breath before giving a swift kick to the drawer.

"What the hell, Dorcas!" I said, standing up quickly, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get it open and I would have done too if it weren't for this pesky flimsy fourth year I am currently occupying," Dorcas moaned, "Does anyone have a hair pin or something? I watched a muggle documentary at my parents last year or so and I think I can remember how to do it... probably."

"Anyone have a hair pin?" I asked, glancing around at the others who shrugged and shook their heads.

"Maybe Dumbledore has one," Marlene suggested, "Man has a lot of hair."

"Marlene, don't be silly," I said with a smirk which was rather fitting with my chiselled temporary face, "There won't be - "

"I found one," She said with a satisfied smile, "It was literally in the top drawer."

I chose to remain silent as Dorcas took it from Marlene and managed to unlock the drawer with surprising ease. We rushed over to the drawer, swarming it to see inside whilst Dorcas proudly said, "That's the thing about wizards, they forget to look at muggle tricks but muggles are smarter than they look."

"What's inside?" Alice asked as Marlene tentatively opened it. My eyes widened as I realised the whole thing was filled to the top with paper, "Oh my God... letters."

Without thinking, I pulled one out, desperate to see what was on it only to find... nothing, "It's... it's completely blank."

Marlene's brow furrowed as she picked up another one, "This is one too.... and this one... they're all blank."

"No, this doesn't make sense," I said, desperately, "Why would he lock the drawer for blank paper... he wouldn't do that."

"He's weird," Alice replied, "Maybe he just... felt like it."

"No, we have to keep searching - "

"We can't," Dorcas said, her voice solemn for once, "You said until one, we have two minutes to get out."

"But this doesn't add up..." I said, trailing off slightly.

Marlene yanked at my hand, "Come on... look, let's take them with us, okay? We can check when we get home."

I nodded vaguely as I grabbed a pile of letters and Marlene grabbed the rest before the four of us ran out of the office. Overall, the plan had been a success, we'd got in and out without getting caught which was more than the Marauders seemed to be able to do. Yet despite their chaos, it felt like they almost always got something out of it. We tried every spell and potion in the books yet the paper remained blank.

We'd hit a dead end before we'd even truly started.

•••

I have a few announcements and thought I would add dots today. The book has a NEW COVER which I am very happy with and I hope you like it too, it was meant to be like the Baby Driver poster sort of. Secondly, I have more new book!

One of them is called Porcelain and is Drastoria because I felt like it was necessary and the other one is Theodore Knott x Marlene McKinnon called Guardian of Gryffindor and it works, trust me! Anyway, it would be great if you checked it out and I hope you enjoy it! - E x