AN:- This came about because of a post on Tumblr I saw from marauders4evr. Hopefully this fits the bill.

Students Out of Bed!

'you haven't truly lived until somewhere; somebody puts a sign out because of something you did' - How I Met Your Mother

Not for the first time in what was becoming one of the most difficult years of her teaching career, Professor Minerva McGonagall took a moment to compose herself. She always did this in the same way, by turning away from her desk to look at the bookshelf behind it, taking a deep breath and sorting through all the possible things she could say. This normally worked very well, as the moment of silence gave whatever feckless teenagers she was faced with a moment to truly consider all the inventive punishments she could vest upon them.

With this particular group that never seemed to work.

As she turned back she could see that they knew exactly why she had needed a moment. Not because she had to think about what she was going to do next, but because what they had done was a combination of brilliant, baffling and of course highly against the rules, and she frankly had no idea how to deal with them.

She sat back down and rested her arms on the desk, linking her fingers and staring down the motley collection of twelve year olds, letting her gaze pass over each of them in turn. First of course there was James, and how appropriate for him to be first. Obviously the ringleader, the mastermind of the plots, the one who came up with the ideas and put the effort in to have them completed. He was undaunted by her harshness, and was smiling back at her with that cheeky grin that had already ensnared so many of his peers.

Sirius next, and also appropriate. Whatever idea James came up with he might have been quick to disregard, but Sirius was the one who pushed him. Who declared it brilliant and that he absolutely had to go through with it. Right now he was meeting her stern gaze with his own cool response.

Which brought her to Remus, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed about being there. He squirmed a little in the seat. He of course was the one who had done the research. Who had learned what spells they would need and then shown them how to put them together. The brains, but at least never an instigator.

And finally, little Peter, who sat there squirming in his seat and not meeting her eye. She still found it difficult to place him sometimes. He was sometimes their guinea pig, sometimes just their hanger on. But they all seemed to protect the boy when it came down to it, which was admirable at least, and a truly Gryffindor trait.

"Once more," she finally said when the silence had dragged on for as many minutes as she could let it. "Let me make sure I have this correct." Remus sat up a little straighter. "You were discovered out of the dormitories by Mister Filch. You have caused damage to school property and also to a statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"Technically we haven't broken any rules."

She stared at James. James stared back, a happy smile glued to his face.

"Mister Black?"

"He's right Minerva." Her eye twitched a little, like it always did. She wasn't even entirely sure how they had managed to find out her first name. "We didn't actually break a rule."

She turned the full force of her glare on Remus. "Do you concur Mister Lupin?"

His eyes remained fixed on her desk as he mumbled back. "They are right. Sort of."

She didn't even bother to move down to Peter, he never went against the other three. Instead she returned her attention to James and Sirius. "Let's have the explanation for that then."

James was more than happy to explain. Clearly he had just been waiting for the opportunity to show off how clever they had been. "We read the rules. They're really clear. No student should be out of bed after curfew. And we were not out of bed."

Minerva fought the urge to hang her head. She had known that was where they going. Caught out of their dormitories, flying their four poster beds around the halls and crashing into things. Pettigrew's bed had been the one to alert the teachers of what was going on when it smashed into the statue of Gunhilda on the third floor. Lupin had then been discovered hovering around the Entrance Hall, clearly wanting to return to bed while Potter and Black had carried out some sort of race around the Great Hall.

"Have you ever heard of the spirit versus the letter of the law Mister Potter?"

"Nope."

"I thought not."

"We can't be punished if we didn't break the rules though can we professor?" Sirius asked.

"You did break the statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor," she reminded them. "So ten points each off for that. And during your little race around the Great Hall you knocked into several candle holders and scuffed the walls and beds. So a one hour detention for all of you where you will help Mister Filch to straighten up the Great Hall." She looked over all of them again. "Now back to bed with all of you."

They stood, but before they went to leave she cleared her throat. "Mister Lupin, please stay a moment."

He looked absolutely terrified, giving his friends a pleading look as they shuffled out. He sat back down and McGonagall gave him a thin smile. "Only a curiosity Mister Lupin." She waited until the door was closed. "What spells did you end up using?"

"Professor?"

"The spells. Wingardium Leviosa would serve to float the beds but how did you make them move?"

"Uhm…" He looked around as though he was trying to figure out what the trick was. "Mobiliarbus?"

"Mobiliarbus?" She raised an eyebrow. "That is not a second year spell."

"Well uh, we kinda thought uhm…"

"You've already received your punishment Mister Lupin, I'm simply curious."

"James said we could be out of the dorms if we were still in our beds, so I needed to find a way to move the beds."

"And so you taught yourself a spell several years too complicated for you?"

"I think that's why Peter crashed," he said. "It was a bit hard to control."

"Well perhaps in future you might make sure to keep your spells within your abilities Mister Lupin. There's a reason we teach you the spells when we do."

He nodded, and she restrained a sigh. It had been a year and half a term, and already she had seen these four boys in her office more than any other student in history. She could only hope at some point they would grow up a little. "That will be all Mister Lupin. I'll see you all in class tomorrow."

"Yes Professor." He almost tripped over the chair in his haste to leave, and left the door open. Clearly the others had been waiting for him, and as they walked back to the dorm she heard Potter and Sirius talking excitedly.

"She didn't actually punish us for being out of bed, did you notice?"

"Yeah I did! See Peter, if you just hadn't crashed into that statue."

"Yeah well you bashed up the Great Hall…"

And they were out of earshot.

McGonagall finally let out the long sigh she had been holding it, leaning down and resting her face in her hands. This was going to be a very very long year.

She rose, closed the door, and crossed to the fireplace and threw in a handful of Floo Powder, kneeling down on the special mat there and saying clearly. "Dumbledore's Office."

The flames went green and she leaned forwards, closing her eyes as the strange whirling sensation enveloped her head and shoulders and a moment later she was peering out into Dumbledore's office.

"Minerva?" He smiled at her from the desk. "How did it go?"

"They're learning magic well above their level, it turns out."

"What remarkable boys."

"Yes well on that note I have some suggestions for a few tweaks we might need to make to the rules…"

AN:- Heheh. First Marauders fic! Be kind.