Rolling, green hills and rainbow wild flowers landscaped the countryside of the path the Hogwarts Express traveled. Lily Evans, a seventh year girl who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sighed and gazed out the window, her eyes examining the graceful scenery. The fiery-haired girl suddenly leapt from her cushiony seat as if she had sat on a pin. “Blast! I’ve forgotten… the Head Boy and Girl have to meet with the Prefects! Now I’m in for it,” Lily stormed out of the empty compartment to the one that the Prefects and Head Boy were waiting in.



James Potter sat in a compartment with the eight prefects, wondering where in the world the Head Girl was. His hand reached up to his mop of messy, jet-black hair and ruffled it, making himself look like he had just gotten off a broomstick. Wow, he thought to himself I never knew it was possible to be this bored in my life. What should I do? I could talk to Moony, but about what? The others have to be able to hear it also. Hmmmm…well I could always just- no; I don’t want to be expelled. Maybe I could- nah, that wouldn’t work without something exploding. Great! There is officially nothing to do but wait for the stupid Head Girl to magically appear.



“Alright! That does it!” James exclaimed, “If the Head Girl doesn’t arrive in the next thirty seconds, the meeting will just have to begin without-” James was abruptly interrupted as Lily Evans literally crashed through the compartment door and tripped over James’s foot, which sent her falling to the floor. As she stumbled to her feet, Lily couldn’t bring herself to meet anyone’s eyes. She had been very late and had also just done the most embarrassing thing possible. Lily straightened her robes and looked up at the Head Boy (Lily was a little shorter than the average height).



“James Potter! What are you doing in the Heads Compartment?” A flustered Lily shouted, “I want you out or I will take points from Gryffindor as soon as we step inside of Hogwarts! This compartment is reserved for the Heads and prefects only! I do not care how bored Remus was while they were waiting for me, but I’m here now so LEAVE!” Lily and James had never gotten along in the past, especially because he would never stop tormenting her to go out with him, as if James-Merlin’s-gift-to-the-world-Potter would ever give her a glance if she were actually interested in him.



The prefects were staring at the Head Girl as if she were foaming from the mouth. They continued to stare at Lily’s flushed face until Remus quietly said, “Lily, James is the Head Boy.”



James Harold Potter, the Head Boy of Hogwarts?!?! Impossible! Lily assured herself privately Remus is just paying me back for being late. Wait a second! James was wearing the Heads badge when I came in! And he had been giving orders too! Maybe he really is Head Boy! I think I need to sit down…



James stood up in the cramped compartment and tried to hide a smirk. He removed his glasses and wiped them on his shirt. He placed the glasses back on his nose and stared expectantly at Lily, who was hyperventilating and terribly close to fainting. “Hem, hem. Evans, would you care to inform the Prefects of their duties, as some of them are new?”



Lily stood flabbergasted at James’s blunt politeness towards her and merely opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. Lily took a deep breath, “Y-yeah, Potter. Okay, so you need to all patrol the hallways during the night for a certain amount of time. You will have schedules to tell you when and for how long you will be patrolling. James and I will be patrolling every night. Here are your schedules; Gryffindor- Wednesday, from after dinner to 9:00. Ravenclaw- Tuesday, same times as Gryffindor. Hufflepuff- Thursday, once again, same times as everyone else. Slytherin- Monday, you had better know what times by now. Anything to add, Potter?”



James shook his head no, letting his hair swish about his deeps, hazel eyes. James smiled and answered, “Well, Miss Evans, I do believe you have covered everything but one thing. Prefects, here are you passwords, Slytherin- Midnight; Ravenclaw- Indigo Thoughts; Hufflepuff- Hopeful Hearts; Gryffindor- Pride and Loyalty. Before you go, remember to collect the first years and take them to their common rooms. That is all. Have a nice start of term, goodbye!” Smiling, James turned around to see a very unhappy Head Girl. “Whoa, Evans!” he laughed, “What’s your problem?”



Lily could have kicked herself. How on earth did she manage to forget to tell the prefects the passwords? She had just gotten so much satisfaction from knowing everything she had to know, while Potter probably didn’t know anything, but he had to ruin it for her. “You are my problem, James Potter. You have always plagued me like thousands of locusts, trying to find ways to turn what could be a pleasant year into a year from hell. Now, if you could please just leave me alone from now on and only speak to me when needed, both of our lives would be much easier. Thank you. And, oh, how did you phrase it? Have a nice start of term, goodbye!” And with that, Lily walked from the compartment to go and join her friends Lindsay and Theresa, her emerald eyes flashing furiously. But what Lily didn’t know was that, when she left James standing in the compartment by himself, she had, once again broken off a piece of his heart. If only she could have known that one day, she would long for him, the way he had for her, for six years.



James stood in the compartment, thinking of Lily’s words. Now, if you could please just leave me alone from now on and only speak to me when needed, both of our lives would be much easier. “Easier?” James said to no one in particular, “Well, that is the only thing you will ever be wrong about, Perfect Lily. If you only knew how wrong you are, because I- I- love you.”



The compartment door slid open and Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew walked through the door. “Hey buddy! You okay?” questioned James’s best friend Sirius.



“Yeah, Prongs, you do look a little pale,” remarked tiny Peter Pettigrew.



After a long period of silence, Remus asked, “It was something Lily said, wasn’t it?” James looked at the ground and nodded. “Come on, James! Buck up! Tomorrow is a brand new day!”



Peter smiled a mousey grin and encouraged James by saying, “There’s always next time. Besides, she was probably just hungry, I know I am.”



Sirius put his arms around his three best friends. “C’mon Marauders! We have almost arrived at Hogwarts and that means food. And most especially the ladies.” The four boys laughed together and for awhile, James wasn’t thinking about how much he loved Lily Evans, and how much it hurt.

As the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade, the students clambered into coaches, trying to avoid as many raindrops as possible. Students of young and old attempted to dry their clothes by wringing them out, while a few intelligent Ravenclaw sixth years used a charm to dry themselves off. Lily and her two best friends, Theresa Fritsch and Lindsay Smith, slammed the carriage door shut. The girls sat in silence for quite a while, until Theresa launched into a play-by-play account of a Quidditch match she had seen over their summer holiday. “….and then McCormack, you know, of the Pride of Portree, she preformed a Woollongong Shimmy and then quickly perfected a combination of a Reverse Pass and a Porscoff Ploy. It was the best ever! She signed my back, that’s one place I’m never washing again.”


Lily and Lindsay burst into fits of giggles, which turned into gales of laughter at their Quidditch-possessed friend. Soon, Theresa started to laugh because Lily and Lindsay were laughing, and the stagecoach was filled with hysterical chuckling.

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


The Great Hall began to fill with chattering students and solemn ghosts. When everyone was seated, Dumbledore rose and silenced the room automatically. “Welcome, students old and new!” he began, “Before we begin the sorting, I must say that I am very pleased with the bunch that has turned out this year. Now, for the Sorting Hat.”

Professor McGonagall placed a three-legged stool on the Great Hall’s floor and placed the hat upon it. “Here it comes, boys, what we’ve all been waiting for,” whispered Sirius. Lily shot a suspicious glare at the Marauders, who smiled back innocently at Lily. She rolled her eyes and waited for the Sorting Hat’s song. The Sorting Hat opened its mouth and began:


I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.

Step up when you hear your name.

Whether or not you so desire,

I will sort you just the same.

You think fate is yours to control

and choices are yours to take.

Stupid kids, you're barely twelve!

Such decisions are mine to make.

Will you land in Gryffindor

for actions without prudence?

Or perhaps in Hufflepuff;

those slow, delusional students.

Maybe you're a Ravenclaw,

Slowed by your wit and vision.

Or will you slide into Slytherin;

extraordinary ones bound for prison?

I'll cast you losers to where belong,

to suffer each and every day.

Begging me will not change my mind,

but a handful of galleons just may.

Run if you must, but you cannot hide.

Your parents sealed for you this fate.

Unwanted children, lowly first years,

for you, salvation will come too late.

I do not tell tall tales or lies.

You have every right to fear.

To be forever marked and judged,

be wary for your end is near.


The Sorting Hat finished his song and the room burst into various cackles, hoots and full-on gut laughs, which left many, especially four certain boys at the Gryffindor table, on the floor in hysterics. The boys stopped snickering after Dumbledore cleared his throat loudly and he began, “Well, that was a refreshing start. Thank you to four Gryffindor boys who clearly made this meal more enjoyable, ten points each, but fifteen points from them for bewitching an object that was in my office. Now, Minerva, the sorting.”


Each student pretended to listen to McGonagall as she shouted off the names from Adams, Kelci to Zolotnyuk, Benjamin, the students robotically applauding each time they heard their house name called. Finally, the sorting ended and the glimmering, golden dishes were filled with food.


The student’s mouths watered when they saw all that there was to eat. Mounds of drumsticks and twelve platters of big, fat, juicy pork sat, waiting to be gobbled. Trays upon trays of fruits from oranges to cassava decorated the tables. James piled his plate with everything within reach, seeing if he could stuff himself with more food than Sirius. As he shoved mounds of meat down his throat, James ripped the bones out, after sucking on it, to make sure he had eaten every edible part out of the food. Next to him, Sirius was inhaling food, not from his plate, but from the platter it came from; like a human vacuum. Lily, who was unfortunately seated across from James, delicately nibbled on a salad and a few bits of pork. Soon, the dinner was swept away and the desserts magically appeared. The sturdy tables looked ready to buckle under the weight of the sweet food. Every inch of the table was laden in every type of tart you could imagine. Apple, kiwi, strawberry, orange, chocolate, cherry, and the list could go on. Mouthwatering treacle fudge was found everywhere you gazed. Finally, everyone’s stomachs were stuffed and the prefects ushered the first years to their common rooms. Lily and James rose, coincidentally, at the same time. Professor Dumbledore briskly strolled over to them and smiled. “Miss Evans and Mr. Potter,” he began, “I am going to show you to your lounge. As you are Head Boy and Girl, you are privileged to your own lounge which consists of a bathroom and several chairs and sofas, much like your Common Room. There is a studying area for both of you. Also, your meetings with the prefects will be held there. Now come along.” Dumbledore, Lily and James sauntered down the corridors, until they reached the hall on the second floor corridor with the tapestry of Merlin the Mage. “The password is ‘Gumdrop’. I hope you find it to your liking.” with that final note, Dumbledore disappeared, leaving James and Lily outside of their new common room.


“Well, Potter…we have patrol in a half hour, I suggest that you use your time to unpack. I will,” Lily said as they walked to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Lily climbed the familiar step to her good old dormitory. As she entered, she saw Theresa, Lindsay and another girl they shared the dorm with, Emmeline Vance. She wasn’t good friend with the other girls, but they chatted sometimes. The girls were laying on their beds, stomachs down, eating the masses of sweets Theresa’s mum packed in her trunk. “Hey, Lils! C’mon, sit down. Mum sent these sweets, they’re delicious,” cried Theresa happily. The two other girls nodded their head fervently.


“No thanks, dear,” Lily sighed, “I have to go patrol with Potter after I unpack my trunk.” The dorm-mates exchanged quick, knowing glances. They didn’t understand why Lily wouldn’t admit she was madly in love with James. Lily glared at her friends, “I saw that. And I don’t love Potter, Lindsay.” Lindsay blushed furiously when Lily caught her mouthing the words in denial to Emmeline. “Now if you ladies don’t mind, I’ve got to go patrol,” Lily said as she stormed out of the room. As soon as she left, Lindsay, Theresa and Emma burst into giggles.


Lily walked down to the common room. Remus, Sirius and Peter were dozing on the couches and squashy armchairs. Assuming that James was in his room, Lily walked to the boy’s dormitory to collect him. She entered the seventh year boy’s dorm to find it completely unorganized and messy, save one bed area Lily assumed to be Remus’s. She walked to what she assumed was James’s bed area and saw that, next to it, a few shelves held prized possessions. One of them, Lily noticed, was filled with pictures of all sorts. An eight year old James and his parents digging in the garden; James getting his wand in Ollivander's; twelve year old James and Peter being levitated into the lake by Remus, while Sirius was running around underneath them. The years progressed with several picture of the Marauders and plenty of pictures of Lily rejecting James which many of them had her screaming and punching him. Oh, the memories. There were two pictures though, that were the biggest and in frames. The first was of Sirius, James, Remus and Peter who were covered in wrapping paper and ribbons, laughing to the point of exhaustion. The other though, was of Lily and James. James was chasing her around the old oak tree on the grounds and he finally caught her and gave her a shy peck on the cheek. Lily blushed and smiled; the picture then repeated itself. Lily found several pieces of paper on another shelf that had her name on them and was about to sit down on James’s bed and read them when she realized that James was sitting on his bed, watching her go through his belongings. “Oh, I ummm…Well,” Lily stuttered, “I am so sorry, I don’t know what came over me!”


James smiled softly. “It’s okay Lily,” James said, “I understand. So, since we are going to be working together, I was hoping we could be friends?”


Lily fidgeted with her robes before answering. “Alright James, I do believe I could try to be friend with you for this year. For now though, we have to go patrol.” Wow, Lily thought as the two exited the Head’s Room, being nice to James is easier than I expected.

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


“What is your problem?” Lily screamed, her emerald eyes becoming frosty, “We split up on patrol for just ten minutes and I find you pummeling Snape mercilessly; I thought you had changed Potter, but I was wrong, so wrong. How could I have ever thought you could have changed? You are still the arrogant, egotistical, bullying toerag that you’ve been since second year! I… I HATE YOU!”

The entire student body began to migrate down the hall towards breakfast. Lily was the last Gryffindor to enter the hall, and she was not happy. Grumbling, Lily sat down and buttered her toast. Even though the Gryffindors all knew that Lily wasn’t a morning person and was dangerous before she had her three cups of coffee in the morning, they couldn’t help but stare at her. Her fiery hair was thick and puffy, much like her eyes which held large, purple bags under them. Since the first years were new, they were staring at the sight of Lily. Glaring at the table and the surprised first years, Lily growled, “What’re you lookin’ at, huh?” The first years squeaked apologetically and the rest of the table pretended that they had no idea what she was talking about. Soon after Lily was back to her usual self, Professor McGonagall passed out the schedules.


“Ugh!” James exclaimed, “Double Potions with Slytherin and then History of Magic- with Slytherin. Next we have Transfiguration with Ravenclaw, and after that, Herbology with Hufflepuff. Divination and then Arithmancy- lucky enough Gryffindors are taking it; we have it by ourselves; followed by Defense, with, you guessed it- Slytherin! I wonder who the new teacher is,” James mused. Breakfast went by much too fast for the students and they scurried off to their classes


Sitting down in Potions, James and Sirius were about to partner up, when Professor Slughorn waddled out from behind his desk and said, “Now, now, no need to partner up. I’ve a list of partners already. Well, it is the start of a brand new term. Those of you here obviously are serious about Potions, as this class is N.E.W.T. level. Now, I have already chosen partners for each of you: Lily Evans and Sirius Black; Theresa Fritsch and Remus Lupin.” As Slughorn read off the list of names, Lindsay found herself partnered with Peter Pettigrew. Gross! thought Lindsay, I have to be paired with Peter. Theresa is so lucky she is paired with Remus. Even Lily is luckier than me, she’s paired with Sirius! It’s not fair! The only person in this room I don’t envy is James. It was true, James was the unluckiest student in the room- he was paired with Severus Snape.


“Let’s get this straight, Potter,” sneered Snape, “I am the master of potions, one thing I beat you at; so no talking or anything that could possibly screw up this potion, alright?” James grunted as a reply and the pair set to work. Snape was pleased with himself. Earlier, during breakfast, he told Slughorn that he overheard James saying he was going to play a prank in Potions that day. Slughorn had believed him. While James was reading the ingredients, he added ten too many pickled frogs eyes to their potion. No immediate results, but Potter was going to pay. Oh, yes thought Snape, he is going to pay.


On the opposite side of the dungeon, Remus and Theresa were working together splendidly. Behind them, however, Lily and Sirius were biting each others heads off. Finally, Sirius gave up and took to staring at Theresa who was sitting in front of him. Look at the way her shiny, chestnut hair tumbles down her back like a waterfall. And her laugh- what a sweet sound- like the trickle of a brook when it falls over stones. But her eyes, like two clear, blue pools of- Merlin, Sirius! Get a hold of yourself! You’re comparing you’re best beater to water, do you have feelings for her?


“Sirius, NO!” screeched Lily, “No! don’t put the lacewing flies in yet!” but it was too late. Two potions exploded at the same time. The entire classroom floor was covered in an acidy, silver potion, dissolving all of the cauldrons.


Professor Slughorn scampered on top of his desk and the students followed suit. Slughorn shouted over the commotion, “Sirius, James and Lily! I will see you tonight at 7:30 sharp! Mr. Potter, I already knew that you were going to pull a prank, but I did not even stop to think that Mr. Black and Miss Evans- Miss Evans of all people- would also! Mr.’s Potter and Black, I would expect this type of thing from you, but Miss Evans? Surely you would be a better influence, but sinking to their level? I am ashamed.” Lily hung her head in embarrassment at his words. The rest of the day, classes seemed to fly by, and the three- Lily, James and Sirius, dreaded the oncoming detention.


At dinner, Sirius and James barely touched their food and the seven friends were all silent- well, almost all of them. Surprisingly, Lindsay and Remus were happily chatting together about a novel they both had read. Lindsay was so happy she was conversing with Remus again. Ever since last year, she never had time to talk with Remus anymore- maybe while the others were in detention, they could catch up with each other. Wow, giggled Lindsay, I never noticed how Remus’s hair falls into his chocolate eyes like that…so handsome. But he’ll never feel the same way about me. Little did she know, Remus was having similar thoughts about her.


As Lily and the two Marauders walked to Professor Slughorn’s office, Lily was wondering if the boys were sick. “Are you two going to be alright?” Lily asked, concerned.


“Yeah,” Sirius said solemnly, “But Slughorn comes up with awful detentions and I’m really sorry you got blamed for my screw up.” James nodded in agreement, as if that confirmed that Sirius was truly apologizing.


“It’s alright, I was due for a detention anyways,” Lily said smiling, “But you seemed preoccupied. You were staring at something…or someone. Sirius, were you staring at Theresa?” Sirius nodded guiltily. “Oh, that’s so perfect,” Lily squealed, clapping her hands, “Oh, yes. But how to…she’s waited so long…but stupid Quidditch pride- not wanting to ruin the team. Oh blast it all!” James stared worriedly at Lily, thinking the potion had muddled the brains of the girl he loved. Sirius merely stood, his face screwed up in concentration, trying to understand Lily’s gibberish.


“Wha?” Sirius asked, thoroughly confused.


“What I mean to say is, just bloody ask her out, you blundering idiot!” screamed Lily. Standing outside of Slughorn’s office, Lily, James and Sirius all heaved a sigh, and they officially began their detention. Professor Slughorn greeted them gruffly, and the trio set to their task-dicing and pickling caterpillar bodies. Once they completed their disgusting task, Lily, James and Sirius wrote I will never explode a potion in class again, no matter how funny it may seem to me.- fifty times, which was the amount of points Slughorn deducted from Gryffindor. Finally, the three handed in their lines and trudged back to the common room, only to find Remus and Lindsay curled up on the couch, sleeping in each other’s arms. “Let’s not say anything to them until they tell us, agreed?” asked Lily.


“Agreed,” James and Sirius said in unison as they headed up the stairs. Ah, Lily thought, as she looked at the sleeping Remus and Lindsay one last time, so sweet, so perfect. And she walked up the dormitory stairs.


a/n... oooh, the suspense! what happened between Mr. Remus and Miss Lindsay??? Read the next chapta to find out!!!

Lindsay woke up on the goldenrod couch in the Gryffindor common room. Why am I on the couch? What happened last night? Lindsay thought worriedly. She saw an arm gently draped over her waist. Turning over, Lindsay gazed into the slumbering face of Remus Lupin. Memories from the previous night rushed back to her.



*** Lily, James and Sirius trudged off to detention after saying farewell to their friends. Shortly after, Peter stood up and left dinner by himself, then headed up to the boy’s dormitory to sleep. Emmeline and Theresa had already left dinner the moment they were done with their rhubarb crumble. Soon, the Great Hall was empty, save for a few professors and two Gryffindor students. “…Oh! And you know when Daeglish says ‘The victim was central to his own death, he died because of what he was’? What an amazing line! Do you know what I mean?”


Remus nodded fervently. “Oh yeah! That was definitely one of my favorite lines. What about when- um, Lindsay? I think we should leave."


Surprised, Lindsay opened her mouth to ask what Remus meant, but not before she took a look around the Great Hall. “Oh!” she exclaimed in a small voice. “I guess we should leave, shouldn’t we?” Smiling, they thanked the house-elves who were cleaning up the Hall and quickly exited the room.


As the two walked down the nearly empty halls, they retired the topic of books and by the time they were in the bustling common room, they had moved on to past relationships. Lindsay teased him about his crush on Lily in first year (which had resulted in James shunning him until he was over Lily). But Remus then laughed at Lindsay about the time the Marauders had stolen her diary and revealed her secrets to the whole common room, much to Lindsay’s displeasure. “Oh, diary,” Remus gasped between laughs, “today, Sirius smiled at me! Can you believe it? He is so handsome and perfect! He has won every ‘Most Charming Smile’ award since the new magazine ‘Witch Weekly’ has come out. I, of course, have always voted for him.” Lindsay blushed furiously at that memory.


Soon the common room emptied, and Remus and Lindsay were alone. They had, by that time, finished their homework and were lounging by the fire, talking about everything. They used to be best friends, and Lindsay new all of his secrets- even that he was a werewolf- and Remus new all of her secrets- almost all of them. There was one thing she had never told anybody. As they sat talking, Remus said, “I love that I can tell you everything and we know everything about each other. It just makes the atmosphere around us nice.” Remus couldn’t keep his eyes off Lindsay, She is so beautiful. I can’t believe she is even talking to me. I’m a werewolf; she’s probably just being nice to me. It would be impossible for Lindsay Smith to care for me the way I do her.


Lindsay was worried. He knows I’m not telling him something! He has to know. That’s why he brought it up. He wants me to answer and look into his deep, chocolate brown eyes and tell him the truth! But I can’t- he’ll think I’m an idiot! How do I lie to him and say ‘Yeah, it’s great that you know everything about me and I you’ when he doesn’t know I love him! What do I do? And why is he looking at me like that? Do I have something in my teeth? she thought. Lindsay took in several deep breaths. Remus was looking at her still, but with worry in his eyes.


“Lindsay, are you okay?” Remus questioned.


“No I am not all right!” Lindsay shouted. “I know what you are up to! You want me to tell you what I haven’t told anybody because you suspected it! And now you’re going to tell your friends and they will never stop teasing me, because…because…I love you!” Lindsay sighed, now that she had got that off her chest.


Remus then asked her, “Do you-do you think you could repeat that last bit?” Lindsay nodded and told him what she had said. Remus had never been happier in his life. “Lindsay?” he asked as he lifted her chin up, “I was about to say the same thing to you.” He kissed her softly with all the love he had ever felt for her put in the kiss. But the greatest part was that she kissed him back with as much love, if not more. They then laid together on the couch, holding each other and cherishing the moment. Remus and Lindsay had laughed simultaneously when the first and second year girls let out terrified screams and ran down to the safety of Lindsay and Remus’s arms.


“What’s wrong?” they had asked. The girls stuttered that there were two murderous ghosts in their dormitories. When asked to describe the ghosts, they said they could only hear the voices, but the voices turned out to belong to Theresa and Emmeline. After they sent the now calm girls to bed, Remus and Lindsay had kissed again, with more passion this time than the last. “Remus,” Lindsay began, “are we going to, you know, go out? What I mean to say is, are you my boyfriend?


Remus began to stammer, “Yes, I mean, if you want me to be, because if you don’t want to be, then you don’t have to be-”.


“Shhh…” Lindsay said. “I understand what you are saying. And I do want to be you girlfriend, for now and forever.”


They had fallen asleep after that, lying in each other’s arms, and didn’t stir when Lily, James and Sirius had crept through the portrait hole. ***


Next to Lindsay, Remus had awoken and seemed to have been thinking the same thing as Lindsay. “Forever,” he said, “is a long time.”


And Lindsay snuggled back in to his hold and rested her head on his shoulder. “Forever is a long time,” she replied, “and in that time, I want to be with you.” Sighing happily, they were about to fall asleep again when a thought popped into Lindsay’s head. “Remy!” she exclaimed. “Classes!” Lindsay hurriedly jumped up and was about to climb the dormitory steps to get ready when Remus called her back. “Oh,” she whispered. “It’s Saturday, no classes, silly me.” Lindsay and Remus spent the rest of the morning in each others arms, dozing on the couch until they got hungry and walked down to lunch. Lindsay was not surprised to see Sirius attempting to intake every bit of food on the table.


“Hey!” Sirius exclaimed. “It’s the two lovebirds,” Sirius swallowed and continued to eat. Gulping again, he said, “It took you guys long enough to get down here! We’ve been waiting to bombard you with questions! So, are you ‘together’ now?” Remus and Lindsay nodded in unison and their friends congratulated them.


“It’s about time, too,” James said, “Moony’s been wanting to for ages now!” The rest of their day was spent outside in the crisp fall air. The group split up into teams- The Marauders against Emmeline, who they now called ‘Emma’, Theresa, Lindsay, Lily and enchanted leaves to attack the other team. In the end, the girls won when they had bewitched the boys to attract the leaves and not be able to beat them away. At the end of the fight, the girls had some leaves in their hair, but the boys were covered in leaves and proceeded to chase the girls.


Dumbledore watched the scene from his office. Remus was tickling Lindsay mercilessly; Sirius had chased Theresa up a tree; Emma had Peter bobbing up and down in the air and James tackled Lily and was attempting to kiss her. Dumbledore smiled, Young James and Lily are so much in love, they don’t realize it yet. As the teenagers watched the sun set, they forgot about the war and all of their troubles; just living in the moment.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter woke up and headed down to breakfast in the Great Hall. Remus gave Lindsay a soft, quick peck on the cheek. James attempted to do the same with Lily, but she ducked under the table in the nick of time and returned blushing. Peter merely sat down while Sirius glared at Theresa and she responded with a very rude hand gesture. “Theresa!” Lily exclaimed. “That was uncalled for!” Theresa cheeks reddened and she shrugged the comment off; her reaction to Sirius was a bit harsh, but she couldn’t let him get the satisfaction of the last insult. Besides, he broke her heart and she could never forgive him, but she also could never let him know that she used to love him. As the student body ate in peace (Lily had already had her coffee), Sirius kept shooting looks at Theresa. She responded to his looks with questioning glances of her own.
Sirius rolled his eyes. Oh honestly, is she that thick? I obviously want to talk her. Standing up, Sirius led Theresa out of the Great Hall. Looking into Theresa’s eyes, Sirius took a deep breath. “Theresa, I-.” Sirius realized he was about to let his feelings slip, so he changed his attitude. Running his hand through his soot black hair, he said, “So, babe. You're sexy. Let’s hookup.”
Theresa’s eyes glazed over and thoughts in her head raged wildly. C’mon, you fool! Say yes already! But a quieter, more reasonable voice said, Yes, you have loved him for a long time, but he is too late - that ship has sailed already and there is no chance of it going back to port.
Backing away from Sirius, Theresa said, “No, no, no! This can’t be happening! I can’t be with you, Sirius! You are such an ass! Good-bye!” With that, Theresa ran down the hallway to her first class, Potions. With tears streaming down her face, Theresa waited for breakfast to be finished. Nothing else on her mind, she reviewed all that she had said and thought. Yes, she had listened to the small, practical voice in her head. But, as she looked back, Theresa realized that there was an even more hushed and truthful voice that had said, But you do love him, in all the time that he neglected you, you love him, and you always will. Truer words had never been spoken.
~*~
At dinner that night everything was normal. Well, as normal as possible while the Marauders were at Hogwarts. Lindsay was whispering something to Remus and a subtle flush crept up his neck. Peter and Emmeline were chatting animatedly about the finer points of their prior Defense lesson, taught to them by their new teacher, Gideon Prewitt. James and Lily were discussing the pros and cons of having a ball that year. Sirius merely glared at Theresa while shoving food in his mouth out of spite. Theresa just looked at her plate, only eating when her fellow students took turns shooting her glances that clearly said, ‘I won’t ask if you just eat.'
Lily and James simultaneously rose and headed off to patrol the hallways. “May I escort you to patrol, miss?” James asked goofily. Lily, who had become much more laid-back this year, agreed to let James take her arm and they pranced out of the hall, laughing out loud at the bewildered looks of the students that they passed. As Lily and James strolled through the halls, James exaggeratedly checked the classrooms to make Lily laugh. Normally she would have thought he was being immature, but this time Lily found it amusing, so she laughed. I would have never thought that Lily would let me escort her to patrol in a brainless fashion, let alone join me in the ‘idiot-fest’ that she usually called an ‘attention-seeking, git-fest’. Man, James thought to himself, I love her so much. Maybe I should try to ask her out just once more. I think I will.
Lily was thinking to herself. I can’t believe I just laughed at something James said and joined him in disrupting dinner to patrol in an idiotic manner. For that matter, I can’t believe I’ve started to call him James. But he obviously still likes me. I mean, come on! He was trying to kiss me the other day! James hasn’t asked me out yet, he must be afraid of me rejecting him again. If only he would just ask me, I would give him a chance. Yes! Next time I think I will.
As the two walked silently, Lily asked James what he usually did when he was home for the summer holidays. They found that they had much in common. They invited their best friends to their houses for almost everyday of the summer. Lily found out that James' parents were both retired Aurors; Lily’s mum was an author of self-help books and was constantly on book tour around the United Kingdom. Her dad was an engineer. At least, that’s what she told him. James told Lily about the antics of he and his fellow Marauders during the summer and Lily told him of how she and her friends loitered about the shopping center each day. They discovered that it was easy to talk to one another and continued on, as they walked through all of Hogwarts. Finally, James and Lily discovered that they had walked around the entire of Hogwarts and were now outside of the portrait hole.
“Well,” Lily began, “thank you, James Potter, for an incredibly amazing evening. I never thought that work could be so enjoyable. I truly appreciate it. I don’t know if you noticed, but I have been a little down lately, and I can’t figure out why.” As a thank you, Lily stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Pride and loyalty.” The portrait swung open and Lily made to head inside, but James stood dumbfounded, touching his cheek. Lily gave a mock, exasperated sigh and pulled James into the common room by his hand. The sight that was before them they did not expect to see.
Sirius sat in the common room with his head in his hands. He looked up when he saw Lily and James bound into the common room joyously. Getting a puzzled look from James, Sirius merely motioned toward the letter of condolences the Ministry of Magic sent. Knowing at once what the dispatch meant to him, James hurried over to the couch and read the letter, already knowing what news it held.
Dear Mister Potter,
We regret to inform you that at twenty-six minutes past ten o’clock this evening, your parents, Harold and Melissa Potter, were discovered dead at their house. They seem to have passed away from natural causes and went in their sleep. You have been left half of your parents' fortune and the other half is left to Mister Sirius Black. You and Sirius Black have been given your parents' estate to share. Your house will be left as it is and we at the Ministry will not tamper with it.
Sincerely yours,
Rosamund Adams
Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic
James could not believe his eyes. He had to read the letter several times before he could comprehend what had happened to his parents. At least Sirius could relate to what he was going through; Sirius lived with the Potters and he was considered a second son to them. James openly cried, wishing that the pain would go away, while Sirius was slamming his head on the end table repeatedly. Feeling a presence next to him, James noticed that Lily had sat down on the couch next to him and had read the letter over his shoulder.
“James,” Lily started, “I-I am so sorry. I-I know what you’re going through right now.” James gave her a look that said ‘How would you know what I’m going through right now?' Lily inhaled. “Three years ago, my mum and dad went on a walk around the park by my house. It had been quite a while and they still hadn’t come back; Petunia and I were quite worried when we turned on the television and saw the news. There had been a couple hit by a drunk driver around the time mum and dad were on their walk. We walked outside to the park and before we even got there, I saw the smoke rising above the park. Running towards the playground, I saw them… They were… they were being covered with a blanket and their eyes were wide open and- and they were scared. Petunia blamed me for it. She said that I should have saved them with my magic. I wanted to so badly and I tried and tried and tried but I couldn’t do it! I couldn’t do it, James! I’ve stayed at Hogwarts for every holiday possible since then and, during the summer, I have friends over as often as possible, so I can get away from Petunia and her awful boyfriend, Vernon. It’s been really hard, but I’ve managed to cope with it.”
James looked at Lily and saw that tears were streaming down her face, matching his. Lily buried her head in his shoulder and her salty tears soaked into his robes. They heard a slam of the boys' dormitory door and knew that Sirius had gone up to a night of restless sleep. “James, look at me. I know that this is really hurts and is what my mum would have called ‘Britain’s biggest boo-boo.' We are so much alike, it’s mad. When I’m around you, I feel confused, my emotions are mixed up, but I like it. You are one of the only things that can make me happy lately. I lov- will you go out with me? We need each other and we naturally comfort the other. Please?” James stared at Lily for a long moment when Lily thought he was going to refuse her. But instead of answering, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her again and again, both savoring the moment, and it sent a shiver through her body. That was all the answer Lily needed, though she would never, could never forget the tragedy that was her parents death. For kisses fix boo-boo’s, but can’t heal scars.

The next morning, Lily and James strolled down to breakfast hand-in-hand. When the couple entered the Great Hall together, everything went silent. No one could believe their eyes. James received some very nasty glares from boys in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but he wasn’t bothered. Lily however, was frightened by the sight before her. She received fierce looks from a small posse of Slytherin girls and several hysterical girls at the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables were sobbing. The majority of the Gryffindor table merely sat in shock. Lindsay and Theresa shrieked like two banshees and Sirius began to choke- but was ignored. “Moony,” gasped Sirius, “Help. Choking. Can’t. Breathe.” Remus quickly awoke from the shock and muttered the incantation that cleared Sirius’s throat immediately. “Thank you! I thought I was a goner there,” Sirius said as he breathed in a sigh of relief. James and Lily sat down at the table as if they didn’t notice the looks they were receiving and James began to butter his toast. The glares and surprised gawking students multiplied and Lily shrank in her seat to avoid attention. James, still shaken from last night’s dreadful news, was looking at his plate and barely touching his food. Assured by Lily’s squeeze of his hand, James raised his head up to face their friends. He began to tell them what happened, but Sirius intervened, “It’s okay, mate. I already told them. So I reckon we’re staying here for Christmas?” Smiling, James realized that his parents were extraordinary people, and they would not want him and Sirius to be sad. Sirius already seemed to understand this.

~*~

The rest of the seventh year Gryffindor’s day was quite boring, that is, until they got to Defense. The hours dragged by and even lunch didn’t go by fast enough. The reason being that their Defense professor, Gideon Prewett, had scheduled a practice duel against the Slytherins. Normally a duel would be frowned upon, but this was needed to prepare the students for the world outside Hogwarts.

As the Defense room started to fill, Gideon Prewett looked about his classroom. Pictures of the reactions to varying curses and how to fix them decorated the walls. The only widely known curse that was not of the stone wall was the poster mimicking the Cruciatus Curse. Peter Pettigrew had become very ill when he saw it, so Gideon was forced to remove the poster. His desk was adorned with pictures of his deceased mum and dad, he and his brother and, of his younger sister, Molly whom he loved with all his heart. So much, that he had stopped Fabian from strangling her new husband Arthur when they found that she was engaged. When he looked up again, his class was seated and completely silent, even the Slytherins and were all stock still, waiting for him to divide them into dueling pairs. The class was completely serious about learning to properly duel, not the simplified way that they had been taught when they were younger.

“Today,” began Fabian, “you will learn the accurate way to duel and some of its rules. I will pair you off into, er, teams, if you will, and those four teams will compete. The two winning teams of the duels will then battle against each other. There is no using the Unforgivable Curses and absolutely NO firing a spell when the opponent’s back is turned. That is for use only when you are in a desperate situation. The first one to be knocked out loses. All right, here are the teams…”

Four minutes later, the students were sorted into their teams and stood in the four corners of the now empty classroom. A divider was placed in between one half of the room, so the two teams could not see the other two. The first people in each line stepped forward. Theresa was facing off against Remus and Peter was against Lindsay. Professor Prewett blew on his whistle which signaled the beginning of the duel and stepped out of harm’s way.

“Expeliarmus!” cried Theresa. Though she did not terribly want to beat or knock Remus unconscious, she knew that Sirius was on the other side of that divider and her team had to win because there was no way that she was going to let him get away with making her wait to go out with him. He would pay. “Stupefy!” she yelled. Remus dropped to the floor.

“Well done, Miss Fritsch!” exclaimed Professor Prewett. The rest of the opposing team took several steps back in fear. When Remus was roused, he congratulated Theresa and stepped to the back of his team’s line.

On the opposite side of the classroom, Peter was struggling to beat Lindsay at the duel, but the prospects weren’t likely because he had yet to fire any spells. He was merely dodging the spells that were fired at him by Lindsay, much like the animal he transformed into at the end of every month. Suddenly, Peter felt his wand fly from his hand. He quickly dodged a jinx sent to him and in an instant realized his idiotic mistake as he was tied in ropes. Seconds later, everything went black.

Theresa knew that there was no turning back after this. If she could thrash Rosier, then she could go on to beat Sirius, assuming he could defeat Lindsay, which Theresa knew he could. Rosier eyed Theresa hungrily and as they bowed to the other whispered, “With a body like yours, I wouldn’t mind shagging you, even if you are a half-blood.”

Feeling her blood boil, Theresa looked at him, straight in the eye. She spoke silently and slowly, “I hope that you go to hell and rot there for the rest of your pitiful eternity. If I didn’t have so much respect for Professor Prewett, I would hex you until you had no idea who or what you are every time you gather enough energy to think, understand? I am sick and tired of men taking one glance at me and deciding that they’d like to have a go, because I am not like the girls that you can go and shag whenever you please. I am a human being and will be treated with respect. I told myself that I would never, ever let myself become a plaything of men again, not to even one, not you, not my father, not anyone! Do you understand?” When she got no answer, Theresa backed away and began and ended the duel with a quick non-verbal stupefy.

Meanwhile, Lily was having problems of her own, but not with a troubling past. Quickly, she shot a confundus charm behind her back, but her spell missed the target and glanced off the wall, hitting Professor Prewett instead. No one seemed to notice but Lily, who was about to explain what had happened, when Snape shot a stunner at her back. With a gasp, Lily was knocked to the ground with the force of the spell. Only then did a Gryffindor student notice that Professor Prewett had been hit with a confundus, and Lily was left on the ground as blood spilled onto the floor.

While Sirius was dueling Lindsay, he was secretly deciding if he should let her win or not. After much arguing, he decided to let her win. All of a sudden, Sirius heard a cry and matched the voice to Lily. Whatever the matter was, Sirius had to investigate, so he shouted, “Petrifigus Totalus!” followed by an abrupt “Stupefy!” Lindsay began to fall and a nearby student conjured a cushion to soften the fall. Quickly thanking his classmate, Sirius managed his way to the other side of the divider.

To be continued…

A/N~ I am so evil, maybe I should become a DeathEater! I have always wanted to get a tatoo...