Lily Evans brushed her long red hair out of her face for what felt like the tenth time. She had been trying to do her Potions homework, but the constant distraction of her hair combined with the noise in the Gryffindor commons room, made it nearly impossible for her get anything done.

“Need some help there, Evans?” Lily nearly groaned at the voice. Of course when she was messy and frustrated, he would show up. James Potter seemed to have the best sort of timing.

“I’m okay, Potter. Maybe one of those giggling fifth years needs your help though.” As soon as the remark came out, Lily regretted it. She sounded jealous. It wasn’t as is she cared whether or not James paid attention to those silly fifth years. She was just annoyed by all the noise.

“The fifth years giggle too much. Can’t think with all this racket.” James grinned at Lily’s surprised expression. “You thought I enjoyed their attention. C’mon Evans, you know me better than that.” At this, Lily gave James a very skeptical look. “Well the new me, at least,” James amended grinning sheepishly.

“Potter were you paying attention when Kloverk explained polyjuice potions to us?” Lily never thought she would be desperate enough to be asking James for help, but she really needed to get this essay done.

“What do you need to know?” James asked easing himself into the seat next to her.

“Just the basics. What it does, the dangers. Whatever can fill up three rolls of parchment.” James leaned over and began to peer down at what she had written.

“The potion lasts only an hour not two,” he said pointing down at a specific sentence. His glasses fell off his nose, and James quickly pushed them up as he continued to scan the parchment. “Only human transformations as well,” he said, pointing to another sentence. He looked up and smiled at Lily. “This is really good. Mine isn’t even half as well written.” He leaned back in his seat, still staring right at Lily. Lily began to feel warm but for once didn’t feel awkward with James.

“I really appreciate this James! Have you written your essay yet?” She gave James a quick glance as she began to roll up her parchment.

“I did. But I doubt Kloverk will be in the mood to read essays tomorrow.” He grinned wickedly at Lily.

She looked apprehensively back at him. “James! Gryffindor doesn’t need to loose any more points! And Kloverk is a professor, not some Slytherin.”

“Kloverk’s a slimy git and you know it.” James replied. “It’s not too bad just,” he trailed off for a few seconds then finished, “bad.”

“James that is no explanation. What are you doing?” Lily grabbed his hand and James lost the grin on his face, looking down surprised at their hands.

“Well isn’t this a cozy scene,” drawled a voice from behind Lily’s head. James shot a glare in that direction, as Lily pulled her hand away and turned.

“Black,” Lily said with a cool voice, as James sent Sirius murderous looks.
“Evans,” Sirius replied, chortling at the expression on James’ face. “Have you finally fallen to the legendary Potter charms?”

“I thought your charms were the ones that were legendary, Black.” Lily retorted, giving Sirius a glare.

Sirius seemed to freeze up, before replying, “Now see here. I didn’t do anything to that friend of yours, Miranda. We talked, and the whole school began spreading rumors.”

Now it was James’ turn to laugh as the girl in question, Miranda joined the conversation. “Is that what we were doing in that broom closet, Sirius, talking?” She put her hands on her hips, swinging her curly black hair over her shoulder.

Sirius took a moment to look chagrined before his usual swagger was up. “Sorry there Miranda, just trying to help Potter’s chances here. Evans can’t stand him, so I thought I would try to make him look a bit better.” Miranda laughed, shooting Lily an exasperated look.

“Maybe I will believe that. Lils, we have to go to dinner.” Lily shot out of the chair and took off after Miranda through the portrait hole, without giving James a backwards glance.

As soon as they left, James erupted. “Padfoot, you git, what were you thinking. I was this close to getting Evans to go out with me!”

“Don’t you think you should learn how to call her Lily first, Prongs old man?” When James continued to look angrily at Sirius, Sirius rolled his eyes. “We have more important things to think about.” Lowering his voice and looking carefully around, Sirius said, “The map is nearly finished. We just need to think of a password for it.”

James started in surprise. “What! We had barely found the passageway behind the mirror, the last time I checked.”

“While you were making eyes at Evans in here for the last three weeks, Moony, Wormtail and I have been at work.” Sirius paused a grin on his face, “Well,” he amended, “Moony and I have been at work. Wormtail’s bad at this sort of thing.”

“Did Moony figure out how to charm the map to recognize people?”

“Well, no, actually that was the other thing. Moony’s not sure how to go about it. We can’t try to charm everyone in the school, so there must be another way. Moony was hoping you could work on it tonight. That is,” Sirius sniggered, “if you are done mooning over Lily?”

“I’m fine,” James snapped. “It's not like she notices me or anything.” The two stood up and went out the portrait hole, Sirius laughing the whole way


“So what is going on with you and Sirius?” Lily asked, as she took a bite out of her roll.

“Exactly what Sirius said,” Miranda replied, “nothing. The broom closet bit was a mistake ages ago. I am sure he forgot about it.”

“What are you talking about then,” Lily asked, as the boys walked into the dining hall. James’ eyes immediately connected with Lily’s and she blushed turning away.

“We have the same tastes in books. He is quite smart actually. But onto juicier topics. What about you and James? You have been looking at him differently lately.” Lily nearly spat out her pumpkin juice, and Miranda stifled a smile. Her wide blue eyes got even wider as she saw what was going on behind Lily.

Lily spun around to see Professor Kloverk turning a very bright red. Suddenly, gold spots began appearing all over his face. The great hall became silent as Kloverk stood up, his eyes glazed with rage. The rest of the professors were in different states of shock, but no one moved until Dumbledore said in a quiet voice, “Finite incantatem.” When that didn’t work, Dumbledore mumbled something else, with a quick swish of his wand. The red and gold immediately disappeared, while Dumbledore tried to bite back a laugh.

“Very creative,” he mused, looking at Kloverk. “I suspect it was a conglomerate of a few charms. Very impressive.” Dumbledore sat down, and began to eat causing the room begin to regain some of its previous noise.

Lily quickly scanned the room for Sirius and James. Unsurprisingly they were with their cohorts, Remus and Peter, trying to appear as innocent as possible. She couldn’t help but be impressed at their skill. That spell looked complicated, and the fact that Dumbledore couldn’t stop it with a simple 'Finite incantatem' spoke volumes. She also knew it must have taken time to come up with the spell. If there was one thing that always surprised her, it was the diligence the marauders put into their pranks.

Beside her Miranda finally let out a laugh. “No way,” she breathed, “the marauders would never dare try a direct attack on Kloverk in the middle of lunch!”

“Now Miranda, why would you doubt our abilities like that?” Both girls looked up to see Sirius towering over them. When they looked at him in confusion he smiled. “We ran out of Pumpkin Juice, and I thought you girls would be willing to share.” He leaned over Miranda’s shoulder and picked up the pitcher. “Love the fragrance by the way Lils.”

“What did you say?” Lily replied surprised by the suave tone in Sirius’s voice. He sounded so much older.

He grinned a sly grin, and smoothed his hair. “Well I figured it was time someone learned to call you Lily.” He winked at her and sauntered to where he was sitting. Lily was left sitting there flabbergasted.

“What did you say to her, Padfoot?” James snapped, as soon as Sirius had sat down.

“I told her she smelled nice,” Sirius replied. “Surely that’s not a crime…” James lunged for Sirius, and Remus burst out laughing.

“I’d say Prongs thought it was,” Remus remarked lightly, eating his third plate of food.

“C’mon Prongsy, you know I was just kidding. Evans surely likes you more than me!” Sirius laughed as James once again tried to take a swipe at him.

Peter rolled his eyes, and whined, “C’mon guys, quit it! I’m trying to study!” When neither boy replied James’ hot glare still on Sirius, Peter finally lost his patience, and picked up his potions text. “I don’t get you guys! We all know she can’t stand either one of you.” Sirius and James finally pulled apart and stared incredulously at Peter. Warily, Peter began to back up. “C’mon you guys! You both make her miserable. James tries to impress her, invariably fails, and Sirius just adds to the situation. You know it's true!” A grin finally cracked on Sirius’s face.

“He is right, Prongs. We do annoy her.” Sirius casually sat down, across from Moody and began to eat again. James finally had his opportunity, punched Sirius in the shoulder and sat down as well. Peter sighed in relief, sitting down next to Sirius and burying himself back in his book.

“Yeah I guess so. But she was just so friendly today. I thought she might be warming up.” He slumped a bit in his seat, but then his eyes lit up. “Operation Go Gryffindor worked surprisingly well, huh?” James eyes glowed in the memory. “The expression on Kloverk’s face was priceless.”

Remus looked up from his food. “What worries me was Dumbledore’s comment. I have a bad feeling he knows we did this.”

“Stop worrying Moony, everyone knows we did it. It’s just a matter of proving it.” Sirius took a gulp of the leftover pumpkin juice in his goblet. “Damn, we are going to have to go find more juice, thanks to Prongs here.” Sirius glowered at James.

“Get over the juice, Padfoot. So that’s the only reason you're worried about Dumbledore, Moony?” James was always more perceptive to Remus’s nuances.

“He sounded, well, surprised and thoughtful. I’m not sure I want to know where those thoughts are going.” Remus nodded towards the head table, and James turned to see the headmaster studying the group. “He definitely has something on his mind.” Dumbledore smiled majestically at the boys, and raised his goblet slightly.

While the others looked away, Sirius grinned and raised his goblet in return. “You forgot to mention impressed, Moony,” he said, turning back to his friends. “Dumbledore was definitely impressed.”

Lily saw the interchange between Dumbledore and the marauders and looked quickly at Miranda. “Did you just see that? Dumbledore basically just acknowledged that the Marauders did that!”

Miranda laughed. “Of course they did. Everyone knows it. But the problem is proving it! With Remus at the helm, the Marauders rarely make mistakes!”

“Ha, Remus isn’t at the helm. He’s the unlucky one who cleans up their messes.”

“I never understood why they were friends with Remus.”

Lily looked in surprise at Rosie Dawkins, another 7th year. “Why do you say that?”

“With all that is going on in the world, it's surprising that three wealthy pure-blooded wizards would hang out with Remus.” Rosie shrugged delicately. “He’s not like them.”

“What’s wrong with Remus?” Lily replied, surprised. “He’s more polite, he’s smart, and he can be very funny.”

“Yeah they four of them are inseparable.” Miranda looked at Rosie skeptically. “You aren’t even friends with any of them!”

“Remus isn’t a rich pure-blood,” Rosie replied. “That’s what makes the difference. You both read the Prophet. Blood-lines are becoming more and more important to those who have them. James is a Potter. And Sirius is a Black.”

When Lily looked at her confused, Rosie explained. “They aren’t just wealthy and pure-blood, they are the wealthiest and most pure-blooded. You know that nasty Slytherin, Bella? She’s Sirius’s cousin.”

Lily gaped. “Bella Black is his cousin? I think “mudblood” is her favorite word. But James and Sirius aren’t…”

“Not now they aren’t.” Rosie shook her head sadly. “And maybe James never will. His family doesn’t exactly uphold the pure-blooded thing so much. But Sirius” She gave a sideways smile. “The world outside Hogwarts has changed so much. People like them will not want to associate with people like you.”

“Sirius is nothing like that,” Miranda snapped. “He can’t stand Bellatrix.”

“Now he can’t,” Rosie said smugly. “But in a few years, none of them will want to be around muggle-borns.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Miranda said angrily.

“Exactly what it sounds like. James and Sirius had a bit of fun with you two. Now that they are getting ready to graduate things will change.” Rosie stood up, dusting off her robes. “You girls need to get a reality check. I will see you later.” Miranda glared at Rosie’s back then turned to look at Lily.

“She is just being spiteful.”

“But what if she’s right? I mean it makes sense. I never understood why James liked me.” She looked at the foursome, trying to figure out what they are saying.

James looked up suddenly and saw Lily looking at him. He gave a little wave and a smile. Sirius turned to see what he was looking at then rolled his eyes, and grabbed James’ arm. Together, Remus and Peter trailing behind, the four left the great hall.

“It’s stupid Lily, Rosie was just being mean.”

Lily nodded faintly, but could not get Rosie’s words out of her head.

Over the next week, Lily watched the marauders. She took note of every prank, every comment, trying to decide if Rosie’s comments were true. And with everyday, she became more convinced that she could never fit into James’ world. They were different. Lily had always assumed it was their looks and pranks, but now she realized it was something more. Sirius Black was treated as something different, more elite. She noticed the people he spoke to were usually pure-blooded or at least half-bloods. James wasn’t even reachable anymore. He seemed to be reading or busy with the marauders every time she looked. His entire world consisted of Sirius, Remus and Peter. It was obvious he didn’t hang out with “others.”