This is my first fanfic ever. I hope you guys like it. Please review and tell me what you think. Any kind of criticism is welcome.

Ch 1.

James, Remus, Pete and Sirius walked out of potions. Slughorn had been particularly hard today. Sirius was making some ridiculous joke about the slytherins when he got pushed forwards.

"Oh I'm sorry," a girls voice said. Sirius turned and smiled. "Oh, it was you Black, watch where your going," her face changed from apologetic to a scowl.

"Lily, its always good to see you," Sirius said leaning down so they were eye to eye, a smirk plastered on his face. Lily just glared and pushed past him.

"Hey, Lily," Remus said as she passed. Lily smiled and nodded to him. She passed by Peter not bothering to even glance at him.

" Evans, how's it going?" James asked a smirk on his face. His hand flew directly to his hair as her critical gaze fell on him.

"Oh shut it, Potter," She spat at him and hurried off down the hall.

"Well, she's a cheerful one," Sirius muttered. Remus sighed and gave him a look.

"Can't you understand why she hates us?" Remus asked giving Sirius a disapproving look.

"She doesn't hate us," James muttered accusingly. "Just me, Wormy and Pads. She likes you Moony." James stared at his feet.

"Yeah, well she should be thanking us. We did her a favor. She was friends with Snivellus Moony, SNIVELLUS! We got rid of the git for her," Sirius said walking off down the hall his hands behind his head very content.

"We took away her oldest friend," Remus tried to make them see their wrongdoing. Sirius's eyes followed each girl they passed. Marlene McKinnon passed and he stopped and turned to watch her retreating figure. He bit his lip and cocked his head to the side. "Sirius are you listening to me?" Remus asked next to him.

"Hmm… what was that Moony?" Sirius asked a wolfish grin on his face.

"Sometimes I wonder why I even try," Remus said and continued walking.

"Come on Moony," James said, "She's always going to hate us, no matter what we do. Even if we admit we were wrong she would probably hex us anyway." James didn't understand. All he had ever tried to do was to love her and help her.

Peter looked down at his watch and squeaked.

"What is it Pete?" James asked. Peters face looked ashen. All the marauders looked at him questioningly.

"We… Well, we're late for McGonagall's class," Peter said his eyes wide. They all looked at each other and sprinted off towards their room. They rounded a corner and the sight before them made them all stop in their tracks and their blood boil.

"YOU FILTHY LITTLE MUDBLOOD!" Avery yelled into the face of a pissed Lily. He held her up against the wall his hand around her throat and his other bracing himself. Lily opened her mouth to speak, but Avery covered it. Lily bit down with everything she had. Avery screamed and dropped her. He had stumbled back a few steps still holding his hand. "YOU BITCH, YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Avery glared at Lily who was gasping for doubled over breathing hard. Avery whipped out his wand and pointed it at her.

"EXPELLIARMUS," James yelled. His anger was overflowing. Avery's wand flew a couple feet from him. He sneered and looked between Lily and James. With a smirk he inched closer to the fallen Lily. He then noticed the other Marauders had their wands out as well and stopped his advance.

"Oh look it's the blood traitors come to help the filth," he spat out kicking Lily in the side.

"Flipendo," Sirius muttered and watched as Avery flipped backwards.

Avery scowled at them, grabbed his wand and sent a jinx back at them and then ran.

"LILY," Remus yelled and ran over to her. She was holding her side and was bent over on the floor. The others ran over as well. Sirius bent down to see if she was okay. He put a hand on her back. That seemed to wake Lily up. Her head snapped up. When she saw who it was touching her, her eyes flashed. She pushed his hand away and glared at him.

"I didn't need your help!" she said through clenched teeth. "All any of you ever do is fight, fight, fight. Can't you go a couple of seconds without breaking the rules and maybe just be normal for once, AND LEAVE ME ALONE! Her glare landed on each Marauder, even Remus. They all stared at her their eyes wide.

"Fine," James said. He was done with this, with her. He hadn't done anything wrong and she still yelled at them. He turned and started to walk away furious, but stopped. "You know what? NO! We helped you Lily. Helped you. If it had been anyone else you would have thanked them and stood up for them, but not us. Even though we might've just saved your life from scum like Avery you still scold us and look down on us. I get your mad about Snape, but…"

"DON'T YOU DARE," Lily yelled. Her glare focused on James. How could he bring that up? He was the reason that she now hated Sev.

"But," James continued, "Snape is just like Avery. Or have you forgotten that they are friends? What he called you?" He stood there looking down at Lily. " Whatever, Lets go guys." He started to walk away. Sirius trailed after him looking back at Lily. Peter ran off after them. Remus looked between the retreating figures of his friends and Lily. He took a couple steps but stood frozen. Lily stayed motionless. How could she forget? Snape and that day were all she could think about. She had never felt so betrayed in her entire life.

"Just go Remus," Lily spit out, venom evident in her voice. Remus looked at her feeling his heart crack a little. Lily had been his friend. They were prefects together and they were friends, weren't they?

"Moony," James called from down the hall. Remus turned and looked at them and sighed in defeat. He jogged off towards them.

As James, Sirius and Peter waited for Remus who seemed to be taking a very long time to walk the length of the hallway Sirius kept talking about Lily and how ungrateful she was. "Just because no one wants her she doesn't have to hate us," Sirius said, leaning against a wall. James was off in his own world again. Why, why couldn't she just thank them? Why did it always have to be a fight with her? Most people loved them. They were The Marauders. Why was she the only non-slytherin to truly hate them? He didn't get it. He watched as Lily stood, leaning against the wall. Pete and Sirius were prattling away about how up-tight Lily was, but James wasn't hearing a word of it. He watched the girl he loved. He watched her red hair and he limp… wait, limp? That wasn't right. James pushed off the wall and stared intently at Lily. She was limping off down the hall using the wall to support herself. He took a step in her direction when she collapsed onto the floor.

"LILY," James yelled and sprinted over to her. The other Marauders weren't far behind. He knelt down beside her and tried to see her face. She was hunched over her knees with her hair in her face.

"Go away," she muttered.

"Lily," James said, "What's wrong?"

"I said go away," Lily said louder this time looking up to meet James's eyes. Her hair moved away from her face and James got a clear view of her neck and the bruises that were already prominent. If his hand did that much damage, James thought, then how much damage had Avery's kick done?

"Hospital wing, now," James said. "Can you walk Lily?"

"I'm fine," Lily spat glaring into James's eyes. "I'd be even better if you'd leave already."

"Fine," James said. Lily relaxed she would finally be able to deal with her pain by herself. In one quick movement, James grabbed her arms and she felt herself being lifted into his arms like a child. He stood with her in his arms. Lily's face grew red and she started spluttering not able to form words.

Sirius and Remus started laughing hysterically. Peter had an amused look on his face.

"PUT ME DOWN!" She yelled. When he didn't make a move to oblige she yelled, "NOW!" James just looked down at the beautiful girl in his arms and laughed. Making no move to put her down, he hugged her closer. Lily was furious, she started squirming to make him let go, but the movement caused a sharp pain in her side and she gasped. James looked down surprised by the pain on her face.

"You will stop squirming and let me carry you to the hospital wing. You cant walk there on your own and you need medical attention," James said his voice stern. Lily snorted and tried to squirm again. "YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME!" James said, his voice raised and extremely stern. Lily had never heard him speak this way. She immediately stopped squirming surprise evident on her face. James smiled down at her and started walking. She was listening to him. He felt elated. Sirius stood there gaping at James, so was Remus. Was Lily actually listening to James, they both asked themselves? They met each other's eyes, shrugged and headed off after them. Peter ran ahead of the procession.

"What are you doing Pete?" Sirius asked, as Peter was flat against the wall and leaning towards the corner.

"I'm making sure no one is waiting around the corner to ambush us. Seeing as Prongs is well… occupied he wouldn't be able to defend himself and they could hurt him or Lily." Peter said poking his head around the corner. He looked back and nodded at them to continue.

"You're looking for ambushes?" Lily asked skeptically. Everyone stared at her. She had asked in a normal voice. Not one full of hate or one that was yelling, but a normal one.

"Um…. Yeah," Peter said questioningly. Lily crossed her arms and looked at Peter with a confused look.

"But aren't you the ones that always ambush other people? I mean you're always the ones to start the fights," she said, a skeptical look plastered on her face.

James sighed, "we do ambush people sometimes, but most of our fights start because slytherin always ambushes us. They want to start the fights. We rarely ever throw the first curse." When he looked down at Lily she had a thoughtful face. What have I done now?

They continued their system of having Pete be a lookout and continued to the Hospital Wing. They finally reached it. James was a little sad. He was holding Lily and she wasn't resisting, but now he had to put her down. Madame Pompfrey ran up to them when they walked in the room. She started fluttering around and directed James to a bed. He walked over and gingerly laid Lily down.

"What's wrong?' asked Madame Pompfrey.

"I don't know," Lily said, "my side hurts though." James stepped aside forgotten as Pompfrey started waving her wand around Lily.

After a couple minutes Madame Pompfrey said, "Well, you've got 3 cracked ribs, and a lot of bruising. You will stay the night here. It's a good thing that the Marauders are never where they are supposed to be or you wouldn't have made it to me for a long while." Pompfrey smiled over at James and the others.

"Yeah, it is," Lily muttered quietly looking at her lap. James looked at her surprised.

"Yes, well I was wondering why five of my students were missing from my class," a sharp voice said from the doorway.

"Professor," James said startled.

"It was my fault professor," Lily said, "I tripped and fell down the stairs. They came along and helped me."

"Does it take this long to take a person to the Hospital Wing Ms. Evans. Explain that."

"Well, I… I was being difficult and wouldn't let them help me," Lily said her face a bright red.

"Well, I guess that would make sense. Class is now over so boys, if I were you I would head off to your next lesson." McGonagall said and headed out of them room.

The Marauders stood there staring at Lily their mouths hanging open. She, Lily Evans, hater of everything Marauder had just stood up for them. She had gotten them out of trouble.

"You… you just…" Sirius babbled.

"W-w-w-w-what?" Peter said looking at Lily like she had grown two more heads.

Remus just stood there opening and closing his mouth.

James was the only one to form a coherent thought, "Why?" he asked.

"Oh come off it. You helped me. I made you miss transfiguration, which I know is all of yours favorite class so the least I could do was not get you in trouble," Lily said not meeting them in the eyes. After 5 minutes of awkward silence Lily looks up them. The Marauders had smiles plastered against their faces. "Shouldn't you head off to your next lessons?" Lily asked gesturing towards the door.

"Oh, Lily," Sirius said shaking his head and walking towards her. He reached her bed and bent down to whisper in her ear, "Now that we know you actually like us, we're never going to leave you alone." Sirius looked at her to see if she was pissed, but he was surprised to see her face had turned pink and her eyes were wide. Sirius chuckled and headed towards the door. "Rest well our dear Lily," he said as he walked out the door. The others laughed and followed him out. James Met Lily's one last time and he smiled before closing the door.

Lily sat there alone in the hospital wing. They really aren't that bad, Lily thought. She stared out the window and thought about what they had said in the hallway, about how they would be ambushed. Maybe, I was wrong she thought, it wouldn't be the first time. Madame Pompfrey gave her a potion to help her sleep. Her last thought was, I will give them another chance, before she drifted into unconsciousness.

When Lily woke it was well past the last lesson. She looked at the clock it read 6:13. Dinner ended at 7. She could make it in time to have dinner in the great hall. She looked around for Madame Pompfrey and saw her in her office. She stood up and stretched. She felt her back crack and she moved from side to side working out the stiffness. She walked over and knocked on the door. Madame Pompfrey was surprised to see Lily and took some coaxing, but finally Lily got her to release her.

Lily dashed down the stairs and ran to the great hall. She walked in and headed over to find her friends. She spotted them near the middle of the table and started off towards them when an arm snaked around her waist and pulled her down to sit on a bench. She looked at the smiling face of Sirius Black.

"You look much better my dear Lily flower," Sirius said raising his eyebrows at her. She glanced at the other Marauders and saw them all looking at her.

"Yes, well Madame Pompfrey is known to do wonders," Lily said then leaning in closer to Sirius she whispered, "she might even be able to do something about that face of yours." Of course she said it loud enough for the others to hear. James, Remus and Peter all burst out laughing. Sirius just faked mock hurt as Lily tried to stand up.

"You're not leaving, especially since you just hurt my pride," Sirius said forcing Lily to stay seated.

Lily glared at him. Looking pointedly at the arm that held her down she said, "Well, Black if you want to keep your arm attached to your body then you would do best to let me up." Sirius immediately withdrew his arm with wide eyes. Lily stood and nodded to the others before walking away and joining her friends.

The Marauders watched her walk away. "And here I thought we had made some progress and she had started to like us," Sirius said pouting.

"What are you talking about Pads," James said staring at Lily as she sat down with her friends laughing, "She does like us. You want to know how I know? She told you she would blast your arm off instead of actually harming you." They all stared at James and realized the truth in his words. They turned to look up the table at Lily.

Lily felt stares on her and she looked down the table and saw the Marauders. They were all staring at her. She felt her face heat up and a small blush creep onto her cheeks. She stuck her tongue out at them and turned back to her friends who hadn't noticed this exchange.

"Did she just…" Sirius said turning to his mates.

"Yeah," Remus said focusing back on his food.

"Oh, she will pay," Sirius said smirking before diving into his chicken.

The next day Lily woke, it was Saturday. They had no classes and it was raining so going outside was out of the question. She made her way down out of her dorm quietly. She went down to the common room and started on a letter home. She had gotten a couple minutes of writing done when she heard voices coking through the portal. She looked up and saw the Marauders. Why was it always them she asked herself. She prayed that they would head up to their dorm without noticing her, but unfortunately for her they had noticed her sitting there.

"Why hello there Evans," James said sitting down next to her.

"Potter," She said while trying to ignore him. James smiled at her and leaned closer to see what she was working on. He saw her writing something and rolled his eyes.

"You're doing homework?" he asked. Lily was getting annoyed now.

"Yes I am doing homework and if you wouldn't mind I would like to be left alone," she replied curtly. This took James off guard and he stared at her with surprised eyes. Lily felt bad for snapping at him, but she wouldn't meet his eyes knowing she would feel guilty.

"Fine," James replied. He was about to stand up, but then thought better. Instead he leaned forward and snatched the paper.

"Dear Mum," James read, "Things have been going great. The girls are good. They told me to tell you that they miss you. How are you? How's Dad and Tunney?"

"James," Lily said warningly. She stood up and stepped towards him. James dashed around the couch holding the letter in the air. Lily made to follow him, but Sirius tackled her onto the couch and held her down.

"Hurry James, read it!" Sirius said smirking at the girl below him. Remus sat down in a chair knowing this wasn't going to end well, but it was going to be entertaining. Peter just sat down on the floor with his legs crossed waiting expectantly.

"I really miss you guys," James continued smirking. "This past week has been eventful. I mastered some new spells. They're really cool. I can now produce a patronus." James stared at Lily impressed. "You can produce a patronus? What animal are you?" he asked, but was met with only a glare, so he continued. "I know you won't know what that is, but I can show you when I come home. Maybe, I can even show Tunney. I know her and I don't get along, but something else that happened this week has given me hope. You know those people that I always rant about, well they actually helped me out. I realized I might actually be wrong about them." James looked to Lily and stared at her surprised. All of the Marauders mouths had dropped open and they just stared at Lily. Lily wriggled out of Sirius's grasp and she jumped over the couch grabbed the letter and dashed to the stairs.

"I was wrong," Lily stood there in the middle step shaking, "to think that any of you could be decent people." With that she dashed the rest of the way up the stairs to her dorm.

The Marauders stayed frozen in shock. What have I done James asked himself.