A/N~Wow I can't believe I'm doing this once again, but I promise this is the last time that I redo this story for a while. I kept trying to write chapter 9 and I just couldn't get the inspiration, I went through and read my old chapters and I realized how much this story sucked so I'm redoing it! Please don't hate me!

*Change from the last version: The story will now start in first year and it will skate over the first few years until sixth year, which is when the pace will slow down. The story is also no longer in first person. Sorry for the long AN!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not, nor will it ever be mine. All rights go to J.K. Rowling.

()()()

"Sev, wait up!" Lily squealed as she chased after the short, dark-haired boy.

"It's only a little farther..." Severus Snape trailed off, entering the small clearing.

The clearing was big enough to hold ten people lined up shoulder-to-shoulder. A ceiling of vibrant leaves allowed rays of sunlight to sift through-casting a greenish glow on everything. The ground was dirt—patted down smooth by years of people lying on it.

Lily gasped, "Sev, it's beautiful..."

A flash of pride soared across his face and he grabbed the young red-heads hand and led her into the middle.

"This is where I go to escape..."

"Your dad?" Lily finished empathetically. Even at the age of eleven she had a way of understanding people.

The young boy just shrugged and looked up to the balcony of leaves, plopping down on the hard ground and pulling a giggling Lily Evans down with him.

He spotted a small twig on the ground and made it dance across the clearing to the great amusement of Lily.

"Sev..."

The boy's curtain of greasy hair swung as he turned his head to look at the worried expression on his best friend's face.

"You promise it will be like this at Hogwarts? No one will...will-"

"You won't be any different because you are muggleborn. And if anyone tries to tell you any differently then I will...well I don't know what I'd do but it will be bad!"

Lily smiled up at him—green eyes shining with gratitude and happiness.

"Thanks Sev...I-" but whatever she was going to say was cut off as she saw the leaves out of the corner of her eye rustle and shift.

Severus heard it too and stood up, standing slightly in front of Lily and staring directly at the spot that had just emitted a squeak and a thump.

"Tunie?" Lily asked, sounding confused as the older girl stood up and brushed off her dress.

"It's dinner time," she said stiffly, glaring at the sallow faced boy next to her little sister.

"Why were you listening to our conversation?" Snape asked in an accusatory tone.

"Sev," Lily said quietly, shaking her head at him.

"Why would I spy on you two?" Petunia sputtered.

"Because you're jealous," Severus answered.

A look of disbelief flooded across Petunia's face and she visibly took a step back.

"Why would I be jealous of you two—two freaks!"

Snape's astonished face was nothing like Lily's, which had been washed of all emotions except for a small tear, forming in the corner of her eye.

"You shouldn't be hanging around with someone like him," Petunia said icily, stepping forward and grabbing her younger sister's arm. "He is putting bad ideas into your head. You know what people say about his family: crazy the lot of them." She started pulling Lily towards the small space between two oak trees that formed the entrance to the small sanctuary. "Anyways it's dinner time and you know Mum hates it when we are late, and you must wash; look at your hands, they're filthy." Petunia continued on, dragging a confused Lily behind her, who shot Severus an apologetic look and a shrug of the shoulders, as if to say she's my sister, what do you want me to do?

"Tunie what's going on?" Lily asked angrily, skidding to a halt as she stopped moving but carried on with Petunia's momentum.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Lily said forcefully, "why were you listening to mine and Sev's conversation? And why do you hate him so much? And why did you call us freaks? That was mean Tunie, and I want you to apologize to him tomorrow!"

Petunia stood watching in disbelief as her eleven year old sister rattled on, calling her out on all the unacceptable things she had done.

"I was not eavesdropping, I just happened to hear some of your conversation," Petunia said bitterly, "and he is a bad influence—he keeps filling your head with all these lies! I'm sorry I called you a freak, I didn't mean it—not to you at least, but I most certainly will not apologize to that boy!"

"Well 'that boy', as you call him, is my best friend and the only person who I have met who understands what it is like to be me! So don't go insulting him or his family."

Lily's fiery temper had finally surpassed her age and although she was only an angry eleven year old, she spoke with as much maturity as any adult.

"It's dinner time," Petunia finished coldly, devoid of all emotions. She began walking away, over the hill and towards the small, modest house the Evans' called home.

"Tunie please..." Lily shouted after her sister, but it was too late.

Their relationship had cracked, something had shifted, and although it would seem minuscule to some, it would change their lives forever. Lily was a witch, ready to embark on a journey into a magical world where she would meet new people and strange creatures, and Petunia was stuck in the nonmagical world, with the same old muggles and the same old things.

()()()

"You know Mum," James Potter said while shoveling his breakfast into his tiny, fast-moving mouth, "I'm going to be Quidditch captain. No doubt about it, really. Grades and scores aren't really that important. Dad says I can too—be Quidditch captain, I mean. As long as I try hard, he says. I don't really believe that though—trying that is, I'm good at Quidditch, everyone says. Don't you think?"

Mrs. Potter looked across the table at her eleven year old, vibrant, son that, although he never sounded it, truly had a good heart. She smiled and nodded because she hadn't been able to understand a single sentence in his rapid quick-fire way of talking. She got up and brushed back a few wisps of gray streaked hair hanging in her eyes. Her eyes that despite the fact that she was older than normal moms with eleven year old sons, still shone with youth and delight.

"Mum you know what should be coming today? Do you know? You probably do because I told Dad yesterday and you and him always talk about everything. But guess anyways—go on guess what comes today!" And without pausing to let Mrs. Potter get a word in, James continued. "I'll give you a hint! It comes via owl, but so does everything we get, doesn't it? Well it will change my life—or at least that's what dad says. Maybe you don't know...should I give you another hint? Hmm...let's see, what won't give it away? Aha! It's a letter—a really important one at that!...Can you guess now? If not I can't call you my Mum. That's what dad always says to me...except of course he says son not mum..." James trailed off and looked up at his mother, a wide lopsided grin plastered on his face, but then again when wasn't the boy smiling?

"I'd have to say it was your Hogwarts Acceptance Letter."

"How did you know? Was it my last hint? It probably was! I knew I shouldn't have said that...ahhh well—what can I do now? Do you think it will be here soon? I hope it will...Dad says they usually come early in the day so that people don't have to wait around worrying. But I'm not worried! No sir! I know I'll get in—I have to get it. But don't worry about it, I already know I'm a wizard. Last week I turned Emma Pernell's hair green—don't worry, Mum, it wasn't on purpose! Dad says young witches and wizards often do magic they can't control. It's exciting isn't it? Oooh! Look there! That's an owl, isn't it? I can't really tell...can you? I'll go check!" James jumped down from the chair he had been sitting on and sprinted outside, shouting indecipherable words all the way.

Mrs. Potter shook her head and smiled at the spot where her whirlwind of a son had just been sitting.

"I GOT IT!" James shrieked from outside, jumping around with limitless energy. "I'm going to Hogwarts, I'm going to Hogwarts!" he sang loudly, and Mrs. Potter thanked her lucky stars that they didn't have any neighbors that lived close to them.

"So did he get in?" Mr. Potter asked, entering the room fully dressed and ready to go to work.

"See for yourself," Mrs. Potter said, nodding to the window that still showed James jumping up and down, singing.

The Potters chuckled at their son, who for the age of eleven, had yet to grow taller than an average nine year old girl.

James raced back in and grabbed a piece of toast off the table before running out again, shouting a muffled response about going over to the Pernell's house to brag to Emma about getting in.

"I wonder if he realizes that she is a witch too, therefore, she has also gotten in," Mrs. Potter contemplated.

"I don't think James really thinks like that," Mr. Potter offered. "You know his cockiness gets the better of him sometimes."

"Yes, it gets the best of him most of the time," Mrs. Potter sighed, wishing that when James got to Hogwarts and met more children his age his ego would deflate a little and he would be able to show everyone what a great person he really was.

()()()

"I wish we had been sorted into the same house," Lily said sadly, walking down the corridor to Charms, the only class the first year Gryffindors had with Slytherins.

"But I'm glad I'm in Slytherin!" Snape said thoughtfully. "I think it's the right place for me."

It was only two weeks into their first term but already the two best friends had a strain on their relationship. Lily, being bright and bubbly, had been quick to make friends with the girls in her dorm. With Severus it had been different. People picked on him for his long hair, faded robes, and from the Slytherins: non-wholly magical background. He had managed to gain a friend. A second year called Mulciber, but the boy already had a best friend—Avery—and they often played cruel tricks on Snape that he passed off as jokes, but Lily saw to be rude pranks.

Even Mulciber and Avery couldn't compete with James Potter and his cronies, though. Although it was only two weeks into the year, the Marauders (as they liked to call themselves) had already set a reputation as bad as Lily's was good. They thought it to be vital to remain the top dogs (as far as first years go, of course) and they would stop at nothing to pull any sort of prank.

The Slytherin and Gryffindor continued their conversation as they entered the classroom and took two seats in the front row.

"I really think Gryffindor is suited for me, although I do think I could have fitted into Ravenclaw, and I would have loved to be in Slytherin with you, but-"

However, Lily was cut off when the short, bespectacled boy behind her let out a derisive snort.

"You want to be a slimy Slytherin, Evans? Why? Because you want to be with him?" James Potter talked about Severus just like Petunia had, like he was the scum of the Earth.

"What's it to you if I did, Potter?"

"Well, then you're not a true Gryffindor! No respectable Gryffindor would ever even be considered to be a Slytherin."

Lily turned up her nose and looked away, however much James was annoying her she knew it was best to avoid fights, especially with someone that everybody seemed to love.

"Oh, are you just going to turn into prissy Evans now? Well nobody likes you, probably not even your little boyfriend!!"

Lily's face turned red with fury as she spun around in her seat, trying to pull words out of the angry jumble that was her brain at the moment.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Lily hissed, not even bothering to look at the hurt expression on Snape's face.

"Touchy subject, I see..."

"Merlin, James Potter you are a bully! A privileged bully!"

"Well you, Lily Evans, are a stuck up cow!"

()()()

"I'm sorry he's been so awful to you Sev, it's all my fault," Lily confessed, sounding close to tears. "I never should have insulted him, I knew he would need to get even."

It was a month after the fight between Lily and James in Charms class, but Severus was the one who was still being tortured for it.

"It's not you're fault, Lils. Please don't blame yourself," Sev said, and although he had no fault in the matter, he still sounded guilty. "Don't cry, please. Not because of him. He's not worth your tears."

"It's just not fair!" Lily hissed, rapidly changing her emotion from sadness to anger. "Why is he so mean? Especially to you, you did absolutely nothing to him, Sev."

Snape shrugged and shuffled his feet, not sure what to do with Lily's quickly changing emotions.

"Emma, my roommate—she's the one you met, remember? Well, she says he's not so bad, you just have to get used to his selfishness. Apparently their family's are really close, but I think it's all a lie. If he's such a nice person, why can't he treat everyone equally? That's how it should be! He just gets me so mad!" Lily fumed.

"You shouldn't waste your energy on him, bullies feed off of knowing that they are causing pain to others. Just don't let it bother you..." Severus trailed off as he thought of his experiences with his father back home, but quickly came back to the present. "...Don't worry about me, I know how to handle a bully. Potter is not a threat. He's all talk, that's it."

Lily smiled a little as Snape reassured her, but the guilty feeling in her stomach still hadn't subsided by the time the sun had set behind the Forbidden Forest, and the wind had picked up and began cooling off the grounds.

"We should go inside, it's getting cold now," Snape observed.

Lily nodded and gathered up her things, but she was still preoccupied with the James issue. As she watched her friend struggle awkwardly with all his belongings she wished it was easier for him to get along with people and make friends, maybe then there wouldn't be such an issue with James. But she erased that thought from her mind quickly, James was the problem, not Severus, and so she vowed to protect him then. From Potter and any other bullies who didn't see the true side of Severus Snape.

Nobody would treat her best friend like that—not if she could do something about it.

()()()

By Christmas time Lily had made strong bonds with the girls in her dorm. She found that, despite her friendship with James, the girl Emma was actually quite sweet. Soon after they became friends they started doing everything together: sitting together in classes, talking in the dorm, even (occasionally) making fun of James, but there was something missing. It wasn't that they didn't get along, it was that they weren't completed yet.

The two of them were so sweet, and innocent that they hated their roommate Mary Macdonald straight away. The girl was loud and a bit too extroverted to be considered friendly. She was constantly talking, and frankly, her laugh got on everyone's nerves. But there was something charming about her, something that grew on everybody who spent time with her. You couldn't help but realize that her laugh was cute in a way, and she wasn't really that loud, just trying to be noticed (she had grown up with five other siblings, what do you expect?) And maybe it was just the infectious holiday spirit, but the two girls decided to befriend her.

"Mary, would you like to play Exploding Snaps with us?" Lily asked cautiously, staring at the girl with the big doe eyes.

"Oh! I'd love to! But are you sure there's room for me?"

"It's just the two of us playing," Emma added sweetly, peeking out from where she was hidden sitting next to Lily on the sofa in the common room.

"Brilliant! But I must warn you...I am pretty awesome at it," she let out one of her telltale snorts and for once it didn't make Lily and Emma cringe and want to run away.

Over on the other side of the common room was a group of four boys, huddled around a stack of notes that were definitely not school related.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Peter Pettigrew asked. He was the smallest of the boys with his bantam, clear, blue eyes and persistent baby pudge that clung to his stomach.

"Of course it's safe, no need to worry," James said smoothly. Although Peter was the shortest of the boys, James was probably only a centimeter taller. Despite his height, he managed to carry himself with an air of somebody taller and better, so that people often forgot his stunted growth.

"I still think we should have gone with the first option," Sirius Black said, looking a bit dejected as he looked down at the first plan. Black reaped the image of growing up in luxury: he had a healthy glow about him, and his luxurious, long, dark, brown locks of hair were envied by most of the girls at Hogwarts.

"The first one broke about every single school rule!" Remus Lupin cut in as James looked like he was about to revert back to the original plan.

"But that's the point," Sirius whined. "We want to break school rules! We're the Marauders for Merlin's sake!"

"I'm still not sure about the group name..." Remus added doubtfully. For once the young, sandy haired boy hadn't been excluded from boys his age because he was different. Of course they still didn't know he was a werewolf, but he was accepted by them nonetheless and he wasn't going to ruin that by disagreeing to strongly with something they decided on.

"If we want to be known then we need a name to be remembered by! It can't just be 'oh you know...those boys that pulled a lot of pranks...you know the ones I'm talking about! No! Not those ones, the other ones! Yes! Yes! I think we are talking about the same boys now!' See! With a name like the Marauders we are unforgettable. We'll go down in history, or something like that! We'll-"

But the boys had lost interest in what James was spewing out this time and they went on talking without him, leaving him in his own world where all he could hear was his own voice—just the way he liked it.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" Peter asked Sirius and Remus.

"Staying at Hogwarts," Sirius stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I can't imagine going back to my house yet...definitely not before the summer, and even then I know my family won't have cooled off about the whole 'my son's in Gryffindor, what a disgrace!' thing."

Peter nodded sympathetically and turned to Remus. "What about you?"

"Staying here too, my mum isn't feeling well at the moment and she thinks it would be best to wait until Easter Break to visit."

It was Remus Lupin's go-to excuse to say that his mother was sick but he couldn't admit that he was staying at Hogwarts because two days after Christmas it was a full moon, and he couldn't bear to see his parents deal with a transformation again. Not after they had finally gotten rid of him.

"What are you doing, Pete?" Remus asked.

"Going home, my mum always makes the most amazing Christmas dinner. Probably even better than the house elves do, so I can't miss that. What about you James?" Peter asked, prodding James hard in the side to get his attention.

"OUCH!" James shouted. "What was that for?"

"You weren't paying attention," Sirius answered for Peter.

"To what?"

"Our conversation...Christmas plans..." at James's blank face Peter whistled. "Wow, you really were out of it."

"Well I'm going home, my family always does dinner with Emma's. Great fun really. Maybe next year you guys can come! I'll ask my mum when I go home. I'm sure she'd love to have you. She loves entertaining guests. Don't really know why, dad says it's a women thing and I shouldn't expect to understand their mad brains. They are quite mad, aren't they? What do you..."

But the three other first year boys had stopped listening to James's long-winded dialogue and had instead, started a game of Wizard's Chess: Sirius vs. Peter.

()()()

When the end of year exams finally came around Lily decided that she would much rather take a thousand Transfiguration practical exams than have to go back home for the summer.

"It will be fun! It's summer, it's hot, and we can write to each other!" Mary said, trying to brighten Lily's dampened spirits.

"You can come visit whenever you want! As long as you give a little warning so I can tell my family," Emma added, smiling at the gloomy expression on Lily's face.

"Petunia can't be that bad..." but Mary stopped talking as the look on Lily's face darkened. "Well you can visit me too. You can just switch off between our houses! It'll be fun, I promise."

"I have to stay home, I promised Sev I wouldn't leave him this summer."

When Lily took one last sweeping look of the dormitory to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, she missed the scrunched up faces her two friends made at the mention of Severus.

"You can't promise him the whole summer, we're your friends too," Emma said reasonably.

"Yeah! He can't expect that of you!"

"I'll miss you guys," Lily said, a little tearfully.

"We'll miss you too," they chorused, and the three girls left their dormitory, chattering a bit more vividly than before.

()()()

"Hey, let's go bother Evans!" James offered cheerfully as the four boys sat, bored, and waiting for the food trolley to come around.

"Don't you do that enough without trying?" Sirius asked, rubbing his stomach as it rumbled with hunger.

"You just ate breakfast!" Remus exclaimed at the same time James let out an annoyed "Hey, she deserves it!"

"You know...we never really pulled as many pranks as we said we would. We still have a huge lists of ones we have to do!" Peter said.

"We do have six more years at Hogwarts," Remus said, half excitedly and the other half: why am I friends with these rule-breaking goons?

"And don't worry, we'll do them all!" James whispered in a stimulated voice as a Prefect passed by their compartment.

"Of course!" Sirius scoffed.

"That's a lot of pranks..." Peter said in awe.

"It's going to be a crazy six years," Remus noted.

And the three other boys nodded in agreement, while in the next compartment over, Lily Evans nodded to something that one of her friends had just said.