I've finally returned! So, here's my latest fanfiction and I hope that everyone finds it somewhat enjoyable! I dedicate this to one of my best friends and a great writer who goes under the pen name Renee Strange. I hope you like this. :)

Summertime...one of the few times of the year that Alyson Barrister could be civil with her pranking rival, James Potter. Their friendship was rocky, polite at best. Artemis, her twin sister, didn't agree with Alyson trying to be friends with James, or any of the Marauders for that matter. She just thought that James was trying to manipulate Alyson and she didn't trust him in the slightest.

"I don't know why you give him so many chances. I'd think that he made himself clear in this prankster rivalry that he doesn't want to be friends..." Artemis said to Alyson while they sat in their tree house. It was like their home since their father had enchanted it to be house-sized on the inside, much like the tents that many wizards used during the Quidditch tournaments.

Alyson shook her head as she stared down into the village of Godric's Hollow. "Look, I just think that since this is our last year, we should at least try to make friends with them. Maybe even pull a prank with them?" Alyson suggested, looking out the window in a daydreaming sense. "It can't be that bad to try to be friends with them."

Artemis looked at Alyson in shock before snorting in laughter. "Yeah, right...Potter and his lot be friends with us? You're mental. The closest thing to friends with that lot is sitting beside them at dinner. That's about it." She told shaking her head. "Alyson, it's the way things have always been. The Marauders have their little group and we have each other. That's how it's always been, sis. That's how it'll probably always be." She explained to her twin sister.

Alyson looked at Artemis. "But...Lily is our friend. She has been for a long time, even if she disagrees with us pranking Snivellus. And...she hates Potter to an extent too, I think." She pointed out to Artemis. "I just wanna try to make more friends. I don't wanna leave school with hardly anyone to connect with later." She pointed out to her sister.

Artemis was taken aback a little at her sister's declaration. Friendship wasn't her biggest concern because she knew that most people hated her by now. However, she never did think that Alyson was different but she saw it then that Alyson was a kindred spirit...one that needed the companionship of others. Artemis cleared her throat after thinking a moment. "Alright, Alyson, we'll try to make more friends this year...maybe even try to make amends with Potter and his Marauders. But, making amends won't be easy, I hope you know that." Artemis warned Alyson.

Alyson nodded. "I know but we have to try...I have to try." She told her sister and then looked back down on the town. "But, I guess since it's still summer, you want to go prank James then? I'm sure Sirius is there as well." She commented.

Artemis smirked. "Why, my dear sister...of course I do. What better targets than the two "brothers" that are attached at the hip?" She pointed out to her sister. "We should probably get some eggs and get started down there. I'm getting antsy just sitting here and not knowing what those dunderheads are up to...chauvinist pigs." She stated before grabbing her backpack and the two headed out of the tree house and to the ground.

Alyson snickered as they started towards the small town of Godric's Hollow. "You're just mad because they've dated all the girls around Hogwarts except you." She teased her twin. "They're not a reason to go all feminist. Besides, it's not that big of a deal."

Looking back at her sister as they walked down a wooded trail, Artemis turned her head back to forward and sighed. "I'm not mad because of that. Besides, they haven't gotten with you either. I just hate how they expect every girl to fall at their feet when they come walking up." Artemis stated, not wanting her sister to know her discomfort of never being kissed by a guy.

Nodding as she tried to pay attention to the trail, Alyson said, "Well, you know how other girls usually are. Give them a guy who is popular, "cute", and has it all and they'll sink into their hands like putty. We're just not that gullible." Alyson then shook her head. "Unfortunately, it feels that someday we're going to have to give Aunt Amora the pleasure of helping us find more suitable men that don't know anything about us."

Artemis groaned. "Alyson, that's not funny. Don't even talk like that. The day I let that woman pick a suitor for me is the day that I'm going to go completely mental. I mean, seriously...the woman is socially hooked up but I'd rather not get trapped with a pureblood supremacist who thinks that anything less is a reason to be sent off." She told her sister as they hurried further down the hill, approaching the town. "Did you bring the binoculars?" She asked.

Producing a pair from her satchel, Alyson smiled. "Of course I did. I didn't want to get too close to those two without some distance advantage." She stated and the two began their walk along the edge of the woods towards James Potter's home. "So, what are you going to do to them?" She asked curiously.

Artemis grinned and chuckled. "I'm planning to egg them, duh. I mean, why not? They deserve it and we'll have the upper hand." She said brightly as she then gave Alyson a sign to be quiet as they neared the Potter home. "Do you see them anywhere?" She asked.

Alyson pulled up the binoculars and nodded. "Yeah, they're just laying in the yard...shirtless...Merlin..." She said before her face turned a little pink and she sighed, almost in longing. That was until her sister gave her a forceful tap to the back of the head.

"Alyson! Pull yourself together! I need you to be watching for them to leave before I get them, not drooling over their naked torsos." Artemis whispered in a snappy tone. "I can't believe you. Get your head back in the pranking and out of your hormones." She growled quietly before sneaking closer.

Alyson tried to pull her head together as she brought the binoculars back to her eyes. She watched Artemis sneak closer and bit her lip. She didn't know why she was acting so weird...especially when it came to James Potter and Sirius Black! Alyson watched as Artemis suddenly began pelting the boys with the eggs and the two young men got up in confusion and began dodging the attacks.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Sirius stated in surprise. "Prongs! You said that you were safe in the backyard!" He accused.

"Padfoot, I didn't plan for us to get pelted with this stuff! It usually is safe!" James retorted before the firing stopped and then he realized something. "Barristers!" He said to Sirius. "Come on, let's get them. They can't be far." He said before shifting to his animagus form of a stag while Sirius became a very large black dog with very shaggy looking fur.

Artemis had already begun running back to the house and Alyson was slightly close behind...well...until she tripped on a tree root. Artemis snapped around as she saw her sister on the ground, fallen. "Alyson! Come on! We have to run!" She said, appearing to turn to help her sister get up.

"Just go! Go hide or they'll catch us both!" Alyson told her sister as she stumbled up and the two began to run again. Unfortunately, Alyson had fallen behind because of injuring her ankle on the tree root and the two animangi caught up to her quickly before transforming back with similar grins.

"Thought that you could sneak up on us, did you?" Sirius asked, grinning in victory. "Well, look who wasn't the fastest bird out of the nest."

"You've got an awful lot of explaining to do, Barrister. Where's that wench of a sister of yours? I bet she ring-lead all of this little fiasco." James said to Alyson before looking slightly confused. "Why aren't you fighting back? This is about the time you should be kicking us and trying to yank free. What's the matter with you?" He questioned.

"She's not part of this. I did it all. And I'm not fighting you because there's two of you, you idiot. I like to keep everything intact you know." Alyson claimed bravely, making sure that they didn't know about her ankle injury. At least...that was until Sirius started looking at her funny.

Sirius looked at James before pointing at Alyson's ankle. " I dunno about you, mate, but I'm pretty sure the reason she isn't fighting is because her ankle is hurt. She's not putting hardly any weight on it. As for Artemis..." He said and pointed at a trail of disrupted leaves. "She's far gone our of our reach." Sirius told James.

James looked at Alyson. "Bloody hell, Barrister, why didn't you say something? We didn't know that you hurt your ankle." He stated, sitting her down against the tree and pulling up her pants leg and taking off her shoe and sock. "It's starting to swell. Isn't your mum a healer or something?" James asked, being genuinely concerned about her health.

"Yeah, she should be at home anyways. I can go myself." Alyson said, starting to get up before falling back against the tree, her ankle pulsing in pain. "Ow!" She grunted, clutching her ankle in pain.

James looked at Sirius. "Pads, I'll take her on up to her house. You can come with me or you can go back home. Doesn't matter either way." He stated as he picked Alyson off the ground and she held her shoe and sock.

Sirius shrugged. "I'll come with you, that way it doesn't look suspicious or anything. As long as she's okay, it doesn't matter to me." He told James and the group started to walk towards Barrister manor, situated on one of the highest hills around Godric's Hollow.

After finally making it to the top, Sirius knocked at the door and the group was greeted by Mrs. Ines Barrister, Alyson and Artemis's middle-aged mother. Ines peered at the group and then looked worried about Alyson. "Alyson! What happened? Boys, come in...come in. Just bring her in and lay her on the bed in here." She stated, leading them to a spare bedroom on the ground floor.

James laid Alyson on the bed before looking at Ines. "We were coming up to say hi to the girls when we found her on the forest path. It appears that she hurt her ankle but we wanted to bring her to you so that she'd be well taken care of." James told Ines before looking at Alyson. "I guess she had come down to see if we wanted to go on a walk or something but she fell before she could get there." He lied, covering for the girl. "Uhm...we'd better head back anyways. We just wanted to make sure she would be okay."

Ines looked at James and Sirius. "Don't be silly. You two should stay for dinner. I'm sure if you called your mother, she wouldn't mind. At least let me repay you for helping my daughter to get home, safe and sound. You never know anymore..." She said to them before attending to the ankle. "Oh...it's just a terrible sprain. I'll have it healed quickly, no harm done." Ines told Alyson as she healed it.

James and Sirius looked at each other before looking at Ines. "Mrs. Barrister, we really need to head back to James's house. But thank you so much for the offer. It's just getting late and all." Sirius explained to Ines honestly, not wanting to come in contact with Artemis. They both knew that girl's temper and didn't know how 'welcoming' she would be. "We just wanted to get her home safely, that's all."

Ines stood and looked at the pair. "Well, if you two are sure, thank you ever so much for bringing my daughter home. Have a safe trip back." She told the two. Before James and Sirius left, they locked eye contact with Alyson. It was an understanding that they knew a bigger storm was coming but things were going to be different after this. But how different, none of them could know...

~END CHAPTER ONE~

Author Note : Please Read and Review. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon!