The Hogwarts Express rolled into the train station, filling it with billowing white smoke. Parents gave their children kisses, and hugged them as they boarded the train. Hands waved from the windows and screams echoed back and forth. Lily Evans adjusted her robe and walked down the aisle, picking the perfect compartment to sit at. She passed by one occupied by a loud, rambunctious group of boys, only to see James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin testing charms on chocolate frogs. She giggled to herself before waving to James, and continuing on her way. When she reached a relatively empty compartment, she sat down. Her companions consisted of Alice Fortescue and Frank Longbottom, who were both poring over a small, pygmy owl. Lily said hello, and joined them in watching the pygmy owl flit around the compartment before a younger boy joined them.
The boy was tiny in size, but had long, black hair. Lily greeted him with a smile, and then introduced all of them.
"What year are you?" Alice asked, giving the pygmy owl to Frank. The boy whispered a quick "forth," and then sat down, scooting to the tip of the bench. Lily moved her red hair over one shoulder and then looked at the boy again. He looked familiar to her – the hair, the eyes, and the lanky body.
"Are you Regulus?" Lily asked, moving to sit next to him. The boy glanced at her with wide eyes, and then relaxed a bit. Lily giggled again, and then nudged Regulus.
"I know your brother,"
James and Remus wrestled a bit, laughing when Remus let out a fake howl.
"Moony is turning, Moony is turning!" Peter yelled, clapping wildly. Sirius fell to the floor, his hands wrapped around his side. When the boys finally broke apart, they all sat breathless on the benches in the compartment, small laughs escaping between tightly closed lips.
"You know what would be really cool?" Remus said when the boys had settled in. They all leaned forward, their ears pricked – Sirius' ears were, literally, shaped like a grims. The boys all chuckled, but then asked Remus to continue his idea.
"We should make a map of the school, with all the secret tunnels and give it to the younger tricksters, when we leave the school." He replied, popping a chocolate frog in his mouth. "Hey, look, I got a Circe card," He proclaimed. Sirius shook his head, "Bloody Hell, that's a great idea, Moony." James looked thoughtfully out the train window as the rolling, grassy meadows passed by. "We'd have to put a charm on it." James replied, looking at the group of boys. "So only the tricksters would be able to use it." All the boys nodded in agreement. Peter clapped again, "And it has to have labels on it, so the tricksters won't get caught." The boys kept shouting out ideas until the train pulled up in Hogsmeade.
Lily searched for James when she got off the train, and found him waiting by a carriage, drawn by invisible horses. He beamed and waved her over, but alas, Serverus caught her eye as well. She waved at him; all dressed up in his Slytherin robes, before grabbing James' hand and getting in the carriage with him.
Serverus watched in horror as his best friend Lily chose James Potter over him. He shook his head and climbed into a carriage, by himself.
Nobody ever bothered with Severus Snape.
The carriage bumped along the road, and the sky darkened, along with his mood.
Lily leaned her head on James' shoulder, watching the stars in the sky begin to sparkle. She looked at James, and noticed his beaming smile.
"James, what are you smiling about?" Lily asked, looking at the sky again. James chuckled and adjusted his glasses. "Nothing,"
Lily looked back at him, before beginning to pout. "Are you smiling because I went with you instead of Sev?" James shook his head, but Lily saw his smile become even wider. Sitting back, Lily looked off to the side, and crossed her arms.
"James, I really hate it when you do that."
"Wormtail, stop yelling." Sirius said, grabbing ahold of the back of his friend's robes and pulling him back down. Peter laughed him off, but didn't try to get the Ravenclaw girls' attention ahead of them. Remus shook his head, and looked back James and Lily.
"Does it look like they're fighting to you guys?"
Peter and Sirius crawled over to the other side of the carriage and peeked at the long-term couple.
"Yeah, but they're probably just talking about Snivellus." Sirius said before sitting back down, "They always fight when they're talking about him." Peter nodded his head in agreement.
When the carriages arrived at the Castle, all of the students hurriedly climb out of the carriages to avoid the rain that was going to happen soon. The Grand Hall had millions of candles floating in its high ceiling, and students milling around before sitting on the long benches. The teachers stared at the hordes of children that came pouring through the large doors. Dumbledore walked to the large podium and held his white wand at his throat.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts!" He said, his voice booming from every corner of the room. He went through his welcome back speech, and introduced the new teachers before he swished his wand and the food appeared in heaps.
When the food appeared in front of the boys, there was nothing standing in their way. Hands reached out and snatched the chicken, and glasses filled repeatedly with milk. When they had their full of dinner, they cleared plates with short, quick licks before dessert appeared, and it was like their stomachs were never full. Lily watched in amazement as James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus shoveled cakes, cookies, and pudding in their mouth. It was as if they had never been fed before they came to Hogwarts. The group shared laughs and stories of their summers. James tried to actively hold Lily's hand during dinner, but she still seemed cold about the event from the Carriage.
The boys all sat in their dormitory, a large piece of paper laid on the floor in front of them.
"Where do we even start?" Sirius said, staring at the blank paper. Peter looked at each person before stating the obvious. "Why don't we just make the outline of the castle; the parts we know about." James nodded, and then started drawing with a steady hand. The boys added small details as James drew, and took breaks to look up specific charms to hide the secret map.
The boys stayed up all night working on it, not even noticing when the sky turned from an inky black into the palest of blues.
Lily sat in her Charms class, waiting for someone she knew to sit with. Alice and Frank were in her class, but they had already chosen each other as companions. She smiled at them as she selected the seat in front of them, and watched the door with caution. Serverus slowly walked in, but lit up when he saw Lily. She waved him over, glad to finally have a partner.
"I haven't seen you in a while," She joked, nudging him in the shoulder. He chuckled under his breath, and pulled out his textbooks, quill, and parchment. Lily followed suit, neatly putting her textbook on the stand at the corner of the table. Right before the teacher was supposed to start, Sirius and James bolted into the room – their eyes were red from lack of sleep. Anger clouded over James' face when he saw Serverus, but this time Lily was going to stand her ground.
"This is my spot, Snivellus." James said in a rude tone, putting his hand out to grab Serverus' robe. Lily grabbed James' wrist and gave him a harsh look.
"James, he was here first."
By then, all of the students were paying attention to them. Sirius stood behind James, his hands gripping his bag with enough force that the knuckles were turning white. Whenever he was around James, Lily, and Serverus, he had a frown etched deeply in his face. James looked at Lily with a pained expression, before he slightly pushed Serverus. Lily could see redness start at the base of Serverus' neck and before she could stop him, he pushed James back.
"Serverus, stop it right now!" Lily yelled, pushing back his chair to get in between them.
James was spouting taunts at Serverus now, causing the red to change shades; from a light red to a deep, cherry red.
"James, knock it off!" Lily yelled, trying to get either of the boys' attentions now. The yelling had caused the teacher to come out of his office, and he started running down the stairs as quickly as he possibly could.
Lily stepped in between them, though; right into the heat of the fight. Serverus had too much momentum in his push to stop once he noticed Lily was in front of him, not James.
He cried out when his fingers pushed into the cotton fabric of her red and gold colored sweater vest. He saw the shock on her face as she slowly lost her balance and began to fall. He saw the anger build up in James, and heard the gasps reverberate through the classroom. What had he done?
"Oh my!" The teacher said, having finally reached the students. Lily looked up at Severus with a pained expression on her face, tears in her eyes. A tight feeling behind Serverus' eyes pained him too, and he felt the single tear drop from his face onto the stone floor. Lily stood up, rejecting James' comfort, and not even looking at either Sirius or Severus. She ran – ran to the bathroom, or to the Gryffindor common room, no one knew. It didn't matter, because both of the boys knew then, that she wasn't going to be in a forgiving mood. Alice got up, and followed her out, but came back several minutes later, unsuccessful in her search. The Charms professor took one look at each of them, and didn't even stop to think about it.
"One month detention, starting tonight."
Lily sat on her bed in the girl's dormitory, letting the tears drip endlessly. How could Serverus have done that? She thought to herself over and over again. She heard a small pecking noise at the corner of the window, and opened the little compartment. It was Alice's pygmy owl, with a note quickly fastened to its right leg. Lily laughed out loud, glad for a change in emotions before grabbing the small piece of parchment and reading it.
Lily was glad she had a friend like Alice, who secretly broke the rules to send her notes to make sure she was okay. She wiped away her tears, and sat with Charms text book open to the chapter they would have been covering today. She read through it once, and noticed it was almost time for their second class. Grabbing her book bag, she headed to the bathroom to freshen up a bit before heading to Potions.
James was silent for almost the entire day. Peter and Remus tried asking him what happened, but he refused to think about it again. He knew Sirius would tell them eventually, but it broke his heart to watch Lily purposefully walk past them to sit with Alice and Frank. She didn't even look at Serverus either, and for the most part, James was glad about that. He felt shameful for it, but it all worked out in the end didn't it? After dinner, James shamefully made his way to the Charms classroom for the second time that day, and met up with Severus at the door. He sneered at the greasy haired child, and pushed past him. The professor had several objects strewn about the class and cleaning solution at his feet.
"Wands." He replied, holding out his hand. The boys both produced their wands and handed them over. The professor quickly explained what they would be doing tonight, and left them in the quiet.
"It's your fault you know." James started, after twenty minutes of silence. Severus shook his head, and let a breath pass by. James looked up at him, and then smirked.
"It is. If you hadn't been sitting there, she wouldn't be mad at either of us."
Severus couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had to spend 2 hours after school with this…child.
It was going to be a long month.
After James had come back from detention, all of the boys loomed over what they had completed of the map. The red ink was becoming a bad omen to them. They had created this great thing, and they didn't know what to do next. James was becoming aggravated, and he stood up suddenly.
"I need to go for a walk." He replied, grabbing his robes. He trotted down the many steps into the Gryffindor common room. He saw Lily and Alice look up at him from the Charms textbook before returning to their homework. James tried to smile at Lily, but she wasn't taking any of it.
"Lily, can I talk to you?" He asked, standing awkwardly behind the two girls. Alice stopped what she was doing, and looked at Lily who gave her a subtle nod. With that, she got up and walked to the other side of the common room and sat next to Frank.
"Yes, James?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest and looking out the window. James sighed, and sat down across from her.
"I'm so sorry, Lily. I really am. I didn't mean for it to get that out of control." James whispered. She looked at him with an apology looming in her eyes, but then she crowded them over with anger.
"Why didn't you stop when I told you to?" She asked, sitting on the edge of her seat by now. James shook his head, and sighed again. "I…I was jealous that you were protecting him." Lily rolled her eyes, but got up and hugged him. "I forgive you, but really James, you need to stop being so obsessive over it."
Through the next couple of months, James shied away from Severus to please Lily. He wasn't sure he could handle her being mad at him again. Sirius, Peter, Remus, and himself worked tirelessly on the map, but to no avail, they could never feel as if it were finished. They tested it at night, walking the halls and trying to find any more secret passage ways. One night, they came across a barren hallway, the lanterns flickering more than usual. They could hear the voices of Nearly-Headless Nick and Rowena, as they glided through the hallways on their nightly patrol. Sirius noticed them first and realized that if they got caught, there would be no end to the punishment.
"I wish there were a place we could hide around here." He said, as they ran down the hallway.
And, before them, a door appeared out of nowhere. They slipped in, and listened as Rowena's voice faded into the distance.
"I didn't know there was a room down here," Peter said aloud, looking at all of the places they could have hid at. Sirius shook his head, "There isn't supposed to be a room here." Remus slid his hands along each object before turning back to the group. "This is the Room of Requirement. It shows itself when a person is in need of something." James, Sirius, and Peter raised their eyebrows at him.
"Moony, how do you know that?" Peter asked reluctantly. The other boys nodded in agreement, and continued to stare at him.
"My parents used to tell me stories about Hogwarts." He shrugged, walking around the room. "We should put this on the map." James nodded and began to draw where the room was located.
Lily held James' hand the next morning, as they went to Charms class. She had talked with Alice and Frank, and through mutual agreement, Lily sat with Alice now. Severus sat at the other end of the classroom, and James shared a desk with Sirius several rows behind Lily. There hadn't been any tiffs between them, but Lily could sometimes feel Severus' eyes on them when they walked together. Snow had barely even covered the grounds before everybody was talking about the upcoming Christmas ball, and what their dresses were going to look like.
"Are you and Frank going, Alice?" Lily asked when she sat down at the desk. Alice looked up at Lily and nodded. Smiling, they launched into a discussion about the dresses that they wanted to wear and what to do with hair. "Alice, you're so lucky. Your hair is cute when it's this short." Lily replied, touching Alice's close cut hair. "Yeah, it's pretty easy to keep up." They began laughing, causing everybody in the class to look at them.
James sat back and watched as Lily and Alice snickered in their palms, waiting for the professor to begin teaching. "Are you going to the dance, Sirius?" James asked, looking at his best friend. Sirius stopped reading his charms book to give James a reluctant look. "Dances aren't really my thing," He replied, returning to his book. James chuckled under his breath. "You could ask any girl at this school, and she'd go with you, you know?" Sirius shook his head. "I highly doubt that, James." He replied. James looked at the Ravenclaw girls to the right of them. "Ask one of them." James said, nodding his head towards them. Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm not just going to ask any girl," he said. James pointed a finger at him. "So there is someone you want to go with!" He exclaimed. The professor shushed them, and continued on with the lesson.
After Potions, Serverus caught up with Lily and walked next to her. He had to ask her before James came around. He coughed several times, and she looked up at him, smiling her ever present smile. "Hello, Sev!" she exclaimed hugging him quickly. They had reached the corridor just outside the courtyard by the time he had gotten the courage to say something.
"Lily, can I ask you something?" He mumbled, noticing James across the way, staring at them. He started walking towards them, and Severus knew he had to ask quickly. She looked up at him with those huge doe eyes of her, and a little piece of Severus melted.
"Will you go to the Winter Ball with me?" he said quickly as James came around, grabbing her hand. Lily started to open her mouth, but James cut in.
"She's going with me, aren't you, Lily?" Lily looked down, but didn't answer. Serverus looked in disgust at James and then at Lily. "You haven't even asked her yet?" He said. Lily's hair curtained her face, and he couldn't see what she was thinking. "She's my girlfriend; it's assumed she'd be going with me." Severus shook his head. "That's not how it should be. Whoever asks her first should precede assumptions." Lily looked up apologetically and uttered the words that Severus never wanted to hear.
"I'm sorry, Sev, but I'm going with James."
James smirked at him, and they started to walk away. Severus' vision began to swim in front of him before he screamed at the top of his longs.
"Lily Evans, you're just a mudblood. Everyone feels bad for you, that's the only reason they're friends with you. I was the one who taught you about your magic! I was the one that helped you during your first year! That's all you are, Lily. You're a filthy mudblood." James and Lily turned around then. Tears had begun to drop like rivers down Lily's face. James walked right up to Serverus, and raised his finger.
"Don't you ever say that about her. She's more of a witch than you are, you indecent piece of…dragon shit." And with that, James pushed him to the ground as hard as he could. James ran after Lily, while other students who had heard stared at Severus. He fixed his lips into a straight line, and got up, dusting himself off. She had finally chosen; granted she chose James Potter over him. He knew he would never be able to stop how he felt about it, but right now, all he could think of was the regret.
The night of the ball came quickly after that. Lily cried almost every night, with Alice there to comfort her. And during the day, James walked her to class, making sure to take obscured paths so they wouldn't have to run into Severus. Sirius, Peter, and Remus never mentioned his name around her, and they always sat far, far away from where he was sitting during meals. Lily sat on the bench in front of her bed, while Alice worked on her hair. She twisted and pulled, pinned and braided bits of Lily's rich red hair, until she was sure her scalp would fall off. Alice jumped off the bed, and directed her to stand in front of a mirror.
"Oh my goodness, Alice!" Lily exclaimed, touching her hair softly. Alice smiled shyly behind her. Her hair was curled to perfection, with several braids interwoven in each one. Small curls had fallen loose, and framed her face perfectly. Her hair seemed to flow with the dark blue dress she was wearing, which clung to her figure flawlessly. It rustled around her feet when she walked, and she felt like an old princess. She turned around and hugged Alice until both of them couldn't breathe. She held Alice at arm's length, and checked her out. Her short dress was perfect for Alice. The patterns matched her personality, as did the colors. "Frank is one lucky guy," She said, winking at Alice. Alice giggled, "Same goes for James." They linked arms and headed towards the Grand Hall.
James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus stood around by the band, waiting for their dates to arrive. Peter's wandering eyes caught sites of several girls, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, both. As Peter went off to find a dancing victim, Remus sought out his Ravenclaw date. Sirius and James watched while Remus bowed to his date, and offered her a dance. She giggled and accepted, and Remus whisked her away, gliding onto the dance floor flawlessly. Sirius noticed his date, and walked over to greet her.
"And then, there was one…" James muttered under his breath. Students were still milling around by the door, and he walked over there, hoping to meet up with Lily there.
She had stepped off the last step of the Grand Staircase when James saw her. Frank had greeted Alice, his smile reaching from ear to ear. When James approached Lily, he smiled as well.
"You… you look beautiful, Lily." He whispered in her ear, making her shiver a bit. He guided her to the dance floor, and together they waltzed until their feet hurt and they couldn't breathe.
"James, this is one of the best nights I have ever had in my entire life." She replied.
Lily didn't see much of Serverus the next couple of months. She missed their friendship though. There wasn't going to be anybody to hang out with during the summer, and James lived with his family in a private wizarding community, so visiting him was out of the question. Petunia wouldn't talk to Lily – she never did anymore. During Charms one morning, she looked back at Serverus. He was watching her, but a frown was covering most of his face. He couldn't still be mad about what happened, could he? That happened so long ago! The end of school was near, and she really wanted him to know that she'd forgiven him. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were always working on this 'project' of theirs after classes ended, and Alice and Frank were always together because just like James and herself, they would be separated in the summer.
After class, Lily approached Serverus nervously.
"Sev…" She said, reaching out to touch his arm, but he just shrugged her off and kept walking.
James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus stared at the finished map, thinking about what other kind of charms they would cast on it. They had cast a secretive charm, which would only show the map when the correct words were said and they had cast another charm which would produce other writing when a spell was used to override the first. Charms after charms were cast to insure a perfect item. A charm to track every single moving person, whether a ghost, a teacher, or a student; another charm to track each person whether or not they were in animagus form. Finally, a charm to hide the map if the student were ever to get caught by a professor. Each boy signed it with their nicknames, so they couldn't get in trouble if they were caught. When they were done casting charms, they stared at each other, accomplished smiles glowing on each face.
"We should probably test it." Remus said, standing up. The other boys nodded in agreement. They headed down the steps into the Gryffindor common room, keeping a look out for anybody who would tattle on them. Lily was sitting in front of the fire place when they reached downstairs, and the boys waited while James talked to her.
"Lily, are you okay?" He asked, as he approached her. He could see the reflection of the fire glisten off of the rivulets of tears that streamed down her face. She shook her head, and stood up and hugged James with all her strength. He patted her head, and hugged back.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he whispered in her ear, and when she shook her head again, he guided her to where the other boys were. He gave them the look to not ask any questions and they continued their trek through the school's hallways.
"What's that?" Lily asked through sniffles, pointing at the map. James explained it to her, but told her they didn't know what to call it yet. She looked thoughtfully for a moment, and then glanced back at James.
"The Marauder's Map," She replied. The boys all stopped and looked back at her.
"Marauders are also known as bandits, outlaws… rule breakers." James kissed her hair, and whispered next to her, "You should be in Ravenclaw, with how smart you are,"
For the rest of the school year, the boys took turns carrying the map with them. Lily and James used it for romantic rendezvous when they had time. Sirius would use it when he needed to be alone with his thoughts. Remus would use it when the full moon appeared at the end of each month. Peter would use it when nobody else was, but the boys never knew where he went, or who he went with. Even Alice and Frank would use it, sometimes, because summer was nearing, and they wouldn't be able to see each other as often.
One night, the group decided to enjoy the last days of school. They planned on going to the edges of the Forbidden Forest to share drinks of Butterbeer and pass around goodies, like chocolate frogs and pumpkin cakes. They all walked quickly through the hallways, passing by Filch with ease, and crossing paths with Mrs. Norris only once. The grass was wet with dew still, and they left short skid marks from dragging their feet across the top. They settled in a large clearing not too far from the edge of the Forest and made a small fire. They chatted and relived old memories, played truth or dare, and acted like normal teenagers for the first time all year.
"Lily, I dare you to snog James!" Peter yelled when it was his turn. Lily swallowed her last bite of pastry before moving in front of James. James smiled slyly, and let Lily climb on his lap. Slowly, she put her lips on his, and together they kissed for a while, until Peter interrupted with his quick burst of laughing.
Sirius rolled his eyes, and Remus howled. "Peter, we dare you to throw your pants in the fire." Sirius said, with a smirk. Peter got real quiet then. Everybody started shouting threats and taunts, until finally, he unbuckled his pants and shed them, leaving him standing in his shirt and johns. He tossed them in the fire, and looked back at the group. "Thanks guys!" He replied, wiggling his butt.
They all took turns, including Alice and Frank, who let their strong lifestyles slide away. They felt free for once, and they took it for granted. When the sky slowly started to turn a lighter color, they headed back to the castle, taking the less obvious route. When they started climbing the stairs, they began to become lazy, not watching the map for professors or Filch, who unbeknownst to them had watched them through the Grand Hall windows. He cleared his throat, causing each and every one of the students to stop dead in their tracks. Remus shined his wand on the map and whispered the quick sealing incantation to erase the markings from human eyes. Filch practically ran up the stairs and grabbed the piece of parchment, watching the markings disappear.
"What did you do?" Filch yelled, "WHAT DID YOU DO!" He asked again.
Mrs. Norris yowled next to him, as if repeating what Filch had just said.
"We didn't do anything," Sirius said, a smile tugging on his lips. Filch reached up and grabbed a handful of his uniform in one hand.
"Now don't you get smart with me!" He yelled, shaking him. Sirius held his hands in a surrender state.
"Mr. Filch, what are you doing to these students?" Dumbledore asked, standing on the top step of the Grand Staircase. Filch let go of Sirius, and bowed his head.
"Sir, I caught 'em sneaking in from being outside all night." Filch said, eying each student with contempt.
"Is this true?" Dumbledore asked, stepping down one step. James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, Lily, Alice, and Frank all nodded. Dumbledore motioned for them to follow them. Remus stayed behind though, and reached for the map in Filch's hand.
"Sorry, boy, but th's been confiscated!" He said with a cackled before going down the stairs and disappearing in his office. Remus shook his head before running up the staircase and catching up with the group.
In Dumbledore's office, they all stood awkwardly while they told him what they did the night before.
"We just wanted to have fun on the last night of the school year." James replied, putting his lips in a line that ran straight on his face. Dumbledore nodded, and then got up from his desk.
"Do any of you have a Nicholas Flamel card? I need one to finish my collection." He asked, completely serious. Frank reached into his pocket , and pulled out his selection of cards before handing over his Nicholas Flamel one. He felt hesitant in giving it, but once Dumbledore grabbed it, he seemed to relax.
"Finally! I feel as if I've gained several pounds just trying to get this card, without success."