Author's Note: I had this in my head and my muse refused to give in until I wrote it. So here it is. My view of Lily's relationships with the Marauders. Set between 1971 & 1981.

Every one of the four Marauders fell for the charms of Lily Evans at some point throughout their lives. Unsurprisingly, it was an eleven year old James Potter who first felt that unfamiliar twist in his stomach at the sight of the Muggle-born redhead.

"You see that girl?" James whispered to his new friend, Sirius Black.

"What, the moody redhead who stuck up for that Snivellus on the train?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "She's going to be my girlfriend one day."

At that, Sirius had to laugh and it was the first of many times that he would laugh at his best friend's attempts to win Lily Evans's heart. James's crush on Lily never died away, as most people initially assumed it would. He pursued her, until he was fourteen, merely for the sake of entertaining himself and his friends, with only a slight hope that she would ever agree to go out with him. In James's fifth year however, he began to learn that Lily Evans wasn't the sort of girl who'd just say yes to him. He'd had a few dates but he'd never felt the same things for those girls. Mostly, it was just older Hufflepuffs who couldn't get dates in their own year. His first kiss took place when he was fifteen, behind the Greenhouse Three with an enthusiastic Ravenclaw in the year above him. Their brief fling only lasted a few days before James realised that he wouldn't be able to continue pursuing Lily if he had another girlfriend. The Ravenclaw didn't object to being cast aside so quickly- she'd earned herself valuable popularity points by dating one of the Marauders, if only for a day or two.

It was during this short period however, that another Marauder began to notice Lily's appeal. Perhaps he had noticed it before but had been reluctant to voice his feelings until James had moved on. Using the brains that no one gave him credit for, Peter Pettigrew didn't admit to his fondness for Lily Evans until James had come back to the dormitory, boasting about his evening behind the greenhouses with his new Ravenclaw girlfriend. Even then, Peter kept very quiet until James and Remus had left the dormitory under the Cloak.

"Sirius?"

"Mmmm?" Peter was sitting awkwardly on the edge of his bed, fiddling with the duvet. Sirius, in complete contrast, was stretched out on James's bed, reading the latest Quidditch magazine that James's owl had delivered.

"It's… good about Prongs and Myra…" Peter trailed off. Sirius snorted.

"Yeah, I was starting to worry about him."

"Do you…" Peter coughed nervously. "Do you think he likes Myra?"

"Well, yeah," Sirius shrugged, still immersed in the magazine. "What's not to like? Blonde hair, big tits, all that. Plus, she's older."

"Lily will be relieved," Peter laughed weakly. Sirius glanced up sharply.

"What did you say?"

"I meant… Evans. Evans will be relieved. You know, that Prongs isn't all over her anymore." Sirius watched Peter closely.

"Since when have you shown any interest in Evans and James's constant bickering?" Peter shifted uncomfortably on his bed.

"Sirius, I… think I might like Lily… like I might really like her."

"No," Sirius shook his head immediately. His posture was no longer relaxed and he sat up, facing Peter. "It's a stupid phase. It will pass."

"But-"

"-It will pass," Sirius replied. "You won't feel those things in a few days."

"What if I do?" Peter's whisper was barely audible. Sirius frowned.

"Then you suppress it. Evans is off limits."

"But Prongs is-"

"-Even if Prongs marries Myra Madley, Evans will still be off limits to the three of us."

"But-"

"Friends don't go there, Pete," Sirius told him firmly. "It's Evans."

"Fine," Peter replied, sulkily. "I'm going to the kitchens."

Over the next few days, Peter wondered why James was allowed to have Myra as his girlfriend and Lily as a reserve. Sirius had been firm and unwavering when he told Peter that Lily was permanently off limits but privately, Peter didn't think James stood much of a chance with the redhead. Still, he did as Sirius had instructed and allowed his feelings for Lily to dissipate. Instead, he concentrated his efforts on a few mediocre Ravenclaws in the year below, after Sirius had pointed out that he was far more likely to be successful with younger witches.

It wasn't until the end of the Marauders' fifth year, Lily's very public fight with Severus Snape and the subsequent ending of their friendship that Remus became close to Lily. Over the summer, they kept in contact and throughout the first part of their sixth year, it appeared to many as though Lily had replaced Snape's presence in her life with Remus's. He fought the obvious attraction for a long time, knowing how it would destroy his friendship with James if he ever even admitted to having feelings for Lily. Remus forced himself to try to think of himself and Lily as brother and sister, which was significantly complicated when James found another girlfriend. This time, it was a Hufflepuff, but from their own year. Her relationship with James lasted two months, which were undoubtedly the most difficult that Remus's love life had ever faced. Lily had discovered the secret of his condition years ago, revealed that it did not bother her and they had three years of friendship behind them to prove that Lily didn't care. They were very similar people and had fun together. Remus had never known another girl he felt so comfortable with.

Things came to a head at Christmas when Remus had been particularly irritable for days, especially with James. It was Christmas Eve and Remus and Lily were the only two students left studying in the library.

"Your nose is turning green," Lily giggled. "Remus, stop it!"

"I'm not doing it on purpose," Remus rolled his eyes. "I can't work out what's gone wrong with this…"

"It's because you've got two pages stuck together," Lily laughed, peeling the thin paper apart. "Look, that's the spell for fairy lights. That's the spell for turning noses into water hoses." They both burst out laughing.

"Lily," Remus breathed, choking back laughter. "What would I do without you?"

"I don't know," Lily giggled. "Walk around with a hosepipe as a nose, probably." Chuckling, Remus gathered his books up.

"It's late," he reminded her, apologetically. "I'd better be heading back. Sirius likes to celebrate on Christmas Eve almost as much as he does on Christmas Day." Lily nodded.

"I'll have Mary and Marlene yelling at me for studying too much," she grinned. "Thank Merlin that Alice has gone home."

"Why didn't you go home?" Remus asked. Lily sighed.

"Petunia's having Vernon, his sister and their parents over to ours for Christmas. I wasn't welcome. Not as a witch, anyway."

"I'm sorry," Remus murmured. "It can't be at all easy, with a sister like her." Lily shook her head, tears springing to her eyes.

"I'm… sorry," she whispered. "Merlin, why do I get upset about it all the time?" Her voice shook. "She's not even worth it." Tentatively, Remus put an arm around Lily.

"You're right, she's not," he agreed. Lily sighed and rested her head on his shoulder contentedly.

"You know Remus, it could be like this all the time," she whispered. "You and me." Remus's heart skipped a beat. Surely Lily wasn't suggesting what he thought she was?

"Lily," he breathed, wishing that he could give a different answer and wishing that he didn't feel unbelievably guilty. "I would… in another world, I would say yes. But I could never do that to James. I'm sorry."

"I knew you'd say that," Lily nodded sadly. "Merlin, Potter doesn't deserve a friend like you."

"He's not as bad as you think," Remus argued softly. "One day, I hope that you'll understand him. You'll see what he's really like."

"I don't know, Remus," Lily replied quietly. "But if this is all that we're destined to be, then Merry Christmas."

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. Remus knew at once that Lily Evans was something he could never have, something he shouldn't even want. Going upstairs to face James would be torturous, even with the knowledge that he had refused Lily's offer and explained exactly why.

Remus took Lily's hand and kissed the smooth skin softly, resting his cheek on her palm when he'd moved his lips. It rested there for too long… too long not to mean anything, too long not to speak all the unspoken words and too long not to assure each of the other's feelings.

By New Year's Eve, James had ended his relationship with the Hufflepuff. Instead, he spent the ten seconds before 1977 with Lily Evans in his arms, who had found herself with no other available partner. There was no kiss to celebrate the end of 1976 but James spent the next six weeks referring to the evening as 'the bloody best night of my life'. Remus and Lily occasionally caught each other's eyes across the room, or shared a smile at a private joke but they had become as good as siblings. James's path to Lily was clear and five months later, she gave up her hatred of James, decided to settle for friendship and accepted the relationship that would continue to blossom over the next five years.

Love and hate ran along opposite sides of a thin line for Sirius Black and Lily Evans was one of the few people who had been on both sides of Sirius's line. Up until James's wedding day, Sirius was convinced that Lily was the only thing standing between him and complete, reckless freedom with his best friend. She could be controlling, James listened to her like he listened to no one else and sometimes Sirius wondered if Lily was even closer to James than he was.

It wasn't until James's wedding day, when Lily walked down the aisle in the Potters' back garden and Sirius stood beside his best friend, that he realised. Lily wasn't a threat, she wasn't an enemy and she wasn't replacing him. It was in that moment, when Sirius handed over the rings, that he truly realised that James was his brother. How else could he explain the sudden protectiveness that he felt towards Lily? They were emotions one would connect with a little sister and suddenly, Sirius saw that was exactly what he'd gained. It was almost as if Lily had always been there, an honourary Marauder, a girlfriend and a wife. Sirius didn't merely like her because he felt obligated to- it was genuine affection he felt for Lily Potter, which manifested itself as soon as she married his best friend and brother. Unlike Remus's feelings in their sixth year, there was nothing romantic about Sirius's love for Lily. She made James so happy that Sirius couldn't even consider the idea of whisking her away from his best friend. During the first war, Lily became the sister that Sirius had never had and as the threat from the Death Eaters increased, Sirius wondered how he would ever have been able to survive those dark times without her optimism, strength and courage.

"Welcome to the family," he whispered in her ear, at the first opportunity he had after the wedding ceremony. When she asked him to be godfather, many months later, Lily became only the second person who had ever seen Sirius cry.

Throughout Harry Potter's life, he heard from numerous people, how impossible it was to know his mother and fail to love her. Horace Slughorn, Remus Lupin and many others had all attested to that but it wasn't until Harry saw his mother in the Forbidden Forest, with the help of a certain elusive stone, that the truth hit him. Lily Evans Potter was simply one of those people in life who everyone loved, in one way or another. Perhaps Harry's biggest surprise, and most conclusive piece of evidence, was that even Severus Snape had loved Lily, despite being worlds apart from her for the majority of his life. Perhaps it was Lily's ability to give and receive such strong love that rendered her capable of protecting her son from the curses of the world's most dangerous dark wizard. Certainly, the love of Lily saved many from death, or a terrible fate far worse.