Alright guys, I really suck at keeping up with deadlines, it seems. I'm not only obsessed with LOTR, I'm also addicted to Harry Potter. The Marauders are my favorite, so… here's a Marauder Era story!! The posting is going to be shaky, as I'm practically uploading as I write for this, but I couldn't resist. I had to start it. So, here it is!

Sitting in my room watching American Idol with Lily was to be considered a typical, if boring, Tuesday night. My father was working his ass off downstairs trying to make ends meet; he was a programmer, immensely logical and intelligent. My mother laid seven blocks away, buried in the dirt. She had fallen ill and passed when I was just four years old, and that was when we (my father and I) moved here, to a small place called Spinner's End. It was our own quiet little corner of the world. Only a small number of families lived here, and one of them was quite strange. They had a kid my age, turning 11 within a week, and I think the parents fought a lot. His dad just seemed… wrong. He didn't care about much, I don't think.

The kid himself seemed strange enough himself, though. His name was Severus, first off. Also, he wore clothes that were so out of place I could've mistaken them for his mother's dresses, though I'd never be disgraceful enough to say anything like that about anybody. Then, there was the matter of his behavior. Whenever I saw him, he shunned anyone he met. He always gravitated towards my best friend, Lily Evans, though. I'm sure he was quite taken with her.

"Rhea!" Lily called, pulling me out of my inner monologue. When she was sure she had my attention, she continued. "I said, do you want to get some chocolate chip cookies? I'm dying for some!" I nodded in response and she, used to my silence, led the way down the stairs. We were having a sleepover at her house, for our birthdays, which happened to be on the same day. It was cold outside, being January 30th, so we were staying in her room, which was warm, instead of the living room as usual. However, as we turned into the kitchen, there was a loud CRACK! and an older-looking woman stood in our kitchen. Lily shrieked and fell back into me; I narrowed my eyes enough to glare suspiciously at the intruder.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my friend's house?" I questioned, sounding a lot braver than I felt. Luckily, I had somehow learned control and calm at a young age, and though I had hardly been eleven for five minutes, I knew there was no way that the woman could tell I was frightened, unless she had animalistic senses.

"I apologize for the intrusion; I was not expecting you here, Miss Lymph, I can assure you that." As she said my name, I started a bit, unable to help the slight widening of my eyes, the instinctual step away. "My name is Professor McGonagall; I will be teaching the both of you at Hogwarts. I came to deliver Miss Evans' letter in person, since she is Muggle-born. I expect yours will be arriving by owl shortly." As if on cue, a tawny owl flew in with a letter clutched in its' talons. It dropped it above me, and it fell into my hands.

Ms. Rhea Lymph

Second Bedroom on the Left

7 Spinner's End

Northern London

The words were so clear, so specific, that I had the urge to throw the letter into Lily's fireplace. I saw Professor McGonagall hand her a letter addressed just as clearly as mine. I flipped mine over and saw it sealed with wax, a symbol imprinted on it that resembled an H, along with some Latin words, a badger, a snake, an eagle, and a lion. The symbol was vaguely familiar, and I grilled my brain for the place I might have heard it before. I think my mother may have had something to do with this school. Carefully, as if it might bite, I popped the wax and opened the letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Lymph,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

"What is this?" I asked, confused. "I always wanted to believe in magic, but, there can't be…" I trailed off. "Wait a second… Are you telling me I'm a witch?" Professor McGonagall looked at me in shock, and nodded.

"But of course. You've been on the Hogwarts list since the day you were born. Your mother was one of the most gifted witches I've met in a long time, although Mr. Lupin was talented, then again, I suppose he doesn't count, seeing as he's a wizard. You'll see his son, Remus, there, he's in your year," she said. I blinked slowly and deliberately, unsure whether I wanted this to go away or not when my eyes were opened again. To a part of me's relief, it was real.

"My mother… was a witch? And hold on, what's a muggle?" McGonagall actually gasped.

"You mean you didn't know? Your father never told you?" she asked me.

"Never told me WHAT?" I yelled, finally losing my temper, which I was normally so in control of. "That I'm a witch? That my mother was too? That my BEST FRIEND is a witch? That there is a school called Hogwarts I'm supposed to go to? I'm sure it must've slipped his mind, because all I know about my mother is that she got sick and DIED when I was four, and we moved here to have her buried, and that she has something to do with all of this, because I'm sure I've seen that seal somewhere and I think I might be going INSANE, because this is what I thought I wanted, but it didn't come the way I thought. I should've KNOWN that magic would be unpredictable, because it's woven into the very fabrics of TIME, and SPACE, and LIFE! Magic can restore health as well as steal it, can kill, torture, control. I shouldn't have expected this to happen with my father knowing, but I did. I shouldn't have expected a fairy tale kind of magic, but I did, against all reason. I just want to know whether I've been living a lie since I turned four years old or not, so I can decide what I have to do." Lily blinked at me, as did McGonagall.

I think that's the most I've spoken without being high on sugar in my life.